Hello Beck friends

I have another busy day ahead. My coach is super busy, too. Since we're both new to Beck, we are focusing on having a plan for sticking with the basics and checking in with each other. So far, so good.
Sticking with the basics
-Honestly evaluate if I'm really too busy or am just not making time.
-Read Response Cards and Reasons to Lose Weight -1X in the morning
-Using other response cards when needed
-Focus on staying OP (NO EXCUSES)
-Planned exercise, no matter how short
-Eat Slowly and Mindfully, While sitting down.(I notice I get to a point where I'm running around shoving food in my mouth when I get busy.)
-Post quick hello on 3FC

Kirks annual trip has traditionally been a very difficult time for me. I get pretty swamped with responsibility and finances get super tight. In the past, my feeling overwhelmed has led me to behaviors unacceptable any other time of year.

I see progress. I have many new habits, thanks to Beck. I have willingness. I'm using some of the tools in other areas of my life to plan ahead for a sane three weeks. *credit* for that.

BillBlueEyes, Facing South and East

wyndranne, 3 1/2 hours is very impressive! *credit* for making time for activity you enjoy.

Nuxmaga, *credit* for using Beck tools and staying with your food plan when feeling "generally frenzied".

seadwaters, *credit* for tidy list making and progress on the scale. Hope your computer gets fixed soon!

jynx, *credit* for starting on day one, and the loss of 7 pounds! Good luck as you work towards finishing schooling for the summer.

onebyone, great new mini-goal! *credit* Persist in Victory!

new2me2, *credit* for working on cards especially for work since you acknowledge it is where you experience your worst cravings.

FutureFitChick, sending good thoughts to you as you deal with emotional ups and downs. *credit* for knowing you and ride it out.

gardenerjoy, I'm not a good candidate for cheat days, either. Actually, it seems more sensible to just work on sane eating. *credit* for allowing indulgences while sticking with non triggering foods.

Shepherdess, *credit* for resisting during your "hardest day yet". I hope the weather starts cooperating!

maryblu,

Beverlyjoy, *credit* for knowing things will work out. That knowledge does make the realities of life much easier.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - So I called the front desk to find out where to get early morning coffee since there was no coffee maker in the room. "Oh, it's in the armoire" the friendly voice drawled. Huh? I was so taken aback, I had to ask - no one has casually used "armoire" with me before. "The big chest under the TV." And there it was! I never open drawers in a hotel room; solves the problem of leaving stuff in them, LOL.

Flight down to Florida was filled with adventures. Was at the same terminal leaving Boston as Steven Tyler of Aerosmith - neat because we're not used to celebrity spotting. Then our flight flew over Cape Kennedy just as Space Shuttle launched with the pilot banking left so we could watch the launch from 30,000 feet - just awesome, a site I never expected to see.

All of which is to distract from admitting that eating has been off, for all the standard reasons. The waitress didn't bring dinner until nearly 9pm, at which time I was so famished (no afternoon snack) and annoyed (from staring at the bread basket and dips) that I wolfed down the whole thing - blackened grouper and asparagus though it was - still a monster portion. Purchased a grilled chicken salad for lunch on the plane and discovered a fresh baked, still hot, crusty, oil covered bread in the bag; "just a taste," he thought, then down it went. CREDIT moi for eating both sitting down <he claimed with a straight face>.


onebyone - Congrats on the big 25! Yay veggies.

Anne (wndranne) - Three and a half hours is some serious bike riding. Would seem hard to avoid the weekend warrior thing while remaining gainfully employed.

maryblu - Waving back. Your tomatoes in the ground yet?

Shepherdess - Ouch for cabin fever. LOL at your "funny how a day of inactivity can be so exhausting" - BTDT.

Margaret (Nuxmaga) - Interesting that it isn't a "treat" if it's daily. That's a good reminder to me. Good luck on the upcoming craft show.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yay for 60 minutes of exercise.

Beverlyjoy - Wish I had your not “in a panic” about late dinner last night - Kudos to you for achieving what I needed to achieve. Double Ouch for "Realities of life are hard sometimes."

