I wrote a new response card based on my experience last week of wanting to overeat when really what I wanted was a way to justify taking a break, and the advice I got about that (thanks, y'all!). "I deserve to take breaks and I don't have to overeat to get them. I can do anything on my distractions list or simply breathe and drink a glass of water."

WI: +.05kg, Exercise: +70, /1550 minutes for March, Food: op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

Beverlyjoy: thanks for your assessment of SparkPeople. That matches mine, but I was worried that I just wasn't putting enough energy into figuring things out, so it helps to know that you came to similar conclusion -- good bells and whistles but not so much on the emotional support.
No need for apologies about discussing your pain. We all have it at one time or another, so your responses are helpful.

midlifecrisis57: good job in reaching for clarity even when it is accompanied with pain.

bennyhannahmama: yay you posted! And it really is something to give yourself credit for.

CeeJay: glad the fridge is fixed -- we had a multi-week problem when we got our new one. It's so difficult trying to find ways to function without a trustworthy fridge. And yay for that long list of credits on a day that didn't go the way you wanted.

seadwaters: I think you have hit on an excellent plan for yourself -- realistic in your current circumstances while continuing the structures that will help you now and in the long run. Good for you for working it out and posting here! I remember how ecstatic I was when my hair grew back enough to ditch the wig -- I wore it unfashionably short, buzz-cut length, with big earrings (even though it was the middle of winter) because it was so much preferable to the wig.

BillBlueEyes: I walked with a friend in a rain coat this morning, too. Although my husband just pointed out that if we'd waited an hour we wouldn't have had to do that.

ChinaMaine: Mmm. Fruited game hen! Good job on getting some exercise in!

Shepherdess: I share your dislike for the spring time change. And, I find it amazing that those of us who don't punch a time clock in the corporate world are still effected by it.
I'm a "restrained eater." I think one thing that Beck has done for me is give me a way to deal with the trap that they are discussing in that article. I have little hope that I will ever be a natural eater, but much hope that I can make restrained eating work better and better for me.

Woohoo! I'm finally caught up on March posts! It took literally giving myself a concussion to get a break in my schedule, but I'm back to being able to read the forums at last (though my typing is a bit off, so please excuse any errors I don't catch)! School and research has been really busy, but overall things are going in a positive direction. I've even gotten the scale to budge a bit, finally!

BennyHannahMama, I totally hear you about your 3/5/10 post regarding food planning. I feel like I can make a great plan but them am never able to execute it because of other things that become priorities in a day. It gets me so disappointed. I also use a GWF (though I lost my display, yet again, and haven't been able to find it for about a month now--- Grrr!). Happy belated birthday. 3/9 is my mom's birthday too. Please give yourself a hug and tell yourself that you don't have to be perfect. You are loved (by many, not just the Beck community) for being who you are today!

Beverleyjoy, glad you had a nice trip to CA. Congratulations on the loss!! Happy belated birthday to you as well.

BillBlueEyes, glad to see you getting back to yourself after that nasty cold you had. Thanks for all of the work you do on this forum. What an image -- pig in ****ake mushrooms! I think it would be fun to have a truffle hunter on the farm (don't think my subdivision HOA would approve, however). Congratulations on 4.5 years. That is fantastic. Weird question, how long do you have to blend the nuts for the peanut butter?

CeeJay, tremendous job at your -20#. That is fantastic and I am so excited for you. Keep on truckin'!

ChinaMaine, so sorry to hear about another loss in your family. What a rough time for you. Memorial day sounds like it will be a delightful way to honor them. I was intrigued by your jicama, cooked. I've only ever had it raw on salads - a terrific crisp texture.

Eusebius, congratulations on the 3/3/10 win for the violinist. Accompanists totally deserve more credit than they get, so you deserve congratulations too! When I was competing, playing with accompaniment brought something entirely new to the music I was experiencing, so thank you (to all accompanists) for that!

GardenerJoy, congratulations on exceeding your February exercise goal. I know it is way beyond the original posting, but if you are still waiting for DASH book, dashdiet.org has good information to get you started in the mean time. Great wisdom you shared about Prochaska & Downie. Thanks for that.

Hikergirl, hi! I posted frequently here up until about a month ago when chaos set in, so I missed reading your early posts. Just wanted to say hello to you.

