Last weekend, I spent a glorious time in Havasu Canyon. If you have never been there, you need to go at least once in your life. I plan on going every year until I die. This was the second year I've gone.

I think the reason I love this place is that there is so much beauty packed into a small space. Not only does this fact make for a delight to the senses, but it means that the visitors are distributed throughout, and not crowded all around. Add that the canyon is difficult to reach, and that it was the off-season, and you get plenty of space and quiet to enjoy the lush greenery, and crystal blue falls. Here's a pic I took of one of the falls:

OK, enough reminiscing! Let's talk about the diet and fitness thing. It is related to my trip, trust me. Being on the road and going on vacation means lots of potential for not-so-good eating. There are ways around it, but I didn't follow them. I ate chips, trail mix, and greasy things.

On the balance, I did LOTS of swimming, hiking, exploring, and rock-scrambling. The state of my feet and legs can attest to that. TIP: a 6 mile hike in Tevas is a bad idea! I came back so blistered and scraped, I could wear nothing on my feet but flip-flops for a week.

My wrecked feet made working out a challenge, but I did it nonetheless. I went through a whole box of Band-Aids bandaging my boo boos and took it easy on the elliptical. I also did a lot more weight training. The result: half a pound heavier on Wednesday's weigh-in. It sounds like a setback, but I like to be optimistic, and think that it could have been a lot worse.

Since then, I have been extra cautious. The final weigh-in is only days away. I was pretty good this past weekend. I made good choices when dining out, skipped dessert, and really limited the alcohol intake.

I'm not overly optimistic about how I'll end up (preliminary weight checks tell me not to be). But I think over all, I will be satisfied, and keep going on this journey. Eventhough the scale has not moved too much, I find my clothes fitting better, things are "shifting" to the right places on my body, and I feel really good at the end of every day. I know it sounds cheesy, but regardless of the numbers, I feel like I have won.