Hi all. Angelmomma (Chris) here. I have not been doing good. Since dh lost his job it has been hard here. Not much time for myself so have not been doing much.
Had snow here in western wa...not used to it. We had three days off last week, wed..thur..fri. So I have an extended winter vacation. Dh and the union are going to file an EEO...equal employment opportunity. Discrimination is the name. I sure do hope that this will end soon....I just need to think things thru. Have been listening to a relaxation tape by Dr. Travis Fox. It has really seemed to help me alot.
Have a dental appt today and dh will be going to the unemployment office so hopefully that will give me some time for myself. Am reading a book now...saw my bds on the side and realized that I have not opened it for quite a while. Plan on doing that today and again starting over.
Thanks for all the support and thoughts you all have given. Dh is thankful too. There are so many people that we know here that are upset at what happened to dh. Alot of support and prayers there. I just know that you all are thinking of us and you don't really know us personally. You all are a blessing and I need to remember that. Thanks
Robin ~ Just a couple of thoughts I wish to share with you....I was reading the reviews on amazon on the new Beck book....one review from a medical professional (I forget the credentials) gave Beck's book very high ratings along with a book, The Anti-inflamation diet...so I checked that book and it sounds very useful.....your comments about sugar cravings made me think of it. About OA, I thought it was a little depressing too....so while I know it is very, very helpful and I deeply respect the 12 step principles, something didn't quite resonate for me....I think it is about finding what matches our needs....and we know it is right for us deep down....if its right for you, you will be drawn and things will work-out. ...keep trusting the process. You are doing super with the changes you have implemented...I hear your firm resolve and I applaud you!
I am thinkin' that the others are busy with the holidaze....hopefully when life calms down, they'll post....these are difficult dieting days....to not gain is a major accomplishment!
First news: I put up my anniversary post in the Living Maintenance Section, in case anyone is interested.
Now, getting on to personals back to the 18th...apologies for it taking this long, but the sick kids thing really set me back. BTW: they are both better now, if not 100% and I'm hopeful there will be decent sleep soon.
onebyone Congrats on the 5 lb loss! Good job on eating and exercising to plan. You are building those habits, getting that resistance muscle nice and strong. Thanks for the great thoughts about making my room special and relaxing. I'm so sorry to hear about the distance in your family--that must be extra tough this time of year, and I don't have much advice for you, except that CT does help with depression/happiness issues if you can identify and respond to sabotaging thoughts. Sounds like you got some good advice here, and made a good decision for yourself and your mother. Happy Solstice by the way! One of the events my family celebrates this time of year.
Bill Great job on the 1.0 buffet trip and the great choices! Thanks the thoughts about enriching my life in my situation. I often struggle trying to figure out if I'm simply acknowledging reasons why things seem hard/impossible right now, or I'm making excuses. The outside perspective is valuable, since it isn't loaded up with "shoulds" and self judgment. Sounds like sitting out the snowstorm was a fantastic idea! I don't think I've ever been able to drink half a cup of hot chocolate. Your restraint is amazing! LOL on your observation that working on tight isn't as much fun as working on big. Refreshing to have a male perspective.
shrinkin Sorry you lost your post. I often copy my whole thing before I hit the reply or submit button. Just in case. I like your idea of maintaining while life is chaotic. So often I try for perfection and end up worse than if I'd just dealt with what I could realistically deal with. Have fun in Dallas, and Oh Well on those pecans.
Andrea Sounds like you are sick and the world is uncertain and dreary. I think you have a great attitude about it, in spite of it all. Thanks for the breathing exercise description. I'm going to be adding meditation to my day very soon and may make use of some of it. As far as night eating goes, I guess I pretty much think it doesn't matter when a calorie is taken in, but I know some people have times of day that are difficult to manage, and if night is tough for you then maybe yeah, stop early. My tough time is about 3 pm. I like your blue star approach to night eating. As far as writing down food, I'm lousy at writing down a plan, but appear to be good and literally throwing my plan into a box and just eating that. I may have to just do this for a while.
RobinW Love the new kitty cat avatar! Glad your DH is now committed to eating better, but sorry to hear about his motivation. At least he's motivated. You say you have scale issues; have you reread the BDS preparing to weigh in chapters? I don't think waiting until your 21 days is over is a bad idea, but preparing is probably good. Or you could be like me and weigh yourself 37 times a day until you are well and thoroughly desensitized to the whole fluctuation thing. But I'm a little weird... Sounds like your sugar busting is going well, and I'm glad your cravings are diminishing. It is getting quiet around here for the holidays.
