Day 72: A Necessary Pause

 

Today is day 72 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and day 70 and 71 ended up being a bit of a necessary pause. Work stressed me out a little and I was adding all sorts of extra stress over my diet and exercise. I just had to let it all go until things calmed down. Something fun to look forward to came my way today and completely and totally changed my outlook. I now have something to look forward to and to really motivate me to get the weight off fast ! More on that later.

So what's been up the past 2 days? Today is Thursday, so I'll start with Tuesday 3-14. I got up early (5:30) and looked out to see how much snow we had. At that time we hadn't had much but the winter storm warning was in effect until Wednesday morning. Since I was up so early I was able to clean litter boxes and get the laundry room clean again. It was trash day but I didn't even have a full bag, so I didn't bother putting trash out. Heavy snow started falling and by evening we had a significant amount out there. My brother was in the area and he called to check in and make sure I was ok. It was nice to hear from him ! We might have got close to a foot and it was the heavy wet stuff. I didn't get a workout in during lunch because the morning got away from me and I didn't have my shoes on, didn't have my shake prepared, hadn't fed the cats their lunch and I got a late start on lunch due to a last minute project my boss sent my way. I was also chilled as I didn't have the heater going in my office. All of that combined to throw me off my schedule. As a result, I spent most of the hour preparing my salad and straightening up the house. I also threw a pan of carrots in the oven to roast. I didn't get a workout in after work either. My plow guy let me know he was recovering from a mini-stroke and couldn't drive, but assured me he'd get my driveway taken care of. I told him to worry about himself and ended up going outside to start shoveling. I have mom & dad's snowblower but I didn't want to fool around with that. I was able to do about 2/3 of the driveway before my back said enough. I didn't want to take a chance on hurting myself, so I planned to do the rest the following day. Don't you know Doug sent his son in law over and he finished the job not an hour after I came inside ! The shoveling was quite a workout so I don't regret doing that. The woman across the street offered to help but I told her I was just doing it for the exercise, which was true. Besdies, last thing I need is to get entangled with that hot mess of a family. Yesterday (Wednesday March 15) was mostly sunny and a bit warmer, so the snow started melting. I worked through my lunch and for much of the evening, so there was again no treadmill time. I was super stressed yesterday only because someone brought something to my attention that had been assigned to me 2 weeks ago and I missed it. I was so mad at myself and it really ruined my entire day. It's under control now and I always learn from my mistakes, so I'll be more careful to check my various worklists to make sure I don't miss anything again. It didn't help that the person who brought it to my attention has never liked me and the feeling is mutual. I was also miserable old lady to the 2 brats across the street that keep cutting through my yard. I managed to catch them in the act and yelled at them to stay out of my yard. I find it so disrespectful and with the day I was having, I not willing to keep letting it go. There are perfectly good public sidewalks they can use to get where they're going. They're so stupid too - they know I have security cameras so sometimes they would run .. like that's going to keep the camera from recording them. I really wish they'd move out but then you never know what will come next. Never guy a home across from an apartment building ! This one only has 2 apartments and the upstairs is empty, but they always seem to rent to trashy people. I've been poor and lived in bad neighborhoods and you can be poor without being trashy !

So that brings me to today. I was awake just before the alarm went off and got up on time. It was another sunny day and it warmed up into the high 40's. The snow is shrinking fast and I won't be sorry to see it go ! Work was very busy but I got a lot done. I worked until nearly 6 and also during part of my lunch, only because I was in the middle of some things that are complicated and confusing. More than once I had to stop and backtrack and it's like the more you dig the more problems you find ! In the end I was happy with what I got done !

I've been at a bit of a standstill on my weight loss. I opened a jar of those caramels and I've been eating them at bedtime the past 3 nights. The jar is nearly gone and I am determined NOT to open either of the other 2 anytime soon. I mentioned having something to look forward to and to motivate me to get the weight back off - well, my niece texted me and asked if I wanted to go to Disney in December. I thought about it and decided to go for it. The only thing that holds me back is care for my cats, but I did a quick search and several vet facilities in the area do boarding, so that is likely what I will do. This also motivates me to stop being afraid to get Abby to the vet. She has lost so much weight, yet she eats constantly. I've suspected for a while that her thyroid is overactive but I've been afraid to take her to the vet - afraid of what they'll tell me. This is stupid because the poor cat is probably suffering needlessly. So tomorrow I'm going to call and get her an appointment. She may need medication but I'll do what it takes if she will feel better and live longer ! To be boarded they'll both need their vaccinations updated too, so it's a good time to re-establish myself with the local vet. I'm not proud of the fact that I'm doing this because *I* want something. More and more I am realizing what a selfish person I am. So December 3rd I'll be jetting off to Disney. I'm excited and so motivated to buckle down on Nutrisystem and exercise.

I've decided not to worry about documenting the calories I consume each day. What is the point ? I'll chat about what I ate just for the heck of it. Today I had waffles for breakfast, a pepperoni pizza melt for lunch, cottage cheese & oatmeal cookies for afternoon snack and a new item for dinner - a bacon & cheddar stuffed chicken stick with roasted carrots. This is actually a lunch item that I bought by mistake, thinking it was a dinner item. Well, let me tell you .. it was freaking delicious ! I cooked it in the air fryer and added some buffalo sauce. OMG .. this might be a new favorite ! It's only 200 calories, so that is a bonus. I didn't have a morning snack. I haven't had my evening snack yet, but it will probably be a chocolate cupcake.

Last Sunday when I went to Wegman's I bought 2 loaves of Irish soda bread. Both of them are gone. When I got that escalation yesterday on the project I missed, I just freaked myself out and ate nearly an entire loaf that was left. So it's done and gone. I have my corned beef & cabbage dinner to cook and that will likely be my dinner tomorrow and Saturday .. possibly Sunday too ! After that I'm going hardcore to get this weight off. I am not going to Disney a fat slob. 

So today I've had no chocolate and I'm ok with that. I might indulge in a piece or two before bed but I am NOT taking the jar upstairs. Lying in bed with the jar makes it too easy to just keep popping them in and before you know it I've had 10 or more.

I'm so excited thinking about going to Disney. I had 7 unscheduled vacation days, so even with this I still have 2 more to schedule. I get 28 vacation days plus company holidays. I have close to 6 months, so there is plenty of time to get a significant amount of weight off. Can I reach 160 by then. Well, maybe not but I'm going to try really, really hard ! My first goal is to get Abby to the vet and get her feeling better. Second goal is to get me feeling better. To that end, I took my vitamins and plan to get my magnesium and Metamucil before bed. I have to work out a schedule for the vitamins because if I take them all at once they make me a little nauseous. I need to take a couple with each meal. 

So this is where I am at 7:40 pm on Thursday March 16. Tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day and it's Friday !