Today have a lot planned and am going to stick to planned menu and not nibble. So far so good. Read cards at least twice, planned excercise, weights, spin class and 20 min swim! Going to a local circus tonight with the family. No reasons today not to stay OP
Weight was down to 133 yest and up to 134 today. i do feel smaller and lighter however and love that.
Bill,. Good to hear about not overindulging next meal. I have been pleasantly surprised at 3 incidences that I did not have food with me, put off eating and did just fine. I have been so trained to bring food with me and "plan ahead" and now can actually leave the house without food and know Ill be ok. I love that!
Wish we had a hotsprings here!
Off to log my foods and journal, happy sunday coaches!
Another holi-day which has required navigating through lots of food situations. I've stayed pretty sane, which did include sharing a piece of homemade cake with DH at our potluck today. Just returned from a holiday concert where I did say NO CHOICE to the dozens of homemade cookies being served afterwards. We will travel back tomorrow early....I have to be to work at 7am. We'll enjoy a light dinner tonight compliments of potluck leftovers. *credit* for taking healthy food knowing part of it would come back home with me.
Holly, I live between Idaho Springs and Glenwood Springs. I.S. is 45 minutes from Boulder. I think you'll love it there! It's an extremely outdoorsy places. Glenwood and it's hotsprings are only 170 m. from Boulder and of course, Steamboat has a year round outdoor pool, too.
Wishing you all a great start to your week. IT's definitely the time of year to be alert as to food which pops up anywhere and everywhere. This was posted on the SBD forum, by magrat0315:
Resistance Prayer
Lord grant me the strength
to drink a glass of water instead of nibbling these things I should not have;
courage to say “No Thank You” to the Holiday treats abound;
and wisdom to know I am doing this for me.
Today was the learning to give yourself credit. So I must say that I did manage to eat everything sitting down. I even tested a piece of chicken leg I was cooking by cutting a piece off, putting it on a plate, and sitting down.
Another major "credit me." At the end of a furious day of Christmas shopping (trying to get it all done in one day), I badly wanted sugar. Stopped at the supermarket and got a banana and some turkey lunch meat. This was my snack.
Working on more detailed advantages. I like the idea of visualizing it (then it becomes not so much an advantage but a premonition of what it could be like in the future, eh?
Thanks Pamatgaand Bill for the great suggestions about learning to sit down and slow down with the food...I want to get to the place where I can feel when I've had enough.
Hello to all! it's been amazing reading this thread and November's, credit to everyone for the effort you are making and how seriously you are taking your journeys. I am new. I started Beck on the 1st December so am just 4 days in, now wondering about reminder systems for giving credit - I really can't work out how to do that for myself, or what sort of credit system to establish.
On another note, I'm in an interesting place right now in that my weight doesn't bother me, but my eating does. I'm wanting to learn better habits of eating, not being a foodaholic basically, being free from junk/excess food dependence and getting a sense of control. I'd like to eat to live, within my appetite, healthy, and in the rest of my time, get on with my life. So far so good as I've eaten in a way I'm happy with the last 4 days... I'm giving this a serious attempt now and feeling committed. Thank you for this forum. By the way, do you think it odd to want to change eating per se?
I am sad to report I did not plan and track my food today, as I had planned yesterday to do first thing. Planned exercise was not scheduled but did a little bit of walking while shopping. Eating was reasonable and I am sure it was below my calorie limit for the day. Ate breakfast away from the TV, but did not leave a bite on my plate. I ate dinner in front of the TV and forgot to leave a bite at that meal too. Skipped lunch today. I did reach my WL goal for the week, so that is nice!
BeverleyJoy, I am sorry to hear about the back pain. Keep at working to find healthy food choices in spite of your health ailments.
BillBlueEyes, just keep in mind how great you will feel in every renovated room when it is all done. And, you get more credits for decluttering! I'm giving you CREDIT for the handful of trailmix when you ate over a problem. I bet 6 years ago it would have been different food and a different quantity too.
Lexxiss, thanks for sharing the Resistance Prayer. Super job at saying no choice!
Maplover, what an amazing choice for a snack while out shopping. That is power!!
SarahBennett21, welcome! This is a great group of people and I think you will find terrific support! I have gotten much better about learning to give myself credit by reading and posting here. By reading what others have posted, it reminds me of the things I can be proud of in myself that I succeeded at in a day or a week. Also, it is terrific that you want to improve your relationship with food. That, as I also am reminded by the maintainers here, is key to being able to maintain your healthy weight and positive health-related behaviors in the long run. So, credit to you for that!!
