Today was OP food wise. I haven't done a good job of planning this week--my dinners have all been "at the last minute"--but I've still managed to make OP choices, so credit for that. But not having it planned makes it harder than it should be, so I give myself credit for recognizing that, and I've planned tomorrow.
One thing that is easy is eating well and OP for breakfast, lunch, and my afternoon snack. Even if breakfast isn't planned in advance, I stick with one of my known few choices and am fine. Lunch, the same (and tomorrow's is packed). Afternoon snack--also always one of a few standard choices--and it isn't a struggle at all. I've really come a long way with that--what used to be hard is now second nature.
Exercise wasn't so great today. I admire Bill for being willing to walk outside in this weather--I absolutely hate it. (I drove to the library) (not that it's walking distance even in great weather) I only had 4100 steps today. Tomorrow is circuit training, though, and I've got my gym bag packed and ready to go.
I'm not ready to totally focus on bedtime changes--I think I'm hoping that paying attention will be sufficient. One success on that front tonight--I didn't start either of the books I got from the library so I won't have to worry about not being able to put them down--it'll wait until the weekend when I have more time.
Edited to add: ForMyGirls, not serving family style was something that made a big difference at our house--I never serve family style anymore--I serve plates of food. For some reason "done" seems more obvious to me when there isn't a bowl in front of me to take more from. DH will eat the extra food rather than put it away, so I try to put it away before we eat or get to it to put it away before he eats it :-). It's really helped!
Have a good Friday, all. (Get and stay healthy, everyone!)
Last edited by bethFromDayton; 01-30-2014 at 10:11 PM.
I tried to pick up a swimsuit and some "gym" shoes today without a lot of success - I wasn't prepared to go to another mall to find them. Eventually I found some of my old shoes that will do thankfully. Also my old costume will fill the job until I find something better. Thanks for the links Gardenerjoy - something like that would be a good swimsuit option. Consequently I didn't get to the gym today. Also they have yet to organise my three free orientation sessions which I think I will need not having been to that particular gym. When at the shop I passed the butcher who was giving out samples of marinated meat - without thinking I ate it. And on the way back had another piece! It was only at that point that I thought "not on plan - not for you" - oh well. I did pick myself up after I ate at the sink. While preparing food if I needed to taste I took it to my seat and ate there. I need to get to bed early tonight - I am particularly tired.
Thanks Bill and everyone for reminding me that no one is interested in someone who isn't a hottie and that folk are generally only focussing on themself. I just have to survive the personal trainers - I am a bit over the young athletic person who just doesn't get what it means to have limitations and who are often just a tiny bit smug. I have been doing gyms on and off for a long time and this is the first time for years (about 10 actually) where I believe I can make progress again. But I am an old hand and just wish they didn't treat people generically without appreciating their unique abilities and needs - they drive me nuts actually. Just do it. Enough ranting
The scale jiggle was again down this morning - I do hope it is not a second random event and means I am starting to lose
Credit for: Eating on plan with healthy food; measuring and logging food; making nearly 8000 steps;weighing myself Needs work: Standing at sink eating; free samples; the routine of exercise; sleep
Friday - Black Moon (2nd new Supermoon in January)
Diet Coaches/Buddies In gym class, CREDIT moi, did better with the balancing routines. Feel encouraged with small improvements. Walked to the library to get The Marquise of O-- by Heinrich von Kleist - the best short story of all time written 200 years ago. Emotionally whip-lashed as if she were my neighbor.
Ate on plan, CREDIT moi, including snacks to streak to 72. Leftover vegetarian lasagna for dinner made me a one-day vegetarian - feel like I'm preparing for Armageddon when beef exists only in history books. Evening snack included green grapes limp with age. They might exceed even my tolerance for consuming rather than discarding.
Joy (gardenerjoy) Gotta admire your planning for a cocktail party. How do you do with the appetizers?
