Day 111: A Dream

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” ~Colin Powell~

This is true for most of us and to me it’s more meaningful to achieve something through your own hard work. Some people have their dreams fulfilled by others, without putting in much effort, and I don’t think it means quite as much. I’ve seen it personally .. someone who had everything handed to them and it meant nothing. It was never enough and they had no regret when they threw it all away. So the hard work I’m putting in to lose weight means the world to me and every little achievement makes me incredibly proud of myself. I’m fulfilling a dream I’ve had for over 20 years. When I started this journey I wasn’t sure I could stay the course. I was afraid I wouldn’t like the food. I was afraid I wasn’t disciplined enough to exercise. I was afraid of failure. It’s been 111 days so I guess all those fears were unfounded. I do like the food. I am disciplined enough to exercise. I haven’t failed. The road hasn’t always been smooth but that is life ! Every day I think about what life will be like post-Nutrisystem. It’s a scary thought ! Going back to eating “real food” means making the right choices every day, every meal. It’s a big responsibility when you’ve spent years eating whatever sounded good, with no thought to calories or nutritional value. Once I reach my goal weight the transition from Nutrisystem food will be a slow one because my biggest challenge is the fact that I do not like to cook, especially during the week. To be successful I’m going to have to become a weekend meal prepper. There’s no reason I can’t cook my own meals on the weekend and package them for the freezer. That will give me a healthy home cooked meal with the convenience of a prepared meal. It’s a long way off but it takes me a while to get used to new ideas .. so that’s why I’m thinking about it now. In the very beginning I gave myself 3 months to see if Nutrisystem would work for me. That 3 months has passed and it has worked. So now I’m focused on the next 9 months, because I told myself up front this was going to take at least a year, if not more. I don’t believe I will be at my goal when day 365 rolls around, but I know I will be a whole lot closer than I am today ! I’m ok with that, because it took a lot longer than a year to gain all this weight ! If I hit the 50 pound mark this weekend that will be 50 pounds in less than 4 months, which is more than I expected, but I know it will get harder as the amount I need to lose decreases. So I don’t have my sights set on meeting goal at day 365. It’s all about having realistic expectations ! My goals may not be lofty but fewer disappointments make it easier to keep myself motivated. Would I like to meet my goal by day 365 ? Absolutely ! Is it possible ? It is .. but at what cost ? I don’t really want to starve myself or exercise every spare minute. I have to chuckle at people on Nutrisystem who claim to run 4 or 5 miles a day. I’m still trying to figure out how you can do that if you’re so overweight you need to be on this program ? I guess if saying that, whether it’s true or not, makes them feel better about their situation who am I to judge ? Me, I like keeping it real and honest. I spend almost 40 minutes on the treadmill most days (3 minute warm up, 32:40 minute workout and 3 minute cool down) and that is about all I can manage, other than sometimes getting in 2 sessions on Saturday and Sunday. I’m sure for some people my whole 40 minutes is nothing more than a warm up and hey, more power to them ! I’m still a firm believer that slow and steady wins the race. Does that make me unambitious ? I don’t think it does.

Breakfast was a 2.1 ounce 160 calorie cherry cheese roll with vanilla caramel cream coffee. 2nd cup was toasted coconut today. Breakfast Power Fuel was an 80 calorie Sargento colby jack cheese stick. Morning snack was a 155 calorie chocolate shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 230 calorie steak and cheese melt with raw carrots. Afternoon snack was a 180 calorie Sargento Balanced Breaks. I’m so glad I found these – they have 6 different varieties so I’m not eating the same one every day ! After all this I had 393 calories left for dinner and an evening snack, which was plenty. Dinner was a 4 ounce artichoke and spinach stuffed chicken breast. I had the rest of the green beans and some salad with it. My evening snack was a 190 calorie 3.4 ounce chocolate brownie sundae cup. My calories for the day are 1177 ... this seems to be a recurring number !!

Weather today pretty much stunk. I’m back in my winter coat since it was 44 degrees when I left for work and the forecast high was only 51 degrees. It was only 45 in Syracuse at 2:30 pm
and it’s 44 in Mexico right now ! It was also cloudy and gloomy all day. It would have been a great day to stay home in bed watching old movies ! Just yesterday I was dreaming about planting flowers and enjoying my yard … oh well, the nice weather will get here eventually.

I’m convinced that putting on my exercise gear as soon as I get home from work has made it easier to convince myself to get off the couch and exercise each night. By 7 pm I’ve usually fed the cats and myself, got everything ready for my lunch bag and had some time to let my dinner settle. Since I just have to throw on my socks and shoes and grab my tablet it’s become part of my routine. Afterwards I still have time to give my mom a call, have my evening snack, write this note and watch a little tv. Tonight I’m watching The Mummy for the 4,194,819th time. I know the first 2 movies pretty much by heart but I’ve never seen the 3rd one. Writing about my day here also helps keep me on track, because if I don’t exercise I’ll be writing about it here ... and the reason better be a good one !

About time for a long hot shower and a warm comfy bed !