Beck Diet For Life/Solution – December 2009 – Support, Discussion, Buddy/Coach

[ChinaMaine]

Saturday I spent most of the day working on my son’s Christmas gift – the slide show of the best pics we have of him and fun times we had and a dvd for all the rest. That’s meant organizing the photos, both printed and digital pics. DH has been scanning the prints, and I’ve been organizing the virtual mountain of digital images. I’m working back from now, and DH is working forward from 1983. I’m on 2000, he’s on 1993. The race is on to meet somewhere around 1998.

When he was a teenager we went to a National Park a year, the last year was 2000 in Mt Rainier, so I’m just getting to those photos. I wouldn’t have done this work without some impetus and hard deadline. But I’m so glad we are doing it – it’s wonderful to see all these ‘old’ photos and reminisce. And we do slideshows for MIL a couple of nights a week. She gets such a kick out of it too…

WI-no weigh-in. Read my cards, and didn’t make a plan again. But when I logged all my food this AM, I was just below my max calories for the day. Food – op; Exercise – off-plan – (no exercise)

The Good
- Identified hunger vs non-hunger every time I ate – credit!
- Eat mindfully, enjoying every bite – credit!
- Tolerated non-hunger without eating – credit!
- I posted here – credit!
- Used resistance techniques – credit!

The Bad,
- Spontaneous exercise – nope

and The Ugly
- Give credit throughout the day for every positive eating behavior – nope. I am starting to think about this one, rather than just ignore this important skill totally. That’s the first step to actually doing something about it someday. Thanks Margaret for your strategies for this skill. I agree reminding myself of the benefits of doing this skill would make it more likely I’ll actually do it.

[maryblu]

A nippy good morning to y'all. We are back in the deep freeze again. My blood has thickened up nicely; 10 degrees above zero the last cuppla days felt positively balmy.

BillBE, as for the large pot of homemade noodles and your question about my ability to eat a sane quantity..I eat exactly how many I want, no more, no less! It works for me, but, as I always caution my Beckie friends, do as Beck says, not as I do. ROFLMAO at:

Kim (PrairieChick) - Yep, calories burned by laughing consume the same amount of fat as calories burned by jogging. Presumably belly laughs lead to six pack abs, LOL.

I can report on another substitution that works. Dancing alone at home to the Blues Channel burns the same amount of calories as dancing to a live band; it just isn't as much fun. I decided not to drive the 60 miles last night to do the live music..too cold, wind chill of -30 kinda gave me pause. OK, I have to admit, it is *way not as much fun, but I had planned dancing to be my exercise for the day, so incorporated some free weights and some stability ball stuff and gotterdun.

Kept the Blues Channel on all night; I swear I was dancing in my sleep. Now, does *that burn any calories??

[midlifecrisis57]

Hi Becksters!
I am still trying to get a handle on this forum protocol: I kept going to closed threads! I think I'm on to this: find the latest thread page and check in!
I am travelling but Beck and mindful eating have been so great. I'm struggling with Beck 10, is that the one of setting a goal of losing 5 lbs? I really don't have a goal measured in pounds, I like BillBE's after the first lb (or dress size) it is maintenance. So I have as my goal just to continue working through the Beck acceptances and a food plan and mindful eating for the next two weeks.If 5 lb loss per month is average, then I should be at about 2 and 1/2 pounds as a goal. Only trick is, I have no interest in getting on a scale for the starting weight. I wish there were a scale that started with 0 for today and then just measure the loss after. I have no interest in knowing my absolute weight because it tends to make me more neurotic rather than less. Anyone else have success/not success with alternatives to scale measurement for achievement milestones?

