Hi Beckfolks/coaches/friends - my food was fine yesterday. I started my day doing mostly juice, broth & tea. When I saw my doctor I continued the day on plan with food.

I saw my family doctor last night. She thinks I may have a combination of two things going on. I do have a pulled muscle. (unfortuneately - that always happens when I increase my exercise - I didn't even increase very much). I need to take an nsaid medication for a time for that.

Also, I also have some symptoms of an unhappy gallbladder. I will have an ultra sound tomorrow to see what's going on. In the mean time, I am to follow a low/ or nonfat & bland diet. I can do that. I am hoping that this can assure of no more of those pains.

It's good to know what's what.

I need to hold off certain exercises because of the pulled muscle.

I feel like I have a plan and know what I can and cannot eat. I like that.

Happiness! I've lost two pounds since last Wednesday. I am always grateful for that. I am almost to my next mini goal of 209.

Hope you are all having a great day.

I'll try to get back for personals.
As always ... I truely apprecatiate your support, wisdom & kindness.

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday, I got thrown a curve ball that took up most of my day, so I didn't do about half of the stage 1 principles, but I did complete experiment 2 - only eating breakfast and dinner without panicking. Years ago I would have panicked just at the thought of going that long without eating, but this time it was more of an annoyance because I was having a bad day and wanted to comfort my self with food. At one point I thought about giving in, but I quickly reminded myself that I actually get a lot of "curve ball days" and I had to say NO CHOICE to this one otherwise I would just stay stuck in this hole until I finally sucked it up and stopped giving in.

Today was supposed to be experiment 3 - recognize fullness sets in. I already know this so I decided just to eat healthy today and try to do the other stage 1 principles. I'm not looking forward to experiment 4 where you have to throw food away. Save it for another time I can do, throwing it away, I'm not so sure.

SarahBennet21 I loved the poem. :) The principles that helped me most were recognizing that with each decision I was either strengthening my resistance muscle or giving in muscle, keeping temptations out of sight, and planning for the next day.

Onebyone They absolutely are sabotaging thoughts! Write out response cards for those too. The past only has as much power as you let it have in the present.

Perfect iPhone day. Did all the right things, felt all the right feelings, read all the right stuff, exercised my butt off. Now if I can just keep away from the kitchen till bedtime....

Hi Coaches/Buddies/Friends!

A quick check in here. We traveled West last evening and have my mom and sis with us. It is keeping me quite busy. Food has been healthy and sane but defies planning. Fortunately, my sis and I form a very healthy cooking partnership. Tonight we have kale, salad and a brown rice/lentil combo. Yum. I was able to get on the scale this afternoon at the club/pool. My reading was great, especially since it was not my usual time of day. *credit* for continuing to be mindful of my Beck inspired behaviors.

Four days of loss in a row. Working my plan works!

My exercise so far in January has been pretty abysmal. Fortunately, we're going to have a couple of warm days (possibly record-setting). I'm going to try to do my yard work vigorously enough that I feel good about counting it as exercise.

WI: -0.4kgs, Exercise:+0 50/1300 minutes for January, Food: 100%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

onebyone: great insight about the inner critic being a sabotaging thought. For some reason those critical thoughts have more of an aura of authority and, therefore, truth. But, you're right, the inner critic's "this will never work" is no more true than some of the more permissive sabotaging thoughts. In fact, the inner critic may be worse because he's the guy that makes it so hard to hop right back on track when things derail for any reason. Have you read Taming Your Gremlin by Rick Carson? He says a lot of what you were saying in your post.
You must have dealt with an inner critic in some effective ways while making your art. Are there any helpful ways you can recommend to us?

Tazzy: :-) Glad you liked my quote!

Hi, Coaches and Buddies.

Spent all of today running around for errands and doctors appointments. I am trying to get as much out of the way as possible prior to my very crazy spring semester.

