Hello Beck Friends:

I am back from holidays and feeling relaxed.

Hello to everyone here and welcome to all the new posters.

I am trying. I am making myself take credit for that instead of focusing on the fact that I have been eating without limits for most of the summer. The only upside is that at least the eating without limits involves food that is much more healthy than it used to be. Also credit today for:

:D Checking in with my coaches
:D Weighing in
:D Doing resistance band shoulder and arm exercises
:D Eating a healthy breakfast and lunch
:D Planning a healthy supper
:D Planning tomorrow's food and packing up lunch

I am off to deal with the beans and peas growing in my garden.

Have a great Sunday afternoon.

:grouphug:

anotherchick, I hope you get back easily. It will be worth it!

happygoal, I hope your weekend went well. I feel that weekends are harder, too. I'm out of my usual routine.

Maryann, Oh my, a special key lime pie. :o I doubt I could have gotten through that unscathed. :( I'm happy it was yummy, though. And wtg on getting back on plan! :carrot:

Pam, You're so lucky to have that restaurant selection! When I lived in Montgomery there was neither great southern food nor good food from anywhere else. We had to drive to Birmingham to get any good food at all. There wasn't a single Chinese or Indian place there when I lived there. Hopefully there're some now. When I lived in Alabama, I visited Atlanta a couple of times and it did seem like such a breath of fresh air. I went there with people from work and they always knew somewhere great to eat.

I wish you huge success on your new plan! And I look forward to hearing about it.

As for those glucose tablets, I know they are a good idea, to get sugar but nothing else when sugar is what my body needs. But when I'm low my body really thinks its starving and the last thing it's screaming for is 2 of those little tablets. There have been times during my 18 years of diabetes that I've used them, and maybe I can get back to them again sometime. But right now, ugh. lol

I just wanted to note, also, that I don't think "a healthy obese person" is necessarily an oxymoron. I think there are probably people who are obese and quite healthy and we all know stories of skinnies that drop dead of whatever (even so-called obesity-related diseases) at a young age. I think many of us would be healthier at lower weights, but I wouldn't want to say that applied to everyone. And maybe the reason we'd be healthier wouldn't be about the actual pounds lost, but about the lifestyle changes we made to get there. Or maybe it would, but I think the jury's still out on all of this. There are so many deeply ingrained misconceptions about nutrition and health in our society that I just can't accept the conventional wisdom any more. It was very painful for me to spend nearly 15 years trying to lower my fat and calories and eat more vegetables and still gain weight, and now that I've found out that that is not what *I* needed to do to lose, I've got a little bit of a bee in my bonnet regarding accepting those things that we were all raised to believe as truth.

Okay... a little bit about what's going on with me: Ugh. I'm feeling a bit of a malaise today. I slept 12 hours each of the last two nights and I still feel blah and not very energetic. I can't tell if the problem is too much or not enough sleep. Or maybe I've got some fairly mild virus going on. At any rate, I am off my game. On my plan, but just by the skin of my teeth. I'm also feeling like I want to eat. :( I don't think it's real hunger, but more a combo of boredom and just not feeling right and it feels like maybe a nice tuna on wheat bread with corn chips (which is btw, sitting six inches away from me since my ds only ate half of it, sigh) would make everything better. After I post, I'm going to read my ARC and then go back to that blog and read about the "how to deal with cravings" stuff. I don't know if this ranks as a craving since I am pretty sure that any carby food would make me happy now -- but only for just a minute and then I'd be pretty bummed. I've got quite a few good days under my belt now and I don't want to ruin my streak.

I didn't post yet about how I did yesterday, but it was all good and I even had a nice unscheduled and strenuous walk to and through balboa park. My older son and dh were playing tennis at the high school a few blocks from the park, so I put my little one in his stroller and pushed him up a HUGE hill to the park. I had no idea there was going to be such a serious hill, but it felt good. Then, after our walk, I let him jump into the fountain where there were several other toddlers having a blast. It was really nice!

Sunday
 

Hello fellow Becksters!

I lost my book in the frenzy of school planning this week--so I have a lot of reading to catch up on. As well, I have not been managing my cravings well. In short, with the computer snafu I went completely off the rails--I was eating chocolate chips by the handsfull straight out of the bag, yesterday. All I can say in my defence was that I was hungry!

Anyway, that's all over now.

Thanks for all your sympathy re: my computer woes. I was able to run a few diagnostics and found some adware. The program I ran (Super-Anti-Spyware) removed it. whew.

The folks at Majorgeeks will let me know if there's more I need to get rid of--but I'm no longer experiencing any major problems. (For now.)

