Morning Coaches/Buddies!

Today marks a whole week of eating on plan and I'm really happy! Last night was the final choir concert at the university, so DH, DD and I drove to the city where the university is (St. Catharines) and had dinner at a restaurant. Here's a tip I learned from this experience: If the restaurant you're going to has a "Catch of the Day", look into it! I think the rainbow trout I had was the only thing on the menu that didn't have a gooey creamy sauce on it. Just grilled and lightly seasoned.

I am not back in the exercise routine yet. My plan is to get 2 weeks of clean eating under my belt (That's a metaphor folks) ;) and then start walking again. I hope to go back to running once my weight has gone down a bit.

Read ARC: yes
Sat down to eat: yes (today is day 3 and fortunately I do have this habit already)
Tarte - Good choice to skip the potluck and getting up early for exercise!

gardenerjoy - I can so relate to having more things to do than time to do them all!! I always struggle with staying just with the thing in front of me.

maryann - (((Hugs))) to you as you deal with the blues ... a place I know well! Kudos for exercise and veggies which can only help you.

angelskiss (or is it crabbything!) LOL! :)

onebyone - Way to go getting all that tossing and packing done!!! Where did you move to? Are you still in Ontario? (PM me if you're anywhere close to Hamilton ...) I think Caesar is the most appropriate name for a cat ever. Ave! ;) Cats teach us so much about being happy and accepting the present moment.

RunningFree - (((Hugs)))) and great job not binging!

BillBE - Kudos for trying rock climbing! Claire will be jealous. Kids are amazing at that stuff. I totally relate to the idea of ignoring the obvious ... my ability to do that knows no bounds it seems.

pamatga - good choice staying away from the Chinese food. Kudos for staying on plan for 2 days!!

Debbie (Lexxiss) - Kudos for planning, tracking, exercising, and staying out of the chips!! and WTG on lowering your total cholesterol - that's a real achievement in my book.

Have a great OP Sunday, all!

cheers
Erika

Read ARC: yes
Sat down to eat: yes

Good morning!

No credit for exercise yesterday- but its ok to take a day off. The sun is shining today, so I'll definitely get out for a walk and do my free weights. I ordered the 30 Day Shred from Amazon yesterday. I'm excited for it to arrive!

I spent a while reading from the Green book yesterday. I really like the idea of the "Memory Box". I spent some time thinking about positive weight loss memories from the past several months- compliments, fitting into clothes, seeing a difference when I look in the mirror. I looked at some pictures of myself from last fall before I started losing. I was pretty suprised. I've lost almost 20 pounds in the last 6 months. This was something I never thought I could do! I didn't have the confidence I could make changes that could lead to such a loss.

Eating was ok yesterday, within the parameters of enjoying my dad's birthday celebration without going overboard.

eusebius Hurray for a week on plan!!!
Lexxiss Credit for resisting the chip bag and making a healthy choice to go to the library!
pamatga Yay for "two really good days"!
BillBE How fun to try a new activity for exercise! I think one reason why I struggle with exercise is I don't mix it up with different activities.
RunningFree Credit for checking it. Hope you are doing well today.
onebyoneI hope you enjoy your visit with your sister. Great news about the options for gardening!
maryannsix days of exercise and lots of veggies is definitely credit worthy!
tarte reading about your choice to skip a pot luck shows you are putting dieting first! I need to remind myself to do that often!
Gwen I hope I find Jillian and her 30 day shred as helpful as you have! I'm going to give it a try!

Have a wonderful day everyone! :carrot:

Today's challenge is a busy day, particularly a 6:30 meeting that makes fixing supper pretty difficult. We're fixing a normal supper dish at lunch and doing carry-outs for supper. It will do.

WI: +0.1kgs, Exercise: +70* 70/1500 minutes for April, Food: 80%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

onebyone: so glad that you've made it to the other side!

BillBlueEyes, kudos for trying new things! The climbing wall is certainly an interesting adventure-although I still imagine it to be a bit more challenging than walking up stairs.

angelskiss, lol at thinging you never eat standing up. That exercise has provided me the most information about myself..even after months, I still try...it's such a part of my subconscious.

Jan(jmaf), thanks for checking in!

Beverlyjoy, I paused for a moment with a smile and a sigh; I don't have Gkids….or kids, but could feel your joy at reading at GS's school. You said, "I hope he enjoys it." Me thinks, I hope you enjoy it.

