Day 512: Keys To Success

"One of the most important keys to

 success is having the discipline to do

 what you know you should do, even

 when you don't feel like doing it."

It's Day 512 of Nutrisystem and the last official day of my vacation. I chose this quote today because I'm still working on discipline and it's a good reminder. I slacked off on exercise for a couple of days and that let me know I still have a lot of work to do when it comes to discipline. There is no magical solution - it's something you have to find within yourself. You have to find it and nurture it if you want it to grow. As I mentioned yesterday I could offer 100 reasons why I didn't exercise but they are nothing but excuses. I feel like the day I run out of excuses will be the day I achieve discipline.

I weighed myself this morning and I've lost another 2 pounds, for a total of 136 gone for good ! I don't recall ever weighing 168 pounds, so for me this is the lowest weight of my adult life. My weight loss has slowed a bit so I don't weigh myself on a set schedule anymore. I have 18 pounds to go in order to reach my goal. I had hoped to be there by June 30th but that is clearly not going to happen. I knew it was a stretch goal and I've set a new goal to get to 150 pounds by August 31st, which is my 58th birthday. That's just over 13 weeks away so while it's a reasonable goal it's also a stretch, because it means losing about 1.4 pounds a week.

Breakfast was a 2 ounce 180 calorie cinnamon roll and a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit toasted coconut vanilla yogurt. Morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 3.8 ounce 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt with a chef salad. Dressing added 30 calories. I was out for the rest of the day to have dinner with my mom so I didn't have an afternoon snack. We picked up dinner from Cooper's To Go in Cicero and ate at my sister's house with her family. I had broiled haddock with a tiny cup of potato salad and a tiny cup of baked beans. I also had a rice crispy treat that my niece made. Hard to put a calorie count on this meal so I'm not going to even try. I had my evening snack when I got home. It was a 2.1 ounce 130 calorie carrot cupcake. I'm recording my calories as 1200 for the day and I got 64 ounces of water in.

I slept in until about 9:30 today and woke feeling refreshed. I had breakfast on the front porch and then hopped on the treadmill for the first workout of the day. Won't reach that goal if I don't sweat ... and sweat I did ! I chose a 40 minute workout in New Zealand with iFit guide Jed Brophy. The pace ranged from 2.5 to 3.2 mph. I left the settings as is for the duration since this was a long one. There was some incline but it was mostly 5% or less so it was a really enjoyable walk. Before lunch I got a second workout in, this time with Jed and Graham McTavish in New Zealand. The pace was 2.5 mph but there was some incline up to 10% so I bumped the speed to 2.8 mph for the duration of the 18 minute walk. As I mentioned above I was out for the day after lunch so I had a dilemma when I got home. I wanted to get a third workout in and I had to decide between the treadmill or the Total Gym. Friday is normally my day off from the Total Gym but after skipping a few days I wanted to get back to that routine, so I opted to put in 40 minutes on the Total Gym instead of using the treadmill. Totally right decision because it felt so good ! I can't really tell if the Total Gym is doing much for my legs but I can definitely feel the difference in my arms and there is the tiniest glimmer of definition in the muscles of my arms. My upper abs are definitely stronger so it's time to start working on the lower ! I'm happy with my stats today because I logged 59 minutes, 2.7 miles and 340 calories along with those 40 minutes on the Total Gym. 

I'll be honest, when I got home tonight I did not want to exercise. Excuses galore were standing by to justify being lazy but I turned on the treadmill and grabbed my sneaks and socks anyway. Then I got thinking about the Total Gym. Even though Friday is typically my day off from that I've been slacking and want to get it back to being routine. I couldn't do both and ended up deciding on the Total Gym since I'd already put in nearly an hour on the treadmill today. It was a good call because I really enjoyed the workout. I'm finding that enjoying what you do is a big part of success. I gladly pay the annual fee for iFit because having trainer led videos recorded all over the world makes every day a new adventure. I also like having the speed and incline controlled by the app. If I was just mindlessly walking on the treadmill I wouldn't be challenging myself with speed and incline. I know that from my past treadmill use. I've found a couple of iFit trainers that I really like and I don't mind repeating their series. I'm already planning another John Peel trifecta of Grand Canyon, Lake Tahoe and Costa Rica workouts ! Ironically enough he used to make videos for Total Gym workouts and they are still on YouTube, so I may check some of those out ! I also plan to repeat the Mount Kilimanjaro series with Jake Norton. I completed it in February and it was the hardest series I have ever done. I've done a lot more incline since then so I'd like to believe this series will be a little "easier" the next time around ! We shall see !

I completely enjoyed my last official day of vacation and I'm looking forward to the weekend. Tomorrow morning I'll be out at a private bridal consultation with my brother's fiance ! Will she say yes to the dress ? Hard to say since this is the first foray into the world of wedding gowns ! I may swing by Lowes or Home Depot to look at blinds and patio furniture while I'm out. Since I have to be up and out early it's about time for a shower and then bed.