Cheryl (seadwaters) Ouch for FREE samples of marinated meat - from a guy who now wants one, LOL. Kudos for "Just do it" with the gym.
FutureFitChick Ouch for the need to be "recuperating" with Cheers that it's happening.
maryann - Ouch for that cavity. I do celebrate that my kids just don't know what fillings are.
nationalparker Drooling for "Pierogies with peppers and onions." Kudos for your Ignoring-Chocolate 'events' at work.
Beth (bethFromDayton) Kudos for delaying the start of books until you have a chunk of time to read without giving up sleep. When I'm walking home with a book, I wish I were in Paris with a baguette that I could nibble along the way.
ForMyGirls - Kudos for designing an eating plan that works for you. Neat that the mere step of platting their food helps your kids eat their veggies.
AZtricia - LOL that your old closet is a museum of the size creep of the last decade. Hope your shoe is repairable.
Readers -
Quote:
day 11Differentiate Between Hunger, Desire, and Cravings
Monitor Your Hunger
Halfway through the meal, notice how your stomach feels. Write a description of this sensation in the chart. Then rate your hunger, using the same 0 to 10 scale.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), pg 119.
Food 100% OP? yes ; Health activities 100% OP? yes ; Drank 2L water? yes ; Went to bed on time? yes ; Streak count: 4
Credits: I really, really, really wanted a beer tonight but i thought about the fact that my weekly alcoholic drink is planned for Sunday night so resisted. I had a crowd of kids over for a playdate today and there were a variety of high cal snacks brought, which i had precisely zero of and ate my planned snacks of yoghurt and apple instead. Yay me :-)
seadwaters - well done all those times you noticed you were eating off plan and stopped. Good luck with the gym - i have had such similar experiences with trainers. Your post has left my brain buzzing though about how one might go about developing the capacity of personal trainers to understand life in a body that is different from their own.
First, quick re-cap. Yesterday was Day 14, plan your meal day. Did it. Missed going to bed on time one night by 15 minutes (because I was arguing with myself of all things) but the exercise streak is unbroken.
Now, coaches, I need your help. Day 15. Monitoring day. Today was my first day following my written food plan. Breakfast and dinner were 100% and I don't get snacks M-F. Let's talk about lunch. I forgot it was my office celebration today. I am an American living in Laos. So, all my colleagues brought in homemade food which I will literally never have another chance to try. I ate the homemade food, instead buying what I planned at the cafeteria, I had one plate as per my diet. An no dessert despite the many offerings. (I also don't get desserts M-F.) I had fewer calories than I would have eaten if I had eaten what I planned. I dutifully recorded it all and now I am supposed to trouble shoot what went wrong. My problem is that I don't regret the choice, and would choose the same way if I had to do it again, it wasn't a willpower failure. Ok, I thought I was going to ask for 2x4's (as in a 2x4 upside the head) since I went off plan on my first day and I'm glad I did. But now I've talked myself through it, I stand by the decision. I am also fully planning to eat cake at my daughter's wedding (20 years from now). (Beck reveals that she did not do this at her daughter's wedding, for those that may have forgotten.) Humph.
Streak bed/exercise/diet: 1/19/0
ForMyGirls: Build that resistance muscle! Boo-yah! Do you have to hit all four of your goals (food, health activities, etc.) every day to count for your streak? Because thats hardcore. I also hear you about finding the right balance. See above. Congrats on your baking success.
BBE: My hat is off, sir.
Seadwaters: Congrats on gathering all you need to go to the gym and, most importantly, believing you can make more progress. Of course you can.
Beth:
Quote:
what used to be hard is now second nature
This is so huge. This is my goal. Credit.
FutureFitChick: I hope you are not in pain, and are treating yourself well.
Nationalparker is also working the resistance muscle around that chocolate. Well not-done.
Tricia: Congrats on walking the dog for exercise. I mean this most sincerely. It is so easy to use sick as an excuse, at least for me.
