[GardeningDeb]

Hello Everyone,
Well I had a pretty good day. Had a slip in the car. I always find something in the store that I can open in the car while I am riding home. Going to add that to my list for no no's for tomorrow. I did eat sitting down but it wasn't something healthy.

So for today: I ate sitting down
Added color to my plate
Stayed within my calorie range
Entered my foods
Did a workout before I got onto the computer, 35 mins. of
Power90 Cardio and 27 mins. of walking with my pup
Already at 15,384 steps and the night is still young

GardeningDeb

[Woodland]

Thanks gardenerjoy, I'll chirp in once in awhile, but know I'm always reading even if I'm silent.

A good day here, starting with the scale giving me a number to smile about. I believe in watching trends with the scale, but I will admit that the first time I see a lower number it feels great.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Had a good walk as rain threatened, CREDIT moi. It kept the tension up walking rapidly to beat the rain. Exercise was beating up on myself for failing to put a raincoat or umbrella in my backpack, LOL.

onebyone - May you sell everything at your garage sale. The most depressing scene anywhere is the scrabble of leftovers that didn't sell at a yard sale. I always have the thought, What kind of people would own junk like this?

Lexxiss - Kudos for planning to resist samples. Without a prior commitment, I'm a vacuum cleaner at Whole Foods and Costco.

maryann - That pancake sounds yummy. LOL at the thought of looking for a level spot of ground to use your scale in the woods.

Woodland - Congrats on that smilable number from your scale. Yep, I also cheer the first time I see a new number.

skygirl - Congrats for weathering your rough period - it's hard to remember that eating doesn't fix family emergencies. Good luck getting your "head back in the game."

Susan (wife2abadge) - Congrats on breaking into the 150's and Kudos for that fine selection at the Italian restaurant. There's a lot of white carbs to avoid at Italian restaurants - and they all smell heavenly.

GardeningDeb - Yep, eating in the car doesn't quite sitting down despite the posture. Kudos for those 15,384 steps and for continuing to use your odometer.

Readers -

chapter 4
Stage 1
The Success Skills Plan
Here are the guidelines for acquiring these skills:
. . .

• Try to choose healthy foods and eat reasonable portions, but remember you won't put much emphasis on your food choices until Stage 2. Instead, you will focus primarily on building skills now. If you would like to get a jump start, you can do the following:
  • Limit junk food to once a day.
  • Eliminate caloric beverages.
  • Eat vegetables and/or salad at the beginning of each lunch and dinner.
  • Include protein-rich foods at every meal.
  • Eat fruit or protein at the beginning of (or for) each snack.

. . .

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D, The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), pg 51.

[Lexxiss]

Hi Coaches!

Friday was an absolutely fantastic Beck day! Food OP, stresses from Thursday forgotten. A reminder that emotional eating is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Once I've ingested those calories there is no turning back the clock. I took time to reflect and notice the positive change.

I took mom to a meeting in Denver and brought my bike along.
~3 legitimate and healthy samples between Whole Foods and Costco all resulting in purchases.
~watched sushi being made at WF and purchased necessary ingredients since I have all the tools.
~resisted even one bite of the multitudes of healthy snacks I purchased for DH as I split them for both our homes
~parked my car out of the central district and rode into town for a Starbucks

Spontaneous exercise was running to the car at WF for my wallet, Spontaneous spending at Costco was a portable solar panel/battery bank. Ouch for $$ but yay for taking my laptop "off the grid".

I've had a difficult time with Saturday breakfast w/mom and the extra calories put into my "budget". It finally occurred to me that I can eat light on Friday night to counterbalance breakfast. Simple and solved .

*credit* for all

BillBlueEyes, kudos for making a walk NO CHOICE even after leaving home without the proper gear!

Susan(wife2abadge), yay for weight under 160! Funny how those breakthroughs are so important...but they are. Great success at the local Italian restaurant.

maryann, I love your air of confidence! You have the skills and know you'll make good choices. Someday I'll try the ricotta pancake.

onebyone, I think it is quite empowering that you are bringing some of your own food to stay OP at MIL's. I will explain the Dark/Light in the next day or two so you can ponder a bit more. (distraction technique, eh?)

skygirl, welcome back! I hope life is getting a little less stressful for you.

