Day 480: Your True Talent

"You have to set goals that are almost

 out of reach. If you set a goal that is

 attainable without much work

 or thought, you are stuck with

 something below your true talent and

 potential." 

~Steve Garvey~

Day 480 of Nutrisystem and Day 43 of quarantine. I never had any real goals until I decided it was time to do something about my weight. Having the success I've had has given me the motivation I needed to push myself into other things, such as fitness. Goal setting straddles a fine line between reality and dreams. I've tried to be very realistic when it comes to my goals because I know myself too well. If I set the goals too high and failed every time it would have been an excuse to give up. I made some mistakes in the beginning and had to adjust my goals. Earlier this year I said I'd like to be at my goal weight by June 30th. I don't think these last 20 pounds are going to disappear by then, but I'm not giving up. I recently thought about starting a beginner running program on iFit but quickly realized that was not going to be possible. I just don't have the stamina to run nor do I have a treadmill that is designed for running. I also don't really want to be a runner. That's the bottom line. I will still do some workouts with brief jogging intervals but that'll be the extent of my running. That's just one example of a goal that I set but abandoned, because it really wasn't something I wanted. Yes, I want to be more fit and I fully intend to continue pushing myself on the treadmill but I'll be pushing myself in areas that are within my reach and just outside it. Jogging is so far out of reach that I felt like chasing it would do more harm than good right now. I can honestly say none of the goals I set over the past 480 days have been attainable without a lot of hard work and some serious thought. Losing 130 pounds wasn't easy and the final 20 will likely not go without a fight ! Developing the discipline needed to exercise on a daily basis wasn't easy and I still struggle with it. Paying off my credit card debt hasn't been easy. None of those things were easy but I started working towards these 3 goals on December 29, 2018 and I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Having attainable goals gives you the motivation to keep working towards what you want. Every pound I lose gives me the strength to keep going. Every credit card that reached a zero balance made me work harder on financial fitness and only working on one balance  now feels amazing. Every impossible workout that I completed made me try just a little bit harder and seeing the progression motivates me. In the beginning I didn't think I would achieve any of my goals. That's the honest truth. I'd never been able to stick with anything for very long so I had pretty low expectations of myself. I can't really explain how it happened. Something just clicked and I've never looked back. 

Breakfast was a 2.1 ounce 180 calorie cinnamon roll. Power fuel was a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit toasted coconut vanilla yogurt. Morning snack was a 155 calorie chocolate shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 220 calorie spinach & cheese pretzel melt with a chef salad. Dressing added 30 calories. Afternoon snack was a 1.3 ounce 200 calorie Nature Valley protein bar. Dinner was a 4 ounce 180 calorie artichoke & spinach stuffed chicken breast with a bowl of roasted veggies. Evening snack was a 2.2 ounce 140 calorie lemon zest cake. Total calories for the day are 1195 and I got 64 ounces of water in. 

First workout of the day was #9 in the Grand Canyon series with iFit trainer John Peel. It was 20 minutes of 1 minute intervals at 3 mph with 2 minute recoveries at 2.6 mph. There was some brief incline up to 10% (max for me) but it was manageable. After work I completed a 38 minute walk in the City of London with iFit guide Duncan Duff. The pace was 3 mph so this was a good endurance builder. I wouldn't say it was easy at all ! I logged 58 minutes, 2.7 miles and 317 calories. After dinner I spent about 40 minutes on the Total Gym. I really didn't want to but it was important to get back into my routine. 

Weather wasn't awful today. We had some light rain in the morning but by afternoon the sun and some blue sky was peeking out. Temps made it into the low 50's and from the looks of the long range forecast we're not going to see anything much better for a while. Tomorrow looks to be a decent day but every day after has rain in the forecast. I guess we are maximizing our April showers so we have lots of May flowers ! I was busy at work so the day flew right by. I accomplished everything I needed to get done today (and then some!) so I felt pretty good when I logged off at 5 pm.

I slept a lot better last night and didn't need any sleep aids ! I am pleasantly tired tonight and hope to get another good night of sleep ! I can't remember if I took a shower this morning so I guess I'm taking one now and then heading to bed.