2023: Finding My Way Back

  Today is day 142 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and yet again it was difficult to drag myself out of bed. Abby arrived at 6:42 am to let me know she was hungry and that lounging in bed was not an option. It was a chilly 38 degrees ! It looks like temps are going to be much warmer starting Monday, so hopefully that is the start of a trend ! Breakfast was 160 calorie waffles with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie yogurt. I didn't have a morning snack. Lunch was a 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. I didn't have an afternoon snack. Dinner was broccoli and 260 calorie roasted turkey medallions. Evening snack was a 140 calorie chocolate cupcake. Work was steady but again, I'm not busting my ass anymore. I spent some time this morning deleting years worth of emails. Since I'll be gone soon there is no point in letting it all sit there. The company can recover anything I delete and I'm just deleting stuff because it's no longer needed. I'm not trying to hide anything. If by

  Today is day 141 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and this old body did not want to get out of my nice warm bed this morning ! I suppose the bedtime double dose of Benadryl and a 4:45 am booster did not help, but the bites on my face and leg are looking and feeling better today. The one on my leg itches the most and looks the worst so I'm still taking Benadryl.  Breakfast was 150 calorie pancakes with sugar free syrup and a 80 calorie yogurt. I did not have a morning snack. Lunch was a chef salad & 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. I didn't have an afternoon snack. Dinner was 220 calorie chicken fettuccine alfredo over riced cauliflower. Evening snack was a 140 calorie lemon zest cake. Total calories are 1200+, thanks to the package of tea cookies that I ate today. Work was steady and I'm just plugging along at my own pace. I did work until 7 pm and I'm going to work all the OT I can until this job comes to an end. The meeting with our Director did not go well. Apparently worki

  Today is day 140 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and just before 6:30 am Minnie decided she needed some attention. I managed to fall back asleep for a little bit until the alarm went off at 7. I could have slept for hours more but it's a work day so that wasn't an option. I wasn't tired last night and I had a hard time getting to sleep. I just couldn't find a comfortable position and the bedroom was a little warm. I never opened a window upstairs yesterday so it was 80 in my bedroom when I went to bed. I often struggle with using the fan because I get cold, cover up and then I'm too hot and have to uncover until I get cold again. It's a vicious cycle. Hot flashes on and off all night don't help. Will they ever end ? Breakfast was 160 calorie waffles with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie yogurt. I didn't have a morning snack. Lunch was a chef salad & 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. Afternoon snack was 80 calorie cottage cheese & 90 calorie oatmeal cookie

  Today is day 139 of Nutrisystem 2.0. It's nice waking up to blue skies and sunshine, along with the promise of a warmer day ! The forecast is calling for 75 and sunny, which is perfect ! I was awake shortly before 6 and had visits from both Minnie and Abby, before I finally got up around 6:40. Breakfast was 150 calorie pancakes with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie yogurt. I didn't have a morning snack. Lunch was a chef salad & 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. Afternoon snack was 80 calorie cottage cheese & 90 calorie oatmeal cookies. Dinner was roasted carrots and 260 calorie roasted turkey medallions. Evening snack was a 140 calorie chocolate cupcake. Total calories for the day are 1020. Today was trash day so I cut up a head of lettuce for salad this morning and then settled in to relax with my breakfast before work, since I was up early. I didn't put the trash out last night and panicked a little when I heard the trash truck before 7 am. Turned out they wer

  Today is day 138 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and it's Monday. I woke to sunny skies and a visit from Abby. I got up around 7:10 and prepared to face the day.  Breakfast was 160 calorie waffles with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie yogurt. I didn't have a morning snack. Lunch was a chef salad & 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. Afternoon snack was 80 calorie cottage cheese & 90 calorie oatmeal cookies. Dinner was a 250 calorie meatloaf sandwich. Evening snack was a 140 calorie chocolate cupcake. Total calories for the day are 1020. I felt better today physically but mentally I am still struggling to accept what changes may be coming to my job. It makes me angry because I've given 38 years of my life to this company and it clearly means nothing to them. I've always done whatever was asked of me and I've always gone the extra mile, and this current situation is my reward. If I end up retiring, it will be their loss 100%. Until I know my fate, I'm not going to bu

