Mary: all my cards plus my 'why I want to lose weight' list are all on my iPhone. It's always with me and no one knows what I'm doing if I'm reading them... I just look like I'm checking email or Facebook Has worked great for me!
Hi Beckfolks... yesterday was a healthful day. I am so grateful for the willingness to try and to NOT go into the freezer for cookies and raisin/nut bread. I planned/measured/logged, drank lots of water, shopped to have healthy things in the house, left a bite, tried to eat slower... credit - grateful too.
What I really need to figure out is a way to have more healthful choices at Christmas eve dinner. It's DH's traditional dinner. No matter what, I don't think I can change it. (heck... I know I can't change it because it's DH's tradition LOL)- leg of lamb, mashed potatoes, gravy, wilted lettuce salad (make with DH's Granmda's recipe with bacon!), rolls, asparagus and cookies & pastries. I can have a small piece of lamb, asparagus, pull out my salad before the dressing goes on (it HAS to be served predressed - tradition). The mashed potatoes will be full of fat and so will the gravy. I make the gravy. I've decided to make it to the thickness I like...then taste and season. It feels good to just say these things - it makes me feel that I can do it. My cousin doesn't like lamb, so we cook a chicken breast for her. I could do that for myself, too. The big motivation, to be honest, is that I don't want any stomach or gallbladder pain. Also, my triglycerides can't go up one more point. I guess I'll take the motivation anyway it comes. (and I hope it comes) Also, grateful for the beck strategies.
Christmas day will be easier to manuever. It's ham, peas, cucumber & onion salad, pineapple bread glop (like a bread pudding made with white bread, butter brown sugar, eggs & pineapple - Yikes) , rolls. I will put on some cut up veggies too.
Isn't it crazy that we/I have a strategy for food. BUT - it's the nature of my addiction to food. I need to learn a way to live with food in a sane and healthy manner. Reading Dr. Beck's book is helpful to me. I can fall back on that along with my 'health scare' to, hopefully move forward.
I plan to have lots of fruits and veggies around. As I know many sugary, fatty things are coming through the door for the weekend.
I can't wait to see my grandson!
Pam - thanks for your thoughts and prayers for my sister's recovery from surgery.
Valerie - so many credits. It's hard when the neighbors and relative bring so many goodies. Honestly - do they think I need to be eating this stuff. I know... of course not. It's up to me what I eat... DH can eat anything, really and not gain.
billbe - credit for your on plan day yesterday. It's good to have a solid day - it strengthens that ole' resistance muscle.
Beverleyjoy:Enjoy Your Grandson. Lexxiss: Enjoy your beautiful wood floors. Tazzy: I hear you about not wanting to gain this season. I was just saying that yesterday. It really is what I want for Xmas. BBE, Gardenerjoy, and Valerie: I can imagine maintaining your weight might be even more difficult than those of us still losing. The wolf is not "physically" at your door this season and would be easier to ignore than those of us still losing.
I am mid birthday. Scored big, big at Macys. Stayed within $20 of my bday money and got a ton of really cute things. OP all day so far and I amr eally grateful. Dh and I have a special evening. I think I might take a nap before we go out.
Once again a brief post. Will make more time tomorrow morning, I promise. The day without lunch was terrible. Even though I had a late breakfast, I was ready for dinner at 4:30 and I cooked and ate it. But then I seemed to just keep on eating all night. But when I got on the scale this morning I was down 2 from my recent high. So something must be working.
So today I did a vague plan without even cracking the book. But something is working for me...I had an unbelievable amount of energy today and got an enormous amount accomplished. In addition I got back to the gym for the first time in about 6 weeks and did well on a very strenuous workout. I am pumped...excited to see what Beck has in store for tomorrow.
I had a plan today and tracked all of my food. I added a snack at the end of the day, because I was way under my range for my goal. I ate sitting down for all of my meals and left food on my plate for B, L, & D, but forgot for my two snacks. No planned exercise, but did get in to work for a few hours. My back is still bothering me and I am getting concerned that it is disk related. I guess that is payback for not getting myself to the gym during the last 3 months.
