Day 874 and 875: Enjoy The View

 

🖤 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 rather than continuing to lose. Over the past few days I've felt the effects of what I'm burning on the treadmill and what I'm taking in and it's sometimes not enough. I have to add an extra yogurt or other snack because I feel weak and that's a sign I'm not eating enough. Today, for example, I took in 1150 calories and burned 762 on the treadmill. Based on my step count, the Nutrisystem app says I burned 1426, so that's -276 .. kind of like not eating today ? I can't say I fully understand the concept of calories. I know you need a deficit to lose weight but I don't think your calories should be a negative number for the day. So that's where I get myself in trouble. My energy bottoms out and I crash. So I'm all in when it comes to relaxing and slowing down just a little. I'm listening to my body a little more and I'm not going to have a panic attack if the body says "nope" to a workout at times. I'm at 154 or less and I feel good, so the urgency is not there anymore. Yes, I want to achieve the goal but whether I achieve it this week or 10 weeks from now ... nothing changes. A goal achieved is a goal achieved. 

I don't write often about Tommy Rivs as his condition hasn't really changed. The cancer remains in remission and he is working on trying to rebuild his broken body. Yesterday he popped up on @ironcowboyjames Instagram .. walking ! Tommy posted the following on his own Facebook:

Yesterday I got to romp around with my friend James (@ironcowboyjames) for a bit as he completed his 87th consecutive Full Distance Triathlon. That’s 87, 140.6 mi (Ironman Distance)Triathlons in 87 days.

James has been one of my greatest inspirations for a long time, but this year his audacious life has been even more significant to me. There are some words from Mary Oliver that roll around in my broken mind these days more than any others.

“There is nothing more pathetic than caution when headlong might save a life, even, possibly, your own.”

James embodies those words with his whole soul. Over the last three months his daily, ridiculous grind has gotten my candy-ass out of bed and clawing my way forward to do anything I can on that particular day. Some days throwing caution to the wind means just taking a shower and forcing down some food. Some days it’s restraining myself from the gnawing urge to take these little white pills that feel like sunshine and take away my pain and calm my writhing limbs. Other days it’s a little more but not much.

But day after day it’s been enough to keep me around. I think of how many other life’s James has changed or even saved by his transparent efforts to push the upper limits of human potential.

He’s got just a few left before he and @sunnyjolawrence and their team completes their goal of 100 Long Distance Triathlons in 100 days. They are a gift to us. They are sentinels to humanity to show us what we are truly capable as human beings. We are incredible. Our potential as humans is truly limitless. Our ability to overcome, strengthen, and adapt knows no end. But it’s up to us. No one is going to do it for us. James is showing us that a little more with each passing day.

Send James some love and if you’re not following him yet then, well that’s just silly.

(So good to see you too @hopkinsanity, and your mammoth legs, and to spend some time with my Pops and my sister Katie Bug )

Rage on James

Tommy is in the middle of this photo and he looks amazingly well. In a photo on James' Instagram you could see that Tommy was walking with trekking poles. If you didn't know his story you wouldn't think anything of that. But I've never seen Tommy use trekking poles, not in the Grand Canyon and not in the Swiss Alps so their presence is telling. Still, the fact that he is up and walking is miraculous and a testament to his strength. If anyone can beat the odds it is him and I sincerely hope to see more of him doing what he loves best. Seeing him out there yesterday, moving his broken body, made me a little ashamed that I was "too tired" to workout last night. It seems like such a pathetic excuse today. 

Day 874: Breakfast was a 150 calorie pancakes with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie Light & Fit strawberry cheesecake yogurt. Morning snack was a 120 calorie chocolate shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt with a chef salad. Afternoon snack was 1/2 cup cottage cheese (80 calories) and 2 Alyssa's oatmeal cookies (90 calories). Dinner was a 250 calorie meatloaf sandwich and roasted veggies. Evening snack was a 140 calorie lemon zest cake. Total calories for the day were 1130 and I got 80 ounces of water in.

Day 875: Breakfast was a 160 calorie buttermilk waffles with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie Light & Fit strawberry cheesecake yogurt. Morning snack was a 120 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt with a chef salad. Afternoon snack was 1/2 cup cottage cheese (80 calories) and 2 Alyssa's oatmeal cookies (90 calories). Dinner was a 260 calorie lasagna with meat sauce and roasted veggies. Evening snack was a 140 calorie toffee crunch cookies. Total calories for the day are 1150 and I got 80 ounces of water in.

I only got one workout in yesterday. It was Tanzania with iFit trainer Knox Robinson. Today I got the full schedule done ! First workout of the day was another old video with iFit trainer Tommy Rivs in San Diego, CA. It was filmed in December 2019, not long before his cancer was diagnosed. Second was Tanzania with iFit trainer Knox Robinson and last was Mount Everest with iFit guide Lydia Bradey. Yesterday I logged 38 minutes, 2.2 miles and 259 calories. I didn't even hit 10,000 steps .. lol ! Today I logged a more respectable 111 minutes, 6.4 miles and 762 calories. I did not use the Total Gym yesterday or today. Fitbit says I did over 17,000 steps so it was a good day !

Yesterday and today were both warm enough to work out on the front porch all day. I am loving this ! We had a brief but intense line of thunderstorms roll through around 1 pm yesterday afternoon. I thought my house was going to blow away - it was that intense ! My whole day was thrown off yesterday because my dentist office called with a cancellation and wanted to know if I could go in at 5 to have my crown installed, instead of going next week. That meant wrapping up work at 4 pm but I intended to work out when I got home. Having the crown put in was no big deal but just as I was leaving the dentist another blast of thunderstorms rolled through Syracuse and I was stuck there until nearly 6 pm. I opted to wait out the storm in the dental office because it was raining so hard you couldn't see. So I didn't get home until nearly 7 and I was starving ! By the time I had dinner it was just too late in the evening to even consider hitting the treadmill and I was actually tired. I sat out on the front porch and relaxed with a glass of wine and went to bed early. Well .. that was a mistake. I couldn't sleep. It was nearly 4 am by the time I finally got to sleep. It was just one of those nights where I couldn't settle. No position in bed was comfortable and I alternated between being too warm and too cold. Thanks menopause ! I'm regretting the fact that I didn't purchase a recliner when I furnished my house. I'd have gotten up and tried that. Needless to say it was not easy to drag myself out of bed this morning but once I'm up I'm up, so I was fine. The day started off gray and a bit chilly but the sun popped out in the afternoon and brightened things up. I've had the heat off the last few days but it's headed to the 40's tonight so I turned it back on in the downstairs. Tomorrow looks to be rainy and cold so I may be inside all day. I got a lot of work done today but I still have plenty to wrap up tomorrow. I don't like to leave anything hanging when I go on vacation ! On that note it's about time for a shower and bed. With any luck sleep will come more easily tonight !