The Journey Back: Day 18

 

“A positive attitude can lead to a 

chain reaction of positive thoughts,

 outcomes and events."

Attitude really is everything. I see that every day with the people I deal with. If someone is nasty to me I'm not very motivated to go out of my way for them. Approach me with kindness and I will bend over backwards to help you. I try to have a positive attitude every day but sometimes it's impossible. On those days I tell myself it's just one day or one person and it will pass ... and it always does ! I also work really hard not to let others rain on my parade ! Negative Nellie is not going to ruin my day ! I tell myself they're miserable because they have a miserable life and it's not my issue to solve. We're all in charge of our own attitude. I let someone else control mine for too many years and I can guarantee you that will never happen again. I might have seemed miserable at times and that is because my life really was miserable. At the time I felt it was hopeless and I was powerless to make any significant changes. In light of that I do have some sympathy for miserable people .. but it only goes so far. It was very difficult for me to be happy for anyone or anything because I had been beaten down so low, but I never used that as an excuse to mistreat people. Food was my comfort during that time but that was nothing new - food had always been my comfort. Over the past couple of years I've seen first hand just how intertwined my emotions and food are. Happy ? Eat to celebrate ! Sad ? Eat to feel better. Bored ? Eat for something to do. Every emotion had food tied to it and it's something I still struggle with today. I wasn't one of those people who can't eat when they're upset ! Bring on that pint of Haagen Dazs or that bag of chips ! Today, focusing on maintaining a positive outlook on life helps keeps my emotions on an even keel and makes me less likely to use whatever is going on (whether good or bad!) as an excuse to eat. It's not always a conscious decision. Sometimes my subconscious sneaks in little worries or doubts and before I know it I've had those cookies or that candy bar, so I have to be aware of that as well. All in all, I think my positive attitude helped me get the weight off and get fit. I might not have been quite so positive on Day 1 but over time I started to think I just might do it .. and I did !

Today is Day 1106 of Nutrisystem. 174 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 18 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 chocolate shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt with a chef salad. 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 130 calorie strawberry shortcake cupcake. Total calories for the day are 1120 and I got 80 ounces of water in. 

I spent about 30 minutes on the treadmill during lunch but I worked late (until almost 6) because I was in the middle of something and then spent an hour outside on the driveway, because the deep freeze is coming tomorrow night ! My driveway had some hard packed snow on it that made it pretty slippery. I nearly fell last night so I didn't try to move it. I just focused on the sides. Today was a lot warmer so it was melting and I was back to slush ! I cleared that all away and am back to a nice wide driveway with bare pavement. Now I don't have to worry about it freezing solid tomorrow night. I'm a little obsessive about the driveway because there were many years it was a snow packed icy mess for the entire winter. All my front wheel drive cars got stuck regularly ! So tonight I just didn't have it in me to get that second treadmill workout in. I'm a little sore, a little tired and very much chilled so I'm going to pack it in extra early for a hot shower and some tv in bed.