KidsLibraryLady, hi! I in your boat with things getting thrown off with life. I just keep chuggin' along and hope that it gets easier when I am more practiced in a healthy routine and more flexed "no choice" muscles. I think the struggle is better for me than the complacency of waiting for "life" to be calm enough to obtain some contrived form of change that would fall apart as soon as chaos hit again for me anyway...

Midlifecrisis57, I really hope things are looking up for you! Moving is such a challenge to any marriage.

Seadwaters, love your idea about the iPhone and putting cards on there with an alarm. I'll have to try that too. Sending positive healing thoughts your way.

Shepherdess, congratulations on meeting your goal weight. I wish you good luck in letting your head catch up to your body and hopefully make peace with the gift that is yours. I love your commitment to exercise, even on days when you are tired - just for 15 minutes to start is so powerful. I am really glad you shared that. Loved the 1970s truck workout plan. You should market that as both a recycling and exercise product. Hoping the adjustment at your new weight is going easier for you. Oh, and congratulations for getting through calving season. What an experience that must be! How freakin' cool to have a neighbor with a mammoth skeleton and double cool that you fit into an old dress!

Gotta quit, because I'm not supposed to be on the computer this long!

Chinemarie - I put the Russian Cabbage Soup recipe you asked about in the recipe thread. :)

Hi – my eating is ok. Ok. Almost following a plan. I am not in the big slide that I was for 3 days last week. I am giving myself credit for weighing myself, posting, and swinging back to some sanity with my eating.

Gardenerjoy – thank you for telling us about The Spark. I am always interested in learning and checking things out.

Beverlyjoy – I hope that you savoured your day at home and a big credit to you for being flexible and planning ahead when you food plan had to change.

Maryblu – thanks for the heads up on the asparagus.

Midlifecrisis – this is a safe place to post your thoughts. Good luck on your journey.

Bennyhamamama – a big credit to you for posting!

Ceejay – refrigerator is fixed, you got a good walk in on a beautiful day. Way to go!

Seadwaters – look in the mirror, and give yourself some strokes to your head and shoulders with your hand telling yourself how special you are (for me, when I do that, that can feel real good!)

Billblueeyes – walking in the rain – wonderful. Restrained Eater vs Natural Eater --- a few posts back in this thread Shepherdess drew my attention to it. I have cut and pasted an explanation to the bottom of this post.

Chinamaine – sounds like you are “in the zone” – good eating, good time at home.

Shepherdess – I agree about the daylight savings time change—more darkness in the morning but…the pay back will have late this afternoon. I hope that I can move from restrained eater to natural eater….hopefully this CBT is the way to get there (nothing else has worked!). In my dreams I am "listening to my body" and not to my mind/emotions when it comes to food.

Bye
Susan


Are You Always On A Diet?

Do you get excited about a new diet, sure it'll work this time? Do you need specific rules regarding what to eat because you can't trust yourself? Have you tried many diets, but never succeeded in maintain the weight loss?

You may be a "restrained eater." "Restrained eater is the academic term for an overly rigid chronic dieter. The opposite of restrained eating is natural eating. A "natural eater" usually eats when hungry, stops when sated and doesn't think much about food in-between meals. A natural eater does not have a head full of diet rules; in fact, a natural eater has never dieted.
Rigid Boundaries

Compared to natural eaters, restrained eaters are very, very careful. They allow themselves to eat only certain foods, and their portions are kept within predetermined limits. Body signals of hunger, satiety, and the taste and enjoyment of all foods are not primary considerations when they are deciding what, when and how much to eat.

Restrained eaters are very, very hungry before starting to eat, and they "plan" to stop eating when they think they "should." They try to push the plate away when it is half empty, before they are sated. Their artificial eating boundaries are unnecessarily narrow and severe. Restrained eaters think they have it under control, but when temptation is too high or their resources are spent, their plan falls apart.

When restrained eaters eat past their boundaries, they find it difficult to stop. Instead, their usual reaction to overeating is to continue overeating. They are not flexible enough to accept they're choice and move on. They think, "What they ****; I've blown it; I might as well eat all the food I want. I'll start to eat healthy again tomorrow." Eating disorder researchers Janet Polivy and Peter Herman call this mindset "The What the ****" effect. In contrast, natural eaters acknowledge their choice to overeat and, because of fullness, choose to eat less for the rest of the day.

