patchworkpenguin- Lots of steps yesterday. And lots more credit for your long list. I know what you mean about reading Beck and not thinking everything is sinking in. Me too. I think you are wise to consolidate what you are doing and then read on. I am rereading parts of the book and am not able to focus on it all at once, so am doing some things now and then will do more when I have less trouble with what is in front of me.
BillBlueEyes- credit for avoiding vending machines. Nasty places!!!
ChinaMaine-glad you were able to get out and walk. Thanks for the hotel tips. I am going to have to have a very good plan to manage next week and alot of saying NO CHOICE.
LOL re your comments about office memos on paper. I remember when we had no voice mail, no fax machines, no computers and no cell phones. Honestly, are these things making our jobs easier? I am not entirely sure they are.
gardenerjoy- sorry about your MIL.
bennyhannahmama-sorry to hear about you feeling depressed. Maybe a change of therapist is going to work out well for you.
onebyone- wishing the best for you at the art class. What a challenge. Be sure to let us know how it went. Also YAY for -1.6!!!!!!!!!
Beach Patrol- Am really interested to see how your 400 calorie fix goes. Sounds like a pretty good eating plan.
wndranne-sending good vibes to you working on the "I don't want to's"
For me, Day Four of my seven day challenge is just about completed and I am on track. More than half way there. I am so happy about that.
Credit:
weighing in
walking 30 minutes today
doing weights
posting
reading advantages and response cards
eating on plan
and here is a first: At work it was a co-worker's birthday. So at break time out comes the %#$* chocolate cake. Someone hands me a paper plate with a piece of cake. I thought "NO way"!! Then I thought, "well just a taste won't hurt" and I ate one fork full. I then thought I am totally sabotaging my efforts, I don't need this and so I secretly put the cake in the garbage. I do believe that is the first time in 48 years I have done such a thing. LOL.
Hi All,
A quick check-in tonight. Tracked food, credit. On target for calories, credit. 6000+ steps and Zumba, credit. Managed to leave a bit of bread from my awesome Vietnamese hoagie on my plate. Stayed away from the snack table for most of the evening at a meeting tonight, credit. Dh gave me two slices of bread with dinner, and I only ate one. He made another new dish--scrambled eggs with fried onions, toasted walnuts and rice wine vinegar--sounded odd on paper but was really good. Eating at home really saves me calories, even when it's something delicious!
I am posting to introduce myself - I am new to the Beck plan and am in the first pre-diet week. I am at the day where you find a coach and I decided I didn't want to a face-to-face coach, probably for all the wrong reasons!
I have prepared my advantage card and some relevant response cards and am working on not eating standing up and not mindlessly swallowing my food. I didn't think I actually ate standing up so it was a bit surprising.
It has been interesting reading your postings and it will be inspiring to see how you all approach this - so thanks for the opportunity for support. I am looking forward to getting into this and am trying to lay a good foundation
Shepardess: Kudos for resisting chocolate that evening (1/7/10). I used to go by the T-shirt motto “Give me the chocolate and no one will get hurt.” Talk about your cognitive malfunction. Going cold turkey was easier than struggling daily. I still find myself errantly thinking “oh, its too late in the day for coffee, I’ll have a hot chocolate” and having to say, “wait a minute—hot chocolate has chocolate! NO CHOICE”. I’ve saved so much money, time, and self-recrimination since I kicked. I’m scared to carry it on me now, for fear one of my animal shclter dogs might grab it from my pocket and eat it and get very sick. So that’s another excuse for NO CHOICE that works for me! Having it melt or crush inside the purse is another hassle with carrying that stuff around! You know what I’m talking about, BECKladies? ☺
Penguin: I love that you are enjoying feeling thinner. I am not a fan of Mr. Scale as you may recall. I was one of those people who could gain 5 lbs on Mr Scale overnight but HE was very SLOW registering loss: I never lost 5 lbs overnight. That was back in the day--at my age I probably have less monthly weight fluctuation. But still, Mr Scale burned me a few too many times. I’ll probably not get on him again for a few years and only when I trust that I won’t care what my weight is in lb or kg! I have my ways of judging my weight loss success (got saddlebags, anyone?) 1/8/10: Thanks for “I weighed 130 and was a size 7. Today I weigh 130 and I'm a size 2.” That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
Onebyone: inspirational success story about planning and succeeding in a difficult situation. Preparation is very valuable for us chronic dieters! You nurtured yourself in advance so you didn’t need the school to do it! “also: I can be stuffing my face or facing my stuff“ IS A KEEPER! Thank you!!!!! Please keep it up with the soap box slogans! That’s what keeps us newbies coming back!
