Last Naples Post - Why I Was There

 My trip to Naples was kind of life changing for me. Which sounds weird but hear me out. I've been struggling with how to write about it. I know that topics like weight and health and food can be touchy subjects, so I won't be offended if you skip this post. I'm not the best writer, I'm much more comfortable letting the images do that talking, but here goes.
You might have guessed by now, but I work for the biggest "natural" grocery store chain in the country. It isn't my dream job, but it is a good job and the company rules for the most part. They make these health immersion trips available to interested team members a few times a year and I decided to apply this fall. I wasn't sure I would learn anything but I knew at least I would be in a beautiful warm place, all expenses paid, for part of the hectic holiday retail season. Also as I'm getting older I'm realizing I'm not invincible (duh). I've had some health problems come up this year, nothing serious, but enough to make me open to making some changes. And this is kind of embarrassing, but for the last 3 years we've been vegetarians who rarely ate vegetables.

Don't these work vehicles look weird on the beach?

Each day consisted of a few parts. We started each day working out on the beach. You could pick yoga, tai chi, or  fitness. I did yoga the first two days then spent the rest of the week doing tai chi. I loved it so much! It was so relaxing and fun and the instructor was really great. There were different lectures throughout the day, on all kinds of health topics. I was afraid they would be boring because I do lots of trainings for my job but they were all interesting and engaging. We had an afternoon break where you could do fitness again or just hang out. Most days I took a walk down the beach or swam in the heated salt water pool.
The focus of the food was eating all real, whole foods. So nothing processed and it was all vegan except for a few nights when they had chicken so the meat eaters wouldn't revolt. There was no caffeine, no salt, no oil. The idea wasn't to put you on a diet, and there were people there of all sizes, some with health problems, some with none. The idea was to learn about what you put into your body and how it effects you. The first couple days were a little miserable because everyone was detoxing. I had it pretty easy because I don't do caffeine or meat anyway, but I did break out pretty bad because I'm the queen of fried food. I also had a killer sweet tooth and one night the sugar cravings made me crazy and I ate all three of the bars I had brought to eat at the airport! Haha!
It was amazing the changes some people saw it just a week. For me the biggest thing was learning about toxic hunger and the way that certain things can be as addictive. They can affect your brain in the same way a drug can, releasing dopamine and suppressing serotonin.  Not having access (well, you could have left the resort or gotten room service or something, they weren't watching you or anyting) to things like cheese and sugary drinks and fried stuff for a just a week gave me a chance to see how those things aren't necessary for me. I've stuck to it since I've been back, and I really can't believe how easy it has been. I feel really good about it, if a little weird. The point they made that really stuck with me was that you spend so much of your time in this life working to make money. Why spend your money on things that won't prolong your life so you can enjoy more of it once you get to retire?

Here I am with Linda who I met during the week. Her story isn't mine to tell but she was really inspiring to me.

Dr. Stoll was the main speaker during the week, and he was there with his wife and six kids. They have been eating this way for ten years! She did a cooking demo and I got to talk to her after and she was so great and honest and told me how their journey had been. I asked if their family still gave them a hard time about it and she said yes! Dang, I was hoping it would pass with time. Dr. Stoll and the whole staff was so compassionate and caring and really listened to you and you could tell they were there because they cared. I talked to him about Travis getting up at 4 am for his job and how I worried about him not being awake enough to drive and he took a lot of time with me to give me suggestions for what we can do about it. I really appreciated it. There was no shaming during the week or anything like that. It was really about education and showing you how you could make any changes you wanted to.

At the beginning of the week I decided that when I got home Travis and I would go out and get a big pizza and have a farewell to cheese. But by the time I got home I didn't even want it. Which is crazy for me. I felt really empowered with the knowledge I gained and the progress I had made. We cleared out our whole kitchen. Of course it has only been a week, but I feel great about it. My tastes have already changed and I find myself really looking forward to the fresh food I've been eating. This is from someone who didn't know how to put a salad together two weeks ago, and always picked the vegetables out of sauce or off my pizza. I almost feel as if I've been brain washed, it is so out of character!

So yeah, that is how my week went. I feel awesome and we're already saving a lot of money not eating out almost every night. Travis has been totally supportive (as usual) and he is having a good time with it as well. We've been cooking a lot and our whole fridge is full of produce. I keep saying it, but I really can't believe how much of a change I've made in such a short time, and especially how good I feel about the decision. I'm thankful that my job gave me this opportunity. Not many companies do things like that for their employees, especially their lowly hourly workers.

Naples

 Here is the hotel I stayed at while I was in Naples, Florida. We usually stay in cheap places, so this was the nicest place I've ever stayed! It had a few different buildings. I was in that yellow one. I couldn't believe how nice my room was! My favorite part was the jetted tub.

