[AnneWonders]

So, in real life I was completely brainlocked. Not getting anything done. Just totally overwhelmed. So I made a list. A to do list. It worked. I mean, duh.

Putting that in place on the food/exercise thing. Otherwise known as Beck techniques and planning. Duh. I crossed a red line this morning and that is just not acceptable.

Anne

[Shepherdess]

Lousy weather completely changed my plans yesterday. ChinaMaine had pointed out I have a pattern of eating badly when bad weather leaves me trapped indoors (thanks ChinaMaine and waving in case you read this). So once I saw that my planned project for the day was going to have to be put on hold, I recognized that I needed to find a way to keep busy. So that worked well. I killed two birds with one stone and got some things done that I have been putting off and I was able to avoid a day of mindless snacking. So I just need to keep this up for a few more days while this storm blows through.

I also did weights yesterday, which I haven’t done in quite some time. I discovered which muscles I used during lambing and which ones I didn’t. I’m still reminded of those underused muscles today, but it’s good to get back to weights.

Gardenerjoy, Wii sounds like it is a great solution to your low-energy days. It doesn’t have to be the perfect workout; just something to get you moving on those days you really don’t feel like it.

New2me2, I agree that those mini-goals are important. Reaching the end goal takes time and your mind needs the reward along the way. The charm is a great way to keep a reminder of all you have accomplished on those days when motivation is flagging.

Bennyhannamamma, great job hanging in there with food and exercise while struggling emotionally and great to see you posting.

BillBE, congrats on another successful month and another month closer to that 5 year mark! Love those leftovers that keep giving. If only I could remember when faced with a mountain of food that if I don’t devour it all in one sitting I can enjoy it for another (or several) more meals. The lambs are doing well. We check on them when we can, but once they are on the range they are on their own.

Beverlyjoy, kudos for another good day. Sending supportive thoughts while you make your decision on when to have your surgery. We were talking to a retired rancher recently. He and DH were comparing knee surgery stories. The rancher said that he had been putting off his knee replacement as long as he could, but after the surgery couldn’t remember why he had put it off so long. I don’t know if that helps, but it just struck me as funny. It reminds me of so many decisions that I wrestle with.

Seadwaters, I am so impressed with your organization: an AM list, a mid-day list and a PM list. Wow, I could use a bit more organization in my life! Great job resisting the urge for chips. Always a weakness of mine. LOL at resisting buying water because it should be free—I feel the same way.

CeeJay, great job on an OP day! Ouch for all the extra work that is leaving you tired and stressed. That is a deadly combination for my diet. ChinaMaine had said that during those time, just keep focused on the basics. I think that is great advice. Don’t try to be perfect when you have so much on your plate. Just keep up those skills that are beginning to become habit.

Lexxiss, great job sticking to your Beck skills while feeling rushed and disorganized—although your disorganized sounds like my most disciplined day, LOL.

[MerinoGirl]

Hello Coaches,

OMG! Has it really been 4 days since I logged in?? Hectic days at work, hectic weekend at home with visitors in from out of town. Funny, though, that I mostly managed to stay OP through the weekend and company, but today, not 30 minutes ago, nibbled on some goodies a co-worker brought back from Italy!

I'm not even halfway through catching up on reading, but I do want to give sympathy to onebyone for losing Kitty X. I'm sorry that it was her time but the best thing for her was to be surrounded by love through the end.

I have used being busy in the past as an excuse for not dieting/exercising/taking care of myself, but I'm not going to do that any more. Time to get Beck on track (ha ha).

[FutureFitChick]

Hi, everyone.

Welcome to the new people.

I made it through the semester.

A little worse for wear, I'm trying to recover now. I am down a few pounds though.

I've missed you all and look forward to being able to post regularly during the summer.

[new2me2]

Good evening everyone!

The weather was fantastic today, so I went out on my lunch break for a 15 minute walk. And, I just finished an hour on my Wii game...it counted somewhere around 8,000 steps I think.

And, most exciting, I was down a pound this morning. I'm not really sure why, but I'll take it, lol.

Something else I did today was practice my hunger thing, lol. That's tomorrow's chapter, but I decided to wait longer each time before I ate so that I could feel the hunger more. I didn't actually skip a meal, but I did wait until I felt hunger to eat each of them.