I gave my resistance muscles tons of work today! They performed awesomely, I might add... I identified a craving and said NO CHOICE a couple of times today. I talked myself out of bringing junk food home with me. I planned a healthy dinner for guests coming over tomorrow. I weighed in and was down 1 pound. Did not get planned exercise in, but tomorrow am packing my gym bag so that I can workout Friday morning. I am going to go plan the rest of my food for tomorrow now and ready day 27, which I have put off for two nights now!!

BeverlyJoy, I'm really glad for you that you have a plan for moving forward, even if you have to give a few days rest from exercise. I hope the ultrasound is helpful for you! Congratulations on the loss.

BillBlueEyes, glad to hear your overcame the temptation of an entire box of chicken. Great job for getting the walk in.

FyreFlie24, good job being back on plan and for going to see a nutritionist. That is great news. It is tough to balance work and workouts, and I'm not even blessed with a kid. Kudos to you for that!

GardenerJoy, glad you had fun at the museum. I'm intrigued by your eating as if you had planned comment.

Iamworthit, good luck on throwing food away. Great job for NO CHOICE!

Lexxiss, that is terrific news that you have such a healthy eating mother and sister. That is a real treasure. Great job getting your weigh in done.

Maplover, sending supportive thoughts as you get back in to your positive Beck habits! You can do it and it will feel great!

Melroseg2002, brrrrr! I hope your heat is working again. Great job with the food tracking!

OneByOne, glad to hear you are almost back to the -5%! That is great! I think we believe it more when we are more successful and maintaining. I'm waiting for that day eagerly too!

Tazzy, great job for bypassing all of those sweet things!! Also credit for getting in spontanous exercise.

Beckies!

Thanks for all your kind words and inspiring words!!! I am feeling so much better after just a couple of days on plan. It doesn't take long to feel better... If you have any thoughts on intuitive eating (e.g., Geneen Roth, Susan Orbach) I'd appreciate them as I am interested in your experiences. Also, Eat to Live. I am still tinkering to find what will work for me long term diet wise. No poem today!

OnebyOne: Minus 15C heaven help you! Credit for staying on track in spite of such cold weather. Funny how it always feels better to be in control than out of it, isn't it? I found these words inspiring: "Even *worrying* about staying on plan, (while I am on plan), is infinitely better than being off plan for any length of time, and worrying about getting back on plan! Crazy. Better to keep it simple and stay on plan." The real question is that, given this, knowing this, why do we make it complicated/more difficult for ourselves and go off plan? Kudos for weighing in. I know the deal with the tidying, have a similar bunch of stuff to do myself and had spent days staring at it, though have finally got started and now am feeling excited as I move through it, it's like something is shifting internally and I feel a growing confidence. I find these things can really affect my state of mind. Critical for me was breaking the tasks into smaller manageable chunks. Good luck with it! YAY for the weight loss!!!

Pamatga: I know what you mean about ambivalent! The past is in the past. I am feeling the same but for now, I am trying to keep that separate from what I am doing. I am not promising myself I always will. I'm not ruling out sinking into food in the future (somehow that thought helps me right now) but for now I am just starting to act differently and actually it's helping to create a distance from the mistakes that I made over holiday season (and before!). Well done though for being straight with yourself, being here and doing things. I appreciate your posts! Thanks for your honesty, it helps me and I love the mantra Finish What You Start. There is always more I want to say about your posts than I have time to but I'll keep it short and just say that they really strike a chord with me.

Melroseg2002: Credit for getting back on track, and the exercise!!! Especially in the bitter cold. Do you find fresh fruit and veggies help?

Erika: That's interesting combining calorie counting with trying to eat as healthy as possible. I'm thinking about a modified version of eat to live to try next (so I calorie count with say 20-30% flexibility to eat what I like rather than the recommended 10%). I started (but didn't finish) couch to 5K some time back, enjoyed it then lost my ipod. Now I have another ipod and no excuses so I'm sitting on my couch thinking of trying it again! WTG to bumping up the exercise and being OP!

