Sunday - Thousands crowd into Tiananmen Square for greater political freedom (1989)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Love writing that. I was thirty minutes from bedtime when a strong urge hit that a snack would tide me over until I hit the sheets. The Beck strategies kicked in; I can last thirty minutes. And I did. Day was actually eating less than plan because I had to leave the house shortly about noon for a 1:00 pm event. Managed not to plan how to have lunch in advance - rather important since I'd be out all afternoon with no food. Grabbed a slice of cheddar cheese and a cracker to gobble as lunch. Nothing more. I suspect that I was hungry but never had time to think about it.
The event was at the MIT Museum as part of Massachusetts Space Week. Old tales from NASA's Apollo program were told by a handful of old guys who'd done the work some sixty years ago. Best story was how MIT convinced NASA to let them build a digital autopilot for the Lunar Lander (LEM) when it would save the weight that was critical to allow the program to proceed. Fun to remember that real engineering constantly abuts obstacles that appear to be unsolvable.
Exercise was walking, CREDIT moi, to subway stations. It's so neat to be able to get places on the subway. At one point I ran to catch a train while juggling my cell phone and my wallet that held my subway pass. Had the opportunity to drop both - possibly irretrievably - just to save fifteen minutes waiting for the next train. Sobering to be reminded how easy it is to forget priorities when excited.
onebyone - Great news that your wretched virus receded enough to allow a fun trip to your farmer's coop. Celebrating the eight pounds despite how awful a price its loss was paid.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - It is amazing that a hot tub session can make your whole day move more slowly.
Silverbirch - Celebrating an "edged down" whether permanent or scale jiggle. Just another reason to get to Musée d'Orsay to see van Gogh's Japanese Anemones.
maryann – Happy Birthday to your DH. Always Congrats for "Decluttering step by step."
curlyjax - Gotta add the Armenian Museum to my Bucket List; I know almost nothing of the history of Armenia. Neat to get to have lunch at a new Greek restaurant while working. Good news that your DD is seeing some day shifts.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 1The Key to Success
The Power of Cognitive Therapy
The Beck Diet Solution is based on the principles of Cognitive Therapy (also know as Cognitive Behavior Therapy), the most highly researched and effective form of talk therapy in the world.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 19.
Major success on the decluttering front. I spent a total of 6 hours in the tv room and tossed out 8 bags of trash, plus donated some to a thrift store. Most of it was DD's stuff which has been sitting there for years, and included things like half used toiletries of brands she no longer uses, things that have spilled or bled onto other things and ruined them etc.I recycled what I could easily and will be able to do more moving forward,but I really needed to make a dent to even have enough space for that. I can get to the windows now! And see the rug! I have uncovered a lot of pillows, sheets and blankets used for DD's bedding at various life stages and places. and will clear a space to put them so we can finally sort out what will be used in an apt. when she moves, and what can be donated. There are also a lot of clothes to sort through still which I will consolidate so she can go through them. BFF has 3 girls and a much bigger house which is full of girl stuff, so I comfort myself it isn't just me.
Food was dreadful as I rewarded myself with fast food but at least I got a lot of exercise in. Today will be groceries and some better choices, and hopefully more sorting although I really should do some yardwork too. This year I want to keep the shrubbery under control. It's so good to feel motivated, be physically able to do these things and have some energy/opportunity to get things done!
Happy Sunday to all!
Yesterday was three meals, nothing in between. Exercise was "aerobic chess" in which I do strength exercises waiting for the opponent to move. It is quite lame but I am counting it. Today DH and I will go to the gym.
Yesterday's AA convention was a mixed bag. Good to see newcomers making it. There is a countdown at the evening meeting: longest sobriety gives a big book to the least sobriety. A lady with 53 years gave a book to a man with 6 days. there is a hug gap now between me at 36 years and most below teens. mixed feelings about all those who don't stay sober or slip through the years.
Someone sent me a picture of me playing in the staff student basketball game. I look like a round ball. Sigh. DH pointed out I was actually on the basketball court which is the triumph. So I guess, Yeah me. Sundays are not always easy. I need to remind myself 60 percent of Americans haven't figured out this overweight thing. I am not alone.
Curly: Great job with the decluttering. It is such a great feeling.
BBE: i love being to busy to remember to eat. It is my goal for retirement.
onebyone: glad you got out and about for a bit.
Joy: Low energy days can easily become grazing days.
Silverbirch: i love a downward trend on the scale.
I had a bad eating day yesterday, mostly stemming from "I don't care."
In The Complete Beck Diet for Life (the green book), the suggested response is along the lines of reminding myself that I might not care now, but I will care later. That was never the most helpful of the responses for me. It always struck me a little bit along the lines of "I'll give you something to cry about."
For me, it helps to start with loving kindness dialogue with myself.
