[silverbirch]

Trying to get back into my routine. Things are falling into place regarding my uncle's funeral and estate but it's taking a lot of time, as many of you will know these things do.

gardenerjoy, the library no longer has the Strong Women books by Miriam Nelson so I have splurged some of my inheritance and bought (secondhand) Strong Women Stay Slim and Strong Women, Strong Hearts. Her books formed part of my reading back in the early 2000s when I really got into the fitness and weight loss groove after having the DB. They were quite good at the time and will be worth reading again. I am very selective about books!

Today I've exercised (weights) so credit where credit is due. More work needed to get sleep, weighing and food planning into line.

[love2garden]

Dsha123 I agree that just being able to forgive one's self and go forward is very, very valuable. Bet you can do this.

Today I was pleased that at the bakery I bought a healthy salad with lean meat and didn't want the sweets they showed all over that used to be such a temptation! CREDIT

Moving more, spontaneous exercise, parking then walking extra distance is a normal thing now. CREDIT Actually thinking like a normal person, or certainly like a wise one.

Silver Birch Enjoy your (almost) new books. Best way to spend inheritance.

Home sweet home, NationalParker you survived!

Karen You've found a safe way to use the arm machines at the gym? Than makes sense. How did it feel afterward?

CurleyJax I do have the Avon stuff, but forgot that in the past that did help some. Will try it bit later this evening. Thanks.

[dsha123]

Thanks love2garden I hope I can!
Not that I'm at the credit portion of the book yet, but I will say credit for : reading my ARC a couple of times-its also my wallpaper on my phone! For NOT eating anything at the cafeteria today, as I always do. A muffin or chips or whatever. For having a nice salad for lunch.
Lets see what the rest of the day brings!

[maryann]

Good evening, Coaches.

Back doctor helped and no medication today. A drop in the scale this morning to ticker. So I should be on track but NO. My mind is killing me. Terrible eating except credit for salad and smoothie. Without them things would have been worse. I have to accept this about myself. When I am uncomfortable due to pain or exhaustion I turn to food. The goods news is those days that I feel good I am able to eat healthy - thank goodness.

As we have said so many times. If we stop trying to lose weight we would stop maintaining.

Well, tomorrow is another day.

[onebyone]

Coaches!

Official weigh-in day and FINALLY after a long long long time I see a number not in the 270's on an official weigh-in day. Today I was 269.8 and I've lost 10.6lbs since starting WW in April.

YAY me. CREDIT moi.

I've been walking a lot since my sister has been here and we are both watching our food choices even tonight at a ribs place where I brought over half of my food home. Unheard of for me. Just way too much and I am not interested in seeing the scale rise above 270. N-O. nononono.

More news on other fronts but this is all I want to post right now. I am exhausted. Bye for now.

[Lexxiss]

Hi coaches!

Yesterday was OPD. I've weighed this morning and the scale is cooperative. I worked very hard out in the yard yesterday and made a lot of progress. Credit.
I went to the store last night after my meeting because I needed bananas and ended up with an AmysOrganic dinner. I don't buy that often and my desire was just to go home and eat it. By the time I got home I could set it on the counter and say you don't need that tonight it would be a perfect lunch for tomorrow. Credit. Beck works in my life when I work it. Thank goodness.

Onebyone, congratulations!

[TripSwitch]

Good Morning Coaches...

Missed check-in here yesterday... But I let my obsession with the scale occupy the better part of my day... I decided that I wanted to get my weigh-in at WW over with since I was postponing it... So I pretty much obsessed about that all day... Well, the good news is I was down -3.4 lbs from last week and the even better news is that took me to exactly -9 lbs since I started attending WW meetings again 3 weeks ago... And the -9 lbs was my 5% goal... So I got a cute little 5% charm... Which I might actually put on a key chain or bracelet or something... Just because I worked so HARD for that stupid little thing... Lol...

SO here's the bad news... I'm pretty sure I would have been bitterly disappointed if I only lost -3.3 lbs and not gotten that silly little 5% charm yesterday... I mean talk about having UNREALISTIC expectations... AND I'm sure the majority of that -3.4 lbs was just water... I really think the reason I lost so much is I'm just not acclimated to the heat with all the running I've been trying to do lately... I'm sure once I'm back in a more normal fluid balance the scale will bounce right back up... Oh, well... I guess next week will be when I have to take that "hit" on the scale...

onebyone Congrats on your weigh-in with WW... That's awesome!!! I was really sweating mine out yesterday (literally...Lol...) but it all worked out... I'm really grooving on WW this time around... So I'm just go with it, since it seems to be working so far...

lexxiss I have 3 Amy's sitting in my freezer right now for that same exact reason... In fact this morning I was looking at one of them and thinking maybe I should eat one of these for breakfast just to get rid of it... Lol...

maryann hope your back is feeling better... I've had my fair share of back problems over the years from lifting patients as a nurse... and a few from running too... I can so relate to turning to food then...

dsha123 I just started using the BDS... So I'm not much farther ahead then you... Today I'm on Day 19 "Stop Fooling Yourself"... (just love that title by the way...Lol) and I'm also finding it a bit overwhelming at times too... even though I've already lost the majority of the weight I would like to lose and I'm not that far from goal... The reason is I've done this many times before, so now I really want to find ways to maintain my weight loss once and for all... And from the little bit of what I've experienced with BDS and the CBT techniques I really think this is going to be a big part of keeping the weight off for good...