I should have exercised NO CHOICE today, as I found myself repeatedly returning to the kitchen looking for a sweet. I guess I did exercise NO CHOICE, up until the last addition of popcorn, so I'll give that partial credit.
I'm getting worried about all that needs to get done before my in-laws get here on Friday night. I really hope my back improves so I can get some cleaning, present wrapping, grocery shopping, and decorating done before they come. Augh! Oh, yeah. And all of the writing I need to get done...
BeverleyJoy, you've got nothing to worry about for the traditional dinner, becuase you've already made the solution for yourself! Stick to the plan and you will do great! I KNOW YOU CAN! Just keep focused on how many future holidays you want to celebrate with that grandson of yours!
BillBlueEyes, sending positive thoughts your way as you navigate even more holiday parties. I know you won't get settled in those old habits again!
Fyreflie24, I hope you get everything done and get to have some calm moments soon. Have a wonderful trip with your loved ones!
GardenerJoy, I needed some of your rosemary for the trout I cooked tonight! As far as a recipe, I've tried to make rosemary crusted tilapia before, and did not break up the rosemary enough. As a result, it felt like I was eating pine needles and ended up scraping most of it off. I hope you have better luck!
Lexxis, your exercise yesterday sound very rewarding!! Great job on sticking to the plan!
Maplover, it sounds like the skip a meal turned in to a pretty powerful day for you! Great job!!!! I am really excited that you came out on the other side with such smiles!
Maryann, sounds like you had a terrific birthday. Shopping must have been a blast for you!
MaryContrary, don't you love this time of the semester? No teaching or classes and time to actually get work done! Yipee! Great job putting down the fork and increasing weights for exercise.
Tazzy, you sound like your on top of the world! I'm so glad you are feeling so good. Keep it up!
Va1erie, great job with the exercise! That is a great way to combat the long car ride.
Tried to eat away some frustrating disappointment or maybe it was disappointing frustration. Didn't work. What did work was identifying the problem, listing some possible solutions, choosing one, and implementing it. (yay for 2-day shipping!) Overeating proved to be a lousy strategy. The rational approach was a winning one. I would like to remember which strategy works next time.
WI: +0.1 kgs, Exercise:+55 875/1300 minutes for December, Food: 75%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes
BillBlueEyes: The boogie man of salmonella keeps me out of cookie dough, too. A repeated whisper of "trans fats" keeps me away from doughnuts, too (and please don't tell me if they figure out how to make them without trans fats).
dropped off a box of kitchen stuff to the salvation army
have a second box on the go--I am practicing "living without these dishes" for a few days to see if I really want to keep them--they can't go in the microwave but are sentimental to me as they were my grandmother's good dishes
planned my food for tomorrow
drank my water
posted here inspite of losing my post! argh.
did not eat to overfull today
started focusing on what I can do to make my own money, sooner rather than later. Started investigating craft and art shows I used to do and I am seriously considering if I should go there again.
Made a visit to my bank to change my mailing address which is a step toward re-starting my craft business. Here's the reason: DH snapped at me, unfairly I might add, over xmas presents and that I should only buy those I can afford with "my own money". He knows I have been trying to make money here and for some reason this has not happened for me yet. So this was an obvious, hurtful, dig at me. I asked him if he was being funny, or mean, and he said "a little of both". This was two nights ago now and he while he hasn't apologized, he has gone out of his way to be thoughful, kind, and considerate--much more than he has been in months, so I know he knows he acted like a _ _ _ _ _. I chose not to react but to *try* to let it go and chalk it up to the stress of the season and his work stress which is quite huge right now. he is dreaming of working in a coal mine and the shaft he is digging in gets smaller and smaller threatening to cave in. He also dreamt he was in a house and he noticed he was holidng up the wall with his arms--the bracing was failing. Yes, these are real dreams dreamt this week. I dreamt I was being sacrificed on an altar last night while the audience cheered *sigh*, so we are both going through it it seems. If DH does say anything like that again, woe to him is all I can say. The last time someone tried to lord money over me we didn't talk for two years. I don't really respond well to that kind of thing *ahem* and I am very capable of cutting off my nose to spite my face. It doesn't happen often but when it does... yikes. So, for today, I am grateful we are back in our "normal" state.
