Day 35: Believe

 

Day 35 of Nutrisystem 2.0 got off to a chilly but sunny start. I didn't check the temp when I got up but at 5 am it was 64 degrees in my bedroom, so it was probably down in the teens as predicted. I got up and turned on the electric heater and went back to sleep until the alarm went off at 7. It was a struggle to get out of the nice warm bed even though the heater had brought the temp up in my room. I finally got up just after 7:30 and was able to make the bed and feed the indoor and outdoor cats before I sat down to start the work day with my first cup of coffee. 

Breakfast was 160 calorie buttermilk waffles with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie yogurt. I managed to find some of the orange cream flavor from Light & Fit, so it was a refreshing change from the usual strawberry or lime. Morning snack was a 120 calorie chocolate shake. Lunch was roasted carrots and a 240 calorie hamburger. I added a slice of American cheese. Afternoon snack was 180 calorie cheese & crackers. Dinner was 260 calorie roasted turkey medallions with green beans. Evening snack was a 130 calorie ice cream sandwich. Total calories for the day are 1170. I'm actually over my calories for the day because of the cheese on my burger, but it's not the end of the world.

First workout of the day was 33 minutes in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and I changed it up a bit today. I noticed that at a pace of 2.4 mph I kept walking up on the front of the treadmill, which meant I was walking faster than the machine was going. So at the 25% mark (about 8 min 11 secs in) I increased it to 2.5,  then at 50% I increased to 2.6 and at 75% I increased to 2.7 mph. With 1 minute to go I increased to 2.8 mph and put the incline at 4%. That made me a little breathless but it was only a minute. These little changes don't burn many more calories (maybe 7 or 8) but my goal is to increase endurance and get my pace up. The only way I can do that is to challenge myself to walk faster ! I don't look so much at the calories burned this time around, because I don't want to fall into the mindset of being able to work off any excess calories I choose to take in. That takes me into dangerous waters ! Speaking of water ... my second workout of the day really kicked my ass. I was not sure I could finish it, but I did !! It was almost 29 minutes of intervals on the beach in Turks & Caicos with iFit trainer Stacie Clark. I totally love her but she never goes easy on you ! The warmup at 2.5 mph was fine. The starting pace of 2.8 mph was fine. Even the 3.1 mph intervals were fine. What was NOT fine was shortening the "rest" part of the intervals ! We started with 6 rounds of 30 seconds at 3.1 with 60 seconds at 2.8 mph. These are 2:1 intervals. The next 6 rounds were 30 seconds at 3.1 with 30 seconds at 2.8 mph. These are 1:1 intervals. The last round of 6 intervals was 40 seconds at 3.1 with 20 seconds at 2.8 mph. I would also call these 2:1 intervals. She actually bumped the speed up to 3.2 mph for the very last interval in round 3 ( interval #18) and made it longer, not sure how long but it felt like an eternity. This was the most I've sweated during a workout since I restarted my fitness routine and probably the most winded I've been. It's also the fastest sustained speed I've been able to do. I may come back to this workout again in a month and see if it feels any easier. I got nearly 62 minutes on the treadmill today (about 74 with the warmups) and I'm happy with that. It goes a long way towards building up my endurance.

I didn't think my work day was very productive but when I really thought about it, I did get a lot accomplished. My boss moved 7 or 8 new projects to my worklist so I spent a lot of time reviewing those and getting each one set up with a plan of action. I have a lot of stuff that is about ready to complete but I'm waiting for other departments to complete their part of the process, so I also spent time checking up on those to make sure they were on track. The last item I started working on was a spreadsheet of calculations and I left that behind at 5 pm. It'll be the first thing I tackle tomorrow morning when my mind is fresh ! I have a lot of old stuff that is expected to complete in February and I just can't wait to hit the "close" button on them ! I'll probably always have some "old" stuff because my boss knows she can send me anything and I'll get it done, and that's ok. Work is really going well and I couldn't be happier. I hope this continues for another 5-7 years !

With the workday over and my last workout in the books, I was able to sit and relax with my dinner by 6 pm. I watched videos on YouTube (Post 10 is my new favorite channel) and wrote this blog. I also reflected a little more on last weekend. I had such a sense of dread leading into Friday night and that stayed with me until the cold water in the kitchen started working Sunday morning. I thought I was pretty calm but in reality I was very stressed and it was exhausting. Mental fatigue, I call it. I was surprised to get up Saturday morning and find none of my pipes were frozen. We had incredible winds Friday night and it was well below zero all night. So I'm not sure why the cold water suddenly froze in the light of day. Although I'm hoping siding the house will prevent that from happening again, I may try to slide some of that tubular foam insulation onto the line when the weather warms up. It's not easily accessible in the basement crawl space, which is dirt, so we'll see.

I may only be 35 days into this journey but I'm starting to believe in myself a little more. I struggled for all of 2022, not able to rein myself in and get back to my diet and exercise program. As I've said, this started long before my mother's illness and subsequent death. I remember wanting to cry when I found I had no jeans that fit. I hated myself when I had to buy some plus size clothes to "get by". I think that helped spur me to action. I didn't like how it felt and I wanted to look and feel good again. Just as a photo started this journey, another photo helped me restart it. Mirrors lie, but pictures do not. I was looking in the mirror and thinking I didn't look "that bad" and that was a lie ... I did. You don't gain 87 pounds without a noticeable change in your body. Yet again I was horrified at what I see in the mirror. The photo I want to recreate was taken on 07-07-21 and I plan to recreate it on 07-07-23, regardless of my weight. The jeans may not zip and the top may be super tight .. but the goal is to fit back into them, so if nothing else it will be a progress check !

On that note, I'm heading for bed !