Last day before we leave for our Florida trip/cruise. I have written a new semi-ARC card... (Free isn't calorie-free is the biggie for my mind right now.) Knowing the scale would still be up a bit with water weight, I weighed this morning and am at 169.2 and feel strong about that because it seems I get under 170, then cycle around and I go up a bit, then never back down. Hoping it drops a bit more tomorrow morning, but won't let it get in my mind if not.
I moved to plates only and packaging up the rest of the main part of the meal for tomorrow's lunches/dinner right away a few years ago when DH's daughter was over as she'd take several helpings that weren't needed. So now I leave the salad and veggies on the table for any seconds but plate the rest.
Giving up on writing personals in January, but flunu, it sounds like you did wonderfully yesterday. I'm of the opinion that life is short - no guarantees, and part of your experience there is to embrace it all and sounds like that's exactly what you did! Great job! Part of living is enjoying stuff like that, not sidelining ourselves ALL the time.
Bill - I'm looking forward to seeing your streak stretch to 82 by the time I'm back on here after the trip Thank you for the link - I checked my library and it's not available on kindle, so will wait until I'm back and get get the "real" book.
My home-alone time did not go well yesterday. If I state in a post here that I'm going to do something, and still don't manage to do it, I know that determination isn't enough. So, I made some new response cards to address the situation. In short, when I'm home alone, either the kitchen stays closed or the TV stays off or both. I can't seem to handle being home alone, watching TV, and working / playing in the kitchen without eating more than I intended.
I had only water at the cocktail party, as intended. It turned out that we went home instead of out to eat after, so I was able to balance the day a bit with a very light supper.
WI: NA kg, Exercise: +50 1350/1400 minutes for January, Food: 50%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes
BillBlueEyes: last night's event (at the Missouri Botanical Garden for the preview of the Orchid Show) was a large one where the appetizers were upstairs in the middle of a large room. On an iffy night, I could avoid seeing them completely by not going upstairs. Last night, I wanted to make sure we'd seen everyone we know so we went upstairs to look at people and didn't even look at the food. That's a much easier situation than those walk-around appetizers when they're shoved into my face. The Marquise of O-- was used as an extended example in a book I just read -- Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose. You might like it -- it's about close reading of texts to see why they work.
seadwaters: good for you for being determined to defend yourself against personal trainers who don't know how to handle older bodies. I have, twice, injured myself during the orientation to a new gym. And I was much younger then. I hope I'm clever enough, now, to not let that happen. I've also thought that if I were going to use a personal trainer, I would ask for one who specializes in older people. I hope such a creature exists.
flnu: One of the reasons that I like to think of my OPness as a percentage is to take care of situations like that. I would call it a 90% day -- I didn't follow my plan exactly as written (which would be 100%) but I made a good substitution that I'm happy with, so 90%. In most undergraduate programs, 90% is still an A. In my last graduate program, it was a B+. In either case, it's still a good grade that I'm happy to have. And I can aim for 100% tomorrow.
Weight was 1 pound from ticker this morning which is I guess emblematic of maintenance. Rarely am I the same weight two days in a row and I weigh myself everyday. So I am discovering that plus or minus three pounds might keep me on track. Having said that, I must say I haven't been on the minus side of 150 for more than a few heartbeats. I am continuing my preparations to begin the 3 week drop of gluten, corn, soy, peanuts, artificial sweetener, dairy and egg. I have to go to the store to get grass fed beef and some other specialty products. The old me would have said, "Start on Sunday. You have to go to a crab feed tomorrow." But I made a commitment to the 1st of February. I can eat all the fish but I will just have to bring my own tupperware of salad because the salad they serve will already have a dressing on it (and chances are there is gluten and soy in it).
Even after three years, I feel uncomfortable about the looks I will have from others. But I also know I am not that big a deal. I will soon be forgotten in the eating frenzy.