BIG BIG CREDIT for NOT turning to food while full of anger and venom and later sadness and frustration and fear. I really, truly, did not use food to cope with these strong emotions and once they passed I persisted in my victory by just staying on track and doing the same old same old: stickingto my foodplan, and staying focused on my weightloss and all the GOOD THINGS I have in all realms.
Anyway off to bed. Sweet dreams to moi et toi.
That's it and it's a lot. Talk to you guys tomorrow.
My day has been very long and has had many twists and turns....long hours, holiday prep and DH suffering with a bum knee. We had a late lunch and slept through dinner. Now we're both awake and hungry. DH wanted pizza and the logical decision was to pull out a premade and deal with the incredible calories involved. My thought out choice was to take the extra time to make one healthy using a WW boboli shell. *credit*
Beverlyjoy, you said "Isn't it crazy that we/I have a strategy for food. BUT - it's the nature of my addiction to food. I need to learn a way to live with food in a sane and healthy manner.". I have thought alot about your comment this evening because I think that too, from time to time. One think I DO have to acknowledge is that part of my situation is "addictive behavior" and the other part is some type of body disposition, a factor which I don't have alot of control over. My DH can eat 4x as much as I and is skinny as a rail. He eats emotionally, etc. Our major difference comes at the scale. My weight is my motivating factor for learning to live with food in a sane and healthy manner. I can't eat every time DH does and Beck skills help me learn how to say no.
Funny, we're like kids staying up all night. I believe that Wednesday is the only day we could both sleep in for months and months. I don't know if it will work but I'm going to try.
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Stopped at several places during my walk (CREDIT moi) to buy stocking stuffers. I still love the notion of a Christmas tree with much too much stuff under it. Since no one needs loads of real presents, I wrap stuff like boxes of tissues and cough drops to make up the volume. Kids seem to like the childhood joy of opening gifts.
I stopped at the bank to get the five gold dollar coins that I now use instead of the gold foil wrapped chocolate coins that we put in stockings for years - because that's what was in the toe of my stocking as a kid. In only six years it's become our tradition.
onebyone – Terrific choice to stay your path in the face of the strongest of emotions - Kudos. Love your clarity, "persisted in my victory."
Joy (gardenerjoy) – Monster Kudos for "identifying the problem, listing some possible solutions, choosing one, and implementing it" - good for me to be reminded that when I'm putting unplanned food in my mouth, there's a strategy to figure out an alternative. [Think I'll try your "trans fats" next time I see baked goods.]
Debbie (Lexxiss) – Kudos for making a healthy pizza when a frozen one was available.
Beverlyjoy – Yeah, these traditions of food last a very long time. Apparently, we'll have bacon at Christmas breakfast - demanded by the kids because it's our tradition.
FutureFitChick – Yay for "work for a few hours" - here's hoping that your back stays calm for your holidays with in-law guests.
Mary (MaryContrary) – It's a big step this, "Put myself and dissertation first" - Kudos for making that choice.
maryann - Congrats for your victory at Macy's. Hope your birthday evening went well.
Tazzy - Kudos for feeling stress free for not baking for Christmas - makes it easier to just make not-baking your new norm. Good luck on your new plan P.I.N.K. - makes me LOL that all the young women with the word PINK on the bottoms of their sweat pants might just be advertising their diet.
Val (va1erie) – Yay for a neighborhood with the warm values of gifting food. Ouch for arriving food, LOL. Congrats for surviving an eight hour drive.
Donamari (fyreflie24) – Yep, really short days are upon us. Keep the faith as your body dithers about crossing your half way goal. [LOL at "SureKillCrawlWay."]
maplover – Ouch for a strong response to the hunger experiment despite all the positive results of high energy and accomplishments.
