Day 692: Fight To Win

 

                                                                    🖤 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 treadmill time and I'm going to be out on Saturday so that would have been a day off anyway, so it's not like I'm giving up a lot. Still, I am not happy about the break and I guess that's a good thing. Not long ago I took any excuse I could find not to exercise and a lot of them were pretty flimsy, so the fact that I'm not happy about this is a good sign that exercise is becoming a habit rather than a chore. I have to look at this as just another bump in the road rather than the end of the world. I'm asking my body to do things it has never done and perhaps I'm pushing it just a little bit too hard. As the quote goes, I will keep pushing on and I won't let this hold me back. I might have to walk a little slower and I might have to forego the incline, but I will at least start walking on the treadmill again Sunday. 

Nothing new with Tommy Rivs today. It's kind of sad that he's spending Thanksgiving in the hospital. That happened to me in 2009 so I know what it feels like to be without your family on a holiday. I was home for Christmas that year but I ended up back in the hospital on New Year's eve. Those 6 months of my life were quite a roller coaster ride but I was nowhere near as sick as Tommy is. Oh, chemo was no fun and a persistent infection put me back in the hospital several times but there were never any conversations about dying. I had some scares but I always expected to get better. I suspect Tommy has that same outlook despite the grim prognosis he is facing. God willing he'll be here next year to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family. Rage on Tommy !

Breakfast was a 2.5 ounce 160 calorie package of buttermilk waffles and a 5.3 ounce 80 calorie Light & Fit caramel apple pie yogurt. Morning snack was a 120 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 240 calorie meatball parmesan melt with a chef salad. Afternoon snack was a 1.24 ounce 190 calorie Nature Valley Roasted Nut Crunch bar. Dinner was an 8 ounce 220 calorie rotini with meat balls and roasted veggies. Evening snack was a 1.8 ounce 140 calorie chocolate cupcake. Total calories for the day are 1150 and I got 40 ounces of water in. 

As I mentioned, my ankle was still painful today but I pushed through the first workout of the day, which was 41 minutes in New Zealand with iFit trainer Zac Marion. Later I tackled 25 minutes in Bora Bora with iFit trainer Stacie Clark but after 17 minutes I had to stop because the pain was just too much. Clearly the ankle is not better and all that treadmill time just made it worse. I logged 58 minutes, 3.3 miles and 396 calories. I'm so disappointed because I was really looking forward to trying the live 5k "turkey trot" that iFit is hosting tomorrow. I had planned to power walk it for as long as possible to put my endurance to the test. At this point it's clear I wouldn't be able to do much more than a slow walk and I'd come nowhere close to 5k within the allotted time. Time was going to be an issue too as I need to leave the house earlier than I originally planned, so perhaps it is just as well. I didn't use the Total Gym today either because it does require use of the feet and flexing the ankle is pretty painful. I opted to fill a bag with ice and sit on the couch watching The Polar Express. The ice did me a world of good ! When I sat down with the ice I was limping and painful .. an hour later I was walking without pain. I still plan to rest the next couple of days but I'm not worried that I have anything serious going on.

I went to Walmart this morning to get the things I needed to make the stuffing for tomorrow. I had heard rumblings that people were starting to hoard again so I checked out the toilet paper aisle. Walmart in Central Square had plenty of it so I guess the hoarding hasn't started here. I already stocked up for the winter so my pantry is full of all the necessities. They actually had plenty of all paper products such as napkins, paper towels, tissues, paper plates etc. Cleaning products remain elusive but I did see some canisters of Clorox wipes. Fortunately I already had plenty of those before this started. When I got home I cooked up the sausage, onions and celery for the stuffing and shredded a couple loaves of bread. I make my stuffing the way my dad did and he always used fresh bread. Tomorrow morning I'll add the wet ingredients and bake it up. I fully intend to enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner ! I'm taking a break from the scale for a few weeks as well. I intend to enjoy the holidays, let my ankle heal and get back down to business January 1st. That doesn't mean I'm going "off" Nutrisystem until January. It just means I'm going to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas without worrying about the number on the scale or how many minutes I spend exercising. I still want to be at 150 pounds by January 4 so I'm not giving up nor am I giving myself permission to overeat or stuff myself with too many holiday treats ! I'm just not going to obsess about it over the next 6 weeks. If I don't get to 150 by January 4 I'll just keep working at it until I do. I've said it before - this journey has no expiration date. I won't turn into a pumpkin at midnight on January 4. I'll still be me and I'll still be on Nutrisystem and I'll still be working hard. On that note it's about time for a shower and bed. I need to be up early to get my stuffing in the oven !