Good luck on doing the hunger luncheon. I found that hungry really is a passing sensation. I so agree that food is rather boring when busy yet craving are sooo difficult for me to ignore when emotional-any emotion from bored, excited to depressed. (and sweets are in the house-just read a scientific article today that they noted some people get addicted to high sugar/sweet foods-bingo that is me! Inspite if some thin nutritionist telling me to have just a small portion of sweets-I always do so much better with no treat around me. I could never stop at 1/2 cup of ice cream and leave the carton in the refrig.
Know I have done some diet damage this weekend-but back to recording everything tomorrow, No more company until friday-then we have some more family and another set of close friends to continue celebrating DH birthday. It is a big one-65 can't believe that is his age.
I soon hope to join you on the doing the daily activities-tomorrow is another very long day-Tuesday will be short and then I will do and record the lesson you are on. Hopefully we can do the same lesson each day.
sue
I need to work the hunger strategies for a few days before I can complete day 13 on cravings. Recording the hunger levels seems important, and I forgot to do it for the most part on Saturday and Sunday. I'll make a better effort today (Monday). I'm rather glad to get off the forced march of completing a program-day each day. The challenge is now to get back into moving forward in a few days.
I also need to do more work on my hunger levels chart so that it is useful enough to use as the scale for estimating the level of a craving.
On first reading of the cravings chapter, I thought that I didn't have cravings - certainly not cravings like DW had when she once REALLY CRAVED fried clams when pregnant. But if I expand my concept of cravings to include anytime the food is calling my name, then I've had those.
My current craving is for the Hersey's milk chocolate bars DW bought to give to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. I don't crave one of them. I crave eating the bag of them. That's a big clue that some distorted thinking is going on.
My best idea for a strategy so far is to buy a single portion of some really good dark chocolate and reward myself with that after I serve the first trick-or-treaters. My thinking is that a small portion of good chocolate will satisfy my chocolate craving. It's odd to me that I'm craving a milk chocolate bar, when my taste finds milk chocolate very inferior to dark chocolate. Why aren't I craving an unlimited serving of dark chocolate? As I think of the dark chocolate as I'm typing here, I'm thinking of how nice that single serving will be. But my thoughts of the milk chocolate bars is only about eating a whole bunch of them. Doesn't make sense to me.
Sue - You posted some timely and useful thoughts for me here:
Quote:
I found that hungry really is a passing sensation. I so agree that food is rather boring when busy yet craving are sooo difficult for me to ignore when emotional-any emotion from bored, excited to depressed. (and sweets are in the house-just read a scientific article today that they noted some people get addicted to high sugar/sweet foods-bingo that is me! Inspite if some thin nutritionist telling me to have just a small portion of sweets-I always do so much better with no treat around me. I could never stop at 1/2 cup of ice cream and leave the carton in the refrig.
Yep, sugar stuff calls my name. I did find that I'm quite comfortable with the tiny scoop of ice cream that's served at a local restaurant as part of a fixed price meal. It satisfies me, and I have no craving for more, since the carton isn't available to me, and there's none in my freezer at home. I don't think I'd do as well trying to serve myself a tiny scoop at home.
Good that you are back into recording. I can see that your schedule of guests is a challenge to sticking to your plan. Hope that some of the Beck strategies are helpful.
Look forward to working the same Program-days with you. I think there's some meaty stuff to work on hunger and cravings. You're ahead of me where you already know that hunger is a passing feeling for you. I need to reaffirm that in my head.
Other posters and lurkers - Good morning. Hope you have a pleasantly brisk October day.
XXXXXXX 7 XXXXX|| 14 ||||||| 21 ||||||| 28 ||||||| 35 ||||||| 42
Completed Beck Program-day 12. 30 to go. Keep going!
and would love to find out what the rest of you are doing. Whazup Beck Buddies?
I do understand eating more of sugary food yet not truly a rich food. I actually eat much less of the rich dark chocolate. It is powerful stuff and I can feel much more satiated with much less. both mouth and stomach says WOW that is good but rich and no more is needed. I keep eating more of milk choc on the hunt for that satisfied taste. One of the failure of low fat cookies is that people eat more of them and still consume too many cals. I can find intense food more satisfying rather than bland one.
Halloween sound like a tough night. We are so rural we have never had a drop in treater in over 10 yrs. I like the plan to reward you while handing out stuff. Do you do it all? Could you wife do the choc and you do the non choc stuff? alternating going to the door?