Kim good to see you around! Yikes another post eaten....I'm going to submit and edit. Exiting news about the guy! I'm glad you are facing your fears about it, and your progress too. I like that you are continuing to focus on improving on the BDS topics that you've already begun, rather than getting bogged down by adding new stuff in before you're ready.
maryblu Yes, that virus is NASTY, but I think it is pretty much gone. I'm so hoping... And here's hoping you manage to avoid it as well. Happy shoveling. I so adore Arizona.
Chris Sounds like you are having just a tough time, and I continue to send my best wishes for a good resolution to your DH's problem.
Everyone is shoveling. Gack. And thanks everyone for your get well wishes for my family!
My new Beck book came while I typed this. I'm going to do a quick browse and then hit the sack. I'll be back tomorrow, barring more vomiting children, to finish out Day 42, ponder BDS Maintenance since I like some of her concepts and try to put together a plan for moving forward.
Anne
Last edited by AnneWonders; 12-23-2008 at 11:03 PM.
OK, I'm really, really excited about the new book, The Complete Beck Diet for Life. I just did a flip through, and I think it addresses some of the issues of the first book (e.g. one day per skill) and I think I even like the new food plans and I almost universally hate food plans, even my own.
Anyway, I'm excited. Bill, did you get yours? What did you think?
Okay..just found out about the book and ordered it from amazon. No one around here has it in yet and it is cheaper thru amazon. What do you all think of it.
Diet Coaches - Started today well with a hike to Whole Foods to be one of the first 100 who bought more than $25 after 6am to receive a free bag of Whole Food products. CREDIT moi. Do I love freebies. Particularly when I can combine that with my daily walk AND get myself moving early this morning since I have a ton of gift wrapping to finish today. LOL that I worried whether my short list of items would make the $25 minimum. Any four items at Whole Foods will cost more than $25. The Brussels Sprouts look particularly good for our roasted veggie medley for our big dinner today.
Robin (RobinW) - Kudos for the 100% on-plan eating and for that good exercise with the snow shovel. Ouch for the real-life Sabotaging Thought, "Im entitled!!!" It blows my mind that such a thought can just pop into our heads and seek to plant its roots. Good job of standing it down.
Thanks for the links about sugar. I'm still struggling to categorize my own reaction to it, but it's remarkably clear that sugar makes me crave sugar. Perhaps I need to devise a strategy that allows a small taste of a sugar thing when there is no more available to me, but absolutely none when there is a bowl sitting in front of me. Like last night at a party with a potluck dessert table. I decided to have a sample. Then had another, then another, then a fourth before I caught myself. I do well when I ignore the dessert table, and I do well when there is only one item available and I take a bite of DH's. But last night didn't fare well with dipping into a cornucopia. Oh Well.
Chris (angelmoma210) - Ouch that the situation with your DH's job continues to be tough. Hope the quite holidays give you time to reflect. Sending you both supportive thoughts as you look for your path forward.
Anne (wndranne) - BIG Kudos for your six year anniversary. That's a full year longer than the magic five year number that is touted as the duration that moves you out of the 95% who gain the weight back. I salute you and wish you sixty more.
That lunch box discovery is neat; once the choice is made, then following the plan is easier. That helps me to see why eating on-plan at work is so much simpler that on-plan at home. Might think of a way to use that for Christmas Day when the house is full of treats and people eating them.
I'm jealous; my copy of Beck's The Complete Beck Diet for Life arrived at the local UPS at 12:50am today (thank you Amazon for servicing the geeks who thrive on too much information) - maybe delivered today, maybe Friday.
Andrea (thinkerbell) - Congrats on making it to the Superbowl and Congrats for being the defending champ. Perhaps you can help out our Patriots; we seem to be slipping a bit here at the end of the season.
And Kudos for your active, positive steps. You're working your Beck strategies well. Having Music of the Night on your Nite-eating playlist just cracks me up. That would scare me into staying on-plan big time.
Interesting question about writing down food for the day. I recorded my food daily for over a year, but recently stopped after a hard disk crash and recovery got my files out of kilter. Methinks I would do well to go back. I didn't record the calories, or volume (except perhaps LARGE AMOUNT, or small taste). The daily review helped me to confront when I was drifting, and particularly forced me to acknowledge samples from Whole Foods, which I tend to ignore as merely samples even if they're high fat cheese and fig jam.
Its raining!! YUCK! All this snow is now being covered and we are seeing huge water ponds in the roads and walkways.
