I just completed my 30th week on Nutrisystem and also just returned from a fun family vacation in Disney World.  And for the first time in 30 weeks, I’ve gained some of my weight back, due to being on vacation.  I gained 5.1lbs for which gives me a total of 43.4 lbs lost.   I’m still happy with my weight loss and I’m OK with having gained some and considering I just returned from vacation, I know that some of that weight is water retention from flying and will be gone pretty quickly.

I haven’t updated in a couple of weeks because I was so busy getting things ready for a few family events, and the time just slipped by me.   I should have made the time to write a post but I honestly didn’t have much time to squeeze out a post.  But I’ve been super busy this month and it’s been a good test of real life and dieting for me!

First of all my holiday gift guide is in full swing right now and that actually takes a lot of work so I’ve been trying to keep that in order.  I hate to fall behind on a big project like that.  My daughter also celebrated a birthday this month and of course we had a family celebration for her.  I love having my family over for get together’s but I always have too much food for everyone.   We also went on a family vacation to Disney World with our girls and my parents.  So getting ready for that trip took a lot of my time and then of course I had to plan ahead for the blog so I’d have content while I was gone.  I promised my husband I would work as little as I had to while we were away, and I did!

So with all of these things that have been going on with me for this month, they’ve been extremely challenging for me with my weight loss.  For one, vacation is horrible for a diet.  No matter how hard you try, it’s just HARD.  But that’s life and I need to learn to adapt to it, and I know I will over time.   But with all the struggles I’ve had the last couple of weeks, I’ve learned a lot from them!

• We had a party for my daughter for her birthday.  I cooked lots of food for our guests both healthy and yummy.  It’s really hard to resist good food after 27 weeks of not eating it so I decided for this party, I’d enjoy some of my food.  Not over enjoy, just enjoy!  So I did.  I am not going to put all my weight back on in one day and as long as I jump back on the next day I’m good.  And guess what?  I didn’t gain all my weight back that day.   I basically maintained my weight by just making better choices the days following.  Plus I still didn’t have any cake – my weakness!
• My husband and I had a long overdue date night.  We had a lovely dinner and I made very good choices, until it came to the wine – 2 glasses later and I was retaining water for 3 days!  But hey if it means I have to drink water faithfully for 3 days in order to have a glass of wine with my husband occasionally… well I can do that!
• I had a bad day and was very upset over something that happened.  I even broke down in tears and had a really good cry.  Then I called some friends and they all came to the rescue – with a bottle of wine.   Of course the wine once again, made me retain water.  Not to mention the pizza I ate too.  The next morning I felt so sick so I decided no more pizza for me.  It’s not worth feeling that way.   I don’t want to feel that way again. It was a good reminder as to why I’m on this journey.
• Disney World is horrible for dieters.  No matter how hard I tried, it was just horrible.  I did my best and made the best choices that I could, most of the time but I also made some bad choices.  But let me tell you, I felt horrible each time.  Not just physically, but emotionally.  Before we left for the trip I had already started stressing about the food.  I always stress about food and I hate it.   But on the other hand I figured it would also be easy to just say no.  We had the meal plan (which was FREE!) and they offer deserts with all meals.  So I told myself I don’t have to have it, just don’t take it.  Well I didn’t listen to myself very well and ate some of them.  The first few days I ordered the healthier option.  But then my family ate the good stuff, you know the fatten foods.  After a few days it was very hard to resist.  The thing I realized is, when I’m home I can resist all of the junk food they eat because I have my sweets from Nutrisystem.   I can resist the bread, I can resist the chocolate, I can resist over eating.  Why?  Because Nutrisystem allows me to have chocolate.  Nutrisystem gives me the proper portion size.  Nutrisystem fills me up because it’s so high in fiber.  And I can turn down the bread because I have wheat bread to eat at home.

What I learned from all of this?  I am not ready to go in the real world without Nutrisystem.  I may think I’ve learned good eating habits, but I haven’t yet.  I still have a long way to go and so much more weight to lose so I need to stick to it and I will succeed.   I also learned that it’s OK if I have a cookie while on vacation.  Or a grilled chicken sandwich on a white roll.   I can eat anything I want when I’m on vacation because there is no way I will gain it all back in one week.  But, I do have to get right back on the plan the minute I come home and just allow the scale to go up a little.  It’s not the end of the world and it’s not the end of my diet.  If I am able to just maintain my weight right now through the holidays, that’s a good thing.

I just returned from my vacation on Saturday and I told myself to give it a week before I get on the scale to see the damage down.  But I had to know, so I did get on the scale morning after I got back and it was up 5.1 lbs.   I did a happy dance…. yes you read that right, I was happy I gained 5.1 pounds because in my mind I thought I gained a lot more than that back.  Yes, my clothes did fit me but I still felt horrible.  But that horrible feeling is what eating poorly does to me.  So I’m happy to be back on my plan and I know by the end of the week, even with Thanksgiving this week, the scale will show a difference.  And I also know that physically my body will feel better from eating better this week.  It already does, even after just one day being back on the program.

I still have a long way to go and I’m going to keep on going!

Week 1 – 8.8 lbs
Week 2 – 2.5 lbs
Week 3 – 1 lb
Week 4 – 2.7 lbs
Week 5 – .6 lbs
Week 6 – 1.9 lbs
Week 7 – 2.6 lbs
Week 8 – 1.2 lbs
Week 9 – 2.3 lbs
Week 10 – .9 lbs
Week 11 – 2.5 lbs
Week 12 – 1 lb
Week 13 – no weigh in
Week 14 – 1 lb
Week 15 – 1.5 lbs
Week 16 – 1 lb
Week 17 – 1.3 lbs
Week 18 – 3.2 lbs
Week 19 – 0
Week 20 – 1.1 lbs
Week 21 – .3 lbs
Week 22 – 3.1 lbs
Week 23 – .5 lbs
Week 24 – 1.8 lbs
Week 25 – 1.8 lbs
Week 26 – 1.7 lbs
Week 27 – 2.2 lbs
Week 30 – 5.1 lbs GAINED

Total Weight Loss – 43.4 lbs

Are you working on any weight-loss or health goals? If so share them in the comments so we can all cheer you on!!

Disclaimer: I am funding my Nutrisystem program myself and sharing my experience with my readers.  If you are interested in trying Nutrisystem and want to save $30 off your first order, leave your email address in the comments and I’ll send you a coupon to use!