A restrained eater would agree with these statements while a natural eater would not:
• "I give a lot of time and thought to food."
• "I get so hungry that my stomach often seems like a bottomless pit."
• "I feel guilty after overeating."
• "I avoid eating many foods because they make me fat."
• "I consciously hold back at meals in order not to gain weight."
Mindful Eating

We all know people who are conscious about what they eat. That's a good thing because we're surrounded by tasty, but unhealthy, food.

The difference between restrained eaters and natural eaters is the intensity of their thoughts, their attempt to deprive themselves, and their reaction to overeating.

In weight control, the key to success is to be flexible and trust your body. When you can eat when physically hungry and stop when satisfied, you've got it made.

Saturday & Sunday
 

Hi Coaches

I've had a strange food weekend. After my surprise good weigh-in on friday I sort of gave up kind of. Like I achieved something and could stop now thanks. :?:
Maybe I just wish it was over-this pursuit of weightloss.
I'm feeling not so gung-ho to do the things I need to do..and yet...and yet. Could this be The Sabotager:devil: whispering in my ear?
Probably.
My own form of it always tells me "I don't care." which is completely untrue. In fact this week I tossed away cheese cubes in a baggie credit given to me by a friend. I didn't need it, didn't want to say no, and once I could I ditched them. She didn't want to bring them home and neither did I.
I also deliberately pursued feeling hungry more than feeling full all day yesterday.credit It was good. I need to get used to feeling hungry again. It's what I need to do to lose weight and the single thing I have sought to stamp out my whole life. Hunger has always triggered anxiety in me and I am getting over that now by seeing that I can live through hunger very well thankyou.credit
Today though I decided, again, that "I don't care" and I actively sought out the foodstuff that I have been craving for weeks now. I was triggered to desire it again as I was in the store I first saw them at. So I found them and they didn't come home with me. creditWhy? well as I actually took the time to read the label I discovered they were only a bit of the thing I thought they were and they were primarily a type of sweet thing I hate! I was COMPLETELY attracted by the packaging and the novelty and thank goodness it wasn't all that.
What a head trip.
I was also carrying a size 18 pair of jeans with me, on clearance for $10. My jeans recently split on me. First the fabric thinned out and then it split in the upper inner thigh (this is where they all wear out on me :mad:) and so I've been walking around with athletic stretch pants that are so-so and some cords that have a split zipper that you never see cause it's all done up with pins and hidden beneath my long black hoodie. These are so loose I can pull them on without undoing all those pins. I have been so resistant to buy another pair of size 20 jeans from Additionellle for $40+. So when these $10 clearance size 18's in a petite, with a bit of elastic in the waistband (which I actually hate) the price and the size made me crack open my wallet.credit These jeans are a "petite" in length only; they brush the tops of my running shoes-just barely okay-they could be an inch longer but I'll take them for the price. I just want to move on to size 16. All the jeans seem to start at 16. I want to be a 16. And so my pursuit of the size 16 jean is starting to get me interested in watching my food intake again; that and not having to wear the size 18 floodpants too long :o !

Oh and at dinner I ate 1/2 the spaghetti I had planned to eat,credit which was really a serving of "too much spaghetti". I also removed, at DH's request, 1/2 of the pasta I had served him as well. As a result there are leftovers. creditYay. Oh and we are going to be measuring out the food for the cats too. Seems I am feeding them way too much and Caesar, my new kitty, has a game leg and he's been gaining weight. I truly don't notice it but others have commented. It dawned on me that he cannot ever get overweight as his bad leg will not support him. I can't do that to him! I may even give over the cat feeding duty to DH if I can't handle it. I predict several weeks of bad sleep until new habits are established. *sigh*

Sorry for the lack of personals coaches. Maybe tomorrow....

Wishing you all well.:hug:

Coaches/Buddies:
These are the things I have done well:

- I am here posting
- I have bookmarked this site on my phone, making it easier to post from my phone
-I have a computer set up in my bedroom which hopefully will help me post first thing in the morning or at night before bed
- I ate mindfully and slowly and brought home 1/2 my breakfast from the restaurant this morning
- I went on a 6.5 mile hike
- I intend to wake up tomorrow morning and work out before I go to work.

