[Tazzy]

Hi Coaches and Buddies!

Another pretty successful day OP. Weighed, tracked, read ARC, caught up on last 3 days of reading Beck and exercised. I was doing well until we finished dinner and then DH decided to have some of that rhubarb strawberry pie. He asked if I wanted some and I said I would wait to decide after the kitchen was cleaned. Then I served myself a very small piece. After I ate it I wasn’t sure why I had, I didn’t feel guilty about eating it as I worked it into my calories but I didn’t feel satisfied either. So I guess the lesson learned for me is if I cannot decide if I really want something or not, I can probably safely go with not and skip it. After the pie I then really felt like I needed to exercise and that was for more of a comfort level so out came the bicycle and off I went for 30 minutes. I have to take advantage of this great weather we have right now, supposed to be in the high 20’s all week long. Very unusual for the foothills of the Canadian Rockies!

Very short note tonight, I’m going to get my meals organized and made for tomorrow. Credit to everyone for all of your wonderful work on your Beck skills.

[gardenerjoy]

Nice to see a big drop in weight on the morning after I make a change to my eating. It probably has a lot to do with washing out the salt from the previous day's family bbq, but I'll take it.

WI: -0.85kgs, Exercise: +20 190/1300 minutes for September, Food: 80%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

Glad to have you back, missyj!

[Lovely]

Hi everyone!

I filled in the chart for Day 11 (Monitoring Hunger). I'm never really great at assigning numbers to levels of things, as I tend to over-complicate the system. (Like giving stars to movies.)

However! The best part of filling in the chart was the 20 minutes after each meal. I set an alarm for 20 minutes after my meals, and by the time the alarm went off I'd totally been engrossed in a different activity and had completely forgotten about any remaining hunger that might've been around immediately after the meal.

Good to know that waiting 20 minutes can definitely make a difference in how full my stomach feels.

So, I read through Chapter 12 for tomorrow. The first time I read through it, I admit that there was this innate uneasiness about purposefully skipping a meal. A nervousness... or a fear. Not terrified mind you, but more of a mental panic.

"Wait. Skip...skip a meal? Like not eat? Not eat when I'm hungry? But, if I'm hungry I should eat...right? What do you mean it's not an emergency?!!!!"

I let it sit. I re-read it. And I'm amazed at how much sense it makes. Of course, I don't need to eat if I'm feeling a little hungry. As a function of living, we do need food to fuel us, but back when humans were hunters and gatherers there were likely to be times when food wasn't available and they might've gone several days without a meal. They still lived. Clearly, as I'm here living and breathing.

I don't, however, need to give into that instinctual "feast or famine" mentality. There is plenty of food around. I don't need to rush into a meal the moment I'm feeling hungry. I have the luxury of waiting. I need to wrap my head around that.

I think this is another one of those days that's eye-opening for me. I knew it on an intellectual level that there is an abundance of food available to me. I also knew that going a few hours (or a day) without food wouldn't kill me. But, it still never occurred to me to put two and two together.

I am already embracing the idea that hunger is not an emergency. One more step in letting go of food as the be all end all.

Anywho, so I've decided I'm going to skip lunch tomorrow on purpose and monitor my discomfort. I still feel a little nervous, but in an excited way to see the results.

Today I:
*Read my A&RC twice: Yep!
*Ate at the dining room: Yes!
*Stickers/Credits: Many & often!
*Exercise: Yus!
*Rated my hunger on my chart: Yes'm

Take it easy, everyone!

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Deliberately stood down several strong desires to grab something to eat, CREDIT moi. They always arrive when I'm full of some sort of negative feelings, like stuck on a problem or annoyed that things aren't going my way. The correlation with desire to eat off schedule and strong feelings is high.

onebyone - "IF I KEEP ON KEEPING ON" - succinct summary for us all.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Yay for BBQ's to give a sudden weight loss.

Beverlyjoy – Yay for a planned, guilt free, s'more. Those little guys make me feel like a kid every time.

Debbie (Lexxiss) - Water aerobics always looks fun, wish I'd sign up and do a class someday.

maryann - Ouch for lost posts. Have a good step class.