AZTricia: Credit for sifting through the clothes and donating. This makes you lighter emotionally.
nationalparker: Good luck with all the prep work. It would be easy to trip into a chocolate box due to anxiety.
ForMyGirls: I had to grieve as my best friend food morphed into "functionality" (like brushing my teeth.) I missed the tension, the drama, and the heartache afterword. My life really felt empty. I am not being sarcastic here. My life seemed emptier. But the "relationship" I had with food was not healthy. Like a bad relationship with a person, it had to change drastically and that left a hole.
FutureFitChick: Hope you feel better.
BethFromDayton: I have found having a few set meals crucial to weightloss. I have to tell myself "So what if the food is boring. You have the rest of your life to explore with food - after you lose the weight."
Seadwaters: I was just thinking that a good personal trainer is worth his or her weight in gold. I would invest in one if I thought there was one around here who was knowledgeable and willing to put in effort.
BBE: over two months of no extra snacks is a big deal. Congrats.
Flnu: In my experience, I try always remember that this journey of peace with food is a LONG RACE. I am seeking for progress NOT perfection. The most important part of your lunch story is that you took responsibility for what you ate. That has been the key for me. A good friend of my mine once left a message on my phone service. She said," I would like to report a murder. My mind is trying to kill me." Let yourself improve. Don't let your mind give you an excuse to quit.
Happy Chinese New Year and Evening of the Black (Super) Moon!
Wow Coaches. Given the celestial prominence of January 31st, 2014, we should all have a remarkable day today.
I have been reading posts, off and on, and have been out of town working in the print room I belong to in another city. The cold here has been mind-numbing and lengthy and I have a MAJOR case of winter blahs. On top of this my internet has been spotty and I just simply run out of steam to write anyone anything. It's too bad I know and participate on Facebook. What limited internet energy I have goes there these days. My blog has been seriously affected by Facebook.
I returned to the gym two weeks ago, right before I headed off to the out of town print studio. I did my first personal training session ( I go every 2 weeks for 30min-alternate Mondays) and then I got sick and then I was away so I felt *bad*. Oh well. I had my second session this past Monday and got a whole new series of upper body exercises which lengthen my weight program to about 45 minutes of hard work. I can see that I am building up to being able to do a (1) pushup. I have never been able to do a real one ever. My pie-in-the-sky goal is a real chin up. For now I am to do the plank 3x for 30sec on a set of metal steps. Hard. Anyway I did my routine on my own the day before yesterday (I am doing weights 4x a week)
and last night I didn't feel too good and this morning I felt like I was getting really sick. My whole body felt tight and uncomfortable and a small voice deep inside said "this is resistance. you are resisting." Oh oh. I'm on the cusp of change and my body, the part of me that doesn't want to change, is trying to slow me down or stop me. Yikes. Once I recognized that and that the stiffness/tightness/achiness is probably due to muscle USE, hello, well I started to feel not so "sick". I'm working out over the weekend to get my 4 weight training days in this week before it's Monday again and the start of a new week.
Foodwise things are improving but I think it's time for me to ditch Weight watchers and I am just wasting money. I have not been attending and not following their plan.
The Aria scale went back yesterday. I never could get it hooked up but the fitbit has been a good steady reminder for me to keep trying. And I was happy to see that my extra gym efforts ARE reflected in the information it gives me. I expend abut 2300 calories a day give or take. This was what I was most curious about. Now I know.
And that's my longwinded update.
*credits: posting, cooking from scratch, decluttering, no sugar eating.
Hello coaches,
Had fish again for dinner last night. I will have to find another way to prepare it as it was not very enjoyable even with extra spice. I'm disappointed that this week my scale did not like my choice of fish as much this week as last week, but oh well! I'm now more than tired of sick: for me, my family, and my puppy, who is also still coughing! Four of us now down, only the 15 yo is still healthy, so we are not going to swim team today.
