Hot Child in the Village! Friday Wins & Rewards (Day 15)

First, I have to say thank you for all your comments and suggestions the last few days! I am trying to get caught up on the comments but wanted to get my Friday report up before I replied to those of you who were so kind to offer advice! 

I woke up too early again Friday morning, and was cranky and sweaty to boot. It's only early April but that's when the temps here in Belize start cranking up. It was already approaching the 80's and climbing fast, so I decided to get my chores out of the way and head to the beach as a small reward for sticking to my "lose weight, gain health" plan for 15 days in a row! 

Laying on my chair, sweating in the hot sun, I even managed to decline a frothy, frozen, tall glass of tasty deliciousness from my pals at the Barefoot, and instead drank a giant bottle of plain water and some iced tea. For those who don't know, I positively DESPISE plain water, so that was another mark in the WIN column for me. Staying hydrated and drinking lots of water has helped me in previous weight loss attempts, but it's literally a battle of wills to force myself to drink plain water. Baby steps, again. Baby steps. And, maybe tomorrow I'll be able to force myself to drink another!

For lunch, I chose a small bowl of bean dip with shredded chicken and cheese. Maybe not the best choice, but better than what I normally might have ordered. Once again, knowing that I have to report back here to you is keeping me on track and forcing me to make better choices than I might have if I were just going it alone! Sorry there's no picture, I forgot, but it was delicious! 

I had thought that I would do some swimming, but the water got rougher and dirtier as the day progressed, and some of my friends showed up to chat. We got to talking and ended up doing more standing than swimming, and then laying on our beach chairs and gabbing, than we did moving around. That meant I would still have to force myself to exercise when I got home, but I was okay with that. It was great to just hangout with the girls, and I felt I had earned a few hours of just enjoying myself in the sun with them! 

Even though it was dark by the time I got home and ready to exercise, I strapped on my enemy, the heavy duty, triple-reinforced, "you'll-never-breathe-again" sports bra, and hit the stairs. I had a feeling as soon as I started I wasn't going to make my goal of doing 30 minutes each day, but I did get myself up to 20 minutes and did 26 trips. Certainly not my best effort, especially compared to how hard I've pushed myself the last couple of days. 

But once again, just knowing I had to fess up to you if I didn't exercise forced me to at least do SOMETHING. And I would have rather just dropped onto the couch to watch my favorite Friday night show, "Ghost Adventures" but I didn't. As a result, I got in an extra 20 minutes of activity that I never would have done if you all weren't here, checking in and supporting me. Thank you for helping me get another small WIN!

I finished the day off with some raw cauliflower with a bit of ranch dressing, two pieces of bacon I keep pre-cooked in the frig, and a handful of grapes. Not the most exciting dinner but I really don't feel like much else when it's so hot. Thankfully the evenings do cool off a little once the sun goes down. And last, but not least, here's my scale shot from Friday morning. Holding fairly steady! I'm happy with it, and even though I know I didn't put forth my BEST effort today, at least I put forth some effort, and that's more than I would have done in the past. 

Besides, tomorrow's a new day, and I can try again, right?!