I'm going to get back on track one thing at a time.

*credit--I may not have planned my food for today, but I am writing it down and it is all according to and well within the portions and exchanges I'm "allowed" each day.
*Credit--I lost 2.2 pounds from weigh-in last week. I still don't feel as though I deserve it.

I will catch up here as I can.

Hi Coaches!

I've had some pretty good Beck days considering the onset of family and the associated stresses. Friday mom was "short" with all of us and finally yesterday DH got ticked at all of us girls. Turns out he was too tired (as was mom) and they have both slept most of today. It's actually quite peaceful...sis and I are tiptoeing around. Food, so far, OP. I've chosen a new 2nd choice food plan which I'm following this week as we travel to New Mexico. I'm calling it the "Sane Food Plan". It requires thinking about my choices, making better choices as often as possible and sticking to as many of my South Beach principles as I can. The mindset seems to be working today. *credit* Exercise was practicing yoga at the pool. It was excellent so I'm going back for another session. Tomorrow is my first teaching class.

BillBlueEyes, yay for a low tension day on the home makeover! lol We took our project tension and turned it into family tension. I'd gladly switch with you! I'll bet those corn chips were a bit healthier than they used to be. Was the mango salsa from Whole Foods? They make the best! Yay for extras on salad greens instead of pasta.

CeeJay, great credits! :wave: to your beans and peas. It's a big deal to be eating healthier than you used to. It is an important step in the right direction. Glad to hear you had a nice holiday and that you're feeling relaxed.

Pam(atga), yay for a revelation which encourages a tweak in your plan pointing you in the direction of a healthy "normal weight" person. Thx for encouraging words regarding my ticker. It was just 1 pound at a time and it wasn't fast, either, which in retrospect, has been ok. I'm in an adjustment phase...I think my pants should be bigger than they are...working on my brain catching up.

Beverlyjoy, it's always great to see you here! Yay for a healthy day! You know you have the capability to stack them up!

SuperChick, yay for a great weigh in that gives you numbers to compare with earlier in the week. Yay for a weekend check in, too!

rubidoux, kudos for great exercise and no food on your outing (since was your plan).

maryann, yes, we might be skinnier if we had no social life, no travel plans and no extended family. Fact is, we do, and I think life would be quite boring without...we are learning to be sane amidst our life and to me, one piece of key lime pie sounds sane...half the pie does not. How did your exercise (cleaning house with DS) go?

Erika(eusebius), kudos for planning your own healthy BBQ party then planning to skip the one you have no control over.

happygoal, yes, I think the sitting down exercise was a real eye opener for many of us. I'm amazed just how many "free" bites I have saved since I've stopped. I do allow myself to nibble on veggies (like Dr Beck says) while I'm preparing dinner.

Becky(anotherchick), thanks for checking in! One of the great tools from BDS is to learn the mindset that I can get back on track right away. The sooner the better!

Alana(in Canada), glad you're back with your computer healing nicely. Suggestion?? Perhaps an advantage card which says "I deserve credit when I lose weight" :hug:

Lexxiss--The Sane Food pLan--love it!

Great suggestion about the advantage card. Oh man, I just looked at the calorie count of my favourite store bought cookie--they are 100 calories--EACH! I used to think nothing of consuming five or six (or more!) on the way home from grocery shopping. Oh me, oh my.

Unfortunately, they were on sale and I bought them--and ate four. Four tiny cookies. I'm going to have to put my OH well card on my nose when I go grocery shopping next week.

I am carefully watching out grocery receipts this month to see just how "expensive" this new eating plan will be. I have a sneaking suspicion it will either be cheaper or cost just the same--I can buy a lot of veggies for what a box of frozen chicken nuggets from the grocery store used to cost us!

Monday
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - A quiet day to get some stuff done on my home make over. CREDIT moi for continuing . . . as if there were a choice, LOL. Eating became a bit snacky when I realized that I couldn't move my Internet connection in the way I'd planned. Seemed to have forgotten that food doesn't move wires. Big Ouch until I figured out another way - then Big Sigh. Yay for home WiFi reaching from the basement to the attic.

Beverlyjoy – Kudos for continuing to always leave a bite on your plate; I needed to be reminded of that.

CeeJay - It's a good day when you can be "off to deal with the beans and peas growing in my garden" - matters of consequence.

Debbie (Lexxiss) - Ouch for family tension - which usually jumps in around here on the back of any existing tension. Kudos for OP for the second day on you "Sane Food Plan" - I like the name. [Yep, mango salsa was from Whole Foods. Yummy stuff - wish there were leftovers.]

pamatga - Yesterday's avatar tickles me because my notion of a mermaid doesn't include knees, LOL. Kudos for recognizing that "it is time for CHANGE."

