Day 4: Revisiting The Past

 

Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal is 100 pounds by 12-31-25. Can I do it ? Well, I won't know unless I try. My original Day 4 blog can be found here. 

It's warmer today than it was yesterday but the wind chill makes it seem much, much colder ! It was 17 when I got up at 8 and it's 20 now at 10:23 am, but the weather app says the wind chill makes it feel like 4 degrees. I would agree with that as I went out to shovel off the front steps. You definitely don't want to be outside for long if you're not properly dressed. It's trash day but I don't even have a full bag, so I didn't bother to put mine out. We actually have a new winter weather advisory that just came out for lake effect snow through Wednesday ! I suspect I won't be going to rock & roll bingo.

I called this blog "Revisiting The Past" as 6 years ago today they announced the office was closing. I fully expected to lose my job and I was panicked. I had no savings. I had $20k in credit card debt. I was 300 pounds. I could apply for other jobs in the company but they were few and far between. Moving to Florida was not an option. I had suspected this was coming and that factored in to my decision to lose weight and pay off debt, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon. I was pension eligible at the time and my 401k wasn't in bad shape, but I was worried. Thankfully, I was able to keep my job for another 5 years, lost the weight and paid off all my debt. Unfortunately, when I was laid off I had gained back all the weight ! So here I am now starting the weight loss journey again. The positive in that is that I'm financially secure, as I have not incurred any new debt. I have my mortgage and car payment and the expenses associated with that, but I pay my credit card in full every month. At least I did something right ! Sadly, the office in Florida has now announced it will be closing as of 03/22/25. The good thing for those folks is there is plenty of opportunity in their area. I'm not sure the jobs will pay as well, but they shouldn't have better chances than the folks here in Syracuse had. Some of the Syracuse transplants are ecstatic about it and are planning to relocate back to Syracuse. I'm happy for them ! Most, if not all, of them are retirement eligible so they'll have their severance, pension (maybe) and unemployment to fall back on. Hopefully they've also funded their 401k's. I say maybe on the pensions as our company eliminated pensions years ago and I'm not sure when that happened. Some may not have traditional pensions. Many of the folks in Florida were DEI hires and they may find their new employers are less tolerant if they can't perform well in their new roles. I'm sorry, but some of them were so stupid and lazy. That's all I'm going to say about that. No need to kick someone when they're down. I'm sure many have families to support and it's always upsetting to lose your job. I was devastated for myself and everyone in 2019. I was devastated for myself and others in May 2024 and I am again devastated for my former colleagues. Nice of AT&T to drop the bomb during the Christmas holidays ! I wish that company nothing but the worst ! Yep, I am bitter despite the fact that they employed me for 39 years. I was really looking forward to hitting the 40 year mark on 04/29/25. Oh well .. I guess this is where I'm supposed to be now. Perhaps I'm not meant to live into my 80's like mom and this is my time to enjoy life ? Who knows. Reading through that blog in 2019 brought back memories and some of the same feelings I experienced when I was laid off in May. However, being laid off was much worse because it was immediate and final. At least in 2019 I had the hope of finding another job in the company and I had 3 months to prepare, instead of 2 weeks ! At least in 2024 I was 100% financially secure and only 3 years away from Medicare. As I've said repeatedly, I'm ok if I never work another day in my life ! I like doing my own thing every day !

Breakfast today was 160 calorie waffles with sugar free syrup. I had an 80 calorie yogurt around 11:30. This item is part of breakfast. I completely forgot about having a protein shake for morning snack. Lunch was the usual 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. Morning and afternoon snack were the 2 chicken tenders with ranch that I had after grocery shopping. Dinner was a 250 calorie meatloaf sandwich and about half of the potato wedges. Evening snack was a chocolate chip muffin. 

Last night I had some pretzels when I went to bed. Not going to sweat that as they're almost gone AND it's not the worst snack to have. I went to bed after 11 and was just feeling a little hungry. I'm glad I was awake at 8 and didn't linger in bed. Still no stray cats this morning but I refilled the dry food as that had all been eaten. I didn't fill it yesterday. I thought about putting canned food out, but it's so cold it will freeze quickly and not get eaten. Dry food will keep the strays alive for the time being. I'm also not putting water out as that will just freeze into a solid block of ice.