I hope to be back in a fuller capacity very soon.

Thanks for the continued encouragement.

Monday - The Ides of March
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Wasn't a stellar eating day. Did good enough at a quick potluck between events - especially because I served myself some nuts using a serving spoon onto my plate where I ate them sitting down; CREDIT moi. However, I later attended a memorial gathering for a late friend where sorrow was expressed by platters of top shelf foods. I was whacked by some smoked salmon with cream cheese; then whacked by some monster sized shrimp in a basil-something dip; and then, least expected, as I was trying to leave, whacked again: et tu salami chunk on a cracker?

Sigh, it continues to be really raining here. Exercise is, again, dancing with a wet vac in my basement. It has to get dry enough and warm enough to hire a mason to come in and try to patch the places that it leaks. I'm well able to stuff a little wet concrete about, but I'm not sure that weekend-warrior patching will be enough. We had 2.54 inches of rain yesterday!!!! That's a bunch.


onebyone - You're so clear identifying "I don't care" as a recurring Sabotaging Thought; Kudos for that. Yay for seeing through the deceptive packaging at the store and leaving it behind. I'm so easily fooled by packaging designed to, well, fool me, LOL. Love hearing about your $10 jeans; that's my kind of shopping. You've invented the floodpants diet; wear your reminder that you want to eat on-plan.

ChinaMaine - Kudos for your consistency in "identified hunger vs non-hunger before I ate" - good for me to be reminded of consistency. Yay for a DH who makes fruited game hen for dinner - sound yummy. Might just take your idea to buy myself new rain pants as a reward; I'm a bit slow to spend money on myself, especially on clothes. I'm always a little awed with people who enjoy going out shopping for clothes. My version of the lot of poor old Sisyphus is that he's condemned for all eternity to search for an item at WalMart where on isle 1 the clerk tells him it's in aisle 197 where a different clerk tells him that's that it's now been moved to aisle 1 - etc. <Shudder.>

Kim (bennyhannamama) - That "6.5 mile hike" sounds good to me. Hope you saw some neat birds along the way.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Like your notion that you "deserve to take breaks and don't have to overeat to get them." That fits me when I'm working hard and can only think of eating when it's a walk that I really need. Neat to go walking with a friend in the rain. Yep, it takes a spouse to point out that rain always ends, LOL.

Susan (hikergirl) - Kudos for giving yourself credit and for 'swinging back to some sanity with my eating."

Thanks for the Restrained Eater vs. Natural Eater clip. Not sure why, but it annoys me a bit. It seems to give a negative connotation to those of us who have to watch what we eat to remain on track. I'm happier with Beck's observation that naturally thin people actually do watch what they eat. I do have to accept that I'm drawn to food in an odd way that rather bugs me. If there's a group of people who don't have that, good for them. There are also some "natural thinkers" who don't have to work so hard to find solutions to the same problems that I have to wrestle to the ground, but I don't feel stigmatized just because some people's brains are faster in some areas that mine is. Wish I could get past the stigmatized notion in that article. Will ponder it some more.


FutureFitChick - Ouch for the concussion; hope you're healing. And Congrats for the scale movement. I vote for getting a truffle hunting pig to wake up a stodgy Home Owners Association. It might take them at least a year to get organized enough to force you to release it. Then they'd have to catch it since it would now be a feral pig and not your problem, LOL. I've never made peanut butter in my blender. In the store, it just squirts out of the grinder when I flip the switch.

Shepherdess - Ouch for a bout of struggling with eating now that you've reached your goal weight. Kudos for facing it head on; with attention you're bound to get on top of it. Yep, "Peanuts" is the proper length of the ingredients list.

Beverlyjoy - Sounds like really good prep for your ten day trip. Good to be reminded that planning can be taken seriously when serious results are desired. Ouch for the hurting parts; may you last til later in the year for your ankle/foot surgery. Venting about health here is the best way to get it clear in your own head - vent away.

So neat that you also post in the wee hours of the morning, even though that means that we cross post a bit.