Diet Coaches/Buddies - It was a good day at working on acceptance. Not only have I accepted the minor flaw in the baseboards that I mentioned yesterday, but doing that strengthened my acceptance muscle so that I fixed another problem that had been vexing me. I used Gorilla Glue to place a piece of metal to cover a hole, which, when painted, will only be noticeable to me. And I got to use Gorilla Glue which is advertised everywhere, we own some, but I've never used before. CREDIT moi for working on acceptance, even if I don't remember which chapter in Beck that would fall under. (With apologies to Dr. Beck for asserting an acceptance muscle which her anatomy doesn't define, LOL.)
Had the opportunity to face two celebratory cakes and managed to eat a piece of neither, CREDIT moi. One was carrot cake with tiny carrots in cream cheese icing on the top to let you know it was healthy. I entertained the Sabotaging Thought that healthy was good. But that was so absurd it made me laugh, so I was done before I conjured up a Helpful Response, LOL.
Debbie (Lexxiss) – Yep, gotta love "wisdom to know I am doing this for me" - thanks for sharing.
FutureFitChick – Walking is just the best. Congrats on reaching your WL goal for the week. [Thanks for reminding me to give myself credit for decluttering - which was necessary for any interior painting to happen.]
maplover – Kudos for taking your sitting down seriously. I'm stuck with the visual of a banana wrapped in a piece of turkey, LOL, so I'll assume that you ate them separately.
Hollyp – Love the thought, "feel smaller and lighter" - that's a great incentive to keep the path. Circus is just the best fun, particularly with young kids. Have fun.
sarahbennett21 – Neat that you're figuring out how to give yourself credit; I found that particularly difficult - just wasn't my style I thought. Some people have actually used stars on a chart, others checks in a spreadsheet. At least do it here in regular posting. My take is that you have to do it, can't just dismiss it as a silly thing.
Oh yes, digging into Beck to change your style of eating is a terrific idea. In fact, that's similar to why I went to Beck; I had already lost my weight and could feel the urges to go back to the old way of eating. Then found the Beck book, and have used the Beck strategies for maintenance. Glad that you've joined us.
Readers -
Quote:
chapter 4Stage 1The Success Skills Plan Success Skill 6Overcome Hunger, Cravings, and Emotional Eating experiment 6Prove that you don't need to eat when you're upset. what to do . . . The next time you feel a negative emotion and want to eat in response, do the following: . . .
8. Practice techniques to overcome cravings (pages 84-86): Review your Response Cards and Advantages Deck, read about your resistance muscle (pages 19-20), imagine the aftermath of giving in, and try activities from your Distraction Box (pages 39-40).
9. When the urge to eat diminishes, see how long it took to go away; write it down in your Diet Notebook so you can remember for next time.
10. Give yourself credit for any length of time you resisted eating.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), pg 88.
I'm on Day 5 and thinking about credits. When I stopped smoking (years ago!) my father bought me a beautiful watch and it always reminds me of that achievement. I think I'd like to work towards a similar physical object that reminds me of the achievement of not being an overeater any more... will ponder it further but any suggestions on that and other credits are welcome.
My thoughts on credits in general (little ones to encourage) as well as big ones (like a cruise or the watch), is that they can be really good at reminding me of all of the things in life I really enjoy, and can make special rather than just turning to food. Like a soak in a hot bath with rose petals or luxury bath salts in it, a sauna or jacuzzi, feeling pretty after having my hair or nails done, the sense of achievement that comes from organizing something or doing something productive, the joy and gift of the company of family and friends, the sense of freedom and calm from exercising my body, making me feel alive, the smell of the first spring blossoms, the sight of winter snow, the smell of fresh coffee and spices, a good film or book, listening to music, a concert, all these things reinforce the realization that not only am I not giving anything up by not overeating any more, but I have so very much to gain, and that's even before stopping to think about the weight, improved health, saved money and numerous other advantages that come with being free of those habits.
It's only the fear of being miserable without my little prop or pick me up, and of feeling deprived that has kept me overeating. But that fear I now believe is just an illusion, when I experience a craving and do not indulge it, there is no physical pain, it not only passes but shrinks, so long as I do not feed it. Giving into the craving creates the fear. The narrow world I had been in of panicking when I'd run out of a food or worrying if I've not had enough, the fear, the sense of deprivation, that's all I am giving up.
The last time I walked by my favourite chocolates reduced to half price I asked myself one simple question: What is this really going to do for me? I decided it would do absolutely nothing for me at all, not that the advantages of refusing it outweighed the disadvantages, but that there were not any advantages to buying it.