I'm sorry you're feeling apathetic. That can be difficult to deal with. Do you know what's causing it?
In my case, the answer is almost always allergy malaise -- which calls for a compassionate rather than judgmental response.
Will anything help right now?
Staying indoors. Rest. Distraction. Allowing myself to listen to my audiobook while doing other work. Allowing myself to watch videos while I exercise.
Will overeating help?
Now, I'm ready to admit that it won't. In fact, it made it worse. I woke up this morning feeling icky from both the overeating and from the allergies.
Beck was always more helpful to me in the structural supports than the responses. In that realm, I made the bowl of lettuce that will be the basis of my afternoon salad while my lunch was cooking. That lowers the barrier to making my salad considerably and makes it much more likely that I will choose to eat the salad that is part of my Ideal Food Day.
Exercise: 60, 1190/1800 minutes for April
50% of Ideal Food Day
onebyone: So glad to see that you're doing better!
Another small fall in weight. Credit for doing something right, although what I’m not quite sure. I think I might be eating less. I've set up a graph. I don't always do very well with record-keeping but it might be OK this time. Some gardening today.
onebyone, great progress! I’m so pleased you’re coming out of this now. Standing upright and travelling in a car are good steps forward.
Bill, credit for handling a different eating pattern yesterday. Thanks for this:
Quote:
real engineering constantly abuts obstacles that appear to be unsolvable
That’s the story of living with my dad throughout my childhood.
curlyjax, brilliant work on the decluttering! Getting to the windows and seeing the rug are huge steps forward.
maryann, aerobic chess sounds pretty good to me.
gardenerjoy, credit for making the bowl of lettuce. I think I remember from years ago that washing the lettuce was a hurdle you didn’t always get over so this is great! Does water help with the allergy malaise? To drink, to wash your face?
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Despite the cold weather, (4 yo) DFGD arrived ready to play outside. A brief session with her soccer ball in our yard didn't suffice. "I want to go to the playground." She's pretty clear making her wants known. She walked around with a sheet of paper and a clipboard taking a survey of who wanted to go. (DW taught her how to make a checkmark - I tend to forget that kids have to learn each thing.) Three checked NO; only she and DW checked YES. Off they went and I played host to our DS and DIL for a good thirty minutes - a long break for them.
Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, with evening snacks. I have a busy day today and thought that munching would help with the prep that I was doing. Alas, one more time, I learned that munching doesn't make reading go faster or writing go more smoothly. Dinner was chicken noodle soup made from the last third of the rotisserie chicken. It was tasty, meaty soup. The secret ingredient of chicken noodle soup is plenty of chicken. White meat can't be dry in soup.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - It's useful to me to be reminded that I can use CBT from Beck but substitute my own responses. Particularly like "Will anything help right now?" to get myself in the mindset that I can DO something instead of just suffering.
Silverbirch - Gotta be counted as a good day if it includes a bit of gardening.
maryann – I agree with your DH, it's a Triumph just getting out on the basketball court with all those young things.
curlyjax - So encouraging to read of your decluttering success in the TV room.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 1The Key to Success
The Power of Cognitive Therapy
My father, Aaron T. Beck, M.D., spurred a revolution in the field of mental health when, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, his research challenged the theories of Sigmund Freud. Freud and his followers believed that depression and other types of mental illness stemmed from a patient's repressed fears and conflicts, and they kept patients in daily psychoanalytic sessions over a period of years.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 19.
Another productive day. I did a bunch of laundry, including some clothes that i'm giving to a colleague's dtr if she's interested, that DD had discarded awhile ago. I'm hustling those out of the house, plus another bag of trash, and will use my workplace's dumpster (which I shouldn't do, but just this once!) Library books were returned, groceries bought, 4 salads assembled in glass jars ( I give myself a day off so I can eat at work one day) water pitcher set up with lemon in it to motivate me to drink more, dishes washed, chicken dish made in a slow cooker that wasn't particularly good but gave me enough chicken for my salads. Exercise was functional plus helping BFF a little with her yard;although that was mostly chatting Somehow I felt melancholy in the afternoon and needed some good company-I'm so glad to have her in my life.
Maryann-impressive indeed you were on the court, and great that DH pointed that out.
Bill-how wonderful that DGD did a survey! That is adorable. Yay for using Beck strategies to avoid a snack.
Silverbirch-great job with the weight loss.
Gardenerjoy-great dialogue with yourself. I can really get stuck in that I don't care mode too.
So many excellent credits - gardening, decluttering, food prep, investing in family and friends, and some CBT thrown in. Well done all.
I was OP yesterday. I continue to make meals at home out of bits and pieces. Lunches this week are hard boiled eggs and homemade apple strawberry bread. Breakfasts will be what is hopefully the end of the smoothie fixings. Exercise came in two segments: a 3 mile walk and an hour of gardening yesterday. I plan to do something similar today taking lunch to do yoga and then some gardening at home.