GardeningDeb, great credits, especially as you have put something else on your no no list.

Woodland, yay for seeing that lower number on your scale and *credit* for persistence.

[AnneWonders]

Coaches/Buddies I continue to struggle. My doc is now talking about knee surgery. Even walking and biking painful. The last time I tweaked it, I was in the pool. I'm at a loss for exercise ideas. I'm just at a loss.

I've been working on sabotaging thoughts along the lines of "This is pointless" and "I won't be able to keep managing my weight now." Making some progress. I can find new strategies to keep off the 100 lbs. I WILL. I have been doing this for 9 years, and I will find a way. Not every day will be good, but going back is NOT a choice I will be making.

In the meantime I bought myself a mandolin because there is only so much Sudoku I can play. Keeps my fingers busy and my mind occupied.

Anne

[silverbirch]

Originally Posted by AnneWonders

In the meantime I bought myself a mandolin because there is only so much Sudoku I can play. Keeps my fingers busy and my mind occupied.

Anne

Anne - many commiserations. But what a brilliant idea about the mandolin. Keep it out of its case so you can just pick it up. We have a ukulele at our house which is stopping the DB from biting his fingernails because of horrible things at school. It's been around for ages but it's turning into a pretty successful strategy for him.

[onebyone]

Hi Coaches

I'm back home. Thank goodness. I ended our foray into Yard Sal(e)ing with an OP dinner after two meals not OP (dinner last night and mid morning sandwiches on mini croissants-yikes!) but not disastrous--just not on my plan. I was *determined* to see myself eat OP at MIL's house ONCE AT LEAST before we left. creditcreditcredit.

Feels like a major victory to me.

I did digress into a few old old old bad behaviours that have to do with sneaking/stealing food. I only do that when I really feel stressed or backed into a corner emotionally. And I even have a credit to do with that; I went in to retrieve pickles for us and saw a container of olives and really wanted one and took it out of the fridge and stood over it, trying to pry it open. But since I've eaten all my fingernails lately (I don't usually do that either except when stressed) I was fighting to open it which gave me enough time to ask myself "Why are you stealing an olive? Don't do that. You'll just feel really bad for doing that all night long." So I put the container back and went out with the pickles.

Her house is an emotional minefield for me. But I feel I did great given everything.

I did bring some food with me but DH was in too much of a hurry when he came home and really, MIL had really worked hard to make our dinner and I couldn't see, once we got there, how I could have subbed our food for hers. It would have really been quite rude. Next time, we are bringing the food. She doesn't know it yet. Sharing control may be the best I can hope for in this ever evolving situation.

No weigh in so no idea what I weigh today.

silverbirch Hello to you! My good friend has a ukelele that he says I should try. I did see a bright sparkly purple ukelele for $29 that spoke to me. Have you or your DB seen any of these??1.http://www.wimp.com/sevenukulele/

2.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KZjnFZvCNc

3.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGdJp...eature=related

4.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0cIhqhWStM

AnneWonders I have ALWAYS wanted to play the mandolin. Do you play any other instruments? Learning to play something is high on my to-do list as it's been proven to stave off deterioration in the brain's cognitive functioning. It's exercise for your neurons.

I am so sorry to hear of your on-going knee issues. On the plus side you didn't mention migraines so hopefully it's better on that front.

And yes, you will keep that weight off. You're creative and positive and persistent. You'll find a way. Thanks for checking in. I think of you often out there in the desert.

Lexxiss Excellent solution to a problem re: breakfasts with mom. Usually the best answers are the simple ones. In OA they often say "this is a simple program, but not easy". How right they are! Kudos btw for looking after your mom with such care. I know what that entails. I'm sending you an extra for that.