Cheryl (Seadwaters) - Ouch for computer issues. Incantations and incense don't really work as well as techies but they're more fun to try. I'll keep "cunning little beasties" in mind this evening when the walking appetizers will be numerous.

Debbie (Lexxiss) - Yep, Kudos for prep work for OP food. Thanks for telling us about Lexxiss - who lives on as your Avatar. RIP Lexxiss.

new2me2 - Neat idea to do the comparison pictures - wish I'd done that. Kudos for bringing your cards to work where the cravings live. One thing that works for me when hit by the vending-machine-desires at work is to get up and make a faux-vending-machine trip by walking at a brisk pace down the three flights of stairs and loop through my building. When I return, the desires are gone, blood is again flowing to my brain, and I get back to work.

jynx - Congrats on the 7 down. Will be sending brain waves for your end-of-term exams - so Ouch but so predictably part of the process. Thanks for pursuing CBT vs. CT - appears that that's an issue I can just ignore for now. Getting Beck integrated with your phone sounds like super way to get the stuff in your face each day. By the by, do you recognize the name Steven Tyler? I'm never sure when the oldie names still have meaning - especially across the Atlantic.

Readers -

Hi beck folks, coaches, buddies - Yesterday was a healthy day - I used a lot of my beck tasks. (always grateful for the willingness to keep trying). DH and I went to our favorite Chinese restaurant for supper. I got my favorite fresh ginger and soy steam sea bass. I took only half of the fish and veggies and a small portion of brown rice. Credit. I brought home the extra for today’s lunch. Credit. I ate very very slowly at the restaurant, fork down between bites and tasting/enjoying every single bite. Credit.

Today I’ll be bossing dh around in the garden. Since I can’t walk on the grass because of my ankle/foot problems - he will do the ‘stuff’. Hopefully, next year I’ll be back to gardening.

Yesterday:
Lots of water
Did my stretches and strengthening
Ate seated only, no seconds - all of the time
Fork down between bites - most of the time
Feel fullness - some of the time
Slow mindful eating - a lot of the time
Tasted the food - a lot of the time
Planned, logged food
Left a bite of food - all the time
Measured food - most of the time

Did not read beck
Did not read arc/rc
No spontaneous exercise




Billbe - glad you found the coffee pot! Oops on the extra eating on the flight, etc. Glad that is over and done. Move forward the best you can. If you can,read the chapter/arc on traveling. That has been helpful to me in the past. Enjoy your visit!

Lexxiss - you said: I see progress. I have many new habits, thanks to Beck. I have willingness. I think ‘willingness’ is absolutely key. You are making good progress in your beck ‘tasks’ with many credits. Carry on!

Onebyone - WOW - down 6 more pounds and 25 total. That’s wonderful. Carry on. Three cheers for veggies.

Maryblu - Hi!!

Shepardess - sorry you are having a hard time doing the exercises and with the extra crackers. I hope that you get your getaway soon. Sounds like it would be so good. Glad you could catch up on the paperwork.

gardener joy - glad you checked in. Hi!

Seadwaters - I hate when the computer acts up. I’ve grown to rely on it so, so much. So many credits- you are doing well with the beck tasks! Credit.

Jinx - so glad your book arrive…plus already down seven pounds is awesome! I’ve been doing beck for months and am not through the book. I am glad to see your credits already.

Nuxmaga - many good credits….plus, NOT eating the chips. Wonderful. Carry on!

Wndranne - wow - that’s a long bike ride..major credit.

Have a GREAT day.

Hello all!

I didn't have a chance to come here yesterday, was a busy day. We are going on vacation and early tomorrow, we will be flying to Miami and then onward to central america (Belize). I love vacation, I always lose weight on vacation, I hope I do this time as well My biggest record was 2 weeks in China resulted in a 6 lb weight loss breaking a 3 month plateau.

Anyway, I'm taking my Beck book with me and blank cards as well as the cards I've already created. I'll also be taking some other books as well.