Secondly, i am questioning Becks following step, to measure one's level of hunger before, during, and after eating. Why not measure one's LACK of hunger (before) and or SATISFACTION during and after eating, as these are the GOALS not CRAVING. Anyone on my wavelength here/ I notice that if I stop and gauge my lack of hunger/satisifaction, I tend to suffer less! Also I check, from MINDFUL EATING principles, 7 sense of hunger: Eyes, Nose, Mouth, Stomach, Cellular, Mind, and Heart hungers, again, analysing these different forms of hunger yields some amazing results, rather than focusing on one hunger and feeding always the most demanding one. I mean 1 serious hunger and 6 not hungers has quite a different solution, no? Anyone else check multiple sensory inputs for hunger/satisfaction?
thanks and carry on!

[Shepherdess]

Well, it’s been a tough weekend. We had some pipes freeze and no water at the house. Luckily we spent Friday night at my FIL’s house and he helped us figure out the problem and fix it on Sat. DH left this AM for another conference, and shortly after he left, I discovered a leak in the basement. I’ve spent the day messing with it, but unfortunately I am no plumber. Before moving out here, all I knew about plumbing was that when I turned the faucet water came out and if that didn’t happen I called a plumber. I only know a little more than that now. So I don’t have the skills to fix the problem, but I was able to bypass the leak. I have no hot water and no water going into the bathroom, but I can manage for a few days until DH gets back. Right now I am heating water on the stove for a bath and I can just put a bucket under the leak and turn the water back on when I need to flush a toilet. I would like to think of myself as tough enough to live out here, but I need to develop some competence in some basic maintenance skills.

The good news is that my eating has been pretty good, in spite of the chaos. It hasn’t always been as nutritious as I would have liked, but calories were on track and under the circumstances, I’m happy with that. Exercise hasn’t been so on track. Friday and Saturday, the only exercise I got was walking up and down the hill to the well house (in the snow and wind) to run DH and FIL tools—at least I can contribute something to the problem. Today, I did get in a weight workout. I needed to get rid of some frustration that worked a whole lot better than a pint of Ben and Jerry’s!

PrairieChick, may your war bring victory! I agree that mixing it up is key.

Nuxmaga, LOL at the screaming dill pickle. It’s interesting that we do stop actually tasting the food after only a few bites, but still have the desire to continue to eat. I don’t understand the mechanism in the brain responsible for that and I only hope that continued mindfulness will override those pathways. Good job getting your exercise and for checking in.

BillBE, congrats on ticking off another month of maintenance. It’s an interesting notion of the 5 year point. I guess at that point

BeachPatrol, I love your hunger rating system. I’ve been trying to find a way to get into better touch with my body and I think that might help.

ChinaMaine, sorry about the day in the “fog,” but I’m impressed that you were OP even while feeling lousy. Hope you got the rest you needed over the weekend and are back on your feet.

Maryblu, the homemade noodles sound amazing! That’s something I’ve always wanted to do and just never have. Kudos for being “back on solid ground.” I’m impressed with how quickly you were able to catch the problem and get back on the wagon. LOL about country girls getting into a p***ing contest about who is colder. It’s warmed up considerably here. We’re looking at a week in the 30s here. Hope our warm weather is headed your way.

Thanks for reminding me that quality time with my husband is worth the calories in a glass of wine. I always have a tough time balancing the pleasurable, social aspects of food with my goal to be healthier. It’s all part of that all-or-nothing mindset that I need to ditch.

Wndranne, hope you survive the marathon of activity—does that count as exercise?

CeeJay, talk about cold—yikes! I can totally commiserate about the wind, but getting good wind gear really helps. I have a great Mountain Hardware half zip shell that blocks wind up to 80mph—and, frankly, I’m not going to need a wind breaker for faster than 40. I’ll just head indoors and hope the house doesn’t blow away. Good luck staying on track during the difficult times.

Hi Midlifecrisis57! I am new to Beck and there are many people on here who are better qualified to give advice, but I’ll throw in my 2 cents. I think you should analyze your resistance to weighing yourself. If you are reluctant because you think that a certain number on the scale would be shameful, then I think you should remind yourself that the number on the scale doesn’t say anything about how good you are as a person, it’s just an objective way of measuring how well your plan is working. But I think there are other ways to get that objective feedback. You could take your measurements or use clothing size (as long as the sizing is reliable). If you chose these ways, you could set your mini-goals in inches or sizes.

