[gardenerjoy]

We had DH's nephew and his girlfriend, sophomores in college home for winter break, over for supper and a movie. I discovered a nice thing about entertaining -- I get to obsess about food all day (planning, shopping, prepping, cooking) and still eat completely on plan!

We're expecting 4 to 8 inches of snow tonight and ridiculously cold temperatures for a couple of days. Besides food for tonight, I got enough food that we don't have to leave the house for a week if we don't want to!

WI: +0.45kg, Exercise: +0, 235/1400 minutes for January, Food: op, Read my Advantages and Responses: no

patchworkpenguin: thanks for the witch hazel suggestion -- I would never have thought of that. But I have some, so I'll try it tonight!

BillBlueEyes: yay for yummy citrus!

Ruthxxx: kudos for walking to Book Club and keeping it at one glass of wine

ChinaMaine: what a long list of credits! Yay you!

midlifecrisis57: I've also experienced this group as helpful voice in my head -- cool, huh?

CeeJay: kudos on recognizing that overstuffed no longer feels good -- and all your credits for today!

onebyone: Oh, good job, on acknowledging all of those stressors and not letting it effect your eating! DH has been upgrading his wardrobe, so we have the Nordstrom book about Men's Style on the coffee table -- socks match the pants!

KidsLibraryLady: I have some oatmeal stuff somewhere...okay found it! It's sitting on the edge of the bath and I'll use it in a few minutes. Thanks for the reminder!
I bake all of our bread (using a bread machine for most of it). It does get easier to resist overeating when it's just a normal part of your routine. However, I always try to plan a snack for when it comes out of the machine. If I can have a hot slice or two and have it be on my food plan, that makes me happy!

[patchworkpenguin]

Credit ~
-1 lb
read ARC twice
exercised < 5 min -150 kettlebells swings- burned 62 calories.
wore ped ~ 6195 so far
took vitaman

Not So Much ~
ate off plan
off and on mindfully

I got to the sabatauging thoughts day. Started my list/card.

Joy, I hope the witchazel works for you.

LibraryLady. I'm not very good at yeast bread. it doesn't rise well in the house, and the bread gets dense. I'm much better at quick bread.

OnebyOne, basically the city shuts down when it snows, even only a few inches. People don't know how to drive in snow/ice either. My sis lives in FL, they don't have heat in their house, only a space heater.

CeeJay, You were right about the lbs. Its gone. Hopefully for good. Good job on all the exercise!

Midlifecrisis. Credit for resisting temptation!

ChinaMarie, LOL, inner-adolecent-fat-chick

Bill, My BIL won't eat leftovers at all. Hubby looks at them and asks if they are still good, everytime. "Dear, would I serve you something that would make you sick??"

Its late and I"m off to bed.

[midlifecrisis57]

Hello Buddies, I'm going back to Jan 4 page 3 to catch up on our journeys together.

BillBE: I just saw "It's Complicated" (by accident, but it was an interesting movie for thinking about transforming lifestyles midlife and, oh, FOOD/pleasure/sexuality!) and it brought to mind your french repas. Hahaha--and coincidentally, the piece de resistance of the table in the movie was Croque Monsieur! And I LOVE "if it isn't real hunger, food isn't the answer." This is one to recall often!

LisaK: I looked up the Emily Yoffe link and found her dog book. Thanks for the tip! I work with rescue dogs and I find beagles to be one of the toughest breeds to rehab--they are quite the rascals, very vocal, and so busy sniffing the ground and burying goodies that they are extremely hard to walk! No offense to any beagle owners out there--I'm sure they can be sweet and well-trained, and I do love Snoopy (who is a beagle, right?!) We certainly can learn alot about appetites by observing dogs--that's for sure!

wndrane: what I'd give to be cycling in Arizona this time of year! I envy you!

Rithxxx: I'm with you on the wine. I was dry for years, but recently started enjoying a bit of wine with friends. It's tempting to get back into a bit of wine and beer now and then. Its good to hear your wariness, it resonates my conscience.

Penguin: Oh, you are so good at confessing you broke diet willfully! I love that you offer no excuses for your transgression! I wondered if you were to look back at your food recently you might see some indiscretionary over- or under- eating leading up to the incident. I see that later you did just that and found a pattern before the willful break--as if your mind was trying to signal to you at that point to look at what was going on and where it was headed. Credit for confessing and busting yourself and then triple credit for reflecting and weighing in and reporting!
I love that you spread your wings teaching Bible study and have come to appreciate the role of leader! Do you know that you are teaching by example in your brave admission of being on a slippery slope? Thanks for reminding us to reflect on our behavior and to recollect ourselves and recommit to our mission. It's inspiring.