I am an increditable visual eater-I see it and then I want it if it is on the sweet side. While I can ignore hunger when busy and I also can easily override being full if I see certain foods. Hunger really does not bother me it is overriding full that has created the havoc in my life.
Really look forward to redoing the beck program and discussing it on line with you.
Kept to eating plan yesterday, but didn't record a full day of my hunger levels. I'll make a chart in my appointments journal so I'll be reminded during the day. Oh Well.
Sue - You speak to me with your thoughts on intense foods:
Quote:
I keep eating more of milk choc on the hunt for that satisfied taste. One of the failure of low fat cookies is that people eat more of them and still consume too many cals. I can find intense food more satisfying rather than bland one.
My weight gain included a zillion pounds of fairly mediocre manufactured oatmeal raisin cookies, and vending machine Hersey's milk chocolate bars Good enough, perhaps, but not a special treat. Yet I ate and ate and ate them like I was looking for something. I'm going to continue to work on the idea of eating more of the foods that I really like to keep from drifting into large quantities of food that I just find OK. All of which seems similar to your experience:
Quote:
Hunger really does not bother me it is overriding full that has created the havoc in my life.
Beckers and Lurkers - Good morning. May you have a mindful on plan day.
XXXXXXX 7 XXXXX|| 14 ||||||| 21 ||||||| 28 ||||||| 35 ||||||| 42
Completed Beck Program-day 12. 30 to go. Keep going!
so glad you keep posting. I finally had much less demanding day and was able to re-read part of the Beck book. I must once again work on not giving into my cravings. The biggest issue with company, birthday parties and family is that I get so food stimulated. Today I had an appropriate breakfast and lunch, my husband unexpectedly came home early and ate his lunch at home and without a Conscious thought I ate over 250 cals of his potato chips. I have pandering to my cravings for close to 6 weeks and I want to now focus on re-do and re-use many of the Beck concepts. I also started another book by Martha Beck (no relation I think) call the 4 day Win dealing with dieting. She talked about research about people with obsessive compulsives disorder-i.e. continuous hand washing. According to her these people get a sense of relaxation in the brain when they actually wash their hands even though they know they don't need to nor they don't really want to do. When they were stress and wanted to do the compulsive behavior one therapist had them replace hand washing with another activity which they also found relaxing. They reduced hand washing as a response to stress. The author made the connect that often cravings are an attempt to reduce stress therefore one should replace the eating of food with other pleasurable activities, This is so similar to Beck idea of the list of activities to wait out the hunger/cravings.
Now I am trying to figure what do I enjoy doing for 15 minutes that is easy and quick to get started on and will help me riding out the cravings.-I like Sudoko, maybe a jigsaw puzzle, Any way my goal is set up at least 3 things tomorrow that I can easily pull out and do when I acknowledge that desire to eat beyond my need calorie amount.
Hope things are well with you. It is OK if i have you be my diet coach?. And literally if we can keep on the same page(s) on the book would be great. Your postings has encouraged me to get back on track. would like to take off another 50 lbs-less arthritis in the knees and back, more mobility, a lot more fun.
Let me know if there is more I can do to encourage you. How is the hunger charting doing? I know hunger is not the issue for me, it is the cravings and really often the goal is to reduce emotions such as -stress, anger, sad, exhuasted, ect. ,
sue
Stayed on plan with food. Took two good steps at the gym: I increased one weight routine from 16 reps to 17 reps, and increased the weight of another routine up 10 pounds. Those are important for me because they represent getting back into commitment to gym, not just moving through the process.
Walked a mile to a news stand to buy the Woman's World magazine with the cover article about Amanda of 3FC. Good walk, good coverage of Amanda's diet. At $1.49 cover price it was the "cheapest magazine we carry."
Sue - I'll be glad to act as your online Diet Coach. Hope you'll take that role for me.
Glad you're getting back into your Beck. Reading the cravings chapter does put you and I on the same page. I just reread it this morning trying to get the 5 mindset techniques and the 4 behavioral techniques into my head. This appears to be one of the most important Beck tools to get into our working strategies. It's good to be reminded that simply distancing myself from the food can solve the craving. In the past, I've found myself loitering about the appetizer table wondering why I was eating so many. DUH
I look forward to hearing tomorrow how you do on setting up three activities to use to fight cravings.
This struck home: "without a Conscious thought I ate over 250 cals of his potato chips". Mindless eating has put on pounds in my past. Seems that Beck techniques should help with keeping all eating mindful.