[CeeJay]

Hello everyone:

bennyhannahmama- I know about the struggling. Good for you for keeping on posting.

BillBlueEyes- the gotta-stuff-myself feelings. Credit you for the control. Thanks for the advice about planning. I love what you wrote about being maintainers after 1 pound is gone.

ChinaMaine- Sorry you are still not feeling well. Congratulations on the next 1.9 pounds gone. The slide show for your son sounds like a fantastic present.

Beach Patrol- thanks for the feedback on the workbook. I bought it on Friday but no time to look at it this weekend.

Shepherdess-pipes freezing and no water. What an absolute drag. I am in the boonies and so know about water issues. Kuddos for eating well during all the annoyance.

PrairieChick- I like your comparison of this challenge as a war. When I quit smoking, using the idea that I was at war with the demon nicotine was actually quite helpful to me. No one wants to be defeated. LOL.

Nuxmaga- lots of credit for you for checking in regularly. I'm trying the same thing. Good luck with your surgery tomorrow.

maryblu- home made noodles, YUM. Have never tried to make them. Is it pretty difficult? Good for you for recouping so quickly after a fall.

wndranne-sanity is probably overrated. LOL.

midlifecrisis57- Hi there and welcome. Your goals sound excellent. Can't give you any advice on measuring hunger. Still have not got to this step yet.

As for Me----I am so happy for another day 100% on track. Weighed in. Posted here. Ate on plan and healthy. Rode exercise bike twice. Did weights. Planned tomorrow's food and packed up healthy snacks. Will be eating lunch out but am committed to salad for lunch at the restaurant.

Had a wonderful time at the Children's Christmas party this afternoon. Handed out 150 gift bags to happy kids. A really great time.

Hope you all have a great week.

[Nuxmaga]

Hi All,
Tracked my food, credit. Stayed at calorie goal, credit. Average calories for the week down compared to last week--yay! 6300+ steps, credit. Left some of the chocolate chip pancakes at breakfast on my plate--I don't know if I've ever done that before!!

CeeJay--Kudos for all your good work, and for handing out Christmas gift bags!

Shepherdess--Ouch for frozen pipes! We had one in the powder room on the 1st floor, which involved a plumber cutting a hole in the floor to access the pipes, and we still haven't fixed the hole after 3 or 4 years, and the room is filled with cardboard boxes and miscellaneous junk. . .

Midlifecrisis57--Welcome! Credit for starting with Beck and persisting in finding the thread! I would say that anything that makes you more aware of your automatic eating habits is good, whether it's from Beck or not. As for the scale, it can be useful to desensitize yourself to the number, and learn to use it as information to see what's working, but no matter what, the Beck skills are good to have, so just practicing those could be enough of a goal for now.

Maryblu--yay for dancing to the Blues Channel when it was too cold to go out!

ChinaMaine--Credit for making a cool slide show for your son! Another thing I was thinking about with credit is that anything above zero is good, objectively good. I assume that I didn't do "enough" or do it "perfectly"--but if an action moves me in the right direction, then I can at least keep track of it, like how I keep track of calories.

PrairieChick--Yay for checking in!

Bill--Credit for walking by all the chocolate covered stuff! I briefly developed an aversion to baked goods when my sister worked at a bakery and brought home all the leftovers, and also visiting her at work and seeing all the industrial baking equipment had an aversive effect.

Well, off to bed. Hopefully I will get some sleep. I called Admissions and they said I'm to report at 7:30 am, so at least my surgery should be in the morning. Thanks for all the good thoughts.

[BillBlueEyes]

midlifecrisis57

And, in honor of your first month on 3FC,

How did you find out about Dr. Beck's books?

How did you find your way to this thread on 3FC?

