Day 536: Small Victories

"I am a series of small victories and large

 defeats and I am as amazed as any

 other that I have gotten from there to

 here." 

~Charles Bukowski~ 

It's Day 536 of Nutrisystem. Today's small victory was getting up before 6:45 ! I woke up at 6:27 and when the alarm went off at 6:30 I allowed myself a 10 minute snooze. It was so nice to have time for a few sips of coffee and part of my breakfast before getting on the treadmill ! I knew it was going to be hot today and I was determined to get the longest workout on my schedule out of the way first .. and I did - finally ! Little things like this soften the blow a little when I fail but they also motivate me to keep trying. It has been a struggle to get up early enough to make the morning workout less stressful. Mornings that I am frantic to squeeze it in before 8 am are just not pleasant, so going forward I will remember how relaxing this morning was when the alarm goes off ! I suppose getting 4 workouts in on a 90 degree day is another small victory. There was never any question of skipping any of them today. I need to really focus on those small victories and that means a big shift in my perception. I spent a lot of years dealing with defeat after defeat and after a while I was afraid to acknowledge the little victories because I knew the next disaster was coming on it's heels. I can sit here now and say "I should have done this" or "I should have done that" but what is that going to get me ? Just more negativity and wasted time. As the quote goes, I am most definitely amazed to be where I am. I've said it so many times but it bears repeating, when I started this journey I did not know if I would be successful. I was taking the biggest leap of faith of my life. I was putting all of my faith in me ... and I had let myself down more times than I can count. I wasn't sure I could rely on me. Why would I expect it to be any different this time around ? I guess I didn't really think about it. I just knew I had to get the weight off and if I didn't try I would never know. So I took that leap and thankfully I stepped up to the challenge ! So now I'm riding a little bit of a wave of momentum. Whenever something seems hard I have to remind myself what I've already achieved. That doesn't always work because I still sometimes doubt my ability when I have a particular hard workout coming up .. even when it's one I've done before ! That happens less and less so with time it is getting better. 

Breakfast was a 2.8 ounce 150 calorie 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 chocolate shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 230 calorie spinach & cheese pretzel melt with a chef salad. Afternoon snack was a 1.3 ounce 180 calorie Jif Power Ups chewy granola bar. Dinner was an 8 ounce 180 calorie creamy chicken and broccoli pasta that I served over riced cauliflower. Evening snack was a 2 ounce 140 calorie pumpkin cupcake. Total calories for the day are 1145 and I got 64 ounces of water in.

As I mentioned, I got up around 6:40 today and was able to complete the longest workout on today's schedule. It was a 37 minute interval hike in Lake Tahoe. The intervals were a 1:2 ratio which meant 30 second pushes at 3 to 3.2 mph with 1 minute recoveries at 2.4 to 2.8 mph. There was plenty of 8-10% incline so I'm glad I got this out of the way before the day heated up. My lunchtime workout was more intervals, this time 26 minutes in the Grand Canyon. The ratio here was 1:1 so it was 1 minute pushes at 3 mph with 1 minute recoveries at 2.6 mph. There was some incline but most of it was 3-4%. After work was even more intervals, this time 26 minutes on the beach in Costa Rica. The intervals here were a 2:1 ratio of 3 minute pushes at 3.3 mph with 90 second recoveries at 2.5 mph. There was quite a bit of incline but it was only 2% so I barely noticed it. I logged 89 minutes, 4.1 miles and 549 calories. After dinner I relaxed until just after 6:30 and then it was time for the Total Gym. In spite of the heat I cranked up the fan and got in my usual 40-45 minutes. Fitbit says I did over 15,000 steps so it was a good day !

It was hot again today (90) and tomorrow is going to be just as hot but I am not going to complain ! I will remember these sultry days when I'm freezing my butt off in January ! I have 4 fans so I can keep cool no matter where I am in the house and I have an AC unit in my bedroom, so I sleep like a baby ! The goal for tomorrow morning is to get up early again and complete a 33 minute workout. It's the longest and toughest one on my schedule so I really want to get it done before it gets too hot. I was thinking today how much the heat bothered me when I weighed 300 pounds. I didn't move unless I had to and hot days like this meant fast food because there was no way I was cooking anything. I would sit on the couch like a beached whale with the fan blowing on me while I stuffed myself. I never minded going to the office in the summer because my car and the office were air conditioned ! I could have camped out in my bedroom with the AC on today but I was fine with just a fan on the porch. I came inside just after 4 because it was pretty stifling on the porch but I went back out around 7:30 to write this. It's so much quieter in the evening and there was a bit of a breeze so I enjoyed a cup of coffee and my snack. It was a pretty darn good day !

On that note I'm going to turn on the AC in my bedroom, grab a shower and head for bed !