Eating OP, Exercise OP, read ARC
nationalparker Is the chocolate early valentines, or what? Does your office always have candy? Great new thought to keep in mind for your trip, sending happy thoughts of successful healthy eating for your cruise!
ForMyGirls Kudos for bedtime! I think I am very like you, I need flexibility (at least some) to not rebel! Sounds like you have a plan you can live with and are making wise choices.
FutureFitChick Hope you feel better soon!
bethFromDayton Congrats for sticking to OP. So cool to hear healthy has become second nature, I'm looking forward to reaching that and you are a great encouragement.
seadwaters Bummer about the butcher, so easy to do. Hope your orientation at the gym goes well.
BillBlueEyes Balance is one of the hardest things for me, so great that you notice yourself improving.
ForMyGirls Great job for your resistance muscle on the beer and snacks!
flnu Hurray for your exercise streak. I think you actually made a wise choice at lunch. You made a choice to stayed in a healthy calorie range and have an experience that you don't regret. Flexibility is required for Beck to work long term, and you didn't let the change derail your thinking or the rest of your planned day, so KUDOS! Took my pup out today too, but looking forward to feeling well enough for some "fat burning" exercise.
gardenerjoy So glad you are recognizing and acknowledging your "bad combinations" so that you can plan for success. Sounds like your party was OP, great resistance muscle!
maryann I appreciate reading about your day and where I might be for maintaining some day. Hope you enjoy your fish and that the new eating will give you the results you ar looking for.
onebyone Great job for noticing the changes in your body and for using all those muscles that don't want to move! Hope you are able to find a great plan to replace WW.
Doing well today. I had PT at 7 AM, which was a great start. The therapist was very encouraging with what I had already been doing. Several times that I have been in there, they make statements like, "... your are fairly athletic." I keep wanting to fall on the floor laughing when I hear that.
Food was nearly on plan, although I missed some veggies at lunch.
Exercise was more therapy mini-sessions throughout the day.
Hang in there, AZTricia. I hope you are all feeling better soon.
GardenerJoy, I like your new response card.
Take care, everyone, and have a safe and happy weekend!
Food? OP ; Health activities 100% OP? yes ; Drank 2L water? yes ; Went to bed on time? yes ; Streak count: 5
Credits:
tempted by a beer again today - not as strongly but still said no
planned a day that enabled me to have carbonara for dinner - a small serve with lots of veggies on the side and a salad at lunch so it could be OP - measured out the small serve and stuck to plan for the day and it was SOOOOO yummy - and just the right amount to be satisfied
plated my kids’ food again tonight and gave them an outrageously large serve of veggies - which they ate every ounce of without a hint of a complaint. Younger DD helped me make dinner so she even put that amount of vegetable on her plate (under instruction) without any comment. It’s like magic :-)
had a nice ‘light’ moment with my girls about food stuff - it looked like younger DD was full but still eating the carbonara so I talked about how sometimes my tummy and my taste buds have an argument about whether to have more - complete with silly voices and they laughed themselves silly and then both left some behind for tomorrow’s lunch :-)
flnu - I think you made the totally right call about the food. Bill has a great rule about “rare and unusual” - I might be getting it wrong but essentially as I understand it the deal is that if a food is rare and unusual such that you are unlikely to have the opportunity to have it again then variation from your plan is warranted - but if it is something you can have any old time then you should stick to the plan. It is a rule I aim to adopt (though I am yet to remember it in the moment). I am super impressed that you managed to sample things while staying in your plan too - that is fantastic!
My streak only relates to bed time and water drinking at the moment as those are things I struggle with and which make such a difference when I get them right. When we were doing the big streak challenge I tracked being 100% OP on food and 100% OP on health activities (which basically means whichever of meditating, exercising, stretching etc are scheduled for that day). It is kinda cool that since then I have almost always been on track with these even though they aren’t contributing. It seems like the period of streaking about them cemented them enough that I have to have a pretty darn good reason not to meet those goals. All that said I have been on annual leave for a month so we will see how it goes when I go back to work :-)
Joy - I love reading your posts. You are so honest about where you are at and what needs to be addressed to get back on track - but at the same time so gentle and forgiving with yourself. I really really value having you as a model for when I get to maintenance!