Alana in Canada - Yep, chocolate chips don't remove viruses, LOL. But Yay for getting rid of it using the software. Congrats on the 2.2 pounds gone - your body doesn't care whether or not you deserve it.

rubidoux - Amazing that your DS would just leave half a sandwich uneaten - I presume that I could do that once upon a time. Kudos for the walk up that HUGE hill.

Readers -

Monday, Monday
 

Happy Monday Becksters! What started out as a really good day for me (a surf before work) has descended into one-eyed chaos! :dizzy: That is slightly over the top, but not long after I got into work I got a migraine, which has happened to me maybe 5 times in my entire adult life! It basically ended up with me not being able to see out of my right eye properly, and working on a computer didn’t help! Flashing in eye is now gone and have two functioning eyes (just) but a cracking headache instead. Oh, well (further evidence work is bad for you, :lol:)

So Monday is official weigh-in day, and following on from my daily weigh-ins over the weekend my weight is down 2.4lb since last Monday! This means I’ve lost a stone since I started Beck 7 weeks ago :woohoo: This daily weigh-in thing is definitely interesting, I’ll keep it up for now :D Credits – food planned, cooked extra last night for the next two days, surf this morning, checked in, weighed in.

Right, I will go for now as my head is screaming at me, but I will try to check personals later. Have a lovely day all :goodvibes

Morning Coaches/Buddies!

Well, I've completed a full week on my plan (I'm on day 9 now) and so far I'm down 5.6 pounds! This stuff really works. The fatigue is getting a bit less debilitating, though it's still there. I think if I just stay the course it will probably resolve itself ... we'll see. My friend Joe Coffee will be helping me out later.

Yesterday I walked on the treadmill for 15 min. I plan to do that every day this week to establish the exercise habit.

Beverlyjoy! So good to see you. Great reminder to treat ourselves like good friends.

maryann - Ouch for the pie ... but congrats on the 1.4 down!! Life is so complicated sometimes ...

pamatga - wow, didn't know those facts about t-storms. What a scare that must have been when lightning struck your computer!! Also interesting to learn about what people eat in the South. I am sure there are a lot of media clichés in my brain that need to be debunked. Great job staying within your calories!! :cheer2:

rubidoux - you did fantastically well this weekend, Brava!! One day I will also have to come to the San Diego Zoo and make you walk for 5 hours again, LOL.

SuperChick - Yay for 2.4lbs gone!! Keep up the great work! Sorry about the migraine ... major ouch. I love how you meet your challenges with humour and a positive attitude!

BillBE - nice job at dinner Saturday- those salad greens will keep you feeling good for days! LOL at "food doesn't move wires". WiFi is an amazing thing though.

CeeJay - welcome home! Good that you are taking credit for your positive actions, and there are lots of them!

Alana - Glad your computer got cleaned out. Kudos for getting back on track and for the 2.2 lbs gone!

Debbie (Lexxiss) - Love the idea of a "Sane Food Plan". Great job dealing with family stress.

Happy Monday, all!

Erika



Read ARC: yes
Sat down to eat: yes
Gave myself credit: yes
Walking: yes
Qi Gong: yes (short session)

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a good weekend! I had house guests all weekend, and plans included an all day music festival and a trip around an outlet mall. And all sorts of eating out. I was a bit frightened to get on that scale this morning for my first "official" weigh-in of my new start with Beck. But I was very pleasantly surprised with a pretty significant loss!:carrot: I know some of it is water weight from getting back on track - but hey, I'll take it! Credit me for making it through the weekend on plan with only one small diversion (a red snowcone at the music fest - it was too hot for me to resist!):dizzy: But most of all, Credit to all of you for being so encouraging during my first week!! As I have said, this is my first time on a forum (not much of a computer geek) and I am enjoying all of the exchanges and information! Thank you all so very much for sharing your successes -and how you handle your struggles!

Have to head to Chicago for work (I am going to have to tape the ARCs to my forehead to make it through another week of restaurants), so just a few quick notes........

maryann - You are so right! I bought all this snack food thinking the house guests would want it, but low and behold, it was all my favorites! But I limited myself to one chip with dip - and then sent the rest of it all home with them today! ;)

Lexxiis - I spent almost three weeks in Alaska in June. It was incredible!! I have never made it there for work (Valdez was just before my time). I am now mad for glaciers!!

pamatga - Dining out is so hard for me - but so much a part of my life, I have no choice. I try to avoid carbs at all costs. Lots of entree salads - but being choosy with the toppings and dressing always on the side. Try to order appetizers as entrees. Most importantly, I speak up more and try to steer us somewhere that I can order more sensibly. I used to just go with the crowd, and the crowd seems to always want Italian. And I try to eat a very healthy breakfast with protein and small veggie or fruit snack before we go out to eat. It is a struggle every time........

