Coaches

So I'm making breakfast for us. DH has a holiday today. The traffic nearby is very very light. Makes me want to take the car and go for a long drive. What I will do instead is take the car and drive to my studio and begin work carving a large woodblock. Being newly rejected for a large woodblock idea made me wonder if I should *really* be doing this idea and then I thought naaaaah. juries, events, organizers, they all have their agendas... just keep moving forward. What is the key here is *I* have an idea that motivates*me* what becomes of it/where it goes is besides the point. My *joy* is in the making it. The rest is all fluff. When it rises above that I get confused and pessimistic and this helps me not.

Today I am tracking my food which I haven't done in a while. Its cause I started tracking differently with the Diet Fix and then I stopped. I am going back to my fitbit tracking which correlates to the fitbit data I get from the fitbit band on my wrist. THIS is what I need to work into THAT diet fix plan, not the other way around BECAUSE THE FITBIT WAS WORKING FOR ME and as soon as I put that aside I got lost again and ate off plan again and got confused again. I'm a simple human and I need a simple plan. Will still go forward with Day 5 Diet Fix today. Will adapt what works today but keep fitbit data, which is bodily reality, in mind.

I'll check in later with you guys. Bye for now.

Super quick post here to say the joys of a sibling you get along wonderfully with - miscommunication with my brother on who was picking up my father after a treatment today. He took him, and I took mom to dialysis and then went basically next door to the cancer facility ... and checked in to wait an hour+ for Dad. Called my brother to check on the oxygen level of his portable canister because I brain cramped and didn't and then he asked why I was there - to get him. But I'm doing that. Oh, okay - I thought i was since it was so close. End of story. No regurgitation of every spoken word about who/when on the pickups, no guilt of bad memory, no implied lack of accountability. It's just that there are daily appointments and we got signals crossed. He mixes me up with his wife as far as conversations now and then, and I have not had the greatest memory myself. So seconds later, we're all good. With my sister, it would still be an issue, referred to repeatedly and would be relayed to many others. I am so thankful for my relationship with my brother and our agreement on everything that comes up with our parents' care.

I did have my planned snack this morning instead of this evening - my treat was a 120 calorie coconut chocolate treat. I'm not beating myself up - I left the cancer facility and cried when I got to the car for how tiny and frail he looks, and then sucked it up and realized he might not be strong in body, but he's strong in spirit and fortitude. But then the treat was a comfort food, entirely. I am okay with it as it was limited and savored. (am i making excuses?) oh well ...

Another problem solved (in theory) as there was an issue with meds taken or not this morning. So I thought, we'll use military time. Then no issue if he notes on the chart that it was 5:15 - we'll know that's a.m. and 17:15 will be p.m. He's used to that and I'll be the one counting on my fingers, despite hearing it my whole life! Silly how such easy solutions don't come at first now and then. And I'm sure many of you are going, "well, no kidding that is what you're SUPPOSED to do..." ha ha - eh, it's a learning curve for me.

I wrote about the Strange Names, Great Taste class on my blog today -- you can see photos of Toad in the Hole, Bubble and Squeak, and Spotted Dick here: http://www.joyweesemoll.com/2014/04/...-isles-friday/

The wedding outfit will be black palazzo pants that I already owned with a green cardigan and tee that works wonderfully with one of the silk scarves I brought back from Paris. It's all very springy and dressy and fluid and I feel good wearing it. Credit for bringing the pants and scarves with me to the store so I could find things that worked with what I already owned and felt good about.

I finally read Day 10 of The Diet Fix. Basically, go forth and sin no more. My worry is that all this measuring, weighing, and calculating is another point where things could break down. If I get fed up with it, will that drag me off plan completely? He didn't address that general sort of resistance in this chapter, but he did address "too busy" and some of that applies to my worry.

I have to admit that, in practice, the few times I've been unwilling to weigh and measure has been related to judging what I'm eating. And, that I've been able to get right on track with the next meal by weighing and measuring when I'm in a less resistant and judgmental place -- which has been an aid to keeping on track most of the time.

There's more to the book, so we'll see what else he has to say after the 10 Day Reset.