FFC: Like the approach to going off plan with the skim milk in terms of being positive and learning from it rather than using it as a reason to go off the rails! Well done for the weight loss and glad to hear your mom's surgery went well. I've read Geneen Roth too, but the problem I had with it was with the idea that I would get tired of eating sweets if I allowed myself them. I did try it for quite a while, but I seemed to just want more and more sweets and it didn't stop it just got worse. I find I have to exert control over certain foods. I don't know if you have had that experience?

Gardenerjoy: Congrats on the weight loss (4 days in a row WOW), and thank you for your kind comments!

Maplover: Credit you you for working on things and exercising the resistance muscle. I'm trying to take January off sugar and so far have found that has helped me A LOT. The more sugar I eat the more I seem to want, and the more rubbish I feel, so I am starting to think it may not be for me. How do you feel about the sugar thing?

BBE: Credit for being on plan, being here, all your comments, your consistency, you are such a rock!!!

Donamari: Kudos for getting onto things and being so positive!

Tazzy: OMG WTG for what you said no too!

Beveryjoy: Big credit for the weight loss and I do hope you feel better soon. Losing weight probably helps, right?

I Am Worth It: Thank you for the tips, repeated here for my benefit: "The principles that helped me most were recognizing that with each decision I was either strengthening my resistance muscle or giving in muscle, keeping temptations out of sight, and planning for the next day." Also love: "I had to say NO CHOICE to this one otherwise I would just stay stuck in this hole until I finally sucked it up and stopped giving in." Motivating!

Lexxiss: Credit for the healthy eating! Love the sound of that dinner!

I am going to keep this short because I need to get into bed so I can spend all of tomorrow catching up on the new tax codes, laws and compliances so I can test out on all of that before taking on my first client. I haven't had this kind of stress in my life in quite a while. I don't like it.

So, this will be brief. I read all of your posts but I won't comment them in this post. Hopefully, tomorrow or even Friday, if it works out that way.

Credit I have had two very good days regarding eating within my recommended calorie range and nutrient distribution. I have logged my food, eaten sitting down (which I do anyway but thought I would mention that) and I am exploring non caloric options for when my stomach feels empty. Tonight it was 2 cups of gingerbread spice Celestial Seasonings tea. It did the trick. Kept me warm and feeling full.

Credit In pushing for balance throughout the day. Even though I really needed to keep pressing on with the tax law updates, I stopped to watch a movie I had recorded for Paul and I. It wasn't one of my favorites but it was his. I made sure that I also straightened up, made dinner and also had some time to play some online games.

I am in awe of how several people in this challenge are really on target with everything. I am concerned about one person who is consistently eating half of what BLC recommends. This challenge is about eating healthy and within the recommended caloric range. I am awaiting her response. I have decided to keep an eye on this and not "push" her to eat more. There could be a medical reason including depression. It could also be an eating disorder.

Several others have told me of their medical needs which have to play into their food plans. I have made a note besides their names so I can check that against how they are doing. Above all, I want to be fair in my assessment since the implication is that if you accept an Invite for a Buddy Challenge, you follow through on the "guidelines" of that challenge. Either way, if she stays for the next challenge, she will be increasing her activity level which should stimulate her appetite, if she doesn't have one.

Since so many are doing so well (this is the fourth day), I have decided that in order to "thin the crowd" I am going to up the anty starting on January 23rd and introduce some additional elements of food accountability. I will research the pink and green book and see what seems to be a good segue.

Credit: So far, I am also taking care of myself, which I was not doing this past fall.

Congrats everyone on picking up where you left off before the tsunami of food hit it last month. Here's to a better January.

Pam

Thursday
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Wasn't a particularly productive day. I put a new weather stripping on the front door - but it was too thick and the door wouldn't close. So, now it's half-weather-stripped until I try the next thing. At moments like this I envy my friends who just sold their large, lovely house to move into a condo. Food was OK, CREDIT moi; exercise nil. I left a bite at dinner, CREDIT moi. I'm still feeling happy that there's no food from the Eating Season left around.

onebyone – Terrific idea to say "NO CHOICE to the skeptic." There is a fortune to be made from a pill that erases negative stuff from childhood.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Kindly send some of your excess warmth to the east coast. Congrats on 4 days in a row.

