[Nature Girl]

Stayed on plan with food yesterday, although I did lick the beaters after DD finished the GF cake for DH’s birthday. I actually stood up long enough to construct the frosting (she applied it to the cake layers) and only took one tiny cook’s taste. Decided in advance to order a reasonable choice from the kabob restaurant (we ordered out & DD delivered for 5 of us so we could have a birthday dinner with a mobility-impaired birthday cook). Planned not to measure, but to eat mindfully and to have a piece of cake. Enjoyed dinner, but didn’t stuff myself full of chicken shawarma & saved half the Greek salad for today’s lunch.
Today I can be ‘partial weight bearing’ so I’m still chasing the walker around, but not hopping anymore – just sort of limping. Made my own breakfast today!! I feel so independent…
Didn’t get my car ride yesterday since supervising baking and DH’s chore of getting lights on the airstream took up most of the day. Warned him that getting OUT was on the schedule for today, so he shouldn’t plan to spend the entire day figuring out how to install the automatic gate opener his DW gave him for his birthday. (That would be me – I’m so proud of myself!)
No reason not to be on plan today – same old breakfast, same old lunch, still too far from the kitchen for frequent visits.
BBE We picked out our tree last week before I was unable to walk around the lot. We went crazy and bought a live tree this year- for about double what we would pay per year, we have a beautiful 6 foot tree we can use this year, nurse along in it's pot, use again next year, and then plant somewhere in our yard/acreage. I've got the spot picked out! Seemed like a good deal considering how high cut trees are getting.
KarenrnI got that same catalog! And have the same issue when it comes to an event where 'nice' clothes are needed. Around here you can wear jeans (and cowboy boots) almost anywhere, but I have had trouble getting ready to attend a wedding, etc. lately. Time to shop! Either by computer right now, or in a real store once I can walk there.

[gardenerjoy]

I'm still not really on board, here, but I'm posting because that helps me hold the place in my life. Tomorrow will be even busier than today, but there are gaps in the schedule later in the week. If I'm in the posting habit, I'll be ready to move forward when the time is right.

[nationalparker]

I needed another weekend day to keep moving forward at home. What needs to get done, I will get done. I do not want to have "must dos" every single night with extra things beyond meals, cleanup, laundry and pet care. A few extra busy nights are okay, but I do want to have a couple of cozy nights! Food OP today! Counted it out and this is starting my 16th week on plan. I'm so thankful I found the program and just as thankful that we started when we did ... the specificity of the foods instead of my free-wheeling "counting calories" or just "eating less but healthier" just wasn't cutting it. I started out looking something up on the Fast Metabolism Diet and hit a website of folks on MFP cranking on it - no one had DONE it who was cranking on how bad and stupid it was, but the ones who'd done it were saying, well, it's working for me, and they'd get hammered. I wasted 10 minutes of my life that I can't get back reading folks critique and complain about something they'd never read/tried. I hate when I let myself get sucked in like that. Months ago, Karen, you suggested I try to lose 10% of my body weight before the trip to Italy. I thought, yes, that SOUNDS good, but I've not made much forward progress that held this year, so ... we'll see. Down 14% so far. Thanks for believing in me!

DH is out of town and I'm going to pack it in early tonight. I lit a fire and it's blazing away, waiting for me and a cozy mystery. Marking this down as a "skipping extra must dos" night

[dorodango]

The casserole eventually did get done. I also made the porridge and chopped up some lean ham for when I'm feeling snacky & need more protein. Also, the fruit bowl is now in the middle of the kitchen and the chocolate is banished to the back of the cabinet where liquor goes. Having to reach past the booze to get it should remind me that this too is a substance that could control me if I don't control it first.

More weight lifting today. I stayed w/in my calorie goal but only by drastically skimping on dinner - turns out I'd had quite the midnight snack last night (sitting down though!) and didn't realize it until I did the math later. Good thing tomorrow's a fasting day because I badly need that reset.

Non-diet-related accomplishment of the day: learning to parallel park! I'm a city mouse in a state that has a swear word for road rage named after it. This is the first time I've dared to try driving at all around here.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies – With snow falling, I felt fully justified driving to class rather than walking. But it wasn't a blizzard; it was falling snow. So, CREDIT moi, I put on wool socks and walked there and back. My Sabotaging Thoughts so rapidly seek an excuse to avoid exercise. I was surprised in the evening to discover that the snow was still frozen to the windshields of both of our cars. Alas, this winter thing doth cometh.

