onebyone, I've been on high fat, low carb for a few weeks. The weight is dropping off and I'm entirely satisfied all day. Just eating a bowl of full-fat yogurt, walnuts and berries for breakfast as I write. Yummy.
Wednesday - Max Planck presents quantum theory (1900, Berlin)
Diet Coaches/Buddies – A day of catching up. I got two emails done that were nagging and some stuff cleared away. Seems like small gains for a whole day. Oh Well.
Eating was OK, CREDIT moi. DW grilled salmon for dinner, noting that it was seriously cold out on the patio where the grill lives. This polar vortex thing is headed our way expected to be here by the weekend. We'd better get our act together and get the Christmas tree inside before it freezes to the ground.
onebyone – Kudos for having empathy with a professional who takes your time to whine about another patient. Glad you've got a date when your program begins.
silverbirch – Waving back. Congrats for "weight is dropping off and I'm entirely satisfied all day" - great way to head into the holidays.
nationalparker – Good Grief!!! Chicago-Style Popcorn is food porn. Kudos for stopping with a measured portion and for dealing with the gifted cookies.
Karen (karenrn) - Ouch for the reality of all construction projects. Kudos for living without caffeine.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 9 Psychological Traps
#2: The Deprivation Trap
Catherine then expressed concern that even if she could eat her favorite foods, she likely couldn't eat as much of them as she would like.
"There's just something so great about sitting down with a big plate of pasta or a big bowl of chili with cheese and a big hunk of corn bread, and eating it all. But I know I can't do that."
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. 184
Up at 3:00 a.m. with anxiety about this closing out of the semester. Three days and I am in that compulsive stage. I am emotional and anxious about everything. I have to take a panic pill after hyperventilating and I don't know if it will be my last today.
First things first. I ate my Sunday prepped breakfast of turkey bacon and sweet peppers. I was long in trying to convince myself I am under too much stress to stick to the plan. Then I just decided to eat it. I could always choose again later. It worked. My stomach stopped hurting once I ate and it was enough. Food is not my problem. Food is simple. I must remember that. I will be in at work at 6:15 this morning. This is the last teaching day for a particularly challenging first period. They are negative and can turn into vipors in a heart beat. Then they take no responsibility for their bad behavior and can't understand why I would be hesitant to lose the reins. Credit for once again being the adult in the room. That is why I earn a paycheck. Oh well. Three o'clock will come and my semester will be virtually done. I just have to proctor exams for the next two days.
Today I can not solve the problems of the world: yesterday one of my kids had to call CPS on her mother, several are in foster care, one came in smelling of pot,three are failing. I can do nothing about these things. I know two things. There is a God. And I am not her.
Stayed on the food plan yesterday, credit, but no exercise to speak of except running around with the pup. This morning I'm doing an easy hike with a couple of friends who haven't hiked for years and I don't think they've hiked in this area. We're going to do the first hike I did when I moved here. Other than that I'm working on some Christmas cards and trying to keep the house in some kind of order. Last night dh said, "does it seem like we're a little out of control?" and honestly it does a bit with a messier house with dog toys, construction project not finished and no delivery date set for the new sectional although it is here. The guy called one evening last week and wanted to deliver the next day. Since we were going to have company I said it would have to wait a week or so, now I need him to call me back and let me know when that will be. Well, he just called, so one thing off the list. None of these are big things, but I guess we're used to having things in better order than this.
Maryann I'm glad you will soon be getting a break. I hope that will help with the anxiety. Anxiety is such a horrible feeling. I had it badly when my parents were in poor health and I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Xanax was my friend, and I know it can be addictive, but it worked for me for that time.
Bill Sounds too cold to grill outside to me. And yes, with the freezing weather coming it would probably be good to get the tree in.
Onebyone Not the greatest introduction to your new plan with the unprofessional doctor. Let's hope the rest of the introduction and the plan itself are great.
Nationalparker That popcorn looked really good, thanks to Bill's link. That would be difficult to pass up. We've gotten a couple of goodies, but dh took them to work. I just can't have them in the house, not enough willpower when I'm home alone.
Silverbirch Good news that your plan is working for you and that has got to be an encouragement for Onebyone also.
Phone check in. I'm about to head into the guild to tackle two special orders. One is easy: spoonrest with black and white cat on it. Pfffft. Easypeasy. I will make more than one. The next things are more complicated than I anticipated. Billblueyes I've procrastinated big-time on these! Six 9"plates to commemorate the birth of the client's most recent grandchildren and grandnephew/nieces. One is to have Alice in wonderland motifs, another a linden tree/tree of life with Celtic initial(!) etc. I'm not that perturbed by it all but there are several bits of info that must be accurate so it's a drawing and then approval before they get fired. All this is time consuming. But you know what? I'm lucky to be working in the field.of my choice.