BillBlueEyes Yard Sale Report: Our car is sitting out front full to the gills with leftover yardsale stuff. But not the norm: several "classic" gaming system parts (Atari, Genesis, Commodore 64) cartridges, cables, controllers, books, programming guides (yes really). Boxes and boxes of collectible paperbacks: SciFi and popular culture and series titles: Hardy Boys, Seaquest, Star Trek, Bridget and Bernie, That Girl, Happy Days, Original James Bond titles, and more... Our people didn't show. We made a little over $100 so that's all good. DH had hopes for twice that. MIL made $115 which is incredible given her things were all $1 and less. She did sell her ceiling fan for $10. That was her big ticket item. My verdict on the whole day? 1st nice Saturday in 5 Saturdays = people were out enjoying their Saturday = not haunting garage sales. People can't focus when it's a nice day after a string of not nice ones. We're housing te leftovers here until our own yard sale at the end of the summer. One more try with this stuff and if it doesn't go it's off to the Sally Ann. I think it's worth one more go round.

Enjoy your day coaches.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Clam was one of the sashimi for dinner - a first for me. CREDIT moi for one healthy meal. Spent part of the day at a plumbing fixture show room, one of the lower levels of the inferno for my taste.

onebyone - Honking Kudos for on plan at your MIL's. Now that you've done it once, it's possilble again. [Good to have stuff gone at the yard sale. Wish I'd been there to buy your MIL's ceiling fan.]

Anne (AnneWonders) - Yep, you've managed this for nine years and you "will find a way." Sending supportive thoughts for your knee, one vulnerable spot for an athlete. Hope you and your doctor can get you back on your mountain bike.

Silverbirch - Our (handmade) dulcimer is hanging on the wall as a work of art and doesn't get played. I hadn't thought of dulcimer therapy.

Lexxiss - Neat that you have the tools to make sushi, assuming, of course, also the headband with large kangi characters. I like that solar powered battery bank thingy.

Readers -

chapter 4
Stage 1
The Success Skills Plan
Here are the guidelines for acquiring these skills:
. . .

• Avoid the temptation to load up on your favorite foods now. You might have the sabotaging thought, I might as well eat as much as I want because I'll never get to do it again. But luckily, that's not true The Think Thin Eating Plan allows you to eat your favorite foods - whatever you want - in reasonable portions, as often as once a day, every day, for the rest of your life. You will learn to plan in advance when you are going to have one, as well as how to limit yourself to a single serving. Think about it: Is it really worth gaining extra weight now? You will just have more to lose when you get to Stage 2.

. . .

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D, The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), pg 51.

[Lexxiss]

Hi Coaches!

Just to let you know I may not be around for a day or two. Life is getting complicated and I'm pretty sure I'll be immersed in details. I should be traveling tomorrow morning but I don’t think the old pup has another trip in him. Fortunately I have a food plan which will carry me through a hard couple of days. One noticeable improvement, which I credit to BDS AND myself, is that my off plan eating seems to be a tad more manageable. The old sabotaging thought that donuts and fried chicken will make me feel better seem to have passed leading me to believe that with practice the chocolate covered almonds will surely pass, too. Thanks, all for your continued support. This program (BDS) really does work when I work it.

BillBlueEyes, yay for trying a new and healthy way to eat clams. Much improved from the good 'ol clam strips we have all known and loved. BTW-DH was far less critical of my sushi than I was last night. All in all, it was a success. Perhaps I can find a kangi character headband at Costco when I return the solar thingy which is seeming to work better in theory than in reality.lol

Anne(AnneWonders), I'm totally confident you "will find a way."

Silverbirch,

onebyone, back home, "Thank goodness." A major victory to take your determination for at least one OP meal at MIL's and turn it into reality. I agree, that subbing your food for hers would likely offend her but "sharing control" would have great possibilities for success. Perhaps writing down a possible strategy for your next visit now could be helpful while the details of this experience are still fresh in your mind.. ...kinda like I do at potluck...I always participate (share control) and bring something to the meal that I can eat for sure.

