Day 13: Be The Light

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 survived years of abuse and teetered on the edge of financial ruin numerous times. I survived a brutal battle with leukemia. I survived the fire in my home. I spent years in despair and I won’t let this or anything else send me back there. I can survive this too.

On the Nutrisystem front breakfast was a 3.6 ounce 150 calorie Canadian style turkey bacon, egg and cheese muffin. Maybe it’s me or the lack of salt and fat, but I found it to be a little flavorless. I have some sodium free seasoning mixes but those fall flat too. Nutrisystem does allow small quantities of salsa as a condiment and that has sodium in it, so it might be a viable way to jazz up some of their less flavorful products without picking up the salt shaker. I already use romano cheese for its flavor and a bit of salt so I guess I need to pick up a jar of salsa. Lunch was a 1.8 ounce 200 calorie chocolate peanut butter bar. It was very good but not really enough for lunch. I forgot to bring my afternoon snack so I had a couple of Belvita breakfast biscuits to tide me over until dinner. The package had 4 in it and that would have been 230 calories, so I only had 2 and threw away the rest. I did have a bag of green beans in my lunch bag but wasn’t really in the mood for them. Dinner was 260 calorie chicken alfredo and those pesky green beans. So far I’m liking the frozen entrees from Nutrisystem ! I did add my go to romano cheese and I think that made it more flavorful. I’ve only had 846 calories today so I’m still falling short of the recommended 1200. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I think part of the problem is I was accustomed to consuming most of my calories in the evening but Nutrisystem wants you to consume most of them during the day. I’m only 13 days into the program so I’m not going to worry. It may take me some time but I’ll integrate the PowerFuel and Smart Carbs into my day eventually. I can tell you that I already feel the difference in my clothing. The changes are subtle but they are there. So I’m encouraged by this decision.

Looks like this weekend is going to be spent at home as a winter storm is headed our way. Early forecast is calling for significant snow in my area from Saturday night thru Monday afternoon. Even though I need absolutely nothing I had planned to go shopping with my sister and my mom on Saturday but given the forecast that is not likely. I don’t even need to run to the grocery store because I really only need some milk and I can get that right around the corner from my house. If I change jobs I’ll end up with much less vacation time so weekends will be more precious than ever. My house is so peaceful now I don’t mind being here alone. I will curl up on the couch, find a good movie and enjoy !