Day 92: The Beat Goes On

 

Today is day 92 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and it got off to an early start. I woke up just after 6 and once I got up to pee it was all over. Drinking the magnesium and Metamucil right before bed is making me have to get up several times a night to pee, but the benefits of these 2 products make it worthwhile. I am sleeping so much better and I can't remember the last time I had any leg cramps ! Today I knew I wasn't going back to sleep so I got up shortly after 6:30. Once my mind wakes up and starts thinking about work, it is all over. By 7 the cats were fed and I had my first cup of coffee. I thought about getting a workout in but decided to just enjoy a little quiet morning before the work day launches. It was 55 degrees when I got up but the forecast indicated temps were going to fall into the 40's before the day is out. Oh well, this is Spring in Central NY. The weekend looks to be sunny, dry and mild so I will take that ! I finally took the plunge and requested a quote for siding on my house. I suspect I'll be shocked at the cost, but I plan on getting several quotes. My wood siding is in bad shape and a lot of boards are rotten, so I have to do something. I think siding will help the house be warmer in winter and I won't have to worry about it needing to be painted. This will all be thanks to my mom and somehow I will commemorate her when this project is done.

Breakfast was 150 calorie pancakes with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie yogurt. I rotate 4 flavors of Light & Fit yogurt: strawberry cheesecake, key lime, strawberry and orange cream. Morning snack was a 120 calorie vanilla shake. Lunch was a chef salad & 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. Afternoon snack was 90 calorie oatmeal cookies. The cookies are Alyssa's Healthy Vegan Oatmeal Bites. They are expensive ($6.49 for 8) but I enjoy them and I'm worth it. I have 2 a day, so that is about $1.62. I haven't found any other "fresh baked" cookies in this calorie range and these have no chemicals, just real ingredients. Nutrisystem food is processed but the benefits outweigh the risks, for me. Dinner was broccoli and 250 calorie roasted turkey medallions. Evening snack was a 140 calorie chocolate cupcake and a 130 calorie ice cream sandwich. I rarely have 2 desserts but I was feeling rather weak and nauseous, probably because I took all of my vitamins at once. Total calories for the day are 1190. The extra snack didn't put me over because I didn't have cottage cheese today. 

First workout of the day was 28m32s in the Scottish Highlands. This is part of the April walking challenge and at least 2/3 of the workout was at 10% incline. I decided in advance to do this one using the programmed speed because of the incline but I still had to hold on to the rails quite a bit. iFit says I burned 279 calories and let me tell you .. I earned every one of them ! After work was 24m47s in Italy. I found I had accidentally scheduled 2 Italy workouts for May instead of April, so I moved them to today. For this one I put in 23 minutes at 3 mph and let the machine handle the inclines. There was a lot of short duration 2 and 4% incline and I have no problem with that. Last up was the final workout of the Italy series. This one was 23m31s and had some incline. I went with a speed of 2.4 mph just to ensure the calorie burn was over 100 and that I could make it to the end ! It was not easy but I did it ! When I first got on the treadmill for this last workout I was thinking "I'm tired and my feet are hurting and I don't want to be here" .. but I kept going. Within a couple minutes the stiffness in my feet and legs eased and it became effortless. This happens all the time - I'll get on the treadmill and think I can't do it, yet I do. The mind and the body are not always in sync and I struggle with that a lot. I logged 76m50s plus 18 minutes of cool down/warm up for a grand total of 94m50s !

Work was a trainwreck. It started with not being able to "clock in" to our stupid payroll system and went downhill from there. Working on the tedious projects I've been avoiding pretty much wasted a good half of the day. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to actually get something accomplished. I was tempted to work late tonight but I resisted the urge !

I thought about weighing myself first thing this morning but my digestion was sluggish and I knew that would impact the number, so I didn't bother. Well, later on I got overconfident, weighed myself, and didn't like the number ! The scale read 233.2 as opposed to yesterday's 232.8. I tried to tell myself that we're talking about 4/10 of a pound .. mere ounces. Not to mention I'd already eaten my pancakes and a cup of coffee. It didn't help much, I was still disappointed. I'm doing well in my current routine and this illustrates why forcing myself to weigh daily would just add unnecessary stress. I'm going to be a little more thoughtful about weighing myself. When I do weigh myself I will record whatever number I see, but I'm not going to force it. Pulling back a little on this is a good thing, because in the past I've impulsively embarked on overly ambitious goals and then felt bad when I failed. For example, way back when I tried an "intro to running" series on iFit. I was able to "run" for 15 or 30 seconds and excitedly decided I was going to finish the series and be a "runner". Nope - 2nd workout in the series showed me that I would NOT be a runner because I could not run for more than 30 seconds at a time. Maybe if I kept repeating the first workout I might build up the ability to "run" .. but why bother ? I don't have a passion to run. I'll be happy to get back to what I consider power walking. For me, that was being able to do up to 3.7 mph. It's always been my opinion that daily weighing is not a good idea because your body weight is going to fluctuate based on fluid retention and how much material your digestive tract is storing. I'm happy with how things are progressing and I want to keep on the positive track. I feel better. I can see and feel that some of the bloat in my abdomen has receded. My hips are slightly slimmer. Things are starting to happen and I need to keep my eyes forward and keep working just as hard. I've kicked the 'eating in bed' habit (again) and kept away from the sweets. I know in my heart that I will always have chocolate in the house, so it's up to me to work on moderation. I don't "need" it every day and I don't "need" huge quantities. That is where I get in trouble: a piece of chocolate every now and then turns into having a handful multiple times a day. Right now I'm staying away from it as much as possible but I will always have it in the house. That is just a necessity for me and I don't see that ever changing.

Today was another good day. I killed it on the treadmill and stayed on track with my diet. Work might have been a dumpster fire, but that happens sometimes. I'll pick up the pieces tomorrow and see what I can get done. It's frustrating when you're dealing with lazy people who don't care if things are done right. I'm feeling really good about my progression on the treadmill. Not long ago 3 mph was nothing but a dream because I could barely sustain 2 mph. Diet is going well too. I'm over the sugar and carb cravings because I am staying away from them as much as possible. People think pretzels are a good snack but they really aren't if you're watching your carbs. Popcorn is better because it has more fiber but I find it hard to limit the amount I eat. I can easily sit down and devour a giant bowl of it. I actually bought some snack size bags of Smart Pop that are 80 calories. I haven't eaten any of it but it's there if I get a popcorn craving.

It's getting late and it's about time for me to gulp down my magnesium (it tastes really nasty) and Metamucil, brush my teeth and settle in to bed. Tomorrow is FRIDAY .. WHOOP WHOOP !!