Day 526: Keep Trying

"You're not obligated to win. You're

 obligated to keep trying. Do the best you

 can do every day."

~Jason Mraz~

It's Day 526 of Nutrisystem. Tired. Hungry. Some days I just wake up tired and hungry and today was one of them. I had zero motivation to get out of bed and get to the treadmill. I did get out of bed around 7:15 but I didn't get a workout in. Breakfast was more important. Since it's my day off from the Total Gym I opted to move the morning workout to evening. Getting three workouts in meets the goal, technically speaking, but not in the way I'd like. It's yet another end run around the goal, changing the rules to hide failure. Not being willing to say I failed. Not being willing to say I wasn't strong enough. Not being willing to admit I didn't want it enough. But you know, that's ok. It's a good reminder that I am not perfect and never will be. The fact of the matter is some days the 1200 calorie limitation catches up to me. You can eat all the non-starchy veggies you want on Nutrisystem, so although you're not hungry they don't really provide any energy. The carbs and proteins do that and some days I just burn them all up. I don't usually pay any attention to the calories my Fitbit says I burned, but I checked yesterday's stats out of curiosity. It says I burned over 2400 calories and I only took in 1200. No surprise I was hungry this morning ! You obviously need a calorie deficit to lose weight so it's not like I'm starving myself. Once I had breakfast I felt my energy return and it stayed with me the rest of the day. So instead of scolding myself for being lazy I reminded myself I need to listen to my body a little bit more. I do sometimes add an extra carb or protein but I didn't really feel a need for it yesterday. I have so much respect for people who exercise or train for hours every day. I can only dream of having that much dedication and drive and I have to wonder how they fuel their bodies. Of course, had I gotten up earlier I could have easily had breakfast and then worked out ... so I'm not off the hook here ! As today's quote says, do the best you can do every day. I feel like I did the best I could today and tomorrow is another day. I've come to realize that doing your best doesn't mean you can't ever do better. It's more a measure of a particular moment in time. Today, this moment in time, I did the best I could. Tomorrow is a new day, a new moment in time, and a new opportunity to again do the best that I can.

Breakfast was a 2.8 ounce package of pancakes with sugar free syrup 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 4 ounce 230 calorie spinach & cheese pretzel melt with a chef salad. Dressing added 30 calories. Afternoon snack was a 1.42 ounce 200 calorie Nature Valley salted caramel nut protein bar. Dinner was a 5 ounce 210 calorie broccoli & cheese stuffed chicken breast with roasted veggies. Evening snack was a 2.2 ounce 140 calorie lemon zest cake. Can you tell it's my favorite dessert ? Total calories for the day are 1195 and I got 64 ounces of water in.

My lunchtime workout was a 27 minute hike on the Guacamole Trail in Springdale Utah with iFit guide Ryan Robinson. He shared some pretty inspirational life memories and also demonstrated the sport of highlining. This is not for the faint of heart ! The pace was 2.3 to 2.5 mph but I set it at 3 mph for the duration since there was little incline and what incline it did have didn't go above 5%. After work I completed a 30 minute hike to Cascade Falls in Lake Tahoe with iFit trainer John Peel. This was an endurance hike so the speed ranged from 2.6 to 3.2 mph. There was some brief 6% and 8% incline but I left the programmed speed as is. Since it's my night off from the Total Gym after dinner I completed a 17 minute walk around Harvard in Cambridge MA with iFit guide Josh Luckens. This was supposed to be my morning workout ! The programmed speed was 2.5 mph and there was little incline so I increased the speed to 3 mph for the duration. I logged 74 minutes, 3.7 miles and 373 calories. I also surpassed 14,000 steps today !

Weather was breezy and cool again and it's going to be in the 40's early tomorrow morning. Brrrr ! I spent most of the day working on the front porch despite the chill. The wind finally died down around 4 pm so it was much nicer to sit out there. Once the sun started to set I came inside and turned the heat on in the downstairs. I have senior cats (they're 11) so I don't want it to get too cold in here. I also don't like getting up to a frigid house !

Tomorrow I'm going off on another quest for the perfect bridal gown with my soon-to-be sister in law ! I'll probably go grocery shopping on my way home. I plan to get at least one workout in along with a Total Gym session. Anything beyond that will be a bonus. On that note I'm heading for a hot shower and my warm bed.