Day 268: Balance

"Life is all about balance. You don't always need to be getting stuff done. Sometimes it's perfectly okay, and absolutely necessary, to shut down, kick back, and do nothing. ~Lori Deschene~

When I woke up this morning (at almost 10 am !) I could tell it was going to be a "stay at home on the couch" kind of day, unless I made a concerted effort not to let the "on the couch" part happen. To get myself moving I spent a little extra time sweeping the floor in the laundry room (the cats room) and got the litter boxes cleaned and refilled after feeding them and getting some fresh water. Then I settled down for breakfast.

Breakfast was a 2.1 ounce 160 calorie cherry cheese roll with cinnamon roll coffee. Since I'm forcing myself to have a Power Fuel with breakfast (as per the Nutrisystem program) I opted for 1/2 cup of cottage cheese (80 calories) today. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 220 calorie barbecue chicken melt with a chef salad. Dressing added 30 calories. Afternoon snack was a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit caramel apple pie yogurt and 2.5 cups of Skinny Pop pocorn (100 calories). This left 375 calories for dinner and an evening snack. Dinner was a 9.5 ounce 260 calorie roasted turkey medallions with mashed potatoes and gravy. This is my absolute favorite dinner entree ! I also had a bowl of steamed brussel sprouts. This left me with only 115 calories for an evening snack, but I went ahead and had a 1.9 ounce 120 calorie tiramisu with a cup of hazelnut coffee. So my calories for the day are 1205, which is within the 1140 - 1260 range Nutrisystem allows me. I don't think 5 calories is going to make a difference but I don't plan to make it a habit. I got 32 ounces of water in and I'm trying to get another 32 in before I go to bed.

In happy news, I lost 2 pounds this week, for a grand total of 98 to date ! I was a little worried about today's weigh-in because I added the breakfast Power Fuel and have been eating close to 1200 calories for a few days. Turns out this might have been a good decision ! I actually feel a little more energetic and I'm not feeling hungry quite as often, so I wasn't doing myself any favors by trying to stay at 1100 calories.

Friday October 4 will be exactly 9 months since I started Nutrisystem so I'm hoping to hit the 100 pound mark next Saturday ! 100 pounds in 9 months would be waaaaaaaay beyond my expectations, as is 98 ! When I started Nutrisystem I had pretty realistic expectations, since they advise you to expect to lose 1-2 pounds a week, so 52-104 in a year. I was okay with that and ready to make a commitment for the long term, though I hoped the weight would come off faster. I went into this wanting to make it a lifestyle change, not just a "diet", and I think I'm succeeding. So although I'm progressing faster than expected I'm still in it for the long haul, because I still have a lot more weight to lose AND I have a lot more to learn about food, proper nutrition and myself ! One thing that has surprised me is I don't "crave" any of the foods I used to eat. I might occasionally think about them or think that I want them, but I really can't call it a craving.

After breakfast I decided to get a workout in, instead of having that second cup of coffee. I did a cultural walk through Mostar, Bosnia with trainer Tommy Rivers Puzey (aka Tommy Rivs). It had a consistent pace of 2.7 mph, even during a long (for me) 2 minute stretch at max incline - which is 10 on my treadmill ! The workout lasts about 29 minutes and burns about 174 calories. There's also a 3 minute warm up and a 3 minute cool down, so total calories are almost 200. Not bad for 35 minutes of work. Doing some different workouts has boosted my motivation and chased away the boredom I was starting to feel.

This afternoon I cleaned out the cubby I mentioned yesterday and lined it with a rubberized shelf liner before putting everything back inside. This required getting down on the floor and this was scary for me. I'm not able to kneel, so getting down on the floor and getting back up is tricky. I don't really know why it's so painful for me to kneel, because I don't have knee pain doing anything else. Anyhow, I was able to do it and get back up without killing myself. I found that it was a bit easier to get up since I had almost 100 fewer pounds to move ! While I was at it I also fixed the dining room chair that had a loose seat. I had to put in some longer screws to hold the seat to the frame.

I had intended to get a second workout in today but I got interested in a series of movies on TBS. Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant. I had seen part of Divergent before and wanted to see the whole movie, then I ended up watching the first 2 and most of the 3rd. They were okay but had an awful lot of violence and that tends to disturb me, so I switched over to Animal Plantet to watch The Vet Life. If you haven't seen this show you should check it out !!! Tomorrow I need to make a grocery store run so I'm also working on a list for that. I don't need much, mostly veggies and a couple other incidentals.

Next up is a shower and bed. I've had a wonderful day !