I did some recording on hunger, haven't found the reminder that has me doing it every time. I want to finish a whole day recording levels of hunger before I do the step of skipping lunch to cause hunger. This might take a while because I want to find a work day without a major event. Stay on my case here - I don't want to get stuck on my whole Beck just because recording hunger levels is only partially done. OK, here's a positive step forward. I'll break up my six recording events so that they don't have to be done on the same day. That I know I can do.
BillblueEyes,
glad to hear you have some new challenges at the gym. Great work to get re-focused there. I have not swam much and missing it alot. The weather has been very rainy, working and a number of meeting in the community have stoppped me from going. It is an out door pool with short hours. looking forward to being able to swim regularily again.
I agree mastering hunger, desire and craving is a real issue. I actually have the easiest time with hunger. Although when I diet and cut the cals down i do have ocassional hunger days-they are a bit of work.
For me desire is more stimulated by the environment-food around at parties, going past a store with treats, seeing the wine bottle-a visual clue to make me think about food.
Craving is my big problem-a drive to eat in order to calm myself. I must admit that in the past I actually have been rebellious with the NO CHOICE card-sort of oh ya! watch me eat it. I do better using the advantage card, acknowledging that it is not hunger, but a learned emotional pattern. I can't even use the mindset techniques of imagining eating it because I often feel the few seconds of food is worth the quick sense of pleasure over the tension. It is very ingrained pattern and hard to confront and over ride. I like being more gentle with myself and acknowledging that I am some sort of emotional upset, food really is not an answer, but trying to figure what is wrong, accepting it, relaxing using breathing techniques, resting if possible a couple of minutes(Often I am exhausted )take a short break from what ever I am doing. Some of this idea is coming from Martha Beck and concept of two different voices for the dieter- the task master-You will eat "appropriately" and the Rebellious kid-"I'll eat what I want to." I have spend a life time wrestling these two approaches.- Often the No choice feels like the task master and annoyed me.
I never truly completed the hourly hunger chart-I did pick an busy day-always very easy for me not to eat then and just went with a more "global approach". I am a much more of late afternoon and nightime eater-so the lunch skipping was very easy. I know hunger play such a small role if any in my over eating.
I did do well today. I finally weight myself after weeks of dabbling at both dieting and over eating. had a 2.4 lb gain.really not that bad-i am working on losing another 50lb. Tomorrow we are dining with some friends who are the best cooks we know. Another of the DH birthday celebration. then family for 3 nights. I will be alert to more overeating due to desire-an abundance of food, wine and tastes around for the next 4 days.
hope all is going well for you
sue
Last edited by coastalsue; 10-25-2007 at 02:10 AM.
Completed two more meal/snacks of the hunger level chart. Am not yet enlightened by my answers: I'm not particularly hungry before, during, or after eating. Will have to continue working this to feel what I'm supposed to learn here.
Will have a food choice at a meeting at work today. My boss will bring her special brownies to create group camaraderie. She's pretty proud of her skills at doing this with home made food. It only happens about once a year. The meeting is right at the time of my usual afternoon snack. So, although I seriously avoid baked sweets, I plan to eat one (as in 1.0) brownie in place of my normal afternoon apple. During the losing phase of my new journey, I've said NO CHOICE, but she noticed and was a bit hurt. I'll use my success getting to my maintenance weight to allow this indulgence in boss-pleasing.
A minor success: DW asked me to buy a loaf of bread suitable for the new kale and white bean recipe she tried last night. I had the (for me) original idea to buy a small rather than a large outrageously good looking, 100% whole wheat, sour dough, hard crusted, boule. I ate only one slice, toasted with nothing on it so I could taste it alone and taste the juices of the dish dipped by the bread. Good choice in purchase and in portioning at dinner. I've NEVER in my life bought a small bread, since the large is usually about twice the volume for about 50% greater price. A positive step for rational buying for me.
Sue - Congratulations for using the Beck craving strategies, particularly for tailoring them as best fits you. Sounds like you're working these regularly - that's encouraging to me as I start to use them.
Visual clues are the biggie for me also. It's so useful to be clearly aware of that because it makes it easier to work the strategies to distance myself from the clues.
Glad you're back into weighing yourself - a big step in being in control.
I wish you well with the entertaining over the next couple of days around your DH's birthday celebrations.
Beckers and Lurkers - Feel free to post; it's not a duprass, LOL.
everyone please feel free to join this dicsussion!
BillblueEyes-
I understand you sense of "mushiness" of the hunger exercise. it did not really click with me-just had a sense that hunger nor panic of hunger was a real issue for me. The hunger state is a very unimportant place in my overeating. I actually I have probably damaged the hunger feeling system over the years by ignoring it so much-either pushing myself to do something else when I should have eaten real food or mostly by ignoring the fact of being full.