Gardenerjoy: “Two solutions: be extra careful when I try new bread recipes and eat it sitting down, for pete's sake.” Two kudos: one for coming back with solutions right away instead of self-recrimination, and two, for the adorable addendum—maybe a little self-recriminating, but disarming! Why is sitting down for bread so hard for us? It is my one standing up food too--I have to remember to put it on a plate first, even if I’m not putting any spread on it!
BillBE: Thanks for the ”used to buy two at a time to save a trip to the vending machines later.” Reminds me of when I quit smoking and was able to say “I don’t do that anymore.” The trip to the vending machine was a habit for me back in the day. I LIVED on vending machine candy during my college years. Ugh! Still repulses me when I realize how little I took care of my body in those days and how it left me with chronic illness later on. Anyway, here’s a thought: if one doesn’t own the vending machines, k’a ch’ing, one can hardly profit from using them. Also, nice planning for an alternative to help curb cravings at work (packing banana) and putting the extras back. It’s these little decisions, made daily, that add up to long term success, no?
ChinaMaine: I appreciate your experiences with Eating till Satisfaction vs Eating till Full. I must have been cuing off your posts when I suddenly became aware of that distinction whilst eating at (name of establishment withheld, see bad news below), with its ginormous portions of food. I consciously ate past satisfaction (that happened at about 2 bites) but DID stop before I was full. And then compensated the next 24 hours with a simpler streamlined meal plan. Eating past satisfaction seems to result, for me, in having to go through that unpleasant phenomenon known as stomach shrinking: that gurgly tight twisting sensation that goes away in a few minutes about 12 hours after overindulging. It’s so much better not to have to go through that over and over again!
SpaceCadet: Skane, is this the root of the word Scandinavia, perchance? Looks nice in google search. Castles! Gardens! Golf! Kenneth Branaugh. I Like!
Nux: “but I'm listening to a mindfulness meditation cd from Jon Kabat-Zinn's book on mindfulness as a way to deal with depression and that is helping.” Kudos for your Day8 work: creating time and energy for your emotional growth! I have the same book and tape and I love it. My advantages card starts “It’s Already Here, Let me Feel It” from the same CD (breathing track, I think). For some reason, recalling those words really opens me up to shift my vision!
For me: It was Interim reward day, and I took son SKIING. Pennsylvania Powder and lots of it—snowed all day. What a joy! We took leftovers from dinner the night before and the Ski Grill reheated for us midday—after lessons and before we hit the big slopes. Saved a bit of money that way. Feeling satisfaction, very happy! Chilled maybe, but happy! I will do this again in a fortnight as an interim reward to look forward to.
Anyone else having a spiritual awakening with weight loss? I’m amazed at how my advantages card is morphing from physical advantages to spiritual ones: like being able to sit through discomfort, and seeking truth, and connecting to childhood. I wasn’t expecting this! “ Tolerate occasional hunger and cravings and learn that you can withstand them-- Beck Day14” has become for me: Tolerate occasional hunger and cravings and in flexing resistance muscle, re-call your higher ideals!
