Day 5: Have Faith

Today started off stressful the minute I got out of bed ... to the sound of running water. A split pipe in the basement is the culprit and it will be fixed today at no cost to me. So after losing my mind for a few hours and shedding a bucket of tears I’ve reigned myself back in. Of course, that wouldn’t be possible without the wonderful folks at Paul Davis of Northern NY. They came to my rescue and assured me they would take care of it and, as always, they are true to their word.

On the Nutrisystem front I’m all over the place today. It’s Day 5 already ! I’m hoping to see a good number when I weigh myself on Friday. It’s 2 in the afternoon and I’m just now having my “morning snack” of a chocolate shake. I had a 160 calorie apple strudel bar for breakfast. The bar was ok but I’ve never been a fan of apple flavored things. Flavorings are just not going to taste like the real deal and some flavorings are better than others. I haven’t had any water today for obvious reasons so I may not get the full 64 ounces in today. I’m not going to stress about that as it’s not the end of the world. I guess by having lunch very late I’ll be able to have dinner later and not be hungry when bedtime rolls around, so that’s a good thing !

After the day I had yesterday the water issue just sent me over the edge. I’m not usually hysterical but this morning I was about at my limit and really tired of it all. Tired both physically and emotionally. So “let go and let God” is an apt heading for today’s post. I know He has a plan for me and perhaps today I needed to be at home in order to be safe. The roads were a sheet of ice this morning and I was not looking forward to driving to work, although I was hopeful the main roads were in better shape than my street. So I have to have faith that there are better days ahead. Last night I updated my Linkedin profile and even if I am retained by AT&T I plan to look for other opportunities inside and outside the company once the dust settles. Jobs today are no longer lifelong careers .. they are just stops here and there along the road of life and that is sad.

EVENING UPDATE: due to the water issues I didn’t have lunch so I ended up eating both lunch and dinner after the plumbers left. I was starving ! My lunch item was a 220 calorie cup of loaded mashed potatoes, meaning it contained cheddar cheese and bacon. Flavor was pretty good but I added too much water so they were soupy. That was totally my fault. It seems odd to just have mashed potatoes for lunch but the idea is to pair them with some veggies or a salad. The dinner item was a 240 calorie tub of chili with beans. Flavor was good but the sauce was a bit thick for my taste. Can’t expect a canned chili to taste like homemade ! I never had my afternoon snack so I will have that before bed if I’m hungry. I’m trying to get some water down but I won’t be able to get 64 ounces today. If I do that I’ll be peeing all night ! I also didn’t get any veggies in today .. I certainly couldn’t eat 4 servings of veggies plus my lunch and dinner entree all in one sitting ! Plumbers are coming back tomorrow to finish up so I’m taking another vacation day. They are fitting me into their already packed schedule so I have no idea when they’ll be here. I hear there’s a winter storm brewing so maybe it’s a blessing I will be home tomorrow. Thursday is supposed to be ugly as well but I’m planning on heading back to work.

As the days on Nutrisystem pass I’ve thought a lot about portion size. I’m eating some high calorie items in small portions. I think in life after Nutrisystem I’ll have a better awareness of appropriate portion sizes and that’s important if you want to keep the weight off. After the stress of the past 2 days I briefly considered cooking some chicken tenders and having those with some ranch dressing for dinner, instead of the Nutrisystem items. This goes right back to the emotional eating. I didn’t do it but it was a good reminder about triggers. Had I done that it would have at least tripled if not quadrupled the calories. Anybody local want some Hidden Valley Ranch dressing ? I have 5 huge bottles ! I’m going to give some chicken tenders to my mom to avoid any future temptation. I can have a Flex meal once a week starting week 2 but I don’t know if chicken tenders are an appropriate item. Maybe they would be if I only had 1, so I could give a bag of them to mom and keep a bag. We’ll see.