Once the illusion that life will never be quite as enjoyable without overeating is removed, once I realise that not only is life just as enjoyable without that habit but infinitely more so, once the feeling of being deprived or missing out are eradicated, then I can go back to the weight, health and money – and the dozens of other reasons for stopping overeating. These realisations I believe will become positive additional aids to help me achieve what I really desire – to enjoy the whole of my life free from slavery to food my body doesn't want or need.
It's the sense of slavery that bothers me the most about my overeating habit. Instead of going through a life of misery that does nothing for me at all, I plan to reconnect with all the positive things I will gain from giving it up. The credit system will be my way of doing just this! That's my thought for the day (and quite possibly the month!).
BillBlueEyes: Well done around the plumbers and thanks for the motivating tip around celebratory eating, it's a really good one, it's easy to let your guard down and fall into bad habits, when you are happy it's easy to use that state to totally let go, I relate! Incidentally I find BBQs very difficult, as well as all-you-can-eats and other times food is free and abundant... Beverlyjoy: Big credit for your journalling and tracking, and an extra credit is due for taking a "no matter what" attitude and doing it even though you don't feel like it right now. Maybe you'll feel better planning a little treat, hot bath /nails/hair? Lexxiss/DebbieR: Big well done, especially the pizza. Credit for craving a specific food and not succumbing! Next time it will be easier to do so, and for times like that I find it helpful to remind myself that if I really want some, I can always plan it at some point (that takes away urgency to have it NOW). Tazzy: Yay for eating on plan after not having done so for a while! Did you feel any different? Can you think of what helped you on that day? Onebyone: Credit for overcoming the sabotaging thoughts! Sometimes I find it's especially easy to overeat or get thoughts like that when I'm on target with my weight. Thanks for sharing! MaryAnn: Kudos for making a decision to make peace at 150 and not obsess. Here are some thoughts/questions for you and anyone else who cares to ponder them: if you made your target and carried on with mindful eating, sitting down, exercise and the good habits you've learned, and continued to lose weight even if you were not trying to do so, went down to 145, then 140, then 135, 130, 125, how do you think you would feel? Do you think you'd be happy? Would you panic? Now imagine, still with good habits of eating, listening to your body etc., imagine you lost more weight than you wanted and wanted to put weight on? What would you do? Do you think you'd go back to old habits that put you over 200lbs (twice) or carry on eating mindfully? How important is your eating per se vis a vis your weight? Val: Kudos for the thoughtful post and big yay for the 3.6 wow!!!! BIG credit! How do you feel about the importance of reading response cards? Also, sorry to hear about your friend. Credit for getting back on track! Pam: Thanks for your thoughts. I'm particularly moved by how you are thinking about your emotional connection with your smaller self, and that it is not necessarily all one big positive. That's why I try to focus more on my eating and exercise habits than on my weight. I don't yet know where I will naturally end up weight wise! I am focussing on my behaviour and thinking and seeing what impact that will then have on my weight. I am logging my weight and would not say no to losing a few pounds but am trying to focus more on the permanent lifestyle change and mindset issues. Gardenerjoy: Great post about exercise, and yeah I try to remind myself what good exercise running to catch a train, carrying shopping up a flight of stairs, cycling outdoors in the cold to get somewhere etc., what good exercise it all is and how grateful I may be for the ability to do it that has been gifted to me and I should never take for granted. Regarding trampoline, my mum has one but never uses it. I find with planned exercise I build it into my life by making it social, training buddies as it were...but that's just what works for me. Hi FFC: Big credit for leaving a bit of cookie in the bag. How did it make you feel? (both eating the cookie and leaving some behind). How do you think you'd have felt if you'd passed on the cookie? Maplover: Well done you! This is just my fifth day but I've already found it helpful to review the 4 days before and feel free to add to and develop notes on them. I think potentially adding to the advantages card can be a good way of keeping it fresh. Fyreflie24/Donamari: Congrats on the weight loss - love the half way by Christmas day ticker! Might just have to copy you on that.
I can see now that if I replied to everyone I wouldn't even have enough time to read my ARC once in the day let alone get any work done or the usual stuff...
Much better day yesterday, I decided to limit the carbs I was eating as I think that sent me on the spiral the couple days before. In doing that however I had only eaten around 600 calories up to dinner time and ended up with a raging headache. After I ate dinner and took some Advil it eventually went away. Spontaneous exercise was pushing a full shopping cart through a snow covered parking lot, manouvering a lot of boxes out of the way to get to the Christmas tree and setting up the Christmas tree. Steps for the day were 8337.