  Today is day 137 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and it looked like it was going to be a rainy Sunday when I got up, just before 8. I could easily have slept longer but when I do that on a Sunday I have trouble getting to sleep and tomorrow is Monday ! The skies cleared around 10 am and the sun was in and out for the rest of the day. Breakfast was 150 calorie pancakes with sugar free syrup. I didn't eat again until about 5:30 when I had a 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. I lounged on the couch watching tv all morning. Around noon I started not feeling well. I was nauseous and thought I might throw up. I wanted to go upstairs to bed and lie down but instead I cleared off the couch and laid down. I fell asleep until about 2:30 and finally got up around 3:30 because Abby was hungry ! I felt better, so I'm not sure what was up. Did I overindulge yesterday ? My dinner was super spicy and I had a very rich (and large!) brownie with ice cream for dessert. I also, like a pig, had Hershey Kisses

  Today is day 136 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and it was a rainy Saturday. I got up just after 8 thanks to a visit from Abby, since breakfast was late and she was hangry !  Breakfast was a 270 calorie Jimmy Dean Delights breakfast sandwich. Lunch was a 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. Since I was out today calories far exceeded 1200. Dinner was bang bang chicken from Coppertop and a brownie with ice cream. We also had avocado eggrolls for an appetizer. I had 2 pieces. I brought home half of the chicken and will have that tomorrow. Despite feeling better about my job situation, I had a difficult time getting to sleep last night. It was long after midnight when I finally slept, but at least there was no getting up to search for anything ! I feel better about having an opportunity lined up, but the bottom line is I enjoy what I do now and I don't want that to change. I don't want to start a new job at this point in my life. So the situation is continuing to bother me. I have a plan now,

  Today is day 135 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and I've been awake since 4:30 am, thanks to an unexpected early morning visit from Abby ! I guess she was hungry but I tried and failed to go back to sleep. I got up just after 5:30 and fed her. Breakfast was 160 calorie waffles with sugar free syrup. I didn't have my yogurt or a morning snack. Lunch was a 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. I didn't have an afternoon snack. Dinner was green beans and a 260 calorie chicken enchilada. Evening snack was a 140 calorie chocolate cupcake. Total calories are unknown, due to half a package of tea cookies .. lol ! Work was not super productive. I have a lot to get done but had zero motivation to work very hard. Today was our monthly all hands call and my recent award was acknowledged. It's hard to be excited about that, given the recent news. I still hold out hope things won't change for me but if they do I'm sure it will turn out to be for the best. Maybe moving somewhere else would

  Today is day 134 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and although I was awake at 5:10 am, I did not want to get out of my nice warm bed ! It was a brisk 30 degrees outside but my house was warm and cozy. I gave up trying to get back to sleep just before 6 am. I think the cats enjoyed the early feeding, but now they'll be ahead of schedule for the rest of the day !  Breakfast was 150 calorie pancakes with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie yogurt. Morning snack was a 120 calorie vanilla shake. Lunch was a chef salad & 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. Afternoon snack was 80 calorie cottage cheese & 90 calorie oatmeal cookies. Dinner was the last 2 hotdogs. Evening snack was a 140 calorie lemon zest cake. Total calories for the day would be a guess so we'll go with 1200+. Since the garage is in good shape and I won't have much more room until the trash is gone, I pushed myself back onto my treadmill schedule today. I got 34m52s in during lunch but didn't have the motivation to g

