Coaches/Buddies:
Today was a good day.
I weighed in
I read my Advantages
I did planned exercise
I did spontaneous exercise
I tracked my food
I ate slowly and mindfully while sitting down

More tomorrow

Diet Coaches/Buddies - It continues to rain here and I continue to wet-vac the basement - CREDIT moi since that's what needs to be done. Should the rain ever stop, we can try to patch the leaks in the walls. Exercise was keeping the water from doing damage in my basement (did I already mention that?). I took the No-Easter-Candy pledge over in the Maintainers Forum. All that candy everywhere continues to bug me.

Kim (bennyhannamama) - Hello dancing broccoli representing "a good day."

Susan (hikergirl) - Waving back because you are.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Your attitude about your unique Indian food demo seems right on. A sane life should recognize unique eating situations; it seems it's those every-day-unique situations (like office celebrations) serving standard food that we have to avoid as excuses to over eat.

CeeJay - Yay for savoring your week off. Yay for savoring life. Kudos for eating on plan during your unstructured days.

Beverlyjoy - Know that feeling of sitting in a favorite Lazy-Boy chair. Ours was purchased for DW to sit while nursing our now-twenty-seven year old. It's still going and still a favorite. Kudos for pulling off that long trip with its "good important family visits."

silverbirch - LOL at my response to "and my posture is improving" - since I have a sub-conscious notion that you have impeccable posture, standing straight up like a dancer. Neat idea to have your BlackBerry prompt you to read your advantages.

Readers -

Particularly funny, Bill, as I am wearing what I call my 'principal boy outfit' today which really encourages good posture!!

to you all.

Diet coaches
Well it is all over - weird feeling. Treatment started last July and now it's done. Astonishing.

Tomorrow I start a weeks leave and planning for diet type (might change) and menus and shopping and getting back on track. I have had really long days this week so just wanted to check in to remember what my goals and who will help me get there

Cheryl

Day 14: Plan for Tomorrow
I'm going to write my food plan in the morning, but I read the chapter today since I plan to start tomorrow -- April 1st (no foolin'). I scribbled some ideas last night. The DASH Diet presents some challenges. 4 Fruits! There's plenty of protein, but an emphasis on a variety of sources. So, if I eat meat at night, I'll want a vegetarian lunch and vice versa. I can still have my afternoon snack of nuts, but not on the days that I eat tempeh for breakfast or supper because nuts and legumes are in the same food group. There's more dairy than I normally eat, so that will also be an adjustment.

Today's pre-diet challenge is two meals out. And, I'm not really interested in blowing it just because I'm starting a new diet tomorrow. I've been eating well for months, so this is not an occasion to do anything else. I'll aim for lots of veggies and leave or take home part of the entree.

WI: -0.85kg, Exercise: +95, 1815/1550 minutes for March, Food: 99% on, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

Yay, seadwaters! At the cancer wellness fair I went to early in the month, one of the speakers said she didn't like the term cancer survivor since it only emphasizes living through it -- she used the term "cancer thriver." I love your plans for your week off -- definitely thriving!

I was having trouble posting yesterday, but I’ve had two days mostly on plan. There was a restaurant incident Monday night that didn’t go that well, but I’m cutting myself some slack. Our power went out while we were making dinner and so we drove the 45 minutes into town for dinner. I was starving by the time we got into town and couldn’t ignore the chips and salsa while we were waiting for our food.

We have had two days of miserable wind. I’m used to windy weather, but this was rocks-in-your-pocket windy. I tried to get out for a run on Mon., since I hadn’t been running in a while, but I was getting sand blasted and turned back. I finished by jumping rope. Yesterday I did some jump rope and some yoga for exercise. We’re looking at a storm blowing in, so I see a jump rope in my future.

Gardenerjoy, yay for a message! I’m so impressed that you’re keeping up your exercise (105 minutes!) even after passing your March goal. The Indian street food would have been so dangerous for me, but it sounds like you handled it really well.

Hikegirl, I know all about that “good girl/bad girl” cycle. Huge kudos for committing to make the change, but yes it does take a huge amount of work. I think Beck helps us brake that cycle because we give ourselves credit for good dieting behavior and break that “diet=punishment” mentality. Instead, we reward ourselves. And when we do get off track, we just say “Oh well” and get back on the program. No catastrophe.

