Sorry I’ve been MIA recently. I was at the beach this holiday weekend and had extremely spotty cell service. Surprisingly, it was kind of refreshing not to be so reliant on my phone and it’s social networking capabilities. Maybe I should turn it off every once in a while… (Who am I kidding? That’s not going to happen) Anyways – I’ll fill you in on my weekend now.
Steve & I went away to the beach this weekend – in Breezy Point, NY. I definitely had a great weekend catching up with friends & family, and enjoying the ocean – but I had a bit of a rough time with the whole eating healthy & exercising aspect of my long weekend…
I struggle a lot mentally when I don’t work out. I’m fully aware that my appearance didn’t change over the weekend… but I just feel awful. When I drink alcohol, I feel bloated and uncomfortable. When I skip a work-out, I feel lazy and guilty all day. If I eat some “non-Jess” foods, I feel sick to my stomach. You’d think that all of these feelings would be a constant reminder to drink less, work out more, and eat normally, but it’s never that easy.
Eating “non-Jess” foods really does mess with my entire body. I honestly don’t think too much about what I eat when I’m home. I buy foods I enjoy, I cook meals that I like, and I feel good, both mentally and physically! But apparently the foods I buy aren’t exactly “normal” to the average family. Before leaving for the beach, I actually went to Wegman’s to buy food to take with me. I picked up some soy milk, cereal, Chobani yogurt, granola, cherries, and Sun Chips. I also brought up some tuna & salmon. If Steve wouldn’t have told me to do this, I would have been SOL all weekend. I didn’t realize how much other people rely on fried eggs & bacon for breakfast, lunch meat for lunch, and beef for dinner. I guess to most people, this is completely normal. But for me – those meals are completely out of the question. And because of it, my stomach felt off all weekend. Ugh.
I stuck to my own food as much as possible, but I there were some discrepancies. For breakfast, I had some scrambled eggs. I love eggs and have no problem eating them – but these eggs were fried in bacon fat and included the whole egg. I normally make egg white omelets over margarine. So my stomach wasn’t happy. For lunch one afternoon, we went out to a Thai restaurant – and while I normally enjoy a curry dish with tofu & rice, I decided to try Pad Thai. It was good – but it was cooked in so much oil that my stomach was in revolt the rest of the day. And when my stomach is upset, I’m upset and I don’t want to be around other people. Luckily, for dinner I made up salmon on the grill while everyone else enjoyed bbq chicken, ribs, and filet mignon. Call me crazy, but I thoroughly enjoyed my salmon! I’m not posting this to make anyone feel bad about what they eat… I’m posting it to show how much my body is aware of what I feed it. If I don’t stick to a routine, there are some serious issues.
My highlighted eat of the trip: MooLaLa frozen yogurt. It’s one of those build-it-yourself type places where you pick your flavor & toppings and pay by weight. My concoction – vanilla frozen yogurt, mango, granola, and almonds. It was amazing. (I don’t care if vanilla is “plain,” it’s the best)
I also had all intentions of working out… it just didn’t work out so well. I was planning to take Saturday off – and wake up early Sunday for a bike ride along the shore. Except it rained all day Sunday. Not exactly biking weather. So then I was determined to go for a run on Monday morning – which I did, for about a mile. I was drenched in sweat about 5 minutes into the run because the humidity was pushing 110%. Not fun. So we ran as far as we could, ran straight to the ocean, and walked the whole way home.
Did I mention that the beach is attached to a bird sanctuary? We saw this sign running to the beach and largely ignored it – until we were getting dive bombed by the most insane birds I’ve ever seen…
Unfortunately I didn’t take a lot of pictures this weekend, but we definitely had a blast. We got to see almost all of Steve’s family – his grandparents, aunts & uncles, and cousins. We got to meet up with Ken (our Best Man) and finally meet his new girlfriend Sam. We met up with Brenna (Steve’s best friend from childhood) & her sister Lauren. We watched fireworks over the Bay with beers in our hands. I got to catch up on my reading. And I got to spend time with my husband 🙂
Despite some minor setbacks in my stomach’s ability to handle food, it was a perfect weekend. I wish I could stay at the beach all summer and forget this whole “real world” thing. Ew. At least it’s a short week, right? Tomorrow I’m gonna get right back into the whole workout routine & start getting serious about my triathlon on August 7th 🙂 But for now, I’m off to bed. Sweet dreams.
