It's a good thing that I read on one of the threads here that a 5 pound gain isn't that unusual in a 24 hour period or I might have freaked out about the scale reading this morning. I ate on plan yesterday, but I might not plan Japanese for lunch and Chinese for supper again -- more sodium than I'm used to. That plus TOM plus digestive issues plus my body adjusting to the addition of strength training probably explains it.

I got to work on a different aspect of my resistance muscle today. I needed to go to the grocery store this morning. Shopping on Sunday morning used to mean donuts for breakfast. That's the same time + location aspect that I've been working on for weeks. Today, throw in a bit of frustration and discouragement, that little voice saying that I gained 5 pounds, why the heck shouldn't I have a donut? I didn't -- I ate a healthy breakfast at home and stayed away from the bakery.

Oh well. I'm thinking a dramatic gain sets me up for a dramatic loss. If not tomorrow, at least over the next fortnight.

WI: +1.9kgs (!?!), Exercise: +30, 578/1200 minutes for September, Food: op
Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

Walking Princess: Good for you for reporting in and getting back on track!

BillBlueEyes: Five years is kind of a magic number for me, too. A lot of the books I've read talk about the small percentage of people who lose the weight and keep it off for five years.

eusebius: glad that workshop was great!

ChinaMaine: yay for food and exercise on plan! The music and bonfire sound wonderful.

onebyone: the ceramic buttons sound beautiful and how great that you and your sister worked your way to a point where the giving and receiving was so pleasurable to you both!

RobinW: love the cooking you did for the week -- sounds yummy and healthy!

Kim in NH: good job on doing the work of Chapter 7 before you got there, and reading it anyway for the reinforcement!

kuhljeanie: so good to see you here! Yay for the job stuff working out -- such a relief! Sending healing energies to you and your plumbing (I can be pantheist in certain moods, so I don't see why that shouldn't work!).

Hi everyone,

Had a great Beck day! op with eating and exercise, yea! Did my cards, drinking water, lesson plan for the day, etc. Check, check, check!

Bill - congratulations on reaching the 4 year mark. That is so great and something to be proud of. You are such an inspiration! Here's to another 4! Thanks, this is something I have been really working on - getting right back on track after going off. Usually I get discouraged and give up. Not this time since I've started Beck!

Erika - hi! How are you?

ChinaMaine - glad to hear you had a great day! Hope this coming week is just as good! Thanks for the tip for getting back on track, it's a great one!

OnebyOne - yes, some days are just one big Beck "oh well". Just move forward from here. Hope you enjoyed your day

Anne - glad to hear you are feeling better

Robin - you have been a busy lady today! All that food sounds like it will make things easier for you this week. Great job! Hope your pinched nerve problem gets fixed quickly

Kim - happy to hear you had an op day, kudos!

Jeanne - so happy to hear that your job is more secure now and you won't have to worry for a while. Whew! I know you are still dealing with quite a lot emotionally but you are doing terrific! I think you should be quite proud of yourself that you haven't gained any weight through all this. I think that is definitely a sign of success!

Joy - great job staying op and eating great despite the sabatoging thoughts that were coming through and being down about your weight gain. I think it's just hormonal though. You've been eating op all week and you've done so well. I'm sure it will be gone within a couple of days. Please don't worry about it, you are doing GREAT!

Good night all!
Kara

Hey All,

I hope it is okay for me to post in the forum. I originally lost 120 pounds. Within the last year I have regained 40 pounds. In have to lose the 40 and then still lose an additional 30. Oh boy! Anyway, things changed in my life to cause a change in my "routine". I changed jobs. I thought it was going to be better but I find myself under so much stress and I dont like my job. I dont have a breakroom to even eat lunch...so no structure or privacy. I moved into another apartment, got a new car and then the economy changed. Whew! Depression and stress took over. I know how to eat right and workout but I have got to get my groove back. I majored in Psychology and always liked Beck's theory so why not apply it to my life. I am dedicated to trying the 6 week challenge(the first book). As I read the book, I would like to follow the forum and contribute, if allowed. Anyway, I will make this short. TIA!

Welcome Ann (RoyalAthena)

And, in case you didn't get this when you joined 3FC some 2.5 years ago,

How did you hear about the Judith Beck books?