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - I ate mindfully at a potluck lunch; CREDIT moi. Unfortunately I drifted before when I went to a bakery to get bread where I had 3 FREE samples - Ouch. And at Trader Joe's where I had a FREE sample of french toast make with crumbled panettone - the traditional Italian Christmas bread. Ouch again. And then, walking out of the room after stellar eating at the potluck I simply picked up a half slice of banana nut bread and ate it while walking - Double Ouch. It wasn't enough calories to kill me, but it is worrisome that there were three occasions where I seemed to forget that I am on a plan. I need a little extra vigilance during the holidays since I have several events around Christmas and several around New Years still in front of me.

No exercise in the cold rain. I feel like a blob.


maryblu - Didn't take long for your blood to thicken - I'm not ready to consider 10 degrees Fahrenheit "balmy," LOL. Looking forward to making a fortune with your Maryblu's Sleep Dancing Diet. Remember to add "no change in eating required, no effort, lose 10 pounds a week" to hit all the desired attributes of a hot seller.

ChinaMaine - I join the chorus who think your slide show and DVD for your DS is the neatest gift ever. Shuddering at the thought of how many hours of work that must be taking, even though it sounds like you're making it fun with the slide shows for your MIL during the process. Good point that thinking about the strategy of giving yourself credit is the first step toward doing it.

Margaret (Nuxmaga) - Interesting that your sister's job at a bakery gave you an aversion to baked goods. Too bad it was only "briefly" - that sounds like an ideal Behavior Therapy solution to those cravings. Kudos for leaving chocolate chip pancakes on your plate - you're ahead of me on that one.

Shepherdess - Congrats for developing your Little House on the Prairie skills. Ouch that it's in such an ugly area as frozen pipe plumbing - about the hardest plumbing to deal with. Neat solution to turn off the water until you needed it. Kudos for remaining on-plan during chaos - that's a real challenge.

CeeJay - Kudos for planning and packing up tomorrow's food as well as for "another day 100% on track." That party for the kids sounds like a gas.

Kim (PrairieChick) - Yay for continuing with your new way of eating.

midlifecrisis57 - Glad you found your way here. Yep, all the threads of prior months are locked - they seemed too inviting and we were getting posts were no one could see them. Kudos for making your way to day 10: Set a Realistic Goal. I suppose one can choose a non-scale metric for keeping track of progress - body measurements comes to mind. Many posters report total inches lost by measuring a bunch of places and subtracting from their starting measurements. Others report when pants are beginning to feel tight or loose. But you might want to just bite the bullet and get a starting weight since you're gonna get asked that by your doctor or dietitian from time to time. Perhaps you could ask someone else to read and record the number without telling you. My thought is to work to separate yourself from identifying with the numbers so that you can just record them like one would the daily temperature - just as numbers.

It would certainly work to measure your hunger from -5 to +5 rather than from 0 to 10 if that worked better for you. And you could do it in either direction if you found a positive feedback by measuring lack of hunger with the positive number. I've been satisfied enough using one number as the aggregate of all my feelings because it got the point across to me that Beach Patrol made - the number just doesn't go that high. You could cut a new path by trying a seven numbers thing to match MINDFUL EATING principles. Let us know what you discover.


Readers -

day 13
Overcome Cravings

I once saw a cartoon depicting a woman looking panicky in her kitchen while food from cabinets, the countertop, table, and refrigerator were talking to her, with balloon text saying, "Eat me! Eat me! Eat me!" Have you ever had a similar experience? I certainly have and so has everyone I've counseled. The good news is that even though foods might continue to call out to you, you can stay in control.

The Beck Diet Solution, pg 127.

[ChinaMaine]

Every day my fatigue levels lessen, but I’m not back to normal yet. If I feel good this afternoon, I’ll take a short walk and see how that goes. In my photo work, I’m doing the pics for our trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons in 1999 – great memories…

WI-no weigh-in. Read my cards, and didn’t make a plan again. But when I logged all my food this AM, I was 200 calories below my max calories for the day. Food – op; Exercise – off-plan – (no exercise)

The Good
- Eat mindfully, enjoying every bite – credit!
- Tolerated non-hunger without eating – credit!
- I posted here – credit! (but still no personals – they are coming, I promise…)
- Used resistance techniques – credit!