Tonight the semi-cooperative teacher who I am subbing for will orient me to her classroom. Not really interested in meeting her but I will put my game face on. She has info I need and because of her classes I will make much needed money so I am grateful.
More re:foodplan. My sister is completely on board with this foodplan so I have an active enthusiastic support to follow it. I did not do.much to follow it yesterday though, as I said, my rabid food consumption in general has calmed down. No binging and no all day grazing. This is good. My weight at the clinic at 4pm in full clothing was 278 so I know my home scale is accurate.
My ceramic partner M and I have been discussing bringing Caesar the cat over ronher house for sleepovers while we head off to Ottawa for Xmas. It would be two nights but if he was at her place three nights would be worry free for me. He is a remarkably friendly and adaptable boycat but you just never know. He has bad.manners and loves to tussle which I encourage and have the scratches to back that statement up with! They are older: 74 and 84(?)so claws just won't be good. M says she can clip them and I would help. But I am not sure if it's worth the stress. Caesar will be stressed either way. Which way is best? Opinions??
Ok off into the studio.
Silverbirch Thanks for piping up! You give me hope! How are your holiday plans going? Are you decorating, cooking, having friends and family over?? Do you make figgy pudding?!
With just over a week until we head out, I've been trying to not buy a lot of food and use up things in the freezer, fridge and pantry. Therefore, tonight's meal was a bit off plan for the phase, but still within the food lists. I'm pretty much committing to testing out maintenance with a few treats and thoroughly enjoying Italy and then getting back to trying to get down to the range I want to stay in, in January. I sure hope I'm not setting myself up for failure. I'm a few pounds up in a midweek check, but heading into the two days that typically see a loss.
No add'l popcorn eaten, no birthday cake enjoyed, no donuts (again!). I wonder, when I retire years down the line, if I will just be faced with different food challenges than office food all over.
OneByOne - Good luck with this plan - healthy fats are key and I hate that they got blasted so much in the 80s and that mentality stayed so long. One thought I've been using a lot the past few months are that everything I put in my mouth can either help or harm my health - is it nutritious or not. Even thinking that has given me pause on a few things. True, some "treats" will be enjoyed and they're not going to help me but keeping them as true treats has been a big step.
This week has been meh so far. I've been keeping odd hours because there's a bad case of insomnia going around the office: if I'm not up late working then someone else is and wants to talk to me about it. Or else I'm up watching Netflix and waiting for my circadian rhythm to return from whatever strange planet it's currently on. The cats however are getting plenty of sleep - they like to roost on me and I don't have the energy to disturb them.
Yet somehow it hasn't thrown me off plan. Usually after one night of bad sleep I eat like a garbage disposal because it's too hard to do otherwise. This time around it's been 3 nights and what I can't be bothered to deal with is not the diet, but the repercussions if I screw it up.
Today I rearranged my schedule. Not that there's much of it to rearrange. Added a weekend time slot for meal prep, resolved to get up earlier for a faster commute, that kind of thing. Next is adding exercise but in theory that's already taken care of. I've had more or less the same workout routine for a while; what I need to do now is do it consistently and that's where the schedule changes come in.
Personals tomorrow since bedtime's in a few minutes. Good night everyone :-)
Thursday - Canada adopts Red Maple Leaf Flag (1964, Ottawa)
Diet Coaches/Buddies – The day of tending the 14-month-old DGD was tiring even while exhilarating. She's spouting new words each time we visit. She spent a long time (long in toddler minutes) stacking, moving, and stacking again some cardboard coasters that arrived here FREE from some event. Those little neurons churn at warp speed. Chasing her was exercise, CREDIT moi.
Eating was on plan; snacks were under control, CREDIT moi. I made two extra trips to the basement this morning (just now) to bring up some stuff from the basement fridge even though my Sabotaging Thoughts kept telling me that I could wait until I had to go down for some good reason. I deliberately went just to remind myself of the benefit of small doses of exercise throughout the day. (For those who can get distracted by any idea, the Flags of Canada from 1497 to the present are show on Wiki.)
onebyone – Kudos for keeping perspective during travails, "I'm lucky to be working in the field of my choice."
maryann - Yep, Super Kudos "for once again being the adult in the room." Hope you survived the last day of classes.
nationalparker – Super that you have a sane plan, "testing out maintenance with a few treats and thoroughly enjoying Italy."
Karen (karenrn) - It's easy to imagine that "running around with the pup" is considerable exercise.
dorodango - LOL at the thought of cats 'roosting' on you. Kudos for being able to keep in mind "but the repercussions if I screw it up."
