Paris...French Fries anyone?

I'd like to start today's blog with a piece of advice. If you are training and dieting for a competition, do NOT... I repeat... DO NOT take a trip to Paris for the first time! Sheesh! Stupid 16th birthday wish! So, yes... my oldest daughter turned 16 and we went to Paris for her birthday. After having 2 weeks of "not so great weight loss", we packed our bags and went to Paris. Great idea! I brought the TRX, a band and plenty of protein bars, rice cakes, Muscle Milk and peanut butter. We started in Milan with Mike running the Milan marathon, so we started out adventure there and I was motivated and fresh. I worked out pretty hard the first 2 days, and ate clean. We walked and shopped all day Sunday and most of Monday. We arrived in Paris Monday night and had just enough time to find our apartment and go for dinner. Our first French meal out. We were all starving. I ordered roasted chicken with fries (french fries come with everything in France apparently, and frankly, they are not as good as the fries in Italy.... weird) So I ate my chicken... and my fries.

Tuesday - A short and lame workout and breakfast in the room - perfect. Hit the train to Versailles and walked for about 4 or 5 hours. Ate a protein bar for lunch and a gluten free cookie for a snack. We ate dinner there at a "Tex Mex" place (of all things!). I had chicken fajita, no chips or dessert. The family ate "not so clean" and every one of them regretted it. I gloated.... **smile** Then we got back to Paris and did the Eiffel Tower... it was my favorite part of Paris. Truly beautiful. It was also here that I had my first French crepe. Shared... but ate most of it myself... it was amazing! I vowed that I would have another by the end of the trip. ((but I didn't))

Wednesday - I booked us a bike tour of the city. Pretty clever of me, huh? Again, shorter and lamer workout in the room before breakfast. Ate lunch with bike tour at a cafe, sandwiches only... had ham, plain... white bread. It was boring and it's been so long since I've eaten white bread that I really didn't even like it that much. There is no whole wheat bread in all of the places we went in Paris and it's the same in Italy. I have yet to find whole wheat bread at any cafe. After the bike tour we went to Notre Dame and explored the Latin Quarters. We ate dinner at a French restaurant with a fixed menu. I had French onion soup, roasted chicken (with fries) and an apple tart. It was delish! And I felt guilty... but it was DELISH!

Thursday - Euro Disney! We packed protein bars, but spent ALL DAY there and had to eat there. Let me just tell you that there is NO HEALTHY FOOD at Disney!! I didn't log any of my food that day and wrote the whole day off as a "free day". There was a slice of pizza, fried chicken and fries (no grilled options!) and a chocolate covered waffle..... I am ashamed... I did it up good that day and just hoped that 8 hours of walking would be enough to burn it all off.

Friday - The Louvre. Again with the protein bars (the last of them), but had to eat a late lunch there.... at McDonalds! Yes a McDonalds in the Louvre! I had grilled chicken salad with no dressing and NO FRIES!! It was good actually! Again, my family ate yucky and felt awful. I gloated... again. From the Louvre, we came back to the apartment, ate a healthy snack, checked out and headed to the airport. We drove from Milan, late night, required "late dinner". Mike and I had a sandwich from an AutoGrill at about 10pm with 2 hours left to drive.

I can't even tell you how anxious I was to get home to my gym, and my clean pantry food. My family was equally happy to get back to paleo eating and even the kids talked about how they felt so gross and GASSY and couldn't wait for some clean chicken and veggies! Warms my heart... truly. I went to the gym on Saturday first thing, did some extra cardio and ate clean and low calorie all weekend.

Monday morning I just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. I weighed in at 131.4... 1 pound heavier exactly from the Monday before vacation. So in 2 weeks time, I gained 1 pound. I seem to have lost 1/8 inch off my thighs and 1/4 inch off the rear.... 1/4 inch plus in the stomach. So there you have it. I have cut my calories on about 4 days out of the week. (the 3 days not cut are low carb days... torture enough for now) and I have increased my cardio as well. Time to get some sweat going at the gym. Well... even more sweat than before.

At this point I'd be happy to end up at 120 but that is 11 pounds in 5 weeks. A pretty hefty goal.