My Nutrisystem Journey

28 Days on Nutrisystem and I have not “cheated” ! With all the ups and downs of the past 28 days I’m surprised I didn’t. It hasn’t been easy. It’s harder to stay on a diet than it is to fall off of it ! Tonight I am tired and I have a headache so this note will be short. Breakfast today was a 1.8 ounce 160 calorie peanut butter granola bar and 3 cups of coffee. Yep, it was that kind of a day. Morning snack was a vanilla shake and a slice of whole wheat toast with a bit of Brummel & Brown spread. Lunch was a 210 calorie cup of loaded baked potatoes. I don’t remember the package weight but you add water so the cooked weight is probably 7-8 ounces. I measured the water this time and they came out much better. You really need to add a protein to this meal so I need to get the chicken tenders out of my freezer and cook them. I can refreeze them after cooking for a quick lunch or dinner addition. I had a couple of raw carrots and a piece of string cheese with the potatoes. My afternoo...

I never thought of myself as a perfectionist but I was accused of being exactly that many times over the past 20 years. I always denied that I was .. but in reality it appears I am exactly that. I happened to come across the following blog post, which was an eye opening read: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/better-perfect/201611/9-signs-you-might-be-perfectionist This could have been written about me .. on almost every point. It was a sobering revelation. I’ve read it several times because it really hit home. In the 4+ years since Alex passed away I’ve been slowly rebuilding my life and I no longer feel like it’s in an out of control free fall. Did I become a perfectionist in an effort to cope with what was happening in my life ? Was I exercising more control over the things I actually could control to make up for everything I couldn’t ? Maybe .. or maybe existing perfectionist tendencies just got worse. I don’t really know. Regardless, awareness is the first step towards ch...

Day 26 on Nutrisystem. As the days go by I am more and more convinced this was absolutely the right decision for me. Although I was very well aware of what I needed to do in order to lose weight (eat less, eat healthier and exercise) I just couldn’t put together a sensible plan on my own. The structure of this plan is exactly what I needed. Some people may think it’s crazy to pay all this money and eat what amounts to mostly processed food, but the way I see it this is a temporary situation AND I was eating processed food anyway ! Nutrisystem does encourage you to eat a “flex” meal one day per week but I’ve decided to stick with just their food for the first 3 months. I feel like I’ll have put some past bad habits behind me after 90 days and have a better idea of portions and sensible foods. Portions have been eye opening for me. I look at what I am eating versus what I would normally eat and I’m astonished. It’s no wonder the weight piled on. I can tell you I don’t feel deprived and ...

Serena Williams said “A champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall”. I can relate because I’ve fallen a lot, literally and figuratively ! I may fall during my weight loss journey but I will pick myself up and keep going. Today is day 25 on Nutrisystem. It is going well but I’m still tweaking the program to get to what will work best for me. One thing I’ve changed in my next order is the bars for lunch. They send you 6 of them and I don’t really want to have a sweet bar as my lunch, so I’ve changed my next order to include other items for lunch. I don’t mind the bars for breakfast. I think my next order will be about perfect because it’s all foods I like. Breakfast today was a 2 ounce 150 calorie blueberry muffin with vanilla caramel creme coffee. I warmed the muffin in the microwave for 20 seconds and it tasted like I had just baked it ! Morning snack was the usual 120 calorie shake, vanilla today. Lunch was 7.5 ounce 170 calorie bean and ham ...

Today was my first test ... eating in a restaurant. I would say it was a success. We ordered 2 pizza’s to share, which worked out perfectly for 5 people. The pizza’s were 6 slices and I would call them medium size. They were thin crust, which is my favorite ! I had one slice of the buffalo chicken pizza and since we got the ranch dressing on the side I opted to skip that. I also did not eat the outer edge of the crust since that is a lot of bread. I also had a salad with bacon, crumbly bleu cheese and Italian dressing. I probably should have skipped the bacon and cheese but this meal was my morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack all rolled into one. So I think I’m fine from a calorie perspective. I also had a glass of pinot grigio wine and it was delicious ! I’d have loved a second glass but I was driving and well, the calories ! There was one piece of the pizza left and I brought that home. I will have it for dinner tomorrow with some veggies. I was proud of myself - I skipped the ...

Day 23. Losing weight doesn’t just depend on your own self control. You also need the support of those around you. If someone you know or love is trying to lose weight or eat healthier, don’t push them to cheat “just once”. Cheating “just once” can easily lead to the end of everything they’ve been working toward. It’s happened to me and I’ve seen it happen to other people. Instead, encourage them to stay on track. Commend them for staying the course. Try not to put temptation in front of them. Tomorrow will be a test for me as I’m having lunch out with the girls in my family. I haven’t eaten out since late December. The good news is I’ve already looked at the restaurant menu and decided what I will order - sausage & onion pizza and a salad. 75% of the pizza will be set aside to bring home unless someone wants to share it with me or it’s exceptionally tiny. My plan is to eat a portion equal to a Nutrisystem pizza. I will likely indulge in a glass of wine as well, which is allowed. ...