Bennyhannamamma, yay for that long list of credits—especially for sneaking in all that spontaneous exercise!

CeeJay, yay for time off work so you can take time and enjoy that wonderful menu you planned. My response cards are up for grabs!

BillBE, kudos for getting to the gym, especially since the weekend throws off your groove. Great job skipping a planned food because you decided you didn’t need it. Those are the in-the-moment decisions I would love to make.

SilverBirch, your organization is so impressive. It sounds like you have such a great system. I need to figure out a way to prompt myself to read my cards in the PM because I’m always a bit weaker by then.

Beverlyjoy, so glad you made it home safely and are getting back into your comfortable routine. So much easier to stay with Beck when you are more in control of your environment. That’s a great, long list of credits!

Seadwaters, yay for being done with treatments. Your weeks leave should give you some much needed recovery time and I hope you’re having pleasant fall weather to enjoy.

That time has just rolled round here and I'm feeling a bit weak myself. Your post came in at just the right time. Thank you. Off to read the cards!

But before I do that ...

Thank you for your kind words. I am quite an organised person but Life often gets in the way. At present, for example, I am having a big tussle with myself about going to my mother's at Easter. Yesterday was the second anniversary of my father's death. I spent a lot of time there before and after he died and was very involved in it all. I do not want to go this Easter as I'd like to have a bit of emotional time off but, for a number of reasons, I have to go. Tussle, tussle. Off-plan eating. Tussle, tussle. I think I am now back on track. My body rebels by giving me terrible indigestion in the night when I don't eat properly and then I don't have enough sleep and you can imagine the rest ... So it's not worth it, in the long run. Or the medium run, come to that.

The tussling is pretty much over now. Back to being an organised and relaxed person. You've gotta rock and roll with it a bit. (Famous last words!)

Coaches/Buddies:
In the past few days I have unintentionally completed the "Hunger Experiment". It did show me that hunger pains will pass and I constantly reminded myself that "hunger is not an emergency". My problem though is keeping myself in check once I do start eating. Luckily, I did not overeat, but I did let some important things slip-- like eating slowly and mindfully and sitting down. So, I do know that hunger is not an emergency and that I'll be okay. However, I still would like to avoid getting too hungry because I then have difficulty keeping myself in check. I truly believe eating small meals every few hours is the way to go. Keeping my blood sugar stable really seems to be key for me.

Today I have:

Weighed in
Ate slowly and mindfully while sitting down
Gave myself credit
Checked in here

Maryblu:
I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one had concerns about how together their therapist is. It's also good to be reminded that you found success regardless of his situation. Definitely weird about him not remembering how you've lost your weight (and it seems like a psychological study in itself ).

BillBlueEyes:
So, this was not the first time you wished you had a Yiddish speaking grandmother? lol

Shepherdess:
Good for you for doing weights (even though you know you won't be doing them regularly for awhile still)! I enjoy being sore after a workout because it's a reminder that I'm doing great things for myself.

Gardnerjoy:
Thanks for letting me know about your Advantages and Response cards. I still haven't changed mine, but I think I'm going to. I appreciate your perspective about having a therapist that understands what it's like to deal with weight issues. I had thought about that and it definitely has it's advantages.

Hikergirl:
I hope you have a wonderful day! I think committing to checking in here and weighing daily is awesome. Keep up with that and you will be ready to move forward soon. I appreciate your thoughts and experiences with the whole "good girl- bad girl" cycle and it has given me more to think about.

Ceejay:
Yep, speed-reading is my concern about my Advantages. Yeah for hanging out at home and relaxing!

Silverbirch:
I've been using my Blackberry to help me with this program too! I read my full list of Advantages first thing in the morning and then I read a few right before I eat each meal. (I also have them on my BB which means I always have them with me.) I have also felt the need to "engage" with them to make them more meaningful. I may start writing about one advantage a day as part of my post. Thanks for sharing what you've been doing, it's really helpful to hear.

Beverlyjoy:
So glad to hear you enjoyed your time with your grandson-- so much fun! Your storytelling with puppets sounds like fun-- how can I get you to come to my kids' schools? Enjoy being home and getting back into the normalcy.

seadwaters:
I can't imagine all the different emotions you must be experiencing. Your plan for planning sounds great. I hope having things back to "normal" is wonderful for you.

