[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Exercise was trying to kill myself by walking on icy sidewalks. CREDIT moi for going out; STUPID moi for not bringing Swiss walking poles like DW did when she went out later. There's only six inches of snow so far from Storm Juno but the wind is fierce. The governor orders that I not drive unless I'm 'essential.' If you can read this, we still have power.

No extra snacks, CREDIT moi. I'm on a roll with a string of days at 100% on plan. Due to the stores being picked clean, I may have to have only half a banana with breakfast - a truly first-world whine if I ever heard one. Since planned events were canceled, DW and I watched The Book Thief. We'd both liked the book and both felt that the movie did a great capture. It's painful to watch WWII Germany even if only lightly portrayed.


onebyone – Yay for artwork installed at the theater (even if I'm not allowed to see it). Love to read, "am firing on all cylinders again."

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Yay for being able to comfortably respond to your DH. About page 127, the Touring Machine is introduced and the book becomes deeply interesting. I'll never tire of hearing this part of his story.

CeeJay - Yep, "cheese as a condiment only" seems to be a required step toward rational eating. Kudos for modifying South Beach to what you need.

Debbie (Lexxiss) – Kudos for so comfortably accepting that it's salt that is registering on your scale. Continue to send supportive thoughts as you provide the foundation for your family situation.

maryann - Ouch for the difficulty of human relations. Sending supportive thoughts for your quiet time at your cabin.

nationalparker – Kudos for spending for the pre-washed salad mix. I reluctantly did that to help make sure that we had an appealing salad every night - money well spent. [Will look into "Under the Tuscan Sun."]

love2garden - I type to the rumbling noise of constant snow plows running outside. We don't have much depth here yet - maybe 6 inches - but we've got the wind. Hope you still have power.

Danielle (MarinMaven) - Thanks for the reminder, "START LIVING THE LIFE YOU WANT TODAY." Hawaii is a great example of that. Wishing you success finding the support for your DD - the world seems so much better prepared to face the varieties of Asperger's these days.

Readers -

day 30 Stay in Control When Eating Out

what are you thinking?
You might need to counter sabotaging thoughts many times while eating out or attending special events. You might feel disappointed that you can't eat whatever you feel like having. Use the following responses to prepare for sabotaging thoughts ahead of time.. . .

Sabotaging Thought: My dining companions will notice that I'm eating differently from them (or from how I used to eat). They might say something that makes me feel uncomfortable.
Helpful Response: So what? If they comment, I can just say I'm trying to eat in a more healthy way. Then I can change the subject.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), pg 218.

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

Food within calories yesterday, but wouldn't have been without the 6 mile hike. I ate 2 Kind bars and they are 200 calories each. The good news is I have to take cookies to a meeting this morning and yesterday I made the dough without taking a nibble of the batter. This morning I baked the cookies and they will soon be out of the house. Also bought some Girl Scout cookies from the little girl next door and they will be going out the door with DH. I hate to admit it, but I just can't have that stuff in the house. I don't think I ever will be able to and pretty much I'm accepting it.

Love2garden Sounds like you're doing great being motivated and staying on plan. I hope you're also safe and warm in the storm.

NationalParker 3 days on plan is great. Amazing how it boosts our confidence, huh? For my training I'm doing some strength training 2 days a week, kind of following Fit Climb, trying to hike 5 days a week with carrying the pack 2 of those days. I don't have any specific mileage goals because it kind of depends upon how much time I have. I guess I probably do about 35 to 40 miles a week. My pack weight is now a little more than 18 pounds and I did fine with that. I'm going to increase by 2 or 3 pounds a week. I need to be at 35 pounds by the end of March when I do the Grand Canyon.

Lexxis I really hand it to you for being such a rock. Hang in there. Do you have any ideas how long you'll have the extra house guests?

CeeJay Good for you for sticking with your plan. Remember even if it takes a long time you will be feeling better and better along the way, not just as you near your goal.

OnebyOne I am simply amazed at your talent. And to think you finished those paintings in such a short time. It is hard for me to believe, since I have zero artistic ability. So glad to hear you are feeling good and firing on all cylinders.

Maryann I hope things are better for you today. I have been that screaming person in the past and I know it doesn't feel good. Good luck following your plan so you will have that to feel good about.

Danielle Boy do I hear you about letting weight, dieting and food rule. I am guilty of that too. At this point I really need some new clothes and just don't want to buy anything because I keep thinking I will lose weight.