 The hotel was built in the 1940's and is still family owned. It has been updated a little, but I could still see a lot of the vintage charm. I liked their logo. And the pink and white checkered walk way.

 My flight got in pretty early and dinner wasn't until 7 so I got a salad at one of the pool restaurants. This was my view from my table. Wow right?

 The blue building on the left was called patio and was my favorite. And see the pink and white? Cute.

 Whenever my family would go to the beach (every single year, I kind of hated that we NEVER did anything else. As a fair skinned scaredy cat I would always be burnt and bored, sitting in the room reading) my favorite part was searching for shells. So the dork in my was PUMPED to see the piles and piles of shells that were on the Naples beach. I brought home a big bag (and was worried they would take them at the airport? I don't know).

 The last morning I pulled this one out of the waves! I was really excited because it was about 9 inches long and perfect! But it was still inhabited, so I threw it back.

 My bag of shells on the last morning. I was hoping to see a dolphin but didn't that day. We saw a few earlier in the week though.

 They had this little shell washing station right on the walkway to my building. I loved it! 

 I mean, how picture perfect is this place? I couldn't believe it. I was really able to relax and forget about work and just focus on me. It would only have been better if Travis had been able to come.

 The sunsets were amazing since we were on the gulf side. This one was on the last night. We had just done some appreciations and everyone in our group ran out to the beach to see one last sunset.

 Another thing that we did that I probably wouldn't have ever done was take a cruise on a yacht out into the gulf to see the sunset. This is a photo in the harbor from the third floor of the boat. I felt so fancy.

 Little sail boats in the canal.

 On our way out to the gulf we passed tons of amazing homes. It was unreal. And it wasn't just a few incredible houses, we were passing them for probably a solid 45 minutes!

 This house allegedly belongs to Martha Stewart, who I love. 

 Here I am with my co-workers on the cruise. I'm glad I had a few people from my store there with me. It made me much less shy than if I had been by myself.

 We went out into the gulf to see the sunset. It was really beautiful. And a little big before there there were two dolphins jumping over each other following our ship. It was picture perfect!

Once the sun went down we retired to the second story to eat dinner and relax on the rest of the boat ride. It was way cooler than I expected.
I'll be back tomorrow to tell you about what I was actually doing there! And hopefully the sun will come out soon so I can show you some of the GREAT stuff I've dug up since I've been back. Estate sale season is winding down, but I'm going out with a bang!

Naples Zoo

 When I was in Florida I got a chance to leave the resort and the program for the morning and go to the zoo. I had noticed it when we were shuttled in, but didn't know how I'd be able to go. Luckily there were a few other people interested in taking a little field trip. The Naples zoo is also a botanical garden, and it was beautiful! The weather was so perfect too.

 Do you see all the gators in the water? 

 Does anyone know what kind of bird this is? They are so cute, and we saw tons of them on the beach. 

 They had a station where you could feed the giraffes. I didn't have any cash to do it, but it was fun to stand and watch a few other people do it. They had maybe 7 giraffes, and this one was the most friendly for sure.

 Look at how much fun this kid is having! Dang I wish I would have done it now. Oh well. 

 The best part of the zoo was the primate cruise! You rode on a pontoon boat around a bunch of islands with different monkeys and apes. It was so fun! Our guide was great, too.

 Sweet ape face. This lady was SO loud! And cute. 

 Such a pretty ape!

 Boyfriend and girlfriend.

 Here I am with Linda and Latoya. Linda was someone I met this week. She was super inspiring and nice. And Latoya works with me, but I didn't know her very well before this week, but I know a lot about her now! It was wonderful having someone I knew to hang with. I'm a pretty anxious person so it helped a lot.

 Sweet tigers having a swim.

 I got a smashed penny to add to my collection. My favorite souvenir to get anywhere. 

 Nerd Alert

The Naples Zoo was so great. Probably the most beautiful zoo I've been too. And it was a great little break in the week.

I'm Still Here

Wow! I took a little unintended blogging break. I'm going to pretend you were all missing me and hoping I hadn't been buried by a pile of vintage in my front room. I'm still here in Naples, Florida, and have been since last Monday. But this is literally the first time I've plugged in my computer. I'm here for a health immersion through my job and I promised myself I would be open to everything and really focus on myself this week. I also promised myself to be brave and not hide in my room when I could be out meeting people from all over the country. And I am proud to say for the most part I have done it! I am feeling incredible.

I'm going to do a post about my experience down here sometime next week probably. I really can't believe the opportunity I've had to come and relax and learn during the busiest time of the year for a retail store. I actually hardly thought of work the whole week!

My cute new beach bag (lucky goodwill outlet find!) and my toes in the sand, doing tai chi at dawn.

I have just one more day, and really tomorrow is a lot of free time (heated salt water pool!) with a goodbye dinner and a beach party. I'm kind of at a lose for words right now. This could be life changing. We'll see.