Later, DW and I walked to a neat Japanese Ramen Noodle place for dinner. We've stopped there several times in the last couple of years only to find the waiting line too long for our liking. Going early was the answer. I think of it as calorie friendly because there is so much broth. There do seem to be a large number of ramen noodles swimming about beneath the token seaweed.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Super Kudos for posting when there's only time for a snippet.

Nature Girl – Kudos for a neat plan, "to eat mindfully and to have a piece of cake." [Love the notion of a live tree. We could go for that except our small city yard doesn't have a convenient place to plant a tree, LOL.]

maryann - Yay for a fridge full of food.

nationalparker – Congrats on "Down 14% so far." Yep, the Internet has given space for folks to voice adamant objections to anything that differs from their small view of the world. Kudos for seeing that you don't have to read that.

Karen (karenrn) - Pups seem to tolerate crate time very well - albeit difficult for new mothers. LOL at the reality of "There is no way I'm going to get enough exercise in the near future to account for beer."

dorodango - Kudos for "the chocolate is banished" - that's a great step in arranging your environment.

Readers -

Chapter 9 Psychological Traps

#Escape the Discouragement Trap

When you've tried and failed to lose weight in the past, you sometimes drag all those negative memories into subsequent attempts. Like Chris, you may vastly overestimate just how much of the week was difficult. You may believe that you shouldn't experience difficult times when it's actually abnormal for dieters not to struggle from time to time. And you may even stop practicing your foundation strategies.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., Deborah Beck Busis, The Diet Trap Solution, Train Your Brain to Lose Weight and Keep It Off for Good (Blue book), pg. 182

[maryann]

Yesterday I was back OP. Love the foodsaver that I used to prepackage my food portions. Whipped a "fruit" and a "lunch" out and was on the go. Had my hair done at the blow dry bar. It will last for several days so my mornings are now free for prayer, meditation and posting. I did stretches for my chronic neck and hip aches.

School is winding down. My HS is on block schedule which means I will say goodbye to these classes next week. I sure have learned bunches and I have some cute kids, but I will not be sorry to move on. Too many bad associations with the strike and mistakes I made as a newbie. It will be good to put the past behind me and start fresh. I am proud of myself for sticking it out and being the best I could be.

[gardenerjoy]

Another snippet. We're having a wintry day here, too. I think I even saw a snow flake earlier. I'm still not making much progress toward good self-care, but I'm still posting here and that's something!

[karenrn]

Good afternoon coaches,

A very lazy day here. We got up at 3:15 a.m. Partly because Otis woke up but also because the alarm was set for 3:30 a.m. We all got up and I took dh to the airport at 4:15. Otis was left in the family room crate for practice. It's only about 45 minutes to the airport and back. Since that time we've just been hanging out, going out in the backyard dozens of times for potty training and we just woke up from a short nap. Actually Otis sleeps lots. This morning he slept on my nap thru most of a Hallmark Christmas movie.

I've been looking through cookbooks trying to find a recipe for a dessert for Saturday night. It's the annual Christmas party with my old co-workers. I haven't made a decision yet, but it will likely be a cake of some kind.

My big goal for the day is to stay within calories since I'm not going to get any exercise. Tomorrow Otis will be in the crate a little longer as Hiking Suzanne and I are hiking Camelback with our Santa hats on. There is a Christmas tree that was placed at the top and we hiked up there about this time of the year also. I'm slowly getting Otis used to his crate for bits of time during the day, but honestly I'm enjoying just being home with him.

Karen

[nationalparker]

Seems like it should be Thursday, not just Tuesday. Productive day at work, and zipped home and took the pooch out for a quick outing before I got changed. Froze! Brr! Now have a fire in the fireplace, dinner is waiting on DH to get back into town at anytime now, laundry is moving along. I've prepped part of tomorrow night's dinner to save time and will hopefully get a few errands done then. Just now sitting down to take a few minutes to post.

Bill - Credits to walk to your class in the winter weather. I, too, would have been inclined to drive (though I hate winter driving) ... I fell hard a few years ago (who am I kidding, more than once) and now I'm so tentative walking on icy sidewalks. I'm better on our trail with hikers and jeans. My DH would have loved your dining spot.

Dorodango - Kudos on your meal prep and prepping your surroundings for success! Well done! I have traveled a lot, and still say that some of your Boston drivers (not you or Bill, of course...) are the most selfish and inconsiderate that I've shared the roads with. My extended family (who live in Weymouth) laugh at me and they claim south Florida drivers are the worst. Good luck with that! And no offense meant at all!