SpaceCadet: I LOVE WALKING with walking buddies! I used to walk in the evenings with a gaggle of new moms in the 'hood. I walked off all my baby fat that way, and we talked too! Walkin'talkin'therapy! AH, those were the days!

Ceejay: thanks for the encouragement and the good example!

Onebyone: Big portions, I hear you! I enjoy your posts! I think its cool that you checked in after breakfast and committed a resolution to pass the muffin stand to us! Hope it is going well. AVERT THE EYES!!!! AND BLOCK OUT THE SMELL. Got perfume on a lapel or scarf or something you can bury your nose in as you walk by?

Gardenerjoy: Comparing myself to successful dieters and maintainers, especially with the great models I have here on 3FC, has been a great cure for the "it's not fair!" thought. Brilliant. Haven't come to this passage in Beck yet and never ever considered this before you brought it up! Righto!

kidslibrarylady: ohhhh a baby? And ooooo I just clicked on your link to fitday. What a cool tool! Thanks for making it appear on your posts!

ChinaMaine: your post makes me happy!

BennyHM: There you are! On your sensitivity to measuring in public--yeah, that would be awkward! How were you doing it--carrying measuring utensils? Eyeballing is the way to go in public, no? What choice do we have?
On nutritional info: I found a great website just putting in the search engine: nutritional info hummus...or whatever I ate. I think the website was something like nutrionalinfo. Anyway, the worldwideweb is at your service for any and all such information, its all there. Also, when you are out, you can ask. Today I was at Panera and had some tomato soup--and I asked the barista for nutitrional info and she went and got a book and looked it up for that very portion of that very dish. OMG it was 300 calories and 19 grams of fat! I was surprised at the content, but pleased that I could ask and get an answer. So, do ask either a person or find an online source. Also, check out kidslibrarylady's link to FitDay. I think it finds the nutritional info when you type in the food--automatically. Right? Yes, you might have to estimate a bit, but be conservative and go for it. (supposedly, women underestimate how much they eat, so go conservative, Mama)

must get sleep. I will check in again later. Adios amigos! Love youse!

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - The gym (CREDIT moi) still wasn't crowded. Maybe the New Years crowd isn't coming this year. Had cherries for evening snack to finish a day on-plan - CREDIT moi. I asked DW to measure a "serving" of cherries for me since they are in that group of foods for which I think the container is one serving. (Like Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies and cashews.) I'm happier serving myself an orange, apple, or grapefruit where the serving size is obvious.

onebyone - Boggling thinking about having a visual person such as yourself helping me shop for clothes. My DW considers my clothes to be my problem. Yep, "non color" is just right for khakis. If you go to London you'll have to buy yourself proper clothes to meet the Queen - won't that be fun.

ChinaMaine - Interesting that you were whacked with hunger before two meals in the same day. Kudos for fighting that. Glad you got out to walk in balmy Maine weather.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yay for obsessing about food yet staying on plan. Sounds like you could be a professional chef and not gain weight.

KidsLibraryLady - Ouch for "past full" - good to be able to observe it. I'm becoming a fan of eating very slowly for the first few minutes of a meal; it truly helps to kill the hunger feelings.

Shepherdess - Waving (in case you can read but can't log on).

Ruth (Ruthxxx) - Cold night walking appeals to me. Thinking about your Perrier reminds me that we didn't "take away" DD's crib to which she was so attached, but we gave her a "big girl" bed about which she was very excited and didn't notice that the crib had been secretly removed out of her sight.

CeeJay - Kudos for dumping the holiday goodies on your DH (presuming that he doesn't have a weight problem). Course three was Fruit Dish - small cubes of various fruits with finely chopped mint and lemon juice. Course four was Poached Chicken Breast, Sweet Potato Hash, Spinach, Sauce Bearnaise - a single small mound with just the tiniest bit of hash.

midlifecrisis57 - You've made me add "It's Complicated" to my movie list. Neat that you can carry the thought of this thread in your head for support.

Penguin (patchworkpenguin) - Just love it that Tennessee is colder than Maine. LOL at you DH's response to leftovers; I couldn't live without them.