As always looking forward to the weekend... And wishing everyone here a wonderful weekend as well...

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

I'm going to have to be really careful not to get cocky because I've been doing so well on the food plan I know a little slip up could be easy and then the remorse, etc. So far so good though and now it's been 2 weeks without a beer or sweets. I must say I feel sooooo good. This morning I did a new hike that is shorter and all in the shade if you go at 5 a.m, credit. It's got a good hill and I thought it would be a perfect one to pair with upper body exercises at the Y. I am pretty sore from whatever I did yesterday though, so decided not to stop at the Y since I have PT at noon. It will work well in the future though and nice to see some different scenery.

I've had my 2 man tent set up in the living room for a number of days now since I've seam sealed the rain fly twice. This weekend I'm going to carry it out on the lawn and sit inside while my husband lets the hose sprayer go over it, so I can test it for rain. I may need to carry it on the Wonderland Trail in Washington. Because of the limited space at the camping spots we need to share tents (even though we don't know each other). It's a Sierra Club trip. Anyway, I want to be sure my tent is up to the job in case we use it. Otherwise I'd take my one person tent.

TripSwitch and Onebyone Congratulations on your excellent weight losses on WW. Boy isn't it nice to see the scale going down.

Maryann I'm glad the back doctor helped. Yes, unfortunately this weight issue is a life long thing for me and probably most of us.

Love2garden Yes, I can use a number of the machines at the Y. Just have to set the weight so that I can handle it. The doctor and therapist both tell me I can do whatever doesn't hurt. It's been 10 weeks now. I'm really doing quite well. I can even do the plank on elbows. Isn't it wonderful that you didn't even want the sweets at the bakery. What a great feeling.

Waving to everyone else and hope you all have a great weekend!

[nationalparker]

Home, sweet home! Got home yesterday late afternoon and this was one flight I could take a bump and told DH if offered, I'd be on it to make summer travel a bit cheaper No overbooking, phooey ha ha. So got home on time, which was also good.

Scale is down three-plus pounds. Apparently not eating as much (and I'm going to say at night, since that's when most meals were skipped or drastically reduced) affected my body. Will see if it bumps back up or what. Typically scale drops a smidge more a day or so after flying, but I'm not going to obsess about it. I think maybe while I was down there, the scale was not even a factor, so no playing/toying with "if I do this or that, how will it read" mindgames.

Taking a comp day today and will take one more next week - cleared that thru boss. To the BMV, get flowers for cemetery, move items out of storage unit that we rented for a couple of months to put mower, bikes, wheelbarrow, etc. in during winter so we could put our vehicles in the garage. Will seek out a small storage shed for side yard that's hidden from the street since our covenant prohibits any that are street-visible from not having the same look as your house. Will come up with healthy meal plan for the week and add in more water.

[dsha123]

Morning all! Seems like a lot of you are having a good weight loss morning!
Congrats!! I was on it until dinner..though it's not as bad as it has been. 1.5 beers and some chicken wings. AND I stopped while there was still food on the table and let the others finish it. So that was positive!
Sounds like you're doing well, Trip! Yes, it's a lot of information!
I joined a "diet bet" with a friend, its lose 4% of your body weight in 30 days...if you win you win the pot! So that could be extra motivation to stay on track. Have a good day

[spanky]

Argh. Climbing up out of some life chaos. The lab where I work is being shut down and we're scrambling to get our house on the market so we don't lose it to foreclosure. Also had my prednisone prescription doubled--which doubles my appetite too. So far have gained back 3.5 lbs.

Surfacing here for air and trying to keep it sane.

Happy Friday to all.

[onebyone]

Coaches

Another successful visit dealing with mom issues and sister craziness-which is far far less than it has ever been due to her own determination to stay calm. *credits all round to me, my mom, and my sister, and DH who gets the peripheral fallout from her visits*.

