If you spend anytime in Ottawa back in the late early ’90s you would remember this guy.  He watched over all the partying at the Yucatan Liquor Stand.  And I can say I was there.  For a good period of time my girlfriend and I were quite the regulars there. We danced, we met friends there, we just simply had fun.  And the fact that it was all decked out in surfboards and all things beachy meant that I loved it even more.

Then one day, one Canada Day, the Liquor Stand may have let in a few too many people.  So they had to close for a week or so and it would seem they never did recover from that.  A few new places opened and everyone seemed to go to those places so Yucatan’s just closed up shop.  With much less fanfare than we would have liked.  One day it was open the next it was not.

It has been several bars or restaurants since then, but nothing seems to have lasted as long nor been as popular as Yucatan’s.  I miss it.  I don’t miss the creepy guys trying to pick me up, but I miss the fun times that were had, I miss that you could dance on the surfboard tables and speakers and you didn’t get kicked out.  I miss that you could show up in your surf shorts and a tank top or a dress and heels and you were always welcome at Yucatan’s.

Of course, I guess this post really should be about the fact that I miss being 22 sometimes and since I will be hitting 40 in a couple of months I was feeling kind of nostalgic on Saturday when I walked around the Market for the Scott Kelby PhotoWalk (more here).  All the places I used to know and love are long gone and replaced by places so foreign to me it is like they never existed. And Yucatan’s was by far my favorite of all the places that have come and gone. Thanks for the fun.

Not sure about all of you, but when we go on vacation we not only enjoy our favorite beach and the wonderful ocean, but we also enjoy all our favorite treats.  And by treats I mean we had two weeks of all our favorite foods and then some.  We ate pizza, ice cream, frozen yogurt, beer, french fries, chocolate, chips … and the list could go on and on and on…

I also realized this year that when you walk with small children that aren’t in a stroller you don’t burn off as many calories as you do when you can walk as fast as you want.  Apparently our years of walking the boards fast and burning off all our treats are gone for now.

When we returned home, I was not happy with myself at all.  I hate to admit it, but I was feeling a little chubby and after working so hard all Spring to decrease the chub I was pretty mad. The good news is that I had been chosen to participate in the Mom Central Under-Way blog tour.  Mom Central seems to know what I need when I need it and a week after coming home from the beach a box arrived at the door.

In it were samples of the underWAY supplement drink.  I was quite excited to try these out as they are infused with HeroFiber and heart-healthy vitamins, works naturally to suppress your appetite and quench your thirst. And boy did I need help suppressing my appetite.  In two short weeks I became very accustom to extra snacks, well extra, ha,  I snacked pretty much all day long. underWay is great!  I received four bottles of grape and four of acai-pomegranate and you wouldn’t know by taste that they were healthy supplement drinks. At just 20 calories per bottle I didn’t mind having a bottle in between my glasses of water.  And since they are great for rehydration I made sure to have one after my run.

Here are a few extra benefits of underWay drinks:

• there are no preservatives, sodium or caffeine
• one serving delivers almost a third of your daily recommended intake of fibre
• only has 10 calories and 2 grams of carbs per 8oz serving (each bottle is two servings)

In addition to the eight bottles of underWay, I also received a case of samples of Smart for Life products.  There were cookies, cupcakes, crunch, cereal, soup, bagels and shakes.  And WOW!  I was only asked to try the product and let you know what I thought.   But, I went one step further.  In my case I had enough product for five days of the Smart for Life Cookie Diet so I decided to give it a try and see what the results would be. In five days I lost 7lbs.

Now, I know that a couple (ok three) of those pounds were from the beach but the other four were ones that I wanted gone before I left for the beach. But, that was enough for me to tell that it is certainly worth a try.  In addition to losing 7lbs, I felt fantastic.  I chose to not be too strict on myself for my dinners, so I ate the Smart for Life products (with lots of water) all day long as directed then I ate dinner with the family.  I tried not to eat many carbs but didn’t make it super strict. Fabulous.  The cookies and cupcakes were great, they are moist and tasty and I was totally surprised.  So surprised that I went to Costco on Saturday and bought a case of cookies and a case of drinks so I could keep it up for the next week and see what happened.  Either way they are a great meal replacement or low-calorie dessert at only 90 calories for a cookie or muffin.

And as an added bonus, I get to give TEN of my readers a case, courtesy of Mom Central,  just like the one I received (which apparently I forgot to take a picture of) so you too could try out underWAY and Smart for Life.  All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me why you would like to try underWAY or Smart for Life products and you will be entered to win. Contest open to Canadian residents only (sorry to my friends from the South).Readers may enter the contest on multiple blogs but are only eligible to win once as part of the underWAY blog tour contest. Contest closes August 4th.

Disclosure – I am participating in the underWAY program by Mom Central on behalf of Better Health Beverage, LLC. I received a gift card as a thank you for my participation.  The opinions on this blog are my own.