Day 527: Reach For The Stars

"Growth comes from setting your goals

 high and reaching for the stars."

 ~Spencer W. Kimball~

It's Day 527 of Nutrisystem. I definitely set my goals high when I started this journey. With a starting weight of 304 and an original goal weight of 160 I was looking at losing 144 pounds. I might as well have set a goal to climb Mount Everest - it seemed that impossible ! I changed my goal weight to 150 at some point because that would put my BMI in the normal range. Whether I wanted to lose 144 or 154 pounds it was daunting. I don't recall thinking about the reality of reaching my goal. Was I being naive or just not thinking about failure, either because it's not an option OR because it was expected ? Maybe it was a little of both. I think back to when I was diagnosed with leukemia. Most people would immediately assume they're going to die. That thought never occurred to me. I've gone through life assuming things are going to roll out just as they were intended and that I am powerless to change it, but that couldn't be further from the truth. My path may be preordained but I have the power to change how I walk it. I wish I had come to that realization many years ago. I didn't and I can't change that but I can change how I live the rest of my life. I don't want to live it as an unhappy fat person, so I have set my goals high and I am definitely reaching for the stars. Reaching my goal weight will be the single most proud moment of my life and I can't imagine wanting anything else once I achieve it. It will come with a big responsibility - maintaining the loss - but I think I'm up for the challenge !

Breakfast was a 2.1 ounce 160 calorie cherry cheese roll and a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit strawberry cheesecake yogurt. After that I was out of the house and off the rails ! After shopping for bridal gowns (they were all beautiful!) I picked up my mom and we ventured out to Turning Stone Casino. We stopped at Dunkin to get coffee first and I had a plain donut since I was starving and hadn't brought a snack with me. That was poor planning on my part ! We had dinner at Emerald's since the buffet remains closed. I had a bacon cheeseburger with fries. I opted not to eat the bun since I had a roll while we were waiting for our food, but I ate every last fry. I also had a cocktail - some crazy blue green coconut flavored "margarita". I think it had coconut rum and tequila. Whatever it was it was delicious ! Actually, the entire meal was delicious ! The best thing about social distancing is the tables are not on top of each other and they added high dividers between the booths, so they're super private now ! I've never liked restaurants that have you sitting elbow to elbow. Even with the reduced seating the restaurant wasn't crowded. We ate shortly after 3 so it wasn't really the dinner hour yet. The food court was doing a good business. I'm over my calories for the day and I'm ok with that. I resisted the urge to order mozzarella sticks so that was a victory ! I wanted something sweet when I got home so I had a 2.1 ounce 130 calorie cream filled chocolate cupcake. I didn't get any water in today so I'm working on a 32 ounce bottle now. I had a lot of salt today so I'm thirsty !

I hadn't been to Turning Stone since February, mom was last there in early March. Other than the masks and many of the restaurants being closed it seemed like a pretty typical Saturday. I wouldn't say the place was packed but there was a good crowd. Hand sanitizer was everywhere and they also have stations with clorox wipes so you can wipe off a machine or chair before you use it. They also had employees going around sanitizing machines. They are enforcing the mask rule, although I did see a guy sitting at a machine with no mask on. It was so nice to actually eat in a restaurant again ! Patrons didn't have to wear their masks in the restaurant but the staff does. This was probably the longest I've had a mask on and after a while you don't even think about it. It was just nice to get out and do something and be able to spend some time with my mom. I also came home with a little bit of extra 💲 !

It was 7:30 when I got home and I was just too tired to even consider exercise. I don't know how tomorrow is going to go either. I'm heading out early again, this time for some retail therapy with my older sister and my mom. Our favorite store Boscov's is open again ! I also need to hit the grocery store tomorrow so it's going to be a busy day. Monday is the dentist to start the crown process and I might sneak in a quick trip to Point Place Casino, which was mobbed when we passed by today. It's a small place so I didn't even consider trying to go there today.

In the end this weekend (and probably Monday) is going to be a fail when it comes to exercise but I'll be back at it by Tuesday. That's really what is important. Life is going to happen and part of being consistent means getting back to your routine as soon as possible rather than abandoning it entirely. I can't use a couple days off as an excuse to just give up. I've done that too many times in my life. Besides, I already have the John Peel triple play scheduled in the iFit app starting bright and early Tuesday morning ! 

On that note I'm heading for a shower and bed !