Gwen, thanks for the "breathe" exercise.

tarte,great that you skipped the potluck! There will always be another one!

maryann, I always find great acceptance in your posts. Even when something feels like forever...reality is it isn't.

onebyone, glad that it is April! lol I don't know if it's any consolation, but I think the "human vultures" are really tasteless and it is certainly not personal. You are moving onward and upward, and sadly they will probably find another "easy kill" before too long. *credit* for already finding healthy options; working out, swimming and community gardens! Yay!

RunningFree, big *credit* for posting here even when you felt too vulnerable. I firmly believe that a great part of finding success in changing our behaviors is showing up and remaining accountable even when we don't feel like it.

pamatga, great spur of the moment decision, not going out for Chinese, and instead cooking at home. That is a success strategy!

Erika(eusebius), great that you have completed your first week back eating on plan. It sounded like a wise decision to deal with food stuff first then work on the exercise later. Funny you should mention that rainbow trout...I have really been wanting one. My friend called to say he had caught one for me but I'll have to wait until mid month to enjoy it.(I'm not at the location of the fish)

ChefJoona, I have to tell myself, too, that it's ok to take a day off. Enjoying your dad's birthday celebration without going overboard is a testament of the changes you have made in your life to make it possible to lose those 20 pounds. Kudos!

gardenerjoy, I felt great personal power in your statement, "I need to be closer to plan unless I want to maintain at this weight, and I'm too close to goal to want that." Kudos!

I had some work to do during weekend and I did it while sitting in bed with the laptop and ate. Guilty. Tomorrow I'll accept all the punishment I deserve from my scales and then I'll move on.

forced
 

Hi Coaches

I woke up in my new place and made breakfast for us. Amazing. I've missed cooking from scratch very much. Then later on something happened, not sure when or where, but suddenly my ankle is killing me. I can barely put weight on it and I went out to get a cold pack compress and I've been resting, icing, compressing and elevating since this afternoon. What the heck did I do??? Sounds like a sprain; feels like a really bad sprain. I have stuff to do !!! Most importantly I need a blue bin and a green bin. The garbage is complicated here and it's piling up in the kitchen for not knowing how/when/where to deal with it.
But now with this foot well I'm out of commission. I sure hope I don't need to see a dr. I don't have one here so it'd be a walk-in clinic = long wait. We'll see if it gets better tomorrow or not. Of all the luck.

I called my sister and told her I just can't drive back to Ottawa this week. I don't have it in me. I woke up with a sore stomach from fretting over it all last night. She understood but was sad. This foot pain is in my driving foot so that pretty much caps the decision.

I was feeling forlorn today. I was still really mean and angry yesterday but that's passing. Food has started to get better, I tunred down some extra food today and I'm ready to follow a plan again.

Better go. I'm tired. Hello to everyone.

Monday, Monday
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - The Arnold's 100% whole wheat Thins worked for the second day; CREDIT moi for changing my food plan, even if just a tiny bit. Gotta remember that consistency following the path doesn't mean eating the same things forever.

Good walking in the not-yet-warm sunshine; CREDIT moi. Gardens are being worked in the neighborhood. A Robin followed my DW around our yard as she was poking in the ground - apparently looking for an easy worm. I can't complain about cold when the Robin did a quicky bath. Other exercise was hauling some twelve boxes of books down one flight of stairs toward their temporary storage in our basement. Still got too many books, including a beautiful picture book of the Himalayas that's so large that it doesn't fit in any of the boxes - haven't thought of a solution for that yet, LOL.


onebyone - Congrats for being all set up in a working kitchen already. Ouch for the ankle - that's a bummer. Hope it's one of those sprains that heal themselves with just a little bit of rest.

Erika (eusebius) - Kudos for a week on plan - solid start there. And Kudos for grabbing that Rainbow Trout - I'll remember your tip to pursue "Catch of the Day."

I need your help: we attended Emperor of Atlantis or Death Quits, the Victor Ullmann opera written in 1943 from the concentration camp. I just don't get the music; it was grating. Do you have any suggestions for coming to understand modern music? I found books listed on Amazon, but I'm not drawn to reading about what I'm not hearing.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - I find it a real challenge when events are scheduled that conflict with my normal eating plan. It confuses me when we eat dinner at 5:30 instead of a more usual 7:30.

Debbie (Lexxiss) - Congrats on that lower total cholesterol - since my doctor is most interested in the ratio of the total to the HDL, he'd be pleased.

ChefJoona - It's a big deal to do your dad's celebration without going overboard, Kudos. Neat that you're doing your "Memory Box."

pamatga - Kudos for making your own dinner instead of going out for Chinese. I'm still having difficulties ordering a modest calorie meal at a Chinese restaurant - perhaps too many years of General Gao's Chicken, LOL.

