The Life Ledger

Fitness is a way of life.

Ouch. Damn, I didn’t want to write that number.

My wife and I went to North Myrtle Beach for several days. We went with the intention of staying for seven days, but ended up staying only three and driving to Charleston for two more. It’s good we discovered something about ourselves this early in life - we don’t vacation at the beach well. We went with bright ideas of hanging out at the beach, reading books and enjoying the weather. We got bored of that, and visited all the touristy crap Myrtle Beach has to offer inside of a day. It’s obvious we like to vacation a certain way - trundling through touristy and non-touristy areas, people-watching - basically, going to Disney.

I’ll write more about some strategies she and I used for eating while we were there. I was anxious about my tendency to adopt a vacation mentality - traditionally, I decide “why not, I’m on vacation” and let loose with the belt and wallet. While we did make some choices we wouldn’t normally make (like paying to see Ripley’s Aquarium (my God, we were bored) and eating at Senor Frogs), I was pleasantly surprised that my new lifestyle changes survived my first vacation. We’ll have to see if that stands true next time we stride through Disney’s Epcot entrance and make a beeline for the Paris bakery.

So, I’ll write later about what I did right; what I’ll mention now is what I did wrong. Strategies and healthy lifestyle aside, I think three behaviors in particular I adopted during the vacation stood out as sabotaging my healthy eating.

Snacking.
We brought some food with us for the room, particularly for breakfast meals - yogurt, granola, bananas and hard-boiled eggs, along with some ham, cheese and crackers we had in the cupboards for car snacks. This was a great decision, and one that we will continue for future vacations, as it relieves our reliance on restaurant foods for at least one meal a day. However, I have got to find a way to stop snacking on the granola every time I pass by the open bag in the hotel room. Next time we vacation, I’ll hide the food in a crate or something.

Food choice.
I made two types of bad food choices - choice of restaurant and choice of food. Fortunately, my choice of portion wasn’t bad - I felt “full” only once during the trip. When picking places to eat though, we picked based on the experience, not the nutrition value of the food. For instance, we ate at an Italian joint the first night because it was easy and close - it doesn’t matter that I scraped all the cheese off, ate only half the chicken and pasta and stayed away from the bread, the menu was still full of high-calorie foods with no good options. We ate at Senor Frogs one afternoon for the experience of the meal, not because of the food they serve (which, by the way, was pretty tasty) - again, it doesn’t matter I ate only half of what they served, it still had beans, corn shells and tasty greasy/marinated meat. Towards the end of the vacation, I had a serious craving for greens and salads - a good sign, I think, of how my body and behaviors have changed for the better.

Drop in awareness.
Not only did I stop counting calories, but I started assuming the leisurely 4-mile strolls along the beach and through the Charleston historic-district neighborhoods was burning enough to counter-balance my uncounted calories. Clearly, that didn’t work. Frankly, I should know that - being unaware of my actual consumption versus actual output was what led to my obesity in the first place. Being on vacation, I just checked out. Fortunately, I only gained four-ish pounds, and I have an increased incentive for exercise that I lacked pre-vacation (more on that later). I have to realize in the future though - just like alcoholics and crack-users don’t get to let loose and snort a little on vacation, my lifestyle changes persist anytime, anywhere. There are healthy ways to incorporate the foods I want to eat and the meal experiences I want to have - it just takes awareness.

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