Day 123: Happy Sunday !

 

Today is day 123 of Nutrisystem 2.0 and I woke up shortly after 7 am. I didn't want to get up, but I knew Abby would be waiting to eat. It also makes sense to get up early on Sunday so that I can sleep tonight and be ready for the week ahead. I woke to blue skies and sunshine and this is the best way to wake up ! Rain was in the forecast but not until evening.

Breakfast was 150 calorie pancakes with sugar free syrup and an 80 calorie yogurt. I didn't have a morning snack. Lunch was a 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. Afternoon snack was 80 calorie cottage cheese & 90 calorie oatmeal cookies. Dinner was broccoli & 220 calorie rotini & meatballs. Evening snack was a 140 calorie chocolate cupcake. While I was out I had a 340 calorie snack package from Wegman's. It had apple slices, grapes, cheddar cheese & almonds. So total calories for today are 1320. 

I completed analyzing the signs of self-sabotage and though I'm not convinced I am a self-saboteur, I do see that some of my food choices lean in that direction. I suppose anything you do that doesn't support a healthy life could fall into that category. I had thought about exploring the topic of self-discipline next, but the reality is I know what I need to do. I could read 100 articles and I know I'll learn nothing new. Weight loss is simple: eat less, eat better, exercise more. One thing I know I need to stop doing is veering off my eating schedule on weekends. I've seen that if I don't eat enough during the day I end up craving carbs in the evening. I can also get to the point where I avoided eating for so long that I suddenly need to eat anything that is quickly available. I was headed in that direction last night. I cooked my green beans near 6 pm but I wasn't really hungry yet so I didn't eat them or cook my entree. Around 8 pm I was suddenly "starving" and needed to eat right away. Since the green beans were cooked that was a simple reheat in the microwave and I opted for a meatloaf sandwich (again!) because it was quick and easy. I also need to be more active on the weekends, and I accomplished that this weekend. Eating in bed is more about "habit" than anything, so I need to continue working on breaking that for good.

Today was grocery day so I headed out to Wegman's around 11:45 am. I didn't need much and only spent $35 on whipped cream, lettuce, cukes, radishes, celery, oatmeal cookies and a small container of potato salad. I have been craving potato salad for weeks, so the small container was perfect. Next stop was Walmart and $250 later I headed home. A lot of the stuff I bought I did not need, such as 2 t-shirts and another summer nightshirt, but they were cheap. The summer nightshirts are only $8 and the t-shirts ended up being $9 - even though the tag said $11 ! I also picked up a folding saw to use for trimming my wayward lilac trees. That rang up cheaper than the shelf tag too ! I also picked up salad dressing and another jar of pickled onions, roasted red peppers, kalamata olives and green olives. I didn't need any of this but I like to keep a  good supply of things I use every day. I also bought yogurt and cottage cheese, along with beef baby food for Abby. She eats a jar a day so I like to keep a stock on that on hand too. I also grabbed 2 boxes on Fancy Feast canned food. They are almost $26 a box for 30 cans ! I bought cat litter too and it used to be about $19 - now it's $26 ! I'm glad I only have 2 cats now, because I can't imagine trying to feed 5 cats or keep 4 or 5 litter boxes stocked. I also bought some cuticle oil and some cuticle sticks. I'm trying to take better care of my skin and nails. I also bought a box of Walmart's brand of Estroven, to see if it will help with hot flashes and night sweats. It was almost $20 for 60 capsules and that is only a 30 day supply. I see the active ingredient is Ashwaganda, so I'm wondering why I can't just buy an Ashwaganda supplement ? Spring Valley makes one and it's available at Walmart. Best thing is it's half the cost of what I bought, so I guess I'll buy that next !

I got home just before 3 pm. I fed the cats, had my lunch and then decided to head outside and try out my new saw on the lilac trees. Well, it worked really well and I was able to cut away a lot of the dead stuff and the stuff that was hanging out into the lawn and made it difficult to mow. I hauled it all to my leaf & tree debris pile at the back of the yard. Some of what I cut had flowers so I cut those and put a big vase of flowers out on the front porch. I would have loved to have it in the house but I can't trust the cats not to chew on them. I did look online and they're not poisonous but could cause gastric upset. I'd rather they don't chew on them so the porch it is ! I'd like to cut down more so I may go out there again another day. The problem with the lilacs is they only have greenery on the very tips of the branches, so they're not very attractive. I also tied back some branches that block access to the walkway along the garage. This should help out the siding guys when they start the job. Today's yard work was my exercise for the day and I got over 10,000 steps again today ! Not long after I came back inside some rain showers moved in. After today there is no rain in the forecast for at least the next week. Looks like it might be warm enough to work out on the front porch, with daytime highs in the 60's and we might see 70 on Thursday. 

After all the yard work I had my afternoon snack and then took a shower before dinner. It felt good to wash away the sweat and grit from the trees. All in all I had an amazing weekend and I'm sad to see it go ! On that note I'm heading for bed !