Changing up the exercise this week and am going to be swimming instead of boot camp. Still have the boot camp class booked for Saturday so we'll see how that goes. I was concerned about the pool I'm going to tonight as it's a large facility and there are lots of people around. I am not too sure how comfortable I'll be walking to the pool area but I thought about it this morning and I'm doing all this for me and not others who probably won't be looking at me anyways.
Weight was same again today, ate slowly and mindfully, did not read my cards (I need to put them beside the calendar I track my weight in). Planned exercise will be swimming.
Well, I am back for the umptillionth time. It has been a tough semester and I have gotten to a weight that I really don't like. It's uncomfortable, it's embarrassing, and I am tired and cranky. So I am coming back to the only thing I know that works: Beck.
Credit moi, at least, for counting points again and for committing to post here daily and reread the pink book. It is great to see so many here doing so well ... That is inspiring.
There are two sabotaging thoughts right now that I really want to counter:
1. That vaguely uncomfortable feeling in my gut is always hunger. Wrong - it's usually anxiety, shenpa, stress of some sort and I can wait it out.
2. Whenever the scale shows a number I don't like, it means I'm doing something wrong. No - there are so many reasons the scale could be going up or staying the same. I just need to stick to my plan.
Thanks for listening everyone. Off to have a mindful points-friendly lunch and then plan a shopping trip for healthy food for the week.
Cheers
Erika
Today Im going to focus this week on tracking and sticking to the plan so wrote out food, and threw in enough food so I wont be hungry, butnmay leave some off. Will try to leave a bite, always forget that one!
Bill, good mob passing on cake, that is tough, I love carrot cake, was laughing at the "healthy" aspect of it!
Sarahbennett, welcome, enjoyed your post! I too am worki png hard on that resistance muscle, that is my nemesis. I really liked your thoughts about fear, and pain and eating, that speaks to me, the irritation that I want to eat more, and shouldnt.
Lexiss,. Going to have to write that prayer on a card.
Curious of other great threads you all might post on that you find helpful. Cant wait for colorado in 2 yrs!
Eusibus,. Welcome back, you will get on track, just come here daily and even if youre not 100 percent on, it will still help, thats how I feel.
[B][B]Tazzy, I love swimming! Such good CV exercise!
Off to do errands, and have hopefully unchallenging OP day
GD everyone! I hope wherever you are, it is well with your soul.
sarahbennett21. I had to smile when you said that if you answered each post you wouldn't have time for much else. Think of it this way....at least, not extra time to overeat.
welcome back, Eusebius, I hear you loud and clear. I am struggling to break that 250 mark. Why is 249 seem like it is on the other shore and I have to swim so far and hard to get there??
Hollyp Hey, girl!! You sound and are doing great. GJ!!
Taz I imagine that you must live in quite a beautiful part of the the world. Is it difficult for you to get out when you get a lot of snow during the winter? Or, are you located in a 'well-traveled" area like Lexxiss, which by the way I have seen photos of where both of you live and they are truly two of the most scenic to be seen. Lucky, lucky you!!
Well, this past weekend was yet another setback for me. Beverlyjoy, I am feeling your resignation. I do hope you find relief for your back pain. Right now for me, it is my stomach. I nearly doubled over in pain yesterday with my stomach. I was eating raw vegetables from my garden along with my favorite turkey burger and I was in agony. Every thing that I eat since then has me feeling a lot of stomach pain. I suspect it is an old ulcer acting up.
On the upside, I have been busy working on developing a format for a new group over on Biggest Loser Club site. I have been posting to two different ones over there for 1 1/2 years and I have spent a better part of this past month mulling over the idea of doing this. As the Buddy Challenge nears its end, I had been mentioning about hosting another one starting in January. The reception was tepid to say the least. Without going into a lot of details, I decided that since I feel really committed to hosting Buddy Challenges next year (it works as a great motivator for me and for most others) that maybe it was time to take it to another group.
So, I spent several hours this morning writing down the goals of my soon-to-be new group "The Way: Permanent Weight Loss" and then sharing those with some of the ones who are now participating in the Buddy Challenge I am currently hosting. I made an informal "announcement" this past Saturday on one of the groups I have been posting in. I was pleasantly surprised to get one person who said that she will join in next year. As far as I am concerned, I feel that this is Step 12 "service to others". Having had the "spiritual awakening" it is my "duty and responsibility" to share this with others.
One of the cornerstones of this new group will be actively incorporating the Beck principles along with all the resources that are available on the BLC site. I have noted some of the "weaknesses" in some of the other groups that I have observed, which I feel are a detriment to long term weight loss, which I hope to "address" in the group which I will start up in January 2012. As far as I am concerned, this is also another aspect of "Enriching My Life". I will say that I never once questioned the amount of work that will go into this. As the "Buddy Challenge" I am presently hosting, it is a "labor of love".
