Day 98: A New Day

“It’s a new day, fresh start, fresh energy, new opportunities. Get your mind right, be thankful, be positive and start your day right.”

This quote is perfect because I woke up this morning with a new outlook. I am thankful. I’m determined to be positive and I started my day right. I’ve also decided to do something different with these posts. I feel like I’ve beaten the “self-improvement” topic to death and I’m tired of rehashing the past. I’ve let that all go and I’ve moved on to such a good place. I’m approaching 100 days on Nutrisystem and it’s time to think about other things. Fun things !

I’d really like to get into gardening. My yard is basically a blank canvas now and I’d love to have flowers out there. I’ve mentioned before that I’d like to plant some honeysuckle. There’s nothing like that smell wafting on the breeze on a hot summer night. I’d love to have roses too, although I know they can be a lot of work. What I’m going to do is take some photos of the space and then decide what I want to plant and where. Since I’m a novice I’ll start small and just put in one or two rose bushes this year. Honeysuckle is sort of like a bush so I could probably manage that too. I had also thought about getting some large pots and planting flowers and greenery. These would sit on the cement patio outside the side door, out of the way of lawn mower man ! I have areas that get mostly shade and areas that are sunny all day so I have to keep that in mind too. If anybody in the Northeast has recommendations I’d love to hear them ! Feel free to add links or photos in the comments ! I do have lilacs and a rhododendron already. Everything was severely pruned last year so I’ll be interested to see how they bounce back.

Breakfast today was a 2.1 ounce 160 calorie cherry cheese roll with hazelnut coffee. This breakfast delicacy breaks my heart every time I have it … because most of the icing sticks to the wrapper ! Some people would (and do) lick the wrapper or try to scrape it off but I can’t be bothered. I’m ok with throwing those calories in the trash. I never got around to my 2nd cup of coffee and my breakfast power fuel was 100 calorie string cheese. Morning snack was a 155 calorie chocolate shake with peanut butter powder. I’ll tell you, the peanut butter powder pretty much saves the day when it comes to the shakes. Protein powder can have a funky taste but the peanut butter cuts that nicely. Lunch today was a 3.8 ounce chicken mozzarella melt. Had the usual raw carrots with it. Early afternoon snack was plain Greek yogurt (80 calories) and mixed berries (90 calories). I use my morning snack smart carb and my lunch power fuel to have this in between lunch and my afternoon snack. Late in the afternoon I had a Sargento Balanced Breaks (180 calories). Dinner tonight was 7.2 ounce 220 calorie italian-style sausage and peppers, which is basically sausage and peppers with a little tomato sauce. I served it over riced cauliflower. It was pretty good but I should have had a salad too because it’s not very filling. Evening snack was a 1.8 ounce 150 calorie chocolate cupcake. Love these ! My calories for the day are at about 1334.

I’ve decided I need to branch out with the fruits and vegetables that I eat. So I’m going to try cucumbers. I’ve accidentally eaten one here and there so I know they’re not awful. After all, I love pickles ! What I really don’t like about cucumbers is the seeds, so I’m going to buy one of the seedless ones. I suppose I could scrape the seeds out of the seeded ones but it’s just as easy to buy the seedless. Everyone says they’re great with a little salad dressing so we’ll see. Seeds are also an issue with blackberries and blueberries. I’m going to finish the bag of mixed berries I have but I won’t be buying them again. The seeds in my teeth is just not pleasant. Frozen dark sweet cherries only have 100 calories per cup so I’m going to look for those. I’m looking at frozen fruit because the canned has so much sugar and I don’t want to buy the canned with the alternate sweeteners. Of course fresh is best but spoilage and availability is often a problem (not to mention fruit flies !) so frozen is the next best thing for me. I’ve also seen some tropical fruit blends in the frozen section and I might like those too. Needless to say there are plenty of options, I just have to try a few !

It was another chilly morning - only 26 degrees when I got up ! I was treated to a stunningly beautiful sunrise as I drove over Oneida Lake on my way to work. The water was like glass and the sunrise was just amazing. It was picture perfect. The sun didn’t hang around long but I can still see that sunrise when I close my eyes .. it was that gorgeous ! It did warm up to the mid 40’s and we had a little rain shower late this afternoon. Tomorrow and Saturday are supposed to be in the 60’s !

I am tired tonight, mostly because I was awake until well after 11 last night. I didn’t actually go up to bed until nearly 10 and after my shower I played a game on my phone for a while. Despite that I forced myself off the couch and onto the treadmill for another 32 minute walking tour of the Atlas Mountains in Ouirgane, Morocco. I did a little reading on the area and apparently it’s quite famous with hikers .. and I can see why ! The workout wasn’t quite so hard to get through tonight and didn’t kick my butt quite so hard in spite of my being tired ! So it’s been a wonderful day and I expect to sleep very well tonight.