  Today is day 133 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and I did not want to get out of bed again this morning. The 2 Benadryl I took at bedtime last night might have had a bit to do with that. Why did I take Benadryl ? Well, over a year ago I had poison ivy and some insect bites after spending 2 days raking up leaves that had accumulated in the back of the yard over several years. While I was cleaning up out there I also cleared away a bunch of weeds and vines that I didn't realize was actually poison ivy. I am very allergic so I was a mess ! I also got bit several times by unknown pests. It took a long time for most of the bites to heal but there are still 2 that flare up occasionally. One on my right earlobe and one on my right arm. Oddly enough, they flared up after I raked the lawn Monday ! Not sure if it has anything to do with it, but I wore earrings for the first time in a while on Saturday and when I took them out that earlobe was bleeding. Then yesterday I noticed it was all swollen. I pu

  Today is day 132 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and I did not want to get out of bed this morning ! It turned out to be a nice sunny day but it was windy .. signs of the rain that arrived around 6 pm and the drop in temperature. It got up into the 70's but the low for tonight is 39. Shockingly enough, the low for tomorrow night is 32 !!! WTF ! Looks like I won't be working out on the front porch for the next couple of days. It looks like next week will bring warmer daytime temps for a while, so I'm looking forward to that ! Breakfast was 150 calorie pancakes with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie yogurt. I didn't have a morning snack. Lunch was a chef salad & 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. I didn't have an afternoon snack. Dinner was 2 hotdogs with buns and some macaroni salad. Evening snack was tea cookies. Calories are 1200+ today. It was a stressful day. I didn't get on the treadmill today. Right before noon an announcement came out at work about managers being

  Today is day 131 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and woke up to a chilly but sunny morning. High for today was 68 but tomorrow we should see 70's again ! I went out to the front porch to work after lunch and I'm hoping to be able to work out there all day tomorrow. Forecast is calling for rain Friday, Saturday and Sunday so I plan on assessing the lawn on Thursday. I don't want to let it get too long. Breakfast was 160 calorie waffles with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie yogurt. Morning snack was a 120 calorie chocolate shake. Lunch was a chef salad & 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. Afternoon snack was 80 calorie cottage cheese & 90 calorie oatmeal cookies. Dinner was 220 calorie chicken fettuccine alfredo over riced cauliflower. Evening snack was a 140 calorie lemon zest cake & the 2 remaining chocolate chip cookies. Total calories for the day are 1200+. Today was the start of a new week of iFit challenges ! I'm loving the challenges this month as they are 2 work

  Today is day 130 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and since I went to bed so late last night (this morning!), I did not want to get up today. After Abby's 2nd visit I had to push myself out of bed and get her fed. When she come upstairs you know she is hungry ! Breakfast was 150 calorie pancakes with sugar free syrup. I never got around to having my yogurt or morning snack. Lunch was a 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. Afternoon snack was 80 calorie cottage cheese & 90 calorie oatmeal cookies. Dinner was my leftover pasta & shrimp. Evening snack was 3 chocolate chip cookies. Calories are really unknown but definitely over 1200. I spent a couple hours this morning shredding paper ! My goal was to finish the job today ! I was also determined to finish up the lawn today so I went out shortly after noon and finished off the main part of the yard. Once that was done I brought the mower back inside and put the battery to charge and then headed to the grocery store. I have never been one to r

  Today is day 129 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and even though it is Saturday, I was awake at 5:55 am. So nice to wake up to blue skies, sunshine and the promise of another beautiful warm day ! Breakfast was a 270 calorie Jimmy Dean Delights breakfast sandwich. I haven't had one of these in a while and I figured it would keep me full longer since I was going out. I had lunch out with my sister and I opted for shrimp marinara, which was shrimp in a marinara sauce over fettuccine. It came with a bowl of minestrone soup and homemade bread. I brought half of the pasta home. On the way home from my sister's I stopped and got an ice cream sundae that had chocolate sauce, caramel and pecans. It was sinfully delicious. This evening I had a couple 90 calorie cookies packets and my 140 calorie chocolate cupcake. So my calories are off the chart. There was no treadmill today. Exercise consisted of walking around the stores and also getting part of the lawn mowed. I got over 13,000 steps in today !