OMG My Bad news : I did take my son to an expensive restaurant two days ago because he is sick of my favorite coffee/panini shop. The expensive house is a well known chain that serves huge amounts and has been very secretive about calorie counts. They certainly have no postings in the menu or restaurant itself. I just looked up the nutritional info for that restaurant (the sites said “Finally, the nutritional info”) and my meal was a whooping 3000 calories! I had accounted for only 2000 over the dining experience and left overs. OUCH OUCH OUCH. No wonder I feel too full to eat these days. I’m still stuffed! Never again will I go to that restaurant! Who can afford a $47 cheesecake these days anyway? To solve the caloric dilemma, I added the extra 500 to today’s calorie count and 500 to tomottoed, and will eat to satisfaction with low calorie food the rest of the day. But kudos moi for day8 credit: I did take the extra time to research the nutritional info for that meal and I resolve to pass on future seating at that place (double kudos gardenerjoy)! Greedy, secretive management=difficult weight management for customers. Not that anyone forced me to eat there, but still. A purposely uneducated consumer can be a fat consumer! Memo to self: Run to nearest exit if the establishment won’t reveal nutritional info!
Credit
-.4lbs
read ARC twice
exercised twice~ 40 min cardio then later 30 min LB work ~ felt guilty for missing yesterday
forgot to reset ped so I have a two day total ~ 9870
Not so Much
unplanned evening snack
ate off-plan and unhealthy foods at lunch
got really hungry during workout {direct result of lunch choices I feel} so scarfed a protein bar, but skipped afternnoon snack
staying up too late and not getting enough sleep!
Seadwaters, Glad to have you join us! It sounds like you are all ready to start!
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Off to work early this morning; my new crunch deadline is next Tuesday when I present the stuff I'm doing for review. It is kinda fun to play with the toys of sharing a computer screen with people in different cities. Getting hard to find a locker at the gym; the new years resolution crowd has arrived, LOL. Eating and gym were on-plan; CREDIT moi and CREDIT moi.
onebyone - Yay for "first ever art class as the teacher," with Kudos for getting your prep done. Congrats to your DH for having a Feb 1st start date in his new job; good to hear that you aren't moving to London for at least six months - that'll give you time to learn the language, LOL.
Anne (wndranne) - My best recollection about dealing with the stubbornness of a two-year-old was that I wasn't terribly successful, LOL. But that tomorrow always came anyway and the beautiful person reemerged. Good luck to you.
ChinaMaine - Yay for "felt great yesterday." LOL at you becoming so high tech that you're using GPS to measure your walking speed. I'm jealous. In my first year of working, the daily status/direction memo was on DITTO paper! I loved the smell; it reminded me of grade school, LOL. Thanks for the "facing in the right direction" quote - I wish the obvious would sink into my brain more readily.
Kim (bennyhannamama) - Yay for a little exercise to fight a funk. Ouch for unexpected changes, but Kudos for seeing the positive side of it. And Yay for reading your Advantages so that you could report it; now that's earning our keep as Coaches/Buddies, LOL.
Margaret (Nuxmaga) - Drooling over your DH's cooking. What's a "Vietnamese hoagie?"
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Sending supportive thoughts for your MIL's health. It's a challenge to remember to take care of yourself when you need to support your DH and MIL.
Beach Patrol - Wishing you good luck with your diet switch; sometimes change is just what we need. From here, it's hard to send condolences for your cold, but I agree with the sentiment posted - a few more layers and your body can handle it, LOL.
Ruth (Ruthxxx) - If memory serves me, it's your birthday. Happy 39th!!! May you get in a walk in the sunshine one minute for every year.
CeeJay - Terrific story of one forkful of chocolate cake; I've only done that if I took the forkful from my DW's plate - gotta try to follow your lead and do it on my own plate. Kudos for staying the course on your quest for seven days at 100%.
midlifecrisis57 - Kudos for the exercise of a "SKIING" trip over Pennsylvania powder. And Ouch for 3000 calories from the-restaurant-that-will-not-be-named. Powerful insight that "my advantages card is morphing from physical advantages to spiritual ones." I've experienced something similar, but never expressed it so tersely.
Thanks for the "k’a ch’ing" reminder about the vending machines; my frugal-muscle can always be counted on when my resistance-muscle is fatigued, LOL.
