Day 15: Crossroads To Perspective

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 a disappointment this morning. Still reading ? Well, good news !! I just couldn’t believe I hadn’t lost any weight so I weighed myself again when I got home tonight. Lo and behold - I lost 3 pounds !! I can’t even tell you how happy I am after stewing over this all day.

I knew when I began there would be starts and stops and ups and downs and today was a valuable lesson. I’m still feeling my way along and there are things I’m doing right and things I’m doing wrong. I knew I’d have to make adjustments along the way. I can already see and feel the difference in my clothing and that inspires me. Today I was able to wear my tightest pair of jeans … the ones that nearly cut you in half when you suck it in and get them zipped. They are snug now but they’re not cutting off the circulation to the lower half of my body. The top I wore was also loose – when I bought it in mid-December it hugged every curve. I did take measurements at the beginning but my plan is to check them monthly as opposed to weekly so it’ll be a couple weeks before I have anything to share on that.

Despite the fact that I did lose 3 pounds this week, there are still tweaks I need to make. I’m not eating enough, which my dear friend Sally pointed out could be problematic. Starving myself is not the answer but I haven’t been doing that deliberately. Since I’ll be snowed in all weekend I will have plenty of time to read up on PowerFuels and Smart Carbs and work out a plan to integrate them during week 3. I’ve just been too lazy to address it. Another thing I’m doing wrong – I’m not getting 4 servings of veggies every day. Some days I have none, some days I consume them all at dinner. So I need to work veggies into lunch and dinner. I’m also not consuming at least 64 ounces of water per day. Lastly, I’m not getting any exercise. Nutrisystem recommends at least 10 minutes 3 times per day. So tomorrow I will be on the treadmill. The soreness in my feet is gone, thanks to a few nights of heavy moisturizing, so that shouldn’t be an issue. I have heavy socks and a brand new pair of sneakers for the treadmill, which has a nicely cushioned deck. Although I’m doing some things wrong I need to also give myself credit for the things I’m doing right. I’m eating the Nutrisystem food at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m getting about 32 ounces of water. I’m getting some veggies. I’ve lost 15 pounds since December 29 so I’m happy and I’m not going to give up. I’ve been overweight for many years and it’s going to take time to take it off.

Breakfast today was a 4.4 ounce 180 calorie turkey sausage egg muffin. This one was pretty flavorless too so I really need to pick up a jar of salsa to shake things up ! Lunch was a 4 ounce 200 calorie broccoli and cheese melt. Same concept as yesterday’s – basically a hot pocket with broccoli and cheese inside. It was pretty good ! The one constant over the past 2 weeks is the protein shake in the morning, although today I ended up having it after lunch. I do look forward to the shakes ! This summer I may try freezing it to a slushy texture. My afternoon snack was a 1.3 ounce 150 calorie bag of chocolate chip cookies. Dinner tonight was a 4.7 ounce 290 calorie meatloaf sandwich with about 3/4 of a bag of brussel sprouts. Full disclosure - I put some barbecue sauce on the sandwich. That added some much needed flavor and about 35 calories. I’m at 976 calories for the day so if I’m hungry later I can still have a snack.