Extreme Inferno – the Antipodean episodes

So the last time I posted about EI I was sitting in Heathrow Airport about to board a plane for our holiday – a cruise around New Zealand and Australia. That was over two weeks ago now and we’re now on the final part of our cruise which will see us arrive in Sydney and disembark the ship before spending two nights in the city and then coming home via two nights in Hong Kong. It’s been pretty much amazing so far.

I’m very happy to report that I’ve been able to keep up with my workouts while I’m been away. Our hotel in Auckland had a small gym and the ship has got some fantastic workout facilities which mean that keeping up with my workout schedule has been easy.

The eating side of things was always going to be the more challenging part of the programme for me while I’m been away. On a cruise ship temptation is everywhere. Ice cream, cakes, burgers, chips, pizza all freely available almost 24hrs a day. There are also around 10 different bars on the ship so alcohol is everywhere!

However, it’s also very easy to make good choices. The buffet in particular has been a great place for me to eat – platters of fresh fruit, eggs any way you like them for breakfast and a huge choice of meat and vegetables. Lots of opportunity to make good choices.

I’m not going to lie, I’ve not been a saint. I’ve been a bit more relaxed with the ‘mostly mostly’ approach and allowed myself a few extras here and there. A burger, the odd portion of chips, a shared dessert. And yes there has been wine, and the odd cocktail or two. I’m on holiday for goodness sake.

I’ve brought my tape measure with me to help me keep track of how I’m doing. Yesterday I took the two measurements that are the most important to me – my waist and my tummy. I was delighted to find that while my waist measurement was the same, my tummy had actually decreased by half a centimetre. Very happy indeed.

We’ve still got a week left on this trip including a couple of flights and some time where it might not be so easy for me to workout. I can’t afford to be complacent, but I’m feeling confident that I will come home in no worse shape than I left, and very possibly having made more fat loss progress.

And that’s got to be a testament to what Julia has helped me to realise this year. That my choices will determine my progress. I could easily have decided that a holiday was a good excuse to slack off for three weeks, to have skipped my workouts and eaten and drunk everything in sight. But I’ve chosen not to do that. I’ve chosen to have a mostly healthy holiday, not a saintly one by any means, but one with some balance. And ultimately I know I’ll come home feeling a lot better for having made those choices.

I’ve just started the final two weeks of the programme. Julia has us focussed on our goals and revved up to give it our absolute all for the final rounds of workouts. I’m totally up for it!