I didn't gain a bunch of weight, and I still had fun

As I posted back in March, I was very keen to enjoy the hell out of South America, eat lots of interesting stuff, drink 1000's of tasty and epic weird Amazonian fruit juices, and NOT gain weight. I was hoping to say "I didn't gain a bunch of weight, and I still had fun" after the trip...

Verdict is: success!!!!!!

I suspect I lost about 5 lbs on the Inca Trail given that we were expending somewhere around 5000 calories per day and not eating anywhere close to that. But after the crazy start to the trip, I jumped into the exciting culinary epicness of South America and definitely made sure to try everything (except the Guinea Pig, there was no way that was gonna happen).

After a month away of not recording on MyFitnessPal and not weighing myself, I'm down about 2 lbs!! Hoorayy!!!!

How?

Well, I definitely didn't limit my food intake if I really wanted something. Ice Cream, cake, huge steaks in Buenos Aires, tons of fruit juice in the Amazon, etc. I went to town on all that stuff. The big difference between now and earlier trips is if there was food that wasn't special (crappy white bread, boring dry pasta etc) I didn't just eat it cause it was there. That was the main difference. I usually lose weight on a trip due to the 8 hrs of walking every day, but in the past 10 years I've also typically been at a much higher weight (therefore, it was easier to lose a lot quickly by changing a habit like walking a lot every day). So I didn't gain anything on this trip, which rocks, but I also didn't lose a TON. So that probably means my habits are pretty solid, and the fierce exercise while on the trip nicely balanced out my try-everything-cause-it's-new-and-exciting food style.

Now that I'm back, it's back to normal

I had a nice long chat with my bro Heev before the trip about what to do when I got home, and he had brilliant advice: just make sure you go back to your new awesome habits... and you'll probably really be keen to anyway! And that has really been the case - I was so excited just to eat a bowlful of vegetables and have some V8 and Tea and other stuff I am used to. It's taking a little bit to re-adjust but mentally I know I have to. I set a new goal to lose another 10 lbs (or, 9-ish, I'm at 179.6 now and I'm now aiming for 170), and this new goal is helping to encourage me to get right back on the horse. I'm eating carefully and measuring everything with MyFitnessPal again, just like before the trip. I have another goal to reach, so now is not the time to slack off! Back in BIZ, baby.

Lock it in

I just went to Banana Republic today and bought 2 slim fit stretch collar shirts and they look awesome. The craziest part: medium was TOO BIG. So I (wait for it)... had to BUY A SIZE SMALL. Yes... SMALL. I was like... whhhaaaaattt????! Yeah. Seriously. It's a pretty snug fit, but you're supposed to wear those a bit tight, and yeah. SMALL?! Anyway, these shirts were expensive, plus they kinda look amazing, and there is no damn way I want to donate these new puppies to Goodwill anytime soon (sorry Goodwill, but you're about to get a truckload of XL and L shirts...). So by getting these awesome new and quite fitted clothes, I'm encouraging myself to keep things going and on-track and not to fall victim to any bad habits. I also can't treat SF like my trip - food is now a luxury cause I'm not hiking for 8 hrs a day anymore. Food needs to be carefully chosen, and healthy habits need to keep being the top of my priority list.

I'll post another "Fat Former Self" photo soon, I've got a baller photo of me looking like Indiana Jones in Buenos Aires, so I'll try to find a horrible old photo of me and pair the two with the usual cheesy pun. More importantly... back to the gym this week!