Day 554: Imperfections

"Being happy doesn't mean everything

 is perfect. It means you've decided to

 see beyond the imperfections."

It's Day 554 of Nutrisystem. Happiness. I think it's something we all chase and for a lot of years it was always just out of reach for me. That doesn't mean life was always bad, it just means I never really thought about being happy. I sort of drifted along taking whatever came my way, not striving for anything. I went to work every day, paid my bills and just took life as it came. That also doesn't mean I don't have any happy memories, because I do. The difference today is that my own personal happiness is front and center. I spend more time focused on my own well being than I ever have. On occasion I worry about being thought of as self-absorbed but I'm making up for lost time. I have to tell you, happiness is a good feeling ! It's something I didn't think I would ever have. I think that realization that life (and I) will never be perfect helps. Life was never going to be perfect and thinking I couldn't be happy without perfection kept me from even trying for a long time. Maybe that was just a convenient excuse ! I could very easily have given up on this journey considering 3 days in I learned the office I worked in was closing. Who would have blamed me ? I feel pretty fortunate to still be there 18 months later and quite honestly, the change has been all good for me. I only had to commute 2 days a week to a better location and once the pandemic came along I didn't have to commute at all. The future is uncertain and I may retire sooner than I'd like but I know it will lead me to something better. So I can continue to feel happy with where I am in life today and keep working hard to achieve all of the goals I set back on 12/29/2018. 

Breakfast was a 2 ounce 180 calorie cinnamon roll and a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit creme brulee yogurt. Morning snack was a 155 calorie chocolate shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 3.7 ounce 220 calorie grilled chicken sandwich with a chef salad. Afternoon snack was a 1.3 ounce 180 calorie Jif Power Ups chewy granola bar. Dinner was a 7.5 ounce 220 calorie chicken fettuccine alfredo that I served over carrot spirals. Didn't really like the spirals but I've had them in the freezer a while and wanted to use them up. Won't be buying them again ! Evening snack was a 2.1 ounce 130 calorie carrot cupcake. Total calories for the day are 1195 and I got about 112 ounces of water in. 

I was semi-awake when the alarm went off today so I got up with plenty of time to get a workout in before work. I took on the longest one on my schedule, 30 minutes of intervals in Iceland with iFit trainer Jonnie Gale. I had skipped over most of this series before because I didn't think I could handle speeds of 3.3 mph or more. I might not have been able to a year ago but it's definitely reachable today. The intervals today were at 3.3 mph with recoveries at 2.5 mph. They were ladder intervals so we started at 30 seconds, then 1 minute, then 2 minutes, then 3 minutes. After 2 sets and a cool down the workout was done ! At lunchtime I decided to tackle #14 of 15 in the Grand Canyon series. I've been missing iFit trainer John Peel ! The entire 21 minute workout was at 10% incline but the speed was super slow for me (1.8 to 2.2 mph) because the programmed incline was 20% most of the workout. My treadmill only goes to 10% but the pace doesn't automatically increase to offset that. So I started at 2.2 mph and increased the pace to 2.3 at 5 minutes, 2.4 at 10 minutes and 2.5 at 15 minutes. After work I completed a 23 minute walk in St George, Utah with iFit trainer Zac Marion. This was more intervals of 30 seconds at 2.8 mph with 1 minute recoveries at 2.4 mph. This was very much a beginner workout but it fit my energy level at the end of a 90 degree muggy day. He packed a good bit of incline into it so it was no "walk in the park". I logged 74 minutes, 3 miles and 426 calories. Today was my day off from Total Gym and even though my XL squat stand arrived I decided to wait until tomorrow to give it a try. Quite honestly it scares me a little ! Fitbit registered just over 13,500 steps so it was a good day !

My Nutrisystem shipment arrived today and I was dismayed to find the dry ice completely gone and the breakfast and snack items were completely thawed !  That is half of the shipment ! The lunch and dinner items underneath were still frozen solid but I contacted Nutrisystem to see if I could safely refreeze the thawed items. They don't recommend that and are sending me replacement items ! The shipment was supposed to be delivered yesterday but Fedex rescheduled it and I was afraid this would happen since it was so hot yesterday. Needless to say, I was pretty happy with Nutrisystem's customer service and this is the first time this has happened after 18 months on the program - so I can't complain. All that matters is the fact that they're making it right. In fact, I received a Fedex alert that the replacement items will be delivered tomorrow .. now that is what I call customer service !

Today was another scorcher ! It was 91 and muggy by this afternoon. The morning wasn't bad as there was enough cloud cover to keep the sun away. It's raining now and it looks like we may have a wet weekend. I'm actually sitting in the dark on the front porch writing this and it's raining steadily at midnight. I think this is the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay ! I love listening to the rain .. I just wish we had some thunder and lightning to go with it ! Hopefully we'll get enough rain so that folks on wells around here won't have to worry about having enough water. The only "must haves" when I was looking for a house were city water, sewers and 1st floor laundry and I'm glad I insisted on all 3 ! It's been a long hot week with a lot of ups and downs and I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend. Other than a grocery store & post office run I'm not planning on going anywhere. On that note I'm going to spend a little quiet time in the rain and then head upstairs for a shower and bed.