JustUs275

11 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We are doing a 5 night in Galveston with one night off and then another ship for 10 nights.  While it’s a pain to pack up it’s also fun to have a different ship and different entertainment. For us it’s great to do more than one cruise at a time.  We don’t live by a port so travel is involved. 

We are doing this in Galveston later this year. 5 nights on Mariner, meet our kids and granddaughters at an airbnb for one night, then 7 nights on Harmony. I think it will work well for us. Both are new ships for my husband and I, we have the flight expenses anyway, and the deciding factor for adding the 5 night cruise was we only needed 4 nights to reach the next loyalty tier prior to our 2025 50th anniversary cruise LOL.

I stayed the same this week. I've been doing my morning walks and *mostly* eating well. I'll just keep on keeping on! 

Hopeful, prayers for your dad to make a quick recovery. All that ice cream, yum!

Izena, it's good that some stressors will be resolved. Hang in there!

Jan, sounds like a lovely day - hope next week's results are better for you!

Solo, wow that's a great loss! It will be a cause for celebration when you reach ONE-derland!

Have a great week, everyone!

Terri

18 minutes ago, JustUs275 said:

I thought I read a post from you where they did send you a pic for #22, but I cannot find that post again to see the view. #14 and #22 are both available for our date, as well as #16. Decisions, decisions!

@OCSC Mike - never mind, I found the post 🙃

On 4/15/2024 at 6:14 PM, OCSC Mike said:

Funny you mention that. We chose a beach daybed on the end (#14) for July. I was checking my reservation online a few days ago (they have a map on their website that lets you choose your daybed and you can switch it yourself after it’s booked). Anyway, suddenly there’s a new daybed next to ours (#22) and two other new ones by the pool (#20-21).

 

I emailed them about it and they got back to me very quickly and said those 3 new ones are being installed in the next 2 weeks. They offered to switch us to #22 but I didn’t want to do that without seeing the view (you can click on any of the numbers & it will show you the view looking out from the daybed). The woman said as soon as they’re installed she would send me a pic from #22 & then we can decide to switch or not.

 

I’ve been very impressed with their pre-trip customer service thus far.

I thought I read a post from you where they did send you a pic for #22, but I cannot find that post again to see the view. #14 and #22 are both available for our date, as well as #16. Decisions, decisions!

Hello all!

I was about .5 lb up on the scales this morning 😒. I'll just keep on doing what I know to do - plus increasing my water intake because I realized how much less water I've been drinking. It's been perfect weather for morning walks too. I'm looking forward to the day when the scales moves in a downward direction, for sure!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Terri

Good morning everyone!

Awww, Belle, I'm sorry you had to cancel a cruise. But 2 lb loss is great!

Jan, I'm glad you continue to get good reports!  And 2 lb loss while on vacation - that's great! Yes, staying the same is definitely better than gaining.

Hopeful, it's good that your body recovered from last week's workout, and congrats on staying the same.

You ladies are encouraging me...I am so struggling with maintaining. My daughter and husband are on their anniversary trip/cruise this week, so I've been staying with the (pre-teen and teen) granddaughters. My meals were good, but then there were too many salty/crunchy snacks and ice cream treats...and sadly the scales reflected that. Yesterday I was up 2 lbs from last week. Today I leave for the weekend with my other daughter. I think I will do better though, as we won't be sitting around in the evenings watching movies and snacking, like the granddaughters and I did 😊 This daughter has been on her own weight loss journey and has lost 50 lbs so far! I am so proud of her doing this, for her health's sake. So I hope to have a better report next week!

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Terri

Hello everyone! Sorry I've been MIA, I just checked and it's been almost a month since I've posted here 🤪 This past month has been unbelievably busy, and I worked a lot more than usual. Still have a couple of graduation celebrations and a wedding to attend. Sadly, a couple of weeks ago I lost all of my weight loss history in the tracking app I use. Ugh, it was my record of all the way back to February 2023 and I was so disappointed to lose it. Nothing to be done about it though, it just makes me annoyed because it was so motivating to me to be able to look back to like a year ago and see how far I've come in my weight loss journey. 

So anyway, I have been up and down all of May by anywhere from 1-3 lbs. I was really beginning to get concerned because my tendency in the past was to just slowly stop weighing when I saw consistent ups on the scales, and then continue to gain even more. I made myself weigh daily though, even when what I saw on the scales made me cringe! However, I do feel my motivation kicking back in this past week. This morning I weighed 1.5# less than I did on May 2nd (that's the first Thursday weigh in record on my "new" app installation). I'm very happy about that, as it is within a pound of my goal weight! I'm also happy to report that my early May nurse practioner appointment was excellent - my A1C was the same as 3 months earlier (low 5's), which is a real positive for me personally in 2 respects: 1.) It reflects some consistency/lifestyle changes in my food and movement habits. 2.) Low 5's compared to the high 7's that it consistently was prior to February 2023. My weight was also about the same as the previous visit 3 months ago. She said she had nothing to get onto me about haha! Now that my health is better, I look forward to my NP visits - she is an avid cruiser as well, and around my age, so we have lots in common!