And how did you find this thread on 3FC?

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Twice I avoided unplanned snacks; CREDIT moi. But then came homemade bread with homemade apple butter. It was time for my morning snack, so it became a large snack. Oh Well. Maybe the only thing better than Honey Crisp Apples is apple butter. That stuff is good.

Did a session in my vegetable garden working the weeds. Boy do they grow fast. We're finally caught up, just as the season is nearly over. But there's a lot of kale left, which is great since I'm a big kale fan. Learned that when you let tomatoes run dry then water then fiercely they all split. Ouch. This gardening business doesn't seem tolerant to neglect.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes and kind words for passing the four year mark on my journey. Today is the first day of year five.


Jean (kuhljeanie) - Congrats to you and the Universe for making your job situation look secure again. Continue to send supportive thoughts toward your good health and recovery.

onebyone - Yay for the terrific contact with your sister with your gift of ceramic buttons. Kudos for persisting until you closed that. Ouch for the flub with the table; good luck with next weeks show. And good luck with keeping your cool with the face-to-face contact with the difficult ceramics teacher.

Robin (RobinW) - Kudos for all that cooking as well as steaming wallpaper. It's been a while since I remember you mentioning your "protein celery soup." Ouch for the "pinched things." Hope that clears up right away and if it doesn't that you check in with your doctor since feelings at extremities can have circulatory type causes also.

Anne (wndranne) - Yay for getting your thinking back. And Yay for making me look up that "mirepoix" is onions, carrots, and celery, LOL. Yep, I'm working on treating chopping as a part of living rather than a chore. The mindset helps me.

ChinaMaine - Love the image of you playing ‘Malaguena’ with your DH on his guitar. LOL at a walk where you "...got rained on, saw 3 beautiful horses and scared a chicken."

Erika (eusebius) - Kudos for taking care of yourself with the Shambhala workshop and Kudos to your DH for taking care of DD so you could.

Kara (Walking Princess) - Yay for a "a great Beck day!" And Kudos again for being conscious of the notion of getting right back on track.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Big Kudos for thinking yourself past those Sunday morning donuts. Ouch for the temporary 5 pound sodium hit; good attitude about knowing what it means.

Kim (Kim in NH) - Kudos for removing unhealthy foods. It does help me when I just don't see tempting foods.

Ann (RoyalAthena) - Ouch for a string of challenges all at once. Kudos for methodically looking for a way to work your eating and exercise plans. Yep, you're most welcome to contribute to the forum here. There are several folks in the early days of Beck's 42 day program, so you'll fit right in.

Readers -

Good Morning

Im just back from the chiro....after all the poking and prodding, my arm hurts, but I cant really blame her. She was looking for the issue. My lower leg has moved from being sleeping feeling, to cold...like its waking up. kwim? Progress? I dont know...Im just still very upset about the whole thing and its put me in a rather foul mood. (poor hubby)

I dont seem to put up well with issues in my body! Just want it to work the way its suppose to. Maybe if I get mad enough, I'll banish it all away?

Food is planned and packed! Not going to the gym until this wonky nerve stuff has stopped. I do think I'll make an appointment with the massage therapist tho.

Other plans for the day....

make up new cards
get some reading done from new books
get some reminder reading done from Dr. Beck's books
get home to get chicken soaked in marinade before noon today.

Then off to weightloss meeting tonight! Might even look up an OA meeting for sometime today.

Things have gotten strange with my eating and drinking. I dont "over drink" because I know I cant function the next day and I dont like the "hang over" effect. So I have the quantities down to precision. BUT, when I sub wine for sugar I end up eating too much after the wine to help soak up the liquid to keep from having the ill effects in the morning.

Its a vicious cycle. Even tho I dont have an issue with the alcohol, I have issues with the sugar/alcohol/food intake issue.

Addiction at its best

Im off to get my day in and done with....with 100% success!

gardenerjoy Great job of building your resistance muscle! I’ve had 5+ lbs gains only a couple of times – thank goodness. For me it did drop back down right away.

Kara (Walking Princess) Isn’t it nice to be in the groove? Credit!

Ann (Royal Athena) It sounds as though you are going through some really stressful times. You’ve already lost so much weight – it’s inspiring. Kudos for starting the Beck plan. I have a background in psychology too, btw.

