Day 222: Strength

"A strong woman knows she has strength enough for the journey, but a woman of strength knows it is in the journey where she will become strong."

I didn't start out a strong woman. I felt pretty weak for a long time. I don't think you realize how strong you are until life starts to get better. Then you sit back and think about all you've been through and you're kind of astonished you're still here. Only then do you realize how much strength it took. Starting the Nutrisystem journey was different. I knew how strong I am and I knew it was time for a drastic change. Still, I didn't know if I would succeed. I didn't know if I was really strong enough to resist temptation and stay on the program for the length of time required to lose the weight. But here I am, 222 days in and going strong. I do worry about being able to stay with this long enough to reach my goal. I also worry that I won't be able to reach my goal. It's not something I worry about constantly but it lurks in the back of my mind. That's why I have to take this one day at a time. That's why I write these blogs to keep myself accountable. This journey hasn't been without it's bumps but I have to say I'm actually enjoying the food and I feel amazing. So for me it's been really easy to stick to. I can't really explain why I'm finding it so easy. I see so many others struggling with the program and I really think a lot of it is mindset. You have to be 100% committed and you have to be doing this for yourself. There's no room for "I hate vegetables" or "I hate the shakes" or "the food is gross". I guess some people expect to be able to eat the same food that got them to a weight they're unhappy with. I wish you could do that !

Breakfast was a 2.1 ounce cinnamon roll with cinnamon roll coffee. Second cup was caramel vanilla cream. Morning snack was a 155 calories vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 230 calorie meatball parmesan melt with raw carrots. Afternoon snack was a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit Lemon Meringue yogurt and a 0.65 ounce 100 calorie bag of Skinny Pop popcorn. This left 455 calories for dinner and an evening snack. Dinner was a 7.5 ounce 220 calorie chicken fettuccine alfredo with riced cauliflower. Evening snack was a 3.5 ounce 130 calorie ice cream sandwich. Total calories for the day are 1095 and I got about 80 ounces of water in today.

Weather wasn't anything to brag about today. Kind of cloudy but warm and we did have a bit of sunshine. It was sprinkling when I got to work today but we didn't have much rain in downtown Syracuse the rest of the day. We're pretty busy so the day seemed to fly by. That's my kind of day. My nieces invited me to go hiking/walking at Green Lakes this Saturday. I'm looking forward to that ! It's always nice to spend time with those beautiful girls and I don't have to worry about being able to keep up ! We're also going to have breakfast with my mom before we go, so that will make the day extra special. 

My next Nutrisystem shipments are supposed to be delivered tomorrow or Thursday. It's always a little bit like Christmas when those boxes show up ! I still find it very comforting to have a full fridge, freezer and pantry - even though I can't eat unlimited quantities ! I've eaten all of the frozen entrees I didn't really care for so going forward I'll only have my favorites in the freezer. I still have some non-frozen items to eat but I plan to work on that once I'm working from home. They're a little fussier to prepare so it's easier to have them at home. Unless things change, August 30 will be my last day in my current office. I'll be glad to get out of there because it's so empty and depressing.

Time to peel myself off the couch and go take a shower. I'm tired tonight so I can't wait to sink into my bed.