The Bad,
- Identified hunger vs non-hunger every time I ate – I attended a Christmas party yesterday. At the food table I had a Deviled Egg without thinking about it. If I had thought about it, I would gone for it because they are an old favorite that I only have an opportunity to eat once or twice a year. But after that one misstep, I did pay attention to hunger, and didn’t have any other food at the party. Credit!
- Spontaneous exercise – nope

and The Ugly
- Give credit throughout the day for every positive eating behavior – nope.

From Nuxmaga (Margaret)
Another thing I was thinking about with credit is that anything above zero is good, objectively good. I assume that I didn't do "enough" or do it "perfectly"--but if an action moves me in the right direction, then I can at least keep track of it, like how I keep track of calories.

You hit a chord with me with the very last bit. If I can keep track of calories all day long, why can’t I keep track of what I’m doing right, if not perfectly, all day long? I use myfooddiary.com and they have a notes section I’ve never used. I’m going to give this a try. Thanks! And good luck with your surgery! What is it for again? (I'm afraid I've forgotten).

[bennyhannahmama]

Coaches/Buddies:
Finally a "real" post. It's amazing how quickly things can spiral out of control-- actually, at this moment I'm having a visual of of water spiraling down a toilet bowl That's probably more accurate for how I feel about how this weekend went. Things started to unravel towards the end of last week. Then, on Friday I had a holiday dinner for work. I tried to make good choices and eat mindfully. I did okay, but not great. I think part of the problem was that I became anxious as I tried to figure out how I would "count" what I was eating. (I use the GoWear Fit software to track my calories). As I became more anxious about that, I started eating more. I didn't bring my Response Cards with me, nor would I have thought of reading them anyway. I chose to have a glass of wine (not something I thought about either way before getting there and I should have), which was fine. I had one small piece of bread (luckily it was not passed back toward me, otherwise I'm pretty sure I would have had more). Other people ordered appetizers to share and I had a couple of small servings of fried calamari (with the tarter sauce) and then I had one piece of pita bread with about a tablespoon of hummus. Then I debated back and forth with myself about whether I should have more pita and hummus. I know I didn't need it, but I "caved" and had more. I think that's where things started to go downhill. Anyway, needless to say I left there not happy with my decisions and feeling stuffed-- yucky feeling! I tried to remind myself that I still did better than I would have if I hadn't been trying at all.
I also tried to remind myself that even BillBlueEyes probably had some not so great experiences at the beginning of his journey (BBE- please lie to me if that's not true ) Oh and I came home to my mom baking sugar cookies (a HUGE weakness of mine) with my kids. I was totally unprepared for that and figured since I had already blown it- might as well just go for it. I know that's not the right attitude. I know I should have filled out the "I messed up" form (can't think of the proper name because I've never actually used it and I don't have my book at work with me to look it up!)

Then Saturday I bit off way more than I could chew trying to make potato latkes (for Chanukah), brisket and bake gingerbread houses with my kids and DBF kids. Oh and my mom baked MORE sugar cookies.
I was anxious anyway since this is the first time my mom was meeting DBF kids and the first time she was spending significant time with DBF.
Also, I definitely see that when my mom is around, I tend to fall right back to my old patterns which are very similar to hers. She talks incessantly about how she ate food she "shouldn't have" and how she'll have to make sure not to eat much the next day to make up for it. How she was doing well until she ate, xy and z. It's all the stuff I heard growing up my whole life and the self-talk I'm constantly trying to combat. It drives me nuts when I hear her saying it and I know it's because I hear myself saying it too (internally.) UGH!! Well, needless to say, my eating frenzy continued all day Saturday and I didn't even try

Yesterday, I tried to have a "good" day. I read my Response Cards and my Advantages Deck, but as I was reading them, my heart just wasn't in it. I did okay all day, but then right before bed (I let myself get way too hungry, I had cold symptoms all day and I was exhausted) I blew it again.