Readers -

day 14
Plan for Tomorrow

Planning what you eat is essential. It helps you do the following:
. . .
• Tolerate occasional hunger and cravings and learn that you can withstand them.
. . .

The Beck Diet Solution, pg 135.

[onebyone]

Hi Coaches:

I am rushing this morning-I have an errand to run before I make it mto class and will be late for the class I think-and I am grabbing food to get myself out the door.

Just telling all of you I am NOT EATING SUGAR TODAY.

Thanks.
muffins be gone!

[ChinaMaine]

WI-no weigh-in. Read my cards, made a plan. Food – op; Exercise – off-plan – (no exercise). I was very tired again yesterday and chose to give my body a day of rest.

The Good
- Used resistance techniques – I didn’t succumb to the sabotaging thoughts that I have every evening – credit!
- Throughout the day, I identified hunger vs non-hunger before I ate
- Eat mindfully, enjoying every bite
- Tolerated non-hunger without eating
- I posted here

The Bad,
- [NEW behavior] Throughout the day, I identified satisfaction vs fullness while eating, and I stopped eating when satisfied – This something BillBE mentioned doing at a event-meal, and I find the idea intriguing. I imagine this is something that most thin people do without thinking about, and I’d like to learn to do it too…
- Daily weigh-in – nope
- Did planned exercise - nope
- Spontaneous exercise – ditto

and The Ugly
- Give credit throughout the day for every positive eating behavior – I can give myself partial credit because I did give myself credit before 9 AM, but forgot to keep track of my positive behaviors the rest of the day. Today I will log all my positive behaviors.

midlifecrisis Kudos for hearing the small, supportive voices of this group. I find the voice of my sabotaging voice can be quite loud and insistent, so I find this very impressive!

Penguin (patchworkpenguin) My DH and I have been chortling watching the evening news the last few nights because the temps in the deep south and Maine are comparable this week. It seems that most people in the country could come here to warm up right now. Quite an unusual weather pattern we are having. But, it’s got to be tough for you guys and I hope it warms up soon.

for being down a pound.

CeeJay Kudos for moving Xmas food out of your space! And credit for all the exercise you did yesterday – quite impressive.

one by one DH might get a job in London? Wow! I’m so jealous; I’d love to live in London for a year or two. It’s a really fun city and so close to all the places in Europe I’d like to see more of. You could take weekend mini-breaks to go to Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels. (sigh – did I mention I was jealous?) But I understand a change like that is stressful to contemplate, and admire the way you are handling it! Lol – muffins be gone indeed.

KidsLibraryLady Kudos for exercising indoors, when it is freezing outdoors. Yes, Beck has been the key to my losing over 40 lbs. I’m sure I’ve had a small step backward over the last 6 weeks of not adhering to the plan, but I’m getting back on board now and things will start moving in the right direction again. And yes, it’s so much easier when the skills start becoming second nature.

gardenerjoy I too prefer entertaining because I can control the food. Even the snacks can be on plan when at home, and that’s usually hard to do when you visit other folks.

Bill Can your DW come and measure my portions too? It’s one of the things I’m afraid I’ll never get good at…

[midlifecrisis57]