I want to say that I'm amazed that the book is already helping me and I've only read up to day 3 (day 4 is today). I read the part about sitting down when eating yesterday and thought "I don't eat standing up, really I don't". Then we go to the inlaws (they are going to take care of our cats while we are gone), and I'm cutting bread for dinner and I almost pop an end piece into my mouth. I mean, its just a little end piece, right? When we go to my inlaws, we tend to have bread as part of the meal and I usually eat many slices of bread in between the slicing of it and waiting for the meal. Yesterday, I had 3 slices (counting that end piece as 1 which I had while sitting at the table eating dinner).

This morning, I also had the issue which I had yesterday, I wanted to eat, I wasn't hungry but I wanted to eat. So I ate breakfast, then started roaming the kitchen for more. Told myself I wasn't hungry so sit my butt down. Know what happened? I then had a sudden feeling of fullness. It was so strange.

Anyway busy day prepping for our super early flight tomorrow morning. Probably won't check in until the week after next. Hope everyone has a good week

BillBE - Thanks for the welcome

Hello all! Fun day today and still on track (although only day 2! lol!)
BillBlueEyes: Nope Steven Tyler doesn't ring any bells with me, but then again, I'm rubbish like that anyway! Well done on sitting down, despite the bread-wolfing! hehe Positive thinking for the win!

Nelie: Welcome! (from a fellow newbie!) I did the same as you and thought "but I always sit eating down"...then dinner came around and mum was making a salad (I'm home for the weekend) and I went to pick at a pickled onion (lol) and suddenly thought....oh yeah...maybe I do pick without really noticing! lol. I immediately sat down and waited for my yummy jacket potato and salad

Went shopping today and got myself some running shoes that actually fit me and suit my foot type! Yay! The ones I was using were bought in Florida when I was 11 *embarrassed face*! Also bought some new joggers so naturally I had to "wear everything in" and went for a good old run cross-country around where I live . It actually nearly killed me since I'm so used to the tread mill but I really enjoyed it all the same and was so proud when I got back home. Credit to moi!

So anyway...
Day 2
Read my cards twice: yep, this morning and will read again before bed
Looked at my reminders: popped up on my phone
Chose a diet and a back-up: Calorie counting in general for now since that's what generally works for me and gives me flexibility, back up is to join a Rosemary Conley group where they give you all sorts of help and also a fitness class

Good day today, well done everyone on all your successes!

Today's adventure was an all day seafood cooking class that began by meeting the chef at the seafood store! I'm a seafood skeptic, so this was really an adventure for me. I borrowed today's mantra from Julia Child and decided to be fearless. Which meant that I was the only student who stuck a knife through a lobster's brain today. And the very first thing I ate was a raw oyster. I suspect that I'm more likely to repeat killing a lobster than eating a raw oyster a second time, but I'm glad I did it once.

There were some actual successes for me. I'm sold on yellow fin tuna -- raw in tuna tartare or seared in a deconstructed salad nicoise that was amazing. We'll probably try halibut at home, too -- we had it today braised in a tomato sauce. The salsa we made alongside grilled salmon is a keeper, too. And, I liked the sea scallops and the crab cakes.

I ate all day, lots of it standing up. But we'll likely skip supper entirely tonight and at least I know I got enough Omega-3 fatty acids.

In other news, my Wii came earlier than expected. I played for over an hour last night and still have lots more things to try for the first time. Pretty much everything I did has much room for improvement. One of the cool things about the Wii is that improvements are quantifiable and it keeps charts and numbers so I can prove it to myself.

I'll try for a more normal post tomorrow.

Hi Beck folks, coaches, buddies - Yesterday was a healthy day - I am always grateful for that.

DH did alot of spring garden clean up and mulching. Looks so pretty. I did alot of nicely bossing him around. It was all I could do to stay out of the gardening - as it irritates my ankle/foot injury.