WI: NC in kg, Exercise: +30 815/1500 minutes for April, Food: 80%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

nationalparker and flnu: the nice part about making an appointment with a personal shopper is that there are garments waiting in the dressing room when I arrive, and they just keep coming as we work out that I might want a different size in this top or a different color for that one or maybe another brand of slacks would fit better. The personal shopper does all the running about the store and she's much more efficient than I could ever be.
There's absolutely no pressure to buy anything I don't want. She's even good about saying, "that color just doesn't work on you, does it?" One of the reasons I work with her is that I trust her taste and eye more than my own.
On the other hand, I often end up buying more than I originally intended. Like yesterday, I bought an outfit for the wedding, but there was a jacket that looked great on me so I got it, too. It will be perfect for slightly less dressy events and business meetings. It's difficult not to buy everything that looks good just because that's still a new experience for me. But it's not hard at all to turn down the many things that don't look good. I seem to need to try on a lot of clothes to get a good fit, so I reject way more things than I keep.
Alterations are one of the reasons I shop at Nordstrom's. Hems are free. Taking in the waist (which I almost always need on slacks) isn't free, but most slacks don't work at all on me without that and it's cheaper and more convenient to use Nordstrom's tailors than find one on my own. We recently got a Nordstrom's card and we get a certain number of free alterations with that.
The personal shopper is on commission, I'm sure, but I think she looks at her clients as long-term customers. She'd rather I come back again and again than sell me something I don't like and have me go elsewhere next time.

onebyone: LOL at your unique image of precisely how a snow plow on a garden tractor aids in garden work.

AZtricia: not allowing oneself to get hungry is the major tenet of The Diet Fix.

Hmmm. That wouldn't work for me. I really enjoy eating when I am hungry. I enjoy eating when I'm not hungry too, of course, but the lack of hunger is a burr.

Hello!

AZtricia, that quote about missing the exit was pure genius!

OP for Thursday. Fasting today; a busy day at Church and an easy fasting day. Hanging on for tomorrow's weigh in.

Have begun moving toward a "Unified Field Plan" for exercise instead of hit and miss. Planning seems to work for food so it should work for exercise too, right?

Best to all!

Hello Coaches,
Quick check in. Doing better today. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. I may not be able to check in as we've lots on the schedule.

Coaches

I had a plan for food today and that made life easy - but there were no real challenges today. I was busy doing chores the whole day and have now prepped dinner ready to cook a casserole for a few meals. I didn't do any exercise beyond heavy cleaning - will finish chores tomorrow and go to the gym for a rest. I have had no time this semester to stay up with garden and house chores so it is good to catch up - even the dogs gots a bath (not that they were too impressed with that). Will repot a few things tomorrow and get a few new seedlings to fill the gaps

CeeJay - hope your 2 nights in the hotel went OK and that you are enjoying Easter. I am glad you introduced us to the Diet Fix - I like how he holds retail food providers accountable for their ingredients and calories, all despite their claims of being healthy. And the book is good too - will get to the Fix tomorrow and hopefully start in the next few days

BillBE - Your evening out makes enjoyable reading - and the message that learning to not overeat is important and to be prepared for changes in plans

flnu - Yay for 5 pounds down - amazing. LOL about a strategy you can get behind that has less exercise and more food - I'd quite like that - and identify with the sabotaging thoughts. Hot crossed buns - not so delicious but comfort food with history

Onebyone - Credit for making choices about what motivates and interests you, and about how to best track your food and calories. I use the fitbit AND My Fitness Pal - and they work well together. Not sure yet what the Fix will ask of me. Hope you made it to Day 5

Nationalparker - you are doing well to move on from your treat. You have been on plan during some pretty difficult time so glad you enjoyed your treat and moved on. Happy that you and your brother are in synch.

Gardenerjoy - liked the cooking blog post. These are familiar foods here - Bubble and Squeak takes many favourite forms (not all with mashed potato - sometimes with roast veggies). Terrific wedding outfit by the sound of it. I now want my own personal shopper but think only the REALLY high end shops have them here. Out of my grasp. Thanks for getting to Day 10 - I know what I am in for

6crowsgold - I forgot to fast on Friday! Not sure I can fit it in this weekend now - drat.