From Tues Jan 5th 11:56 through page 4-6 Jan2010 Beck, through mine.
Shepardess:
Kudos for saying “But measuring and weighing just acts as a reminder before I sit down and eat anything that I am committed to my plan. “ I agree! This is so true! Weighing and measuring is A behavioral WAY TO SLOW DOWN AND BE MINDFUL. If we are struggling to get back on track, why not weigh and measure a slightly larger portion than usual, account for it, plan for it, and get the discipline back before trying to eat desired portions. I think that’s what is meant by stepping back to restart. I think you have to work all the steps of the program, but you can change your diet plan temporarily (ease back on portion size). Sometimes some of us can go cold turkey, other times we need to be kind and gentle to the little demanding appetites within, and retrain the outer behaviors first. The appetites will follow. Can you log in when you feel you in danger of giving in? Just sharing your struggle AS IT HAPPENS, a la early intervention—can help. I grab my personal journal at every desire and craving and reflect, but knowing and using this site to intervene has helped me get through the times I couldn’t do it alone. A little breathing exercise—, 3 minutes of any breathing awareness exercise helps. First it gives you 3 minutes to reflect before you give-in, and second: it can move awareness of need to body digestive system to check in. Try breathing shallow long breaths, like Pilates breathing—you know? with rib cage still? Sitting with back supported, it helps me feel my pelvic muscles and stomach “breathing” in and out: and that awareness can give my resistance muscle needed support to trump mind hunger or eye hunger. PS. I LOVE YOUR PICTURE OF YOUR SHEEPIES! They ARE (part of?) your flock, I assume?
Beach Patrol:
My heart goes out to you for giving in to the sight of the cupcakes/cake. Was it really craving, preceded by obsessing about sweets? Or was it desire, acting on impulse given the opportunity? I think it’s an important distinction to make in terms of learning to avoid in the future. Had you just eaten lunch? Or were you waiting for lunchtime or planned eating? Was lunch a meal you really enjoyed? Was you next meal going to be enjoyable? I think part of the trick of managing temptation is to be able to look down your nose a bit at stale/left over/discarded food because you just ate something you enjoyed more (fresh! Colorful! Tasteful!) or you are looking forward to same (“ummmm, I’d rather wait for roasted curried carrots than eat this day old junk!”)…If we are gourmands, let us step up to the bat and become gourmets. No Sams Club cake, nono, hold out for more interesting fare of your choice!
SpaceCadet:
I am enjoying the geography lessons on Sweden! There is a Florida of Sweden? Ha! Who knew? I’m going to check that out! What is your situation with Beck books? You have one or none of the 3 books yet? On the subject of distracting with reading and TV/movies: I just read somewhere that these two activities are the last two choices to make if you are trying to resist. In fact, people tend to eat more snacks after doing these (and extended computer work) because intellectual activity uses up glucose which depletes blood sugar which raises hunger! Suggested alternatives were to organize a closet, or a drawer or get out for some sunshine or do an errand. Or quick post an sos on 3fatchicks!
Onebyone: LOVE the “Before bed checkin” to coaches. Kudos! Sounds like you had a good day. Is accountability helping you? I knew you could master the muffinshop resistence with all of us pulling for you from hyperspace!
BillBE: you are my rock!
ChinaMaine/BHM: CM: I think you are on to something. Divorce--along with any major life change--is a Significant Stressor is a red flag for weight fluctuation. My dearest BHM: professional therapy an option? You might not want to face this period of your life without expert support. We’re here to back up what you learn from an expert!
CeeJay: Kudos, girl, for Step 7 work, arranging your environment! I call it Stage Setting and think of it as my job at my theater, I am the diva of course! It’s fun and empowering to do something like that. And I bet hubby is impressed woth your courage and resolve! My poor hubby gets lots of my castoff foods, and his moms, and he is showing it! But he can diet much more quickly and easily than I can. I’d never win in a competition with him on this front! He’s more muscle and less soft fat tissue, he is always busy with some project that involves his hands, and he’s not that interested in sweets.

Kudos Moi: I have made 25 posts! Can I do dancing vegetables yet? And I noticed that I might be overdoing raisins in my morning oatmeal. Cut way back today in a sobering moment. I want to see if it helps reduce the "itch" later in the day. I make a little face of it with raisin eyes and grin. Kudos in the bowl. ha. Grace to you all! CU

[Shepherdess]

I managed to avoid chocolate last night, but it took about all of the willpower I have. It bothers me that eating on plan has been such a huge struggle this week, but I guess I just need to give myself credit for one successful day and work on making a second successful day in a row. I don’t know why I find it so difficult to remember that hunger is not an emergency. I guess the struggle is a good reminder not to let myself get sloppy because it is so difficult to get back on plan. A few lazy days just aren’t worth it.

I did jump roping inside yesterday instead of running. It was 0 F when dh and I were feeding the animals yesterday and the wind was blowing and the snow was falling. Luckily we didn’t get too much snow, but it’s going to be a few more days of indoor workouts. Dh and I were laughing at the weather report that predicted highs of 5 yesterday and then temperatures falling rapidly by late afternoon. Luckily, we were safely indoors by the time they started falling.

BeachPatrol, LOL for licking off the icing and throwing out the cake. I have to remember that one when I’m find myself with that cake that I just can’t say “no” to. The cake is just a vehicle for frosting anyway!

Patchworkpenquin, it is amazing how helpful it is to be mindful when eating. I just never understand why it’s so difficult to make myself do it consistently. Yay for a supportive husband! That is so helpful. I hope you warm up soon. 28 is very cold when you are not prepared for it!

KidsLibraryLady, isn’t it funny how it only takes one change to throw off your whole diet? Well, good luck staying on track while your house is in chaos. Thanks for the reminder that the off plan eating could have been worse.

