Day 83: The Untraveled Road

“Life is an untraveled road, It has twists and turns, It has potholes and bumps, If you accelerate too fast while moving ahead, you will miss the scenario besides the road, If you didn’t move ahead you will miss the beautiful experience … Make your journey worth traveling. ~Maitree Tailor~

I’m not sure if this cold is a twist, a turn, a pothole or a bump (all of the above ?) … but I do know it is only a temporary obstacle. I decided to get better before I try to resume my treadmill exercise. It’s pretty frustrating that every time I start making progress something happens. I’ve doubled up on vitamins for a few days to give my immune system a little boost and I have the bottle right next to the couch now so I won’t be forgetting to take them after dinner each night ! With any luck I’ll be back on the treadmill by the weekend with a new goal. iFit released some new workout videos recently so I will take some time to go through the library and see if there is anything I can add to my list. Quite a lot of their content is for more advanced fitness levels but I’ve found enough within my range to make it worth my while.

Breakfast today was a 160 calorie 2.1 ounce cherry cheese roll – one of my favorites – with a cup of triple chocolate coffee. Unlike my last cold I can smell the hint of chocolate in the coffee and I can taste what I’m eating ! Breakfast Power Fuel was plain greek yogurt (80 calories). Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 220 calorie 4 ounce chicken fajita melt with some raw carrots. My afternoon snack was another 180 calorie Sargento Balanced Breaks, which is a combination Power Fuel and Smart Carb. Today’s variety had sharp cheddar cheese, salted cashews and dried cranberries. I missed a Smart Carb with my morning snack and a Power Fuel with my lunch, so I still need to look at what I’m eating and figure out what I can add. Fruit or a veggie cake would stand in as a Smart Carb and something like a hard boiled egg or cottage cheese would stand in as a Power Fuel. I was just at Walmart and didn’t pick up the small plastic containers I need in order to bring everything I need in my lunch bag each day. Dinner was a 8 ounce 250 calorie chicken and vegetable stir-fry that I served over broccoli. Evening snack was a 1.8 ounce 150 calorie chocolate cupcake. One thing that is not suffering is my appetite !! I am thinking there is something in the cold medicine that is making me hungry !

If not for Advil Cold & Sinus I don’t know how I’d get through the day or the night. I took it at bedtime and was able to sleep pretty darn good all night. I took it again when I got up this morning and by the time I left for work much of my stuffiness was gone. I had to take another dose around 1:30 pm as I was all stuffed up again. It’s worth signing your life away at the pharmacy counter to get the medicine with the best ingredients ! For me, the rest of the over the counter stuff is a useless waste of money. I’ll be taking more Advil when I go to bed .. which is minutes away .. because I’m all stuffed up again !

For the third day in a row it was 19 degrees when I got up ! I’m about done with these frozen mornings ! I did notice the birds are chirping when I leave for work now ! It’s so nice to hear them, although they’re probably saying “f this, let’s fly south again !”. The forecast after today shows highs in the 40’s and 50’s for the next couple of weeks but the lows are still in the 20’s and 30’s. It was 49 degrees when I left work today but there is still a chill in the air. My yard is slowly reappearing since it’s been sunny all week. Good riddance to the 3 foot snowbanks !