Bill I have noticed that as you release your perfectionist tendencies you are a calmer and happier person. Your home will be beautiful because you have put so much of yourself into it. All the good stuff you have inside.
FFC So glad to see you back in good form here. We all thought about you often and missed you a Great insights. Thanks for sharing!
I am working on the "Anti-Craving" strategies right now in relation to going through "withdrawal" on eating out as much as I have been in the past year or longer. It isn't the food that I so much crave but the "experience".
That, and when I don't feel well, I find myself struggling with how to manage being under the weather and stay on my food plan. What works for the rest of you?
Hi Coaches/Buddies
Had to write in. This has been the most stressful day. I want to sink into the food but I cannot afford to do that.
Left work at 3 to take my Mom to the doctor. We waited in the waiting room for an hour and a half. She has to have someone look into her throat next week for her swallowing issues. I am not happy to have her sedated after what she has gone through the past month.
She and her boyfriend were all upset about possibly missing dinner at the dining room. So I had to agree to drive directly there and eat with them as I needed to go over some medical things with them after dinner. We were late. Then it took forever to get my mom home. Did not get home till 8:30 and all I want to do now is to sink into the food.
But I cannot afford to do that.
Anyhow, I did take some time to credit myself today:
passed up a plate of cookies at the library
ate slowly and with few distractions at lunch; did not eat 1/2 my soup.
visited my ex in his office and did not eat the candy that he so conveniently keeps around as "bait."
So today was not a total disaster.
Sorry I can't respond to your posts. I am exhausted. More tomorrow. Just know that i am rooting for each and every one of you.
Today's info: I tracked none of my food nor did I plan dinner. I made my lunch and then really struggled to eat it. I would have willingly eaten something else, but I was just burnt out on that food. Kind of the same feeling for dinner, but money is extra tight right now, so I didn't feel I had the option of tossing it. I did leave food on my plate at lunch but forgot at breakfast and dinner. I did lots of walking on campus today, but opted for the elevator once at work. When I was working out regularly I took those stairs without it bothering me, but couldn't convince myself to do it today. Oh, and I did read my cards this morning before breakfast - I mean really read every one slowly. I get in a rush and just glance over them at times.
I am really down overall. I know we are supposed to feel worthy as individuals every day, not tied to anything. But, when I have really unproductive days like today where I had really counted on getting work done and then ended up going home early from work instead, I feel pretty aweful about myself now, as well as my future goals and ambitions. (Sorry for the aweful run on sentence.) Blech. I hate feeling this way!
BillBlueEyes, I read your post the first time and was trying to figure out what a "celebrity" cake was! Ha! Carrot cake is killer though, until I remind myself of the lack of nutrition. I have had a few versions that attempted to be "healthy", but you could tell they were working too hard on that and forgot to taste the end recipe. Great job on acceptance!
Eusebius, great to see you post. I've been off 3FC most of the semester too and just got back in around Thanksgiving. How did the planning and shopping go?
HollyP, great job on focusing on planning and tracking. I hope the day went well for you.
Maplover, glad you made it through that tough day and you were so focused on your plan and goals!! Great job!!!!
PamAtGA, I am amazed at all of the time you put in to these forums! Great for you. I must admit when I read your greating of "I hope all is well with your soul", I read it with a church chorus and it made me cry. I'm a mess tonight! I sincerely thank you for your words.
SarahBennett21, I loved your post! You have great ideas for rewards and some terrific benefits for your advantage cards too! Good question about the cookie. I guess leaving a little bit in the bag makes me feel more clear-headed than I would have otherwise. I definitely get the opposite feeling when I finish a plate of food and realize I forgot to stop to leave food on my plate. Definite retraining or old habits there... The replying to posts gets better when you stay caught up. When I get behind, I try to respond to the last day's worth (and any personal comments I find through searching the text on the page) or just the last 4. If I try to do more than that, I get discouraged about the time required. That is when I end up falling off of my posting routine for days-weeks-months. About the reward, I have read other people talk of charm bracelets where they get new charms for every X pounds, but if you don't need to focus on weight loss, that might not speak to you.
Tazzy, great job focusing on yourself while swimming. That is a tough one!
Welcome sarahbennett21
sarahbennett21. I had to smile when you said that if you answered each post you wouldn't have time for much else. Think of it this way....at least, not extra time to overeat. 
Great insights. Thanks for sharing!
