Day 61: Life Isn't A Race

“Life isn’t a race against anyone else. Rather, a journey with ourselves and our unrealized potential.”

I’m not sure who originated this quote but it’s the first thing I read on Instagram this morning, courtesy of the #cleanfoodcrush account. If you’re into clean eating you need to follow her. I plan to use many of her recipes when I’m ready to wean myself off Nutrisystem entrees.

My life is definitely a journey with myself and I am sure I have a good deal of unrealized potential. We all do and it’s up to us to maximize it ! I’ve reached a point in my life where I take it as a compliment when someone feels the need to race against me. I’ve stopped comparing myself to others in both my personal and professional lives and it’s made me a happier person. I like what I do and although I am open to new experiences I’m not looking to climb the corporate ladder. I’m not willing to sacrifice my life for a job. So although I continue to give 110% to my job I am also 110% focused on my personal well-being. Life/work balance is critical and I’ve seen too many people chewed up and spit out because they didn’t stand up for themselves and demand that balance. If you don’t stand up for yourself no one else will.

Breakfast today was my favorite 2.1 ounce 160 calorie cherry cheese roll with Keurig’s Donut Shop coffee. I’m supposed to have a Power Fuel with breakfast but I ended up having it late in the morning after my 155 calorie chocolate shake with peanut butter powder. It was the usual boring 100 calorie string cheese. Lunch today was a 3.7 ounce 200 calorie grilled chicken sandwich. The more I have this item the more I like it. It was a spur of the moment choice this morning so I didn’t have anything prepared to jazz up the flavor. A little bit of barbecue sauce would have been perfect. I had the usual raw carrots with it. I didn’t have a Smart Carb with my morning snack so I used that with lunch, which includes a Power Fuel. I had a ½ cup of plain yogurt (60 calories) with 2 tablespoons of granola. The granola is a total game changer and I don’t count those calories. I consider it an extra, which is allowed. I never got around to my afternoon snack. Dinner tonight was a 10 ounce 280 calorie salisbury steak with mac & cheese frozen entree. My evening snack was a tasty 2.1 ounce 140 calorie carrot cake slice. I’m only at 1069 calories for the day which is a little low, so I may consider having a second snack.

I did get my workout in tonight and I’m pretty happy about that. It’s hard to motivate myself off the couch on these cold winter evenings but once I got started I forgot about the cold and focused on the ocean scenery in the workout app. I’m going to give myself a week with the current workout and then see if I can move up to something either a little longer or just a tiny bit more challenging.

We had some snow overnight and the roads up my way were snow covered and slippery this morning. Once I got to the highway the roads were smooth sailing and the sunrise over Oneida Lake was spectacular ! We started the day with sunshine and blue skies (and a chilly 9 degrees) but it clouded up and we have a winter storm warning starting this evening. Very often the worst snow is just north of me - that was the case this morning and right now it is snowing north of me but doing nothing here. The plow just came by x2 but he didn’t have the blade down. Must have been a salt/sand run ... which is not a good sign !