Vacay Brain

This is the time of year where my family typically takes one last little trip before our sons go back to school. except this year, with being new home owners, we didn't plan or book anything. Last year our trips were not super relaxing and one was not enjoyable, and our sons seemed to not really want to be away from the comforts of home. Still, we had to pick our days off in November at my job so I took Friday and Monday off and my husband did too, just to relax and enjoy time together. Thursday at work was frustrating for both of us. That evening we went to our city's concert in the park. We have been going all summer and have loved every band. Well, we didn't go to the country band because it's not our thing, but we live close enough that we can hear it clearly with the windows open. We usually leave early to get ready for work the next day, but we were looking forward to having Friday off so we could stay the whole show. The band was not great, but people were having a blast so we stayed. It was great to see our pretty little park on Lake Michigan all lit up and alive with people enjoying themselves. It's odd, but it became such a favorite part of Summer that we are going to miss those concerts until next summer. We don't get out to social stuff much, we're still pretty new in town. Anyway, partially due to my frustrating day, and partially due to my brain screaming "VACATION TIME", I really wanted to eat a bunch of junk. I told myself I would keep things in check at least for Thursday and I did. Since we were off Friday we went for an adventure. We started with lunch at a new place on the water. I had chicken tenders and fries. It came after not eating for 5 hours because I was busy. We went driving and made some stops along Lake Michigan. I think we were gone about 5 hours. When we got home, my husband wanted to go out for our usual Friday night dinner by ourselves so we did. we had a few drinks and shared a small pizza. Vacation. I made my mind up that even though we didn't go anywhere, I was on vacation and I was going to live as liberated as I could. I still cooked family dinner on Saturday, I found a crock pot recipe for Hawaiian sticky chicken. I didn't realize the apricot jam I bought didn't have sugar added so it didn't get sticky but still tasted good. We ate it with Jasmine rice and dinner rolls. We were mellow on Sunday, I ate whatever was here at home, a sandwich with wheat bread, some chips. Monday my husband was golfing so I got busy working on my to-do list which included walking to the beach to get some more rocks to paint. The previous days indulgences gave me such terrible heartburn that I was not exactly wanting to repeat. Still, after a second trip to the beach my husband proposed we stop for ice cream at our local shop before they close their walk-up window for the season. Since I don't plan any more sweet indulgences anytime soon, I agreed. It tasted good, but about halfway through mine I was getting overwhelmed by how sweet it was (caramel apple pie flavor). And OH the heartburn! My gut does not like sugar! Sometimes before I even eat a sweet thing I can forsee the instant heartburn that will happen and it's enough to deter me. I didn't intentionally fast, but those carb-laden meals made me feel bloated so I really didn't want my bedtime snack. Last week I got down to 195, but this afternoon I was back up to 197 after a ton of water intake to try and flush the excess out. Despite being on vacation, I was busy and got a lot of incidental exercise, weeding the flowerbed, so much walking (Monday was over 13,000 steps) squatting and crouching on the multiple beaches looking for beach glass and rocks, cleaning the house etc. It was a nice 4 day weekend, but it was actually nice to get back to normal activities and eating today. I struggled a bit with wanting to eat non-keto stuff but once I ate I was fine. I don't like heartburn. I am planning to fast Monday,Wednesday and Fridays for now, to get into the routine. On those days I typically go from 6 or 7 PM to 6 or 6:30 AM without eating. The other days I eat an additional snack around 9PM. I'm still not tracking my food or working out. My hip still feels lousy because I haven't made strengthening a priority. My husband is applying for jobs closer to home and if he takes one we are planning to get some gym equipment for our basement. I just have to get myself in the right mindset. I have a girl's weekend getaway coming just before Labor Day that I'm looking forward to, then the reality of fall will set in and the relaxed "vacay" anything goes vibes of summer will slowly recede. I feel like I'm in a good place and am starting to see progress with the addition of the fasting. This could be my year(s).