Good morning, coaches.
Four days in Washington DC- a wonderful holiday if somber at times. Memorials always choke me up. It is wonderful to spend the time with my husband and my son. I have much to be grateful for. I do not take for granted that I have had four days on plan.
It had been a hard-fought battle. I've avoided sugar and wheat for four days. Off to Mount Vernon tonight and the Bureau of engraving tomorrow. Credit for hours of walking and credit for reading my Advantage cards. Best to all.

Good morning, everyone. I started Beck a couple of years ago and never finished and managed to gain 16 pounds. I started back with Weight Watchers the Saturday after Thanksgiving and weighed in last Saturday with a total loss for December of 3.8 pounds - credit me - and still had some holiday treats.

I started Day 1 of Beck yesterday and will progress as I learn each step.

Hi Coaches!
I'm posting from my iPhone....have had an extra stressful day...travel and disagreement over some things w/DH which involve my mom and sis. This is exactly when I think food will help.
FutureFitChick reminded me this morning that reaching out and posting both help. I am doing both.credit
I took myself to lunch before grocery shopping and am enjoying a yummy Asian chopped salad w/iced tea while I check in with my coaches. As i sit, I have actually decided to order dinner in....recognizing tired and that I could use a break.
This day could turn out OP if I keep working for it. Key today is resisting fancy Aspen pastries sold at 7-11. I have resisted before I can resist again.

Hi Becksters/coaches/friends - today is going in the Beck direction! I got on the scale. I am up a few pounds. I know some of it is the medicine I am taking makes me retain water. The scale is good information as Dr. Beck says.

I have lots of healthy food - so my environment is good.

I've been rehearsing today. I didn't have to take the 'la la' drug. I am grateful for that. My lower back is improving. I contacted the school & they will help me get my things in and out of the school. Grateful folks are kind.

Billbe - good reminder today... about strengthening the resistance muscle. Thanks.

Hope you are having a GREAT day. Reminder - treat yourself as well as you'd treat a good friend!

Typing fast while my wife plays "Just Dance 4" with my son on the Wii. Right now, he's insisting that they dance to Rick Astley's "Never Going to Give You Up." I think it's only because the dance avatar is wearing a cape, making him a superhero and making my son (shudder) a Rick Astley fan.

Stayed OP today, and took my first yoga class. Pretty sore and happy that I'm married to a great physical therapist, who gave me a quick massage. Ah.

Until that time...

My second Huffington Post piece in as many days. This one features a Beck book! A Librarian's Tips For Preparing To Diet

My day went haywire, again, but no complaints and the eating was fine. Plus some walking and yoga. That's the last post I've submitted and I probably won't do another one for a month, so I'll have some recovery time.

Good to see you, QuilterinVA!

Hello to everyone else!

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Another session with the physical therapist; Got sent home with an elastic band to make my stretches more difficult. I still can't stand on one leg for 30 seconds with my eyes shut - but it's so much fun to try. At his office, I also have to stand on one leg on a foam pad - now that's hard. I feel every muscle in my foot constantly working to stay upright. I feel like a baby flamingo trying to learn to stand in the soft mud where the good food swims. Then to the gym for another 30 minutes on the stationary bike set at one higher level. And then some weights. CREDIT moi for getting back into the gym and for attempting to go slowly so that I don't injure myself and then have to stop.

Food was on plan, CREDIT moi. DW finished the last sugar cookie with zero help from me over the whole container. However, the container of to-die-for chocolate cookies still sits there winking at me. Hopefully they're stale by now, but that hasn't stopped me in the past. I left some of my potato on my plate even though I knew it would get fed to the worms.


onebyone – Good luck on you WW weigh-in today. Kudos for planning your year; DW just made a suggestion for a summer week on a lake even though it's bitter cold outside right now. She also suggested that we need to order seeds for our summer veggie garden.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Enjoyed your Huffington Post. Neat that you included "The Step Diet Book" - that's the book that broke though to me that I'd have to exercise more to burn the same calories as I lost weight. And I admire his simplicity: if you're gaining weight, remove 25% of your dinner before starting to eat. That thought made me realize that I was responsible for calibrating the effect of food on my body.

Debbie (Lexxiss) – This is good for me to remember, "I have resisted before I can resist again."

Beverlyjoy – Yay for a day without "the 'la la' drug" - hope this doesn't turn you off to future plumbing activities.

Susan (QuilterInVA) - Congrats for that December loss - with planned treats even. There are several folks starting up right now in the pink book, so you'll have company. It's neat to have you posting here again.

FutureFitChick – On plan during emotional times is worthy of Kudos. Touching photo of you pup with a four year old's tender loving care.

maryann - Yay for all the walking in Washington, DC. If you bump into a Congressman, kindly suggest to him to do something.