Ok....anyone see the news this morning about the chocolate being confiscated by (french?) customs? Over $300,000 worth of chocolate is going to be destroyed. Just because it's a cheap knockoff. What a waste
I have a kudos for myself. I dont usually recognize when this happens to myself, but see it in others. I stopped eating when I was full! I usually only make what we will eat and rarely have leftovers. Last night the chicken thighs were exceptionally tastey! I finished my plate and looked at the chicken thinking, I should have another. Its chicken so its ok. But I was no longer hungry and realized that I can have it again tonight So I left it.
Another kudos. Hubby and I trucked out to a mall that was about 10miles away. Its the only one that had what we were looking for. (Yah for shopping done!) Anyway, it was a stressful ride with the weather and traffic. When I got home I went right to the fridge to grab a deviled egg. I pulled my hand back out because I realized I wasnt hungry....I just wanted the egg. Yah me
Anne~ Im so happy your kiddies are feeling better. Im going to head over and read your anniversary post. Congratulations!!!!!
Bill~ Kudos for getting up early and getting your freebies!!!
thinkerbell~ Anti-Inflamitory diet sounds interesting. Im thinking its probably lower carb with lots of berries for fruits ....am I right?
What is everyone's plan for eating or not eating tomorrow?
...I'll be eating breaky and lunch just like Im suppose to.
...dinner I will pick out the noodles from the lasagna, skip the bread and pile the salad on my plate before I eat any lasagna!
...cookies and goodies shouldnt be a problem...I didnt do any baking this year, and where we are going the cookies are going to taste like cigarette smoke. Im safe Odd way to thank smokers
Well it's the 24th and we're in for a quiet holiday, just DH and me.
I made DH a present today, just a small book that I was dying to try out. Iit turned out pretty good and I hope he likes it. We were going to not give gifts but he does so much for me I wanted to do something.
I've been having a tough time with cravings, battling a really really strong desire for cookies. I don't have any in the house so I can't give in but the thoughts and desire for them are possessing me. I'm practicing distraction to get through it.
In general my food is okay but I am feeling very puffy. I haven't been on the trampoline for a few days now. I was walking a lot instead but really I should do both.
I am looking forward to the new book. If you're reading it can you give us a review of what's different in it? I doubt I'll find it in my local bookstore for quite a while yet.
Well everyone have a nice Christmas eve. And I hope is good to you.
Diet Coaches - Merry Christmas, One and All. Hope you find peace in your life and your path to bring peace to the world.
Our big meal was last night, Christmas Eve, declared by DW as "the best meal ever produced by this kitchen." And it was. Just the combination of each item being special, including apple sauce made from four kinds of apples that complemented the pork roast with current sauce (from a Penzeys magazine). My eating was close to, at least within sight of, on-plan. Had a small slice of the mince meat pie that was made just for me, leaving a chunk of the crust, and a sliver of a sliver of the pumpkin pie without any crust. CREDIT moi for not going crazy.
Had a quiet evening playing Apples_to_Apples. Had to berate my adult children to go to bed so DW and I could fill the stockings. It's pretty special that both of them spend the night here so they can do the wake up to the Christmas morning thing, especially the stockings, which I have dutifully stuffed, including the five $1 coins (gold-colored) that they dig for knowing that they're there.
onebyone - Yay for a quiet holiday to give some respite to both body and soul. Neato to make an unexpected book for your DH.
My copy of my copy of Beck's The Complete Beck Diet for Life was delivered at 4:30pm by a UPS guy in a hurry - simply amazing to me that a pre-ordered book with a release date of Dec 23rd is delivered on the 24th despite the snow blocked streets. It was immediately wrapped to go under the tree, so my review will have to wait.
Robin (RobinW) - WOW, Kudos for stopping eating when full - even with an appealing chicken thigh in sight. And Kudos for avoiding the deviled egg just because you weren't hungry. That some good Beck strategies going down.
Re "plan for eating or not eating tomorrow?" My day won't be that difficult since our big meal is done. Do have to continue to avoid a whole tin of re-gifted cookies
Everyone Else - Waving. Hope the holiday season goes well for you.
Readers -
"Common diet related sabotaging thoughts:
...
I can start dieting again tomorrow.
... " Beck, pg 193.
Just a quick hello to say that I too have the new book and am just through the second chapter or so. This book is arriving at a perfect time for me as I've been on a slippery slope pretty much since Thanksgiving.
My first impressions are that she's retooled things a bit and gotten more specific about a diet plan with food lists etc. That is not a real draw for me, as I'm such a professional (I said professional, not successful) dieter that I know all the right foods to eat. The beauty of BDS to me is the mental stuff. I look forward to reading it all again as I need to hit reboot on this whole thing.
