Yep!  This week I went on vacation.  It was the first vacation that my family has taken in over a year.  Boy did I need a little getaway.  We didn’t go far and we didn’t do anything extravagant, but it was so nice to just get away.

I was a little concerned about taking a vacation while on my program.  Would I be able to stick to it?  Would I want to cheat?  Would I be able to find the food that I needed and avoid the food that I didn’t want to eat?

Well, I am happy to report that I did it!  I stayed on my plan 100%.  No bad food and I ate every 3 hours.  How did I do it?  I planned.  I think I planned my food more than I did the rest of the vacation.  Hey, I could figure the rest out as I went.  I even figured out which restaurants I could eat at and exactly what I could eat.  Crazy?  Maybe a little, but totally worth it!

Do you want to know what the highlight of my vacation was?  It was swimming with my girls!  You see, I haven’t been in a swimming suit for at least 5 years!  My oldest is 4, so it doesn’t take a masters degree in mathematics to realize that my girls have NEVER seen me in a swimsuit.  You should have seen their faces.   I still don’t look great in a swimsuit, but seeing those smiles on my little girls faces made me realize that it doesn’t matter.  I am gaining confidence enough to put it on and take them swimming.  That is what matters.

It really drove home how much I am missing out on.  I don’t want them to grow up having a mom that can’t {or won’t} do fun things with them because of my weight.  I don’t want to be too embarrassed to get into a swimsuit.  I don’t want to be to big to fit in the rides at the amusement park.  I don’t want to miss out on playing with them because I am too tired.

I am changing my life for myself and for them!  I am going to be able to do all the things that I want with them.  I won’t be the sideline mom!  I’m going to be right in the thick of it. This week I got a small glimpse of that, and it is Awesome!

  
{My little crazies.  They LOVE the water.  Aren’t they just so silly!}

You know what?  I did it!  I lost another 4 pounds for a total of 32 pounds!  Yay!  As part of my preparations for food I decided to make my own ketchup and cocktail sauce.  I haven’t had either in 2 1/2 months and I miss them!  I have been having turkey burgers, veggie burgers, and shrimp a lot.  So I thought it would be great to have some ketchup and cocktail sauce.  It turned out Amazing.  My hubby says he can’t taste the difference between my ketchup (which is sugar free) and the regular stuff.

So here are the recipes that I used.  I made them in a rush so no pictures.  Sorry.  Enjoy!

Super Easy Sugar-Free Ketchup

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 2/3 cup cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup Splenda sugar substitute
• 2 tablespoons minced onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

 

Directions:

Just put everything in your blender and run it until the onion disappears.  Scrape into a container with a tight lid and store in the refrigerator.

Sugar-Free Shrimp Cocktail Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar-free ketchup (Just use the above recipe)
• 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• hot sauce, such as Tabasco, to taste

Directions:

Mix ingredients together in blender, taste, and add more horseradish or hot sauce if desired. You can also add a little sweetener if that is to your taste.