I did something I've never before done on vacation: I lost weight.

Five pounds in 10 days to be exact. That brought my total weight loss for the first month of this dieting project to 13 pounds.

Yes, I watched what I ate while in the land of fried seafood and cute umbrella drinks. But I really have to credit my beach buddy, Vickie, for that loss. She's the one who got me to walk more than usual. She'd drop subtle reminders in our conversation like "after we walk" or "when we get your walking in." I knew she wasn't nagging; she's just a good friend who's been encouraging me throughout this whole process. In fact, nobody cheered louder than Vickie when I called her with the news after that weigh-in.

To fully understand how amazing that loss was, you have to get an idea of our annual beach vacations.

They are an indulgent week of sunbathing, shopping and sleeping late. It's our time to recharge and come back refreshed. There are no deadlines, no housecleaning chores, no kids to chauffeur.

It's blissful.

Vickie, Caren and I always stock up on all our favorite foods at the Walmart during our grocery run, and you can bet the farm there will be chocolate-almond ice cream, barbecued Fritos, chocolate-covered peanuts, Oreos and, of course, my peanut M&M's in the bags.

This year, I went down to Panama City Beach armed with a game plan. I took the calorie/fat gram guidelines Suzie, my Jenny Craig counselor, had given me. (Check last week's blog.) I took down my Jenny Craig cereals and snacks.

I made a grocery list of what I'd need for the week before I ever left home. I didn't want to be buying on impulse but on purpose.

It took me twice the time as usual to grocery shop because I was reading all the labels to make sure they met the criteria. (That makes a second thing I did on vacation I've never done before.)

When we went out, I bypassed my favorite fried-shrimp platters for dinner salads with boiled shrimp or crab on top. And surprisingly, I was OK with that. I didn't feel left out.

The real test of friendship came the night we made our annual shopping pilgrimage to the Destin outlet mall. We were starting home when Vickie asked, "Would it bother you if I went through Krispy Kreme?"

A drive-by at Krispy Kreme has always been part of our vacation ritual. It didn't take me a second to say I'd be OK with it. Just because I was dieting didn't mean I had to be a vacation buzzkill for her.

Now I've got to tell you that of all the neon along Destin's Highway 98 strip, it seemed that red, "HOT" flashing light stood out like a pulsating beacon. We pulled in the drive-through, and the air was perfumed with the aroma of sugary, yeasty confections.

Seriously, you don't know how much I wanted to cave and get one. But my conscience was thinking, "No, you've done so well this week, and they are 250 calories each." And the feature writer in me, who is always planning stories ahead, was thinking, "No, this will make a great column."

Vickie ordered three chocolate-covered doughnuts -- my favorite, as well. When they were handed out the window, she passed them over to me to hold! And I held that box in my lap all the way down Highway 98 to our condo in PCB so my friend's doughnuts wouldn't tip over and mess up the icing.

It was a huge test of willpower, believe me. I am a sucker for anything in a green and white Krispy Kreme box.

But my willpower, and our friendship, both passed the test.