Day 214: The Reason

"The reason people give up so fast is because they tend to look at how far they still have to go, instead of how far they have gotten."

I can relate to this quote. I've gotten to a point where I feel good about the way I look and I really, really want to be at my goal weight. When I look at the scale each week it's a reminder that my goal is still pretty far away and sometimes that is hard to accept. So I'm doing exactly what this quote says - I'm looking at how far I still have to go, instead of being proud of what I've accomplished. I'm already ahead of the 2 pounds per week that I was hoping for. I've lost over 80 pounds. I've dropped 5 jeans sizes. Most of the clothes I "saved" to grow back into are too big. These are the things I should be focused on. I feel like I'm at a crossroads right now because, although I've passed the halfway mark, the finish line hasn't quite come into view. I guess it's a good thing I'm unhappy that I'm still fat, because it will keep me motivated ! It's only been 7 months - far short of the 18-24 months I planned on when I started this journey. Maybe it's normal to feel a little discouraged when it's not happening as fast as you'd like. As I've said 100 times, it took longer than 7 months to gain all this weight, so it's certainly going to take a bit longer to lose it all. So I need to keep pushing ahead and working hard to reach that elusive goal. I know I'll get there but it will take longer than I would like ! I am by no means discouraged and there is absolutely no chance I will give up. This is just a little mental bump in the road. Nothing that can't be overcome with a little extra positive thinking !

Breakfast was a 2.1 ounce 160 calorie cherry cheese roll with butter toffee coffee. Second cup was French vanilla. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 3.8 ounce 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt with raw carrots. Afternoon snack was a 0.65 ounce 100 calorie bag of Skinny Pop popcorn and a new item, a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie cup of Dannon Light & Fit Strawberry Cheesecake yogurt. I needed a change from plain yogurt so I'm mixing things up a little. I really enjoyed it ! This left 485 calories for dinner and an evening snack. Dinner was a 5 ounce 210 calorie broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken breast with a large chef salad. I added some hot banana pepper rings along with fat free Kraft Zesty Italian dressing. It was delicious ! I bought a gigantic jar of the pepper rings - I don't know what I was thinking because you can't eat a lot of them in one sitting ! Evening snack was a 1.8 ounce 150 calorie chocolate cupcake. Sigh .. these are so good I could eat 4 of them. Total calories for the day are 1105.

Seems like our humid 90 degree days are gone and the only good thing about that is it makes my workout a little easier. I haven't been experiencing as much back pain so either my back muscles are getting stronger or my posture has improved ... or maybe a little of both. Regardless I feel like I got through the workout a little easier tonight. I'm at about 80 ounces of water for the day so it's actually been a perfect day ! 

We're back to cooler nights so I have to remember to close the windows in the laundry room when I go to bed now. I'm also going to look for some new beds for the cats so they'll have something cozy for winter. It was a little chilly this morning ! The laundry room should be warmer this winter now that they fixed the thermostats but I'd still like my girls to have a comfy bed to snooze in. I woke up freezing at some point during the night and turned off the air conditioner in my room. I will be sad to see these beautiful summer days go. It's supposed to be cooler this weekend so I'm planning on getting out in the garage and getting rid of some of the junk that is left out there. Not exactly a fun task but I know I'll be happier to have more clutter gone !

Time to close the windows, grab a shower and then it's off to dreamland !