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 9 Psychological Traps
#2: The Deprivation Trap
"Well, you're right," I said. "You probably can't eat all your favorite foods in large quantities and still lose weight. But let me ask you a question: What will happen if you don't lose weight?"
"I won't get my contract renewed."
"And would you be unhappy about that?"
"Yes, I love my job! That would be terrible. Like, worst-case-scenario terrible."
"Okay, so it might be helpful to keep this in mind. Either way you're going to be deprived. You'll either be deprived of some food, in some quantities, some of the time - but not all food all the time. Or you'll be deprived of everything on your advantages list, including keeping your job. Which would be the bigger deprivation to you?"
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. 184
Just thought I'd get my note posted while I'm sitting at the kitchen table with my lap top. The pup is taking his first nap of the day. He takes many.
Food was on plan yesterday. I purposely increased my portions when I saw how few calories it would be and changed dinner to higher calorie beef. It's hard to get many calories in with the limited vegetables, not portions but choices, and then protein which is phase 2. I did have a nice hike with friends yesterday. I guess it was about 5 miles. Down a pound this morning.
Bill Sounds like DGD is really keeping you hopping. Does she take a couple of naps a day? I hope so.
Dodorango Great job staying on plan in spite of the insomnia.
Nationalparker Yes the food challenges will be different when you retire, but unless you attend as many meetings and functions as Bill does, it will be easier because of the control of your environment. On the other hand being home and around the refer can be a challenge, and that's where the Beck Skills come in, "No Choice".
Onebyone It's always good to have support for a new plan. Won't you have to tell dh at some point?
Maryann I hope today the proctoring exams will not be as stressful as your regular teaching and you can start to unwind a bit for your time off.
Karen: The protein days have surprised me. I have not been hungry. It is also the easiest because there are far less options than the other days. Tonite I am off to a fancy Xmas party and it will be easy because I know there will be meat and salad. Done. Acceptance is the answer to all my problems. I can completely see how you might not get enough calories however because of your exercise level. Since I look at this as a lifelong structure, I modify as needed. I have not given up coffee. I have cut down but decaying myself is just not happening right now. I have a Nespresso machine and have a stock of expensive pods. i have considered reordering only decaf as a next step.
dorodango: I use to have to deal with commuter issues back in grad school. I settled on going an hour earlier and walking on the hilly campus some days a week. I had to let go of perfect hair and "cute" shoes in favor of walking shoes. It was what it was.
BBE: In the snippet you copied, what was our heroine's job that had a weight contract? yikes!
NationalParker: i can't believe Italy is so close. so exciting. Thanks for the tip on soup. Now my phase 2 "go to" for lunch is pre cooked beef strip with beef broth. Easy and it was very satisfying. I get so dehydrated at work.
As for me, about 3 am yesterday I had a full blown panic attack. Credit reaching out to DH who sat with me. I took a med for it and stayed OP. Credit for knowing extra food would not help the problem. It was not a great day but it passed. It ended as it started - crummy. A girl in the last 5 minutes blew up. When I talked to her after school she told me she had been aggressively teased in the class all semester. I urged her to tell the teacher next time. I feel somehow guilty I didn't catch on. I knew the class was pretty rough but I thought I did a pretty good job of protecting the quiet students. Am I over sensitive or is this just high school?
Good news! Surgeon said my brothers cancer has not spread as far as what he could determine. Such a relief!! He called gunfight (editing to say not sure at ALL how autocorrect on phone did that, but should be "this evening") and we got to catch up...his wife texted right after the good news.
I took being on plan for granted after 4 months...but with the holiday goodies all around, being on plan is an achievement! Bowling outing had all sorts of bowling food...i chose carrot fancy slices. Credit.
On a midweek weigh scale was way up so just hoping it's lower than that but know It'll be an up week for me.
Tomorrow have lunch out with our intern for her last day. Her pick.
Last edited by nationalparker; 12-16-2016 at 09:30 AM.
Quick check in: food continues to improve.
Weight down today: 274.9
Custom orders coming along. 5/6 plates are as far as they can be right now. One more to go.
Other orders also waiting and complete as far as I can go.
Family gifts coming along as well. I'm thinking Caesar will stay home for two nights alone.
Did the experimenting-with-hunger thing today - good thing it was a fast day anyhow. Not that pushing through hunger is new to me, but the discomfort scale was an interesting take on it. I would say that my hunger felt as bad as a sore hangnail or being caught committing a minor faux pas. Definitely not an emergency.
