Day 66: A Life of Purpose

“We must have a theme, a goal, a purpose in our lives. If you don’t know where you’re aiming, you don’t have a goal.” ~Mary Kay Ash~

Mary Kay Ash is the founder of the Mary Kay Cosmetics empire and she is so right ! I spent a lot of time wandering through life with no purpose and no goals and today those years feel wasted. I can’t get them back so I’ve chosen to focus on the present and make the most of the time I have left here on this earth ! My goal .. my theme .. my purpose in life is to lose weight, plain and simple. It’s the only goal I have right now.

I lazed in bed until almost 10:30 today - I guess I was tired. I was up at 7:30 but when I looked out and saw snow I went back to bed ! Fortunately the snow changed over to rain when it warmed up. I hate these gloomy damp days but anything is better than more snow ! We didn’t really get much rain today but it’s still a wet sloppy mess out there.

Breakfast today was a rerun of yesterday, a 90 calorie 3.8 ounce turkey ham and cheese omelet. I panicked a little when I saw I only have 4 more breakfast items in the freezer (my next Nutrisystem shipment goes out 3-14) but then I remembered I have a bunch of non-frozen items so I have plenty ! A 1/2 cup of pineapple stood in for the missing breakfast Smart Carb but I skipped the Power Fuel. After a cup of hazelnut coffee followed by a cup of triple chocolate I felt like I was ready for the day ! Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Smart Carb was a 90 calorie veggie cake. I snuck a workout in before lunch so I was starving ! Lunch was a 1.6 ounce 210 calorie creamy beef alfredo. This is another of the “lunch in a cup” items where you add water and microwave. The prepared weight is probably closer to 8 ounces. I haven’t been a fan of these but I tweaked the prep time and added some powdered Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning mix. It is a zero calorie item but it does add sodium, so I use it sparingly. It completely transforms these boring lunch cups. I was tempted to lick the cup, it was that good ! I had my usual raw carrots with it. I skipped my afternoon snack because the day was just flying by. Dinner was a 10 ounce 250 calorie chicken enchilada with spanish rice. This is one of the “heartier” frozen entrees. The enchilada shell pretty much melted away so I just stirred it up and called it a casserole. I had some steamed broccoli with it. My evening snack will be a 1.8 ounce 150 calorie chocolate cupcake. I’m only at 997 calories for the day so I have a pretty big deficit. I’m not hungry so I’m not going to force myself to eat more.

Since I got up so late it feels like I did nothing but eat all day. Some days it is NOT easy to get 3 meals and 3 snacks in. I didn’t have the breakfast or lunch Power Fuel or afternoon snack but I’m not hungry so I don’t feel deprived, nor am I starving myself. Some days I do come pretty close to my 1400 calorie limit. Having slept so late it was a must to get 2 workouts in today, otherwise I will not sleep tonight. I certainly wasn’t going to get tired sitting on the couch all day ! I did the same workout I did yesterday and I’ll probably stay with this one for a little while. The 2.7 mph intervals are a piece of cake but the 3 mph speed is challenging me and is about the limit of my endurance right now. I’ll know when I’m ready to step it up. I have some beginner workouts with incline queued up but I don’t feel like I’m ready for that yet. As it is the 2nd workout of the day was a struggle, probably because I had just had dinner so I was a little full. About 11 minutes in I wanted to give up but I pushed through it and finished. It seems to get easier once you get past those moments. A double workout during the week will never be a reality unless I end up working from home. I don’t know about you but I need a shower after each workout and I’m not showering twice a day !

While I was making my lunch today I took the time to scrub the microwave, stove top and the kitchen counters. I also prepped the foods I need for tomorrow. I have this beautiful kitchen and the only thing getting good use is the microwave ! Oh well, once I am done with Nutrisystem I’ll be cooking again and will get to really enjoy the kitchen. I did roast some brussel sprouts and mushrooms so I have veggies ready for the week ahead.

One of my favorites movies was on TCM today at 6 pm - The Long, Long Trailer with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. I love that movie ! I knew between getting dinner and fitting a workout in I wouldn’t be able to sit and watch so I DVR’d it for later. I also dug a couple of clothing items out of my closet today, things I haven’t worn in a while (or never worn!) because they were too tight. There are 2 pair of jeans I’ve never worn and 2 sweaters I haven’t worn in over a year. I’ll be interested to see how they fit now.

There is yet another winter weather advisory for my area from 2 am tomorrow until 5 am Tuesday ! With any luck it will stay north of me, which happened a lot this winter ! With the time change it’s going to be dark again when I leave for work .. which sucks !