[onebyone]

Hi Coaches

Here I am, happy after stepping on the scale. Imagine! creditAnd here I am happy to see 284.2. Imagine that?! I am up 0.2lbs after our stopover at the MIL's. Oh coaches, it could have been way way worse! So great.
credit yesterday for hauling stuff up out of the basement for 2 hours.

This morning's task is to clear areas in this small apt for the stuff that's filling the car right now. I think I know where most of it can go.

After that's all done we're going exploring, heading north to Lake Simcoe. My goal is to have a picnic by the water. I soooooo need to sit by some water. Secretly though coaches, I am checking out this area as a potential place to move to in a few years. I would like to live on the water and where we are going is about an hour away from DH's current job. But, mostly, I just want a few hours by the water.

Food is planned for the day, including what will come with us to the water.

Lexxiss It is a good idea to write out a strategy for the MIL when I know I can manage my visit there. Thanks for the reminder!

BillBlueEyes May your days spent in shopping purgatory be mercifully short. Kudos for not using food as a reward for surviving the quest for new fixtures.

Bye for now Coaches.

[CeeJay]

Hello everyone:

BillBlueEyes- totally relate to the tension of renovations. I am thinking we are never going to be done. Seems it takes over your entire life. Love the Mark Twain quote about going home.

wife2abadge- your technique of facing the food and asking what you want more- the food or to lose weight- is wonderful. I am going to try this every time I am tempted to go off plan this week and see how I do. Good job facing down the pizza, pasta and subs.

maryann- have fun camping- but you will be camping so you can't have anything other than a good time.

skygirl- hello to you and welcome back.

GardeningDeb- nice list of credits and lots of exercise.

Woodland- yay for a lower number on the scale.

AnneWonders- sorry for all the trouble you are having. So frustrating. Love that you are playing the mandolin- what a positive, uplifting solution.

silverbirch- waving hello!

Lexxiss- sending you warm thoughts for the next few days. Thanks you for your thoughts about posting. My irregular posting is all about posting when feeling motivated and eating OK and not posting when I am not. It is hard to check in here when I am not doing what I need to.

onebyone- huge credit for climbing back into the ring!! I am very inspired. Fantastic that you are spending the day by the water. I hope you have a wonderful time.

For me, today I will:

- weigh in done
- plan the week's food done
- eat no sugar
- check in with my coaches done
- eat healthy on plan food
- exercise will be lots of yard work

[gardenerjoy]

We were without internet yesterday, which was oddly calm and relaxing but also disruptive in strange ways. Back today for a quick check in. Love AnneWonders' mandolin and it's great to see CeeJay and all the rest of you!

[AnneWonders]

Coaches/Buddies I (re)discovered an app for my iPhone, Lose It! to help log my food intake and it is fantastic so far. Can an app motivate me? Probably not, but it is a great tool for me right now. Two great days. Busy too, practicing until I have blisters on my fingers (come on callouses), playing with the kids, and getting the usual household chores done. Laundry stops for no one's personal crisis.

My knee is feeling sort of ok, and I'm going to try a walk or a bike path ride tomorrow morning.

silverbirch Smiling at the ukulele. My mando must remain in its case because of the children, but I've been messing around an hour or so a day. I got to an hour and half today before my finger gave out. It is really exercising a part of my brain I haven't ever used.

onebyone It is always so good to see you here. You inspire me. I have never played any sort of an instrument before, having been scared off after an attempt at the violin as a child. Can you say cat in a fan belt? And yes, the migraines are much better. I seem to have plateaued on my verapamil, but it is still so much better than it was. I'm positively functional these days. And congrats on your weigh in!!

BBE Condolences on the plumbing fixtures. Here's hoping you get something more interesting tomorrow.

Lexxiss/Debbie Wishing you luck with the details. Yes, BDS does work when you work it.

CeeJay Thanks for the kind words.

gardnerjoy Glad your internet is restored!

Thanks so much for all the support! I know I've been flaky this past year as I try to get my act together. I continue.

Anne

[pamatga]

I read all of your posts for the past several days. Everyone sounds so busy.