Gardenerjoy, interesting that a totally unrelated medical condition leads to overeating. Do you think it is due to some crossed brain connection—you feel discomfort and immediately think of hunger? I don’t know if an Aveno oatmeal bath would help with the itching. I get them for dh during the winter to help with his itchy skin. I’m totally impressed that you ate on plan while entertaining.

Onebyone, huge kudos for walking on by the muffin and more for not overeating on spaghetti. And yay for not letting stress effect your eating!

BillBE, I’m loving those winter grapefruit as well. I liked your idea of enlisting your dw’s help in measuring portions. I have those foods in which a package=1 portion, no matter the type of package (dried fruit, crackers, chips, nuts etc.). Thanks for waving when I can read, but can’t post.

Ruthxxx, your cold walk sounded great. Kudos for sticking to a single glass of wine. BTW, I also use sparkling water as a substitute for wine. Somehow it feels like I’m drinking something fancy without adding extra calories.

ChinaMaine, I love the idea of logging credit like calories. Congrats on adding that to your plan, and it looks like you had a lot of credit to log!

Midlifecrisis57, huge credit for resisting the urge to eat after a tense drive. I HATE winter driving.

CeeJay, good job getting rid of food that you can’t have around. I need to do some of that.

[patchworkpenguin]

I got up at 6am and it was white outside. I checked and the county schools were closed which ment no Bible Study so I went back to sleep. We didn't get as much snow as they expected {less than an inch??} just a dusting but AR got slammed. Last night the weather prediced snow just for today, now today's weather says its going to snow/flurry the rest of the week, with a low on Fri of 5*. Its been years since it got as low as 5*. The most snow I've ever seen living here in Memphis was 6-8 inches back in '84.

Lately, I"ve felt the thinner. I've lost 5lbs and keep gaining and losing the last lb over again. But I feel thinner, healthier, and just happier about myself and my shape. I should concentrate on the way I feel not what Mr. Scale says.

MLC, Thanks for reminding me that I can be a good example, and the triple credits. I started eating oatmeal several years ago for the fiber help. I don't really like it but could choke it down with several TB of brown sugar. Then I realized the 'several TB of brown sugar" was defeating the point. I was getting fiber but at what cost. so I stopped eating it. I would occasionally try it again {especially in winter} with something else. April loved the oatmeal with melted peanut butter experiment. ICK, I finally dicovered I could mix a few TB of applesauce in and almost enjoy it. Love your raisin smiliy face! Bring on the dancing veggies!

ChinaMaine, Reading is a little hard for me sometimes, I just realized you are China Maine not Marie as I thought. Sorry for getting you name wrong. Did you hear me say BRRR! when I got up this morning!

Shepheress, Mindfull eating may be a habit like any other that we need to work on to develop. I find I can do it better home alone than when trying to talk/engage someone else. Kudos on avoiding that choc! Exercise that resistance muscle to make it big and strong!

[KidsLibrarylady]

Penguin-- pick up and carry around a five pound bag of flour.... you lost that!! No wonder you are feeling better!

[onebyone]

Evening Coaches

I have one HUGE credit to report.

I went to the visual art teacher's meeting tonight and they had pizza for us. My friend G, also a teacher and fellow art school grad with me last June, reminded me at printmaking class this morning that they serve pizza at those meetings.

I spent the afternoon wondering how to handle this.

The meeting went from 5:30 to 8:30pm and I got home at 2:30, fast food lunch in hand. Too early to eat supper before I left for the meeting so I planned to have: 2 slices of pizza, no seconds, no soft drinks. I carried my coffee from home with me to tide me over. IT WORKED. I followed my plan. I feel great right now. Though it would have been unlikely for me to actually get up for seconds in front of all those people, I would have had an iced tea which is definitely all sugar so credit credit credit

carrots earned today:
-read my arc and response cards last night, journaled in my book and read chapter 4 Build Your Confidence = giving yourself credits ... doing that here and now
and today:
-no seconds no sedentariness no sweets
-no stupid muffins either
-at sitting down
-ate slowly and mindfully
-drank water and will have more before I go to bed
-3 meals no snacks = the right plan for me for today
-faced my teaching fear by going to see the room I will be in, taking a tour and getting the lowdown on procedures. It now feels borderline do-able. Having seconds of pizza would not have made dealing with the fear of teaching a class any easier or any worse. I would have just felt bad about going off plan and bad about eating.
rememberrememberremember if I have a problem and I eat over it, then I have two problems
also: I can be stuffing my face or facing my stuff
also: persist in victory

