Time away...

This past weekend, I went away on a trip to visit an old college friend, his wife, and their two kids.

It was a last minute decision, one that I made impulsively...and one that I regretted once I was on the plane.  I hadn't seen this friend in 13 years.  I've never met his wife.  Even when we were in college, it's not like we had long, heart-felt talks, WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?

Turns out, it was a great trip.  One filled with laughter, great conversation, and awesome food choices.  There was an outdoor market where we went and I was able to see the difference between freshly harvested fruits and veggies and the crap that is in most grocery stores.  The bounty of food that was available made me thankful that I lived in a country where fresh food is a possibility.  We are so blessed!

We ran with the kids, skipped and played LIKE kids.  We went to the aquarium and children's museums.  I lifted, carried, and swung the kiddos so many times, my biceps are still killing me this morning.

I had fresh fish for dinner and healthy fresh egg scrambled with great quality ham and veggies.  My only snacks were a few almonds each day...but that was enough to stave off the hunger and enjoy what we were doing at the time.

The whole time, I was mindful.  I passed up desserts, snacks, and seconds because I just wasn't hungry.

It was the first trip I've taken in a long time where I wasn't thinking non-stop about the food that we would be eating, could be eating, or should be eating.  We stayed up late each night laughing and telling old stories from college...and in the morning I was greeted with giggling girls wanting nothing more than to snuggle with me while watching cartoons (the bed that I slept on was in the TV room). 

It was truly a vacation - for my mind, body, and spirit.

It gives me hope that one of these days I can have a positive relationship with food - even while celebrating.

P.S.  Here's this week's friendly reminder to enter the Laughing Cow sweeps for this month on my other blog.  If you can't think of anything funny to write, put up a picture, video, post a link to the blog or tweet about the giveaway.  It so happened that last month's random winner is a loyal reader of this blog - but (obviously) you have to enter to win!