Penguin (patchworkpenguin) - Neat to pause and consolidate all the changes you're making. And Yep, Double Kudos for two workouts (apparently it's double workout day on the Beck thread, LOL). Interesting that you figured out that your excess hunger during your workout was due to lunch choices. For me, this sticking to our plan business includes making sure that I haven't short-changed myself - because my brain will remember and want to compensate double later.
katiekonie - Double Kudos for doing yoga after an hour of gym; wish I'd get myself back into yoga. Yep, Kudos for giving yourself credit for catching yourself eating standing up; the first step is to see it since it's pretty common to read that chapter in Beck and think it must apply to someone else, LOL.
seadwaters - Kudos for charging right into this. Those chapters before the diet start are the very best. Wallow about in them; it's good stuff there. It'll be neat to have the prospective from Sydney in the forum. And welcome to the group of us who were surprised to find that we ate standing up; I didn't think that I did that, until I caught myself quite a few times.
Readers -
Quote:
day 15 Monitor Your Eating
. . . Give yourself credit every single time you stick to your plan. Say to yourself, That's good! I ate what I was supposed to, and I'm taking the time to check it off. . . .
Good morning and thanks for the BD wishes. Sometimes I just can't believe how old I am - I feel about 12 some days.
Today's challenge is a trip to town for a haircut which is right within sniffing distance of the Chinese Buffet. And it'll be lunchtime when I get out of the salon. Tempt me not, Satan. I am taking along my planned lunch. I hate eating in the car but.... Dinner tonight is at my friend Claire's house and I know the food will be healthy. Her grandson is making me a cake but I will have one forkful (fork-empty?) and tell him I'm taking the rest home for tomorrow.
WI-no weigh-in. Read my cards, made a plan. Food – on-plan; Exercise – -plan (20 minutes).
I made a walking playlist for my new iPod and used it for the first time yesterday. It made my walk a lot more fun. Although it was bright sunny day yesterday, so it wourld have been fun anyway…
The Good
- Throughout the day, I identified satisfaction vs fullness while eating, and I stopped eating when satisfied – oh yeah!
- Throughout the day, I identified hunger vs non-hunger before I ate – done!
- Give credit throughout the day for every positive eating behavior – yippee!
- Eat mindfully, enjoying every bite –credit!
- I posted here – yep!
- I read Day 5 in the pink book – credit!
- Used resistance techniques – credit!
- Tolerated non-hunger without eating – credit!
The Bad, and the Ugly
- Daily weigh-in – nope.
- Spontaneous exercise – nope
gardenerjoy My thoughts are with you and your family. I hope your MIL is feeling better soon.
Kim (bennyhannamama) Good luck finding a new therapist. And I hope you start feeling better soon.
Penguin (patchworkpenguin) Bravo for recognizing you need to take some time on what you’ve learned so far! When I first started on Beck, I took a break from reading several times so I could become consistent with the skills I had already learned. I hope it works as well for you, as it did for me. And credit for 70 mins of exercise!
one by one Congrats to your DH on his verbal job offer! This is bound to relieve a lot of stress for both of you. Kudos for how well you’ve done with food with all the stress and changes to your routine in the last week!
Beach Patrol Kudos for workout in spite of the cold. It looks like warmer air is coming your way, so you’ll be able to head outside soon…
Anne Here’s too you rediscovering why you actually do ‘want to’ soon.
CeeJay :congrats: for victory over chocolate cake and food pushers! May you repeat this over, and over, and over again. Kudos for getting past hump day in your week of being strict.
Nuxmaga Sounds like you had great day yesterday. And your dinner sounds so yummy!
seadwaters We’re here to support you. Sounds like you are laying a good foundation…
midlifecrisis omg - what a distressing story about your recent restaurant experience – 3000 calories! I too feel better when I eat to satisfaction, but not fullness. And it still amazes how many fewer calories I eat most days just with this one behavior change. Even better, it’s a skill I should be able to maintain for the rest of my life.
katiekonie Credit for 80 minutes of exercise – and for being aware of when you were eating standing up!
