My Nutrisystem Journey

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "Imagine the best version of yourself  and show up every day as her. " Today is day 878 of Nutrisystem. I didn't write last night because it got late and I was tired and I couldn't find any inspiration. Today it was doubly important to show up as my best self since I overshot my calories yesterday (by a lot) and it was my day off from exercise. I sometimes struggle with motivation on Sundays because I work all week and I'm out on Saturday, so I like to just sit back and chill a bit on Sunday. Problem with that is I tend to "chill" too long and then exercise falls off the schedule. I couldn't let that happen today since I'm on vacation and will likely be out a lot this week. That means I am unlikely to get 3 workouts a day in. So today I was taking no excuses. I lounged in bed until 10:30 but when I got up I told myself I wasn't returning to that bed until I had 3 treadmill workouts and a Total ...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "Don't look too far ahead or you'll  get  overwhelmed. Just do the next  apparent thing. Keep putting one  foot  in front of the other. You'll  get  through this. And when you  do,  you'll feel great ! " Today is day 876 of Nutrisystem. I chose this quote because today I was thinking about reaching day 1000. Whaaaat ? That is over 3 months away ! This is why I have always lost my way in the past. I would look beyond the work that remains to be done and sometimes it made the goal seem so unreachable that I'd just give up. I am very familiar with that feeling of being completely overwhelmed. I experienced it for years in all aspects of my life and it got to the point where I could barely function. Depression factored into that and made things worse so it was a perfect storm. I always gave 200% to my job because it was my lifeline but every other aspect of my life was a disaster. Just ma...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "Life is a journey, not a race. Slow  down. Enjoy the view. Relax, take  a breath and let it happen ." Today is day 875 of Nutrisystem. Some days I don't feel inspired to write and yesterday was one of them. I think it's a good sign that I have less angst to ponder. Life feels pretty good right now and I am cautiously optimistic for the future. I still have that little worry that the rug will be pulled out from under me but it's not as strong as it used to be. At this point in my life I'm just going to enjoy the good times and not worry about something coming along to ruin that. I spent too many years not living because of that fear. Yesterday was an unintentional break from the hectic pace I set for myself during the week and maybe that's a good thing. At some point I will have to pull back from the level of exercise that I'm doing or I'll need to increase my calories in order to maintain my weight ...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "Your journey to a healthier weight  is not a journey that you start and then give up. It is a journey that  you are living every day for the  rest  of your life ." Today is day 873 of Nutrisystem. I've talked before about wanting to reach the "end" of this journey. This quote brings home the fact that this journey will never be over. Oh, at some point I will stop blogging about it but I don't think I'll ever stop the focus on diet and exercise. I can't. If I do that the weight will just pile back on and I'll be right back where I started. Although I've been discouraged many times over the past 873 days I never once considered giving up. I knew that any obstacle was just a temporary delay and sometimes those obstacles became a teaching moment. I've had to be more patient. I've had to relax the expectations I put on myself. I've had to scale back some goals to make them more reachabl...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "Everybody has their own Mount  Everest they were put on this earth  to climb ."   — Seth Godin  — Today is day 872 of Nutrisystem. Mount Everest came to mind today because of a workout series I'm doing. Setting out to lose 154 pounds was certainly my own personal Mount Everest. Paying off my credit card debt also seemed as daunting as a climb up Everest would be. Getting physically fit was yet another mountain to climb. Looking back, it was pretty ambitious to tackle all 3 mountains at the same time but that is me: all or nothing. These were the 3 things causing the most trouble in my life and I wanted to change that. I was just tired of the struggle. Signing up for Nutrisystem was the best decision I have ever made. I was able to focus on paying off my debt and getting fit mostly because they took the guesswork out of what to eat. With portions and calories controlled the weight loss part of the journey was...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "The real voyage of discovery consists  not in seeking new landscapes, but  in having new eyes ."   — Marcel Proust  — Today is day 871 of Nutrisystem. I stumbled across this quote and it fit the day. I definitely have found new eyes over the past 871 days. I see the world, other people and more importantly, myself, through different eyes today. I'm still peeling off the layers of insulation I wrapped myself in over the years and every time a new layer comes off I see myself and the world just a little bit differently. It's been 871 days and it still feels like there are a lot of layers left to attack. I mentioned yesterday that looking at my first "before" photo makes me a little ill. I wondered to myself how I couldn't "see" myself. Well, the side view photo revealed the answer. It was all in how I looked at myself. If I happened to look in a mirror back then it was always the head on front vie...

🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "Each person deserves a day away in  which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us ."   — Maya Angelou  — Today is day 870 of Nutrisystem. Today's quote is perfect for a Saturday since I'm usually out with my mom for the day and typically don't exercise. I always hesitate to designate a specific "rest day" and it ends up making me feel bad about not exercising. It's that darn stubborn streak of mine ! Yet again I'm going to designate Saturday as my rest day  unless  I happen to be at home all day. At this point in the journey I can afford to take one day a week off. I've lost 150 pounds and the last 4 will come in their own time, so it's time to start preparing for life "after". The day will come when 90-100 minutes on the treadmill 6 days a week isn't necessary. The transition from weight...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 " Food, like a loving touch or a   glimpse of divine power,  has   that ability to comfort."   — Norman Kolpas  — Today is day 869 of Nutrisystem. I consider today to be my own personal historic moment, as I received the first dose of the COVID vaccine. It was quick and easy and I feel fine. I may have a sore arm tomorrow but that's no different than the flu vaccine - I always had a sore arm from that. I actually came home and did 2 treadmill workouts. I know the side effects hit most people with the 2nd dose, which is why I opted to get it on a Friday. My second dose will be on 6-11 and as of 6-25 I can shed the mask ! The 3 places I go to the most have all dropped the mask requirement: Walmart, Wegman's and Turning Stone. I was in Walmart yesterday and Wegman's today and it seemed like most people are still wearing the mask. I wore mine in both places. We'll see what the casino looks like tomorrow ! An...

  🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about ." Today is day 868 of Nutrisystem. There have been many times I've wanted to give up on this quest to reach my goal weight. Some days I ask myself if I really need to lose those last 4 pounds. I haven't weighed myself since I hit 154 and that was over a month ago, so I may be even closer. I actually wore size 8 denim shorts today so I was happy about that ! I'm pretty pasty though so I need to spend a little time in the sun ! I'm holding tight to reaching 150 because it's a goal I set and I've spent 868 days working toward it. I'm so, so close and I just can't bring myself to give up now. I think back to the days of size 4x tops and size 26 jeans and I'm more determined than ever to finish this journey the right way. I have never stuck with anything this long and quite honestly, giving up is not an option. Not thi...

🖤  Get well soon Tommy ! #teamrivs #RageOn 🖤 "You don't  need much to change your  life. All you need is good habits,  hard work and consistency ." Today is day 867 of Nutrisystem. I think consistency has been one of my biggest challenges throughout this journey. Eliminating my credit card debt was pretty easy. Changing my eating habits was surprisingly easy. I've developed some good habits and I've certainly worked hard. Fitness is where I have always struggled. Part of that is my own fault because I set unrealistic goals and had unrealistic expectations. Over time I've dialed it back a bit and realized I will never be a jogger. I spent a lot of time chasing that before I admitted that I really didn't want to be a "jogger". I'm good with power walking until the soles fall off my shoes ! Letting that go made it possible for me to focus on building endurance and I've become more consistent with my workouts because I enjoy them more and ...