My Nutrisystem Journey

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "The end of the year does not mean  the end of your goals. It is merely  a reminder of where you started  and how far you've come. Pick  your momentum up off the floor  and keep going . "   Today is day 728 of Nutrisystem and it's the final day of 2020, a year I think we're all glad to put behind us. Life with COVID-19 isn't going to change anytime soon but we'll all have a clean slate starting tomorrow. I started 2020 at about 185 pounds so I "only" lost about 30 pounds this year. At first I was disappointed with this stat, considering I lost over 100 pounds in 2019, but then I thought about the fact that in 2021 I will lose 10 or less pounds. So I shouldn't be disappointed. I should be glad I'm that much closer to my goal. All things considered I had a pretty amazing year. My physical fitness has improved. My credit card debt is almost completely gone and I'm thisclose to my goal weig...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "More often than not, how far  you're  willing to go determines  how  far  you're capable of going . "   ~ G. Boston ~ Today is day 727 of Nutrisystem. When I made the decision to start this journey I had no idea what to expect. I'd failed at losing weight many times over the years, so what made me think this time would be different ? I guess I just never gave up hope and this time around I dug deep and found the determination I needed. Did I expect to be here almost 2 years later, having lost over 145 pounds ? Truthfully, no. I did not. I've been asked what was different this time and I honestly don't know. I guess it was just time and I was sick and tired of being fat. I also didn't want to end up with the health problems associated with obesity and age. I was also unsure how long my job would last and the thought of going on interviews at 304 pounds was not pleasant. So I was at a point in m...

🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "Direction is more important than  speed. We are so busy looking at  the speedometer that we forget  the milestone . "  Today is day 726 of Nutrisystem. I am definitely guilty of spending too much time looking at the speedometer over the past 726 days. Today marks an important milestone. Two years ago today I was sitting at my computer, fat and depressed. The photos from Christmas had opened my eyes to just how huge I had gotten and I was in a dark place. I knew I had to do something. The question was: what ? I checked out Weight Watchers but I wasn't interested in meetings and cooking is not my thing. They do offer an online program but you still have to cook your own meals. I looked into Jenny Craig but their program is quite expensive. Medifast is expensive, drastic and they expect you to attend meetings. So I ended up on Nutrisystem's website. I remembered seeing commercials on tv and their slogan was "eat the f...

🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "Accepting yourself is about respecting  yourself. It's about honoring yourself  right now. Here today, in this  moment. Not just who you could  become somewhere down the line. "  ~ Kris Carr ~ Today is day 725 of Nutrisystem. I suspect we all struggle with accepting ourselves at one point or another. Whether it's your weight, your hair, your clothes, your job, your house - whatever the case may be we often feel that we're not enough or that we don't have enough. Not thin enough, not fashionable enough, not rich enough. When I was fat it was all of the above. No matter how much I had it was never "enough". I felt empty inside and I always thought it was because of what I didn't have. For years I used food to try and fill that emptiness but it never did. No matter how much I ate it was never enough. Turns out it was never about "things". It was all about the fact that I hated myself and the ...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "Wherever you find yourself today ,  take a moment to pause and take a  deep breath. And choose to celebrate  where you are and how far you've  come ." Today is day 724 of Nutrisystem. I've never been one to celebrate myself but I've had plenty of reasons to celebrate over the past 724 days. As I've gotten closer to my goal weight I kind of lost sight of that. I've spent too much time on what I haven't done instead of acknowledging what I have done. Sure, I could have worked harder this year but I've never been one to rush things and it's been a tough year for us all. I really want this weight loss to be permanent so I think I needed the time to turn bad habits into good habits and to leave all the baggage of the past behind. These are things that do not happen overnight. In fact, they happen at your own pace. What's taking me over 2 years to achieve might take someone else 3 ... or 1. We...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "It's not too late. You aren't behind.  You're exactly where you need to be.  Every step is necessary. Don't judge  or berate yourself for how long your  journey is taking. We all need our  own time to travel our own distance.  Give yourself credit. And be thankful  you made it this far ." Today is day 723 of Nutrisystem. This was a good quote for today because I was thinking about the fact that January 4 is right around the corner and chances are I will not be at my goal weight by then. I'm more than a little disappointed in myself and have been feeling like a failure. I've also questioned my ability to maintain the loss. This is actually what bothers me the most. I have put too much time, effort and money into losing the weight and gaining it back would actually be one heck of a spectacular failure. Being out of my "routine" has left me feeling a little bit out of control so today was a good ...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤   "Christmas is a time to slow the pace,  appreciate the love of family and  friends, and express our gratefulness  for every blessing bestowed upon us." Today is day 722 of Nutrisystem. Despite what is going on in the world I still have plenty to be grateful for this Christmas. I'm healthy. My family is healthy. There is nothing more important. It's not about the gifts or the food for me. Knowing my family is safe and thriving is more than enough for me.  As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, I've paused when it comes to diet and exercise for a few days, so I'm not documenting what I ate or drank today.  I was up pretty late last night so it was nearly 10 am when I woke this morning. I could have slept for hours longer but Abby was meowing for her breakfast and I had things to do before I went out anyway. It rained off and on all night and it was raining when I got up, but shortly before noon I looke...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤   “Sometimes, when life is  overwhelming, the best thing  we  can  do is to just hit pause  for  a little while ." ~ Cheryl Kirking ~ Today is day 721 of Nutrisystem. This was the perfect sentiment for where I am today. I've put the weight loss focus on pause until December 28. That gets me through Christmas and my anniversary celebration dinner on Sunday. I wanted to get up early today and get a workout in but that didn't happen. I was up before 10 but in truth I didn't want to bother getting dressed to work out, get all sweaty and then have to get ready to go out. I compromised and did some things around the house like vacuuming and cleaning up the clutter in the kitchen and laundry room instead. These are things I planned to do on Saturday so now I'll have more time for exercise. I wanted to get a workout in tomorrow too but chances are that's not going to happen either. It was nearly midnig...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤   “ Feeling sorry for ourselves is the most  useless waste of energy on the planet.  It does absolutely no good. We can't  let our circumstances or what others  do or don't do control us. We can  decide to be happy regardless." ~ Joyce Meyer ~ Today is day 720 of Nutrisystem. I'm not particularly religious but I could listen to Joyce Meyer all day long. I've had a rough week but I'm over the cookie incident and in all honesty I'm looking forward to getting back to "normal" once the holidays are over. Tomorrow will be spent with my brother and his new wife and Christmas will be spent with my entire family. Saturday I will likely clean the house and do laundry since I'll be out Sunday too for my celebration dinner. Monday December 28 I will buckle back down and refocus on reaching my goal weight. As much as I enjoy the holidays I'll be glad to have them behind me this year. I did spend the pas...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤   “She was unstoppable, not because  she did not have failures or doubts, but because she continued on . ” Today is day 719 of Nutrisystem. I'm continuing on the journey but I'm not going to stress over it for the next few days. I'm going to get through Christmas and then take the week of 12-28 to re-establish my routine. Monday January 4 will mark 2 years on Nutrisystem and although I've had failures and doubts I will be continuing on until I reach my goal weight. I'm not pinning my hopes on a specific date - I will just keep at it until I get there. I made it to this point without really attaching a specific date to reaching weight milestones and trying to do that (and failing) does nothing but disappoint me. I knew from day 1 this was going to be a long journey but I never sat down and laid out a truly organized set of goals. I figured it would take 18-24 months to reach my goal but that was a guess based on nothin...

🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤   “Don't fall back into your old  patterns  of living just because  they're more   comfortable and  easier to access .  Remember, you  left certain habits  and situations behind for a reason:  to improve  your life. And right now,  you can't  move forward if you keep going back . ” Today is day 718 of Nutrisystem. I woke up feeling much better both physically and mentally. It helps that I got a good nights sleep. I seem to lose my way when my "routine" is disrupted, in this case by the holidays. That's not an excuse, it is a fact and it's something I need to work on. If I were at my goal weight I wouldn't be too concerned about taking in some extra calories in the form of holiday treats. What upsets me is taking a step back at the same time I'm trying to reach my goal. I won't reach my goal weight by January 4 and that is 100% my fault. I don't plan on letting that s...