[dorodango]

Fast day on target. I'm ashamed I sampled the pastries that someone left in the lunch room at work, yet proud I took a small enough amount to still stay within limits for the day. The rest of this week I'm going to pay a lot more attention to keeping my portion sizes consistent so I don't end up finding and / or creating room for whatever junk tempts me. Now I understand what the Beck book means by saying (paraphrasing here) that the problem with calorie counting is too much flexibility.

Didn't do anything to take back the kitchen today. Tomorrow morning I'm planning to fill a trash bag and wash out some containers if I can get up early enough.

Nature Girl - so glad your foot is healing well! The way you've been making the convalescence process work with your plan is inspiring.
karenrn - yay for planning a hike so soon! That's got to be good news for how Otis is coming along.
maryann - I like the ways you've found to make your life more efficient
nationalparker - usually I'm the jerk on two wheels, not four, so no offense taken at all
BillBlueEyes - love that ramen place! (if it's the one I think it is...) I would like to believe the broth does offset the noodles even if my heartburn and the scale say otherwise.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies – By paying a fee on a special day, we were enthralled by a curator's tour of the minerals in the bowels of a favorite museum. I didn't know that gold can form in threads in the ground; it's striking. Naturally, my favorites were the meteorites. Ancient stones from space whose iron polishes up are just the greatest. The value of the collection was enhanced by a burly, armed, policeman standing at the head of the table as a three pound gold nugget was passed around the guests circling the table of exhibited artifacts. But gold is just gold; meteorites are each unique.

It was the worst dinner of my life. I had expected cheese and veggie platters, but got cakes and candy. Ouch. Fortunately, a large man took a paper plate and stacked it high with dark chocolate candies. It looked gross and kinda shamed me into stopping. We made dinner from the fridge when we got home.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Yep, posting is a step forward.

maryann - Yay for harvesting the benefits of your prepackaged food portions. A new start is always an opportunity.

nationalparker – Kudos for a productive day. [It's really smart to be tentative on icy sidewalks. I'm trying to overcome my embarrassment for walking like a penguin.]

Karen (karenrn) - The image of Otis on your lap is a Hallmark moment itself. LOL at the thought of your hiking with a Santa hat to get to a Christmas tree atop Saddleback.

dorodango - Yep, Kudos for limiting those pastries instead of falling for the Sabotaging Thought, "I've slipped so I might as well just keep going."

Readers -

Chapter 9 Psychological Traps

#Escape the Discouragement Trap

All these factors can give rise to the unhelpful idea that you can't keep it up. So when you feel discouraged, consider doing the following:

• Take out your advantages list. How important is each item to you? Write down very important, important, or not important next to each one.
  
  
• If any advantage doesn't feel important at that moment, consider taking if off your list so you can focus on the reasons that are most meaningful to you. If you need shots of motivation during the day, read the list frequently.
  
  
• Count the difficult minutes and hours. How many hours did you struggle? How many hours didn't you struggle?
  
  
• Think about previous attempts at dieting. What have you learned since then? Remember that two months from now, if you keep practicing the foundation strategies, you'll be in an even better place than you are right now.
  
  
• If you feel overwhelmed, you're likely taking too long a view. Instead ask yourself, "Can I keep this up right now?" Take it one moment at a time.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., Deborah Beck Busis, The Diet Trap Solution, Train Your Brain to Lose Weight and Keep It Off for Good (Blue book), pg. 182

[maryann]

Another day OP is never taken for granted. Scale is falling after the stray weekend.
Today is my most challenging day at work because I work all day then take son to lessons. I don't get back until 8:30. It is hard to think of doing all I will have to do without excess food. Old thinking. Water, snippets of meditation time, advantage cards can get me through.
Nationalparker: what do you eat on Wed mornings (protein day) for a quick breakfast?

[nationalparker]

Busy evening planned, so earlier check-in. Was freezing walking the pooch this morning, 26 and breezy. Luckily, she was cold, too, and did quick business. Highs the next two days will be in the 20s. OneByOne, I can only imagine what it is there - teens for the high!?! Work has been steady but will be leaving on time and looking forward to tackling a lot at home. DH doesn't have to go in at 7 tomorrow, so that's good.

