Beach in three days!

We are leaving for our weeks vacation in the Outer Banks, NC this Sunday.  Why is it that when I'm going on vacation I make so much work for myself the week before.  I wish I could just pick up and go and not do anything to get ready, but I guess than I'd be a man,or a kid, or rich,  lol!   The beginning of the week I snuck in a day at the lake with the boys and their girlfriends.  I'm starting to feel like a third wheel around them these days but oh well, I just did a little swimming and read my book - very relaxing.  The next day I went in to high gear shopping for groceries for vacation week.  Then yesterday I spent the day cooking most of the food I bought for make ahead beach meals.  I like to have a bunch of stuff ready and frozen so that during beach week I don't have to put too much effort into the meals - you know, anything I can do to be able to just relax while I'm there.  This vacation I'm feeding my four grown boys, one girlfriend, my husband and my parents. I made a big batch of homemade (sugar-free) spaghetti sauce and a big batch of meatballs.  I froze it and will just throw it in a pot one night and make a batch of WW pasta for those eating it.  (I'll just have the meatballs, sauce, cheese and a salad).  For another night I cut up a ton of chicken and made a marinade that I poured over top and then froze that as well.  This will be for kabobs on the grill with fresh veggies.  Our other meals are going to be steaks on the grill with veggies, and hamburgers on the grill with veggies. One night we'll cook shrimp on the grill, and one night take home pizza (one piece for me with a salad), and one night out to dinner. We bought one of those Coleman portable grills to take down with us and also to use when we go camping or go to the lake for the day.  It's pretty nice and runs on a propane canister.  I'm planning three meals around it!

I also made a big batch of regular cookies for the sugar eaters and a batch of protein bites for us sugar free people.  I froze both batches and hope they will stay solid in the cooler on the five hour trip down.
Today I spent the day washing clothes and cleaning up my house.  I'm weird in that I like to get the house all clean before I go on vacation so that when I come back with all my stuff to unpack at least the house looks welcoming.  I think I got that from my mother.  We are renting a house and I have to bring all the linens and towels and toiletries with us.  Tomorrow I'm gathering up all the sheets, towels, boogie boards, beach chairs, umbrellas and stuff to get ready to load in the car.  Plus I still have to pack all my clothes and bathroom stuff, and Saturday I will pack all the food.  Whew!  Vacations are a lot of work!! For all that work I should really be staying a month, not a week!   Hopefully it will all be worth it once we are down there.  The Outer Banks really are beautiful.  I heard a rumor that Guy Fiera from Food Network is supposed to be there this week.  If I run into him I'll let you know.  I don't know how that guy is still alive with what he eats!
Last year at this same time when I went down to the beach I weighed 172 lbs.  This year I weigh 159 lbs.  I am truly happy to be down in weight, but now that I'm thinking about it, it really is only 13 lbs down in one year.  I lost my first 25 lbs in the first 4 months on the diet. I've been eating this way for one year and almost 4 months!  That's truly the longest I've ever lasted on any diet.  I say it's slow going but at least it's going. I still have 9 more pounds to go to be at my goal of 150 lbs.  It's just hard to get the last pounds off.

So, I'm going to be good with my eating while I'm gone, but when I get back I'm really going to crack down and get these last 9 lbs off!!  I want to get to my goal, it's just taking forever, but like Scarlett, I will think about that tomorrow.  Today I'm thinking about this:

 Hope everyone has a great week while I'm gone, and I'll catch up when I get back!