Do you find that your whole body feels off when you change up your diet?
How do you maintain “normal” eating when you’re on vacation?
For the Fun of Fit 
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t feel very good this weekend. It’s crazy how much are bodies are affected by what we eat.
I honestly wish I had a better answer to question #2, it’s something I struggle with. I don’t want to go out of my way to eat healthfully, I just want to enjoy time with others. But, I usually end up wishing I had put forth some effort to eat a little better….live and learn I guess.
I just found your blog and can’t wait to read more!
Thanks for stopping by 🙂 I know what you mean, I’m always the one dictating where we go out to eat when I’m in a group, but usually people are really indecisive so it works out when I pick a place that has some vegetarian / healthier options on the menu. Ha
I totally feel ya. I feel pretty normal not eating what everyone else does though, because I do it everyday in my own house. On vacations I usually eat at different places or bring my own food. It’s a lot harder when we go to a party at someones house and I whip out a larabar. I don’t mean to insult them or their cooking, it’s just I’m not going to eat food that I won’t enjoy. When I do eat it, I better like it because I’m not going to like the stomach ache afterwards!
So true. I don’t want to insult anyone either, I just want to feel good at the end of the day. That’s why Steve and I cook separate meals now! And I should really try out a Larabar, what flavor do you recommend? Ha
Yes, I totally feel like my body is off when I eat differently. I usually try to eat healthy during the day on vacation and then splurge either at dinner or on dessert. One meal a day tends to feel a little less naughty 🙂
It wasn’t even so much being “naughty” as it was my body just revolting something “different” ugh. I’m naughty every day though if you count Milanos haha
I basically feel the same way, as evidence to my sweet potato fry incident at the beach. 🙂 I can’t do lots of fried stuff, and (obviously) don’t do meat, so lots of that stuff would be off limits for me anyway. I always bring my own food! I hope you’re feeling better today…sounds like it was an amazing weekend!
Yeah… I brought a lot of my own… it’s just crazy how my body reacted to the small amount of “weird food” I ate. At least we both had good trips to the beach 🙂
I am pretty good with vacation foods, but do not do well with anything cooked in tons of oil or butter. It just makes me feel awful all night! Luckily my fiance and my family eat pretty healthy, but sometimes when we hang out with his family they make me feel bad and say things to me when I try to eat healthy. I can’t help liking vegetables and not liking hot dogs!
My husband’s family thinks that I’m absolutely crazy for how I eat, so I really don’t like eating there. I either feel starving because I don’t like anything or I feel like a pain because they cook me something “special”. Regardless, hot dogs are the most disgusting things ever!
I totally agree with this post a hundred percent. When I first went to spend Thanksgiving with my beau’s (VERY SOUTHERN) family, it was like stepping into a deep fryer!! It totally threw me off my game and I felt awful all weekend. Made me miss my family who understand that even though we go a little crazy with the food from time to time, not every macaroni salad must be drenched in mayo and every casserole has to be covered in sugar or butter!!
haha Your comment is hilarious – “stepping into a deep fryer”. Isn’t it crazy how they think that’s totally normal?? You should host a healthy Thanksgiving and show them what’s up 😉 (Easier said than done, I know)
I had the exact same problem this weekend! I’m so much like you, its ridiculous. I only eat chicken, salmon, vegetables, and fruit pretty much everyday, but for 3 days this weekend it was all about drinks, cookouts, and desserts. I honestly do feel like I gained 10 pounds and it messed with my body so bad I haven’t even been able to eat for 2 days afterwards (so sick to my stomach)! So glad someone else is just like me; all my friends think I’m weirdos because they eat whatever they want, fast food all the time and never work out. But once I started eating healthy and my body got accustomed to it, I feel horrible after one of these “normal American meals”!
I wish we lived closer so we could see each other more! But you’re welcome in Philly anytime 🙂 And if we both eat healthy…. why are your abs SO AMAZING and mine are eh? haha Please tell me your secret.
Hahah oh please, you have the most toned body I’ve ever seen. And I’m actually pretty close to Philly! I live in Hershey and we make a lot of trips to Philly since its only ~an hour and 1/2 away. What part of Philly do you live in? I will definitely have to let you know the next time I come out!