Hello all. Just reading through the posts and enjoying them (thoroughly!). A big wave to you all.

Thank you Bennyhann... for the birthday wishes.

Susan

Hi coaches, buddies, friends....

Yesterday was a good day...I am grateful. It was nice to be home. I found that at the end of the day I was way low on my calories. So I ate some dark chocolate - benenfits of dark chocolate were all over the news yesterday. I suppose I could have had fruit - but, chose chocolate. My pieces and parts are holding up - grateful for that, too.

Today I have been running my mom around to her appointments and still trying to catch up. The most important thing to do now is work on my taxes and the silent auction/fundraiser for our literacy project.

Yesterday I cooked a spaghetti squash. I'd forgotten how good it is with all kind of things. I whole cup is about 40 calories. I've frozen several one cup servings, too. Isn't it funny to get excited about a veggie.

credits
wrote down my gratitudes
ate seated, no seconds - all the time
fork down between bites - most of the time
plan food - logged food
feel fullness - some of the time
left a bite of meals and snacks
read arc/rc - one time
said oh well and no choice a couple times during the day
stretches and strengthening

oops
no spontaneous exercise
no beck book
not enough water
changed my plan

hikergirl - HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you!!! Hope you had a great day. Glad you posted.

bennyhm- good for you getting done with the hunger experiment. Ya know it seems almost silly - but, it's amazing how it can help when you might have to postpone a meal or eat much later. Hooray for the smiling brocolli's.

silverbirch - I understand how it can be hard going home for Easter - for your many reasons. It's hard after the loss of a loved one. Plus - the food. I am glad to hear you are feeling less tussled and back to being organized again. Yay.

shepardess - goodness - you have had quite a time with weather and it's impact. The chips and salsa incident is over...and just move on. Plus - it didn't cause a full blown binge which is good. Kudo's for finding exercise elsewhere after being blasted by the strong wind.

gardenjoy - sounds like you've got a good approach to your plan and planning your plan. Good for you for not planning to 'go crazy' before you start your dash plan. I read somewhere that bingeing before starting a new plan is like going on a trip with extra luggage.

seadwaters - hoooorayyy!!!! so glad your treatments are over. I like that you are taking some time for yourself - with plans to concentrate on yourself too.

billbe - so sorry it's still raining in your part of the world! I hope it doesn't do too much damage. The 'wrong' kind of exercise to have to do, of course. You are so right....so much easter candy. Worst of all...next week it will all my half price. Hang in there!

Ceejay - I hope you are enjoying your week off! I love that you and dh get to take walks together.

Shout out to everyone who stops by.

Hello!!

bennyhannahmama-very nice list of credits for Tuesday and today!

BillBlueEyes-hurray for the No-Easter-Candy pledge. I am not planning to eat any this year either.

seadwaters- Treatments are done!!!.

gardenerjoy-I think April 1st is the perfect day to start!

Shepherdess-yay for 2 days mostly on plan. It is really windy here too. I was hoping while I was off work this week to have a few fires in the fire pit but is definitely not safe to burn.

silverbirch-kuddos for being back on track. My body also now punishes me pretty badly for overeating. I think it is a good thing to remind myself how it can be if I am not careful.

hikergirl-waving back to you and saying happy birthday.

Beverlyjoy-I love spaghetti squash too. Good for you for putting some in the freezer so you can easily eat healthy. Nice list of credits.

For me- after posting about the good day yesterday I ate off plan last night. I was really hungry and instead of eating a healthy evening snack, I ate a bunch of toast with jam. At least the bread was whole wheat and I didn't use butter. LOL. At least it was not chips and dip....

So today was fine- egg whites for breakfast, yogurt and berries for snack, salad and homemade chicken soup for lunch, orange for snack and will be having fish and roasted sweet potatoes and veggies for dinner. Snack will NOT be jam and toast.

Credit today for:

weighing in
walking 35 minutes
reading advantage and response cards
eating on plan so far
planning tomorrow
posting here
eating slowly and mindfully

This discussion continues on

Beck Diet For Life/Solution – April 2010 – Support, Discussion, Buddy/Coach