It’s another full day of eats post. This one was from Friday last week!
I started out the day with a premier protein while I worked for a bit from home.
All in all, I ate about 1,800 calories for the day and I was completely satisfied.
The morning started with a cup of coffee in my “you are the bees knees” mug. Piper and Laney got this for me for Christmas and I just love it!
For dinner, I made Salmon, mashed potatoes and green beans.
After dinner, the whole family went for a walk.
For some reason (you can guess why), I had a craving for a chocolate bar. I also wanted some more cheese curds and had a Fresca to end the night.
We got back from vacation last Monday evening, and so most of this past week was spent getting back on track with my challenge tasks. Here’s how it all played out!
Spring Challenge Tasks
Weighing in after vacation is very humbling. It’s also not entirely accurate, right? Let me show you.
Before vacation, 3/28/26: 215 lbs
After vacation, 4/07/26: 225 lbs
In a little over a week, I gained 10 pounds while on vacation.
Here’s how it’s shaken out since then:
4/08/26: 222 lbs
4/09/26: 220 lbs
4/10/26: 218 lbs
It was hard to see the weight gain, but it’s good to see the weight starting to come back off. Pretty rapidly, too!
I wasn’t very intentional with my eating while on vacation. As soon as I got back home though, I started paying more attention to my food intake. Being intentional has been key in helping me stay on track!
Here’s a full day of eats from Wednesday, 4/8:
When I got home, it was close to lunchtime so I made myself an Italian style sandwich without cheese on it, that way I could get my cheese helping in curds on the side.
In the afternoon, I had a snack.
For dinner, we grilled up some chicken, chicken sausage, peppers, onions and pierogies on the blackstone. I served it with a dollop of sour cream on top. This was incredible!
Give me all the days above 60° and food from the grill!
After dinner, I went for a walk with Piper. It was a beautiful evening to be outside! When I came home, I ate half of the bundtlet that my mom got me for Easter. It was so good!
I appreciate being able to fit a sweet treat in my days. When I’m intentional with my eating throughout the day, I can fit it in while still maintaining a calorie deficit.
The total calories consumed in this day came in around 1,710.
I try really hard to focus on the good, however, returning from vacation was diabolical.
We returned from vacation to an issue with our water supply at home, plus an elderly dog with diarrhea. I don’t have many words to describe how terrible that was at the time.
The first 24 hours back home was messy. I felt like we were constantly cleaning while trying to get readjusted back home. It wasn’t an easy transition back.
The blessings were that I did a deep clean of the house before we left so a majority of the house was set up nicely when we returned.
I also did all of the laundry before packing up, so unpacking at home was a breeze. We only had one load of laundry to put in the wash, and the rest went right into our dressers.
My mother in law had also made us meatloaf, mashed potatoes and carrots for dinner so we had a homecooked meal ready to be warmed up in the fridge.
I also placed a grocery pick up order on our way home so our fridge got restocked almost instantly.
There was a lot that went well with our return, and some hiccups that we had to work out. The after-vacation exhaustion set in while I was cleaning up dog messes and I felt really low at the time. Thinking about all of the blessings helps! I really can’t wait for my dog and myself to be feeling back to normal soon.
The end of our trip is hard to write about because I’m so sad that it’s over. I am also glad to be getting back into the routine of things at home. It’s bittersweet.
We got to spend Easter morning at my sister’s house on base. The kids had so much fun together that morning! They did an egg hunt in the back yard, and my brother-in-law made them some fun Easter bunny pancakes and drinks.
Right around noon, we left to make our way to Indianapolis. We stayed overnight there and made the rest of the trip home the next day.
We are really grateful for this opportunity to visit with family, and for the blessings God has gifted us with during this trip!
God provided us safe travels, good health and great memories with our long-distance family. We are grateful!
Day 5 of our trip started out in the best way! Nick and I got to go into the cute little town of Warrensburg, MO for a coffee date and shopping. We went back to Cafe du Berg for our morning latte. Then we went shopping at the Magnolia Market.
I didn’t take many pictures on this day of the trip.
We started out at The Gathering House for coffee. I had the Teddy Graham iced latte. It was great! The atmosphere was great, too. It was a little Christian coffee house. They even gave us a scripture reference on our cups. So cute!
After the coffee shop, we had a Wendy’s lunch with the family. The kids love their frosty’s so it was very exciting for them.
The kids did a lot of playing together outside on this day. My mom and I went to the store for an Easter goodie run for Sunday. It was special for all the kids to be getting Easter baskets all together again this year.
In the afternoon, we took the kids back to the playground near the Air Bnb. This air bnb was in the best location for us. We loved it so much!
The playground was right next to the trails to the caves. We did some walking down the trails again, while the weather was still nice.
That evening, we grabbed Firehouse subs and took them to my sisters house on Whiteman Air Force Base. We ate dinner, played a game, and just enjoyed our time together!
