Even Worse Tuesday Weigh-IN

219. Yup, that's pretty sad. I was 208 on March 2 when we left, so that's an 11 pound gain for the 42 day trip.

Last year I lost about 15 pounds on our 36 day trip, so I left here hoping for at least a maintenace weight, if not a little loss. When I got to the ship the first time, I weighed in at 206, followed by a 216 which I reported on the last blog entry. In between I dropped a little back to 210 and then I didn't check anymore. Now I'm home, so 219 is the official weight on my home scale. So sad.

It was harder than I thought. My old habits are so deeply ingrained. Last year we ate at Subway and Denny's most of the time, with only a few special meals in big restaurants. There was also a lot of walking around. This time there were massive buffets, fancy restaurants, lots of opportunity for between meal snacking on the ship, many high-caloric alcoholic drinks, late night pizza, etc., etc. I found it harder and harder to resist. There was opportunity for walking on the ship, but I took more advantage of that on the first cruise. I didn't do it at all on the second cruise. Although there was some walking on the shore excursions, it clearly was not enough to account for the massive amounts of eating. Again, my old eating habits are so hard to break.

Well now I'm home, and not loving the new reality I'm finding. I put the first of at least six loads of laundry in the machine last night late only to watch water leak out all over the floor from the bottom of the machine. Now I have to buy a new machine today plus find a laundromat! We had to rent a car at Union Station to get home because it was actually easier than getting an expensive cab home, but I have to return it to BWI by 3:30 p.m. I have to go to the post office to pick up six weeks of held mail and go through that massive amount of paper. I need to go to a few banks. I'm getting my nails done at 10:30 this morning, and we are taking our son out to dinner at Don Pablo's tonight. Hm...I'm hoping to eat less than I would have on the trip, but I really love their food. On Friday we are driving to Boston to visit our newly-engaged daughter. She is singing her last concert with her Northeastern University a cappella choir group, Distilled Harmony. Their first CD is also being released that night, so it's an exciting time. Plus we get to "ooh and aah" over the new engagement ring. That will be fun, but it provides several days of less controlled eating again.

I really need to get the mind-set back about proper eating habits: smaller portions, appropriate food choices, less drinking, more walking. Wow. Wish me luck!