Day 126: Do It Today

“The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today.”
~Nolan Bushnell~

December 29, 2018 was the day I decided to get off my butt and do something about my weight. I had made efforts in the past but they were halfhearted and lacked structure. I wanted to lose weight but I had never been 100% committed. Those Christmas photos were the turning point and I was finally ready for a change. Despite the photos I don’t think I’d be where I am if I wasn’t mentally ready. Doing anything worthwhile requires commitment, whether it’s losing weight, getting fit or giving up alcohol, cigarettes or drugs. You can tell an alcoholic or drug addict they have a problem and need to do something about it, but they won’t until they are ready. Same goes for giving up cigarettes. Anybody who smokes KNOWS they are bad for them ! So losing weight or getting fit is no different. We know being overweight is unhealthy. We know not exercising is unhealthy. Until we’re ready to give up our love affair with food and the couch we ignore all that. We tell ourselves that tomorrow we won’t eat the whole pint of ice cream. Tomorrow we’ll get some exercise. Tomorrow we won’t have fast food. Been there, done that. Tomorrow never came. Same goes for those who are addicted to things other than food. Tomorrow I won’t drink. Tomorrow I won’t use. Tomorrow I won’t smoke 2 packs. We all have these internal conversations and we never keep the promises we make to ourselves. So the day you DO keep the promise is monumental and unforgettable. On December 29, 2019 I will look back and see where I am a year later vs. where I was. It will be my own personal holiday. The day I decided I was worth investing in. The day I decided I was tired of being fat. I don’t know that I will ever be considered “thin” but I’d like to think I can get to a point where I’m not considered “fat”. I won’t celebrate 12/29 with food. Food will never be a reward in my life again. I don’t know how I will mark the occasion yet and I have a lot of time to think about it. Now that the warmer weather is coming I’m really glad I’m in the groove with Nutrisystem. My home is not air conditioned and I don’t like to cook so during the summer months I would default to fast food quite a lot. Who wants to cook when it’s 90 degrees ? This summer I won’t be doing that because I’ll have a freezer full of Nutrisystem meals and snacks, and a fridge full of fresh produce.

Breakfast was a 2.1 ounce 180 calorie cinnamon roll with caramel vanilla cream coffee. 2nd cup was triple chocolate. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. I also had my breakfast Power Fuel (100 calorie string cheese). Lunch was a 4 ounce 220 calorie chicken fajita melt, raw carrots and a chef salad. Afternoon snack was the usual 180 calorie Sargento Balanced Breaks. This left me 363 calories for dinner and an evening snack. Dinner was a rerun of last night - 7.5 ounce 22o calorie chicken fettucine alfredo with a sprinkle of romano cheese. I was not that hungry so I opted to skip veggies tonight. Evening snack was a delicious, if tiny, 1.9 ounce 120 calorie tiramisu. Total calories are 1177 but with the salad dressing and romano cheese I’m rounding up to 1200.

Today was one of those days where I’d have defaulted to fast food for dinner, since I was picking up my car tantalizingly close to KFC. I’d be tired and hungry by the time I got home so fast food was quick and easy. Throwing a Nutrisystem meal in the microwave is just as easy and while that cooks I can do other things, like wash out my lunch containers and get things ready for tomorrow. Last night I put gas in the rental and the gas station was right next to McDonald’s. The smell of fries was wafting through the air the entire time I was standing at that gas pump. I kept reminding myself how crappy the fries were the last time I had them. How can something that smells so good be so horrible unless they are screaming hot from the fryer ? Anyhow, I survived and went home to my Nutrisystem entree.

I’m so glad to have my own car back ! Fuel door works better than it ever has so I think this problem has been brewing for a long time. It was covered under the warranty so I only had to pay for my rental. Stopped and filled up the gas tank so I’m all set for a few days. It took me a little bit to readjust to barely touching the accelerator to get up to speed on the highway. NYS Police frown on warp speed .. unless of course they’re cruising 81 in one of their Charger’s !

Received my latest Nutrisystem shipment today so I spent some time packing all that into the freezer. I cannot fit one more thing in there .. it’s that full ! By the time I got home, fed the cats, put all the food away, cleaned up and had dinner it was well after 7 so I opted not to exercise tonight. I exercised right after eating once before and it made me physically ill, so I won’t do that again. I also exercised a little later in the evening on a weeknight once and then couldn’t get to sleep, so that’s not an option either. This is a good example of life sometimes getting in your way temporarily. Tomorrow I will be right back on the treadmill and even though I will be out on Saturday and Sunday I plan on getting a workout in Saturday night and again on Sunday morning.

Time now for a hot shower and a warm bed. I don’t know about you but I am SO glad tomorrow is Friday !