Went a little too heavy on the snooze button this morning despite all my good intentions (and little paws on my face reminding me that it's against the rules to snooze through petting time). Oh well - I still made it to work early and got out in time for the gym, credit for me. This'll become a routine soon enough. Until then I'm trying to figure out how much attention to pay to the newest habits like this vs. all the prior ones. Am I still on plan if I fall off schedule but eat OK?
nationalparker glad to hear your brother's good news! And heck yes, being on plan is an achievement right about now. Or anytime really. But what with the construction issues and the vacation prep this calls for extra credit.
onebyone the custom designs sound incredibly cool, wish I could see them. About Caesar - agreed, it'll probably be less stressful if he can stay in his own familiar territory. Any chance M could come visit him?
maryann so sorry to hear about your panic attack. As a former bullied kid I don't see what you have to feel guilty about. Not being God, you can't have perfect knowledge of what the mean kids were doing behind your back or what the quiet kids weren't telling you. But you were there to listen when that girl did speak up, which sounds like it can't have been an easy thing for her to do. You cared enough about your students to deal with your fear and frustration, the chaos in your classroom and a crushing workload - and still leave wishing you could have done more. Maybe that doesn't seem like enough but it's more than many other people could do.
Sorry if this is out of line or if I've misread the situation - it just felt like something that needed saying.
Diet Coaches/Buddies – The Polar Vortex rages outside. The thermometer reads 6 degrees F with wind chill down to -15. Ouch! CREDIT moi for completing the list of orders that DW had asked me to make. However, those of us who procrastinated ordering gifts to be shipped might be in for a delay due to the weather. In my next life I'll be one of those obnoxious folks who declares they've done all their Christmas Shopping ere November bites the dust.
Eating was OK despite doing all my snacks out of frustration, not hunger. A trip to Home Depot and Trader Joe's, CREDIT moi, allowed me to do the bulk of Christmas stocking purchasing. It's become a tradition that I provide AA and AAA batteries as part of Christmas loot. It started one year when I got a near-FREE deal back in November and the family now thinks that I'm the battery supply warehouse. I haven't done much with purchases for DGD. At 14 months she can use everything, LOL, but she has another grandmother and aunts and uncles who'll produce mounds of toys and stuff and DD's condo has space issues. We may wrap some of the toys that she hasn't seen yet and keep them here after she goes home.
onebyone – Congrats on getting 5/6 of those plates under way. Kudos for "food continues to improve."
maryann - Alas, methinks all high school has serious bullying. Kudos for reaching out to your DH for help. [Catherine of the Beck quotes is an actress in a touring troupe. Her manager has threatened not to renew her contract unless she sheds the recently gained pounds.]
nationalparker – Yay for the good news from your brother. Kudos for choosing "carrot fancy slices." I don't understand "He called gunfight ..."
Karen (karenrn) - You certainly need protein for all that hiking. [DGD naps for 1-2 hours at noon.]
dorodango - Waving back in "middle of the night." LOL at comparing hunger to "caught committing a minor faux pas." Yep, you get Kudos here for eating OK even if you fall off schedule.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 9 Psychological Traps
#2: The Deprivation Trap
Catherine's eyes opened wide. "Wow, I hadn't thought of it that way. Losing my job would be so much worse than not being able to finish a plate of pasta." She made the following card:
I will be deprived either way. I'll either be deprived
of some food some of the time (but not all food all
the time), or I'll be deprived of everything on my
advantages list, including my job. Which deprivation
do I want?
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. 185
hi coaches!
Brr, i’m with you bill, it is so cold out here! i reminded myself my friend in MN deals with much colder weather all the time, and i feel fortunate its a rarity here!
I’m feeling pretty good and am in that space of finally enjoying the holiday season. We finally have a tree, we always seem to put it off too long.
We’re not sure yet what we’re doing for Christmas- we usually drive to visit my folks but this year DD has a retail job and doesn’t know what her schedule is yet for the days after the 25th. We won’t know until a few days before which makes it hard to plan for packing and bringing gifts etc. i know one of these days we’ll be on our own for the holidays so i’m trying to make the best of it.
We have made plans to go to England in July, which is very exciting and will help us get through the winter! I bought the insurance so if DH suddenly gets worse we can get our money back. So that will give me incentive to get back on track after the holidays.
I think i will give the FMD a shot in January, everyone is doing so great with it! Glad to know Maryann you aren’t giving up coffee- I would have trouble doing that. And dairy- DH makes very healthy breakfast smoothies some days and yogurt/cheese sticks is such a good snack for me. Does the dairy really matter that much?
I’m enjoying reading everyone; especially about your new pup Karen! Waving to all!
to you all
Wednesday - Max Planck presents quantum theory (1900, Berlin)