RunningFree - Love your attitude, "... and then I'll move on." The next challenge is not to feel guilty so you can free up some mental energy to figure out how to work on your laptop in bed without using food as a crutch.

Readers -

thunder storm!
 

Hi coaches

I will just write a few lines as sitting here is killing my ankle. It is sooo sore.

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: :mad::mad::mad:

Since I'll be immoblile for most of the day I'm going to take the down time as an opportunity to make the exchange cards on the tops.org site. I have no printer so I can't just print the pdf file. I'll need to draw, cut, paste or write them out. It's a good project for one with a sore ankle. I got up to put an ice pack on it but my ice pack wasn't returned to the freezer so I am waiting for it to be cold again. The good news is the ankle didn't swell up so from what I have read that is a good first step. Now if it's not getting better two days from now I'll have to get myself to a dr. of some kind.

On another topic I heard thunder last night! So exciting. A thunder storm. I hope it's stormy all day.

Better go. Have a great Monday folks.

After three hours of sleep I awoke feeling very hungry so I got up and made breakfast. The only problem is I have a long stretch of a day ahead of me and already I've eaten. This is what I face when I eat according to my calorie range and under 2400 mg sodium. Yes, I have lost 4.4 lbs of "sodium-induced" water weight but I ended up eating an apple for dinner last night because that was all I had left for calories. Yes, I have been drinking copious amounts of H2O so this is just the adjustment period from eating higher fat/higher calories/higher sodium foods. This is another good reason to eat moderately---when you return then you have to go through the adjustment period all over again. I have a very short memory when it comes to things like this. Awrgh!:mad:

BBE I prefer the soothing sounds of either sacred music, Baroque or mid-19th century classics. My son coaxed me into going to a modern opera many years ago and I was more fascinated by the fact the plus size alto was wearing a sheer body stocking (she was supposed to an other worldly creature, I think) than the contemporary (read: early 20th century) accompanying music. I just like harmony not discord.
Lexxiss what I believe helped me lower my cholesterol was lots of exercises for many years and a love of fibrous foods. I have heard that both lower your cholesterol and it definitely worked for me.
One well, you might have injured yourself during your sleep. I do that all the time. My left knee is both locked and swollen from doing wall squats. It took three days before it settled down.
Running I have found that chewing a flavorful sugar free gum (have you tried Desserts brand -mint chocolate chip really does taste like the real thing) and drinking lots of ice cold water helps. Sometimes, a flavorful tea (Celestial Seasonings had a Candy Cane green tea-might only be seasonal-that was addicting-it really tasted like it had sugar in it)

I agree with BBE about eating earlier. That was one of the first things I noticed about the time change from Central to Eastern: people eat later. I have acclimated so well to that I hate it when I do eat before 7 pm. I end up wanting a later night snack. Sometimes, what I do is wait until it is 12:01 am just so I can have a small bowl of cereal.

Yes, I do use measuring cups and spoons all the time. I am always sad when I see what 1/4 cup of potato salad looks like. It looks like 1 1/2 TB. It's sad with so much space between my foods. Can you tell I'm going through withdrawal?:) Good thing, I am a determined soul.

Have a good day, all!:hug:

Hi friends.becksters -- love being here with family and really enjoying time with my grandson. I am trying to make good decisions. Reality hit me square in the face when I cut myself some pie - and when I was distracted the kitten started to eat it... I threw it away and considered it a 'sign'.

I am enjoying my grandson very much. Guess I am repeating myself... must be really true. LOL I will keep it real today with the food. So many temptations.

I got out my journal and will write everything down.

billbe - did your friends like the flying penguin video from the the BBC network.

lexxiss/debbie - thanks . . . yes I am so looking forward to telling stories, etc at GS's school. My storytelling is not actually reading stories.... I tell them in the oral tradition with no books. With the younger children I use some props, puppets, song etc to tell the tale.

Thanks everyone!!

Have a good day.

Dreary day... some snow was coming down a little while ago. :( I am wanting Spring to come!

Eating was a little off yesterday. The timing of my meals was off because it was a busy day.

Credit for a lot of activity and exercise! It was a sunny day so some friends and I went to check out a waterfall, which involved hiking around. Then a couple of us went to an indoor ice skating rink- definitely great exercise!

Went to the movies with DFiance in the early evening. I resisted the urge to get popcorn or candy, as we planned to have dinner when we got home.