Thank you also for your explanation of the 100% v 90% day approach. I know that you have explained it before but it hadn’t really sunk in till today. The Uni where I studied calls 80% plus an HD and had a grading system where only 3-5% of students were allowed to be given an HD - so Lord knows I should know that you get a gold start without 100%! I have decided to adopt your approach for my report card - I just can’t remember what earns 80%?
Maryann - your comments on food as functional have really got me thinking today. I don’t think it is the tension, drama and heartache that drives me (though perhaps I am just fooling myself on that one). More my thing about not wanting food to become functional is about aesthetics. I see beautiful tasting food as serving the same function as music and art - it feeds the soul (as well as the body). It is that bit that I don’t want to give up :-) So I struggle a bit with the idea of having to say no to opportunities to enjoy something lovely (provided it is healthy / fits within appropriate food intake for the day) - just because I didn’t know it was going to be offered that day. Hmmmm - I will keep thinking this through. It might all be quite irrational - that’s the thing about having spent so long eating badly - it is very hard to tell sometimes what is rational and what isn’t :-)
Hi diet coaches
I planned for the sausage sizzle ambush this morning and even though I had not eaten yet I resisted because "hunger is not an emergency" - I did approach the stand several times but moved away so credit for exercising my resistance muscle. I am skipping breakfast and trying to eat within an 8 hour window - usually between 12 or 1 pm and 8 or 9pm. I rang the gym and apparently the PT tried to ring me to set up a time (rubbish - my system would have registered it) so tomorrow without orientation I will go and engage in something like the treadmill or swimming or something. I noticed that I would not log weight unless it was down - now I will log weight whatever it is - and today it was up a pound ( ). The weather is cooperating ATM and it is reasonable to be outside. Your weather looks pretty challenging. All those temperatures you quote sound so amazing - and difficult to deal with
Credits: Food OP and not bad - could have been a few more veggies; logged food in MFP; again almost 8000 steps; weighed myself; posted to my coaches Not so good: 80% eating sitting down
Beth - Credit for defining choices for meals - liked "it isn't a struggle at all'. Hope circuit training went well
BillBE - Yay for small improvements - I need to keep my goals sensible and achievable
ForMyGirls - From your post I am going to mention to the PT whether they could imagine what it would be like to be in my body. Well done resisting all those snacks
FLNU - You managed the situation sensibly - this would be a reasonable substitution given the circumstances. You can't plan for every eventuality and there needs to be rational flexibility built in. The difficulty is in deciding if it is a get out of gaol free card or a real need
Nationalparker - Have a great trip
Gardenerjoy - Great response cards for a difficult situation. You have given me even more reason to be cautious about PTs. I have asked specifically for someone who deals with age related issues and rehabilitation - let's see what I get. Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose - what a great combination of title and author!
Maryann - Credit for being clear about what you need to eat even if it rocks the boat. I agree that a good PT is important - now I need to find one!
Tricia - Fish is tricky isn't it. Finding a low count way of preparing for everyone would be challenging. Commiserations that everyone is still sick and coughing - you are doing really well to stay on plan
FutureFitChick - I hope you recover soon - you probably are quite fit and able to follow the therapists regimen - hope things improve soon
Friday - Black Moon (2nd new Supermoon in January)
Thank you for the link - I checked my library and it's not available on kindle, so will wait until I'm back and get get the "real" book. 
Happy Chinese New Year and Evening of the Black (Super) Moon!
). The weather is cooperating ATM and it is reasonable to be outside. Your weather looks pretty challenging. All those temperatures you quote sound so amazing - and difficult to deal with