Readers -
Quote:
chapter 4Stage 1The Success Skills Plan Success Skill 7Plan and Monitor Your Eating
what to do . . . 1. Start a fresh page in your Diet Notebook. It should look like [Picture of food plan with three meals and three snacks: Planned and Unplanned]
2. Write down what you are going to eat and drink tomorrow. You don't have to write down no calorie beverages.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), pg 91.
I'm going to do some kind of winter solstice ritual tonight. It arrives at 12:30am and I am thrilled to see it finally here. For me, this is a very positive day filled with the promise of lengthening daylight. I will be glad to see the 4:30pm darkness slowly receed. I may just simply light a candle, say some words of thanks, and have a special beverage to welcome the change of seasons.
My plan for the day includes making eggplant, lentil and zucchini soup. I actually have a recipe for this! I have been craving eggplants for weeks now. I find this odd but it hasn't gone away so eggplant soup it is.
My official WW weigh-in is tomorrow morning. I am, or course, hoping for a loss. I'd *love* a loss >1lb but I will be equally happy to see 275.4 for 14lb off and completion of my first goal: losing 5% of my body weight. I will be even more thrilled to reach the next milestone of 28lbs gone=261.4 and 10% body weight gone. I expect to reap the benefits of better health with that one. SO EXCITING to feel the promise of better health, better energy, better movement and, maybe even, being able to get off of blood pressure pills. If that day comes you won't be able to stop me from dancing!
Also on my agenda is continuing to reclaim dining room and living room space from clutter and just plain "stuff all over". It feels so good to see some areas clean. I never thought I could do it and keep it up--just beng honest--but it's happening; the sink remains free of dishes and the counters are clear. Change is afoot.
I'll check back in later. Happy Wednesday!
UPDATE: I've added a picture of the lentil soup with eggplant and zucchini. It's pretty good stuff. I think I'll post the recipe later.
I never did get to the decluttering today. I ended up doing research for my printmaking project. Mostly I was reading about ink and paper and lino vs woodblock... all extremely exciting to me!
DH came home in a great mood. I'm so glad he's shifted into a better space. It was the best strategy for me to button my lip the other night. *credit* I think the upcoming 4 day weekend he's getting is helping his mood quite a bit, plus we have spent next to nothing for xmas so far, which I do understand is a good thing. He also asked me what I wanted for xmas and all I want are printmaking supplies for my trip: good ink, good paper, something to use for my printing plates-wood or lino but that will come most likely when I am there as shipping for that could be horrendous. It's going to be expensive, but it could actually be a really big deal for me. *credit for being brave and pursuing my dreams undeterred by age, weight, or fear.*
Just getting caught up. Kudos to all for their healthy behaviours and using Beck strategies.
I had a few very busy and rather bad eating days. I'm experimenting with some different strategies to see if they help me. My blood sugar has been pretty wonky and I think I need to be more conscious about eating every few hours during the day in order to keep it even. I did that yesterday and it really helped. And I had no desire to eat late at night beyond a small snack. So I'll stick with this pattern for a while and see what transpires.
Hope you're all having a great day. Will do personals next time.
cheers
Erika
I did a chapter yesterday. Credit. I plan on cleaning most of the space out in my extra bedroom so I can use it for exercise when I wake up (since the TV is taken when I wake up. My calf has been sore and I've been afraid I over did it last week or it's my work shoes. Instead of my circuit workout, I did some yoga and barre work. Credit! I had 2 servings of choc. covered pretzels instead of handfuls (and not at the same time). Credit! Standing up was better...not perfect but better. Credit!
Official weight on Monday: 261.4
pamatga- I have to have feedback on classes I teach. I'm half tempted to do a virtual class. I've already taped a version of a possible hoop class just to see how it flows and I could totally do that.
BillBlueEyes- Yep! Tabatas are pretty evil but if the studies are accurate, excellent! The gold coin tradition sounds great!