Going to have lunch at one of my grad school professor's house. I'm not sure what she is preparing, so I said I would bring a spinach salad. I'll be headed to the grocery store shortly.

Hope all have a great start to the week!

Morning Coaches/Buddies!

I weighed in this morning down 3 pounds!! Woot! I realize that some of it will have been water from previous bad eating but I'm happy to see it gone nonetheless. I'm feeling optimistic about reintroducing the Beck principles into my life and being back with this group.

Today is Day 4 - Give yourself credit. So credit moi for:
- skipping a church potluck yesterday and eating lunch at home instead
- sitting down and eating mindfully for all 3 meals
- tracking my food all week
- drinking my water each day
- being consistent with meditation practice

ChefJoona - Kudos for celebrating with your dad without overeating!
gardenerjoy - credit for planning your food in advance on a busy day!
RunningFree - Ouch for feeling guilty but kudos for moving on.
onebyone - great feeling to wake up and cook for yourself in the new place! Glad to hear your food is getting better despite your foot issues. I heard the thunderstorm this morning too! My cat got scared and came to snuggle with me in bed while the lightning flashed ...
BillBE - I completely relate to having too many books! After we moved into this house and the movers had lugged 20 boxes of books, one of them quipped, "Ever heard of a library card?"

Re modern music - very interesting question. I would suggest easing yourself into more difficult musical idioms - start with more accessible stuff like Mahler, Debussy, Strauss, Sibelius and gradually move towards the thornier stuff. Intermediate steps might be Copland, Hindemith, Zemlinsky ... Of the twelve-tone composers I find Berg the easiest to stomach. I'm a fan of Bartok, Prokofiev, Stravinsky as well. Alex Ross's "The Rest is Noise" is a fabulous, non-technical book on 20th-century music.


pamatga - kudos for staying in your calorie range and drinking all that H2O!! Wow, I wonder what that opera was with the plus-size alto in a body stocking. I think the majority of listeners prefer more harmonious music and I can totally respect that. I find it interesting that some composers these days are less drawn to atonal idioms and often try to write things that audiences will relate to more.

Beverlyjoy - Well done skipping the pie!! I am so glad you are enjoying your time with your grandson.

Time to get DD to school! Have a great Monday, all.
cheers
Erika

Read ARC: yes
Sat down to eat: yes
Gave myself credit: yes

Today is my doctor's appointment. The one where I'm going to convince him to take me off my blood pressure medication. Wish me luck!

WI: -0.75kgs, Exercise: +60* 130/1500 minutes for April, Food: 100%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

Tomorrow is weigh in day for me. I was down for part of this week and now I am up. I find weigh ins very frustrating because I was losing very well and then I just stopped. It doesn't seem to matter what I do the weight just bobbles up and down at the same 4 lbs.

Today is schedule time for weight loss. I have been doing a lot of these things so far. I guess it's just reinforcing habits I have already had.

onebyone, even thought you are having a hard time now, it's great that I can still find some optimistic notes in your posts.

BillBlueEyes, yay for good walking. It must be very relaxing. I usually have no patience to walk, I even find it strange to walk, when all people are rushing around.

pamatga, I can totally relate to you. I am coming back now from major binge period during weekend and all that hardship of adjustment period is well known to me.

Beverlyjoy, credit goes to the kitten for sending you a sign. LOL

ChefJoona, credit for being active. Great decision to bring your healthy food for lunch with the professor.

eusebius, yay for giving yourself a credit. And credit for losing 3 pounds.

gardenerjoy, hope you got lucky at convincing your doctor to take you off your blood pressure medication.

angelskiss, I understand your frustration. For few weeks I was very successful with Beck program, I lost 11 pounds, but then everything just got out of control and I am again at where I started, 175 pounds. Stopping is still better than gaining it all back.

I had two major binges: on April 1 and yesterday. The quantities I can consume during those binges scare me. In calories it was supposed to be enough for whole week and I ate it in a few hours. OK, I stopped after few hours, but it was already more than enough.
I hate binges, it interrupts my running, my gym and I really really love those activities, but after binging I become very bloated and have a terrible headache.

Today I am recovering. Actually I eat healthy most of the time, usually home prepared meals. It's just binges that ruin everything and food I binge on is mostly healthy, just not in healthy quantities: like oatmeal, black bread, cottage cheese, butter, but when quantities are 21oz of oatmeal, 18oz of black bread, 18oz of cottage cheese, 4oz of butter, that makes a difference.

I was laughing out loud from myself while writing this. I am so hopeless.