DH grilled marinated chicken breasts and crusty bread with evoo. I cut, measured and put on my own measured amount of evoo on my bread. DH said...'I won't put much on.' But, I measured it all - CREDIT

My mom is coming over for dinner. DH and mom are having a burger on the grill - I plan to have a morningstar gardenburger.


eat seated only - all but one bite
no seconds - all of the time
fork down between bites - some of the time
plan, write down, measure food - count the calories - all the time
leave a bite - all of the time
Lots of water
gave credit
use resistance techniques - yes
read arc/rc
used beck book
taste the food - some of the time
slow mindful eating - some of the time

stretches and strengthening - no
spontaneous exericse - no

gardenerjoy - big credit for learning to cook fish! That is such a positive step towards healthy eating. I am glad you could adjust your food for the day - as a result of the cooking class. It's a credit that being out of your routine didn't cause a binge or overeating for the day. Glad your wii arrived.

jynx - so glad to see you are getting into the 'swing of things' with Beck! Credit for getting new shoes and preparing for putting movement and exericise in your day. Carry on!

nelie - have a safe and fun trip. You said that you always lose weight on vacation. Wow - for most it's the opposite. It's wonderful. Credit for feeling fullness in your tummy and walking away from unplanned food.

billbe - hope you have a safe trip home!

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating was a little better, CREDIT moi, but still not as on-plan as I would have liked it to be. I left a serving of superb mashed potatoes on the plate, but that was after eating my carrots, Patty Pan Squash, Mahi Mahi, and steak. Ouch for the total. Tiny CREDIT moi for ignoring the basket of good looking rolls. At breakfast, I had a bowl of granola instead of the huge buffet - no one needs that much breakfast. Waiter was annoyed that I insisted on a banana for my granola - as if that were an odd request - but produced it (some were visible on the buffet so I knew they had some).

And last night I danced the night away, so CREDIT moi for some exercise. Danced, of course, in the outer perimeter reserved for those of age or of ethanol, LOL. The inner core was occupied by the wedding party and other age appropriates with increasing loss of inhibition and footwear as the evening progressed.

Saw Brown Pelicans doing their ugly/beautiful flying and diving. And snorkeled in the warm Gulf of Mexico, being conscious that the Gulf could become unswimable if the oil spill doesn't get contained.


maryblu - Thought of you while dancing - knowing that you'd be right in the center with the athletic performers.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yay for the fearless chef!!! That cooking class sounds like mucho fun. Can't wait to hear what new recipes you try. The Mahi Mahi last night was covered in a mango salsa - an amazing combo.

Beverlyjoy - Kudos to your DH for being a willing gardener assistant. Thanks for the reminder that Beck has advice for travelers that covers the very stuff in which I'm wallowing.

Debbie (Lexxiss) - Yay for using your real-life Diet Coach to help stay the course. Ouch for the difficulty of eating well when super busy.

jynx - Kudos for picking your diet plans - that's a big step forward. Yay for new running shoes; Yep, the old ones sound ready to be passed on, LOL. Running cross country sounds fun. Do you think you'll add more outdoor running to your regime? The DJ played Walk This Way by Steven Tyler and Aerosmith for one of the dances last night. I was told that everybody knows that one when they hear it - although, perhaps, not by name.

nelie - Great story of talking yourself down when "roaming the kitchen for more." Have a wonderful vacation in Belize; I'm super jealous - they have extraordinary birds there. Bring back pictures and stories.

Readers -

Today's schedule is all about packing for a couple of nights out of town. I'm going to bring lots of food so we at least have the option of eating in.

WI: NAkg, Exercise: +60 615/1400 minutes for May, Food: 40%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: no

BillBlueEyes: Love your story about seeing the space shuttle from your plane -- that is so cool! good job finding some spots of sane eating on a wedding trip and finding fun ways to exercise.

onebyone: rooting for your 10% weight loss! That's a big deal.

Beverlyjoy: great job coping with the pleasures and pitfalls of grilling season.

jynx: yay for making it through Day 2! Hope Day 3 has gone as well. Good job on the outdoor run.

nelie: hope you have a wonderful vacation.