Readers -

Monday Evening
 

Hi Coaches
I did OK today - didn't take too much with me to Sydney this am so it was less challenging to pack the car and get out of the house. Didn't reverse into anyone today so that has to be good

Restrained v Natural eating - thanks for the reference Susan (Hikergirl) - I really think the issue of full v hungry and not knowing when satiety is reached is the key isn't it. ChinaMaine has it down in her check-list. There is a diet author - American but living in Australia for a while - called John Gabriel (Gabriel Method) whose 'diet' is all about learning how to nourish the body and I guess it is about becoming a 'natural' eater. I think all of these approaches together with Beck could complement each other but what a long journey that is. Beck is so clear and has the element of coming to learn and accept hunger and desire and craving but she deals with the fact that there is a lot to unlearn before eating "naturally" becomes a possibility. Anyway - all really interesting - I have to say I like the Gabriel stuff because it strengthens my resolve to eat healthy and nourishing foods

Shepherdess - we are coming to the end of daylight saving and it is very dark in the morning - do you still have it going in winter? I love autumn and when the humidity passes it will be beautiful - after Easter. Credit for the "furthest I have gone in 2010"

BeverlyJoy - you sound so organised with cards and responses - kudos. It is annoying to always be in pain and have your parts hurting and it wears you down - big credit that you stay positive

Gardenerjoy - big credit for your new ideas about a break - I think I find excuses to binge and I need to replace it with thoughts like this

BillBlueEyes - Oh for some heavy rain - I still love to splash in it and it is so rare here these days (although when we get it we can get 4 inches in a few hours). I know what you mean about wanting to feel nourished. I liked your thinking about restrained v natural eating - that we are all different and that an approach like this might try to pigeon hole people.

FutureFitChick - hope you get some more time in your schedule and credit for the scale starting to move

ChinaMaine - Glad you had a nice balanced Saturday - it sounds, well, balanced

Kim (Bennyhannahmamma) - well done for working out how to post on your Blackberry - that takes commitment

Onebyone - :wave:

Credits: :flow1:

• Reading my advantage / response / anti-craving cards - only once
• Checked in to my diet coaches - here I am
• Sat down to eat - yes - always
• Ate mindfully / slowly and enjoyed every bite - pretty much - lost interest in food half way through tonight
• Spontaneous exercise - walked down the stairs and scorned the lift a couple of times
• Weighed myself (if at home) - not at home
• Did a daily schedule? - no
• Recognised hunger / fullness / desire / craving - I did stop eating dinner - knew when I was full
• Used distraction and resistance techniques? A few times - wanted "something"
• Gave myself credit when on track - sometimes

Not so good: :nono:

• Ate unnecessary sweets this evening because they were on offer and it would have been very easy to refuse - not even that nice really so why!?!

Working on: :woops:

• Keeping it simple and not getting discouraged

Sunday
 

The Good :angel:
- Throughout the day, I identified satisfaction vs fullness while eating, and I stopped eating when satisfied – credit!
- Throughout the day, I identified hunger vs non-hunger before I ate – credit!
- Eat mindfully, enjoying every bite – credit!
- Tolerated non-hunger without eating – credit!
- Used resistance techniques – yes!
- Give credit throughout the day for every positive eating behavior – credit!
- Spontaneous exercise – credit!
- I posted here – yes!

The Bad, and the Ugly :no:
- Read the pink book – nope

shepherdess Sounds like a great exercise day on Saturday! Good luck with your reset on the Beck plan; your approach sounds just right.

gardenerjoy I love your response card idea for taking breaks. Reading your post as a :doh: moment for me. I will make a new RC for this as well. Thanks!!

Future Fit Chick Welcome back and glad things are going in a positive direction.

Beverlyjoy The recipe sounds great – thanks!

Susan (hikergirl) Glad you are getting back into the groove…

one by one Thinking about new pants are a great way to get your motivation back – credit!

Kim (bennyhannamama) Sounds like you had a great day!

