The Number on the Scale

I talk a lot about clean eating on this here blog. I like to share what I have learned over the past year and all of the wonderful recipes I have discovered. Clean eating has been so successful for me. I have felt great, lost weight, and learned to love foods that are good for me. There is just one piece of this little equation missing, and that's working out.

I've always been an active person. I played sports growing up, I like to go on walks, I try to take the stairs whenever possible, but I hate the gym. Like hate it with a burning passion. I also hate running and my asthma doesn't make it any easier. For me, it has always been about finding something that worked for me. I tried being a runner and even ran a 5k, but it has never been enjoyable to me. I stayed active growing up because I loved playing volleyball, but I stopped playing in college. Over the summer I developed my love for hot yoga and actually enjoyed going.

I started clean eating and doing hot yoga around the same time. I started to notice a little change in my body and lost a few pounds, but I didn't lose as much weight as I was expecting with all of the work I was putting in. The scale was still too close to the number I was used to seeing. I have never needed to lose a lot of weight or been that interested in losing weight, but to me it was more about pushing myself to be the best version of me that I could be.

When we moved to Okinawa, I continued eating healthy but stopped working out pretty much all together. I don't have access to bikram yoga here and as I have stated before, I hate the gym. This is when the weight started to melt off. Crazy right, not working out and losing weight? But I knew what was happening. I had built up a lot of muscle during the period of time I was doing yoga and now it was all disappearing. I knew my body was getting less toned, but I enjoyed seeing the smaller number on the scale. I never really cared about the number on the scale until I saw it dropping. It was exciting to see a number I hadn't seen since the beginning of high school.

I am proud of all the progress I have made with my eating habits, but I know that eating great is only one part of the healthy equation. I know that I need to get active again. I know that it is time to ignore the number on the scale and think about what is best for my body. Why is it that the damn scale can have so much influence over our minds? The number it shows doesn't even tell the whole story. It doesn't tell us how healthy we are.

I know it's just a matter of putting my mind to it and creating an exercising habit just as I have done with my eating. I know in the end the way I feel and the way my body looks will be so much more rewarding than the number on the scale. So right here, right now, I am committing to getting my heart rate up more often and putting in the work to get fit, even if that means increasing the number on the scale.

Does the scale get the best of you at times? Any great workout tips for people who hate the gym?

Riding Elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand

This post was hard because I had to cut down the ridiculous amount of elephant pictures I took. It was seriously the most perfect day and I tried to capture every moment. It was an experience we will never forget. 

I think that everyone thinks of elephant rides when they dream of going to Thailand, I certainly was no different. The problem being, I am an animal lover to an extreme. I cried watching the recent documentary, Blackfish. It was really important to me that we have as humane of elephant encounter as possible. I knew that the most humane thing of all would be to not ride elephants at all, but it is kind of a hard opportunity to pass up. I did a lot of research and found that they live naturally in the Northern part of Thailand, so I figured that was the best place to ride them, not somewhere they weren't native to. I found lots of different places that offered elephant encounters. Some offered shows, rides on large seats, etc., but through reviews and research, I found that the best thing to do is go to a conservation. This is where elephants have been saved from illegal use in logging and other mistreatment. These elephants are very well cared for and all the proceeds go towards giving them a better life. They are not made to do unnatural tricks, hit with bamboo or sticks, wear heavy chains, wear unnatural seats, and are not mistreated. 

There were a few that were highly recommended, but since we were there during the busiest time of the year, they were booked. We were able to book a half day elephant experience at Ran Tong save and rescue elephant centre.  They had great reviews and offered a half-day program, which was almost half of the price. They are growing in popularity in the elephant tourism industry in Chiang Mai because of their wonderful treatment of the beautiful animals.

So our morning with an elephant went something like this:

8:00 We were picked up at our hotel in a pickup truck that hard been converted into a taxi with covered seats in the bed. This is very common in Chiang Mai. We were a little worried about the ride because it was kind of scary being in the bed of the truck in the open air weaving through traffic. It was a bumpy and dusty hour ride up into the mountains on the outskirts of Chiang Mai, but it was beautiful.

9:00 Arrived at elephant centre

We first got to meet the two baby elephants. They were so cute and very hairy! We all got to feed them bananas and they loved them. 

She had just nuzzled my ear with her trunk. 