BigchiefDavid – Ouch - that first yoga class can be brutal. It's a win just to get down and up from the floor gracefully.

nationalparker – 1500 Kudos for setting yourself a mileage goal for the year - with Kudos doubled for making it a twosome with your DH. Yay for "NO CHOICE" to the lingering goodies at work.

Readers -

Good morning, Coaches and Buddies.

Pup is still hanging in there, but continues to decline. I am still glad we brought her home. I am going to make a turkey today to see if she will eat any. Both my husband and I have some work flexibility right now so we could both worth at home with her by our side. We really are lucky.

Food was 100% on plan yesterday, although the scale did not reward me this morning. I know the reason and that it will pass and I am not giving up and am staying on plan! Breakfast was 100% this morning as well. Thanks again for your support. I know I would not be staying on plan without all of you!

I found this article interesting and wanted to share. It is about how "naturally thin" people stay that way. It is backed by a lot of great research.

http://www.realsimple.com/health/nut...int-index.html

BeverlyJoy, I am very glad you are getting some help from your school. That is great to plan to take care of yourself. Your advice to treat myself as I would treat my good friends made my heart beat a little bit because my house is too much of a mess to have me over. Yikes! I guess I get to clean some AFTER the paper is done.

BigChiefDave, OK, have to ask. How old is your son? Great job for being on plan and getting the yoga in.

BillBlueEyes, as soon as you have those mastered, try standing on a BOSU on one foot in the middle of a University gym! Great job for getting to the gym and getting lots of exercise in! Also, CREDIT for on plan eating and no sugar cookies!!

GardenerJoy, I've added your article to the giant pile of stuff to read (but it is on top) . Congratulations about that! How long have you been writing? Great job with on plan eating and exercise.

Lexxiss, family stress is a huge trigger for me (as well as feelings of "failure"). I hope you were able to resist evil Aspen pastries and that things are feeling a bit better for you today. CREDIT for sitting while eating, posting, and reaching out when you needed too!

MaryAnn, excellent job of staying on plan while traveling as well as a memorial. Great job and keep it up!

QuilterInVA, great job with your weight loss and for coming back to the Beck skills. I look forward to getting to know you better.

Another cold wintry day that has me longing to stay by a roaring fire. But I sit under fluorescent lights in my cubicle as the white noise machine in our office chugs away. Feel a bit down/cranky today, but when I reflect on all that's good in my life, I need to turn that attitude around, pronto! Credits yesterday for actually walking in the 12 degrees downtown to get tickets to a performance for DH anniversary gift (yes, I forgot to before our actual anniversary!), for eating on plan most of the day - the time when i first get home from work with a few hours before DH gets home are the toughest for me. I plan today to make a cup of hot tea, sip it and read, and take about 30 minutes for myself to get through that transition. It should help more than noshing on this and that. Plan to walk at lunch again today - hopefully a bit more, and hoping it warms up a bit, too. As a Florida transplant into the midwest, I still long for the green during winter and bright, direct sunshine.

We adopted a starving cat with no ID chip/tag about 10 weeks ago and there is still strife with our pets - she's grown into a loving, social cat with us, but apparently thinks the home is HERS and the others are intruders (two cats/one dog previously - we planned on one more dog as a playmate for this one, but as DH says, sometimes your pets choose you, you don't choose them). I've worked in other cats through the years with existing pets yet never had this level of aggression - anyone have any tips? We monitor them and don't leave them alone together during the night or when we're out to avoid anything serious. My husband used to say we had all special needs pets - and this one is the "normal" one The crankiest cat who has always been cranky is scared and growls the whole time, which I think spurs the charges by the new one.

Now that I got that out - sorry... just a few notes here...
FutureFitChick - I'm sure my pet issues are NOTHING compared to the worries you have. Best of luck with her and treasure this time. You'll know you did everything you could that was humane for her. Thank you for the link to the online article.
BillBlueEyes - Great job for getting back to the gym! I'm dreading going because I know ours will be mobbed with the New Year crowd (and I'm part of that new year crowd!) ... Work that resistance muscle on those choc cookies
BigChiefDavid - Congrats for the yoga action - I love yoga and have that in my goals for this year to return to my yoga mat and pick back up with pilates. I swore by them for strength, stress reduction and toning, yet let them slip away from my life when I got busy. Thank you for posting - it was a nudge to me. Great job so far through such a difficult time of the year to stay on track.
GardenerJoy - Congrats on this article as well - I'll swing by to check it out and comment.
Lexiss - Hope you were able to resist those Aspen goodies! Smart of you to order in, recognizing what your body needs. Hope the disagreement resolved smoothly.

FutureFitChick - I can't get that link to the article work - do you have to be a subscriber?

Hi Coaches!

