Day 663: That Extra Something
🖤 Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤It's day 663 of Nutrisystem. I think I've always had a certain amount of grit but over the past 663 days I've discovered a whole lot more was needed if I wanted to succeed. I started this journey with lofty goals and in all honestly I didn't expect to come anywhere close to achieving them. I'd always given up in the past. However, once the weight started coming off I started to believe I could do it and that made me work harder at it. I put in the time to understand the Nutrisystem program and took full advantage of the ability to customize the foods I eat to suit my tastes. I might eat the same things a lot but that is nothing new - I did that even before Nutrisystem. I bought the same things at the grocery store all the time: Johnsonville sausage, Hoffman Hot Dogs, Haagen Dazs ice cream, Tyson chicken tenders, Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, Hershey's chocolate, Lay's chips, Helluva Good french onion dip, Totino's Pizza Rolls .. you get the idea. So eating the same Nutrisystem products over and over again doesn't really bother me. So the food part of this didn't require as much grit as the exercise part has. Exercise has been my biggest struggle and that's where grit has come in. There have been many days that I didn't want to exercise and on many occasions I gave in to that. I ran through all sorts of excuses. I'm not 100% there yet but I'm doing a lot better ! Grit is keeping my exercise program moving forward. Grit is keeping me focused on reaching my goal weight. Grit has me oh-so-close to being at zero credit card debt. Grit, determination, perseverance, passion, stamina .. they've all played a role in getting me to where I am today and I have no doubt they will follow me to the finish line and beyond ! My dreams will most definitely become reality !
Update on Tommy Rivs today indicates he is continuing to work on strengthening his body in order to aid his ability to breathe on his own. Knowing Tommy he will amaze the medical team with his progress ! He is the epitome of true grit ! Rage on Tommy !
Breakfast was a 2.5 ounce 160 calorie package of buttermilk waffles with sugar free syrup and a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit yogurt. Morning snack was a 120 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 3.8 ounce 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt and a chef salad. Afternoon snack was a honey crisp apple (90 calories) and a 90 calorie stick of jalapeno cheddar cheese. Dinner was a 4 ounce 150 calorie pouch of meatballs in marinara sauce. I served them on a 45 calorie slice of bread. I had calories available so I added an 80 calorie piece of asiago cheese and basically made an open face meatball sandwich. Evening snack was a 2.1 ounce 130 calorie cream filled chocolate cupcake. Total calories for the day are 1165 and I got 80 ounces of water in.
Yet again today I lingered in bed until the very last second because I was awake until long after midnight. It's my own fault because I get absorbed in online games. Drastic measures are called for ... so I uninstalled the slot machine games from my upstairs tablet. I'll go back to the games with limited "lives" so that I can get to sleep earlier ! Despite the late start I managed to get a 23 minute workout in with iFit trainer Gideon Akande. He was still going walk/jog intervals so I set my own pace. I went with 4% incline for 15 minutes and then 3% for 8 minutes. I started at 3.2 mph and increased by 0.1 mph every 5 minutes. With 8 minutes to go I did 4 minutes at 3.5 mph and 4 minutes at 3.6 mph. I definitely enjoy my breakfast more after a quick but intense workout ! My lunchtime workout was 31 minutes in Zermatt, Switzerland with iFit trainer Tommy Rivs. It's bittersweet to see him on video at the peak of health and fitness. He was jogging so I used my tried and true formula of 4% incline for 20 minutes and 3% for 10. I started at 3.2 mph and increased by 0.01 mph every 5 minutes for 20 minutes. I did the remaining 10 minutes at 3.6 mph. After work it was time for 34 minutes of Coach Pain .. aka iFit trainer Dewayne Montgomery. He was doing beast mode jogging intervals in Sedona, AZ with inclines up to 8% !! I set my incline at a respectable 4% for the first 22 minutes with a starting pace of 3.2 mph, which I increased by 0.1 mph every 5.5 minutes. For the remaining 11 minute the pace was 3.6 mph with 3% incline. I struggled mightily tonight. This workout was really no different than what I've been doing but I was ready to give up even before I got to the 11 minute segment at 3.6 mph. I didn't think I was going to make it but I did ! I used some of that "grit" today's quote was talking about and made it to the end. Yes, my legs were like jello and I was sweating buckets but I did it ! I thought I had settled into the 3.6 mph pace but I clearly have a lot more work to do. I logged 88 minutes, 4.9 miles and 591 calories. I hit the Total Gym for 45 minutes once I stopped sweating and that felt good. I'm finding that using the Total Gym right after the treadmill is a good way to stretch tired muscles. Fitbit says I did almost 16,000 steps.
I was freezing after my workouts and that didn't change after I had dinner so I made a cup of coffee and hopped on the couch with a blanket. It took me over an hour to get warm again ! Of course I googled this and found out that, although it was a new experience for me, it's a pretty common reaction to an intense workout. It still amazes me how quickly I recover from a workout now. Even though this last treadmill workout kicked my butt I was completely recovered within a couple minutes. I used to go from the treadmill to the couch, exhausted ! I'm told the recovery time is a good indicator of your fitness level so I guess I'm doing pretty good !
It was grey, drizzly and chilly again today but I worked out on the front porch all day. I had a productive day and worked through some of the work that had been puzzling me the last couple of days. Sometimes I have to put complicated things aside and then go back for a second look later. Most of the time that does the trick and I'm able to work through it. It's always a relief to figure out the issue and get it on the road to being corrected. Tomorrow I will tackle the last head scratcher ! On that note it's about time for a shower and bed. I am tired tonight and looking forward to a good nights sleep !
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