Category: NYC

Stress Test

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I found out some stressful news today. I have to travel to NYC for professional development. I thought it would involve a trip to Penn and an Uber to the school. Turns out, the school is an hour away from Penn, so taking the train would just add another hour to the commute! After some, vigorous texting back and forth with my friends, we decided to drive. After coming to terms with our new plan, she said: “I’m going to need lots of snacks.” So being a good friend I listened…

After buying snacks, I promptly went to Carvel with my husband and got a small Carvelite ice cream cone with chocolate sprinkles (15 points). This took me out of my healthy eating zone but it was a great cone. Stress comes and so many of us look for comfort in food.

Here is what I also did today – I completed my 45-minute training class on the Peloton. I tracked everything I ate (37 points later). I drank all my water, and I weighed and measured my portions. I prepared a healthy dinner and figured out the point values by calculating the nutritional information in the app. I ate mindfully. So, overall, I would say this was a good day on plan. Honesty is the best policy when it comes to weight loss. It requires us to be fully present in our actions pretty much all the time. If it’s worth it to me – I can make it happen.

Day One: A Clean Slate…

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We use movies to make sense of our lives sometimes. Everyone I know keeps saying how this pandemic has made it feel like the movie, Groundhog Day:

If you have not seen this one it’s pretty funny.

I must confess, if I were in touch with my healthy habits, I wish I felt like this were Groundhog Day. That would mean every day I would be connected to my healthy habits, I would be be on my way back to goal and I would be feeling in control and full of energy.

My reality is this – I’ve slipped and that morphed into a slide, and now I am on the floor staring up at the ceiling. I have written about this movie before, but now (more than ever) I think the movie that captures my narrative during this terrible time needs to be Captain Marvel:

Now is when I get back up and try again. I am only human, and I forgive my lapse and I believe I have the power to shape my experiences at least in terms of my weight loss goals moving forward. My name is Jenn, and today is my “clean slate day”, This is how I am going to start again:

  • Gain inspiration from others, I am going to attend a daily meetings
  • Write a post each day so I connect with others who understand
  • Track every meal because it works, and I can help myself
  • Checkin & and find ways to help me deal with stress
  • Start a bedtime routine to decompress and rest

I am feeling a lot of gratitude for my sister, Virginia, and my friend, Beth. They have both reached out to me and helped me in ways they probably don’t even understand. Virginia checks in and encourages me to do the things I don’t want to but I know I need to hear – weigh yourself… how are you doing on plan… Beth reached out after a meeting and let me know that it’s not just me there is struggle everywhere. Then she suggested I try other digital workshops, I did that today. Today, I attended a meeting in NYC hosted by Annie S. who was amazing. I left feeling very inspired.

As I reflect and consider what I am going to bring with me today, it is that although no one can forge my journey except me, I can connect with community to help myself get back on track. In a crazy world where everything feels out of control, I still have that power over this part of my life, my health and weight loss journey, and that helps. You help, thank you for reading.