Bill I’m going to engage in some stereotyping here, and say that men seem much more likely to dislike clothes shopping than women. Is that why clothes sizing is so much more sensible for men? The insanity of women’s clothes sizing is one of my major pet peeves. And actually, your Sisyphus scenario sounds not too far from reality…

Cheryl (seadwaters) What a nice long list of credits! Ouch for the sweets – especially since they weren’t even that tasty…

Today’s Essentials:
Weigh-in: +1 lbs.
Read Advantage Cards two times: yes
Read Response Cards at least two times: yes
Ate slowly, sitting down, noticing every bite: yes
Gave myself credit when I engaged in helpful eating behaviors: yes
Did spontaneous exercise: yes
Did planned exercise: will try to get to the gym as long as I feel up to it later
Wrote out food plan for tomorrow: yess
Tracked today’s food: yes

BennyHannahMama, good to see you check in. Your hike sounds great.

BillBlueEyes, too bad about the pot luck. Hope you get some dry weather soon.

ChinaMaine, your grill sounds great.

Hikergirl, thanks for the restrained eating information.

Seadwaters, glad no vehicle bumps today.

Hi there. Sanity has returned to my eating. Whew. I hope that it stays for a while. I will do everything I can to make sure that it stays for a while.

Onebyone – great email focusing on the positive/credits. Wow, you are wonderfully self aware of your food habits. Big, big, big credits to you!

Bennyhannahmama – sounds like you had a great day.

Billblueeyes…insightful comments on restrained versus natural. You are right…I don’t beat myself up when people are able to quickly and easily come up with answers to questions that I find difficult. In these situations I simply think that their minds work differently than mine and that I can probably do some things that they cannot do etc etc. Thank you. On the food front – a big credit to you for eating a spoonful of nuts (you planned and controlled that gnarly “nut” trigger food).

Seadwaters – “nourishing ourselves”---- it sounds simple, but that is the challenge --- in two simple words.

Chinamaine – I just noticed that you have followed the Biet diet/concepts for over a year and I noticed your weight ----- wow, you are doing it! Rock on!

Bye for now.

Susan

This is my first new low since February 2nd. Thank you all for being here. I've never before sustained a diet through a plateau that lasted that long and this group is responsible for helping me work through it.

WI: -0.65kg (new low), Exercise: +60, 760/1550 minutes for March, Food: op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

FutureFitChick: Thanks for DASHdiet.org. That's where I learned about the book -- however, I got so focused on it, that I never realized there is enough on the site to get my started. And, there really is! So, a late reminder from you is a blessing!
Glad to see you back -- sorry it took a concussion! And, I hope you're feeling better soon.

hikergirl: good job on finding sanity!

onebyone: yay for the pursuit of size 16 jeans and all of your other credits!

bennyhannahmama: that's a nice long list of accomplishments! Go you!

BillBlueEyes: hope you're drying out up there!

seadwaters: glad you arrived safely in Sydney with no accidents and less of a challenge. Yay for that long list of credits!

ChinaMaine: the new grill sounds wonderful! Here's to lots of fun, healthy meals emerging from it!

Had an early St. Patty’s Day last night meal with my DH and FIL. Apparently the corned beef was extremely disappointing, but I wouldn’t know. For me it was cabbage, potatoes, carrots and parsnips, so lots of veggies and carbs—yes I’m a vegetarian that is perfectly fine eating veggies cooked with meat. I actually tolerated some post-dinner hunger, a major accomplishment for me, and just like Beck says, hunger is not an emergency. I don’t know why I keep finding it so tough to remember even though I have demonstrated it a number of times.

I’m back on the checklist and I’m surprised by how many things I have let slide. I thought I would remember without the list, but now I realize I only remember the things that are easy for me to do and rest is conveniently forgotten. I think I’m going to find my lost discipline in this checklist somewhere.

Not a huge amount of exercise. Some gentle yoga and a short walk, but gentle exercise is what I needed. It was a major accomplishment to get some movement at all. It’s amazing how grey skies can bring down my mood so quickly since I’m used to 300 sunny days a year. But the sun is shining again today, so I’m feeling good.

Gardenerjoy, I love that response card. I think I’m going to steal it. Great job getting your exercise and thank you for your thoughts on the natural vs. restrained eater. I think you’re right that some of us may never be able to become natural eaters, but we can still find ways to eat sanely.

FutureFitChick, great to see you again! Kudos for getting the scale to budge, even while your life is so hectic. I’m so impressed by your commitment to get caught up on all of our posts. Hope you get a chance to catch your breath soon.