3 more pounds gone ! I am very, very happy !! I’ve lost 18 pounds since December 29th. Day 22. Being on Nutrisystem has become my new normal. Breakfast this morning was another 2.8 ounce 160 calorie package of pancakes. I made a sandwich of them with peanut butter again. The peanut butter adds about 95 calories. Coffee today was French vanilla. Morning snack was the vanilla shake, which incidentally is only 120 calories. I guess it was a vanilla kind of day ! Lunch today was a 4 ounce 230 calorie four cheese melt. It was good and again you have to be careful not to overheat these because it’s like eating lava if you do ! The roof of my mouth is just about healed from the scalding I gave it earlier this week. I had more raw carrots with the melt. My afternoon snack was a 1 ounce 140 calorie bag of “nutrichocolates”. They were ok but I’d rather satisfy my sweet tooth with 1 ounce of better chocolate. These chocolates have 7 grams of saturated fat in them so they’re on par ...

Day 21 ! Hard to believe it’s already been 3 weeks on Nutrisystem. It hasn’t been as hard as I thought it might be. I’ve still got a lot of work to do but I feel like this is going to be the life change that I needed. Breakfast today was a 2.8 ounce 160 calorie package of pancakes. I toasted them at home, spread one with peanut butter and made a sandwich out of them. I wrapped that in a paper towel and put it in a ziploc bag to bring to work. After I made my coffee I threw the bag in the microwave for about 25 seconds. Score ! The pancakes were light and fluffy and the peanut butter was slightly melted. I will do the same with waffles going forward. My morning snack was the usual shake. Lunch today was a 3.8 ounce 200 calorie grilled chicken sandwich. The chicken was moist and tender and had a nice flavor. The bun it was on had a sweetness to it that I could have done without. The next time I have this item I will add a bit of barbecue sauce and some raw onion or cabbage. I’ve been ...

Day 20 ! Fist bump - I’m on the threshold of 3 weeks with Nutrisystem already. I don’t think I’ve ever stuck with anything for 3 weeks, let alone a “diet”, so this is indeed a milestone. I’m glad to have the severe cold weather gone but we could do without the ice and rain. Schools in Mexico were closed today but the roads were fine when I went to work so I’m not sure why the schools closed. I’m wondering if conditions worsened there after I had left at 6:15 am. The roads still had some snow on them but there was no rain or snow falling. My commute was slower than usual because of some snow still on the highway. I kept my speed at 65 or less and ended up hitting rain when I got closer to Syracuse. I forgot to bring some k-cups to work so I didn’t have any coffee this morning ! Don’t ask me how I survived that cuz I sure don’t know ! Breakfast was a 2.1 ounce 180 calorie cinnamon roll. It was very good but I missed having coffee with it. I packed coffee supplies as soon as I got ho...

Today was yet another stressful day. Woke up to no heat or hot water with an outdoor temp of -8 and an indoor temp of 55 degrees that quickly dropped as low as 48 ! A trip to the basement didn’t turn up any obvious issues other than a flashing green light on the front of the boiler that heats the water for the heating system and the rest of the house. Pipes weren’t frozen as water was flowing freely throughout the house and the basement was not super cold. After emailing Paul Davis and calling the company that installed the system I fed the cats, made myself a cup of coffee and bundled up on the couch. The cats have an extra electric heater so it was 60 in their room. This was yet another vacation day used. I’ve only worked 3 days this month ! Being off 1/2 thru 1/4 was planned but nothing after that was ! I’ve been through 2 pipe freezes, the death of a cat and now the heating issue - all since January 8th ! This downhill slide was preceded by news that my office is closing and it’s ...

Today was a life changing day for the associates in my office. It was their deadline to decide if they are leaving the payroll or moving to Florida to continue working for AT&T. A big decision to make in only 2 weeks. For some it was an easy decision but many others are struggling. Some are going happily, others because they feel like they have no other choice. Of those who decide to stay in Syracuse, some will likely question the wisdom of their decision, others will perhaps regret it and some will be perfectly fine with their choice. No matter what they chose, I hope they will all have peace once this day passes and their path is clear. We managers won’t know anything for 30-45 days but I doubt they will keep any of us. I am preparing myself for that eventuality but I will gladly stay if they ask me to. Today was brutally cold (-3 at 9 am) and it snowed lightly most of the day, so I was glad to be home on the couch. I wasn’t feeling 100% this morning but that passed. I think ...

A fitting title considering tomorrow we honor Dr. Martin Luther King. Sad that he did not live to see his dream achieved. My dream is to finally shed the weight I’ve carried for so many years. Today was a challenge because I was hungry all day ! Breakfast today was a 1.3 ounce 130 calorie packet of apple cinnamon oatmeal prepared with skim milk. I’m pretty sure the all carbohydrate breakfast set the tone for hunger all day. I had 2 cups of coffee with it. Late this morning I went outside and cleared the snow away from just outside the garage door and the side door. Temps were single digits all day so my hands were frozen after being out there maybe 10 minutes, even with gloves on. We had light snow all day so our storm total is probably a little over a foot. Tonight it’s windy and brutally cold ... 3 degrees right now ! This is going to be the coldest night we’ve had this winter so we’ll see if my new pipes can take it ! I’ll be praying ! My morning snack was a shake made with bot...

