Day 137: Gratitude Heals The Heart

"We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after our problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is. How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain ? Being grateful in times of distress does not mean that we are pleased with our circumstances. It does mean that through the eyes of faith we look beyond our present-day challenges. This is not a gratitude of the lips but of the soul. It is a gratitude that heals the heart and expands the mind. ~Dieter F. Uchtdorf~

Profound but oh-so-true words from this Elder of the Mormon Church ! Even during my darkest moments I always found something to be grateful for in life. Just waking up every day is a gift. I've always had what was necessary to survive. A good job, a car, a home. There were times I barely had enough, but I always reminded myself there were others who had less. There were times I wanted to give up, but I couldn't. There were times I had to choose between feeding my pets or feeding myself and I always chose my pets. They never went without. Thankfully those days were few and they are behind me now, but I will never forget them. Those memories make the good times even more special. I treasure every day now. I'm not a religious person but I do have some spiritual beliefs, one of which is that things happen for a reason. I also know that no matter what happens to me, there is always someone else dealing with even worse things. So I think about that when life hits a bump, instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself. I might have the momentary meltdown but I tend to bounce back a whole lot faster now ! Gratitude does heal the heart and expand the mind.

Breakfast today was a 3.6 ounce 150 calorie Canadian style turkey bacon, egg and cheese muffin with caramel vanilla cream coffee. The breakfast sandwiches are hearty but this one truly has zero flavor. I say that every time I have it yet I never do anything to improve it. Some people add salsa or hot sauce but that's not something I'd want in the morning. Peppers and onions are an option too but do I really want onion breath so early in the day ? Not really, so I eat it as is. What's missing is a ton of sodium (only has 270 mg) and that is the worst thing I could add. I'm really working hard to stay away from the salt shaker so I just eat it. I don't think I'll order more of them for a while. I'm going to stick with the cinnamon rolls and the cherry cheese rolls during the week. Second cup of coffee was triple chocolate. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 210 calorie beef stir fry melt with raw carrots. Afternoon snack was a 170 calorie Sargento Balanced Breaks. This left me 513 calories for dinner and an evening snack. I've noticed that during the week I very often get super hungry around 2 pm and it's pretty relentless. The Balanced Breaks, while good, don't seem to be enough food to satisfy that hunger. Those little trays have about 1.5 ounces of product in them for 170 or 180 calories. I could have 1/2 cup of yogurt or cottage cheese (both are 80 calorie Power Fuels) and for a Smart Carb a 0.65 ounce bag of Skinny Pop popcorn (100 calories) OR some pretzels (110 calories) OR a fruit cup (80 calories) and that would be in the 160-190 calorie range. The afternoon snack consists of a Power Fuel and a Smart Carb with a calorie range of 80-120 each. So I don't think I'm going to buy the Balanced Breaks anymore. I don't eat the Balanced Breaks on weekends and hunger never seems to be an issue. On a brighter note, I had 32 ounces of water in by 1 pm and another 16 by 3:30, so I'm doing better with that. I've also been to the ladies room a lot .. so I'm getting my exercise ! Dinner was a 10 ounce 280 calorie salisbury steak with mac & cheese. I also had a big bowl of green beans. Evening snack was a 1.9 ounce 120 calorie tiramisu. So my calories for the day are at 1087. A little shy of the 1200 I should be getting but close enough.

Got my workout in to start the week off right ! I got a late start because I had to stop and put gas in the car before I came home. Funny story about that. I was at a stop light and happened to look in the rear view mirror just as the woman behind me snapped a photo. I suspect she was capturing my license plate (MZMAYHEM). Too funny ! 

For some reason I had a really hard time getting to sleep last night, so my butt was dragging this morning. It's not like I had anything on my mind, I was just wide awake. I ended up turning off the tv because I felt like that was keeping me awake. Once I finally got to sleep I ended up waking up to go to the bathroom. That rarely happens but I drank all my water yesterday so I guess that was the reason. I should have been tired, considering I got 2 workouts in, so I don't know why I couldn't sleep. I was up at 8 am so it's not like I slept in super late. It was warmer than usual upstairs so that could have been part of the problem. I couldn't leave a window open because it was continuing to rain on and off but I had the fan on. The low temp for tonight is 44 and tomorrow night is 41 😲  so I don't think I have to worry about the temp for a couple of days. I will probably have to put the heat back on ! 

Hopefully I will have an easier time getting to sleep tonight ! Time for a hot shower and a cozy bed !