Pam (pamatga) – Gotta love, "hand to the plow and not looking back..." - even though I've never been behind a plow, LOL. BIG Kudos for continuing your workout with building inspectors about.

missyj - Neat that you're reviewing the first 14 days. You'll note that you're right on the same schedule as several folks who've just joined. It'll be neat to have a whole bunch of Coaches/Buddies on the same track. Kudos for setting a realistic 30 day plan, with "hand to the plow and not looking back."

Tazzy - Neat insight that doubt is a good signal that it's OK to skip eating something. 30 minutes of biking is good fall weather is as good as it gets.

Lovely - It excites me anew each time someone confronts "hunger is not an emergency" with fresh eyes. I had to do the experiment before I had the realization that you've had just by reading. Can't wait for your report when you skip your meal.

Val (va1erie) - Kudos for your restaurant performance with family. I like the notion of small taste of appetizers worked into plan to avoid the feeling of being left out. [Yep, now Readers is from the green book - the second time through. When that's done, I'll do the pink book again (been through it twice already). Typing the book sentence by sentence forces me to reread it slowly.]

Readers -

chapter 4
Stage 1 The Success Skills Plan

Success Skill 4 Give Yourself Credit
what to do . . .

Even though we haven't yet discussed how you will change your eating, you can already start giving yourself credit for positive choices, such as when you:

• Serve yourself reasonable portions.
• Refrain from taking second helpings.
• Ignore the baked goods at a meeting.
• Limit your consumption of unhealthy foods.

Keep contacting your Diet Buddy daily to report on every Success Skill you are working on so far.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), pg 68.

[eusebius]

Good morning Coaches/Buddies - I have been slipping and sliding. I need to get serious and post here every day. The plan I'm on is very strict and I think probably too strict to adhere to religiously, for me. I am going to try logging my calories on The Daily Plate to see exactly what leeway I have or don't have.

Did get out for a 45 min walk with my husband yesterday - credit. But eating was sloppy.

My daughter started grade 3 yesterday. How the time flies ...

Will get to personals tomorrow but I wanted to extend a warm welcome to our new folks, Lovely, Val, Michi and anyone else I missed. It's always good to see new people working the program with enthusiasm!

Have a great Wednesday, all,
Erika

[pamatga]

I've had quite a few very long posts lately so I will keep this one short and sweet (non-caloric, of course)

BBE: The analogy of "hand to the plow" is in reference to the fact that when you are preparing the ground to sow seed, you can not furrow a straight line in front of you if you are constantly looking back. It is a concept that I have embraced in the past year or so. I feel it is resonates with some of the lifestyle changes I am working on in my life. It is a private mantra that allows me to not obsess about what I "could have/should have/would have done" and instead of "learn then let it go" so I can give the task in front of me my full attention.

eusebius Great to see you back after a brief absence. Perhaps, the above explanation may help you as you slip and slide your way back to "equilibrium". I miss having first days of school and sending off wee ones on the school bus with books clutched to their chests and this wonderful look of wonder and anticipation of what they are about to experience.

In the past half of a week, I haven't been walking on the treadmill every day. My joints also respond to weather fronts (yes, it is true, I can foretell of impending weather from the oracle known as my knees) and I have had to "back off" some on that so it has been hit and miss. I hope to resume that today since it seems like we are in much cooler and drier weather (right now it is 53 degrees--normally December weather!)

Stats for 9/6 (Day 29) BLC Buddy Challenge:
**1867 calories 38 g fiber 2804 mg sodium (better than this past weekend)
**began new level of circuit workout I posted yesterday for anyone who wonders what exactly it is I am doing to both address some underdeveloped muscles and getting fit and strong.
**no discernable walking per se due to inclement weather. Pacing indoors doesn't count
**F/V: banana, v-8, green peppers, onions, mushrooms. I keep forgetting to join the banana with pb and pecans like Bill does. [Now, they are gone and I will have to watch for the next bunch we buy. If it ends up being out-of-sight delicious, I am blaming you Bill for planting the idea in my head!]
**h2O--Well, it happened! My summer "fun" way of cooling off by chewing lots of ice has backfired! I cracked my tooth enamel on an upper molar! That is going to end up costing me $2000+ for either a crown or a bridge. It is still intact but I can wiggle it. It will break off one of these days, then I will have to make a dentist appointment. Crap!