I felt so frustrated and thought that I'll never get the hang of this The idea of following all tasks in the program seemed so overwhelming.

In examining all that has gone on, these are the things I see:

1. Sleep is a HUGE factor. Because my mom is visiting and is a night-owl, I find myself staying up way too late. Being tired just sets me up for failure in every way possible. I really need to keep an eye on this. I know having a DBF now also makes me more likely to stay up late. If I want to take care of myself, feel good and be happy, I need to watch this more. I at least need to make sure that if I don't get enough sleep one night, that I get to bed earlier the next night. I think my whole downward spiral all hinges on this. If I started getting ready for bed earlier, I would have been posting here earlier and therefore would have had more time and energy to write more (which I also think would have been helpful.)

2. No matter how I aware I am with issues with my mom, they are still going to be very difficult to deal with. My relationship with my mom is super-complicated (as I'm sure is true of most people). I want so much to not be like her and make the mistakes she has made, although the more I try to the more I seem to follow right in her footsteps Also, whenever I do break away from her and make different choices than she has (leading to a happier life) I feel very guilty and responsible. I think my way of dealing with that is acting more like her (i.e. this weekend, eating out of control, etc.)

So, I've learned from all of this and I'm ready to move on. I think having my mom here at the very beginning stages of my journey made things especially difficult. I certainly didn't have my habits down and I ran out of time and energy for dealing with the more challenging situations.

Thanks for listening to me vent. I need to go eat lunch before my lunch hour is up.

Weigh-In: yes +/- 0 = 128
Read Response Cards: yes
Read Advantages Deck: yes
Checked in Here: yes

[CeeJay]

Hello everyone

Nuxmaga- kuddos for leaving some pancakes on your plate. Extra credit because they were chocolate chip.

BillBlueEyes-those bloody free samples. It is some sort of darned plot or something.... . I try to not even look at them, just keep on walking, eyes averted. LOL.

ChinaMaine- glad you are feeling somewhat better. Your photo work is inspiring me to do the same. What a wonderful gift. Deviled Eggs are called that for a reason

bennyhannahmama-You wrote "So, I've learned from all of this and I'm ready to move on." Seems to me you had a few bad days, but really took the time to figure out what is going on for you and what contributed to your difficulties. That to me is how we change- try to figure it out and keep on moving forward. I hope the rest of your Monday went well.

For me, great day. Giving myself credit for:

-weighing in (one more pound till I hit 15 gone- that is going to make me very happy cause I am bouncing around alot- but I have learned to manage this thanks to Beck.)
-eating on plan and healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks
-resisting at the restaurant at lunch. Everyone else ordered burgers or sandwiches with fries. I ordered the salad as I had planned. Touch down!!!
-riding exercise bike twice
-doing weights
-posting
-planning tomorrow- tomorrow is yet another Christmas potluck lunch. I will deal with it by eating my usual breakfast and morning snack, and at lunch eat what I want- 1 plate only- as long as it does not contain sugar or white flour. That is a reasonable compromise I think. Dinner will be veggie chili on brown rice and salad.

Before the end of today I plan to read my advantages and response cards.

Take care

[Nuxmaga]

Hi All,
Checking in after my surgery! Credit for getting that done! Now I have to wait a week for test results. It was a very odd food day, but I did track calories, credit. The post-op instructions recommended carbs, and I was more than glad to comply. . .that and gingerale didn't make for a good calorie day, and I can't do Zumba for another week, but taking care of my health is definitely a credit.

CeeJay--thanks for the credit on the chocolate chips! It's definitely harder to leave than plain pancakes. And yes, it is a plot when there are free samples--it's a strategy used by stores to make you buy something, and if they can strategize so can we! Averting your eyes is a great strategy--never make eye contact with free food!

Well, I need to go to bed. Hope everyone has a good night.

