Day 14: Two Weeks !

 

This picture will continue to be the header of my blog until I'm able to establish some better habits. I originally wrote "good habits" but I'm trying to stay away from negativity - so things are not "bad" vs "good". How about good vs better for positivity ! I think this daily reminder is helping as I've been able to start getting things done!

It was 17 degrees when I woke up this morning and it dipped to 16 around 7:30 am. We had maybe an inch of snow late yesterday and an inch or two overnight. There is snow in the forecast every day right through Sunday! It was 27 degrees by 6 pm and we have a winter storm warning for perhaps 3-5 inches of snow from late Thursday into Friday.

Breakfast was waffles (160 calories) with sugar free syrup. I never got around to my yogurt but I had my protein shake (120 calories) at noon. Lunch was the usual pepperoni pizza melt (220 calories) and a chef salad. I didn't have my afternoon snack until after 5 pm. That was cottage cheese (80 calories) and a can of mandarin oranges (120 calories). Dinner was roasted carrots and a chicken & grain bowl (210 calories). Evening snack was a lemon zest cake (140 calories) with whipped cream.

I was awake at 2 am but there was no way I was getting up that early! Sometime between 6 and 7 Abby started her walking workout on my bed. She tromps all over me like I'm furniture, because she wants her breakfast! I got up around 7:10, threw on some pajamas and headed downstairs to start this chilly day. The stray cats were not around so I put out their dry food and fresh water. When it's very cold they tend to stay away, probably snuggled up in their dens.

Yesterday was a good day. I followed the Nutrisystem plan, I exercised, I showered, I did skincare and I brushed my teeth! Today's goal is a repeat, with a couple of tweaks. I didn't exercise during my lunch hour because I didn't have my shoes on and I hadn't made my protein shake. Today I will do better!

I made it to the treadmill during lunch today and started a new weight loss walking series, set in Australia. The first workout was intervals and I was easily able to manage 3 mph for 1 minute! This is progress and I was really proud to do the workout without making any adjustments to the programmed speed. It's a 12 workout series and today was 22m41s. Next up in the series is 23m01s and it also includes intervals up to 3 mph. There is also some incline, so we'll see if I can handle that.

At 11 am I still didn't have my shoes on and I hadn't made my protein shake, so I did that while I was waiting for Abby's food to warm up a little. I throw the cans of food in a container of hot water to warm it because it loosens the food and juices up and makes it easier for her to eat it. I do the same for the stray cats. I like to have warm meals, even in the summer, so why shouldn't the cats?

Work was busy but not as busy as I'd like it to be. It still seems like the volumes are very low and that concerns me. Hopefully it will pick up soon! I found out today we have Monday off for Presidents Day. I forgot they started giving us that day off when they took away some of our vacation days. Yeah, corporate America sucks.

After work I managed to get myself on the treadmill again! It was a short 21m13s but I worked hard. I decided to do 2 minute intervals from the 20 minute mark. The recovery intervals were at 2.2 mph but the 2 minute work intervals were 2.5 then 2.6 then 2.7 then 2.8 and for the final 2 minutes I did 2.9 for 1 minute and 3.0 for 1 minute. After my workout I cooked up some boneless chicken for Abby. She recently started sticking her nose into whatever I am eating and she seemed to love chicken. I pan seared it with a little olive oil and salt, then sprinkled on a little Romano cheese when it was cool. Well, she gobbled it right down! I have another portion in the fridge that I will give her tomorrow and I have another cooked piece I can shred up. I also have 3 uncooked pieces in the freezer. I'm planning on phasing out the seafood canned food as neither cat seems to like it anymore. Going forward I will just buy the chicken, beef, turkey varieties and I will supplement Abby with cooked chicken. She probably would have eaten more tonight but I don't want her to stuff herself and get sick.

I don't know what's changed but I feel like I'm really getting into the groove with my diet and exercise. It's only been 2 weeks and what I eat was the easy part. Cutting out the carbs dramatically reduced my appetite, though I still think about those Pop Tarts and that container of Gardetto's snack mix. What can I say? I like to eat bad things! Exercise has always been my biggest challenge and admitting I lost all of my endurance gains has been hard. Admitting I gained 100 pounds has been even harder. My mom would be so disappointed in me. I have 2 good days in the books and the goal is for tomorrow to be another good one. I have to take this one day at a time or I will overwhelm myself.

It sounds stupid, but one thing that is really helping is having exercise clothes that fit. Today I wore one of my new size 3X sports bras and I was comfy all day. I also feel like my size 3x leggings are a little less tight. I'm looking forward to the day I can step back down to size 2X! I haven't weighed myself in a few days but the plan is to get an official weight tomorrow. I would really like to see 260 or less on the scale.

I was so sad on Sunday while I was working on updating all my online passwords. I used to play online games at Pogo.com and even belonged to Club Pogo, where you pay a monthly fee to play without ads. They had the best games and I really enjoyed it! I got away from that when I got hooked on Farmville in 2009, during my leukemia treatment. I went to Pogo on Sunday to see what was new and their games were nothing like what they used to have. I deleted that bookmark tonight because I know I will never play on there again.

I got my shower and skincare done early again tonight. I'll brush my teeth when I head upstairs for bed shortly. It's 9:30 now so I'm going to wrap up this blog. Today was another good day and we're halfway to a long weekend! My challenge to myself for this weekend is to exercise at least once per day. I have a couple 30+ minute workouts I want to get done so I plan to focus on those.