According to the Nutrisystem app (NuMi) I’ve finished the “Fresh Start” part of the program. I guess that covers the first 2 weeks. I had the option to stay on Fresh Start or move to the standard Nutrisystem program. I decided to go ahead and move on although I’m a little worried about eating more. I’m supposed to eat 1400 calories a day now and I haven’t even been able to hit 1000. I know one thing - if I’m going to eat 1400 calories I definitely need to get some exercise every day. I guess this gives me something to focus on. I really like the app as you enter everything you eat and drink and document your weight and measurements for tracking. You can scan the package of Nutrisystem foods and it automatically logs it. I haven’t tried scanning non-Nutrisystem food so I don’t know if that works. You can find many non-Nutrisystem foods using their search feature and log them so that is handy. Even though I didn’t get to sleep until around midnight I was wide awake at 7 am. I guess th...

This post started out much differently when I wrote it this morning. You see, I weighed myself before I went to work and the scale reflected NO weight loss. I was crushed and the thought of admitting that here was devastating. But when I started this journey I promised myself I would share the good, the bad AND the ugly ! Several hours into the day everything changed and not losing any weight ceased to be important. My message started out as Crossroads. It changed to Perspective when word came that a colleague’s family suffered the sudden loss of a 3 month old child. How could I feel sorry for myself in light of such a devastating tragedy. My heart goes out to anyone who has lost a child. It makes my problems seem pretty trivial. I cannot even imagine the depth of pain this family is suffering. Please pray for them and their little angel. The past 2 weeks have been hard but losing 7 pounds the first week of Nutrisystem pushed me through week 2. As I mentioned above, the scale was ...

If 2019 is going to be the new me then I have to believe in myself. The old me didn’t. The old me was stuck in a rut. Some days it felt like I was on a treadmill that never stopped. Having already decided this was going to be a year of change made the shock of our office closing a little easier to take. I’m so ready for change and I really do believe in myself. I have a lot to offer ! I’m not a 20 something fresh out of college waving around a degree but I can guarantee you my next boss will be glad they hired me. It seems like a lot of folks from my office are headed to Florida so look out ! I hope it turns out to be an amazing adventure for all of them. As for me, I’m turning my focus back to self-improvement. That doesn’t mean I’m not taking steps to prepare for the future - because I am. It just means I’m going to keep doing my job the way I always have and ignore the background noise. You won’t find me brown nosing the boss, jockeying for position or trying to be something I’m no...

Be The Light. 3 little words that mean so much. Now more than ever I want to be the light in someone’s day, every day. Although my employment circumstances may change I’m not going to change who I am. If they decide to keep me it will be because of my 34 years of hard work, not because I was willing to compromise my integrity after last week’s announcement and try to suddenly appear more valuable than the rest. I won’t be jumping up and down screaming “pick me, pick me” like that annoying kid in The Polar Express. Maybe that’s a mistake but it’s who I am. Trust me, there IS life after AT&T and I’m not afraid of it. As far as I’m concerned it will be their loss if they let me go. I believe that a year from now I’ll be marveling at how wonderful this life is, whether I’m still working for AT&T or somewhere else. Change used to scare me to death but at this point in my life I choose to embrace it, because most of the time change has turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I surv...

Trust the Wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming . When nothing is certain, anything is possible. Credit to Mandy Hale for these wise words. The hardest part of my current job situation is the uncertainty. I can’t apply for a new job outside of the company because I don’t know if I’m being let go and I will have the opportunity to look for other jobs within the company if that happens. If neither option works out and I am ultimately let go, only then will I actively apply for other jobs in the area. If they let me go I’m taking every penny I am entitled to with me ! Many managers are being cut right now so the job market within the company is tightening by the day. I’m not worried about the financial aspect right now but I’m too young to even think about NOT working. I planned on 2019 being a year of change so we’ll see how it plays out. My heart continues to break for those in my office who know they are done when April 12 rolls around. Many are struggling to...

Deep thoughts this frigid morning. But it’s true. I believe paths are laid out in front of us and we have to choose which one we want to take. Instead of sinking into despair I’m clawing my way out and looking forward to the future, whatever it may hold for me. After all, at least I have a future. I’ve read of so many tragedies in the past few day. A mother of 3 died in a snowmobiling accident. Someone died in a car accident a couple of miles from my home yesterday afternoon. Three young boys lost their lives in a fire last week. Several police officers across the nation have been killed in the line of duty within the past week. Lives lost and lives changed. I could sit here and wring my hands and cry poor me all day long but that won’t change anything. Last weeks plumbing issues gave me the time I needed, at home and alone, to wallow in pity and sort out my feelings. My family was right there to offer their support too. I didn’t expect to be at home today but another round of plumbin...