Debbie (Lexxiss) – Yay for having a sis who contributes to healthy cooking. Any meal with kale is a winner.

Beverlyjoy – Ouch for a pulled muscle when you want to exercise. Hope your TLC with your gallbladder solves the problem.

FutureFitChick – Kudos for an awesomely performing resistance muscle. Amazing what exercising it can do.

Tazzy - Kudos for NO CHOICE to open boxes of delectables. LOL at the design of that walk - 2 blocks east then 2 blocks west.

Donamari (fyreflie24) – Yep, "trying to balance kid/work/workouts is challenging." Kudos for taking on the visit to a nutritionist - let us know how that works out.

maplover – Love the notion of "Perfect iPhone day." Great summary.

sarahbennett21 – Neat to recognize that only a couple of days on plan is enough to start feeling better. I can't help you with Intuitive Eating - it's just not my thing because my hungry sensor isn't very reliable any more.

Melissa (melroseg2002) – Ouch for the lost heater - some of us way up here like to think of WV as needing no heat, LOL. Kudos for using the gum and counting your roll with dinner. (Hope that kid mends quickly.)

I am worth it – Super, Super Kudos for recognizing 'actually get a lot of "curve ball days" ' and throwing NO CHOICE at it. Yep, curve ball days and special occasions happen frequently.

Readers -

4 lbs lost Woohoo!
 

I got on the scale today and was super excited to see that I have already lost 4lbs!! I wasn't expecting much loss and was really just curious but I was well rewarded. This definately psychs me up to get my exercise in today and load up on fruits and veggies. I have a meeting to get to in a few so I will check back in later.

Sarahbennett - yes, I do find that the fruits and veggies work very well, especially since I pick ones that I really love. I like most all fruits and veggies but usually shy away from more expensive ones to cut food costs down. Since I know I need to get more into my diet I decided to heck with that and bought snow pea pods (love them) and some fruit and veggie snack packs at Walmart. Those are nice to keep in the fridge at work - they have apples, grapes and some cheese in them. Also, oranges are in season and they are delicious so I stock up on those until I can't stand the sight of them anymore. It also helps me that I am trying to be a good role model to my 10 year old daughter - what better way than to load up on veggies at dinner?

Its been a busy few days, so I haven't checked in here! Hello to everyone.
I have been lurking around 3FC for years now, and my weight has gone up and down and up and down. But I've been really working on it for the last 6 months, and I've lost about 25 pounds, and am starting to feel that with the skills I'm learning, I might be able to do this once and for all.
Of course, tomorrow will be a challenge. I know that planning works for me, but when I can't plan, I'm very susceptible to kicking off on a major binge. And tomorrow is "donut day" at work in the morning, team lunch at noon (and I can't plan ahead, as the team decides on the location 'on the fly'), then a after-work business event as well.
But I'm planning on my usual breakfast - no choice - no donuts. Committing to making wise choices at lunch/dinner. And getting right back on the plan Saturday morning.

Bill - thank you for the very sparkly welcome! I have had the Beck book around my house for quite a while, and have read it before, but decided that now I really need to put it into practice. No choice!

Val - thanks for posting the link to the mindfulness research. Very helpful!

And hello to everyone else!! I'm very inspired by your successes!

I had no trouble whatsoever today with cravings. This is really unusual for me.
One thing that I did differently was get back to the gym last night. Very strenuous workout. It felt good to be back.
I also lost 2.4 lbs...down a total of 1.4 from where I started (yes I went up a pound from where i started).
It feels great to eat clean. I am measuring everything and packing my lunch and snacks.
Tomorrow I have to eat out for lunch. I have it all planned and I will use this day to leave something on my plate.
Also have to report that I felt fullness toward the end of my lunch, which is really unusual for me...I set an alarm for 20 minutes after I finished lunch and was surprised that that helped me to resist my typical post-lunch cravings.