I've been walking a mile most days again, which I know is good for me. I'm going to try the squats method using a chair that someone posted about (sorry, I don't remember for sure which of you it was - I just read all of the past 2-3 weeks' posts at one time! Maybe Hopeful??). That sounds like something I can easily work into my summertime routine. And my friend, who loves to have a huge garden, will soon be bringing lots of delicious fresh tomatoes for me to enjoy! Summertime eating is so much easier for me with all the local/fresh options. Well, there is also that local ice cream place....😉

I hope this weekend finds you all feeling better if you've been struggling with your health. That is no fun. Talk to you soon!

Terri

We did this when we sailed out of Seattle in 2015. Loved visiting Pike Place Market and the flowers were so gorgeous! We had no problem carrying them onboard, and they had a vase we used in our cabin. 

Hello all!

I stayed the same this week. 🫠

Welcome home, Belle!

Jan, I'm glad the BP is improving...hoping you feel better soon!

Hopeful, yay for losing that pound! I agree 100% - the weight doesn't come off nearly as easy anymore!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Belle, enjoy the remainder of your cruise. How fun to do extended cruising!

Jan, I'm glad to read that the BP is improving. 3 months, sounds like an exciting trip and you can lose that 10 lbs!

I lost .5 lb this week. 🫠

Terri

Belle, enjoy the remainder of your cruise! And to answer your question, apparently my answer this week is NO, because I gained about 2 lbs. I ate out at Mexican restaurants 3 days in a row...I ordered salads with grilled chicken, but those darn chips n salsa get me every time. 😐 So my plan, which I have done better with the past 3 days, is to not eat out as much (although I do have a lunch date tomorrow with a friend who I only see about twice a year now...yep, at a Mexican restaurant which was her choice!), and to not keep any kind of chips in the house. We grilled up chicken, marinated turkey breast, and salmon this week, which has made for healthier meals. So hopefully the scales will move the other way next week.

Good for you Jan, that's a nice loss! I hope the BP improves soon 🙏. And how exciting to get to visit with your new puppy! Have you chosen a name for her yet?

Teri, wow your schedule and workload sounds so stressful! I am sure it will be worth it all in the end. I do intermittent fasting too, and it usually works well for me...as you said, when I follow it religiously. 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Terri

Belle, good for you, portioning out your chocolate! Sounds like you are doing well during your cruse. And congrats being 3rd most traveled - that's impressive!

Jan, I read your post about dealing with bells palsy - that's awful. I hope you get better soon. Like Belle, I know a couple of people that had this happened to also. They recovered well and never had another episode. Take care!

I lost about a pound this week. I'm happy with that!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

I did weigh on Thursday and recorded it in my WW app...I do that first thing in the morning, but I don't usually log into CC until afternoon so I forget to come here and report. 🙃 I did stay the same again last week.

I'm busy preparing for our family Easter dinner on Sunday. We still do an egg hunt for our 2 youngest grandchildren and our great-grandchild. It will be a fun day, but I have a specific weight-related memory attached to Easter. In 1991, I had lost about 60 lbs and was doing so well. Then at Easter, I ate a few of those delicious little malted candy eggs, then ate some more, and then ate the rest of them. That began a downward spiral for me, I quit weighing, and slowly I regained all I had lost. That always sticks in the back of my head and I know I need to just leave the candy alone. I'm not nearly so "addicted" to sweets as I was back then and that helps. Now it's more the salty crunch I like LOL. I'd like to think I'm managing myself much better than I was back then. Time will tell!

We are in ONEderland now for our fall cruise countdown, less than 200 days LOL. My goal is to maintain and hopefully lose about 3 lbs or so right before we cruise so I have a little cushion.

Have a blessed Easter weekend, everyone!

Terri

Hopeful, I hope your calmer work week plan comes to fruition! Meal planning is important to me, otherwise I find it too easy to revert back to old habits. Sounds like you just about have your personal trainer fully trained! Have a good week.

Terri

We had a few nice days here, but it's mostly been on the cool side. Our trees are blooming and the birds are looking for nesting spots lol. All are sure signs that spring is on its way.

I stayed the same again, and I'm happy with that! We are going to an Amish buffet restaurant on Saturday for our family "birthdays" dinner - several have birthdays in the spring, and our daughters were both born in March, so we have an annual tradition of taking the whole family out for dinner in March. This is the 20th year we have done this, which is hard to believe! My plan is to enjoy as many salads and veggies as I want, but limit myself to 1 piece of their delicious fried chicken. And maybe a bite or 2 of pie 🫢

Enjoy your cruising Belle, and good job on eating well.

I hope you succeed in dropping the small gain, Jan! Spring is a good time for new beginnings.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Terri

I usually weigh every morning, but for some reason I forget to come in and post on Thursdays! 🙄 Anyway, I stayed the same again - which I'm very happy about. 