My plan for today was going to be a trip to the grocery store and rearranging the living room if the couch support is delivered. I haven't gotten an "out for delivery" notification yet. I think I will hold off until Friday on the grocery store. I am not in urgent need of anything. I can live without veggies and fruit. I have a big can of pineapple and I have cheese and yogurt that I can have as a power fuel with crackers. I have a giant bag of carrots, that I'm now roasting. I also have a bag of green beans. Friday is going to be snow free and the warmest day of the week, with a high of a whopping 26 degrees to it'll be the best day to venture out. I say that but I really want to get out today. I haven't been out since New Year's Day ! The only reason I was out that day was because I'd left my phone at Kim & Joe's. 

Well, shortly after 11 I decided to get dressed and go take a look at the driveway. I swapped out the garage door opener and then grabbed my shovel. I started about 11:26 and finished at noon ! 34 minutes to shovel the entire driveway, including the heavy stuff at the bottom which was (thankfully) not too deep. The driveway is plenty wide enough to get the car out safely so I may go to the store a little later. I always worry about the house side of the driveway because I don't like to angle the wheel too soon and scrape the side of the garage opening. If I go off the driveway in the snow I could get stuck. It's happened before ! My garage is a bit narrow and it's not a straight shot on the driveway to get out. Maybe it is and I'm just too cautious and causing my own issues !

I was huffing and puffing when I came inside and really wanted to sit down immediately, but I had to cover the pan of carrots and turn off the oven. Thankfully I already had a yogurt sitting here, as I really needed some calories in a hurry. It's about 12:15 and I'm fine now. My feet are cold but other than that I am fine. I'm going to have lunch in a bit and then venture out to Walmart. My Amazon order isn't "out for delivery" yet so I'm thinking it may not come today. That's ok, I'm not desperate for the couch support. I'm glad I took care of the driveway as that is my exercise for the day. I have almost 5000 steps ... lol !

Well, just before 2 pm I forced myself out the door to the grocery store. I did get into the snow next to the house a bit but I was able to maneuver myself out by just taking it slow and easy. I was back home just after 3 and the roads were perfect. Route 69 was pretty much bare but a bit wet and 81 was bare and bone dry. There was one area where snow was blowing across but it was nothing. Even so, I only went to Walmart and got what I needed. I bought 10 packages of veggies and 10 cans of fruit, so I'm good for a while. I also bought milk and eggs, as I've been thinking about making tapioca pudding again. I could also make scrambled eggs. I'm glad I went as we now have a winter weather advisory of more lake effect snow between now and Thursday morning. They're saying 6-10 inches but that can vary widely depending on where it sets up over Lake Ontario. It could be above me or below me ... or right on top of me ! Regardless, I have all the food I need now. I also have plenty for the cats. When I got home I shoveled the house side of the driveway where I could see the car wheels had been. I ended up pretty much widening that entire side another couple of feet. If nothing else it's a guide for Doug and space for more snow ! I shoveled in front of the side door too as I didn't do that this morning. I got a notification that my Amazon order is 10 or less stops away, so my couch support will be here soon. I'm excited to give that a try !

I didn't do too bad at Walmart. I did buy a 2 piece chicken tenders and a small serving of potato wedges to bring home. I debated 2 pieces of chicken vs 4 and I'm glad I went with 2. It was plenty ! I was hungry even though I had lunch before I went out, and that is why I was prowling the bakery and prepared foods. Yet again, I didn't have my protein shake ! This item is key to staving off hunger ! I ate the chicken after I put everything away and I'll have a few of the wedges with my dinner. I do not plan to eat them all in one sitting ! I also looked for cherry pie and there was none. I guess that was a good thing. I ended up buying a 4 pack of chocolate chip muffins. A half a muffin can be a good in between treat without delivering an enormous amount of calories. I didn't buy any other non-compliant food. Before I even ate the chicken I burned off a bunch of calories shoveling snow ! As I write this I'm enjoying a nice cold Diet Coke. I'm glad the driveway is clear and that I forced myself to go to the store. Funny story .. I was stuck behind a plow, a school bus and another car from Mexico to Route 11. The plow and bus turned off at Route 11 and the car veered off before the railroad tracks. At that point I noticed I had a sheriff right behind me. Oh great. Speed limit is 30 through Parish so I made sure to put the cruise control on for that ! I'm sure the sheriff would have liked to go faster, but tough luck ! As I was getting on 81 another sheriff was getting off. What are the odds !?!?! The sheriff behind me didn't get on 81, so that was the end of that. I tend to keep it under 40 in Paris but I rarely go 30. Most people speed through there since they have no police force, just like Mexico. You never know when the State Police or the Sheriff's are going to set up a speed trap, so I try to be reasonable with my speed.