Beverlyjoy: hope you feel better soon, but kudos for the 2 lbs!

I am worth it: love the wisdom about curve ball days. I have a lot of them, too

Lexxiss: credit you for mindfulness

gardnerjoy: I love it that you are rocking the weight loss!

FFC: Bravo for exercising the resistance muscles. They do work if you work them!

sarahbennett21: I'm with Bill. My intuition with regards to food is shot. I have to keep away from sugar, so I identify with your thinking on this.

pamatga: taking care of yourself when you are otherwise stressed out is a good thing.

BBE: as usual, thanks!

melroseg2002: 4 lbs! spectacular.

A Happy Day
 

Coaches

A very happy day here today.

I went to my WW weigh-in and meeting and saw a -3.2lb drop, bringing me back to under my 5% goal, so no need to change my ticker/signature line, and I am only 0.2lb off from my latest low of 272.8 reached Dec 22. I am sure I will be under 270 by the time I leave for Key West.

Speaking of which... I got my plane tickets. I leave Jan 31st and return March 1st. I take possession of the cottage, with attached working studio, 2pm Feb 1st and must be out by noon, Feb 29th... the 29th of Feb... an extra day.. a leap year even. I bought some new printing ink today, plus a roll of Japanese paper, and a 12" x 12" piece of linoleum to carve. On Monday night I'm doing a demo of printmaking techniques to the Potter's Guild--techniques that can be adapted to clay and ceramics. My thinking was to commit myself to this demo/talk because it would force me to get going on printmaking before I leave for my art residency. As it turns out I have two print submission deadlines all of a sudden plus this demo so I can't escape it even if I wanted to. And I don't. My sister called to tell me she saw the blurb on the January artists-in-residence where I will be and she said she felt a twinge of fear for me. She said there is a real spotlight and focus put on the individual and I thought OMG I cannot wait to be somewhere where they want me for my art. It's been a year since I felt anything like that; not since I moved and left all my contacts and supports behind. I feel so glad that I set this up for myself. It is exactly the shot in the arm I need right now. Hopefully the momentum I get from there will carry me forward when I return. Well, coaches, since I will be in contact, you will be the first to know ;)

So a good day all 'round. I do believe this will be the year I drop this weight for good. I look forward to being about 80lbs lighter by my birthday this year-that's November and that's crossing over into Onederland one day at a time.

:hug: To All.

I had one of those days where I was hungry a lot of the time. It helped to remember that hunger is not an emergency. And it helped that I am still surprised and curious that I have days like this. Back when I was overeating, I had no idea that some days have more hunger sensations than others for no discernible reason.

We had a record high of 66 degrees today! I spent a couple of hours cleaning up my garden bed, hauling compost, shoveling, raking, weeding. Plus, took a walk.

I harvested the last of our chard and lettuce today. I'm so pleased that I managed my garden into January -- with a little help from a mild winter.

WI: +0.65kgs, Exercise:+130 180/1300 minutes for January, Food: 100%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

sarahbennett21: I've looked at Eat to Live several times but never went there. Too little meat to keep my husband happy and too little oil to keep me happy. I guess I'm a middle of the road dieter because I don't like high protein plans either.
I agree with BillBlueEyes that I don't believe intuitive eating would work for me because my intuition is broken in that area. That's why Beck's plan ahead method has worked so well for me. But you may be able to make it work. If you want to try intuitive eating with just a little structure to boost it along, I recommend Naturally Thin by Bethenny Frankel. It's an intuitive eating approach with some rules or guidelines to keep things in check.

onebyone: yay for such a wonderful day and all that positive thinking!

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday went well. Today did too. I went OP a little but jumped right back on for dinner. (Credit Moi)

sarahbennett21 Good luck on laying off sugar for January, and here's hoping you don't do what I did. I did successfully avoid sugar last January. However, that was my only focus and I just substituted bread and crackers for sweets. I didn't lose a pound. I didn't feel any better. And I "made up for it" with Valentine's Day treats. Limiting sugar is a very good thing! Just watch the other carbs too. :)