Work, Work, Work...DUH...What is wrong with me ? When it comes to telling others that they need to make time for themselves, I am on the money....so how come when I get busy, I forget to shop, drink my water, defrost my chicken, plan my vegies, cook, eat breakfast, eat lunch, eat dinner, exercise, and get lots of sleep ?!?! How the heck am I going to do all this ?

I find the planning somehow takes away a bit of the stress of being busy. It's like I'm taking control of the only thing I can.

And... What's the alternative? Undoing your hard work? Not getting to live the life you want to live? You can do it, Marigrace! You deserve nothing less!

Thanks CC ! I think having specific meal times might help me. I get so carried away sometimes that I don't stop...I'm fixing that now....

I understand. I'm just coming to the end of a very hectic audit season and I do the same thing. I have found that the weeks I plan ahead on Sunday do go much easier.

A lady on "The Dr. Oz Show" uses a kitchen timer to remember to eat. Not a bad idea, really.

I'm not a big planner, but I do try to have automatic snacks on hand: apples, oranges, yogurt, etc.

I'm not a big planner either. But I do bring a lot of healthy snacks to work (oranges, yogurt, string cheese, FF/Sugar Free pudding).

I never ever need a reminder to eat . No, no, no.

I wasn't ALWAYS a big planner. But then I made my health A NUMBER ONE PRIORITY. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Looking back it seems ludicrrous to me that I left something so vital, so important up in the air. Now what I put in my mouth matters - a lot. That free time will never ever fall into our laps - we've got to FIND the time, some how, some way. When something is a top priority - it gets done. Once I finally gave it (& me?) the respect it so rightly deserves I CARVED out the time. To shop, to cook, to eat properly, to exercise, etc. When you want it badly enough you FIND a way.

And like CC, I find the planning ahead to actually be less stressful. You plan it ahead and then it's off your head. Saves time (& stress) in the end.

And you do get used to it. It's absolutely ingrained in me now. Like brushing my teeth and taking a shower. I don't think about it much - I just do it. Automatically.

I could use a timer to remember to exercise or set planning time aside but I never need a reminder to eat!

After seeing references to the Dr. Oz 100 pound weight loss show here, I watched clips on his site. He said something about "automating" your eating. While I never thought of it in those terms, I realized that is what I have done. Fortunately, I have decided that I don't need a large variety so I eat the same breakfast and lunch most days. I have a list of foods that I keep in stock so that I can always eat on plan. Even my husband and son know to check the list if they go grocery shopping instead of me. If I don't have time to prep veggies, I know there are the frozen variety in my freezer to use with freezer bags.

My hardest thing is getting enough sleep. Could we go to a 26 hour day?

You guys are funny. I DO forget to eat! LOL! It's especially bad when I'm at home! I try to eat 6 mini meals a day and I find I lose weight the most steadily when I stick to that. If I skip a mini meal and double up on calories somewhere else, my metabolism seems to slow down. So a time would work for me.

Planning...*sigh* I am working on planning. I am becoming more willing to plan. At least today I am more open to the idea and the "art" of it! :d I have always been a "fly by the seat of my pants" type gal... BUT I really really REALLY do see the benefits of planning...meals, food, my day...and now I am thinking about the idea of planning exercise...what an idea!

This really wasn't what I thought I was going to post about...I was going to post about "taking time for me". Years ago (like 15 years) I was in therapy and she always said I needed to to "quiet" I needed to find time for me. I think I am a slow learner...cuz that is what I am doing today! The interesting thought though is this morning I was thinking...I really should be doing blah, blah, blah. I was doubting my worthiness to continue with my "quiet time" Thanks for the post...it reminded me...I am where I am suppose to be today!

Thanks for the help, everyone. I don't think I have many issues in the area of planning. The fridge is usually very diet-friendly...so meals are easy to put together The problem happened when I was so engrossed in a project, that I neglected myself...to the point where I had my first meal of the day 8 or 9 hours after getting up. The timer idea is a keeper !! I think the lesson to learn is that this 'journey' is my first priority.

Marigrace, yes, that's me exactly! I will get so hungry I kind of cross over a hill into no-longer-hungry land and I can go forever without eating. But, as you know, it's very important that we eat regularly. I don't lose weight when I don't eat...I lose better when I DO eat.

You see for me, that is a recipe for disaster. DISASTER! I MUST set myself up for success. Eating well never came naturally to me. I need to have some rules that I abide to, to make it happen - and one of them is to eat frequently. If I allow myself to get too hungry - it sets me up to make very poor choices. So though I wasn't born or raised with good eating habits, I've scrounged them up and devised them and incorporated them into my life.

For me, that is the only way this can work. That's not to say that my family, and some other things (job, friendships, household) are not AS important, but that *this* is JUST AS important. And by making this a tippy top priority, I am then MUCH BETTER EQUIPPED to deal with my family and other high priorities.

I used to think that it was selfish to put myself first, but then realized that was silly (& a pretty darn good excuse ). If I don't take care of myself how in the world can I be taking care of my other obligations at top speed? Well I can't. What is it they say?, "if mama ain't happy ain't no one gonna be happy."

Thank you, and AMEN !!

Some days are like that for me as well!