Thanks, Maryann - for the thought that another day OP isn't to be taken for granted, because I have been. I felt funny saying OP again today each day. For my breakfasts on protein days, I'm completely out of the "breakfast food" mindset that seems to be created by marketing companies, intent on selling the sugar/grain combo. I don't like egg whites at ALL, so I'm eating lettuce wraps with either rotisserie chicken or turkey without nitrites. Snacks are turkey bacon/chicken jerky, lunch is turkey burger with green beans or sliced cukes, dinner will be taco bowls with ground spiced turkey, lettuce, pico, salsa, etc. These two days are the heaviest meat ones for us. Tuna on bed of romaine with loads of yellow and orange bell peppers will be dinner tomorrow night. If you like soups and can come up with one you like from these food lists, that's good. (someone asked the author, soup or salad? And she said SOUP! So having done salads out the wazoo early on, I'm making more soup and happy for the change.) I'm to the point that I'm OK with some additions of other foods from different phases, but have been trying to stick hard to the p2 listings since that's where I seem to drop the most. Rotisserie chicken is my friend in this phase. Bought an extra one to make chicken soup from, as well as freeze up the rest of the meat. (Also, if you like Ezekiel sprouted grain cinnamon raisin bread, we use that and while raisins aren't on the plan, the 5-6 I get in a slice aren't hindering my efforts. That is a great option with a fruit in P1 breakfast and even P3.)

Bill - WOW on credits for bypassing much of the cakes and candy offerings last night. Sometimes the unexpected just sends me into a "this is special!" frame of mind, even if it's not really.

Joy - Good to see you here often. Any more thoughts pertaining to your trip?

[karenrn]

Good afternoon coaches,

Suzanne and I had a great hike at Camelback today. We took our Santa hats and had pictures at the top with the Christmas tree. I didn't wear the hat on the way up because it was too darn hot to wear that furry hat on that strenuous hike. It felt wonderful to get out and get my exercise and Otis did just fine in his crate. I took a video on the way in the door and he was just sitting there. He was yawning so I bet he just woke up.

Food was almost within calories yesterday. I did have an added snack of some air popped popcorn. I actually felt pretty good about that since it was neither beer nor sweets. Today I am not feeling particularly hungry, which is always nice too. It would be wonderful if every day was like today hunger wise. Also, this time of year it is hard not to feel deprived and like everybody else is eating all the good stuff. Of course I know that isn't true. Most people I know who are normal weight are always watching it and making adjustments to keep it that way.

Nationalparker I can't even imagine weather in the 20's. I will admit that I really like our current temps which are like 50 for a low to 68 or so for a high. Next week it is supposed to be back in the 70's. I continue to be amazed at how well you are doing on the FMD. I am listening to the book again and signed up for the FB group. There is lots of good info on the FB group. I know you don't do FB, but it works for me. Of course I also have a lot more time than you do.

Maryann Good luck on your long day and congrats that the weight is heading down again.

Bill Sounds like an interesting evening at the museum. I would have to say that I would like to see that big piece of gold though. I give you credit for navigating the food at so many functions that you attend. I'm afraid I would be a much bigger gal if I had to do that.

Dorodango Sounds like you're doing pretty darn well at stopping at just a small portion of pastry that worked into your calories. Good luck on getting the kitchen overhaul completed. Just to clarify, Otis doesn't hike with me, but maybe you know that.

Even though I'm enjoying being home with Otis, I'm so glad he doesn't seem to mind his crate. I need to realize that exercise is very important to me both physically and emotionally. I can not use Otis for an excuse from now on because I have slowly gotten him used to his crate. I will get out for a hike tomorrow morning.

[Nature Girl]

What??? I didn’t post yesterday??? I remember writing my post in my head !?!
Did have a car ride on Monday in the gently falling snow, with a peppermint mocha that I switched out for my evening sweet treat. Yesterday got the boring but healthier triple decaf soy latte with no syrup that I normally drink once or twice a week. Then went to get my hair washed by my hair guy – wasn’t that nice of him when showers are so tough? Ended up having lunch out since I was now so beatutiful  and semi-clean. Went to our regular hangout and did have a beer, but slit the sandwich and ate half at dinner. Didn’t eat all the salad, either.
I’m one of those weekly weighers who just can’t get used to daily. This morning would be my time, but I decided to wait until the two week mark. My goal right now is simply to establish healthy eating routines, and since I’m mostly sitting in the recliner these days I don’t expect much progress on weight right away.
Today was ok except we went out tonight and it’s still hard to figure out how to choose off the menu…but no extras and left some on my plate.
Predicting serious snowstorm tomorrow – fine with me!