Happy Belated Father's Day, BBE!

onebyone -garage sales are more fun to go to than "put on". I have often caved and just send it to a thrift store rather than mark it, advertise and then wait for the "rejection". I'll never forget a woman asking me to reduce a toaster that was marked $1 down to a dime because it still had a few crumbs in it! Original price was close to $60 and, yes, I did clean it and polish it before putting it out. OY!

I "killed" our tomato plants in trying to stave off 4 inch worms. I rinsed out a spray bottle that had (former) non-toxic contents and did the concoction the master gardener suggested only to return and see my tomato plants looking like a swarm of locusts came through overnight. I was horrified! I want to return and replant before Daniel returns from vacation. I don't want him to see these lest I end up being mentioned in the "gardening tips" e-mails he sends out; albeit "no names being mentioned."

P.S. banana peels arranged around the base of tomato plants stave off aphids. I guess, they don't like the color yellow. So, I spent the other day, eating bananas and cutting up peels in upper 90s. Got some color out of the "deal".

Otherwise everything else looks amazingly wonderful! In spite of my hovering and overprotecting of my "wee ones", they are thriving.

Last week there was a spot on the national news about the fact that most of our sunscreens/blocks do not protect us from UVA rays. I guess, European manufacturers have been including UVA and UVB ray protection in their lotions for the past 5 years. As the "resident doctor" was discussing and showing slides of different kinds of skin cancer, my DH said quite "matter of fact" that he had one of "those things". I said, "Whaaaaaat???" in slo-mo.

My DH returned with a copy of the examination(one of many) he received at the Men's Health Expo he had gone to on the 11th.(sidenote: he is a freckle faced Irish descent red head) Sure enough, it said that the 'presumptive diagnosis" by the dermatologist was "basal cell carcinoma". So, I said "Well, we have got to get this checked out". We went to a nearby health center, actually across from our community garden, and he filled out the obligatory paperwork as a new patient. When we got back up to the receptionist desk, she said his appointment was August 22nd. I hate to admit this but I said (firm and a little loud) " My husband has bcc, I don't think he should wait until August, don't you agree?" So, he will see someone in the next week.

Since his brother had cardiac arthymia after giving one of his kidneys to his best friend last week and his Dad is recovering from a second heart attack after being up on his roof removing snow (at age 84); I told my DH that we should wait until we tell our respective families how this will all turn out rather than unnecessarily alarming them. I read this is a slow growing form of cancer and it is not a melanoma, which is the deadliest, so I think it was discovered in a good time frame. Soon enough but not too late.

Credit moi: continuing with TYOK knee therapy. It's been two weeks. I can stand on one foot for 30 seconds. Once I have mastered that then it is the same time only eyes closed.

FYI: I saw on a program "Second Opinion" ( a favorite) that the two main reasons why people fall is 1) clutter and 2) cats. Another good reason to keep things out from under our feet. And, I dearly love cats but they love to hang around our ankles. An equally important last reason is 3) poor propiception. So, if you don't want to say "I've fallen and I can't get up" practice standing on one foot, first with eyes opened and then closed.

Credit for making the most of some bad days by keeping busy, busy, busy and by putting it all in God's hands. Don't sweat the small stuff and yes it is all small stuff.

BBE on the "home town's" fine win. That glow should last for months and months. I remember when the MN Twins won the World Series (twice) in the late 80s. The parade was awesome. Hope you can make yours.

superchick.

[SuperChick]

Morning Coaches, so today is my first day of healthy eating (don't want to call it a diet, definite connatations there) and i'm still working my way through days 7-14 of the book. So far today, credit for:

1. Biting the bullet and making a stand to start healthy eating and start working on my food issues and changing my life
2. Doing the first track of my self hypnosis CD (yesterday evening but still gave credit!)
3. Getting up early to do an hours gym time before work
4. Eating my breakfast sitting down and mindfully
5. Planning my meals for the day

Little steps but i'm really proud of myself for making the commitment to my health and wellbeing - let's hope i can stick to it this time and work through my issues so they don't come back! Fingers crossed i can stay on plan for the rest of the day