Hikegirl, great job on sticking to your plan, for the most part. In the Complete Beck Diet for Life book, she suggests starting with just a single meal on the plan and then adding a meal when you have adjusted to the first meal, and so on. So you are doing great easing your way back on plan.

Onebyone, good weigh-ins can sometimes be as tough as bad weigh-ins. Recently I’ve been using it as an excuse to let things slide. I can relate to: “Hunger has always triggered anxiety in me and I am getting over that now by seeing that I can live through hunger very well thankyou.”

Bennyhannamamma, it’s so good to see you posting here again, and great job on all those credits. Kudos for setting up your phone and computer so posting here will be so much easier. A 6.5 mile hike sounds fantastic.

BillBE, yay for a controlled serving of nuts! Sorry about the memorial service and for the unplanned eating that it brought about.

You have a good criticism of the article maybe I will never be able to read my body’s signals properly. But I really saw a weakness in myself with the restrained eater who binges in situations where control is lost (i.e. they had a fattening milk shake and so take 4 times (!) the ice cream they would have normally eaten). Dieters need to be very careful because there is good evidence that dieting leads to eating disorder, which is what this article discusses, and something I have struggled with. The author, Mary Hartley, R.D., is an advocate of a book Intuitive Eating, which is a “diet” designed for people recovering from eating disorders. The problem with many diets is that the food is still in control. Beck has really helped me because her program is teaching me how I can gain control over the food, which we do by learning to be flexible with our eating. I think the article is making a distinction between discipline and overly rigid eating.

Seadwaters, what a great list of credits! Yay for taking the stairs. I know this is especially difficult because you’re dealing with fatigue. It’s so odd to hear about your seasons, since it is so opposite. My brother married an Australian—they were married in Sydney and he wanted to get married at the end of Nov because he wanted a winter anniversary. His wife pointed out that Nov was the middle of summer, but no matter how long he lived in the S. Hemisphere, Nov was still winter for him.

ChinaMaine, now you have me thinking about outdoor grilling. I love meals outside in the warm weather. Now that I think about it, that is the only time I naturally eat slowly and savor my food. I don’t know why that is. Kudos for your continuing long lists of credits.

Good Morning:

seadwaters- sorry about your bad week. You have enough to deal with without the car problems at the same time. I think you are very wise to figure out what you can deal with, do that and not worry about the rest right now. The first 2 weeks of Beck will help you through.

My new response card is your quote (hope you don't mind): "Keep it simple and don't get discouraged."

Beverlyjoy- yay for changing your game plan during the day. And for taking the time to redo some response cards. You will be well prepared for your trip.

BillBlueEyes- hurray for walking in the rain. I agree with you that walking in the rain is fun. Anything works for me except walking in the heat. Give me -25 over +25 anytime (just for walking, not for anything else)!! Sorry to hear about your friend.

ChinaMaine-kuddos for doing yard work and eating on plan.

Shepherdess-good for you for taking steps to get eating on track.

gardenerjoy- I like your new response card. Congratulations on your new low.

FutureFitChick-glad things are going well for you.

hikergirl- it is good that you are feeling more sane with your eating and that the slide is over. Thanks for the info on restrained and natural eaters. I am so not a natural eater.

onebyone-you are doing so well at identifying your sabotaging thoughts. I have to battle them every day too. Some days are good and some are not. "I don't care" is a frequent one for me, that and "just this once. I will get back on plan tomorrow."

bennyhannahmama-credit for posting, taking steps to make posting easier, eating mindfully and slowly, getting exercise and planning your next day's work out.

For me:

Sunday was hard. Ate sugar in the form of Costco cookies. I felt sort of sick after. And I am glad I felt sort of sick. I'm going to try to remember that feeling next time I am tempted. I wonder if it would help to eat a small piece of chocolate every night to see if that would hold off the overdoses? I find I don't think about sugar for a certain amount of time and then I have a sugar binge. This never happened to me before I was in my later forties. Before it was all about overeating carbs and fat. Oh well, deal with it!!!

Credit today for:
posting
weighing in
riding exercise bike 30 mins
doing weights
having a plan for healthy eating

:grouphug:

For the mommas...