It was wonderful! We spent five lovely days in San Diego California, drove to Vegas on Friday and stayed overnight, then spent the better part of Saturday driving home. The girls had the time of their lives (the zoo, Sea World, the beach and Safari Park). What fun! The damage? Six pounds of water weight. Yuck! It definitely could have been worse (hubby put on 12 pounds, then went to the gym this morning). My goal is to weed out the carbs again and drink water like it's going out of style. It's so amazing what happens to the body and water retention when you go from 5,000 feet elevation to sea level.

My maintenance has been good overall and I'm happy with a low-carb life. I don't deny myself, even indulging in my favorite sweets every now and again. It's really done well for me, but I haven't lost anymore weight.

I've incorporated T25 into my regime and I'm really enjoying what it does for me. It's very little time to work out in the morning I sweat like a horse! My eating will need to change to really reap the benefits (less cocktails or wine and minimal sugar-free treats). They're not as damaging as the real thing, but they don't allow for progress which is what I'm after...at least to keep the bloat off. I've been happy at my size and it's not as scary looking at myself in pictures.

Hubby is all Gung-ho about moving his business forward. He has complete access to his website now and wants me to maintain it. Since when did I become a webmistress? We'll see how that pans out. I think it's important for him to have the tools himself. I wonder if I can teach an old dog new tricks?

Round 3 begins tomorrow. Am I ready? Well, we shall see. I've purchased enough meat items and cabbage to last me a few days, once the VLCDs begin. I'll have to get used to cooking everything separately again but I've done it before, right?

The loading is fun, but difficult. The HCG makes it tough to eat and I have in mind how I'll load. After my visit with my best friend, I'm sort of sick of eating out (as is my wallet); however, I do need to say good bye to my favorites for the next month or so. Indian, Chinese and Greek are definitely on the menu (and the only items I didn't eat while the best friend was here).

I miss her already! We are still joined at the hip and never seem to run out of things to talk about. I love her dearly and despise that we are so far apart. She's an amazing support system that I need so much, but can't have on a regular basis (because there's no way I'm moving back to Nashville). So, we're resolved to alternating our visits each year. I will be there next October and when she sees my kids again, they will be 7 and 12 years old. That's crazy!

I'll weigh in the morning. I have a feeling I'll be at the weight I was when I started round 2, especially after all the crap we ate this weekend. Even though I can't work out, I have a goal to have that blasted new treadmill put together before my phase 3 begins. I gotta have my work outs ready to go, once I hit maintenance. The maintenance went very well, so long as I was working out regularly. As soon as I stopped (shortly after our return from vacation), the weight returned. I'm also resigned to a low-car lifestyle. I just don't do well with them. Even though I'm no where near the number of carbs I was ingesting before the protocol, I feel a difference mentally and physically.

Loading begins tomorrow. I'm thinking a scone with loads of honey butter and bacon for breakfast. I've been enjoying cappuccinos since the cold has come in and the new pumpkin spice flavor is lovely. I may have one of those, at some point. Chinese and Greek will round out the day and I know I'll probably be so full and uncomfortable. I don't look forward to that at all, but it is so necessary for the process.

So, the short round may not get me back into the 130's and I'm really not upset about it. Crazy, right? I was so all about being 135 but I felt good at 140-145. My hubby was also happy with that weight and I didn't look frail. So, if 145 is to be my ideal weight for me, then so be it. Here we go!

Well, at least for now. I put on ten pounds (of mostly water) during our vacation. Thankfully, four pounds disappeared two days after we got home. We went to Vegas the first day and played around that evening. The next day, we drove to Orange, California and stayed two nights. The second day we were in California (Sunday) we spent time at one of my favorite childhood parks, Knotts Berry Farm. The girls loved it. Dad was less than thrilled about the lines, but he admitted to having a good time, too.

Monday, we drove to Long Beach port and hopped onto our Carnival Cruise ocean liner to Mexico. Sweet! Our first cruise! Lordy, Lordy did we have fun! We did really well with our eating the first two days, but things began to go downhill once they had their cheesecake buffet (seriously! I had to have some!). I figure that I was contributing to the consumption of American dairy, which is always good. The other items were tantalizing as well and I think I could have done far worse, if I'd let my curiosity of every dish get the best of me. More than anything, the salt was the biggest culprit.

In Mexico, I came to a churro stand where (I kid you not) I had the best churros of my life, and I'm really not that big of a fan. We also had the most amazing fish tacos, asada and tostadas ever. Hubby went back for round two, they were so good. My kingdom for another fish taco.

We went to shows, participated in karaoke and family karaoke, we ate, we swam, we debarked and visited Santa Catalina and Ensanada. What a wonderful vacation. When can we do it again?!

Once the cruise ended, we hoped in the car and drove back to Vegas for one night. We stayed at Tahiti Village (very nice and hubby and I have agreed to stay there again without the children). We would have stayed there a lot sooner, but my mother canceled out on us for babysitting so, hubby had to cancel the reservation.

So, round 3 will not begin until the end of October, most likely. I'm doing a lot of protein and a cleanse to rid my system of all the yuck. I told hubby of my plans and he's still touting the, "You better not get too small," speech. I promised him I would not venture into the crack-look. It's not attractive, no matter what the media tells you.