Day 131: You're Better Than That

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done ! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody ! Cowards do that and that ain’t you ! You’re better than that ! ~Rocky Balboa~

I’m not one to quote from films and I’ve never been a big “Rocky” fan, but when I came across this I had to stop and read it. I also watched the video clip from the film. They’re powerful words and very true. I don’t think I’ve ever blamed anyone else for where I am in life, but I may have pointed out what impact the actions of others had on my life. Is that finger pointing or accepting that I allowed others to keep me from succeeding ? Or both ? In some ways I feel like I let things happen that I shouldn’t have, but that is hindsight. Regardless, I think I am where I am because it’s where I’m meant to be, so maybe things happened as they should have. I completely agree that the world is not all sunshine and rainbows. I also agree it can be a mean and nasty place, filled with mean and nasty people. Life will beat you to your knees sometimes but you have to get up and keep going. As I said yesterday, that is easy to say today when life is going well. I always got up and kept going but it would have been the last thing I wanted to hear from anyone else at the time. When someone is struggling you’re better off acknowledging their situation and offering to help, if you can, or just telling them you’re sorry they’re having a rough time. Don’t tell them not to give up. That doesn’t help at all.

Breakfast today was a 2 ounce 150 calorie blueberry muffin. I have a few muffins hanging around and since they’re not frozen they have a shorter shelf life, so I need to eat them. I had French vanilla coffee with the muffin and my 2nd cup was triple chocolate. 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 180 calorie Sargento Balanced Breaks and my breakfast Power Fuel (100 calorie string cheese). This left me 383 calories for dinner and an evening snack, which was more than enough. I finished the first 32 ounces of water by 2 pm and refilled to start on the next 32 ! Dinner was a 5 ounce 210 calorie broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken breast. I had a bag of broccoli with it so I got all my veggies in today ! Evening snack was a 1.9 ounce 120 calorie tiramisu. Total calories for the day are 1147 but I added a little salad dressing to the broccoli for flavor (10 calories per serving) so I’ll add about 20 calories to that for a total of 1167.

My stomach grumbled and groaned all afternoon and is still complaining ! It appears my digestive tract is sensitive to an ingredient in the muffin, since that is the only thing I ate today that was different. It has something called Inulin Syrup in it and from what I’ve read about this ingredient I suspect it was the cause of my digestive upset. I’ll be on the lookout for it in other food items going forward !

It was another cold rainy day ! I had to break out my winter coat and mittens again as it was 38 degrees when I got up. My winter coat is pretty big on me now so I’ll need a new one by next winter ! Since I’ve lost a little weight I’ve noticed I get cold more often. Seems to be a common theme among a few others on Nutrisystem. I guess we’re losing our natural insulation ! I’ve been keeping an eye on my basement since it’s been so wet and my new sump pump is very quiet. I don’t really have to worry too much because there is nothing in the basement that would get damaged by water unless it was several feet deep. The boiler for my heat & hot water is mounted on the wall and I don’t store anything down there. Still, I’ve been checking it every day.

Tonight I felt like I could breathe and relax a little as I got home from work on time. When I make a stop before going home that 15 or 20 minute delay takes a big bite out of the time I have to enjoy the evening. Last night I finished up a couple of outstanding items like scheduling bill payments that are not on auto-pay and verifying some have been successfully paid. I love having all my bills scheduled so I don’t have to think about it again until June ! Right now I have 2 credit cards with zero balances and next month I’ll be up to 3 with zero balances, so my financial fitness goal is on track just like my weight loss. My bank line of credit also has a zero balance. 2 cards to go and I’ll only have a mortgage and car payment to worry about, along with the normal expenses associated with owning a home and car. My plan is to take what I was paying on the zero balance accounts and put those additional funds toward the outstanding cards, starting with the lower balance one. It will take a while to pay the very last one off, but at least the balances are going in the right direction ! I’m not closing any accounts right now as I’m told that would drop my credit score by reducing available credit. My score is very good right now so I don’t want to rock that boat ! I just locked away the cards since I’m not using them. Once all of my credit accounts are paid in full I intend to start paying more towards my mortgage. I refinanced in 2016 to a 15 year term but I’d like the house to be paid for by the time I’m ready to retire. I feel like my short term financial goals and my long term weight loss goals will be achieved around the same time, so I am going to have to come up with some spectacular way to celebrate that doesn’t involve stuffing myself or spending a ton of money !

I also downloaded some additional apps & updates to my new tablet last night. The new tablet makes the iFit experience so much nicer because the screen is larger and the sound is better. This is the main reason I bought it. Tonight’s workout seemed to fly by ! Every pound I lose makes it that much easier to exercise.

It’s been a full day and I’m tired, so it’s time for a shower and bed.