Day 326: Being Thankful



"Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are."    ~Joyce Giraud~



This week is going to be all about giving thanks, since we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday. There was a time when I felt like I had nothing to be thankful for, so it was just another day. Food was the only thing that made the day bearable. I can still remember the years I made my own Thanksgiving feast and stuffed myself to the point of extreme discomfort for several days, until the food was gone. I didn't cook for two, it was more like 10 ! When I was eating I was happy and not thinking about any of the negatives in my life. That's emotional eating. The problems didn't go away but I could forget about them for a little while. Food released those happy endorphins into my brain and I could laugh and smile for a little while. Then reality would set back in, so I'd eat even more to try and recapture those happy feelings. It didn't matter that I was piling on the pounds. You don't think about that when your life is a chaotic disaster. Today I'm glad the chaos has passed and I don't need food to feel happy. Is life perfect ? No, and it probably never will be. Life is better and that is all that matters. I'm thankful for that.

Breakfast was a 2.1 ounce 180 calorie cinnamon roll with brown sugar crumble coffee. Second cup was maple pecan with my power fuel 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit caramel apple pie yogurt. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 230 calorie meatball parmesan melt with a large chef salad. Dressing added 30 calories. Afternoon snack was a 90 calorie veggie cake and a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit key lime pie yogurt. This left 355 calories for dinner and an evening snack. Dinner was an 8 ounce 180 calorie creamy chicken broccoli pasta that I served over brussel sprouts. Evening snack was a 2.2 ounce 140 calorie lemon zest cake. Total calories for the day are 1165 and I got 64 ounces of water in.

Today I happened to stumble across an online sale on my favorite jeans so I bought 3 pairs in size 14. These $65 jeans were $15.99 so I could not resist ! I have one pair of size 14 and although I can button and zip them the zipper would probably explode if I sat down, so I still have a significant amount of work to do before they fit comfortably. I will keep trying them on until that day comes ! Buying 3 more pairs in this size is a big leap of faith but it's also an added incentive to keep my weight going in the right direction. After that purchase I had my morning snack and got on the treadmill ! How else can I get into those jeans !!?! I did workout #8 of 24 in the Alps series with John Peel. Two mountains down, four to go ! The first 12 minutes of this workout were at max incline but the speed was below 3 mph so it was manageable. After a 4 minute break from the incline the last 3 minutes were also at max incline but again the speed was slower. Long periods of incline still scares me but I made it through yet another one ! The workouts are only 20 minutes and that is what keeps me coming back. With 16 workouts to go I still have a lot of incline ahead of me and he promised it will get harder, so wish me luck ! After my workout I had lunch and then headed outside to put my patio furniture away. While I was out in the storage area behind the garage I looked in some of the boxes out there and discovered a bunch of stuff I didn't realize I still had, including my late mother in law's china. I was surprised to find that, because it disappeared from the house long ago and I assumed it had been sold. I don't believe it's valuable but she gave it to me and that has special meaning. I didn't look through much else because it became a bit overwhelming. I felt so much loss over the years so it was emotional to find things you thought were gone forever. It was also getting dark and there is no lighting out there, so I brought a few boxes into the garage to go through later. I'm going to be busy the next 3 days but I plan on going back out there Friday or Saturday to at least throw away anything that is ruined or I don't want. There's plenty of junk out there too !

Before dinner I hit the treadmill for the 2nd workout of the day. It was a Level 2 workout and it kicked my butt ! It was a 33 minute fast paced incline hike in Hawaii with trainer Chris Clark. It had some significant periods of max incline and the speed was 3.2 mph for most of the workout. I guess he doesn't believe in warming up or cooling down because speed popped up to  3 mph seconds after the start and he never let off the gas until the very end. There was also a short burst of speed at 3.6 mph about 11 minutes in. I did not think I was going to be able to finish this one but I did, so I was pretty happy when it was over ! All I can say is I'm glad I didn't buy a NordicTrack treadmill because their max incline is more like 20 or 30% and I would have died ! I made this workout a favorite because it was intense and I'd like to repeat it periodically for endurance. Stats for the day are: 2.4 miles, 53 minutes, 410 calories burned. 

Tomorrow I'm heading out early to get my oil changed, then I have to stop at the lab for a biometric screening. It's something free my company offers and it's been 2 years since I had one. They draw blood, weigh you, measure your waist and take your blood pressure. The worst thing about it is I have to fast, so I'm packing my breakfast to go ! I'll be interested to see how my lab values and blood pressure are now. I haven't seen a doctor in a couple years and I plan to rectify that in the new year, so at least I'll have a baseline. After the screening I'm picking up mom for some grocery shopping. She's making green bean casserole and a couple pies for Thanksgiving so she needs a few things. I need veggies and a few other things too.

Next up is a shower and bed. Vacation is off to a great start !



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