GardenerJoy You are really on a roll. I have printed the sheets and read the sheets, now I really need to fill out the sheets.

[B]Bill[B] I'm watching CNN and it looks very snowy in Boston. Our cousin lives in Watertown and I'll be talking to her later today. She loves snow and used to hang a Let it Snow flag. She is from Western Washington where we got little snow. Anyway, be safe and be careful.

[gardenerjoy]

My responses card deck was getting very tall. Especially since I started adding in some responses that are more about making my life function well, rather than just my diet. Like one I wrote in purple ink yesterday: Reach for...enthusiasm, optimism, hope. So, I made a section in my card box called Old Responses so I can file away some of the cards that aren't as important to me today (but have them available in case they become relevant again).

WI: +0.2 kg, Exercise: +40 1045/1200 minutes for January, Food: 100% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

maryann and MarinMaven: thanks for describing your thoughts and actions -- very helpful. I definitely use food to create alone time and space for myself. Even though I spend most of my time alone in my office. So, it's not just about being alone. It's about being alone and having no expectations of myself. I may need to find another way to create no-expectation time and space in my life. Or, maybe, I would be happier actually meeting my own expectations. So much good material to think through.

karenrn: My Girl Scout cookies will never show up at my house. They got sent to the troops. I'm truly grateful for that option.

[curlyjax]

a quick wave to everyone. yesterday was spent getting last minute supplies, bringing in the extra shovels, baking muffins (essential storm preparations!) and trying not to be too anxious about the impending storm.

Woke up today with power and heat still intact, so grateful!!! neighboring towns have 2 feet of snow so we probably do too. luckily it is looks light and powdery. Most neighbors haven't been out yet- but i do hear a snowblower now. Hoping this moves along soon, and everyone stays safe.

Thinking of all who are struggling with hard emotions and situations and sending hugs your way.

[nationalparker]

Feel like i've been off track today but aside from a fun size pack of m&ms from the office (with 14 m&ms) I'm on plan. Knew the dinner tonight would be one of DH's favorites that I rarely make, spaghetti and (turkey) meatballs ... hard to make after work because I prefer to let the meat simmer in the homemade sauce for hours to cook, but the rushed job with corners cut and homemade ones baked with a little red wine and then put in the sauce worked okay. Started with salads, and could have eaten less pasta. I need to serve myself less when I'm really hungry, knowing I could come back for more. We still used "salad/dessert" plates, so maybe some of it is in my mind.

Not a good day at work for me. Still bent out of shape over a few things, and have scheduled an offsite meeting tomorrow with a coworker in my department to go over and vent about a few things and seek her opinions. She mentioned getting out for a little while, and we NEVER do that but not it's looking like a good idea. A little walk, vent, and change of scenery.

Off to start a fire and relax for a few hours with DH.

Keeping good thoughts that all are safe and warm.

[maryann]

Good Evening, Coaches.

All of your kind responses soothed my sore soul. There is no easy answer. DH and I have both been miserable for two days.He took a few steps toward what I want not because he believed in my veracity but because I was more important than anything else. I told him I didn't want him to do anything he didn't believe in but the hurt was that he couldn't understand or validate my view. In the end, after many tears, I told him there seemed no resolution to a key issue. I offered to wait until April and bring it up again.

So in the end it will be "delayed gratification.'" Isn't that what Beck is really trying to teach us? The exact thing I want to always foil.

Super credit for earning my pass to Stage 2 with seven straight days of 100% skills. I wasn't able to start Stage2 today but the plan is set for tomorrow. I have decided to add only one Beck meal - morning- for a week. I am not sure how her plan will fit with me, but I know I can do a 250 cal smoothie for a week. Meanwhile I will have another 7 days of practicing skills.

nationalparker: good for you for realizing $1.50 is by far the greater bargain than the cost of compulsive overeating.

Ceejay and Onebyone: Tallyho on South Beach. yeah!

MarinMaven: My heart goes with you. I can't imagine a more painful path than a child's health struggle either mental or physical. It would be my immediate reaction to comfort with food. You have done so well just coming and taking steps to nuture yourself. A healthy you is your daughter's greatest asset.

BBE: Batten down the hatches, captain, she's a blowing. Wish we could say that here.

Karenrn: A day without a taste of cookie is truly a miraculous event.

gardenerjoy: What a terrific solution to send your cookies to the troops.

