Thar she blows!

Just got back from holiday, and it was awesome! Cruised to Alaska, saw eagles, sea lions, seals and even whales! Then we got crabs in Ketchikan! I now know for a fact that Dungeness crab is by far the best tasting crab in the world. Doesn't even need butter - just suck it right out of the shell! Needless to say, I almost fell off the old diet wagon a few times. Keeping a disciplined diet and exercise regime on a cruise ship is next to impossible. It's in the proximity of extremely difficult and in the ball park with "wouldn't even wanna try". Mmmm, a ball park hot dog would be soooo good right now.

Anyway . . .

I somehow managed a few good runs over the last couple weeks, and even made some good menu choices at times while cruising Alaska and sweating in Kelowna. It was 38 degrees Celsius on the day I was to run, but I found the most wonderful recreation complex with a HUGE indoor running track! I paid my 2 dollar drop-dead . . uh, drop-in fee, and ran a full five miles. It was great. This was Canada Day weekend. Even on the lovely Coral Princess, I found a couple hours to train. In fact, my longest run to date was on board, in the ship's gym. Although it was on a treadmill, with no incline, I still ran 11 km without a break. Didn't even fall down afterward!

The rule of thumb on any cruise, which any travel agent is proud to divulge, is that you can expect to gain 1 to 2 pounds PER DAY on board. I'm pretty sure I failed the test, because all my clothes still fit on the last day of the cruise. I accomplished this feat primarily by NOT using the elevators (we had to walk plenty of stairs to get from our cabin on the 8th deck to the buffet on the 14th.) We also stayed active, doing plenty of walking ashore. I think I had a second helping only once or twice during the entire week, and chose the fat free dessert all but once when I chose to have one. Even still, my sugars were testing on average between 7.5 and 9.5, a couple points higher than usual. Shows how bad it COULD have been if I'd let it all hang out.

Picture this - in the dining room, you pick an appetizer, then a soup, a salad, an entre and a dessert. If you can't decide between any of three or four choices of each, they offer to bring you ONE OF EACH! In fact, we were witness to an incident outside one of the A la carte restaurants on board where a couple came out looking extremely full. Their waiter came running after them with three different desserts which he demanded they take. They politely refused, saying they simply couldn't eat another bite. The waiter looked like they had just kicked him in the privates - totally disgusted that they wouldn't eat more food! After a five minute discussion, they left with the desserts with an instruction to have them in their cabin for a midnight snack. How much did this cost? Nothing.

If you get the munchies a 2 AM, you simply roll over, get on the horn and order up a sandwich. No cost. Want pizza? Head up to the pool deck and eat all the wood-fired gourmet pizza you want from the pizzeria. Hankerin for a burger? Head up a flight of stairs (if you don't want to walk to the elevator) and grab a beef, chicken or veggie burger, a hot dog and heaping plate of fries at the burger bar. Then wash it all down with every beverage known to man. The drinks cost, but a guy's gotta stay lubricated, right? We ate mounds of incredible crab legs, pounds of succulent salmon and some of the best beef filet ever. I even had aligator. Tastes like chicken.

And now I'm back in the real world.


So, back to the grind. I just checked my fundraising total and I'm at $1240, with about $1200 more on the way from those who have committed to the cause. So far so good. If anyone is interested, check out the Taste of the Lakeland at Exhibition Park in Cold Lake this Sunday at 11:30, as I'll be helping out with a cooking demonstration and telling my story.

PS: Missed my run last night for two reasons - massive lightning storm and strained achilles tendon. Gotta avoid injury, and . . . well . . . being barbecued. Tonight is run night - rain or shine. See you on Lakeshore Drive. I'll be the sweaty one bouncing down the road.

The Fat Guy