[patchworkpenguin]

Credit ~
Read ARC twice
Dusted and Laundry
ate mindfully mostly sitting at the table not in front of TV like I wanted
exercised ~ 30 min walk/jog intervals + 10 min Pilates
Had a minor mid-morning skirmish with choc but did much better the rest of the day
wore ped 4844 ~ including exercise

Not So Much ~
+1lb
overslept
minor mid morning skirmish with choc

LibraryLady, Good point about the flour. 5lbs seemed insignificant in face of my overall goal.

Onebyone Good job facing down that pizza and coming out the winner!

[gardenerjoy]

Our 4 to 8 inch snow storm dropped about 2 inches. As one of my Facebook friends said, Snowapocalypse 2010 was a wee bit overhyped. Instead of weather, our news was dominated by a scary drawn-out workplace shooting incident.

After telling KidsLibraryLady that I don't overeat on my home-baked bread once it became a normal part of the routine, I did today. Two problems: a new recipe (so not as routine) and eating standing up (so I barely registered what I was doing). Two solutions: be extra careful when I try new bread recipes and eat it sitting down, for pete's sake.

WI: -0.15kg, Exercise: +45, 280/1400 minutes for January, Food: off by 2 slices of bread, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

BillBlueEyes: LOL at the container is one serving -- BTDT on Thin Mints, too.

ChinaMaine: sending you energy vibes for that fatigue -- hope you're feeling better soon, and I'm so impressed how much on track you are in spite of it.

midlifecrisis57: love the raisin smiley face -- sometimes it's as simple as that!

Shepherdess: I think it's a success to realize that the struggle to get back on track makes the sloppy days not worth it. Good job on finding an indoor exercise to substitute for your preferred sport!

patchworkpenguin: Glad that you got less snow that expected, too. Do you think it's the exercise making you feel thinner? I've noticed that I feel thinner at this weight than I did the last two times I was here; I'm crediting the tiny amount of strength training that I've added to my routines.

onebyone: yay for following your plan with the pizza -- and double yay for making the plan in the first place!

[patchworkpenguin]

Joy, Someone on my exercise forum posted this quote today.

Jenny Hendershot says "When I started training I weighed 130 and was a size 7. Today I weigh 130 and I'm a size 2. I always tell everyone the scale determines nothing. Its the size of the pants that matter."

I Googled Jenny http://www.jennyh.com/

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Crunch time at work, with the singular saving grace that I get to take credit for not raiding the vending machines for Hersey Almond Chocolate bars; CREDIT moi. I so unfondly remember the days when I'd just buy two to save making the next trip. No exercise today; Oh Well.

onebyone - Waving back at the blur who is "NOT EATING SUGAR TODAY." And sending HUGE Kudos for making a plan about the pizza and sticking to that plan. Yay for "persist in victory."

ChinaMaine - Yay for "identified satisfaction vs fullness."

Joy (gardenerjoy) - LOL at "Snowapocalypse 2010." But not laughing at your workplace shooting - that was scary reading from way over here. Interesting that a new bread recipe is enough of a break in routine to forget.

KidsLibraryLady - Gotta try that carrying around the lost weight idea to get some gratitude juices flowing. It seems funny to me that it took me a while at the gym before I was lifting weights that weighed as much as my lost body weight.

Shepherdess - Hope that posting means that you've solved the login problem. Yep, "temperatures rapidly falling" from 5 degrees F would send me inside. Good thing you have your new warm coat.

midlifecrisis57 - LOL at too many raisins because I do that. I have to count the raisins going into my granola or I end up with about half raisins. Drives me crazy that I can't just sprinkle on a few raisins like a sane person.

Penguin (patchworkpenguin) - Feeling thinner is one sweet reward. And yay for pilates - 10 minutes of those can be a workout.

Readers -

day 14
Plan for Tomorrow

Planning what you eat is essential. It helps you do the following:
. . .
• Make decisions about eating before you encounter triggers. Let's say some friends invite you to dinner. They offer you some tempting dessert. The decision is already made: no. The dessert isn't on your plan so you don't eat it. You don't have to weigh the pros and cons. You just stick to your plan. This eliminates the tension and struggle.

The Beck Diet Solution, pg 135.