DH is super busy and, hopefully, will continue so throughout the rest of this month. Two weeks ago another piano technician fell off a ladder and injured his back so by "default" Paul has gotten all of that technician's workload. I feel bad for Bill but he has better insurance than we do and he can "afford" to just come in for a few hours a day where, with Paul being self-employed, if he doesn't work, he stays home and watches Ghost stories on the Bio channel.

Paul is juggling Steinway, his own personal referrals from his website and now from his former employer's as well. He also has had back to back meetings or evening commitments as well so I see him for a brief time before he goes to bed and does it all over again. However, he is happy when he is busy and I have my own projects to chip away at so things are good here. Hope they are wherever "you all" are as well.

Pam

[va1erie]

Report: read my cards, weighed (no change), ate slowly and mindfully and left a bite, made really good food choices, attend my WW meeting (left too late to walk so I had to drive), got no exercise (3701 on my ped), contacted my diet buddy.

Dinner last night in honor of the change in weather was a gigantic pot of chicken chili. Basically my old recipe BUT triple the veggies, halve the meat and beans, sub chicken breast for ground beef. And my dh didn't notice the difference except for the substitution of diced chicken for ground beef.

onebyone - credit for being flexible in giving yourself rewards.

beverlyjoy - I was actually using Beck while I lost -- started Beck's first book back in March, probably -- but I've lost before. What I haven't done before is maintained, and this time I'm maintaining, and for longer than I ever have. I think -- knock on wood -- finally I am getting that goal doesn't mean celebrate and stop doing what you're doing. It means celebrate and keep doing what you're doing.

Pam - I do a circuit class like that! On MWF I walk to a local fitness studio (it's just one room with no machines so I can't really call it a gym) for a 5:45 am class that's between 4 - 10 women (depending on who shows up) going from exercise to exercise under the eye of a woman who used to be a personal trainer at the local Y before she opened this place. I leave in ten minutes for that, probably will have to post this after I get home.

Debbie - Zucchini hashbrowns? That sounds fantastic. Is there a recipe somewhere? Ah, on the warm water -- I knew there must be some reason.

Back from my class, but I didn't get to work out. It was raining, so I drove for the first time all summer. While she was giving us the instructions for the warmup circuit, we heard a big BANG outside. A kid on his way to work at Toys R Us a few miles down the street had hit my car and pushed it clear up onto the sidewalk and through a street sign. He told the cops he was going "28 or 29" and didn't see the car. No way did his little bitty Suzuki going 28 mph launch a Toyota Highlander 20 feet. And we didn't hear a screech of tires before the bang...I bet anything he was texting. I didn't want to jam him up, though, and the cop apparently didn't either. He gave me his insurance info, so as long as they're good, I'm good. At any rate, I spent the 45 minutes while everyone else worked out talking to the cops and getting AAA there to tow me off the sidewalk.

missyj - Planning and tracking everything is a fantastic start to getting back on track!

Tazzy - One of the 'downsides' (if you can call it that) to eating more mindfully is that when I do eat OTHER than for hunger, I don't enjoy it as much. Like with your pie, even when I don't feel guilty, I just am aware that I'm eating for reasons other than hunger. It kind of ruins it for me. Which is definitely a two-edged sword!

gardenerjoy - yay on the loss and the fact it reinforces your change!

Lovely - I loved that 20-minutes exercise, too! It really is amazing how much difference just WAITING 20 minutes makes, isn't it? The skipping-a-meal experiment was an interesting one for me. I never actually got hungry until a couple hours before dinner. I tried it a couple of times, and each time I never got very hungry. I think it was psychosomatic. I knew I wasn't going to eat, so I might as well not feel hunger. Which was kind of a revelation of its own. And I love being able to look back on that when I get hungry occasionally and it isn't time to eat yet and think, "Yeah, I'm hungry. But that's not really a good enough reason to eat when dinner's in two hours. Do something else for 20 minutes; it'll go away."

