The Journey Back: Day 10

"It's humbling to start fresh.

It  takes a lot of courage. But it

can be invigorating. You just have

to put your ego on a shelf and tell

it to be quiet."

Today's quote is pretty spot on. It definitely is humbling to admit you fell off the wagon and gained some weight back. I wish I could say I was surprised this happened. As hard as I've tried I haven't conquered all of the bad habits that led to being obese for most of my life. I didn't quite accept the fact that I will need to be vigilant about my weight for the rest of my life either. I wish I could say it's "hard" to watch what you eat but it really isn't. My problem is lack of discipline, plain and simple, so that's an area I'm actively working on. You would think I'd be there after 3 years but when I thought about it I realized that I spent 40+ years eating whatever I wanted regardless of the consequences. When I look at it from that perspective I can be a little kinder to myself. How long does it take to undo a lifetime of bad eating habits ? Who knows ... I'm 3 years in and still not there ! The more time passes, the more I see how my emotional state contributes to the way I eat. Food was comfort for me and to some degree it still is. So there is more work to be done there too. But as the quote goes, I am invigorated by the challenge to get back to where I was. The journey is much shorter but my intention is to work just as hard as I did on day 1.

Today is Day 1098 of Nutrisystem. 166 days since I reached my goal weight. I maintained it for a while but as you know I've gained some weight and I'm working to get it back off and it's Day 10 of that effort. I'm pleased with the progress I'm making and have no doubt I'll settle back in at my goal weight soon.

Breakfast was 150 calorie pancakes with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie yogurt. Morning snack was a 120 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was something new ! 200 calorie country style chicken & dumplings and a chef salad. I really enjoyed this entree and love that it's only 200 calories ! Afternoon snack was 80 calorie cottage cheese and 90 calorie oatmeal cookies. Dinner was a 250 calorie chicken enchilada with roasted veggies. Evening snack was a 140 calorie chocolate cupcake. Total calories for the day are 1110 and I got 80 ounces of water in.

My heating contractor was here for a few hours today. They took the gas burner in my boiler apart and replaced some parts. They also found an air filter that was 1/3 blocked and likely contributing to the issues I've been having with the boiler shutting off. We are cautiously optimistic that this will fix the problem. I hope it does so that I have peace of mind while I'm on vacation in February. This issue has been ongoing since late October and has been a major source of stress in my life. I can't tell you how many nights I had to get up (sometimes multiple times!) to reset the boiler because it had shut down and the house was freezing. It often shut down on Saturdays while I was out and I'd come home to find my house at less than 60 degrees. Some days it would shut down 10-15 (or more) times and other days once or twice. I think the contractor thought I was nuts but his findings today kind of redeemed me ! We also talked about shielding the outdoor temperature sensor because it's on the sunny side of my house and the sun hitting it throws things off by making the boiler think it's warmer than it really is outside. This results in the boiler not heating the water as hot as it needs to in order to maintain the temp in the house. I'm planning on "MacGyvering" something for that ! Disconnecting it is an option but then you lose the energy efficiency, so I'm not going to do that. He also noted the boiler isn't supposed to sound like a washing machine while it's operating - which mine did. It's whisper quiet now so the house is eerily silent ! The good news is I've learned a ton about how my system works so I'm better able to determine what is "normal" and what is not ! 

I didn't get a workout in during lunch since the heating guys were here so I got 31 minutes in after work. I was too tired to do a second workout and tomorrow is another day ! I'm going to be heading upstairs for a shower and some tv in bed. I'm hoping to start sleeping more soundly since I feel better about how my heating system is operating. For several months I've been getting up multiple times per night to check the registers and ensure the heat was on. More often than not I'd be traipsing down to the basement to reset the boiler at least once per night. Don't laugh ... even though my house is perfectly warm I've peered into the basement or checked the registers at least 10 times since the heating guy left. After having to go up and down the basement stairs 20 times a day I finally installed a mirror a while back so that I can just open the basement door to see if the light on the boiler is flashing (bad) or steady green (good). Heat guy thought that was pretty ingenious ! You get creative when you're desperate !

On that note I'm heading for that shower ! This week is flying by !