I have what I think I'll be eating over at my parents' house for Christmas dinner all planned out for today, even saving room for a small slice of cheesecake. If I stick with that plan I'll be back on track. There are still too many Christmas goodies in our pantry. I need to hide them or get my husband to take them to work.
I look forward to hearing others' impressions of the new book. Happy Holidays to all!
Things are all winding down and Im about ready for bed.
Bill~ Kudos for not going overboard!! I hope you had a very nice christmas
freer~ I havent even thought about picking up the new book. I like the orginal....I think I'll wait and hear what every has to say about it.
Ok...as for me and my food today. Breaky and lunch were right on. Supper was not in my control but I did alright with my choices. I filled 1/2 my plate with salad, took 1/2 a slice of lasagna, 3 pcs of sausage in sauce. I skipped the garlic bread and asked to take the dessert home because I was too full. That is where the problem lays.....I was too full.
What is kinda cool tho, 1/2 a plate of salad and about 1/4 of the food I would have normally had filled me right up!
Not so cool....I ate the noodle layers, and there were apples in the salad. This means I had sugar and flour today. Not cool! By the time we got home I was feeling freaky about the cake we brought home. I wanted to dig right in....and I was already full!!!!!!!!!! So took a big chunk of cheese and knawed on that with my mug of water. Hopeing that would fix the sugar craving. It did
My merry christmas gift to myself this morning....I got on the scale and Im down a total of 12lbs since Dec 1st Yah!
Coaches: I'm happy enough with The Complete Beck Diet for Life and still feel like I'm needing the structure and focus after my recent derailment, that I'm now working through it. There are some tweaks to the basic skill set between BDS and CBDL, and Coaches become Buddies. I'm not thinking the terminology matters much, but I sort of like Coaches better.
Unlike BDS, CBDL has Five Stages, which are filled with familiar material, sometimes with a slightly different spin on it, and a diet/food plan spelled out in Stage 2 and modified in Stage 4. Anyway, I'll start checking in on my progress in Stage 1 tomorrow.
Prior to Stage 1 there are 10 Tasks to do to get ready. Again, lots of familiar stuff, but with a couple new items and some twists. So here are the tasks and my progress with them.
Gather Your Supplies: Mostly BDS stuff, with the addition of Business-sized cards, a small box for a Memory Box, and a large box for a Distraction box, plus measuring cups/spoons, food and people scales.
Set a Modest Weight Loss Goal: I'm still at my 2nd 5 pound goal from BDS
Make Time for Dieting: The time management stuff with the prioritization exercises. I feel somewhat relieved that this time around Beck includes get enough sleep on the list of "diet" tasks!
Get a Diet Buddy: The coach role we are all familiar with.
Get Organized: Clean up and prepare your environment.
Make a Memory Box: to collect positive memories of diet-related accomplishements. A genius idea I wish I'd thought of years ago.
Fill your Distractions Box: A more concrete take on the Distractions List from BDS. Mine has actual stuff, plus lists (cards) of things to do.
Talk to Your Family: Not asking for permission or help, just letting them know what is going on.
Build a Sense of Entitlement: Do not put yourself last.
Make Response Cards: Specifically dealing with practicing skills every day, NO CHOICE (slightly expanded from BDS to a more global sense I like better), and unfairness.
This was pretty painless for me, just having gone through the 42 Day BDS cycle. I imagine it would take more time starting from scratch. I'm pretty much good to go, except for getting the smaller cards.
Tomorrow I'll report back on Stage I, Skill 1, which is Motivate Yourself Daily, using an Advantages Deck (essentially an ARC with one reason per card). I haven't figured out why the switch.
In other news, we had a decent Christmas day today, with moderately overstimulated children and way too many cookies, but so be it. I'm feeling better and am finally fully healed up from the nursing/pumping issue I had before Thanksgiving. Long time to heal! Sleep has been better and I'm generally positive. And, nobody puked even once today!!
At the risk of activating Bill's book habit, I just finished a fascinating book called Brain Rules. Summarizes the major things we know about how brains work, and ideas for doing things better in daily life. The associated web site is www.brainrules.net. It isn't diet/weight loss related at all, but I got some insights into how CT might work, as well as a lot of understanding of why my brain is melting with the stress and lack of sleep I've been dealing with lately, and why my visual migraines manifest the way they do. Absolutely fascinating. I'm going to have to read it again when I'm better rested and can retain more.
Chris/angelmomma210 Hope you are hanging in there. Let us know what you think of the new book.
Bill Free food normally sounds like a diet nightmare, but sounds like you actually scored a triple with that one. Your Christmas meal sounds wonderful.