Today's chapter was knowing the differece between hunger, desire and craving. I'm not sure I got that...I think I get the hunger, but desire and craving kind of blur together for me.

Credits for today:
Reading my Advantages cards x 2
Walk at lunch
Practiced hunger sort of
Got to the stairs and realized I didn't pick up the piece of chocolate I was going to eat on the way home from work, and then did NOT go back and get one, lol

bennyhannahmama: You're doing a great job of staying on track when you're struggling so!

BillBlueEyes: "my old idea was that a meal was a HUGE chuck of meat and some minor side dishes" - yeah, unfortunately I have that idea about a lot of things, lol. Congratulations for another month of maintenance!!!

Beverlyjoy: sounds like you're doing a great job of planning things! Glad your blood work came out well, and hope your colonoscopy shows only good things!

seadwaters: Great job on resisting a known trouble spot!

CeeJay: I am a big stress eater...I must remember to breathe!

Hello to Lexxiss, Anne, Shepherdess, MerinoGirl and anyone else I might have missed.

Welcome jynx hope your book comes soon!

[bennyhannahmama]

Coaches/Buddies:
Still feeling overwhelmed this morning. Had an appointment with a psychiatrist (first time in about 6+ years) and felt much better afterward. She's going to have me try a mood stabilizer in conjunction with the SSRI (zoloft) that I'm already on. It will probably take about a month to see if it's helping, but I'm hopeful. She also spoke to me about things like cutting out caffeine, etc. to help. I need to go up to bed because I'm feeling hungry and I don't want to eat anymore tonight.

Thanks for the continued support, everyone!

[GosfordGirl]

Hi Coaches

Anne (Wndranne) - Aren't lists amazing! I can't believe I didn't even think of using them to organise my day as well given I do it for shopping etc. Hope things get better for you and credit for posting

BeverlyJoy - Hope the decision making process goes smoothly. Sounds like you have strong genetic predispositions that need attention - diet, tests and otherwise. So credit that you are aware and mindful of all this

BillBlueEyes - Congratulations on tickers ticking and being a dab hand with leftovers. I am a butcher's daughter and a meal was MEAT with a few other things so becoming a vegetarian was an interesting change in focus. I still eat way too much protein

CeeJay - I can relate to the family members from **** - they not only know which buttons to push, they created them. So reframing a response can be a tricky exercise! Yay for an on-plan day and recognising that you are not listening to your body. Hope your travel plans go well

Debbie (Lexxiss) - Waving back - Glad you are home and hope your day matches your plans

FutureFitChick - Nice to see you here and I am glad the semester is behind you. Will be nice to see you posting regularly and well done for being a few pounds down given the distractions

Jynz - Welcome! Hope you get the book soon and good luck

Kim (BennyHannahMama) - Hope the change in medication goes well - sounds like you are having a tough time but you are being really proactive and open about it. Sounds like you are on top of things so hope you are OK

MerinoGirl - Glad you are back and credit for staying mostly on plan - hope your life settles down for you

new2me2 - I found it hard to focus on 5 lb but good thing I did because that is all I seem capable of losing! Small goals do add up. Credit for all the exercise. And congratulations on 1 pound down! For me desire is - I just want it - the kid who hates deferring gratification and wants it NOW just because I want it and it is there in front of me. Craving is stronger and very focussed on getting something specific that may not even be present - and I will go through seeking behaviour to find/get it. A very strong "need" as it were. Well done on preparing for the hunger exercise - it is interesting

Shepherdess - Credit for your insight into your weather related eating behaviour and a great plan to overcome it. I am discovering many underused muscles at the moment so can empathise

Check-list time
Credits
- Read A&R cards - oops
- Planned my day - Yes - as someone suggested lists make it SOOOO much easier for me - I found the whole schedule thing impossible because my life is run by my diary but if I plan the day around the to do list (and yes, and am, pm and sort of midday breakdown) it all goes smoothly. Astonishing really. And I did EVERYTHING on my list
- Made food plan - Yes
- Food on-plan - Yes
- Posted to the list -Yes - only once - absolutely forgot (hmmm maybe the list needs tweaking)
- Ate mindfully and seated every time - yes
- Put down fork occasionally - no!
- Weighed myself - no!
- Drank water - yes
- Exercise - yes - forced myself to go to the pool. Really didn't want to go so I was really proud of myself and told myself so
- Resistance techniques - yes - didn't eat cake at coffee
- Consciously gave credit for positive eating / exercise behaviours - Yes I did. I found myself telling myself I was a good girl when I was fighting to get dressed after the swim - it can be really difficult to get legs lifted etc etc and I found I was encouraging myself and giving praise. Really weird actually but it worked
Working on
Still on Habits