Good luck with the brownies-Sound like a great plan that social just a bit sharing of food. It is sort of scary -that old one sweet leads to the slippery slope. Hang in there with resolve to keep to the one. I thinking things like that are more powerful than the rigid perfect diet day. More good stuff-getting a smaller and more expensive(money not calories wise) bread. Enjoy the eating moment to the fullest. Focusing on enjoying the one piece verus fighting all night with the temptation of the remainder of the loaf. I have some time like that but my goal it increase those behaviors to a daily event not just occassionally.
I have eaten small amount today awaiting the yummy dinner tonight. Here is my potential slippery slope -Martinis in honor of DH birthday followed by great wine with dinner. Right now my plan is one Martini and 2 glasses of wine with dinner. Plus then we sit around and play games with the wine on the card table. Since we can walk home so DH is much more relaxed about having wine during the evening. We laugh so hard during the games I know I did not any thing other than water to drink. But it will be a change of pattern not to have more during the rest of evening. -a good one.
When you find those food blocking sun glasses to wear -let me know.
did get the .4 lb off already, yey
I could keep focusing on desire and craving and changing those behaviors for awhile-let me know what you think
Just quickly. In a deadline crisis at work. Went in early yesterday and didn't leave till after 11pm. Going back in early this morning.
No gym , no long walk - only 4000 pedometer steps, rather than my usual 12k or so
BUT, I ate on plan I stopped eating my lunch when I felt satisfied, my new emerging strategy, leaving almost half of the leftovers I had packed. So, when 7pm came around, I had dinner available. Work crisis with not a single trip to the vending machines. That's a big deal for me. Skipped evening snack because I just didn't think about it, making Thursday an under eating day.
AND, at my afternoon meeting with the plate of brownies offered with much attention, I just happened to get engaged in a necessary conversation away from them and escaped without eating the one that I had planned to eat for my afternoon snack. Happily had my favorite instead: a quarter cup of lightly salted roasted soy nuts. Boy do I like my soy nuts - seems like a whole lot when I'm eating them, fills me up, bunch of fiber, bunch of protein, about 120 calories. Hope I never get tired of them.
There might just be a lesson for me here about how this Cognitive Behavior Therapy stuff works. Since I had planned to eat the brownie, I didn't crave it anytime during the entire meeting while the full plate sat on the table in front of me. Nor did I crave it when time came to take one. Since I wasn't craving it, I realized that if I didn't eat it, I would go have my preferred snack as well as skipping a brownie. A casual choice was available to me rather than a tortured self denial. If all eating issues were like this, then I'd feel like I was "thinking like a thin person."
Sue - Congratulations on your 0.4 pound loss - it's in the right direction.
Hope your birthday dinner goes well. Sounds like you have a plan that you can stick to.
I'm content dawdling on the desire, hunger, craving stuff for now. I suspect that this will be a big part of my Beck plan. Hopefully, this weekend I'll declare my hunger charting complete enough. It won't be until next week that I have a normal day to skip lunch for the forced hunger exercise.
Beckers, lurkers, passers by, previous posters, and Beck-curious - Feel free to join in.
sounds like some great stuff-very pressured day and not using food deal with exhaustion nor tension. Another big yey for the brownie situation. Amazing "forgetting" to have a planned one. I have been reading other articles about the how unproductive the rigid denial route is. Great to ponder that you had include a brownie in our food plan so there was not any great continous wrestling about having one.
I hate when earning a living or other time comsuming actvities makes exercising tough. I may fuss about heading off the workout, but Always feel so good afterward. I am sure if I could hire a maid and cook-I would exercise all that time instead of doing chores. hummm don't thing DH will buy that.
Crunchy food such as soy nuts are a great tension release for me. nice bonus they are healthy and low cal.
my dinner went better-I did the one martini and 2 glassess of wine and stoppped. but I "forget" and much later had an after dinner drink- Still much less food and alcohol than other times. The other good thing is that they are working on having much lower cal meals. -BBQ fish and veggies, no bread, great salad. I was an improved modifying eater-not going to lose weight eating and drinking that much-but not going to regain the lost weight either.
I really want to re-work the hunger charting. I think it is a real problem for me not even process any hunger feeling. I need to start feeling hunger and satiation. I have really damaged that sensitivity with decades of emotional eating.
have a great weekend-Again more family is here and I may not getting in much posting-computer is the area they sleep in-I'll working on appropriate eating, wishing you well.
