Cedar Point 2017

Does anybody remember this post from back in 2014 when I took the kids to their first trip to Cedar Point?? No? Well, you should go back and read it and then come back and read this one. Trust me. It'll be fun!

You back? Good. At the end of that post I talked about wanting to be down 50-60 pounds by the time I went again in 2015. Yea, if you notice I never blogged about Cedar Point in 2015. The reason for that is I was EVEN BIGGER and because of that had significantly less fun because I didn't even attempt certain rides due to my size.

We decided to go back this year and I was feeling very nervous and uncertain about it from the moment we decided to go. My recent memories are the ones from '14 and '15 when I couldn't fit into rides. I looked up my weights from those 2 years and compared my current weight. I was hopeful that the 20-30 (depending on if you're looking at my 2014 or '15 weight) pounds I had lost would help me to fit into more seats comfortably.

 We arrived at the park around 9:30 and actually had to wait for them to officially open the park. As soon as they let us into the park we headed straight for the newest ride....Valravn. We ended up only having to wait about 30 minutes for this ride and it was AWESOME! The absolute best part was when I sat down in the seat and reached up for the shoulder harness, I had no issue securing the harness myself!! I can't stress how awesome this made me feel. There was NO question about whether or not I fit into this ride. And that's a good thing because it's a pretty scary ride and I wouldn't have wanted to feel like I was going to fall out.

The day was amazing. It was hotter than blazes, but that didn't stop us. We spent more than 12 hours at the park and rarely stopped to rest. We rode everything we wanted to and some things we rode multiple times (like at the end of the day when Robbie kept running back onto Gatekeeper because it was quite literally a walk on)!

In 2014 I talked about the lessons I learned from my trip to Cedar Point. The one lesson that I learned this year was that it makes such a huge difference to not weigh as much as I did in 2014 (or 15). My anxiety was almost non existent. I still get a little nervous for my kids, but I don't think that'll ever go away. I had so much fun I'm contemplating taking the kids back this year (that likely won't happen though). And, it got me even more excited to continue this journey and hopefully be even smaller next year when we go. This happening during the week that I've been working on my jumpstart was perfect timing!

On Thursday when we went to CP I did not worry about my calories or about what I ate. I ate a lot, but burned even more so I wasn't worried about it. The biggest challenge was coming home and immediately getting back on track. Friday night I had a birthday party to go to for my sister in law and I was a little nervous about that coming right after a "free" day at CP. I am happy to say that, although I didn't stay at 1200 calories, I rocked it! I did not have any alcohol OR cake and tracked what I did eat. I ended the day just around 1500 calories and again, burned more than that so I'll take it! And, because I felt good about what I accomplished yesterday (and this whole week so far) I didn't even get (too) mad when the scale jumped up this morning. I got completely on track today with my 1200 calorie goal. It looks like my final calorie count today is going to be right around 1220!

This jumpstart has made such a difference in my head that it doesn't even matter what the scale says on Monday. I mean, obviously it will matter to me but I don't feel like it will derail my current effort. Monday through Wednesday were SO strong and I was already feeling really good prior to Thursday. Going to CP and not feeling nervous about fitting in the rides felt SO good that I didn't (and don't) want that to end!

I will leave you with this comparison picture (because you know I LOVE them). I am wearing the same shirt in both these pics. The one on the left was from July last year and the one on the right was Thursday at CP. I am wearing the same tank top in both pics. If you recall, I used the pic on the left for a comparison pic last summer in this post.

There's only about a 7 pound difference in these photos but I see so much more. Look at the smile on my face. I'm wearing sunglasses in the one from this year, but I don't need to see my eyes to see how much happier I am. I am not giving up this fight. I will have setbacks along the way. I will even gain back some of the weight I lost (only to have to lose it again); but I will DO this. One way or another I WILL lose this weight. I only hope that next year I can post another comparison picture and continue to see a difference.