[MarinMaven]

Thanks for all your kind words! I can tell you that you guys are all running through my thoughts throughout the course of the day. At this morning's crappy weigh-in, I reminded myself it's just data, thanks to you!

And I am so inspired by all of you who remain 100% OP. I was almost there today. Just a few extra bites of fruit and veggies before dinner; which is not the end of the world. It's more the principal of it and learning to CALMLY tolerate hunger.

Today was my first day as a substitute teacher. I had a kindergarten class. They were very cute. But it was like herding kittens and a lot of fingers in the noses. I'm proud to say that my girls and I all had healthy, homemade, breakfast, lunches and dinners today. And lunches are already made for tomorrow. But can I just complain and say it's a lot of work!!! I guess Beck does say it takes time and energy. Good thing I'm (fairly) young.

Stay warm East Coasters. Hang in there MaryAnn. Thanks to all for the inspiration!

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Exercise was digging snow, CREDIT moi. Lots of snow. Lots of CREDIT moi. Our house had about 18 inches - ranging from six inches to three feet in drifts. The snow blower earned its keep. I may have been out for a four hour workout, with lots of chatting and neighbors helping each other. Had to come in to swap into my warmer boots; I'd only expected to be out for one hour. The worst part of the day was waiting for the high winds to stop so that cleaning up could begin. We never did see the sun.

Eating was 100%, CREDIT moi. There's just no thought of snacking when out lifting, pushing, and throwing. We had no tree damage; the prediction was for heavy, wet snow but what fell was dry, fluffy stuff that was easy to manipulate.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Neat idea to keep the old Response Cards in case they become important again.

maryann - Seven Kudos for seven straight days at 100% despite the personal challenges.

nationalparker – Kudos for a scheduled venting session with a co-worker - makes sense to me to let some of it out before the pressure builds up and bursts.

Karen (karenrn) - Not nibbling cookie dough deserves a Special Kudos. [Love the attitude of a "Let it Snow" flag.]

curlyjax - Yep, when you posted at 10:36 am it was still coming down. We didn't start until after lunch.

Danielle (MarinMaven) - Surviving a day in a kindergarten class is Kudos worthy. Yep, Yep, Yep, "it's just data."

Readers -

day 30 Stay in Control When Eating Out

what are you thinking?
You might need to counter sabotaging thoughts many times while eating out or attending special events. You might feel disappointed that you can't eat whatever you feel like having. Use the following responses to prepare for sabotaging thoughts ahead of time.. . .

Sabotaging Thought: I wish I could eat what everyone else is eating.
Helpful Response: I also wish I were thinner. Oh, well. It's not fair, but it would be even less fair if I went ahead and ate what they were eating and, as a result, didn't lose weight.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), pg 218.

[onebyone]

Coaches

Feeling good this morning as I prepare for a studio work day. Yay! AND I have spare keys to my studio to leave for an emergency. Double Yay for that.

Foodwise I have remained OP and within the boundaries of the south beach diet phase 1 plan. Credit. Day 10 today. 4 more to go. I overate, quantity-wise, on my chili last night after having it 3 nights in a row. DH was truly over it and didn't want anymore and I couldn't face seeing it another day and so I ate it all. Couldn't bear throwing it away either. I have work to do re: food decision making still. BUT all things considered, it's ok. Today I will return to Costco to get another veggie tray. Those are good to have around. I missed it last night. And I'll get a rotisserie chicken which though high in salt is good for everything else. I'll check out some plan friendly recipes this morning for dinner.

Today I will do some sort of workout dvd. I'm returning some library books so will check out what they have there. Looking at my floorspace though I need to do some decluttering/tossing cause I don't have the room for much besides marching on the spot! Maybe I'll see if there's a water aerobics class somewhere tonight.

Lots of plans. This is good. I can't remember a more productive January in decades. This is also good because it is different, and things need to be different if I want change to happen.

Billblueeyes Credit for all your snow shoveling! I found this graphic the BBC was using to illustrate your storm. I'll attach it for you. Happy your power did not go out. I have an artist acquaintance who flew with her husband from Key West to Kennebunkport, Maine because he wanted to see the snow storm. They stayed in a cottage by the ocean and were the only guests. I am sure the staff there were amused by them!