Lexxiss: good job thinking through what is traditionally a bad time of year for you.

Hello to everyone else!

Hello fellow Beckies!

Well, my hunger tolerance test didn't go so well...well, actually not at all. My friend and I went for breakfast, and I had two scrambled eggs with shrimp, scallops, crab and green onions and instead of hash browns (which are dangerous for me because of gluten) and bread/pancakes had a small serving of melons. That part went well, lol. When we broke for lunch, it was buffet style and the dish was stuffed pototoes. I wasn't even very hungry yet, but I was so excited that they had something I could eat that I decided to have a little. So, I had half a small potatoe, a speck of sour cream (honestly, not more than a couple of teaspoons because of the dairy), 4 black olives, and a tiny bit of chicken/artichoke salad. I didn't eat much of that either because it was in some kind of mayo sauce thing, and not knowing how they made it I was afraid it might have some gluten somewhere. So, credit for not overeating I guess, but really shouldn't have eaten at all, lol.

Today is a new day and the chapter is 15 Monitoring your eating. I've done this for a few years now, so it's not a new thing, but what IS new is planning what I eat a day early. I tend to eat the same thing everyday with just a few variations, so it seems silly to write it down, but I'm going to do it, lol. Credit I guess.

I bought an iPhone a couple of months ago and one of the Apps I downloaded is called Lose It! It is a food/exercise log and you can put in your age, weight, goal weight, etc. and it will figure out how many calories you need to eat in order to lose weight. It also gives you a choice of how fast you want to lose. It's basic, but I've been enjoying doing that instead of the written journals I used to keep. It's also handy to have with me so I can put in what I eat fairly quickly. It has some brand name items already in it, but since I eat mostly from Whole Foods, I've had to enter a lot of my stuff.

Credits so far today: reading the Beck book, reading my cards, following my written food plan, making my lunches/snacks for work for the entire week, sitting down for every bite, resisting buying any "treats" today at the grocery store, and gosh, credit that all that and it's only 10:00 am here, lol. No exercise yet but I'll so some before the day is out.

jynx: Congratulations on your 7 pounds! That's great, and extra credit for wanting to do everything properly! Good for you for getting some good running shoes...they make a big difference!

BillBlueEyes: Very cool on spotting Steven Tyler. I always did like Aerosmith. Funny about the amoire! And, even cooler to see the shuttle launch!!! Wow! I'll have to try a walk around the building if those cravings ever hit again. LOL on your description of the dancing!

Nuxmaga: Wow, extra credit for choosing not to snack because there wasn't calorie room...I have a hard time with that if I'm hungry especially. Yeah, sometimes my treats are the norm as well.

nelie: Hope you are having a great time on vacation. Good for you for taking your Beck book and cards! I think we all underestimate how much we really do some of the things she mentions in the book, lol. I know I do.

gardenerjoy: OMGosh, your cooking class sounds wonderful! I lived in Hawaii for 6 years, so I tend to like raw tuna, lol. I'm so happy your Wii came and that you dove right in!

BillBlueEyes: Yeah I know that song I am notoriously bad with names so I'm the worst person to get a general idea of what people know! lol! When I go home for the summer I will be doing much more outdoor running since there are some lovely routes where I live. Not sure whether to pay for the gym over the summer or just do extra runs. Although I guess the gym works more muscle groups with varied machines and weights etc. I'll just have to see what I can work into my day

So...on to:

Day 3
Read response cards: Several times today *credit*
Created a response card to encourage me to sit while eating: yes *credit*
Sat down when I ate: all the time

Today, I also had a much smaller Sunday lunch than I would normally have (my mum is evil when it comes to piling on the food on a Sunday, even though she watches her weight herself, it's like she wants to offload her food cravings on to others, lol) *credit*

Back at university now, resisted unplanned pineapple from a friend (I know it's only pineapple but it's the behaviour of spontaneously snacking that needs cutting out, right?)*credit*

Another good day

I've been doing much better at getting back on the recording food bandwagon. A seven-year habit I need to keep.