Last week of April in school. It is hard to ignore that the countdown has begun. I want to be present in the moment because i know I will miss it next year. Gather ye rose buds and all that ( except I think Shakespeare wrote that to get a woman in bed.)
A rainy day which is good for the garden. I’m starting to feel rather claustrophobic in the town and decided to travel N to the other house (to dust, hoover, cut the grass, move some things). And to see the countryside! But is the Universe suggesting otherwise? I usually break the journey with the darling family rather than at a hotel as money is tight (and it’s nicer). The DD, though, has commitments for my proposed dates and the DSister and DBIL are still suffering from the lurgy. It’s raining, as I said, and forecast to continue like this which makes cutting the N grass impossible. I’m also quite tired a lot of the time, partly because I’ve been gardening a lot, partly because I’m recovering from my own version of the lurgy and partly because I haven’t been going to the gymn. The gymn needs some work to make it work and not injure me, and I’ve been poorly, of course. So I’ll probably stay here in the S for a couple of weeks and keep trying to make things work for me. The SO has now been unemployed for about nine months which obviously will be playing into this. Sleep was good last night. Exercise has been average. Food has been slightly better than average.
Bill, so pleasing to hear of a 4 year-old doing a survey and with a good outcome for her! Credit for learning those lessons about eating over and over again.
curlyjax, such productivity! Credit, credit.
maryann, credit for planning your food for this week.
gardenerjoy, I liked the ‘allowing myself to’ part of your answers to your questions. That’s stayed with me today.
CREDIT for getting right back to my Ideal Food Day. That's how I keep one bad day from turning into a bad pattern.
Exercise: 75, 1265/1800 minutes for April
100% of Ideal Food Day
silverbirch: Thanks for the thought about water. DH proposed a walk, yesterday, after I planned indoor exercise. I never turn that down! I saw your advice, after, and immediately washed my face and used the Neti Pot. I did it again after today's walk. I think it helps. It also helps that the allergens are a bit lower today.
For my fellow Americans: What is the dreaded lurgy and where did the term come from? – The Sun | The Sun
Tuesday - Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" 1st; QEI attended (1597)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was our salmon dish with new potatoes cooked in the microwave; broccoli and green salad were added. Good eating.
Conducted two Zoom sessions. That's more Zooming than I need in one day. One was a class session where it was my turn to lead the discussion. Lively discussion it was. The adults taking classes always surprise me with their intelligence and range of experiences. One member whom I've known for years had spent several years in the Brazilian Amazon. She knew about the deforestation, the illegal miners, and the indigenous tribes without contact from personal experience. For the rest of us, it was an intellectual experience; for her, it was personal.
The evening Zoom was my monthly meeting with folks who are now old friends. We each read what we've written. I suffer from a lifetime of being told that my writing wasn't very good. Makes sense. I worked my career as an engineer and was the master of Power Point vu-graphs to accompany my presentation. The power was in the words spoken with the visuals. I've slowly learned to add the words to what I write. To get better, I've learned to drop topics from a short piece - give up my engineering desire to shove in everything that I know. And learned to attempt to describe specific items that convey the feelings instead of another string of adjectives. My friends thought last night's work was among my best. It feels good to be getting better at something with age.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Thanks for allowing me to add 'dreaded lurgy' to my vocabulary. And for reminding me that one can act so that one bad day doesn't become a pattern.
Silverbirch - LOL that all of the universe was clear that you shouldn't drive to your N house right now. Your garden does need you right where you are.
maryann – Thanks for forcing me to google that Robert Herrick gathered rosebuds - not long after Shakespeare. Don't imagine that you're often accused of being coy.
curlyjax - I'm encouraged by each bag that leaves your house. An inspiration.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 1The Key to Success
The Power of Cognitive Therapy
My father discovered, however, that depressed patients could get better quickly - often with just 10 or 12 sessions of therapy.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 19.
I got back to doing my morning stretches yesterday, credit moi. It is so nice to be able to do them again, including the one that used to hurt my hip so much. I also stopped on the way home for a brisk 10 minute walk. I noticed I was the only female in the parking lot, and got a bit spooked as I watch too many murder mysteries, so I left. Plus I had some errands to run. Eating was on plan until DD begged me to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies again, and of course I ate too much cookie dough batter.I'm focusing on remembering I need to lower my cholesterol to help keep me out of trouble.
Work yesterday included various chats with people, including getting up to speed on how a colleague lost it a bit. She needs to be reined in by our boss, but our boss avoids confrontation so who knows what will happen.
Maryann-great idea to be present in the moment.
silverbirch-I forgot the SO has been unemployed for awhile. I hope he finds something soon. Love to learn new phrases from you!
