Day 44: Strength Through Disappointment

“The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow. Don’t give up ! “ ~ Robert Tew ~

So the scale says I lost 1.4 pounds this week. I would be lying if I didn’t say I am disappointed. That doesn’t mean I’m giving up. I think it’s only natural to want this process to go faster but weight that I gained over the course of 20 years is not going to fall off overnight. This will be a good motivator on those days I don’t feel like exercising, because regular exercise needs to be part of my life. So I will give myself credit for losing those 1.4 pounds and remind myself that Nutrisystem is designed to help you lose 1-2 pounds per week and that is happening. I guess if this was easy it wouldn’t be very rewarding. You can’t expect to have everything in life handed to you. You have to work for what you want and weight loss is no different. I have to put in the work in order to achieve my goals. This concept is not new. Very little in life has ever been handed to me, other than the down payment for my home which was a gift from my late father-in-law. So if I want this weight loss I have to work for it .. a little harder. I’ve always let disappointment push me down but I’m not going to let that happen this time. Many things in life are unfair and often the circumstances are out of your control, but losing weight is NOT out of my control. It is completely IN my control so I’m going to celebrate losing 1.4 pounds and focus on the week ahead. I’ve said I can’t commit to exercising every day but the real issue is I’m not putting the right priority on exercise. So I need to think about that on those days I just want to sit on the couch. I usually change my clothes as soon as I get home at night so starting Monday I’ll be changing into my exercise gear (instead of my jammies!) when I get home. I usually sit on the couch to have my dinner but starting Monday I’ll eat in the kitchen. The couch will be off limits until AFTER exercise, whether it’s the treadmill or the weights. Once exercise is part of my routine it will be smooth sailing. I have to keep reminding myself how GOOD it feels to exercise !

Breakfast today was a 2.5 ounce 160 calorie package of waffles that I spread with peanut butter, which is my breakfast PowerFuel. French vanilla coffee was especially delicious on this frosty morning. Woke up to a couple inches of new snow - just enough to cover the dirty snow and make everything look fresh and clean again ! From there was my day went off the Nutrisystem track as I was out all day. I haven’t been out past midnight in a hundred years !! Got my mail, got my hair cut, got gas, picked up mom and met my brother and his girlfriend at Costco. After perusing the aisles of Costco I stopped and got the car washed and then we were treated to a steak dinner at their house. I did have my morning shake (chocolate today) so that accounted for 155 calories. I also snuck in a couple of string cheese (another 100 calories) that I had to share with the dog .. sweet Lola .. and a half glass of wine. Dinner was a small piece of steak, a couple of tiny potatoes, broccoli and salad. I was good and passed on dessert, even though it looked and smelled delicious ! After we left their house I took mom over to Point Place Casino. I used my free play, keeping to my commitment not to spend any money in casinos this year, and then sat with mom while she played. So it was a very long but fun day ! I was hungry when I got home so I had some cottage cheese and a bag of Nutrisystem white cheddar popcorn. I’m at about 900 calories for the day and I’m heading to bed !