MarinMaven The best part of being in this group is that we do travel with each other and help in the most surprising of times by having some stray thought your read here pop into your head. This has saved me many times and kept me coming back over and over and over. No mean feat. Glad you're here to add to the song we sing.

maryann Giant Kudos for making it to stage 2 in Beck. I have tried to complete stage one and have yet to succeed - this is in the green book. I found it complicated and daunting and then discouraging the way that book is laid out. I much prefer the pink book with the clear steps to check off each day. And I think you are wise to delay gratification. Some issues are too complex to force a solution in order to minimize the discomfort. Sometimes it simply takes more finessing that that. Hugs to you on this. There is much hope when you hold mature attitudes like this.

nationalparker Thanks for the reminder to choose the smaller plates. I had been doing that but now that you mention it, the plates have crept up to regular size again. Must be more attentive--and do dishes more! LOL. Wishing you a good day at work today and I hope your off-site meeting helps you feel more peace at work.

curlyjax I hope your storm deposited only the lightest fluffiest snow ever seen on planet earth! And I hope it has, indeed, moved on. Kudos for doing storm prep.

gardenerjoy It made me smile to picture a recipe box full of "recipes for happiness/peace of mind/staying OP". I had the gut feeling one day these will morph into writing prompts or storylines... Kudos for making new ones when new ones are needed but not being so overconfident as to toss the old ones. I think that's just wise. BTW I've started reading this .pdf copy of some academic tome entitled Voracious Children: Who Eats Whom in Children's Literature. Oooooo! It's tasty let me tell you! You popped in my mind as I started reading it given your "taste" for YA novels. While this study is about books written for little kids, books meant to be read to them, I am reading it with one eye on the young adult literature so in vogue today.

karenrn I continue to be astounded daily by your mention of the miles you rack up hiking. 6 miles yesterday. And in Arizona. Love that place! Great job accepting your glitch re: girl scout cookie-monsterism! I think this is common. Those girl scouts know their stuff Excellent response to not test yourself on this and to send them away instead. Great.

to fellow SBD peep Ceejay "How ya doin' Bud?" (this is how DH greets Caesar the cat when he comes home from work...!)

Enjoy your day today.

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

A quick check in this morning. It's going to be a rough day to try to stay within my calories. Yesterday I stayed within calories, credit and did a 6 1/2 mile hike, credit. It was a tough hike up Tom's Thumb, down the backside on the East End trail and then turn around and back over. Probably about 2000 feet elevation gain and a very rutted trail on the back side. I decided that would not be a good one to carry the backpack on at least not just yet.

This morning I'm going to the Y to do my strength training type exercises. Then I have lunch out with my former co-workers and happy hour out with a couple of friends for a birthday celebration. Lunch is at a pizza place. They have a good salad and I'm going to try to stick to that and one piece of bruchetta and leave the pizza. Not sure how I'll handle happy hour. I did look at the menu. The gals I'm going with are both petite, so that will help.

Have a good day everyone. I'll let you know how the day goes.

[curlyjax]

hi coaches! i wake up again so grateful for modern power and light, how did our ancestors cope with blizzards! its amazing the hardships they survived without adequate shelter, etc.
We made a few treats like pancakes with choc chips but didn't over do it. Today I'm hoping to get out in the afternoon. Lots of places are closed but the travel ban is lifted and it seems like people may be getting around, maybe i have a false sense of hope!
DH needs to get the roof cleared off today which always scares me, but we have major leakage issues if he doesn't.

Karenrn- we watched that video 'Mile, mile and ahalf' last night. It was great! So funny to see people in short sleeves in the snow. I am really impressed you are going to do that trail!! It did inspire me to think about working towards some kind of trip, i don't know what exactly- but it won't involved camping I like to be outdoors, then have a hot shower and cosy bed!
Maryann- sorry for what you have been going through. It is difficult to be on uneasy terms with ones spouse, but you sound better today. Sometimes delaying a talk does make it easy for folks to process it.
Onebyone- you sound so happy, that's great! Glad you're having such a productive January. love the attached pictures!

[gardenerjoy]

Wonderful to read everyone's thoughts this morning. I'm glad our East Coast people made it through with power intact and shoveling snow for exercise.

I'm feeling some small willingness, today, to reduce some serving sizes. So, we'll see how that goes.

WI: -0.2 kg, Exercise: +30 1075/1200 minutes for January, Food: 100% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

[nationalparker]

Brief check in - not really on plan - can't say I'm off by a great deal, but not strictly on. Can resuscitate the effort with dinner, though. Sidetracked myself at Starbucks meeting with a 300-cal apple cider treat. Sat and savored and discussed work issues, but feel I would have enjoyed it more had it not been connected with work.

