Day 116: Love What You Do

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. ~Steve Jobs~

This is a fitting sentiment today as I celebrated 34 years with AT&T. Yes, celebrated, because I have enjoyed most every moment of the past 34 years. I’m not particularly happy with the direction the company is going today but I am grateful to still be here doing what I feel is great work. I hope to still be here on April 29, 2020 to celebrate 35 years, but if I’m not it won’t be the end of the world. It’ll mean I’ve gone on to something new and exciting and someone else is benefiting from my potential ! I look around my office at all of the talented individuals who will be let go at the end of June. Local employers will be so lucky to get most of these people. Strong work ethic and amazing skills will be going out the door and really, it’s AT&T’s loss. On a positive note, I still enjoy what I do. I still enjoy most of the people I work with. People I’ve worked closely with for 20 or 30+ years haven’t changed. These are the people I will miss. The genuine people. The people who didn’t change after January 7, 2019 - the day the closing of our office was announced. I’m grateful for the past 34 years and I hope I can hang in there until I’m good and ready for retirement ! Loving what you do should hold true for other things in your life too. I love being on Nutrisystem. I love the fact that nearly 50 pounds are gone. I love the fact that I’m exercising most every day and feeling great. I can’t ask for much more out of life.

Breakfast today was a delicious 2.1 ounce 160 calorie cherry cheese roll with toasted coconut coffee. The much needed 2nd cup was French vanilla on this frosty morning ! Although I’m really ok with black coffee, some days I remember how delicious these flavored coffees were with cream and sugar. I blame it on the coconut cream pie (my favorite!) I couldn’t eat yesterday ! Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 230 calorie meatball parmesan melt with raw carrots. Afternoon snack was a 170 calorie Balanced Breaks. After all that I still had 483 calories left for dinner and evening snack. Dinner was a 250 calorie 8.5 ounce chicken and vegetable stir fry. I added some leftover riced cauliflower to get my veggies in ! My evening snack was a 1.3 ounce 140 calorie lemon cooler cookie. It was delicious ! So my calories are at 1107 for the day. I got all 64 ounces of water in so I’m back on track there.

I really think that having pasta yesterday made my body want even more carbs, because I woke up hungry ! The creamy sauce probably contributed to that. This is NOT a good thing ! I’ve done a lot of reading about high protein/high fiber diets and weight loss. Our bodies are designed to run on carbs, because they’re easy to break down and use for fuel, so the adjustment to burning fat or other elements to fuel the body is less efficient. I’m thinking the body gets a little too excited when an unexpected delivery of carbs arrives .. lol ! It’s not like I ate a ton of pasta, I had maybe a cup, but it was more than I’ve had in a very long time. I could tell my body was reacting to the carbs because I was sleepy after I got home, which is something that hasn’t happened in a long time either. I’ve read a lot about insulin resistance and diabetes so I know the signs. I’ll take this as a warning. I know I can’t go back to my “old” eating habits once I reach my goal weight, but I also have to be aware that the occasional splurge might awaken undesirable cravings ! If I’m not careful the weight will pile right back on. I’ve said before that you have to listen to what your body is telling you. I didn’t listen to mine for years but I’m more in tune with it now. Nutrisystem products do contain sugar so it’s not like I’m on a sugar free diet. They focus on keeping their products low on the glycemic index, so you avoid blood sugar spikes and those sugar cravings. I had pasta a couple weeks ago at the casino but it didn’t have a creamy sauce and was mixed with veggies and shrimp. I didn’t get sleepy after that so I’m thinking the creamy sauce yesterday might have been part of the problem. The salad dressing was also a little sweet. Little things you don’t think about can have big consequences ! I file all these little tidbits away to help keep me on track ! I’m no dietician or scientist so all of this is based on my own opinions and how what I eat affects me. Your body may react differently, you just have to listen to it !

Time on the treadmill was important yesterday to burn off those carbs. As hard as it was to get off the couch I felt so much better after that workout. Exercise is truly mind over matter, because even though I know how good it will make me feel it is still a struggle some days. At some point I need to fit some toning into my routine, which means I’m going to have to carve out a few minutes in my evening to do that. I’m not willing to give up any treadmill time right now because I know myself too well. I’m in a good groove right now and I want to keep it that way. I was kind of tired tonight but I pushed through it and hopped on the treadmill and made it through the workout just fine. So I started the week off right !

Although it was a bright sunny day it was cold today ! 28 degrees when I left for work ! If ANYBODY complains about the heat this summer (if it ever gets here) I will slap them silly .. lol ! I cannot wait for 90 degree days ! I have one lonely daffodil in the middle of my yard. They’ll be mowed down once the ground is dry enough to warrant mowing but it’s nice to look out the kitchen window and see that brave soldier standing tall in the cold. It had gotten up to 50 degrees by the time I left work but the sun disappeared. Apparently we can’t have sunshine AND warm weather yet !