Day 33: It's Okay

 

Here is the link to my original Day 33. It was  Tuesday February 5, 2019. My headline that day was "Dare To Dream". I was doing well with the program but ironically I complained about a stomach ache that I attributed to too many raw carrots ! Hmmm ... I had that same problem when I "restarted" this latest effort and I haven't eaten them raw since. If I want to eat them raw, I need to go easy on the quantity and make sure I chew them thoroughly.

Today was yet another beautiful late summer, early fall day. Blue skies, sunshine and nearly 80 degrees .. just perfection ! I had planned to mow the lawn today and just as I was getting up to go do that, Doug came along and started mowing ! He was a sight for sore eyes ! Instead of putting on my lawn mowing shoes I put on my treadmill shoes and made a protein shake. I put in 13m9s with a 3 minute warm up and a 4 minute cool down. I wanted to increase the warm up to 4 minutes too, but that setting only allows 1, 3 or 5 minutes, and I'm not ready for 5 minutes of warm up. The cool down is set for 10, so it's easier to add a little extra time there. I may go to 5/5 in a couple weeks, we'll see.

I spent my morning doing the usual: watching YouTube and playing Cookie Jam. I'm almost at level 4900, but I still have a long way to reach the "end" which is in the upper reaches of 11,000 levels ! If I get a job there is no way I will get there and I'm ok with that ! I really want a job !

Breakfast was the last of the 180 calorie waffles with sugar free syrup. I didn't have my yogurt until after 12 pm. I had the 155 calorie protein shake around 2:30.

During my workout today the trainer Tommy Rivs was talking about motivation when you aren't seeing results. Wow .. that was spot on where I am ! I found a great article on the subject and plan to read it carefully later and see what tips it offers. I will likely read it several times. As I write this blog I'm not at a point where I can take that in. I will say that I feel like the workout today felt slightly "easier". The speed throughout the series is the same, so it's not like I put in less effort. I'm also continuing to remind myself that's ok to feel hungry and I'm working to turn that into a positive emotion. Hunger = good. Hunger does not equal "feed me". That being said, I am not on a mission to starve myself. I do plan to eat everything the Nutrisystem plan calls for. In scanning through the article, one bullet caught my eye:

• Unrealistic Goals: Setting goals that are too ambitious can lead to frustration and discouragement if they are not quickly achieved. This can cause a cycle of starting and stopping diets or exercise programs.

Well, that sure sounds familiar ! Here is the recommendation to overcome that:

• Goal Setting: Set realistic, achievable goals to build confidence and maintain motivation. Break larger goals into smaller, manageable steps.

Yep - that's what I've been doing all along. And finally, here's another tip that sounded familiar:

Focus on Consistency, Not Perfection

It’s essential to remember that consistency is more important than perfection. You don’t have to follow your plan perfectly every day; instead, aim to make healthy choices most of the time. Allowing yourself some flexibility and forgiving occasional slip-ups can prevent feelings of failure and keep you motivated over the long term.

This is yet another reminder that I know exactly what I need to do in order to be successful ! I just need to put my mind to it ! So the scale is reading 282 .. a reasonable goal is to reach 280 by Thursday 9-26. Another reasonable goal is to keep doing a 4 minute cool down until 9-26. At that time I can reevaluate things and set a new goal for Friday 9-27. That seems doable ! Instead of trying to implement all of the advice contained in the article, I will keep referencing it as I progress. I feel like this will avoid a feeling of being overwhelmed. 

Last night was day 2 without whipped cream on my evening snack. The chocolate cupcake is fine without it, but I really missed it on the lemon zest cake. It seemed rather dry without it. I can't really think of anything I can do to jazz it up without adding calories and I can't trust myself enough to buy whipped cream. I know I'd go right back to using a ton of it on both items, so I will just have to get over it ! I don't need that extra shot of sugar and fat ! I was sad this morning to have to throw away the 3 eggplant that I brought home on Sunday. I let them sit too long and they were all soft and 2 of the 3 had bad spots. I have 4 packages of uncooked sliced eggplant, along with a package of fried eggplant. 

My next Nutrisystem order processed today, so I'll probably receive that sometime next week. I still have a ton of dinner items but I'm low on breakfast and evening snack items. If I want to continue reducing the dinner items I'll have to supplement the breakfast and snack items.