Put on a pair of pants this morning that were dried by accident the last time (I called it sabotage) ... WAY too tight. Will re-wash and stretch a bit and hang dry and see if I can get back into them... haven't worn them in a while. That set me off track mentally a bit instead of motivating me, got to thinking it's not worth this much effort just to stay within a 6-pound range forever.

Dinner is out at Panera followed by a $1 movie at a cinema. I can always do well at Panera, but know that the sodium will be a hit. I'm eating more soup and it just is.

Read the Green Beck book and I DID like her direction to weigh daily to lessen the impact of the number ... and to accept the data. When you take your temperature do you say you did well if it's 98.6 or stress at what you did to make it 100, roughly speaking?

[CeeJay]

Hello Coaches

onebyone- glad we are on the South Beach journey at the same time. And that it seems to be working for both of us.

MarinMaven- agreed that cruelty towards ourselves is a terrible thing and completely self-defeating. Thanks for the reminder to start living the life you want now. I wish you and your daughter well.

BillBlueEyes-watch yourself on that ice. The consequences of a fall can be quite awful.

karenrn- excited for you to be planning a hike at the Grand Canyon. Will look forward to reading about that. Thanks for the reminder that I will feel better long before I get to goal.

gardenerjoy-like the idea of adding response cards that deal with more than food behaviour.

curlyjax-waving back at you. Hope the storm was not too bad.

nationalparker- hope the work stress evens out.

maryann-awesome to hear about 7 days of 100% skills.

For me- I am doing very well this week. Have not seen any weight loss which is frustrating but I am not going to get caught up in all that. I know if I keep eating the way I am the weight will come off...eventually.

Off to the hotel tomorrow. Food is ready to get me through. Gone are the days of pizza in the hotels. Thank goodness, that always felt so bad in every way. I am hoping to get some quiet time at the hotel tomorrow night to really think about where I have come in January, read my response and advantage cards and maybe make some new ones, and plan out what February is going to look like. And maybe even take a few minutes to really savour the accomplishments of January instead of just dwelling on how far I have to go.

Talk to you on the weekend.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Once again, exercise was shoveling snow, CREDIT moi. This was a light inch or so that required that every square inch be covered again. As well as a Huge wad at the end of my driveway knocked there by a plow or large truck. I used the strategy of planning to remove one small section. After doing that, I planned to remove another. I avoided feeling overwhelmed by the whole job. The lifting part is still good exercise.

Food was OK - close to plan, CREDIT moi. I took some samples at Costco that I didn't need. I planned to take one as my morning snack; that escalated into several. None were worth it. Everything was being touted for Super Bowl snacks. I was made to feel guilty for leaving the store without enough Super Bowl snacks to feed at least 20 friends.



onebyone – Congrats for the most "productive January in decades" and for "different" - love reading your upbeat report. [Neat graphics from the BBC comparing snow depth to dogs. The small dogs walking in my neighborhood couldn't look over the walls of snow.]

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Good luck with that serving sizes experiment.

CeeJay - Neat plan, "to really savour the accomplishments of January" - it's so easy to wallow around in how much further it is to go. Have a good trip.

nationalparker – Thanks for the thought comparing scale readings to thermometer readings - I hadn't thought of that. Congrats for finding a $1 Cinema - sounds so last century. Panera salt will temporarily show up on the scale - but always temporarily.

Karen (karenrn) - Sounds like a good hike. Interesting that having lunch with petite friends makes it easier to eat moderately.

curlyjax - Yep, I was able to run two errands in the car yesterday - on streets bare to the pavement, no less. And found parking spaces where I was going. Thought that digging out of Storm Juno was going to be worse. Hope your DH's trip to the roof went well. Kudos for being clear, " but didn't over do it."

Readers -

day 30 Stay in Control When Eating Out

what are you thinking?
You might need to counter sabotaging thoughts many times while eating out or attending special events. You might feel disappointed that you can't eat whatever you feel like having. Use the following responses to prepare for sabotaging thoughts ahead of time.. . .

Sabotaging Thought:This is a special occasion. I deserve to treat myself.
Helpful Response: If I want to lose weight and keep it off forever, I have to learn to celebrate in different ways. If I keep celebrating with food, I'll put myself at risk for gaining weight. it isn't worth it!

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), pg 218.