[bennyhannahmama]

Buddies/Coaches:
I kept myself focused today which is a great feeling. My mother is *still* here and still driving me crazy. Tomorrow morning I'll be taking my mom to the airport and after that, I'm going to be going to court to finalize my divorce. I'm getting very anxious about that. I know I will be relieved, but it's also going to be a tough day. So, the fact that I'm doing well even with that looming makes it even that more impressive



BillBlueEyes:
I'm sorry for all your ouches. I'm sorry it's at your expense, but I think it's very helpful to see you have some difficulties too but how you come right here (as always) and report in.
Remember, the cold rain won't bother you so much if you dress properly (I think I remember you talking about purchasing some rain gear for just such occasions!) and you won't even notice once you get moving.
I'm going to guess that feeling like a "blob" after just one day of not exercising is a pretty big change from your former self- that can be something to celebrate

ChinaMaine:
I love your "Good, Bad and Ugly" report style-- sounds like you're doing well.

CeeJay:
Congratulations on having such a great day! Super-duper kudos for you for ordering the salad at lunch as planned. Thanks for your supportive words.

Nuxmaga:
Not sure what kind of surgery you had, but I hope it went well. I'm very impressed that you made sure to check in here on the same day you had surgery. I also love your "never make eye contact with free food"! I was at Sam's Club tonight and before I walked in, I made a mental note to myself not to eat any free samples. I completely steered clear of any of the little sample stations-- that helped tremendously.

Going to bed now. G'nite all!

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Got our Christmas tree last night - still fun after buying them forever. Imagined that it was easier to lift because of my weight lifting regime. It might have been that we tend to get a smaller one each year - still big but just a little smaller. It remains a contention between DW and I that I want one that must be pruned to squeeze under our Victorian-high living room ceiling and DW wants one that she can reach.

Food and gym - OP and OP; CREDITs moi. Dinner was pumpkin soup - so satisfying yet low calorie. A friend told me that "Raspberry Shrub" was the secret of her dish that was unusually good. I had to Google to learn that it's a Colonial ear concoction of vinegar, sugar, and spices made by soaking the raspberries in vinegar for four days. I'd never heard of a drink called "Shrub." Now gotta go find me some.

Office Christmas party today with mounds of dinner from 4-6pm. That's just an odd time for me to face dinner. Still working on a sane plan for the food, but the camaraderie will be fun.


ChinaMaine - Ouch for your "Deviled Egg without thinking about it." Reminds me that I did the same at my recent party; didn't think a moment, just popped it in the mouth. For me they aren't so rare but I like to compare them with DW's and, inevitably, decide that I like DW's better. It's great to hear that your fatigue levels are lessening.

Kim (bennyhannamama) - Yep, I know that feeling of spiraling down after some off plan eating as each bite justifies one more bite. And, Yep, it has happened to me, not at the beginning of my journey when I was uber vigilant, but later. Each time it seems to have been an occasion when I encountered a buffet without a plan. Tried to wing it relying on my instincts. Instincts won, LOL.

Kudos for examining what's happening to you. Easy to understand how too little sleep and too much mom reinforce each other to challenge you. All that baking and cooking couldn't be helping. (It's the brisket that would bring me to my knees, LOL.) Keep the faith for the few hours left of your mom's visit. Sending supportive thoughts for your final trip to divorce court.

And thanks for the reminder that I've purchased proper rain gear to get out even when it's not balmy.


Margaret (Nuxmaga) - LOL that you have a doctor's prescription to eat carbs. Ya gotta follow doctor's order. Glad your surgery is over and that you'll be back on track to Zumba in a week.

CeeJay - "Touch down!!!" alright for ordering salad in the face of hamburgers and fries. You got the right Beck strategy for FREE samples, "just keep on walking, eyes averted" - gotta remember that if I don't go look at the stuff, then I won't Desire to eat it. It's certainly not Hunger, and not even a Craving, just Desire because I expose myself to it. Sigh ... perhaps I should read the book more carefully, LOL. Good luck at your Christmas potluck lunch today.