Bill I had forgotten the smell of ditto paper! And the paper had a distinctive feel to it to. I have to admit I’m totally infatuated with seeing my walking speed on my newfangled HRM.
Ruthxxx Happy Birthday! I love your plan for the birthday cake, I have to remember that one!
Coaches/Buddies:
I'm at work, don't feel like doing anymore work and feel hungry. Thought about having a Tootsie Roll or two (I'm an audiologist and one of the hearing aid manufacturer's sends 2 Tootsie Roll Midgees with each hearing aid order- I checked in hearing aids today for a total of 6 Tootsie Rolls!) I could have 1 or 2 and it wouldn't be a big deal (so I've told myself) but, I realized that it's not necessary and it would be a perfect time for me to flex my resistance muscle-- so I did!
I also figured coming to post here now would be a good distraction.
Today so far:
Weigh-In: yes 0= 128.5
Exercise: yes 20 minutes on the elliptical before work this morning
Ate mindfully: yes
Tracked my food: yes
Checked in here: yes
Gave myself credit: yes
Read Advantages and Response cards: yes
My next patient is here, so I don't have time for personals right now. Hope everyone is having a good day!
Last edited by bennyhannahmama; 01-14-2010 at 03:55 PM.
Reason: Needed to add a bullet!
seadwaters- hello to you in Australia and welcome!!
midlifecrisis57- your skiing day sounds wonderful. Ouch for the 3000 calorie dinner- I am sure we would be surprised at the calorie count of a lot of restaurant food.
katiekonie- about the reminders to eat slow--- I am still struggling with that- when I sit and just eat it feels so unnatural to me and I just want to hurry up. Hard time with that one.
patchworkpenguin-good going on the exercise yesterday!!!
BillBlueEyes- Happy Birthday to you!!!
Ruthxxx-Chinese Buffet is where Satan lives. LOL.
ChinaMaine- you are doing so well on the things I am struggling to do- identifying satisfaction, stopping when satisfied, identifying hunger vs non hunger, and eating mindfully. Do you have any tips to share in accomplishing these things? I just keep forgetting....
bennyhannahmama-yay for resisting the candy at work.
For me: DAY FIVE done!!! And much to my amazement, I am still on plan.
Today was a good day. Not even feeling like eating off plan.
Credit today for:
Eating on plan
Planning tomorrow and packing lunch
30 minute walk with DH
weighing in
reading cards
posting here!!
Credit
-1lb
Finally, I started a baby quilt I've been putting off for months...baby due soon!
Ate on plan
read ARC twice
ate mindfully
sitting at table
wore ped 5,241
Not So Much
No exercise
had small servings of seconds for dinner
Ate to stuffed for lunch
three servings of dessert {Choc Cheerios Marshmellow squares}
BHMama, Good job resistng the Tootsie Rolls. cute of the company, however.
ChinaMaine, I didn't realize I'd exercised for 70 min until you wrote it out, LOL. My 'goal' is an hour a day. I've done a few shorter workouts twice a day recently and like that approach very well. I don't feel overworked, I get variety, and I don't dread the longer workouts.
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Continuing the work crunch, but continuing to avoid the vending machines, CREDIT moi. The food pusher was at yesterday's meeting with his usual half gallon container of candies that I regularly ignore, but, this time it included a bag of dark chocolate covered coffee beans. My left hand, which obviously isn't following a food plan or using Beck strategies, simply reached in and grabbed five! The guy grinned an evil grin - he had finally reached his target. A coworker, who's had a heart attack and eats very carefully, finally reached in, but only took three (yes I counted as he ate them). Presumably, there was a topic to the meeting.
ChinaMaine - Next edition of Beck's books need to include the strategy "made a walking playlist for my new iPod" - Kudos.