Tricia (AZtricia) - Glad things are better - have a wonderful weekend

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Becoming annoyed with this cold weather after such a splendid week of believing that Spring was here. Walked, CREDIT moi, bundled up. Perhaps I should feel gratitude that walking was possible since it wasn't a blizzard. Dancing was the evening's exercise.

Eating ran into a problem in the afternoon. Unexpectedly, I spent a couple of hours in a club situation with open dishes of nuts and other snacks. I seriously overdid my allocated afternoon snack. It wasn't even good stuff - it was unexpected stuff. I was so caught off-guard that I didn't even have the wisp of a plan. Will try to work that one better. Dinner, on the other hand, was a joy. We had the other half of the grilled salmon steaks. DW popped outside to our new gas Weber to grill the asparagus. What a treat - grilled veggies are just the best. CREDIT moi for eating well when I'm in my grove.


onebyone – Makes sense to track the way that works for you. Kudos for recognizing that your artistic merit doesn't flow from this week's jury.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Thanks for the link to your blog describing the British foods. My take is that I'm seriously pleased that you weren't able to find the equivalent of British breakfast sausage. When we did B&B's in England for a week we started asking the hostess to skip the sausages; they aren't to my liking. Bratwurst, on the other hand, is killer good. I'll ponder that thought that resistance to measuring is resistance to judging.

Cheryl (GosfordGirl) – Yay for "a casserole for a few meals." DW suggests that we need a new word to replace 'left overs' for food that was cooked to serve several meals. 'Left overs' should apply to food unintentionally not eaten at a prior meal. Kudos for cleaning hard enough that going to the gym was a rest.

nationalparker – Terrific reminder from your story of the mix-up with your brother about how we work with sane folks both grounded in reality. Kudos to you both for staying focused on what's important. Choosing a comfort food for your day's planned snack doesn't need justification. Kudos for recognizing what you needed and what would work. You could have dug into a stack of cookies and had to double down since when they didn't do what you needed.

Tricia (AZtricia) - Have a happy busy schedule.

flnu - Savor it - five pounds lost on a vacation that neither ate less nor moved more. Savor it; patent it; publish it. You'll make enough in the first week for both daughters' full college expenses, LOL. Kudos for being mindful enough for that to happen however it did. LOL at the hobo image. And LMAO at "I enjoy eating when I'm not hungry too."

6crowsgold - Good luck designing your "Unified Field Plan" for exercise - whatever umbrella encourages the exercise is the way to go.

Readers -

I finished The Diet Fix last night except for the recipes (which I glanced at before and was unimpressed). One chapter fulfills the promise of the subtitle to "get the best out of any diet," although I laughed a bit that he bent them all in his direction. So, his version of Paleo allows a grain here and there and his version of low-fat, isn't any more. Really, his plan reminds me most of the one in The Complete Beck Diet for Life -- it's not low-carb enough to be low-carb and not low-fat enough to be low-fat. Philosophically, I like this middle of the road approach, even if I'm finding it somewhat difficult to get there from my low-fat mindset. I think I would find the Beck plan much easier now and I may try that next. I remember that I liked the way it combined exchange-plan style dieting (my preferred form) with calorie counting.

He had some great tips in the travel section. Did you know this?

He also said that hotels that don't have mini-bars often have mini-fridges that they can bring to the room. They have them because some travelers need them for their medications. And some hotels even have mini-microwaves available for request. I never thought to request those things in rooms that don't have them.

The material in the back motivated me to repeat the 10 days again and do it better this time. I was so flummoxed by the protein requirement and the calorie-counting that I never really managed to embrace the other thought and behavior habits that I think will be most helpful.

I tend to compare every book to Beck and this one stacks up pretty well. It's missing the emphasis on a Diet Buddy or Coach which, obviously, I consider vital to my success. Most doctors don't seem to recognize how much their mere presence helps their clients in structure and support and so they forget to write that into their books. Kudos to Beck for being able to step back and see that.

I'm still puzzling over some of the concepts.