Cheryl

[BillBlueEyes]

jynx

And, in case you didn't get one of these last month when you joined,

How did you find out about Beck's books?

And how did you find this thread on 3FC?

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Got a haircut so I'll look presentable this weekend; CREDIT moi since I'm capable of going without a haircut like it was still the 60's, LOL. But I did walk there, so that's a justification for the credit.

Was served more pasta with basil pesto than I needed, but ate it anyway - Ouch. I'm still slow at leaving food on my plate. It would have been easier if it had been something I would put in the fridge for leftovers, but a half serving of pesto would just get tossed. Gotta work on my ability to tolerate tossing food.


Anne (wndranne) - Yay for lists; they work for me when I make them. They don't work for me when I don't make them. With that remarkable insight, you'd think I'd always make them, but, alas, I still don't, Ouch.

Kim (bennyhannamama) - Kudos for continuing to post; keep the faith - you'll move through this one day at a time.

Shepherdess - Yay for weights, and Yay for making alternative plans rather than just moping away the day.

Beverlyjoy - Ouch for medical realities. Glad that your DH is home so you have a sounding board to work it all out. Continuing to send supportive thoughts for your decision making process.

FutureFitChick - Congrats for conquering your semester, and Congrats for surviving over-busy with enough on plan to drop a few pounds during the process. Are you doing your independent research now?

CeeJay - Ouch for family's ability to get under our skin. Kudos for heading out with an eating plan - may it work again as it did last time.

Cheryl (Seadwaters) - Kudos for standing down that bag of chips - sounds like quite a wrestling match that you won. Ouch for "sneaky piece of chocolate" - they are a bit sneaky, LOL.

Kudos for forcing yourself to go for a swim, and BIG Kudos for giving yourself credit after wards - you're doing your Beck stuff. LOL at the daughter of a butcher becoming vegetarian. My guess is that you've had your lifetime need for meat already, LOL.


Debbie (Lexxiss) - Yay for "making dieting and exercise a priority" - seems to be an important part of success.

MerinoGirl - Ouch for "hectic", and Double Ouch when temptations arrive from Italy which seems like permission to indulge off-plan.

new2me2 - Yep, desire and craving can blur. I experience mostly desire - I see food, I want it. Beck describes cravings as calling for a specific food, as in, I. WANT. CHOCOLATE. NOW. Kudos for all that exercise with your Wii.

jynx - Hope your book arrives promptly. It'll be nice to have additional GB perspective around here. By the by, congratulations for forming a new government. It's always a relief to see a picture in our US newspapers of the new Prime Minister meeting the Queen. Makes me feel that all's right with the world.

Readers -

day 27
Master the Seven Questions Technique

The Seven Questions Technique

1. What kind of thinking error could I be making? (Review Day 26 on pages 195-198 to help you figure out the answer to this question.)
. . .

The Beck Diet Solution, pg 199.

[jynx]

Billblueeyes: helloo! Thankyou for the warm welcome . Yes, the election was an epic event over here, lol! Glad Gordon Brown is gone but only the future will tell of our new joint-government will be any good! I actually first heard about Beck right here! I spotte your thread and thought hmm that looks interesting! It caught my eye at first because when I see the name "beck" I always think of CBT which was, ofcourse, her father (I'm a university psychology student btw lol) I know that my issues with food are behavioural rather than knowledge (or lack of) based so this looks like a good option. I've been obsessed with calories since the age of 13 and know what I should be eating so this could be the fundemental change I need xx

[maryblu]

Coaches, I was stubbornly refusing to buy the BDSL (green book) because I thought the first one was brilliant and plenty good enough. I was also agonizing over which of the two to give my friend who needs the help. Well, problem solved at Barnes and Noble, where the green book was on sale for $5.98 plus another 10% if a member. Well, I couldn't pass on that, now could I?? BillBE, I know you understand!!! And yes, wndranne, I ordered The Necromancer!

