Day 170: Life Miles

"Do not be discouraged by the distance you still have to travel. Instead, appreciate how many "life miles" you have already covered. Your struggles have changed you into a stronger and better person. Don't let anyone dissuade you from blooming into the person you are meant to be. Keep walking.   ~Dodinsky, author of In The Garden of Thoughts~

Every morning I search for an inspirational quote. Some days I have a theme in mind, some days I just find something that speaks to me. Today is one of those days. I've talked often about the fact that the journey to lose weight is going to be a long one and daily motivation is necessary to keep myself moving forward. I am focusing on how far I have traveled on this journey, rather than letting the long road still ahead discourage me. I also think about the fact that I am not really traveling this road alone. Every kind word about my progress gives me even more motivation to continue. I may be doing this for me, but it feels good when others acknowledge your hard work. The journey doesn't feel quite so lonely when you have people cheering you on every step of the way. I have definitely traveled my share of "life miles" over the years. Some of those miles were pretty hard but they certainly made me into a stronger person. Am I better person ? I don't know. I'd like to think I am but who's to say ? I'm still working on becoming the person I want to be. There are still things in life I want. Losing weight is the focus now but it's not the sum total of what I want out of life. It's just the most important thing right now. In 10 days I'll be at the 6 month mark - 180 days on Nutrisystem. I had hoped to lose 2 pounds per week during the first year, which would be 54 pounds in 6 months and I've actually exceeded that target already. As much as I'd like to hit 104 pounds lost by January 4, 2020 I am realistic enough to know that at some point my loss may slow down. However, I am still pushing for that ! Actually, I'd like to lose 105 by that date. If I can do that I will be one happy gal ! I think just over 35 pounds in the next 6 months is a realistic, if stretch, goal.

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Progress Update: I lost 2.4 pounds this week, for a total loss to date of 69.8 pounds.

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I was hoping to hit 70 pounds lost today and I thought about delaying my official weigh in until tomorrow to see if I could reach that milestone. But then I stopped and thought about it and decided losing 2.4 this week and 69.8 to date was enough to celebrate ! Waiting one more week to officially hit the 70 pound mark is not a tragedy ! My bears will have their new friend when my next shipment comes, that is for certain ! 

Breakfast was a 4.4 ounce 180 calories turkey sausage and egg muffin with Green Mountain Breakfast Blend coffee. Second cup was caramel vanilla cream. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 2 ounce 220 calorie cup of white cheddar mac & cheese. I added about 6 ounces of water to this so the cooked weight would have been about 8 ounces. This is not a favorite item (it's pretty awful actually) but I'm trying to use up the non-frozen items I have left. I also had a huge chef salad with cucumbers and radishes. I found a fat-free Kraft Zesty Italian dressing that only has 15 calories in 2 tablespoons and it is now my favorite dressing ! I'm avoiding as much "fake" food as I can but I really want to eat more salad during the summer months, so the fat-free dressing is going to be a necessary evil for a while. Afternoon snack was 1/2 cup cottage cheese (80 calories) and some pretzels (110 calories). To me, eating pretzels as a Nutrisystem snack isn't really ideal but I had bought a big barrel of them before I started Nutrisystem so I've been gradually eating them ... there's only 5 in a serving so it's taking a while ! This left me 455 calories for dinner and an evening snack. Dinner was a 4 ounce 180 calorie artichoke and spinach stuffed chicken breast with roasted vegetables. My evening snack was a 1.8 ounce 140 calorie butterscotch cake. Total calories are 1065 ... 1095 if I count my salad dressing. Since I was good on calories today (and got 2 workouts in !) I treated myself to a small glass of 1911 Rose wine with my snack. 

I slept so well last night ! I went to bed around 10 and was asleep before 11 but I slept in until almost 9:30. I was awake at 5 but there was no way I was getting up that early. After breakfast I got busy with laundry and I got a new workout done in between my morning snack and lunch. The new one I tried is 36 minutes but it puts the tough inclines at the beginning, rather than the end. I really liked this one so it's going to be my workout for a while. It burns a few more calories (262) and has an overall greater amount of incline but it doesn't seem to kick my butt as hard. I finished my first 32 ounces of water before lunch and started on the next 32. I also finally got out the 8 pound weights I bought and started working on building some arm muscles. I also took some updated measurements. I've taken 12 inches off my waist and 10 off my hips ! Those were the biggest changes - other measurements like my thighs, arms and neck each changed a few inches too. I haven't kept track of my measurements so I only have the starting and current numbers. I got a second workout in after dinner so it's been a perfect day ! It was so nice to have the windows and doors open all day. It was a beautiful sunny day and although I was inside all day I had a wonderful relaxing day - just what I needed !