I did pretty good yesterday and DID avoid Evil Aspen Pastries (thx FutureFitChick). For those not familiar, I found out last year that the crappy "pastries" at the 7-11 on our corner are not from the crappy bakery in Denver, but infact come fresh everyday from the finest European bakery in Aspen....too far to ship the "junk" everyday so they contract for the "good" stuff...which is not good for me.
Thanks for kind thoughts, everyone! I had the sanity to message my sis and tell her (truthfully) that it's bitter cold here and that mom would not enjoy coming over today...which also worked to diffuse potential and probable further family discord. DH will get over it in time but no need to pitch fuel on the fire. I had an extra snack in the last evening (a WW flour tortilla). I can live with that.
Today I'll keep moving forward and will once again resist the urge for a comforting pastry. I have a plan which doesn't include it.

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie.
Not sure what I'm supposed to say in this topic but I do have a question so far.
For day 2 I had to choose a primary diet and backup diet. My choices are weight watchers for the primary diet and calorie counting for the backup. I was wondering if anyone here thinks it would possible to use both the Beck books together for the backup diet.

Coaches

*credit for official weighin 255.6 (-1.8lbs) I hoped it would be down but wasn't counting on it. Happy to see the scale move.
*credit for cooking from scratch today and for taking care of DH who is home with the bad flu that has manifested in many a co-worker. I am warning ti to stay away from me.
*credit for posting here
*credit for tracking online today

Some deadlines are approaching and so my to-do list is beginning to create itself. I have been busy ordering online supplies to use to make things to fill out my market booth this coming season. I am planning to have much of my stock complete before I even step foot in the booth in May. This is a plan I always make but never execute. Executing it would eliminate much day to day/week to week stress and binge working and it would leave me open to make special things instead of the ordinary items. This year I want to focus on moderation and steady work--just acceptng I work day in/day out and slow and steady wins the race. I am usually coompletely on at high speed or completely zoned out and off. It's different if I have an outside job, but working for myself 100% I set my own pace and this is my natural setting. I need to change that up cause much of my work is now over days/weeks and months vs. hours.

And with that I am off to bed.

futurefitchick Seeing your pup made me feel happy to see what a great dog he is and how cared for he is, and sad at the process you are all going through. I fear I can't say anything to make you feel better, but just know that you are doing the best you can for him. Our animals are so special. to you.

VioletDolphin83 Welcome! Beck leaves it completetly up to us what diets we choose for ourselves. If you want to make the Beck diets your primary or backup diets go right ahead. And if they don't work out for you, you just try another one and see if that one does. Beck truly helps us discover what is best for us as individuals. It's worth it to truly work her plan.

VioletDolphin83

As well as,

How did you find out about the books by Dr. Judith Beck?

And however did you find this Beck thread on 3 Fat Chicks?

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Left some re-fried beans on my plate at dinner, CREDIT moi. That pleases me as much as the whole day on plan. There's a container on the kitchen counter with exactly one two-bite brownie that’s left over from something. Have to add that to my list of things to ignore. I'm not even thinking about it. It isn't on my mind. At all. As I sit in my office typing out of sight.

Gym, again, CREDIT moi, for more time on the stationary bike with a book. The woman riding next to me held her book exactly level while peddling; my book rode up and down. Now I've got a new goal. Perhaps I have to shift to one of the more vertical bikes. Maybe I just have to move the seat back to that my knees don't rise as high. It's fun to focus on the minor issues to avoid thinking about thirty minutes left. Did my set of rehab exercises twice, CREDIT moi. One specific step exercise causes hurt; I'm limited in how far I can do it. Presumably it's the most important one to be working.


onebyone – Congrats on that kilo lost, with Kudos for going to your WW meeting for the weigh-in. Terrific execution to be ordering your supplies enough in advance to reduce stress during market season.

Debbie (Lexxiss) – Congrats for working out the family dynamics. Big Kudos for avoiding fresh European pastries. Around here all pastries at a 7-11 are wrapped in cellophane.

FutureFitChick – Continue to think of you and your pup. Liked the article you linked about thin people. I got past "have thin parents" but got stuck at "live in Colorado." Thinking about moving there just to watch the pounds melt away as the plane descends into Denver, LOL. [Adding one foot BOSU to my list - not sure how I’d mount without starting between two supports.]

nationalparker – You had me so jealous with "to stay by a roaring fire" until I read you were in your cubicle. Now I'm jealous that you can hear a white noise machine and turn it into a roaring fire. Must be hard to get work done, LOL. Funny pet dynamics there.

VioletDolphin83 – Yep, would seem to me just fine to use the The Beck Diet for Life as a backup diet. Folks posting regularly have been known to change their diets fairly often - as needed to shake things up. There are big groups in 3FC for Weight Watchers and for Calorie Counters. Do you attend WW meetings? Who is that staring at me from your avatar? Glad you've joined us

Readers -