Gave the pink book to my friend last night. She has really been struggling. Sometimes I wonder if a diagnosis of binge disorder or some such diagnosis is a help or a hindrance. Just dunno. For her it seems to be a sentence; it seems to be proof that there is no way that it can be any different. I think most of us here would say we have binged...however we define it, that we have eaten way beyond full and didn't stop..I don't know, coaches, but it sure hurts to see someone so limited by excess weight and seemingly unable to gain control. I am not talking just limits, I am talking about suffering and life threatening stuff. It hurts to be so helpless.

On another thread someone pointed out that if we are admitting to a weight gain, then we should update our ticker. Made sense to me, so I did. Credit moi.

[gardenerjoy]

I set a goal on St. Patrick's Day, when I weighed 215, to get to 200 as quickly as I could, maybe by my birthday, which is today. I made it to 205 and I'm thrilled. I've never lost ten pounds in eight weeks before! Plus, now 200 actually seems like a doable goal.

We ordered my Wii, but it will be June before all the bits and pieces are here and ready to put together. There's a devilish impulse in me to not exercise until then, LOL. I'm working on how to defeat that little guy.

WI: -0.25kg (new low), Exercise: +30 405/1400 minutes for May, Food: 80%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: no

seadwaters: good job doing everything on your list -- I love days like that! So glad that you found a way to talk nice to yourself and that it actually elicited the behavior and state of mind you were seeking. That's inspiring!

BillBlueEyes: I can sometimes hear my mother's voice saying "There's not enough to put away" which is what she said while she was trying to get someone to eat the last bit of something. I've put "There's always enough to put away" on my Responses list. Even if it gets thrown away later, at least it didn't go in my stomach!

jynx: welcome! Sounds like you've got a great headstart on following Beck, the younger, for weight loss.

bennyhannahmama: I'm so impressed with your persistence in posting while you go through all this. I hope everything is falling in place for you.

new2me2: I'm so glad you're getting some time in with your Wii -- that's encouraging to me. Congrats on losing your pound!

FutureFitChick: great to see you! I'm so glad you came back to us. Congrats on keeping things together enough to lose a few pounds!

MerinoGirl: Good job on recognizing that busy-ness is not a good enough excuse to not take care of yourself. That was a key for me.

Shepherdess: Way to go defeating your pattern on bad weather days!

wndranne: glad you're finding that lists really work for you

Beverlyjoy: Good job on all the follow up for medical issues and thinking your way through what's going to work best for you with your surgery. You know you have us as a cheering squad no matter what you decide.

CeeJay: yay for an on plan eating day, and for breathing!

Lexxiss: good job getting things back on track the instant you get home from a trip

maryblu: hope your friend finds Beck helpful. I agree that it's sometimes better not to put a label on things, especially if we treat it like it's a permanent part of ourselves, like eye color. Maybe your friend could think of it like a cancer diagnosis, something that you treat using multiple approaches including psychology, diet, and exercise?

Greetings to onebyone, ChinaMaine, hikergirl, nathy, Nuxmaga, and anyone else who wanders by today.

[onebyone]

Hi Coaches

I'm almost recovered from last week's events. Physically I am still sore from selling my artwork outside on Sunday in the following weather conditions: strong northerly wind, -7C (windchill) temperatures (we hit a balmy 2C for the day;it had been 25C a few days before ) and snow flurries. I was in full winter gear: big fluffy hat, mitts, snowboots and socks, two layers of pants, 4 layers of shirts, winter coat. Oh yeah. I did profit a bit but boy was that money hard won. Your body just tightens right up when you are outside in that kind fo weather and geez are you achey afterwards.

Coaches, it may come as a surprise to you, but I am not as young as I used to be.