Readers -

day 13
Overcome Cravings

Cravings usually peak within the first few weeks of your diet. Once you limit or stop eating the foods you crave (usually fast foods, sweets, salty snacks, and the like), your cravings for those foods will diminish significantly. Today, you'll learn how to deal with cravings effectively and decisively.

The Beck Diet Solution, pg 127.

[Shepherdess]

I went for a normal length run outside yesterday, for the first time in a week and a half. It felt so good, even though it was a bit colder than I was hoping. There was, however, very little wind, which is always a blessing in WY! The dogs were so happy for the exercise. My Australian Shepherd, Maggi, took all of my running clothes out of the hamper, made pile on the floor and slept on them. I’ll take that as a thank you.

Eating has been on track the last few days. I’ve been taking extra care to eat on schedule. Most of the time when DH is gone my eating becomes erratic. I’ll realize I skipped lunch, am so hungry and dive into whatever I can find in the pantry. So keeping the schedule has been a huge help.

CeeJay, your Christmas party sounds like a wonderful time. Kudos for being 100% on track! Good for you for being committed to eating well in a restaurant. It’s never easy for me. Good luck with another potluck lunch. The challenges mount this time of year.

Nuxmaga, congrats on a lower calorie average than the previous week, and all while the
Christmas season is just warming up. I’m totally impressed. Yay for leaving some chocolate chip pancakes on your plate. Leaving food on the plate is difficult for me. I’m so glad your surgery went well. Here’s to a great recovery!

BillBE, ouch for the unplanned eating. Those free samples are always a killer, throw the holidays on top of that and it’s all a bit overwhelming. But on the positive side, you have eating mindfully at potlucks down pat. That’s impressive! Winter exercise is always iffy—I’m wishing you a warm front and blue skies. Yay for an easier time lifting the Christmas Tree. Good luck at the office dinner and kudos for thinking ahead.

ChinaMaine, yay for feeling a little better every day! Your gift for your son is so cool, and I hope it’s a bit of a gift for yourself—giving yourself the chance to go back through all of those photos and re-live those memories. Kudos for being lower than your calorie goal.

Bennyhannamamma, believe me, I totally understand how frustrating it is to be imperfect, but I do think you need to give yourself a break. You have had challenging situation piled on top of challenging situation. I’m thinking back to the Wikipedia article KidsLibrarylady posted on self control. It said something to the effect that self-control diminishes after exertion. I bet that if you looked back on the last few days you’ll discover that you exerted self-control early on and then began to weaken as the week wore on.

Your post also made me think that Beck needs a chapter on “Dealing With Difficult Situations When You Are Not Ready to Deal With Difficult Situations.” There are just going to be times when the situation is too tough to handle perfectly (I need to keep this in mind since I’ll be spending a few days next week in close quarters with DH’s mom, his siblings and their families.” I think maybe it’s good to step back and analyze a situation before you go into it and ask yourself “Am I up to sticking to my eating plan?” And if the answer is “no” just use that situation as an opportunity to observe your behavior and emotions as you are eating imperfectly. That will give you information to deal with the situation better the next time. You might go over on calories at that moment, but the knowledge you will gain will help you in the longterm.

I did a cognitive therapy workbook on disordered eating, and in that they had you keep a journal of all your eating and your disordered eating behavior. Just write everything down without judgment. Then go back over and analyze the behavior. After doing that, then you work on correcting the behavior. Also, in that workbook they suggested that if you feel a binge coming on and don’t feel like you have the willpower to stop it, just do little things to begin to break the thought pattern. You can wait one minute before beginning the binge, or decide exactly what you are going to binge on, put that on a plate and sit down and eat it. If you still want more, decide what you will binge on next. I thought that approach was helpful because it focused on taking small steps to regain control rather than demanding of yourself that you act perfectly from the start.

Sorry this is a very long reply. Your post just made me think of a number of things (thank you for that). I hope some of this is helpful and I think you should count it as a success that you learned something from the experience.