Day 329: Things That Matter Most
"Thanksgiving is a time to give, a time to love, and a time to reflect on the things that matter most in life." ~Danielle Duckery~
Thanksgiving probably means different things to different people, and that's okay. For me it's a day to be with family and enjoy a good meal. I also take time to reflect on what I am thankful for. I'm thankful to have family to spend it with. I'm thankful to have my cats, who love me unconditionally. I'm thankful to have a roof over my head. I'm thankful to have a job that pays well and that I enjoy. I'm thankful to have a reliable car. I'm thankful to have the means to use Nutrisystem to lose weight. This time last year I was sitting at 300 pounds and looking forward to stuffing myself at dinner and gorging on desserts even though I was stuffed. Today was different. Today I was nervous about the amount of food that would be served and the temptations that go along with it. I was also nervous about my ability to avoid much of that temptation. I was up early so I decided to get a good workout in before I went out. Overdoing the calories is always going to have consequences and some extra exercise will always be the trade off. I also reminded myself I still have 40 pounds to lose so this is not the time to go crazy. I also reminded myself how I felt when I stuffed myself with shrimp on my birthday. Moderation was going to be key today.
Breakfast was a 1 ounce 90 calorie package of "nutriflakes" cereal ... Nutrisystem's version of Wheaties. You add 1/2 cup of milk, which added 60 calories because I used 2% milk. I used a bit of the milk in my caramel vanilla cream coffee. Power fuel was a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit key lime pie yogurt. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. That's it for countable calories. I can't possibly put a number on what I ate at Thanksgiving dinner, so I'm not going to worry about it. I had a piece of celery with cream cheese on it before dinner. I skipped the cheese, crackers and salami. My dinner plate was turkey, a small scoop of mashed potatoes with a bit of gravy, a large portion of roasted broccoli, a slice of ham and about a tablespoon of my mom's green bean casserole. I also had a tiny square of corn bread and a chef salad. I also indulged in 2 glasses of wine and dessert. My dessert plate was a sliver of apple pie, a sliver of my mom's chocolate pie, a half slice of apple nut bread and a small scoop of apple cobbler. Each dessert was no more than a couple of bites and that was just enough. I had 895 calories to work with and I don't think I exceeded that by much. I was hungry tonight so I snacked on some raw carrots. The problem with blowing out your calories early in the day is you're left with few options later on, so I need to think about that a little when Christmas rolls around. I have 4 more events coming up: pizza on Saturday, an Ugly Sweater party in a couple weeks, Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas day dinner. I don't intend to throw caution to the winds and say "I'll get back to Nutrisystem in January". I'll do what I did today, I'll burn some extra calories on the treadmill and not overdo it at the table ! These events are part of the reason I haven't modified my goal to reach 186 pounds by January 4. I have 5 weeks to lose 4 more pounds and though that might sound easy, the social events in December have the potential to slow me down. It's only 4 days out of 5 weeks, so I'm not going to panic over it. What I'm going to do is continue with the intensity of my exercise program and make sure I stay on track all the days in between each event.
Since I was up early I decided to put in a tough workout this morning. I chose a Level 3 workout with Ben Seale in Alaska. This was a 58 minute "interval" workout and although I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish it, I was determined to give it my best shot. There were eight 3 minute intervals at 3.2 mph with 3 minute recoveries at 2.8 mph in between. There was a lot of incline throughout the entire workout, mostly max from the 23 minute mark until the 41 minute mark. It was tough but I'm proud to say I was able to complete the workout ! It was SO important to me today because I knew I'd be eating more calories than usual. I feel like 58 minutes, 401 calories and 2.68 miles was good prep for Thanksgiving dinner ! I also opted to have my shake just before I went out. I didn't want to arrive at dinner starving, because I knew that would result in overeating. When I got home tonight I forced myself back onto the treadmill. That was no easy task because I really wanted to just veg on the couch ! Instead I repeated a 31 minute Lake Tahoe workout with John Peel. This one had a lot of steep incline and the pace was about 3 mph. It was a fight to get through the entire 31 minutes and I worked up a good sweat ! In total I spent 89 minutes on the treadmill today, burned 645 calories and clocked 4.2 miles. I think what I ate was a fair trade for that effort !
I got a few nice compliments on my appearance today and that felt really good. I don't look for praise because that's not why I'm doing this, but we all need some acknowledgement of things we are working hard on. I've seen plenty of people post in the Nutrisystem group that no one has noticed their weight loss and it crushes some of them. I think sometimes people are afraid to talk about your weight, because for some it's an extremely sensitive subject. If you say "hey, are you losing weight" to someone who isn't, it can be awkward if they start thinking you're trying to tell them they need to ! You might also encounter people who aren't happy with their own weight and aren't inclined to make a big deal over your success. I totally understand that because I've been there ! So I accept the compliments graciously and tuck them away as little bonus memories, to bring out on the days I might need a little extra motivation.
On the way home tonight I had to stop for a train in Parish. Thanksgiving was one of my dad's favorite holidays and he loved trains ... so I think he was letting me know he was with us today. I actually got chills while I was sitting at that railroad crossing. I just hope dad knows how much we miss him every single day. Seeing the train was a special end to a special day. Another special moment today was spending some time with the littlest member of the family, my sister & brother in law's 5 month old great niece. I arrived at dinner first so I scored baby duty while mom helped out in the kitchen ! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment with this precious little girl. Babies are such miracles and it's been many years since I've held one, so I was pretty happy to have that little bundle in my arms, if only for a short while !