Hill repeats on the bike this morning, followed by a 3.5 mile run. I'm too tired to nap. Does not bode well for the afternoon. I'll try to be just cranky, instead of cranky and overstuffed.

Anne

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Monday morning begins early with a forced march to the Miami airport, so I'm posting tonight. Visited the Everglades today and saw a Smooth-billed Ani - said to be rare bird even for Southern Florida. Saw many Anhinga's, including four nests with young screaming for parents to feed them. Alligators were as common as American Robins back in Boston.

The good for my eating was buying cereal, milk, banana, and strawberries to have breakfast in my room. CREDIT moi. It avoided the monster buffet. Split a sub sandwich with my DH for the second day for lunch while out, CREDIT moi, even though it wasn't a low cal sub, it was split. Somewhat behaved myself at dinner tonight by only having bites of someone else's key lime pie, by ignoring the bread sticks, and by ignoring the rice served with my fish. But it was a large platter and I ate all the fish and veggies. I've done better on travel, even to big events with family. More work to be done here before I slip back into mindlessness.


Anne (wndranne) Yay for being cranky when that means you weren't also overstuffed, LOL. Happy trails.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Smart move to bring food; hope your nights out of town go well.

new2me2 - Yay for iPhone apps that fit your needs; Apple seems to have a lot of those. Kudos for not buying treats at the grocery store.

jynx - Yay for avoiding "evil" food pushers - especially when they're your mom, LOL. And Kudos for being so clear that it's the behavior - not the pineapple - that mattered. It's not called Cognitive Pineapple Therapy is it? LOL.

Readers -

Hi Beck folks...coaches....buddies....

Yesterday was a healthful day - always grateful for that - never take it for granted. I stayed with my food plan - even though DH changed what he ate for dinner I stayed with my planned meal. Credit. Sometimes I'll change my dinner if DH or circumstances merit the change..but, not yesterday. We got more done in the garden - actually, DH. The cutie kids from two doors down came over to play - we had a 'pretzel party' - I did eat one - oops - but, counted it in my daily talley of calories.

I've had eleven days of staying on my plan - that's a good stretch. Credit and gratitudes, both.

Today I have to get another key made for my car. I've looked for weeks for it...can't find it. It's one of those 'fancy' keys with auto door and trunk locks etc. It will cost about $50 - yikes!!

yesterday

eat seated only - all of the time
no seconds - all of the time
fork down between bites - some of the time
plan, write down, measure food - all of the time
feel fullness - some of the time
TASTE the food - some of the time
slow mindful eating - some of the time
lots of water - yes
count my calories - yes
read arc/rc - yes
read beck book - yes
recorded and wrote about any unplanned eating
leave a bite of food - alot of the time

no spontaneous exercise

billbe - hope you are home safe and sound. I am glad you got to see so many nice birdies. Credit for making many good choices with your food as you progressed in your family visit! Travelling is so hard. Passing up 'goodies' and other tempting food is very hard - glad you could make many choices.

wndramme - credit for recording your food and a good bike ride!

jynx - well done with reading your rc several times. Big credit for not eating the pineapple...yes, even eating an unplanned healthy food defeats the purpose of not eating any unplanned food. YAY

new2me2 - I think that planning is one of the most 'freeing' things we can do. We don't have to have those food thoughts 'spinning around in our heads' if it's already planned. You can do your hunger exercise another day.

gardenerjoy - big credit for planning ahead for you out of town trip!!!! I know that will help.

Shout out to everyone that stops by! Treat yourself as well as you'd treat a good friend.

Hello Beck friends

I wanted to say hi, and I'll be back later to catch up. My hubby is in Alaska and I'm exhausted but really committed to staying OP and working on my weight loss. Computer is still slow and after finally getting signed on, I have about 8 min. to get out of here if I want to make a 7am aerobics class. *credit* for willingness....and for planned exercise.

See ya'll later!