RobinW Hurray for leftovers! Scary how an apple can trigger a sugar craving for you. I alway want sugar, but that is true whether I'm eating the stuff or not, and apart from a few very specific trigger foods, moderation always works well for me. I know how lucky I am.
onebyone I distracted myself from eating cookies by eating cookies. Hope your strategy worked out better for you than mine did for me. If I blame Santa, do you think I'll be put on the naughty list?
freer I'm liking some of the shifts in emphasis of the new book, and I think the core of the techniques is still strong and effective. I'll let you know about the food plan when I get there, but the bibliography is full of scholarly papers from Barbara Rolls (of Volumetrics fame), Brian Wansink (Mindless Eating), and National Weight Control Registry (among others), so I'm pretty hopeful.
Diet-wise, a fairly successful day, considering the temptations. I stuck fairly closely to my plan, though not perfect. Given my recent off plan eating, I'd have to say I did great. Credit ME. There's always room for improvement, but my mindset wasn't in the mode of, I'll start over again tomorrow, so for me, that's huge.
I found time to read more of the new book and it's been quite helpful. I never had the original book. I had chosen to purchase the audiobook and the workbook, so having the new book has been great. There have been many times when I've wanted to refer back to something I'd heard in the audiobook but that's just not so easy since each cd doesn't list an index or anything. For this reason, I'm really happy I got the new book.
Anne - It'll be interesting to hear your take on the new book. I too think it's a great refresher of the original stuff. I also like the idea of the Memory Box and the Distraction Box. I'm doing it a bit differently than the book in that I'm keeping them as "tasks" in Outlook on my computer. That way I can always find them and add to the list. I do that with my Advantages as well. I have them set on a timer that pops up everyday or twice a day if needed.
Today I finally get to get back to Jazzercise as the center I go to has been closed for 2 days and we were out of town a few days before that. The exercise part of all this is no problem for me as I have enjoyed aerobics for years. It'll feel good to 'feel' my muscles once again after almost a week off.
Diet Coaches - Eating was mindful even though not stellar. CREDIT moi for that much; I passed up many, many opportunities for mindless behavior. Had two more meals served in the dinning room with tablecloth and candles - signals to my brain that this is serious eating time. I expected dinner to be a cool-down at the kitchen table just with DW, but ended up with DD and her BF back in the dinning room. The family time was great, was the first time to have just those two for a meal, so a good time to hear more of his story.
We took a family walk in the early afternoon. Weather had turned sunny and clear - just a bit cool. Was a chance to try out my gifts of new wool hiking socks and super warm mittens.
Robin (RobinW) - Congrats for the 12 pounds down in December - a great reminder that the holiday season can be a good place to work on-plan eating. Kudos for the plate started with 1/2 salad; seems like that sets the mind frame so that good choices can follow. LOL at gnawing on your cheese; yep, we gotta do what works for us.
Anne (wndranne) - Thanks for the summary of The Complete Beck Diet for Life. That will help me to dig in; I'm currently kinda flipping around and about trying to figure out how I'll incorporate this into what I'm already doing based on The Beck Diet Solution. I immediately like that Coaches are now Buddies - that seems to match the role of equals, and reflects that we're most likely to find someone interested who is also on a similar path.
And thanks for being sensitive to my book addiction with your pointer to Brain Rules. Naturally, I've now read the site and the Amazon reviews and put it on my Shopping List. It's appeal is that it can enhance what I'm doing without requiring a new framework.
So glad that the family health issues are under control so that you all were able to enjoy Christmas day.
freer - Kudos for making a plan in advance for the Christmas dinner at your parents' house. That's such a positive example of making Beck thinking work. Glad that Diet for Life arrived just when you need a restart. Does it lend itself to tracking through the program here on this thread?
Readers -
"Common diet related sabotaging thoughts:
...
I'll never lose weight anyway.
... " Beck, pg 193.
I think you have a great attitude about it, in spite of it all. Thanks for the breathing exercise description. I'm going to be adding meditation to my day very soon and may make use of some of it. As far as night eating goes, I guess I pretty much think it doesn't matter when a calorie is taken in, but I know some people have times of day that are difficult to manage, and if night is tough for you then maybe yeah, stop early. My tough time is about 3 pm. I like your blue star approach to night eating. As far as writing down food, I'm lousy at writing down a plan, but appear to be good and literally throwing my plan into a box and just eating that. I may have to just do this for a while. 
Wednesday - Christmas Eve
So I left it.
Christmas Eve
is good to you.
to everyone out there busy over the holidays!