Gardenerjoy-thanks for that link, what a funny word!
Bill-are you taking a writing class? Great you can stretch your mind in these different ways!
First of all, Thanks for BBE for setting the attribution straight on Gather Ye Rose Buds. I was harking back to 10th grade English. I am shocked to think it was 45 years ago. I was also in wonder that that English teacher's name is still in my mind and the analysis she did of the poem. Now that is lasting teaching. The only poems I have ever been able to memorize are the ones I have sung in choir. I know Jabberwocky word for word.
Yesterday was OP and I did yoga at lunch. Super Credit. The scale edged down as that was two formal exercise days in a row. I feel better already. I was a little worried about the upcoming weekend with four events. Will I finally get out of the 80s to just gain it back? First things first. Make today another OP day. I am wearing pants today to do yoga again. I am going to go to a boys' volleyball game tonite and an after school meeting. That is a long day but I have proven that days out of the house are often more successful
Silverbirch: Tight economies wear often on the soul. My DH is facing a 3rd year of making nothing at farming. He is watching the community go bankrupt around him. I know he will box his way out of this but it is worrisome and disheartening. His latest side gig is allowing the state to pump CO2 into his ground as a solution to Global warming. He will receive so much an acre which is more than any of the crops are bringing in right now. Curly: Yeah for back to stretching. It really is such a solution for aging. Joy: As we have said many times, it is less about falling off the wagon as quickly getting back on to it.
Yesterday's adventure was visiting the storage units for the second time. I meant to do it weekly. I accomplished monthly. DH helpfully pointed out that monthly is already exponentially better than the zero times we visited for many previous years.
Two boxes of financial paperwork went directly to the recycling center. A third box came home because it likely has our social security numbers on some pages, so I'll need to sort through and shred those.
I also brought home two boxes labeled "Grandma's china." The plan is to choose a piece or two for display and then, see if someone in the Buy Nothing group will take the rest. My hope is that there is someone into mix-and-match table displays who will like this pattern.
Here's what Messie Condo says about china in Nobody Wants Your Sh*t: "You might be able to find a buyer, depending on the dishes' age and the rarity of the pattern. If you can't, there are worse things than donating them...like leaving them to your ungrateful offspring, who will take them to the nearest rage room and smash the sh*t out of them. Better to give those dishes a chance at finding a new home with someone who appreciates them."
CREDIT for another 100% day. CREDIT for planned and unplanned exercise. I have a new motivator for keeping up my strength-training -- I want to be strong enough to clear our sh*t from the storage units and the house and to move things to our next residence, whenever and wherever that may be.
Exercise: 60, 1325/1800 minutes for April
100% of Ideal Food Day
BillBlueEyes: Congrats on the excellent feedback from your writing group!
curlyjax: Great job on the morning stretches! Daily stretches really help keep my body moving in functional ways.
maryann: Yay for two days of exercise and a plan to make a third!
I’ve learnt a few things today. For example, I woke at 4am because I ate too much yesterday. That’s probably one of the reasons for tummy ache and poor sleep in recent months. I’ve eaten a fair bit today as well so fingers crossed for tonight. Secondly, taking a (lettuce) leaf out of gardenerjoy’s book, preparing salad in advance works very well indeed. I went shopping with my list, everything on it was on offer (= money off) and I also bought a couple of unlikely things, also on offer. This is very unusual for me, especially recently, but we’d benefit from something a bit different. So I bought two aubergines and a duck. I’ve made a very good warm salad with aubergine (eggplant), tomatoes and chickpeas (garbanzos?) which will be a great lunch with lettuce and carrot salad for a few days. The SO can work out something to make with the duck but it will also last for some time.
I’m very glad to bring lightness to the group with the crazy British term the dreaded lurgy, now often shortened to the lurgy as everyone already knows that it’s dreaded and does dread it.
Bill, such great feedback from your writing colleagues and well deserved. Um, I did keep thinking that there was something different about your writing (part of my background) but then just wasn’t sure and moved on as it’s not our focus here. What a lovely group to be part of. Much credit for no daytime snacks. Hope also no evening snacks …
curlyjax, that’s so good to be able to do morning stretches again. A good way into the day. Please remind me of that when the alarm goes off tomorrow morning!
maryann, thanks for the reminder to focus on today. I’m sorry to hear about DH’s problems with the farm. So much of agriculture is having a rough time.
gardenerjoy, credit for getting to the storage units. I like your plan for the china. China’s certainly a challenge.
Waving to onebyone!
Last edited by silverbirch; 04-23-2024 at 05:27 PM.
Sunday - Thousands crowd into Tiananmen Square for greater political freedom (1989)
Somehow I felt melancholy in the afternoon and needed some good company-I'm so glad to have her in my life. 