Successful bday. I ate as planned, saved half my salmon for this morning, ate all of the most delicious lemon tart and two bite siz bday cupcakes. Weight was the same this morning, three piounds from ticker so I feel pretty triumphant.
Babysitting DS and DN today in SF. Plan is to sneak in onehalf hour of yoga, stay op with lunch of Salmon. Then I have another dinner out with friend. I am going try to not feel trapped being away from normal exercise routine and my food. I will have a month of this now as we have the holidays, then Florida, then grad school. The truth is, I can be at peace anywhere. I must just remind myself and do what works - check in here, weigh myself (I brought my scale) exercise even if it is not perfect or long enough. Just do it.
GD everyone! I read all of your posts for the past couple of days. I was here earlier but my computer was running achingly slow so I rebooted that. A T-storm is passing through so if it gets where the lightning is too frequent, I will have to bail.
I will touch on some of the highlights for the past couple of days. It sounds like everyone is trying to find their way through the seemingly unending holiday foods. I have noticed that when I do "indulge" I am met with frequent trips to the bathroom. My body has been away from so much of these kinds of "rich" foods that my digestive system speaks for me better than I can here.
As a "treat" we bought some freshly ground vanilla hazelnut coffee. It smells heavenly even coming out of the packet. Paul and I are practically "pushing each other aside" to have the first brewed cup. Zero calories but oh how wonderful!
onebyone I go through this every time I buy gifts for my side of the family. I have only my sister and myself so I have a tendency to be the doting aunt. Why not? My dear angelic Paul turns into Scrooge (a favorite Dickens character of his I might add). Since he has 7 living siblings, they only buy one gift based on a Thanksgiving raffle. I realize that we will probably never see "eye to eye" on this. I repeat never.
However, I pointed out to him that since I got such a late start in my Christmas shopping, I got a lot of incredible deals all over "town". Granted, the traffic was horrendous but I enjoyed myself. When he guessed how much I spent he was over by $100. . Instead, I wanted to open up a dialogue about what "meant" Christmas for him. He doesn't feel Christmas until he has sung in the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Well, for me it is gift buying, wrapping, baking, decorating the tree and our home, both inside and out, and listening to Christmas carols "seemingly everywhere". As Christmas Carol ends "From then on, Scrooge knew how to keep Christmas very well indeed!" I just wish Paul would heed that advice. I just think that if he could "get into" more than just one aspect (although probably the most important one) he might feel more cheer.
"Oh, well."
Bill I love your family traditions. The best thing we can pass onto our children is the tradition of good health, including money health. Hopefully, they won't spend those gold coins the first time they are away from home.
I bought my great niece and great nephew personalized Christmas stockings this year as one of their gifts. I grew up with this and I have passed it down as we add more to our clan. Jude (who is 7 weeks old) will have a teething ring in his stocking along with some cute Winnie the Pooh socks and Sadie (22 months) will have "edible" crayons (she ate the last ones I sent) and mini cans of Play Doh in hers. Aunt Pam aims to please!
Here is something that I thought I would share about emotional eating, since I am recovering compulsive overeater and a staunch believer in the OA way.
There is an acronym H.A.L.T. that many recovering emotional eaters use to gauge where they are at "emotionally". Often when I feel like eating even though I may have just ate an hour before or especially if I am not physically hungry, I do a mental check off of the following. I ask myself am I----
H=Hungry
A=Angry
L=Lonely
T=Tired
If I am legitimately Hungry then of course a person needs to eat but quite often I can confuse "emotional hunger" with "physical hunger". Asking a second question like "What am I hungry for?" can also pinpoint what I am experiencing. Sometimes, I feel tense or I am bored. Pretty soon those foods that are great at distraction end up in my mouth.
If I am Angry, then I need to own it. Most often, I just need to express that to someone, preferably someone who will not tell me my feelings aren't important. Yes, they are! However, I have learned to take a step back and allow myself to "process" what I am angry about. Quite often, once I realize the exact reason for my being angry, the hot, flushed feeling goes away on its own.
