My Nutrisystem Journey

    🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 “Success is what happens after  you  have survived all of  your disappointments . "  Today is day 697 of Nutrisystem. I've had plenty of disappointments in life. Who hasn't ? Life isn't always going to be sunshine and roses. In the past I gave disappointment way too much power over my well being. The slightest bump in the road could trigger the "why me" and victim mentality and I would easily sink into despair. Too often I think I just used disappointment as an excuse to comfort myself with food instead of facing the curve balls life throws at you. It was easier to stick my head in the sand and ignore whatever it was, in hopes it would go away. It was easier to ignore my weight too, instead of finding a way to do something about it. It was always going to be next week or next month but next week never came and neither did next month. I just continued to eat and eat and eat. I would tell myself that aft...

🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 “Sometimes, the person who's been  there for everyone else needs  someone to be there for them . "  Today is day 696 of Nutrisystem. Today didn't turn out the way I planned and that's okay. Over the past 696 days I've worried some about being too self absorbed and too "me" oriented. Selfish, if you will. This after spending years always putting everyone else ahead of me. Once I started to focus on myself I had to find a way to balance my needs with the needs of others because I have a tendency to go to extremes. I knew I risked going from ignoring my needs to ignoring everyone else's - one extreme to another. I might be alone and "on my own" but I don't think I'd have made it through the past 6 years without the love and support of my family. So today was about helping my mom put a dent in her Christmas shopping. Traipsing through the stores is too much for her and with COVID out there i...

🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 “Take time for personal reflection  and contemplation, and set goals  and plans that are aligned with  your true self and soul mission.  Be patient with yourself as you  grow. The best is yet to come . "  Today is day 695 of Nutrisystem. As the year is drawing to a close I tend to become more reflective. I'm coming up on 2 years on Nutrisystem and this morning I was trying to remember what I was thinking the day I started the program. I couldn't really remember so I'm glad I have my blog to look through. Day 1 went great but I do recall that I was hungry at bedtime and had yogurt. I did that for the first couple days. Once I started eating more veggies I was less hungry at night. I lost 7 pounds the first week and I was disappointed with that number. I had to remind myself that the program average is 1-2 pounds a week so I needed to lower my expectations. 154 pounds wasn't going to disappear overnight ! Th...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 “There is no single way to lose weight. The reason people are successful at it  is because they dig, and search, and  discover a way that works for them,  through patience and trial and error." Today is day 694 of Nutrisystem. This quote wasn't the vibe I was looking for today but sometimes inspiration finds you first. This quote is so true ! When I started Nutrisystem I was starting a program that tens of thousands of other people have used, some with success and some without. I was sold on the "eat the food and you'll lose the weight" slogan and while it is true, I found that you do need to spend some time customizing it to your own personal likes and goals. You can't just flip a switch and magically change years of poor eating habits overnight. It took a while to work vegetables into my diet on a daily basis but now I actually miss them if I am out and the meals are light on veggies. Drinking plenty of water...

                                                                                            🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 Today is day 693 of Nutrisystem. For me, it's a day to be thankful for all of the blessings in my life. Despite the state of the world my personal blessings outweigh my hardships and for that I am grateful. I've had many wonderful Thanksgiving's and today will be no different. I'll be with my family and we're all healthy. What more can you ask for right now ? I spent a few Thanksgivings without my family and despite the hardships in my life I rolled up my sleeves and always cooked a full turkey dinner. I was not going to let anything keep me from enjoying that one day of the ...

                                                                                       🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 “When you start to feel discouraged,  remember that nothing can hold you  back unless you allow it. Step up.  Take control . Fight to win ! You can  do anything you set your mind to.  Don't forget to breathe and most  of  all, keep pushing on !"   Today is day 692 of Nutrisystem. I pushed as hard as I could today but in the end the pain in my ankle won and it's clear I need to take a break from the treadmill for a few days. I'm going to take Thursday, Friday and Saturday off and see how it feels on Sunday. Tomorrow being Thanksgiving I didn't plan on much ...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 “Faith gives you an inner strength   and a sense of balance and   perspective in life." ~ Gregory Peck ~   Today is day 691 of Nutrisystem. Faith doesn't have to be religious and I was thinking about the non-religious kind of faith today. Faith in myself. Faith in the process. Faith that I am on the right track. Faith that I can do this. I've had to draw on a lot of inner strength to get where I am today and I'm talking about all aspects of life, not just weight loss and fitness. I made a lot of bad decisions and endured some pretty tough times. I took the biggest leap of faith of my life on December 29, 2018. That was the day I signed up for Nutrisystem. That was the day I finally decided to really change my life. I've come to realize that I was never really happy. I guess I didn't know what true happiness was because I hadn't experienced it in my adult life. I had happy moments here and there and I do have ...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 “There are times when I'm exercising,  or times when I'm around food, and  I'll think, I just can't do this today.  But, I stop and  think to myself,  when you think you can't, try to  do  it anyway ." ~ Steven Cremen ~   Today is day 690 of Nutrisystem. Based on a 30 day month, this marks 23 months on Nutrisystem. Today started off as a "I can't do this today" kind of day. I got up late, lingered over coffee and just wanted to eat whatever I wanted and sit on the couch all day. I was tired. I was hungry. I had my breakfast. I had my morning shake. My stomach was a bottomless pit clamoring for more. This is not the first time my day has started off this way. I had a third cup of coffee and spent a couple of hours working. Although I left my work in good shape Friday I had a lot of things that were ready for others to do their part as of today so I opted to put in the time today instead of ...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 “The greatest test of courage on  earth  is to bear defeat without  losing heart ." ~ Robert Green Ingersoll ~   Today is day 689 of Nutrisystem. I have stood at many crossroads during the past 689 days and today I faced yet another. I got up well rested and with much hope for a good weigh in ... only to see a 0.2 pound loss for the week. Yep, I weighed in at 158.6 and that was somewhat disappointing. No - let me be honest, that was massively disappointing. I worked hard all week and expected more. Don't we always expect more when we try hard ? That's been a recurring theme in my life. I always expected more than I got and it led to so much disappointment and heartache. That's why I pretty much gave up and stopped expecting anything. I don't want to go back to that state of mind because when you stop expecting more or better for yourself, you also stop trying. I'm not willing to stop trying. I'm not willing ...

🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 “ If you believe in yourself, and have  dedication and pride - and  never  quit, you'll be a  winner.  The price  of victory is  high  but  so are the  rewards." ~ Bear Bryant ~   Today is day 688 of Nutrisystem. It was ironic that I chose believing in yourself as today's quote, because the trainer in my 2nd workout today talked about that very same thing ! You would think that after all this time I'd realize I am capable of pretty much anything I put my mind to, but I still find myself doubting my abilities. The trainer also talked about setting goals and not making them too hard or too easy. I started my weight loss journey with nothing other than a desire to lose 154 pounds. I knew exercise was going to be necessary but I had no real expectations when it came to my level of fitness. I figured I would just walk on the treadmill. If not for iFit I probably wouldn't have challenged...