I'm worried that the positive emphasis on enjoying life could trigger an unhelpful part of myself that says "hey! I enjoy eating junk food in the car!" His requirement to keep a food diary would counter that, but I fear that I might ditch that while taking "permission" to enjoy myself. Still, it hasn't happened yet.

I wonder if I would have found his notion that I can eat anything as useful to me as going cold-turkey on junk foods was. It's too late to test that now, because I'm sure not going to reintroduce the foods that caused me problems just to see.

I'm still mostly convinced that "hunger is not an emergency" is a more helpful guideline to me than "eat when you're hungry." But I have rarely been hungry when I meet the timing and protein requirements of his plan, so it's mostly a moot point.

WI: +0.5 kg, Exercise: +90 905/1500 minutes for April, Food: 80%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

GosfordGirl: Your day of chores sounds plenty challenging to me. Credit to you for making and sticking to a food plan while doing them.

Coaches

I get lost in the all or nothingness of everything and in a tendency to both procrastinate and to embrace perfectionism. These two are the flip sides of the same coin. So after having two kinda horrendous food days, triggered by struggles with the Diet Fix format (timing of food/lots more tracking/no upper limits) and when I struggle or get confused I don't stop eating, I eat, more, over the emotion of feeling confused. And as usually happens my body reaches some point where nothing seems to fit, again, and I think wow what am I doing and I though look, just use the parts that work, do what WAS working that I threw out cause it wasn't the same as this week's food expert suggests. I think, given the state of me, in which I am an expert, my recovery from excess food is shaky at best and it has not taken hold except for limited amount of time. I think whatever I have discovered that works for me I should keep on doing no matter what/who suggests some other path. This is all keeping with the theme of Diet Fix day 5: Think. I am thinking. Thinking about what worked for me and what I dropped. What worked was tracking=same as diet fix.
what worked was knowing there are foods that are terrible eating triggers for me and it is best for me to avoid. Diet Fix says I shouldn't avoid them but try to work them in. I don;t think I can do that and not trigger a binge. DF would say that's cause I am restricting. I think that's cause I am respecting that those foods over the course of my while life, not just now, have proven themselves to be gateways to unrestricted eating and I am simply more sane without them *for now*. There have been times when I am going along great and foods that would be triggers now are manageable then (but how much are they really cause that's how I get back to where I am right now). Anyway, basically I need a flexible program and saying "I can't ever have this" to "I must have this" or "can't say I won't have this", it's not good for my mental balance. If all food is open to me and I start to choose sweets or junky-ish stuff, I don't choose veggies and I eat less fruit. I just do that incrementally until I am off plan and binge eating.

Geez, just looked at the time. I have to go. Will continue later.

Good Morning, Coaches.

Back from holiday just in time to clean and shop for the Easter Hunt/Brunch I am hosting at our ranch. I am struggling with this commitment every year. I hate throwing parties. I become perfectionistic and obsessed. But DS loves them and he will only be a little for so long. Trying not to get feelings hurt with waves of cancellations from other commitments or better offers. Attendance is an all time low of 18 with five baskets to make. At one time I was making 25 baskets. I am trying to reframe the scenario:

I am not upset about the attendance, I am mourning the fact that all my nieces and nephews are growing up which means (I hate to say it) so is my little boy. Everything changes. I am thankful for the memories I do have. There is something new around the corner and I am excited to see what happens next. A good example is my nephew is bringing four Ukranians (on internship with his ag company.) How interesting to talk to them!

The food is bought and I plan to track. I have lost a little of the encroaching weight. 3 pounds from ticker. It might be more tomorrow since it seems I have a bug with cramps and other nasty symptoms. I will sit quietly while the eggs cool for dying and maybe look at pictures of hunts from the past ten years.

onebyone: Congrats on the idea of moving forward with what motivates you - not what others think. I need a few lessons in this.

nationalparker: Super credit on "limited and savored" during an emotional time.

gardenerjoy: You know I love a good wardrobe story. One of the key motivations for me right now as I struggle to put OP days together is that I don't want to give up my carefully assembled new wardrobe. Thanks for the tip on Nordstrom alterations.