We were told by my mom's Doctor that she is now in late stage Alzheimers/Dementia. Her communication is more limited. Her mobility is being affected. She's slower and she is starting to shuffle her feet vs. lifting them and taking steps. When she stops and sits she often closes her eyes and just stops and is still but if you tap her on the shoulder or arm she responds and will still come with you and take directions and she is still involved in many activities and has once more found a good friend and companion who seeks out her company. I cannot tell you how grateful I am to the staff and the volunteers at her longterm care residence. I have no fear or stress or worry about her life there. It is the best. We left flowers and pastries *credit for not eating any* for the staff and flowers for my mom. A good, if deeply sad for us, visit. *credit as well for not eating over the official diagnosis/prognosis for what comes next, the feelings of my sister who was very sad and lives far away, and for maintaining focus on my foodplan and for tracking and walking as much a possible.*

It became clear today where I need to focus next in my apartment decluttering *credit for the willingness to continue* and also on my to-do list today is to organize myself into a work schedule for making the things I need for my upcoming art shows this summer + weekend farmers' markets (but not every weekend). I look forward to the challenge of it all and feel positive I can meet it as well. Exciting!

spanky Good to see you here posting. Sorry you are dealing with job loss and scrambling to stay afloat. I've been there. I have a friend who is also dealing with this and know of others as well trying to sell houses before foreclosure. To have to cope with this while also coping with pain seems doubly unfair. I have often posted here when totally stressed which I believe is Beckian behaviour and it belongs on this board as we/I do it to release the emotions that used to/sometimes do make me eat. Credit for posting.

dsha123 Hello and welcome! You are off to a great start! Leaving food which you love and wanted but not taking it is a very worthy behaviour to cultivate. You have added some oomph to your resistance muscle! Kudos!

nationalparker Only 2 comp days? Wish you could have 10! However it is obvious that your work needs you and your mad skillz. MUCHO CREDITOS for getting through all the demands and for being mindful and now for moving on and not seeking "extra rewards" for getting through the stressful time. I am also practicing this skill, the one that I call persisting in victory. Very happy you get your life back.

karenrn Congratulations on having a body that is healing so well! Credit for your recent hikes and workouts and I love the thought of you testing your gear in the yard with the hose! Love that. I guess where you live if you waited for the rain you could still be waiting as you pack and leave on your trip! I'm curious... when you say that at 5am you walked in the shade of the trees, what kind of trees are they??

TripSwitch Credit on your weightloss! I weigh myself everyday and there have been many days I believe-I know-I just know the scale will be up and when I get there... it's down. Other times I think I'm ok and I am up. Sometimes I can be up 5lbs several times it was even 8! The scale is a measurement of the earth's gravitational pull on my body. What truly matters is how my day to day food goes. Am I following a plan? Am I choosing well nutritionally to have a sound healthy body?The scale number is but a blip. And a blip that I cannot predict! Be at peace knowing you are on program and let your body do whatever the heck it wants on the scale. You can't will it to metabolize fat. That's all done outside of our consciousness. Practice practice practice letting it go. You are doing so great!

Lexxiss *Many and varied credit for your yardwork! I am sure your garden is coming together nicely for all your effort especially when it's not your favourite chore. And I second your "thank goodness for Beck" statement. Over the course of the week and the dinner last night at the greasy over-the-top-portion-sized ribs place DH chose (worst choice ever for me and my sister but it was about DH being happy so he has no clue), I remained strong in my food program/commitment. For the first time in maybe forever I simply did not want that kind of food. I didn't expect to have that reaction as I am not on purpose trying to avoid it. I *wanted* something lighter. I recall you saying thing like this more than a few times. Never thought I would ever feel the same way. Today I do. Miracles Lexxiss. Miracles.

This post was waaaayyyyyyy too long so I will end it with a shoutout to Billblueeyes who must be on his way back home soon full of tales of the Old World and the Ancient Ones and a to those I missed! Happy Friday to All.

[karenrn]

Just have to tell Onebyone that my early morning is not in the shade of the trees, but in the shade because the sun hasn't come over the hill I'm hiking up. I am on the west side of the hill, hiking up to the top. When I get to the top the sun is on me, but hasn't come over the hill from the East yet. I guess we usually think of shade being from trees.

[gardenerjoy]

I'm dealing with overwhelm and undermotivation -- a very bad combo for me. It occurs to me that there might be things in the second half of The Diet Trap Solution that will help, so I'll continue reading today. In the meantime, I'll try to get my Foundation Strategies working again. Starting with posting here!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

[TripSwitch]

Good Morning Coaches...

Just a quick check-in... Have a fairly busy day planned... Decided to take a break from my Fitbit scale for a few days since it's wifi and the # is posted immediately online... I'm happy with the # I saw on it on Thu... So I'm leaving it at that for the month of May... I think based on my weight on that day I'm down just over 8 lbs for May... So that's pretty amazing I think at this stage of the game for me... CREDIT!

Really going to work at actually writing out a food plan... Of course then I'm REALLY going to have work at actually sticking to it...Lol...

Of course my resistance is coming from the fact that I seem to be losing weight without really doing this... But I am feeling so incredibly undeciplined by doing things the way I'm doing them... And that's not making me feel to secure about maintaining the weight I've lost...

So I guess it's time to break out the "DO IT ANYWAY" card... AND while I'm at it I might as well break out the "Oh, Well... I don't like this, but I'm going to accept it and move on." card too...

Hope everyone here is having a great weekend...