I'm going 1 more day with my Christmas lights, since I didn't take them down today. I will do that tomorrow. I do love the glow ! My Amazon package was delivered at 3:58 by a dude in a regular car. Never seen that before !

When I read through this blog I gain a little insight on how my mind works. Earlier today I said I was staying in and holding off on the grocery store until Friday .. only to push myself to do it today. Sometimes I go back and forth on things that scare me a little and very often I do not push myself. Today I did, and that's a win for me. I was scared to get the car out of the garage and I was scared of what the road conditions might be. Since I went out and shoveled, I could see that my street was in pretty good shape. The main roads and the highway are always in better shape, so I was able to overcome that fear. I also told myself if I took it slow and easy I'd be able to get the car out .. and I did ! Once I did that it gave me a guide to where I needed to shovel a bit more and that is done too. Point is, I feel better about the next time I decide to go out ! Hopefully Doug will see my margins and clear the driveway wider next time. He's done a great job and I'm so happy to have him again.

It's 4:30 now and my plan for the rest of the day is to watch YouTube and play Cookie Jam. I did my shopping and took care of the driveway and I'm tired. My back is a little sore even though I took 2 Tylenol with my lunch because my knee was bothering me. Despite all the shoveling I've done over the past few days my back is in good shape ! I try to push as much snow as I can and make sure to bend my knees and NOT twist at the same time ! I'm cold right now and might just put on my nightgown and snuggle on the couch with a blanket. The cold soda doesn't help, but I'm about done with that and have a hot cup of vanilla caramel chai tea waiting for me ! I bought a couple boxes of tea at Walmart but they didn't have the Tazo varieties that I got for Christmas. I suspect those came from Target, so I may take a trip there soon ! The wind is continuing to blow and the wind chill is likely what's keeping the stray cats away. I've checked multiple times today and no one was waiting for food. I can see little paw prints so I know somebody is coming for dry food. I see trails in the yard too. It's just so cold they can't sit outside the door waiting for me. I just hope they're all safe and warm.

Since I restarted Nutrisystem on Saturday I've noticed less abdominal bloating and gas. I'm starting to think all the carbs I was eating were contributing to some of my digestive issues. It may also help that I'm getting more fiber by eating fruits and veggies. Whatever it is, I'm glad I'm continuing to feel better ! To that end, I threw away the carrots I roasted today. The "best by" date on the bag was 11-24 and some of them were starting to rot and get slimy. I picked those out before I roasted them, but I decided it's not worth getting sick to avoid throwing away a $3 bag of carrots. I bought two fresh bags at Walmart and will roast some carrots tomorrow. I also got 2 nice heads of lettuce at Walmart so I can start having salad with my lunch again. It's 5:02 and it's not completely dark yet. Nice to see more daylight each day but I can't wait to see the SUN again. Judging from the forecast, it's going to be a while !

I ended up opening the couch support and putting that in place. It works so good ! I haven't sat at the end with the chaise yet but I don't expect that end to change since it's supported with a board. When I move the couch I may pull the board out and see if the chaise end is more comfortable without it. I'm glad I bought it !

I'm going to finalize this blog now and call it a day. I'm enjoying a cup of chamomile tea and even though it's only 8 pm I'm winding down my day and will head to bed soon. My back is a little sore but I'm sure it'll be better after a good night's sleep. I can always take Tylenol in the morning if I need it. I overstepped my calories today but I also got some good exercise shoveling, so I'm ok with it. However, this will NOT be a regular occurrence. Truth is, I was a bit stressed about the snow, being low on veggies & fruit, getting the car out of the garage and the state of the roads. That is all behind me now so I will be back on track tomorrow. The potato wedges will be gone tomorrow and the muffins will be my evening snack for the next 3 days. It's all about compromises. There is a strong possibility the snow will keep me from going to rock & roll bingo tomorrow. I'll have to see what conditions look like at midday. Fingers crossed !