BillBlueEyes - I love that you're going thru the green book again. I will definitely read along with you and remind myself of all the success skills and resistance techniques, etc. SO: After the car got towed away, I took my husband to work so I could have his car while mine's being repaired. I hit the grocery on the way home since I might not have a car tomorrow -- first time in a long time that I've been in a supermarket hungry -- and giving myself credit for NOT buying some frozen processed crap to have for breakfast. Yay, me, for exercising my resistance muscle! LOL! I started this post the same time you posted yours! It took me 5 hours to get it finished and posted. Crazy morning.

Erika, thanks for the welcome! My youngest just started her Senior year of high school. I can't believe this time next year I'll be an empty nester!

Val

[frankie77]

Hi everyone,
Have been browsing through 3FC to try to find an eating plan I can follow. Yours triggered my interest because it seems to revolve around they behaviors surrounding our unhealthy eating choices. I have terrible eating habits!!! Can someone tell me a little more about the Beck Plan?? I am going to see if I can pick the book up at the bookstore today but was hoping I could get some personal responses from those of you who have been "living" it!! Thanks so much and have a great day!!!

[Beverlyjoy]

Hi Beckies/friends/coaches - Yesterday was a healthy day... I am always grateful for that. Happy scale day too. I am down two pounds from last week. YAY.

The list in my daily journal is getting bigger every day. I think writing them down helps reinforce them in some way.

leave of bite of food - yes
no seconds -yes
eat seated only - yes
fork down between bites - some of the time
slow mindful eating - some of the time
TASTE the food - some of the time
meditation - yes
lots of water - yes
exercise- yes
watch sodium - yes
plan/measure/log/put food in tracker - yes
counter those sabatoging thoughts - yes
read my cards and Beck book - yes
enjoy each bite - no
feel fullness - some of the time
No choice/red light
Arc/rc/Beck yes
Weigh - yes
Use distraction techniques - yes
Not fair - oh well - no
Counter sabotaging thoughts - yes

I accomplished many of these in some form or frequency. Not all, of course - but trying.
I did my exercises and meditations - which are very important.

I was looking through the newest book. (I have the pink book and workbook too). I made a new response card on negative and positive fast forward - about how I’d feel in ten minutes if I do or don’t eat something way off my plan.

Yesterday I was coming home from my mom's and thought I'd go to the drive thru at Dairy Queen to get a no sugar added fudge bar (50 calories) I had a long discussion with myself, but - I didn't go because it's reinforcing unplanned eating. I can plan for it another day. I ‘shouted’ back at those sabotaging thoughts of ‘it won’t matter, etc’. Credit!!

Hi Frankie - so glad you stopped by!! I don't have time to explain the three different books of Dr. Beck in detail. They all focus on you using behavior modification techniques to learn how to live with food in a sane manner. In the first two books you can pick your own food plan along with have a second back up food plan. Her third book teaches the techniques along with her providing a food plan. I do know that when I am using the Beck Plan I have much more food sanity and can live more easily with food. I know others will much more to say. I basically have used the first two books. However, I bought the third just to see what what it has to say.

I hope everyone has a great day.

[SuperChick]

Hey guys, been struggling here for a couple of days, not planning, too busy, frustrated and stressed. Realised I definitely need a break which is lucky as I am now on holiday for 10 days been trying to be too restrictive which is leading me to overeat need to get back to beck, eating slowly and mindfully and in a way I can sustain! Hope you're all well, I'll try to post whilst I'm awa if I can if not I'll be back soon x

[Tazzy]

Evening All,

I started out my day running late, but for a good reason. I tried on 3 pairs of pants before finding a pair that were not too big and they are also a pair I have not had on for over 2 years. But in running out of the house I forget my diet notebook, ARC and Beck book. I felt out of sorts all day without having those with me. And I still have not read my cards, although I did learn that I have memorized a lot of my cards as I tried to recall them and repeat to myself. Always ones like "hunger is not an emergency" and "the number on the scale is just for information". The scale keeps moving up and down slightly but I'm happy to report it's still hovering around 176-178 and I'm okay with that. My first couple of weeks on the program had big losses and now I'm happy not to head back to the 180's. And finding these clothes that now fit really helps. I do keep meaning to measure so maybe I should get that done this weekend.