Hi to every one else-please join us- we realy do learn and support each other.
Had an opportunity for FREE ice cream at noon at work yesterday - three flavors, nuts, cherries, whipped cream, the works. FREE is such a draw for me. I'm not destitute. Why do I feel so compelled to consume FREE food? Does this happen to anyone else? Food offered by family and friends doesn't even slightly trigger the feeling for FREE food.
I went to the affair serving ice cream to chat with some friends. Before going, I thought about the ice cream as a craving, that I could have some, but that I really wanted the lunch I'd brought from home that included raisin couscous and roasted vegetables. I also thought that, even though it was good ice cream, it wasn't great ice cream like Hagen Daas. So, while I was in the room with the ice cream, it just wasn't a big deal to avoid it. Went on to my lunch which I doubly enjoyed.
Like the brownies the day before, I just have to think that Beck's strategies are helping me with cravings. It's not just that I didn't eat the ice cream and brownies, it's that I didn't have to fight them to avoid them. That's the way I want to live. I hope this is a new skill and not just a transient one.
Sue - Good news about following your plan for dinner with friends. Wishing you continued success on your weekend with guests.
Lurkers and Beck-curious - Do you feel drawn to FREE food?
Over the past two days I have read this entire thread as I was anticipating the arrival of my book and workbook. You regular posters have been really inspiring. So I have been lurking, but now I've decided to join.
First a little about me: My name is Bethany and I am 26 years old. I did not have a problem with my weight until my second year of college. The gaining was quick and consistent until I got angry with my mother in 2004 for insisting that I wore a much larger size top than I actually did. So out of revenge I lost about 70 pounds. (I'm a stubborn girl) But at some point I decided that I could splurge a little, and be a little less strict... well it never ended. After saying "Okay, but this is the last time." and restarting my diet tomorrow over and over again I felt like a lost cause. I gained everything back plus another 30+ pounds on top of that.
In May of this year I got a job at a mental health center. I love my job, but I go into work every day feeling like a fraud. Although I am only in an administrative position I feel like I should be somewhat inspiring to clients. I feel like I should be trying to better myself as well... so here I am. I found the Beck Diet Solution when browsing at Amazon and ordered it. I finished my day one activities a few hours ago. It is already making me put a little more thought into my thoughts and I am looking forward to the next six weeks. Now I just need to figure out which diet and back-up diet I would like to use.
Sorry to be long-winded, but that's my story in a fairly large nutshell.
Welcome Bethany- so glad you joined us. I have really enjoy the ideas in Beck. I am now a believe in retraining your brain.
Hi BillBlueEyes
Another powerful food success. Free food can be such a magnet. Even skinny Dh goes crazy at a buffet. I hardly get any wine in a resturante at $6-9 a glass but open bottle of wine at home is quite the siren.
More later still rather busy household
Difficulty in following my food plan, but not doing mindless eating or drinking.
I have completed day 2. I spent the morning researching various diets. I decided on a general calorie counting program of 1500-1600 calories per day as my primary. I chose this because it is what worked for me before. When I was successful before I was eating 1200-1300 calories per day, but I upped that intake because I don't feel that I can maintain such a low level of intake in the long term. Anyhow... I will record everything that I eat and count calories. I wasn't really sure what to do for my back-up so I chose Volumetrics. I don't know much about it, but it sounded appealing. I will pick up the book next time I get to the store and if I don't feel like it is something that I can stick to I will reconsider my back-up plan.
As far as modifications go: I don't really have any. Calorie counting has been very flexible for me in the past. I will plan on having a piece of dove dark chocolate in the evenings to help curb those chocolate cravings in the past. I am going to spend some time going through my old food journals later on this evening to get an idea of what I would like to buy when shopping time comes around.
Re: Free Food. Why does it feel like an obligation? I'll be like "Oooh! Free food! I have to have some... it is free!" It doesn't even have to be something that I am particularly fond of... free is enough. I wonder where that started.
Catching UP on hunger strategies
Good enough, perhaps, but not a special treat. Yet I ate and ate and ate them like I was looking for something. I'm going to continue to work on the idea of eating more of the foods that I really like to keep from drifting into large quantities of food that I just find OK. All of which seems similar to your experience:
) But at some point I decided that I could splurge a little, and be a little less strict... well it never ended. After saying "Okay, but this is the last time." and restarting my diet tomorrow over and over again I felt like a lost cause. I gained everything back plus another 30+ pounds on top of that.
I am going to spend some time going through my old food journals later on this evening to get an idea of what I would like to buy when shopping time comes around. 