Day 34 through 36: Winter Blues

 

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 34, 35 and 36 blogs can be found here, here, and here. Ironically one day I talked about losing FB friends because of the hateful stuff they posted about President Trump. Here we are again 5 years later and I'm doing the same thing, if I happen to see someone posting hateful stuff.

It's been a hot minute since I wrote anything. Winter and the never-ending snow is just killing me. I sit on the couch all day playing online slots and watching YouTube videos. I have zero motivation to do anything. Today is a bright sunny day so many that is part of the reason I feel more energetic. I am very seriously considering finally investing in a light therapy box. I can't go through another winter like this. Nothing "bad" is happening but I am so unmotivated and I hate that.

So let's catch up on this bright and sunny Saturday. Thursday I at least motivated myself to give the cucumber thing a try. Well, I can't say I'm a fan. In all fairness, the original did not call for red onion - it called for green onions. I also bought reduced sodium soy sauce and didn't buy/add the MSG the recipe called for. That being said, it wasn't awful. I will eat the 5 cucumbers I have left - I'm not throwing that money in the trash - but I intend to use a little less soy sauce and perhaps a bit more vinegar and salt. The good news is I can use the soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar to make hot & sour soup ! I just need to buy some mushrooms and tofu and I'm going to give that a try. I play to cut up the cucumbers & red onion and just use my normal salad dressing with some of the pickled onions, olives and feta cheese that I already have. Anyhow, I ate half a cucumber & onion Thursday and the rest yesterday. I think the biggest drawback for me is the soy sauce. I'm not a fan, so it's possible I used too much. Regardless, none of what I bought will go to waste. I may roast the garlic and some onion with the carrots I bought. I got a load of laundry done but now I can't remember if that was Thursday or Friday .. lol ! I guess all that matters is I did it ! I also spent some time cleaning litter boxes and cleaning up the laundry room in general. One thing that is going well is keeping the kitchen sink, counter & stove clean ! Moving the cat food prep to the laundry room is working well too, and that area is sparkling as well. Speaking of cats, mama grey tabby has been coming for canned food every morning and today she had her black cat friend with her. I'm going to assume it's the kitten that used to come every day .. only he/she is not a kitten anymore ! The back porch has so much snow piled in front of it. One of these days I'd like to get out there with the shovel and try to move some of it. It's not hurting anything but they say there is plenty more snow coming ! I hope my siding is ok as there is a ton of snow piled up against it all the way around ! I actually looked out on the lawn side of the house and there is a gap between the snow pile and the house. I'm guessing the roof overhang and heat loss keeps that little area clear. It could also be the sun warming that side of the house that keeps a gap. I'll have to look out the other side tomorrow and see if there is a similar gap. There is no snow piled around the garage - it's all on the roof ! All in all, Thursday and Friday were unremarkable days. I ate mostly per Nutrisystem because I don't really have anything else to eat .. lol !

I'll give this news a paragraph of it's own. Wednesday I went upstairs to take a shower and had finally had enough of my long straggly hair. I took the scissors and lopped off a good 8 inches ! I clipped a bit more yesterday and some ends today and the result is hair that is just below my shoulders. It feels amazing ! Stupid as it sounds, part of the reason I haven't been showering every day is because I don't to deal with my hair. When I washed it I had to spend forever combing it out and so much hair was snapping off. I had a pile of hair every time I washed it. With it shorter it's so much easier. I showered today and gave it a quick wash and it took 2 minutes to comb it out with little hair in the comb. Eventually I'll get to a salon and have a professional trim, but I'm good for now. I'd also like to have Michelle color it soon. She wouldn't do it with my hair long but I didn't cut it for that reason. It was too long and I couldn't do anything with it. It even bugged me when I was in bed ! I feel so good about this decision. 

So here we to the current day, Saturday February 8. As I've mentioned before, weekends don't have the same meaning anymore as every day is the weekend when you're unemployed. I can't really say I'm "retired" until my unemployment runs out and I start collecting social security and my pension. I was awake about 8 today after a late night with the online slots. It's 12:02 now and I've showered, completed my skincare routine and put on clean clothes. I plan to get a spin on the treadmill in at some point today. The goal is to get that done before 5 pm ! I spent the morning playing online slots but before I jumped into the one that sucks away all my time (Jackpot World) I grabbed that shower. I did a little more trimming on my hair as I had some long pieces and I realized one side was longer than the other. I also put some styling cream in it and blow dried it, but didn't like the look. It's up in a clip now. Next time I wash it I'm going to try the curling iron. I haven't use one of those in years but I have a brand new one. I figure I'll play with my hair while Kim and Joe are gone and hopefully be able to debut a new look next time I see them ! 

