Day 110: You Have The Power

“You have the power to change perception, to inspire and empower, and to show people how to embrace their complications, and see the flaws, and the true beauty and strength that’s inside all of us.” ~Beyonce~

I can’t say I’m a Beyonce fan but agree with her sentiments. If my story inspires even one person, that would be enough for me. After all, no one is perfect and we all have struggles. I choose to share a lot of mine publicly now … but there was a time when I did not. I’m glad to have that behind me and I’m glad that everything I share now is positive and uplifting. Well, at least I hope it is ! I try not to sound like I’m preaching, because I’m not. I’m sharing my thoughts and ideas and you have every right to disagree with anything and everything that I might say. I’m not perfect and my life is not perfect but I’m dedicated to improving both myself and my life every day. Losing weight is a daily struggle – don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t. I may make it sound easy but I have my moments. It’s hard work and it takes a lot of will power to say no. There are many nights I’d rather spend the whole evening on the couch but I know how important exercise is so I force myself to keep at it. I purchased the 1 year iFit plan because I knew that would spur me to continue using the treadmill. I also really enjoy the different trainers and the variety of workouts. It’s also not mindless exercise because they tell you about the area they’re in, so I’m learning a little bit about other parts of the world. I supplement what I learn in their videos with Google searches to learn more. I can’t really say I’d rather be eating the foods I used to eat. They might have tasted good but I feel so much better on the Nutrisystem food. I don’t feel like I’m experiencing blood sugar highs and lows and that was something that really had me concerned. Even though my lab values were always within the “normal” range they were on the high end. I’ll be interested to see what they look like now. So for me Nutrisystem is a good fit, but like anything else it’s probably not for everyone. We each have to decide what is best for ourselves.

Breakfast was a 2.1 ounce 180 calorie cinnamon roll with triple chocolate coffee. Ever notice coffee tastes especially good some mornings ? Today was one of them ! 2nd cup was French vanilla. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 220 calorie chicken fajita melt with raw carrots. I also had my breakfast Power Fuel, which was an 80 calorie Sargento colby jack cheese stick. Afternoon snack was the usual 180 calorie Sargento Balanced Breaks. That left me with 383 calories for dinner and an evening snack. Nutrisystem says my calorie range is 1140 – 1260, so it’s not a big deal if I were to go over. I prefer to stay at or under 1200. It would bug me if I went over ! 383 is plenty of calories for dinner and snack since the snacks I have range from 90 to 190 calories and the dinner entrees range from 180 to 290. So it’s just a matter of deciding where you want to use those calories. Dinner was a 7.5 ounce 220 calorie chicken fettucine alfredo. I had green beans with it. My evening snack was a 1.3 ounce 140 calorie oatmeal raisin cookie. I love all of the Nutrisystem cookies ! My calories are at 1177 for the day, so I’m right on track.

Once my calories were reduced to 1200 I thought it was going to be a struggle, but I’ve settled right into it. It actually means almost zero prep because I buy Sargento’s individually wrapped cheese sticks and their Balanced Breaks, so it’s really grab and go in the morning. The only thing I have to “prep” is the carrots that I just rinse off and throw into a snack sized Ziploc bag. I also fill one with extra ice for my shake and for when I refill my water in the afternoon. So it’s become pretty effortless and that is totally what I needed ! I do find that I am a little hungry some mornings but that is usually because I slacked on my veggies the night before. Really and truly, if you follow the guidelines you should never be hungry on Nutrisystem. They recommend at least 4 servings of veggies per day and I only had 2 yesterday, so I was a little hungry this morning. My own fault !

I was back in my old baggy jeans today because I haven’t had a minute to sit and browse online and I really have to be “in the mood” to shop. Tomorrow is another day I guess !