If I am Lonely, I pick up the phone and call someone. I e-mail a close friend. I come here and chat with others. In other words, I connect. None of us were meant to go through life alone. It is not the natural order of "the human condition". We were meant to be a part of "something bigger than ourselves". When we don't recognize our natural need for community and companionship, in whatever form that may take, we will turn to food. Food is food. It can not hug us, love us back and certainly can not tell us to stop "abusing" it either!
If I am Tired, whether it is physical or emotional, then I need to "take care of myself". As a person who has had to live with chronic pain for nearly twenty years, I know a few things about insomnia. I can tell you that my food plan suffers when I have had a poor night's sleep. So, top of our priorities should be a good night's sleep. Period! If we feel "over-extended" emotionally, then we need to have some "me time" and do whatever will help us replenish our spirit.
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Well, today is the informal "shop talk" in my new group "The Way". My son said the title sounds very "Eastern" spiritually. Yea,well. So far, I have 23 woman (no men yet) who have signed up and are ready to take the Challenge starting Jan 2nd. To get the conversation flowing I posted a "faux food" quiz which I got from the book "The Fat Fallacy" by Dr. Will Glower. For anyone who never takes a look at the labels on some of the food they eat, I often find this is quite an eye-opening exercise. It is fun too. Most of the words in many "common" processed foods most Spell Checks don't even know!
Tazzy thanks for sharing about the PINK diet that seems to sweeping the land. I often have remarked how if it is new then someone on 3FC will have heard about it, talked about or is doing it. I have learned so much on this site. I can not even begin to tell you!
Someone new in "The Way" had mentioned that she was going to follow it (believe it or not but most of the people on the BLC site do not even follow the BLC food plan --hmmm?). Thanks to your post, I was able to respond to her questions with a little bit more knowledge than I had before (which was zero). I think that detoxing from the chemicals in most of our processed foods has been around literally for a hundred years. At some point, most of us who are doing a paradigm shift with our eating habits will decide to implement some if not all of these "practices". As Dr. Glower says in the above book, our bodies simply weren't meant to digest some of the chemicals in our modern-day foods. Good luck in your detoxing efforts.
valerie If I had known you were in Atlanta I would have taken you to some of my favorite healthier restaurnant(s). Flying Biscuit is a local "chain", as you mentioned, but I was thinking more of the fact that they are usually across the street from Whole Foods, since they buy all of their food products from Whole Foods, and hence they are healthier. Eight hour drive home? Boy, you are a nice Mom! I hate driving long distance. The only time I would consider it might be coming up soon when my son has his first major surgery. Then, I will do I-95, and only then.
Well, folks, my on plan is on. I am sitting with hunger. I am limiting myself to one piece of sweet bread for breakfast along with that dreamy coffee (and then spend the rest of the afternoon trotting). One other meal at evening and then a light snack with my evening meds before I retire. That's my "getting through the holidays" plan. I am not making any holiday baked goods until I am ready to ship them out.
I have come up with what I consider a brilliant flash of inspiration. Rather than "preach the cause" of Dr. Beck, which I did in my last Challenge, I have decided to incorporate some of the Beck success skills right within the Challenge's "rules". One being; sitting down with no distractions eating. When they agree to follow the Challenge for a specific amount of time, they agree to whatever the perimeters of the challenge is. Since its my call, they are going to be practicing Beckisms without even knowing who and where this comes from. Oh, I will let them know in the "by and by" but for now--mum's the word.
Has worked great for me!
Aargh
et toi.
Winter Solstice-my favorite day of the year.
For me, this is a very positive day filled with the promise of lengthening daylight. I will be glad to see the 4:30pm darkness slowly receed. I may just simply light a candle, say some words of thanks, and have a special beverage
to welcome the change of seasons. 
dancing!
Zero calories but oh how wonderful!
). Since he has 7 living siblings, they only buy one gift based on a Thanksgiving raffle. I realize that we will probably never see "eye to eye" on this. I repeat never.