Breakfast today was 160 calories waffles with sugar free syrup. I never had my yogurt or morning snack. Lunch was a 220 calorie pepperoni pizza melt. I also sliced an entire cucumber and made a "salad" with that, green olives, kalamata olives, pickled onions, feta cheese and some fat free dressing. I shook that baby up and let it marinate for a little while and it was amazing ! I found it easier to make and eat since I didn't have to cut up lettuce and celery. I tossed the celery I had as it's a few weeks old. I also have a head of lettuce I'm going to cut up tomorrow to see if any of it is good. I'll eat it if it is, otherwise it's headed for the trash ! I had my "morning snack" 155 calorie protein shake when I got on the treadmill. Dinner was 220 calorie rotini & meatballs with green beans. Evening snack was XXX. I also had 4 pretzel rods. That's close to 150 calories. 

My journey to lose weight in 2025 doesn't feel like it's actually started, because I haven't buckled down the way I need to. It helps that I have all the "bad" foods out of the house and I'm over tapioca for a while. I do have hot chocolate mix & marshmallows if I need a sweet treat, but it's been a little bit since I had any. I really need to get into a daily routine. I think part of my problem is not having any responsibilities like a job, so I just do whatever I want when I want. My routine used to be treadmill at noon and I'm going to start that again tomorrow, since we're already past noon and I'm not in the mood for it yet today. Even though I'm not working I just need to follow that routine that worked for me. Get up, have breakfast, get dressed, have my shake at noon while on the treadmill and then follow it with lunch, an afternoon snack, a round on the treadmill at 5 then dinner followed by evening snack. I can insert a shower and skin care in the morning or evening, along with teeth before bed. It's so simple. Right now I have no structure, no routine, no responsibility. I'm just drifting through time with zero purpose, even though losing weight is a major purpose that can easily take up my time ! I also want to do some cooking so that I can get off Nutrisystem. The hot & sour soup is in my future, along with chicken in garlic sauce. I just need to do some different things to occupy my time. When I do try recipes I am going with single batches, in case my attempts are not successful. I'm also going to use authentic techniques, like velveting the chicken. From what I've read you basically marinate the chicken in baking soda, which softens & tenderizes it. This is why the chicken in chinese food is so soft. You rinse off the baking soda and pat the chicken dry before using it in your stir fry. Super easy ! In reading about hot & sour soup I discovered it has egg in it. I had no idea ! The things you learn ! Before I launch myself into chinese cuisine I need to get my diet & exercise routine under control, so it might be a spring event.

I checked in on my bank account today and verified the check for my property taxes posted. All is well in the land of my bills ! I'm still waiting for my NYS tax refund but they always lag behind the Feds. I'm not desperate for the money, so it's no big deal. I've had to catch myself a couple times thinking about spending money unnecessarily. It's always tempting to throw things in the Amazon cart ! That being said, I'm not ready to give up the sugar free coffee syrups. What I am giving up is the hazelnut flavor, as I don't like it. I won't buy hazelnut flavored coffee anymore and I'm going to use the hazelnut syrup I have until it's gone. I'll put it in the unflavored coffee. To that end, I placed an order today for 6 bottles each of vanilla and salted caramel syrup. That will last me a LONG time. I also bought a jar of chili garlic sauce, which I'll need for the hot & sour soup I plan to make. It was only $83. I had a self warming pad for Minnie in my cart, but I removed it since I suspect she won't like it. She perches all over the place these days, so where would I put it ? This morning she was snoozing on the back of the couch. Some mornings I find her on the back of the chair. Other mornings she'll be on her pillow on the couch. If I thought she would use it I would gladly spend the $19 it cost. Spring is supposedly 5 weeks away, so we're hopefully on the back side of winter and this cold weather. February is always tough, so it's a matter of getting through the next 20 days and the next 20 storms .. lol ! I should laugh, we've been known to have knockout blizzards in March !

It's 12:40 now so I'm going to eat my yogurt and get lunch for me and Minnie. Soft goal is to be on the treadmill at 3 pm !

Well, I never did eat that yogurt and I didn't make it to the treadmill at 3 or 5 .. but I did get there ! It was around 5:45 when my fat a$$ finally stepped on, but all that matters is that I did ! I had some discomfort in the left side of my abdomen ... but that turned out to be gas and boy was it smelly ! I guess it's that cucumber I had for lunch ! Anyhow, the workout was 11m42s plus 6 minutes of warm up and cool down. That is 2 workouts for 2025. I started to type that it's not something to be proud of, but I stopped myself. I'm proud of myself for trying. One day I will get it right !