Well, my morning treat expanded into more unplanned, not the healthiest eating of this trip. I stressed about it, then regrouped and reframed it and have moved on. Mom was ok with a jr arby roast beef and I chose a kids turkey sandwich - I don't choose fast food often, but things ran late and that was a sandwich she typically can get part of it down. Added in a treat of small french fries and had a 550 calorie dinner that was not at all like the picture on the menu.

Regrouped today with healthy breakfast and lunch.

I'll second GardenerJoy's notes about fridges in hotels. We requested them for years for my mom so she had storage for insulin and juice if needed, along with healthy food. A stocked minibar has never held an iota of temptation for me, since i'm way too cheap to pay those prices! If the peanut M&Ms were FREE, that'd be a whole 'nother issue!

Niece is running the Boston Marathon again this year - she ran and finished before the bombs went off last year. She's dedicated this year's race to my dad/her grandpa, which made my mom cry.

In talking with my brother last night, he broke down for the first time with me, which is hard to take. After we'd ended the call, I came back out to sit with my dad while he tried to eat. An hour and a half to get in a few ounces of a smoothie-type. I went into my room and took a piece of chocolate covered popcorn (about 2"x2" piece) that I was taking home to DH. If he can't get in calories, I am?? Is that how my dumb mind is working.

Saturday.

Weigh-In = Down 1 pound. 9 pounds down in total, only one to go to get to the Half Way point.

Woot!

Coaches

Well I have returned. I did better today foodwise but didn't fully plan the day and I also ate, I want to say off plan but if I didn't plan am I off plan? More precisely I ate "food": fake man made treats that stuck to my long suffering teeth. Not a wise choice. I did also eat a veg before it went bad but I also overate at dinner. Then while watching TV I found myself chewing my nails. It's tomorrow's dinner at MIL's house with my mom as well. I am stressing over it and I just heard a msg on my phone from MIL reminding me to bring containers for leftovers. Sigh. There will be a lot of food to navigate. And then it will be over with the next family holiday mother's day I suppose and then thanksgiving I guess. Some BBQ during the summer. Anyway waywayway ahead of myself. I will take a few credits for checking in and tracking and thinking. Bye for now.

Hi coaches

I had a non-stop day and Ihave now completed my Autumn clean. I have also sorted out the garden and pruned and settled things for the winter growing season (and got rid of a lot of green caterpillars that were ravaging my mint amongst other things). Tomorrow I might stick in some seeds of things that grow well in Autumn - rocket (arugula), coriander, spinache, lettuce - to keep up the supply. Otherwise I have crossed off everything on my ToDo list. Still want to spend time on the budgetting program but that might be next weekend. I need my world in order to stay in synch with food and planning and it hasn't been good enough.

Tomorrow I will have another go at making sauerkraut. This time I have bought an organic cabbage and I will use a starter culture. Also the temperature not likely to go much over 25 (78 - 80) which is the best temp - I tried to make it in summer without a cellar so will see how this goes. My kefirs are now routine and always in production and the beet kvass is straightforward and delicious.

Still no progress with Diet Fix but maybe tonight and tomorrow. I read an interesting article / discussion at Mark's Daily Apple yesterday that is consistent with what DF is on about - the article was titled "You are what you (think you) eat" and was discussing the placebo effect with food. The premise (research supported) was that if you thought something was nutrient dense you have a ghrelin response (drop) as if you had indulged (ghrelin tells you that you are hungry). The woman doing the research is a clinical psychologist who is interested in placebo-generated outcomes. This seems consistent with the view that if you go of track, don't angst about it, enjoy it, and just move on. And the idea of DF that one should enjoy one's food not feel totally constrained all the time.

Mark notes that he "think(s) of the power of mindset as what must be the subtle and (so far) under-researched physiological impact of our assumptions about the foods we eat. What does a chocolate donut do to us? Well, we pretty well know that in general. However, what if we ate that chocolate donut with full caution-to-the-wind, basking-in-luxury abandon versus if we ate it beleaguered by shame and self-recrimination?". It is an interesting idea

Anyway on that note I have just ordered takeaway for dinner because I don't want to mess up the house cooking and because I deserve it. I think I made relatively wise choices but I will enjoy it and not beat myself up. I hope you are all enjoying a good weekend - not sure how much holidays you USians get