The weather for the opening of the farmers' market the day before was worse! Again cold cold air, downpours all day long of rain, hail, and even some snow flurries. Strong north winds. Luckily at the market I am indoors but as the temperatures dropped all day long it got pretty cold by noon. I had several run-ins with food at the market. I was pretty sad over Kitty X and pretty stressed over just getting one thing made specifically for the market; everything else was old stock (sigh). I went hunting for my market favorites and found them and ate them. I had been moving so poorly the night before when I was there trying to get my booth set up. I have never felt so achey and so unable to do what I had to do. It was very distressing. So on Monday I decided to start using the scarsdale diet plan as my basic "what do I eat today" guide but I am allowing myself to tweak it here and there. I am comfortable with this plan and it will serve me in that it will get me to be on a plan again and I can go from there.

Many and varied credits since Monday including:

1. following a plan,
2. having breakfast 3 days in row,
3. shopping/planning/cooking in advance, having leftovers that I eat,
4. weighing myself daily again (today I saw my recent low: 263.2),
5. resisting all food at the movie theatre yesterday.

That last one felt/feels so good coaches! When the coffee kiosk was closed and I had no other choice there (I don't drink diet stuff) DH offered to buy me a bottled water as we passed a machine on the upper level where we were to see our movie. $3.50 He paid it. It was worth it. I'd do it again if I forget to bring something with me or the coffee kiosk is out of order once more. It was so expensive I valued that water like crazy. geez.

I have been having a lot of trouble eating standing up at the stove. Man. I made DH some meals separate from mine and I started eating a mini-meal from the frying pan more than once. I didn't stop when I caught myself either. But, had it been on a plate it would have been 1/5 the portion I would have had had we shared that meal. I think I have eaten at the stove 2 days in a row. This is day 3. No eating standing up so far. I can't recall now if I shoved a small piece of fruit in when I was cutting it up fro my breakfast? Hmmm. I think I didn't but it was close. I'll make that my task for the day: no eating standing up.

I missed checking in coaches! to everyone.

update: I ate while standing up at the kitchen counter this evening. Mostly I was having "a little taste" of each thing that went into my giant salad. Part of my low resistence was feeling too hungry, feeling blue, and feeling lonely and "out of sorts". I do want to give myself a giant credit for having a giant salad for dinner. I knew I'd eat all of it and I wanted to. It had more protein than I should have had, but today it's okay. The sources were lean and yummy and 1/2 were leftovers. Awesome credit to me for using up the veggies this week that I bought instead of throwing them out cause they went bad. Food is done for the day.

[AnneWonders]

Beautiful mountain bike ride this morning with a friend that is coming back from injury. I had it together with my food intake yesterday too. Love love love feeling like I have my ducks in a row.

Anne

[Beverlyjoy]

Hi beck folks - coaches - buddies -

Yesterday was a healthy day - I am always grateful for that! Today is my weigh day. I gained one pound from last week. Kinda bummed about it. However, last Wednesday and Thursday were crazy days with food ( bad foot/ankle pain those days)- and even though Friday through yesterday were very healthy the scale showed a slight gain. But, I am not worried about it. It should go down next week. As Dr. Beck says - it's just one moment in time.

DH and I have been talking about the foot/ankle surgery alot. I've decided to go ahead and do it this summer. Even though the outcome is uncertain and the recovery is complicated - it's just too stressful having to deal with trying to work and live and not know if/what I can do what I want to do. I am thinking of July. I've gathered a list of other performers to give to the places I have scheduled to work at. That way I won't leave them in a lurch.

DS is best man in a wedding at the end of June. It's a friend I've know for over 20 years. I don't want to miss that wedding. So the surgery will be scheduled after that.

Yesterday was a very hard depressing day for me. But, today I woke up feeling positive about things and ready to move forward. DH is one of the most positive people I know - so, he'll help me along the way as I face all this. I've already heard from family and friends that will come and 'help' if necessary afterwards. I am grateful for that. I know I'll have up and down days as I face this...that's life.

I have some other health things to look into before then, too. I am singing..."The old gray mare just ain't what she used to be" (although I dye any gray!) I don't know if any of you even remember that silly song.

yesterday:
planned food, wrote down, measured, counted caloreis - but, I switched it around alot after dinner
ate seated - most of the time
no seconds - all of the time
did stretches and strengthening
slow eating - some of the time
feel fullness - alot of the time

no beck
didn't read arc/ar

I appreciate all the positive support, thoughts and ideas you have given me. Thank you.