I'm looking forward to a "normal" day of eating tomorrow. I did bring broccoli home so I'll have that. I also brought 2 slices of ham home. I'm not sure what I want to do with it so I may throw it in the freezer. I could make my own western omelet at home one day.
Next up is a shower and then bed. I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow after a busy couple of days !
Breakfast was a 1 ounce 90 calorie package of "nutriflakes" cereal ... Nutrisystem's version of Wheaties. You add 1/2 cup of milk, which added 60 calories because I used 2% milk. I used a bit of the milk in my caramel vanilla cream coffee. Power fuel was a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit key lime pie yogurt. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. That's it for countable calories. I can't possibly put a number on what I ate at Thanksgiving dinner, so I'm not going to worry about it. I had a piece of celery with cream cheese on it before dinner. I skipped the cheese, crackers and salami. My dinner plate was turkey, a small scoop of mashed potatoes with a bit of gravy, a large portion of roasted broccoli, a slice of ham and about a tablespoon of my mom's green bean casserole. I also had a tiny square of corn bread and a chef salad. I also indulged in 2 glasses of wine and dessert. My dessert plate was a sliver of apple pie, a sliver of my mom's chocolate pie, a half slice of apple nut bread and a small scoop of apple cobbler. Each dessert was no more than a couple of bites and that was just enough. I had 895 calories to work with and I don't think I exceeded that by much. I was hungry tonight so I snacked on some raw carrots. The problem with blowing out your calories early in the day is you're left with few options later on, so I need to think about that a little when Christmas rolls around. I have 4 more events coming up: pizza on Saturday, an Ugly Sweater party in a couple weeks, Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas day dinner. I don't intend to throw caution to the winds and say "I'll get back to Nutrisystem in January". I'll do what I did today, I'll burn some extra calories on the treadmill and not overdo it at the table ! These events are part of the reason I haven't modified my goal to reach 186 pounds by January 4. I have 5 weeks to lose 4 more pounds and though that might sound easy, the social events in December have the potential to slow me down. It's only 4 days out of 5 weeks, so I'm not going to panic over it. What I'm going to do is continue with the intensity of my exercise program and make sure I stay on track all the days in between each event.
Since I was up early I decided to put in a tough workout this morning. I chose a Level 3 workout with Ben Seale in Alaska. This was a 58 minute "interval" workout and although I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish it, I was determined to give it my best shot. There were eight 3 minute intervals at 3.2 mph with 3 minute recoveries at 2.8 mph in between. There was a lot of incline throughout the entire workout, mostly max from the 23 minute mark until the 41 minute mark. It was tough but I'm proud to say I was able to complete the workout ! It was SO important to me today because I knew I'd be eating more calories than usual. I feel like 58 minutes, 401 calories and 2.68 miles was good prep for Thanksgiving dinner ! I also opted to have my shake just before I went out. I didn't want to arrive at dinner starving, because I knew that would result in overeating. When I got home tonight I forced myself back onto the treadmill. That was no easy task because I really wanted to just veg on the couch ! Instead I repeated a 31 minute Lake Tahoe workout with John Peel. This one had a lot of steep incline and the pace was about 3 mph. It was a fight to get through the entire 31 minutes and I worked up a good sweat ! In total I spent 89 minutes on the treadmill today, burned 645 calories and clocked 4.2 miles. I think what I ate was a fair trade for that effort !
I got a few nice compliments on my appearance today and that felt really good. I don't look for praise because that's not why I'm doing this, but we all need some acknowledgement of things we are working hard on. I've seen plenty of people post in the Nutrisystem group that no one has noticed their weight loss and it crushes some of them. I think sometimes people are afraid to talk about your weight, because for some it's an extremely sensitive subject. If you say "hey, are you losing weight" to someone who isn't, it can be awkward if they start thinking you're trying to tell them they need to ! You might also encounter people who aren't happy with their own weight and aren't inclined to make a big deal over your success. I totally understand that because I've been there ! So I accept the compliments graciously and tuck them away as little bonus memories, to bring out on the days I might need a little extra motivation.
On the way home tonight I had to stop for a train in Parish. Thanksgiving was one of my dad's favorite holidays and he loved trains ... so I think he was letting me know he was with us today. I actually got chills while I was sitting at that railroad crossing. I just hope dad knows how much we miss him every single day. Seeing the train was a special end to a special day. Another special moment today was spending some time with the littlest member of the family, my sister & brother in law's 5 month old great niece. I arrived at dinner first so I scored baby duty while mom helped out in the kitchen ! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment with this precious little girl. Babies are such miracles and it's been many years since I've held one, so I was pretty happy to have that little bundle in my arms, if only for a short while !
I'm looking forward to a "normal" day of eating tomorrow. I did bring broccoli home so I'll have that. I also brought 2 slices of ham home. I'm not sure what I want to do with it so I may throw it in the freezer. I could make my own western omelet at home one day.
Next up is a shower and then bed. I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow after a busy couple of days !
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