SuperChick - roasted chick peas sound yummy! I am going to have to try!

I am counting yesterday as a BIG success. I had been feeling blue, crampy and discontent that I would have to travel for two nites YET again after being home all week with a successful, controlled food plan. I had to go to the Bay Area for a BBQ and a trip to a Wild Animal breeding facility. I knew I was endanger of eating the whole house. But I didn't. I was OP. I stuck to the meals I planned even though dinner wasn't until 8pm. I said "no" to the dessert plate.I cut my salmon in half and took it home for this morning. I felt feelings of cranky, disappointment and sadness and didn't eat over them. I also managed between times to truly enjoy people's company and LOVED the safari ride with my family. Came back to the room exhausted but proud. I told myself if I kept OP yesterday and today I would treat myself to a little clothes shopping at Talbots in the nice mall here. I am dropping DS and DN at 1:00 at Lego's camp and will enjoy the shopping adventure. Down 2 lbs since Monday.
Lexxiss: cleaning the house with DS was great. I taught him how to clean his bathroom. Very successful. Now when I clean, he has his own occupation. Feels good. I know my work ethic has brought me a lot of peace over the years and I hope to instill the same in him.
rubidoux: I LOVE Balboa park. You do live in one of the greatest towns of all time.
Ceejay: welcome back from vacation. Glad you are here.
Alana: Writing down the food - what is and not what you want it to be is critical. I never EVER thought I would get into the habit of it but now it is second nature.
BBE: Sure FEELS like overeating moves mountain and reconnects wiring - quite an illusion.
Superchick: Congrats on weightloss. Had to look up what a stone was.
Eusibius: Congrats on the weightloss and for establishing a new exercise pattern. One of my first big habit changes was to put my exercise clothes on immediately after work to know that at some point I would have to start.
MissyJ:Congrats on the weightloss. I take every pound off no matter what as a sign of success. I even count the downward tick when I give blood

Monday am
 

So far, a good day. Breakfast has been OP, lol!

My son is playing a video game while I'm cooking his breakfast--and we start school soon, I hope. I am very anxious. We butt heads more than we meet them--and I know I'm the grown-up, but I have fallen into bad habits of relating, too. I wish parenthood came with an instruction booklet and a guarantee.


Maryanne--I'm inspired by your successful day yesterday!

Missyj--congrats on your loss in your first week! You have a significant challenge there--but how wonderful of you to do what you can instead of doing nothing. Kudos to you!

Eusebius--I hope the fatigue dissipates soon. If it is any comfort to you, the week my kids were away I think I slept 11 hours every night. It was crazy. If I hadn't been able to, I would probably have been very tired. If it continues, may I gently suggest cutting back on wheat? (and white carbs generally) I've heard of it helping with fatique on low calorie diets. You may be doing that already.

Superchick--:hug: Oh my, I hope that migraine dissappears soon! Congrats on the stone lost! :carrot:

Bill--What do you mean food doesn't move wires? I hope the tension around your place is gone soon!

I didn’t really need the brownie last night. Oh well. They’re gone now. I had a good weekend otherwise. I got to the Farmer’s Market, which was the big outing for the weekend. I got some great fresh blueberries to make blueberry muffins. Not the healthiest use of blueberries, but a fun treat (not that I really need a treat). I also had some on my AM cereal. It was still warm yesterday evening, but I ran anyways. I’m a wimp about heat, so it was a major victory. Found out it wasn’t so bad, though I kept the pace slow and the distance short.

Beverlyjoy, great to see you again!

CeeJay, hope your holiday left you refreshed. It’s great that healthier food has become second nature.

Eusebius, SuperChick, MissyJ, congrats on the losses!

BillBE, thanks for the daily reminders to eat slowly while sitting down. It’s not happening much here, but it’s good to remember that’s an ideal to work towards.

Made it back. Really tough trip. *long angst-filled post warning*
 

Hi Coaches.

First the good news: the debut of our drawing collective and its works went really well. Many art mucky-mucks were in attendance. I missed most of them, but was told they were there by the other two members of our drawing collective who were paying more attention to that stuff than I was. I was chatting with my friends that I haven't seen since well before my move here. In fact I often left the gallery space with my friends to chat outside. So we had a successful show in a gallery that just plain sucked the last time I had a show in there. So glad that it went well because... everything else was terrible.