9:30 We met a few of the other elephants and learned a bit about the elephant heard at the centre. There are 10 rescued elephants at the centre, ranging from 50 years old to 2 years. Some were used for illegal logging, taxis, circuses, rides with howdahs(seats not made for elephants), and even used to beg for money. It was sad to see some of the scars from their years of mistreatment, but great to see how happy they were at the centre.

This guy stole my heart. He was so majestic. 

10:00 We changed into our mahout (a person who works with elephants) outfit, and we got a kick out of it. We decided Jake looked like MC Hammer.

10:15 The mahouts showed us how to correctly ride the elephants. It was easy to see how much they each cared about the elephant that they worked with. 

10:30 It was time to ride! We were introduced to our elephant. We rode Come Moon, a 17 year old female that they think was used for logging and definitely mistreated due to the scars all over her body. She was very sweet and gentle. It was hard to get on and to sit comfortably. My main concern was to make sure I was sitting on her correctly so that she was comfortable and that I would not fall off. We made our way through the forest to the river. 

Stopping for a drink of water

We stopped at the river where the elephants plopped right in. They absolutely loved the water! They even laid all the way down with only their trunks sticking out for air. We were given bowls to wash them with. They really liked the water being poured over their heads. I don't think they wanted to get out of the water.

We then got back on our elephants and headed through the forest up the mountain. We went quite a ways up and the view of the valley was amazing. Our elephant decided to stop and play in the mud, eat some leaves, and drink some water. She kind of did whatever she wanted, which was fine with us!

We look so small compared to her. Yes, I almost fell of multiple times

She was really hungry

12:00 We reached the top of the hill and had to hop off our elephant. I was sad to say goodbye. We changed into fresh clothes and were then treated to a wonderful meal of soup, vegetables, rice, and fresh pineapple.

 12:30 We fed some of the elephants pineapple and then had to say goodbye. We hopped back into the truck and headed the bumpy hour and a half ride home

Oh, it was the perfect day. It was such an amazing experience being up close and personal with such a large, beautiful animal. Elephants really are beautiful creatures, so gentle and kind. It was great to see the effort the people in Chiang Mai are making to give these wonderful animals a better life. I struggled with the decision to ride elephants, but knowing how great they are treated and how my money was going towards giving them a better life, I was ok with it all. If you do ever get the opportunity to ride elephants, do your research and make sure the elephants are being treated as they should be. I would definitely recommend Ran Tong if you are ever in Chiang Mai.

Linking up with Bonnie and Tina for Travel Tuesday!

Valentines and a Beach Camping Trip

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's/Presidents Day Weekend! We definitely had a great one! On Friday night, our friends had us over and we cooked a wonderful Valentine's meal. It was so good! We had steaks, potatoes, salad, bread, and mushrooms. And no meal would be complete without some chocolate! It was such a fun evening. 

My Valentine

Our husbands surprised us by telling us they are sending us to Ishigaki Island for a birthday getaway. They will both be gone for our March birthdays again this year, so they wanted to do something nice. We are so excited for a little girls weekend getaway to a beautiful island about an hour south of Okinawa. Thanks boys!

The beautiful Ishigaki Island (photo credit)

One of my favorite things to do is make Valentine themed breakfast, so that is what we did Saturday morning. Turkey bacon that failed to look like hearts and heart-shaped egg in a frame. The rest of the day was spent running errands to get ready for our camping trip the next day, walking on the beach, and grilling out that evening. My new favorite thing is to get a local cabbage and grill it!

Sunday I grocery shopped in the morning and then watched the Cats lose, unfortunately, and then we packed up and headed West for an evening of camping on Torii Beach. The weather was great. It was slightly overcast with a little breeze, perfect for snuggling up next to a fire. We made a fire, grilled hotdogs and brats, made s'mores, and watched the sunset. It was pretty much perfection. We ran out of firewood around 9, so we decided to head to bed. We slept great, besides being woken up by a cat raiding our campsite. In the morning we packed up quickly and rushed home because we got a text from the person who went to take Lexie out that she wouldn't go outside. At the point we had been gone a good 18 hours, so when we got home we were surprised she hadn't gone to the bathroom in the house. I guess her diva tendencies allow her to hold it for long periods of time. 

S'mores

It was such a fun, relaxing weekend! We foresee many more beach camping trips in our future. 

Linking up with Monday Morning Gossip and Funday Monday