Beverlyjoy and Lovely - I really like your templates for tracking the Beck tasks and if's it's okay with you ladies I'm going to borrow it to keep track of mine.

Va1erie Credit for switching from ground beef to chicken. I do that on occasion with my family and can get away with it sometimes. Even managed to convince them one day that nachos would be better with ground chicken or turkey and they agreed to try. So imagine, Christmas dinner and there are just the 4 of us in the family here (the year before we had 20 people) and I decided I didn't want to prepare a big meal. So I made one thing that each of the boys like and it was turkey sloppy joes and turkey nachos. We really enjoyed it and I thought it should be a new Christmas tradition. Sure saved me a lot of time in the kitchen and not a lot of tempting foods around.

Pamatga Seems our weather patterns have traded places! Credit for keeping up your workouts!

BBE Credit for holding your ground against feelings.

Lexxiss I too am curious about a zuchinni hashbrown recipe. Credit for water aerobics. I really enjoy swimming and being in the pool. Must be that light floating feeling that makes it so good.

Missyj Good to see you again. Credit for re-reading the first 14 days of Beck and for your challenge for 30 days OP and 900 minutes of exercise.

To everyone else and hope you are doing well.

[MaryContrary]

Right about now I despise living in Southern California. The heat is wearing me down, as is the air quality. Plus, I have an ear infection with perforated ear drum. Icky. Plus, I'm in that particular hormonal phase where everything is bothering.

Slept way too late today, but still managed to work out (and yesterday). Have decided not to do any of the jogging exercises for a couple of weeks, just to give my ankle time to fully heal.

Luckily, we made a bunch of food on Monday, so I have no reason to go feed my bad mood with bad choices. So I'm going to trek out to the kitchen and make some brown rice and spinach salad to go with our baked chicken.

Weight today: 166.1
Exercise: 3 miles Walk at Home with weights on legs and hands
Food: On Plan
Credits: staying on track; getting my butt to campus by 5:30am to work out in the school gym (and avoid any students); bringing meals and snacks to school; limiting intake of alcohol and chocolate; coming here!

to everyone, welcome to the new folks! Thanks for being here.

[MaryContrary]

Tazzy -- I NEVER get tired of my clothes becoming too big, even when that means, for example, my first-day-back-to-teaching outfit all planned and dry-cleaned included a shirt that had suddenly become too big! I was still grinning on the inside. So make sure you enjoy!

[missyj]

Pam(atga) and BillBE - Your references regarding the hand on the plow have really resonated with me this evening. You have certainly given me a new mindset for trying to focus forward instead of looking back (which is one of my main issues). Thank you for more insight - this forum amazes me every time I check in!

Had a good second day OP. Stayed focused on my eating plan. Convinced myself to go to the gym after dinner since it was raining out. It was a hard sell to myself, but I just kept thinking about that new exercise tracking line on my ticker.

Still have to work on reading the ARCs more frequently and leaving a bite. Glad to see that Day 16 is all about NO CHOICE, which is a process I really really need to practice!

Tazzy, gardnerjoy, va1erie - thanks for the greetings! It's good to be back! And back on track!

[gardenerjoy]

I didn't overeat, but am struggling a bit with how to get myself to take a break in a busy day now that excess snacking is not the solution. Throwing a temper tantrum when something messes up my carefully constructed schedule isn't a great solution either. Although it burns a few calories, right?

WI: -0.5kgs, Exercise: +30 220/1300 minutes for September, Food: 90%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

Lovely: good luck with the hunger experiment -- most of us find it eye opening and quite helpful in illustrating the hunger is not an emergency message.

BillBlueEyes: I also observed myself today wanting to eat over frustration and choosing not to eat. So, credit to both of us!

va1erie: ouch for missing a workout due to a car accident. You seem remarkably calm over the whole thing.

Welcome, frankie77! There are links here to explanations of the books: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/beck...k-reviews.html