Bill I know what you mean about Honey Crisp apples. I saw the first of the season yesterday, and almost did a jig! Today is the first day of year five. – that is really amazing. I hope I can say that someday…

Robin I hope your leg feels better soon. Kudos for doing so much Beck-work in spite of it!

Good Evening Coaches from a fantastically thunderous place!

It was a dark and stormy night...

So I was at my mother's today with my brother and sister. We picked up my mother's car and drove it to her mechanic who will sell it for her. We packed a bit of her stuff and we tidied up what we have left in the basement. None of us were in any state to do anything today. All of us were barely functioning. My mother will be in her new place on Friday. It's good. She's not looking forward to it but is resigned to it happening. Perfectly reasonable responses if you ask me. Her anxiety level is climbing day by day too, but we all have a great sense of humour so the anxiousness gets only so far.

I have been making arrangements with a friend for the finding of homes for 2 of my mom's 3 cats. All were rescues. She gets to keep one cat at her new place. Caesar, a great cat, will be getting dental work on Wed so will come to my place for convalescence to the great displeasure of both DH and Kitty X (my rescue/stray cat who hates all animals). Caesar will need antibiotics for a good week before I can release him to my friend who has a prospective home for the kitty with people in her building. I am secretly hoping Kitty X will like Caesar and DH will melt when Caesar nuzzles him. He's soooooo affectionate. I love that cat. Ah well. Yet another angle to this moving business.

I am trying to do the impossible this week:
1) get ready for market on the weekend = make things and get my display in order; about 1.5days work/focus
2) get to the school and work 12 hours before this pay period ends. I have until Sunday at 4pm. Jim the ceramic teacher thinks I may be in his class on Wed cause I said I was thinking about doing that and he excitedly brought it up in email today and without $ to officially do it I am wondering about how I can do it. It means no going to my mom's on Wed too. hmmm.
3)get the cats on Friday and bring them to where they will temporarily be housed
4) get my mom moved and make sure I visit ASAP
5)actually make it to the markets to sell 2 days in a row

So when I walked into my mom's house this morning I ate three oatmeal (blechh) cookies standing up before we even discussed anything, then had 3 more of another yukky kind. And it was pizza for lunch again (blechh). Spaghetti at home. Some grapes. No green things. A little water.
I'm conscious credit but not much more than that. Weighin, once credit, this morning = 274.8

RobinW I was getting numbness and tingliness and coldness like you describe along the sides of my thighs and the tops of my thighs. It would move around and change, never the same from day to day. I was diagnosed with meralgia parenthesitis (sp) suspected cause: a sudden weight gain pressuring the nerve that runs through my hipbone. It's much much better now. Like you I freak out with body things. You'll heal. Kudos for the tons of OP actions you listed. Very good!

BillBlueEyes I see the difficult ceramic teacher tomorrow. We'll be fine. One of her two classes had no takers so her ego is in check, for now. We had gout weed in the garden I tried to work in at my friends house. Wow what tenacious stuff that is! What a fantastic year it was for gout weed! Kudos on your kale. It's good in homemade pea soup cut and sprinkled into it at the end so it just wilts into the soup; think spinach. I can feel the vitamins and minerals seep into me just by typing the word kale.

RoyalAthena Stress and fatigue really throw me offtrack. Beck is good for those symptoms as well as the depression you mentioned. Glad you found us. And a big CREDIT for maintaining a loss of 80lbs. Excellent.

I need to get some shuteye Becksters... I'll have to do more personals tomorrow. I hope we all get good restful zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's.

Lost almost half of yesterday's dramatic gain. Thanks, everyone, for your support and encouragement.

I'm halfway to meeting my exercise goal for the month!

Tomorrow will be a challenge. I'm the designated driver for my brother's endoscopy and we have to be at the hospital earlier than I would normally be out of bed! I have a history of stress-eating in hospital cafeterias. I've packed a peanut butter sandwich and an apple that I'm calling breakfast. If I'm still at the hospital at lunchtime, I'll get a salad bar at the cafeteria, attempting to make it as close as possible to a salad that I would make at home.