Izena, I hope your week has gotten better...what a rough start!

Hopeful - yay for holding steady!

Jan - I hope you have a good weigh-in this week!

Have a great week, everyone!

Terri

I gained a pound this week - but I am still within my "goal range" so it's good. I am working hard at learning to continue eating well along with having the occasional indulgence, but then resume those healthy eating habits that will sustain my weight loss. So far, so good! A personal *win* for me is that I still have a small bowl of chocolate bite-size candy bars left from Christmas sitting on the counter - and I have not eaten one single piece! I know what my trigger foods are, and I know it is best for me to not have any of those. I did make some low-point (WW) "chips" to have with salsa as a snack this evening, pretty tasty!

As far as walking, I have been walking about 15 minutes in our school's gym before work in the mornings. I'm on my feet all morning in the classroom. My 11 year old granddaughter and I have also been taking some short afternoon walks too. It's fun spending time with her! The walks are such short durations that I don't think it really impacts my weight, but I know it's good for me - my A1C was great at last month's appointment. I hope to build back up to where I was last fall, when whatever it was happened right after our cruise. I walked a lot before and during the cruise, took the steps, etc, and felt really great. We had a long drive home after our vacation, and my legs/hips/knees began really hurting. So weird. But it's slowly getting better, and I seem to be tolerating the shorter walks. Little by little, I'll add a few more minutes and hope for the best!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I'm happy to say that I "maintained" all month. 😁

Belle, that's great - only 1 ice cream in 6 days! Good for you. Hope you are enjoying your cruise.

Izena, enjoy your cruise! Staying away from concentrated sweets is a good goal.

Hopeful, good choices at the Mexican restaurant...those darn chips and salsa get me though! 😆

Have great cruises for those of you so lucky to be cruising, and a good weekend to those of us who continue counting down to the next one!

Hello all,

I was up 1 lb this week. I've been craving "comfort foods", so I need to get back to healthier eating tomorrow. At least I only ate 3 of my 5 chicken tenders, half of the baked potato, and a few bites of the slaw, for dinner today 🙄 I definitely need to up my water intake!

I have been walking in the gym before work this week, and so far my legs are doing ok with it. Regular doctor appt next week...she will be happy with me I think 😁

I keep looking at Fall 2025 cruises for our 50th anniversary, but just haven't found the right one at the right price! 

Have a great weekend everyone...we had a beautiful week with temps in the 50's, but it's sleeting and snowing now. But spring is on the way!

Terri

Hello,

I stayed the same again this week, maintaining is the name of the game for me now!

We were supposed to go to a SB get together with friends tomorrow evening, and I had planned to make a healthy spinach dip and veggie platter. But now we won't be going because DH realized he has to do prepping tomorrow for a medical appointment on Monday. Soooo....all those wings, dips, and desserts won't be a temptation for me! I will miss the get together though, it's always fun. 

March cruisers - it's just around the corner for you! 😁 Our cruise is *only* 247 days away! 😂

Have a great week, all!

Terri

Congratulations to all on your successes - so encouraging!

I stayed the same this week, I'll take it. 

I still have managed to not buy those darn tortilla chips that I'm "addicted" to 🤪. I did go to lunch today with my daughter, to our favorite Mexican restaurant. Yes, I had the chips and salsa, but I think that's better than keeping them on hand in my cabinets. It was a delicious lunch! 😁

Have a great weekend, all!

Terri

On 1/31/2024 at 11:31 AM, The Fun Researcher said:

Agree completely. 

 

A few other small differences... Freedom class has the cantilevered hot tubs, a separate Sorrento's and Café Promenade (instead of them being combined), and I think Freedom class has freshwater pools vs saltwater for Voyager class (I could be wrong on this last one).

 

Personally, I love the AMPED versions of both classes the most. 

I do think I will miss having a separate Sorrento's. The pools and hot tubs aren't priority for us. 

I'm pretty confident we will enjoy the Mariner!

On 1/31/2024 at 10:28 AM, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

If you like Freedom class, you'll also like Voyager class. They have the same layout. The only difference is that Freedom is a little longer. I've been on both classes and to be honest, I don't see/feel a difference. Each ship has some different venues/amenities than the others so you'll notice that.

Thank you - that is what we are hoping! 

Our favorite class so far is Freedom.

We like to have the Promenade but prefer not as many people as Oasis class. 

We are trying our first Voyager class ship this fall.

We honestly had never paid much attention to our tier level, other than "Hey, look at that - we moved up!" 😄When we did realize how close we would be for our 50th anniversary cruise later in 2025, we decided to cancel our summer (land) vacation and added 5 nights to our 7 night cruise this fall. Cruises are our preferred vacation type anyway! We plan to make next year's anniversary cruise a longer one and some of the benefits will be nice. IF they don't change the benefits before then! 🙃