I stayed at my mom's my first 2 nights. Oh Coaches. I can't do that ever again. She can't cope with me being there for many reasons, but basically, her alzheimer's has progressed just-that-much-more. She was filled with angst and loss and even though I was in her presence it was as if I wasn't there for her as all she was focused on was my leaving--that and she still has me moving away. My move was so hard for me that to continue to re-live it through conversation with my mom who whenever she asks me when I am moving or if I have moved or where I am living or anything even remotely touching on the move well it was really draining. I left there to stay with friends then they left and I got the run of their house for the duration of my stay. I ended up putting a scratching up my car's bumper in the awaful parking lot at their place. The same day I locked my keys int eh car and had to call CAA to come open my door as my artists friends waited for me to show with the keys to open the gallery. I was 1.5hrs late. The day before I showed at the gallery and burst into tears because of my mom and the next day did the exact same thing because of the car.
After that I put off everything and everyone and just holed up at my friend's place. I didn't get in touch with anyone. I just wanted to be quiet and chill out. I kind of sort of did that but counted the days until I could come home. In my distress I ended up not keeping track of what I was spending until DH sent me a STOP SPENDING MONEY email which made me feel even worse.

All I can say is I'm really grateful that the gallery exhibition went so well.

Foodwise I was a mess due to finances, due to stress, due to weird time schedules. I will weigh in tomorrow. And I really did wish I was thinner and never lost my uncomfortableness the whole show. I think I have got to make that happen.

Oh yeah the worst was flaky internet so I am really glad to be able to write this down, leave it here with you guys and MOVE ON ALREADY.

:hug: to all.

PS oh yeah the worst of it was that my mom did not recognize me instantly for the very first time. Her friend prompted her. It took her a little bit to place me. That, my friends, is something I have yet to really feel. It's pretty frozen in me right now. I think it's time I seek an alzheimer's support group for myself. We are heading toward the real tough stuff now. I would be wise to remember that FOOD will not fix this, not even a little bit.

And I never got swimming. Not even once. reason? No bathing suit and at one time I had two. Time to de-clutter again. I am thinking this weekend = garage sale.

Hi everyone. I hope I'm welcome to join your little group. I'm embarking on the Beck way of getting healthy, and would love to take part in the support your community seems to offer.

A little about me... I'm 34 years old and the mother of four kids, a 9-year-old boy, a 7-year-old girl, a 5-year-old boy, and a 3.5 month old boy. My education and work background is in public relations, but now I'm a stay at home mom. While I've never been obese, I have struggled with my weight for most of my adult life, especially with the gains that come with pregnancy. A few years ago I got involved in triathlon, and that helped me get pretty fit (for me, at least). A year ago I was training for a half Ironman triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run), when two weeks before the race I got a big surprise when I found out I was pregnant. I got lazy, ate way too much, and gained more than 50 pounds during the pregnancy. My sweet little guy is now 3.5 months old and I'm ready to get serious about losing weight and getting healthy. I'd like to lose at least 20 pounds, but 30 would be awesome.

I learned about the Beck Diet Solution from some friends who are also using it. The book has really resonated with me, because I know that I have an unhealthy relationship with food, that I have a very hard time resisting cravings, that I'm an emotional eater, etc. I could probably white-knuckle my way through any old diet and lose some weight, but it wouldn't last, and I wouldn't learn the skills I need to be truly healthy.

So I'm excited about embarking on this new lifestyle. Right now I'm getting organized, making my cards, etc. and then I'll jump into Phase I. I really want to give it my all, work through all the steps and experiments, and hopefully make some lasting changes. I look forward to getting to know you all!

Hi everyone

Hello and welcome TriMommy!!

I am doing OK today. Ate a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was my first day back at work. I always have a hard time sleeping the night before returning to work and last night was no exception so I was mellow and tired today.

I wanted to ask you about sleep. I keep reading about how you can help weightloss by getting plenty of sleep and I know it is true. My worst hours for eating off plan are after 9:00 pm. When I am tired, I have big cravings for sugar. But for the life of me I cannot seem to make myself go to bed. By the time I get home from work, do something about supper, clean up, make my lunch and so on I just want some time. It is hard for me to get to sleep before 11:30 and I get up at 6:30 and that means I am down about 2 hours of sleep per night. When I am on vacation, I sleep 9 hours and this is when I feel my very best.

Wondering if any of you have any tips on dealing with sleep. It really bothers me that I cannot seem to get a handle on the basics of self care- eating and sleeping. :rollpin:

Wishing you all a wonderful evening!

:grouphug: