I'm baaaaack!

Hello from brrr chill northern Michigan. It is 8:40 AM and only 58 degrees. I am not complaining at all. I love it up here and one thing I love so much is the weather! While I am losing my Caribbean tan, it is OK. I am sitting in our kitchen and the lake is literally 60 feet away. DQ’s family has had this land, these cottages, a mini-compound almost, for almost a century. It is our heaven on earth. Today, Friday, while chilly, the lake is placid and it is sunny. I wish you all could come up here and experience this beauty!

We arrived here Sunday evening. It was sad to say good bye to the cruise but I was so ready to see the boys! Saturday we drove from NJ to OH and spent the night with my in-laws. That was a good time – NOT!!! Sunday we drove from OH to MI. We are in a little town called Gaylord. It is in the middle of the state, in the middle of no-where. I have to go an entire month without a Target! We did get a Starbucks up here two years ago but I would much rather have a Target.

DQ’s uncle and his wife spend their entire summer up here in what we call the “little cottage” while we move into the “big cottage.” Little and big are relative terms but either way we are just happy to be here. As I was talking to Aunt Charlotte Sunday evening I discovered that she belongs to the gym that I wanted to join. I was so excited to hear that – a workout buddy! So Monday afternoon, after DQ, the boys and I went grocery shopping (more on that later) AC (Aunt Charlotte) and I went to the Powerhouse Gym. I have to say there isn’t anything too “powery” about it. They only have six treadmills! So that was Monday. I set out to walk run for an hour. I only ran twice and walked the rest. Then I jumped over to a bike and forced myself to do ten minutes. Tuesday was a disaster. I went alone, as AC was playing golf. I was going to walk/run for thirty minutes and then ride the bike for another thirty. I jumped on the bike after the treadmill. Even though it was level one I could barely move. AC had warned me that the equipment wasn’t well maintained, so I am not sure if I was struggling due to my in activeness of the last two weeks or the fact that the bike wasn’t maintained very well. I left there very deflated. In the meantime I was/am eating OK. I will tell you about the mind-set change I am having up here in my next post, but that said I am/was eating fairly well. I am having my eggs for breakfast, or a bowl of Kashi cereal. I have been only drinking water and I have been trying to snack on fruit and protein.

Wednesday AC and I hit the gym again. We are both going to participate in a 5K in two weeks so in my head I am telling myself that I need to get back on track. I had a GREAT workout that day. I walk/ran for 45 minutes and then walked the final fifteen minutes. I was sweating like crazy, and you know how I like to sweat! I felt so good. I came home and told DQ I had turned the corner and was back on track! As the afternoon progressed I had a pain down the side of my left foot. I live in flip flops in the summer and I think the lack of support hurts me. So I wore tennis shoes around the house (I HATE wearing shoes!!) to try to ward off the pain.

When I woke up Thursday morning I was limping. We spent the day in town and I wore tennis shoes again (even though my flip flops would have looked cuter!) AC wasn’t going to the gym since she was playing golf again and I figured my foot needed the day off. By the end of the day I was pain free and probably should have just walked for thirty minutes, but I didn’t. The gym is closed Friday and Saturday for the holiday, so I am going to walk here. Our driveway is half a mile long (no lie!) so I will walk that for a while on Friday and Saturday, and then hopefully back to the gym on Sunday.

So…it is Friday now and LUCKY ME!!! AC and Uncle Steve have a scale up here that is the same brand as my scale at home. So I took a deep breath and jumped on. I have been telling myself that I had probably gained six pounds. With all the bread, butter and soda I had on the cruise I was certain that I had gained weight. But my clothes weren’t tight at all, but they weren’t any looser. Drum roll please...I am the exact same weight I was when I left! YEA ME! I am so excited. And it is Friday, July 4, so I am truly going to enjoy the holiday! DQ is making bacon, eggs and pancakes as we speak!! Mmmm, mmm good!

My next post will be about how I have really had to change my mind set and eating habits here on vacay!

Til then –
Mummy Qua