Kim (bennyhannamama) - Bribery with Tootsie Roll Midgees should be against the law. Kudos for using your resistance muscle. Ouch that if you're successful, you will continue to receive those.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Waving. Continuing to send supportive thoughts as you support your MIL's health situation.
Ruth (Ruthxxx) - That's it! Just changing to saying "fork-empty" rather than "forkful" could save zillions of calories a year. I'm on it.
CeeJay - Yep, Five Kudos for your fifth straight day at 100%. LOL at "Chinese Buffet is where Satan lives." (It was Ruth's birthday; I was a July baby.)
Penguin (patchworkpenguin) - Neat that your quilt has a fast approaching deadline. Ouch for the eating, with Kudos for posting here and getting right back on track.
Readers -
Quote:
day 15 Monitor Your Eating
. . . Respond to sabotaging thoughts if you eat something you shouldn't. If you think, Why did I eat that? I didn't really even want it ... I'm an idiot, counter it in a helpful way, such as, Okay, I ate something I hadn't planned ... It isn't that big a deal ... I can get back on track right this minute, and it's really good that I wrote it down.
The Beck Diet Solution, pg 141.
Last edited by BillBlueEyes; 01-16-2010 at 03:44 AM.
WI-no weigh-in. Read my cards, made a plan. Food – on-plan; Exercise – on-plan (22 minutes – 3 days in a row!). Already worked just shy of 40 hrs for the week, and Friday hasn’t started. Good news? I’m not exhausted yet, so my health is definitely improving.
The Good
- Throughout the day, I identified satisfaction vs fullness while eating, and I stopped eating when satisfied – I forgot to check for satisfaction at lunch and dinner and so ate to fullness. But remembered to check for breakfast and my evening snack – partial credit
- Throughout the day, I identified hunger vs non-hunger before I ate – done!
- Give credit throughout the day for every positive eating behavior – yippee!
- Eat mindfully, enjoying every bite –credit!
- I posted here – yep!
- Used resistance techniques – credit!
- Tolerated non-hunger without eating – credit!
The Bad, and the Ugly
- Forgot to read from the pink book – oh well
- Daily weigh-in – nope – I’ve tried twice this week to do my weigh-in, but I need DH to do some tech support on my wii and he hasn’t done it yet.
- Spontaneous exercise – nope
Kim (bennyhannamama) Kudos for working your resistance muscle! I’m impressed with all your credits since you are feeling depressed. I understand how hard each of those achievements are for you now…
CeeJay I’d say try to do all of them, but focus on one or two skills at a time. I’d pick the one(s) that are easiest for you, and make them a priority. For me, I then try to break them down into small steps I can take to do a particular skill. For example, for identifying hunger vs. non-hunger: I can’t get out of my chair to get food unless I first check my hunger level. Sometimes it takes real concentration to determine if it’s hunger or a craving. Make sure you give credit in the moment when you do them, and report here whether you do them or not. I’ve been doing Beck for almost a year now, doing these skills wasn’t as easy last year – It takes practice for them to become a habit… for day 5 strictly on-plan, and especially for not even wanting to be off-plan! This is the benefit of working the resistance muscle, it gets easier and easier…
Penguin (patchworkpenguin) I didn’t know you were ‘with child’ – congrats! I too am starting to prefer shorter workouts, spread out during the day.
Bill
Quote:
My left hand, which obviously isn't following a food plan or using Beck strategies, simply reached in and grabbed five! The guy grinned an evil grin - he had finally reached his target. A coworker, who's had a heart attack and eats very carefully, finally reached in, but only took three (yes I counted as he ate them). Presumably, there was a topic to the meeting.
I love all your food stories, but ones where you describe small mis-steps with a certain befuddlement and dismay just make me laugh out loud.
Welcome seadwaters
WI-no weigh-in. Read my cards, made a plan. Food – on-plan; Exercise – -plan (20 minutes). 
Good luck finding a new therapist. And I hope you start feeling better soon.
Kudos for getting past hump day in your week of being strict.
We’re here to support you. Sounds like you are laying a good foundation…