WI: -0.85kgs, Exercise: +52, 630/1200 minutes for September, Food: op
Read my Advantages and Responses: no

Walking Princess: Yay for a great Beck day!

RoyalAthena: Welcome! So glad you found us! I've regained 40 pounds in the last year, too, and need to lose that plus 50 more. So sorry about the stress and your job. I've gained weight on stressful jobs and lost weight on stressful jobs -- I recommend the latter! Sounds like you are right on track to do it!

BillBlueEyes: I planted kale for the first time a few weeks ago for a fall crop. They are just big enough now that I need to thin them in the next few days and make a baby kale salad. I'm looking forward to it!

RobinW: so sorry about the nerve issues. I have little patience with physical problems, too. Sending healing energies your way!

ChinaMaine: cool for the fishing bald eagle -- we only see them in the dead of winter, so when I've seen them, I've been bundled in a parka and looking across an icy river.

onebyone: you sure have a lot going on! Hope all goes well with work, and your family, and the market, and the cats!

Quickie tonight. I had a triathlon club meeting and am just now getting home. Not a stellar on plan day, but at least I wasn't fighting the basics, like writing down my food intake, making a plan, and at least trying to use some CT techniques. Tomorrow will be another step.

Anne

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Fall restarts my monthly meetings in the evening that include a working pot luck snack table in lieu of dinner. Last night I did better than I'd been doing last spring; CREDIT moi. I skipped some Ritz-like crackers and other stuff and bounded my take of sushi and seedless black grapes. Grabbed the opportunity for a small taste of top shelf dark chocolate; this works for me because the volume is strictly limited and there's no chance for seconds. I do love my dark chocolate.

Squeezed in gym; CREDIT moi. I'm ready for a shakeup of some sort in my gym routine. Hate to think about starting trainer sessions again since they're pricey but they force me to a more varied routine than I do on my own.


Jean (kuhljeanie) - Waving. Hoping the Universe is aligning in your favor.

onebyone - Yay for humour to combat anxiety - soooooo much more effective than food. So good to hear you working side-by-side with your family on your mother's transition. Thanks for the tip for using kale. I'm having my previously-frozen lentils with kale for lunches this week and I'll remember your thought of just feeling the vitamins and minerals seeping in.

Robin (RobinW) - Yay for the thought of banishing the issues with your body. Ouch for the "sugar/alcohol/food intake issue." Wish you well in finding a way to break into that cycle. Kudos for all you accomplished despite the "rather foul mood."

Anne (wndranne) - Kudos for getting into your triathlon meeting; that's such a neat over-the-top event to look forward to.

ChinaMaine - Yay for watching both a Bald Eagle and a bat hunting for dinner. Our most local Bald Eagles don't show up until the water is nearly frozen and the pickings are good near a tiny water fall over a dam.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Neat to have a fall kale crop; drooling over your "baby kale salad." Kudos for being halfway through your September exercise goals at the month's mid point. Good luck with helping your brother get to the doctor today - Ouch that hospital eating is such a challenge for everyone.

Readers -

Good Morning

Went to the chiro yesterday, and the tingling/sleepy feeling in my leg turned to ice cold feelings for a couple hours. As of this morning, its almost all gone. My arm is still wonky, but it has less pain.

Stayed op yesterday....only deviance was when I had to test the pot roast when I took it out of the crock pot It was very tastey and will make a delicious supper tonight ontop of spaghetti squash.

Had a customer come in yesterday who we hadnt seen in about 3 weeks. Turns out stress has been literally eating away at him. He told us about tingling going on thru out his body and dismissed the dr's prognosis that it was stress. Until he went for a haircut and the hairdresser started talking about the universal health care. He said his face turned beat red and started going tingling and numb right away. Stress!!

He reminded me to take deep breaths! Which is why exercise is such a stress reliever. Forces you to breath deeply.

Here is a quote I heard yesterday that pretty much put it all in perspective for me.

"I can stay fat for the rest of my life, or I can loose an hours worth of sleep" (in reference to getting to the gym early) ~ Pam Brown

Im off to get busy, plan, and control my stress! Have a great day everyone!

Morning Coaches -

Another flyby for me. I hope I can get back to personals soon. Things are insane, what with the start of school and several recitals coming up. However, I have managed to get back on track and am writing in between sets of my weight workout. I'm exhausted still, but I'm hoping that will improve.

to all of you and thanks for being there.
cheers
Erika

i’m writing from my new client, and thank you AGAIN for the well-wishes (i sound like a broken record these days, don’t i?) it is such a relief to still be working, i can’t tell you. my hair was starting to fall out again but then stopped over the weekend. it’s amazing how strong the mind/body connection truly is. i would love more control over my thoughts, but that quickly becomes one more thing on my to do list that i don’t get to, so for now, it’s not a goal.

new client site is nice. it’s got an outside walking path, and the cafeteria has healthy options. too bad i opted out for round one yesterday and went with the salt on fat with sugar. oh, well. today i brought my lunch and handed myself a no choice, and stuck to it. every day they have a healthy menu option and they even include nutritional information on their website. i have no excuses. new client also thoughtfully located themselves north of the city, slicing a good 15-20 minutes off my commute both ways. voila – more sleeping and exercise. i’m back to calorie counting – i’m thinking 1900 is easily achievable, and i’ll build the rest of the deficit through activity (mostly walking with some hardcore Wii sports active and cardio boxing as often as possible.) sleep continues to improve and most nights i’m getting a good 7 hours. credit moi.

back on plan. (again.) sensewear is being discontinued and replaced with gowearfit, and my demo subscription for three months just got activated so i’m all set up there. am back to logging food there and uploading my data to the same place. credit moi for both doing it and for recognizing that i’m going to have to load up YET ANOTHER database with all my food and recipes. blech. that officially makes 113 (or thereabouts.)

last night DH brought home pictures from a disposable camera he’s been using here and there since our wedding two years ago. i could see the weight coming off my body as the months went by, but realized with a certain amount of horror and disgust that my perception of what i look like now doesn’t sync up with what the most recent pictures told me i really look like. in my head, i’m thin and fit and just about done. in reality, i’m still teetering on the wrong side of obese, and have also sorts of bulges and roundness i don’t want. it made me think of anne’s question about realizing so many ARCs and wondering how to keep going when you get close. i think i just figured it out for myself. sigh.

robin, so glad to hear the nerve stuff is improving on its own! that sort of thing is scary and frustrating all at the same time. am thinking of you. sending erika energy dust (am hoping that’s not a street name for some illicit drug) to get through all your doings! welcome athena! it’s wonderful that you’re stepping it up now, and not 80 lbs back. glad to have you! thanks, bill – seems that the universe is willing to take its direction from you. keep it coming. also, how great that you have a regular oppty to practice dealing with one of the most challenging food environments there is! gardnerjoy, hoping that your day at the hospital went smoothly. great job planning in advance. it’s amazing what a difference that makes in outcomes! onebyone, i got stressed out just reading your list! good luck with all that and i’m holding my breath for you until your mom is comfortably settled in the new place. china, i’m just gonna say it – i’m so envious! love bonfires and water and don’t generally have access to either. maybe DH and i can do something on the deck with our chimenea for dinner more often. i bet the kid’d love that. kara, keep it coming! sounds like you’re in a groove. waving at both our kims.

Hi Coaches

So I was home today and had some encouragement to get myself over to the school and do some ceramic tech work. I put in 4 hours and had to head on home. It was enough for me today. I just had dinner and have to get some work together for the school boutique tomorrow. They are accepting artwork tomorrow and Thursday. I hope I have something on hand. I am not sure I can actually paint anything tonight. Tomorrow morning at 9am I will be seated in that ceramic class afterall. As it happened the teacher who's teaching ti walked in right after I got to the studio to work. It was completely unexpected. He told me he wanted me in his class as he wants to impart technical information to me about the kiln and the clay and studio stuff in general. He also said it makes no difference to him if I am there as a paying student or as the ceramic technician as part of my job... so I will be there as a tech, on me and I'll take the classes so long as I am able to without the management catching on! Had I not gone in I would not have gone to the class tomorrow so it seems rather fated if you ask me.

Weight-wise I was 277.2 today. Up 4 from the day before. Salt salt salt. Pizza did it to me yet again. Today there is no pizza at all in me thank goodness. credit for one weighin only.

I have to go get some work done now. Thanks for being here coaches.