Hi coaches/friends... I am so grateful to be able to say that yesterday a healthy day. I did have some credits: planned/measured/logged food, exercise, water, left a bite, no seconds, journal, did some deep breathing, and tried to slow down.

I got on the scale again.. I am down. I hope I can finally get under 214 soon.

Billbe - stay safe- time to hunker down.
Onebyone - credit for bringing back previously helpful actions! I had gigs in January... and I have some coming up in February and March. Thanks for asking.
[B]Bigchiefdavid - GREAT on three pounds down. Carry on!
gardenerjoy - it takes alot of figuring it out... to see how and what works with food. It's a learning process for sure.
Ibelieveinme -WONDERFUL!!!!! I am so, so happy you've gotten into onederland!!!

So sorry I don't have time for personals for everyone. Have a great evening and Saturday.

I havent posted in the last few days. I have had a rough week at work including having to call CPS about a student this morning. It was a soul-sucking week.
I am going to eat a favorite food in moderation tonight just cause I want to.
People in the northeast, take care.
JuliaIsInABlueFunk

Trip is going great! Following becks on trip ... not great. In fact, pretty terrible.

Quick note to those affected by the blizzard - hope you're safe and warm! Bill be careful if you venture out!

Saturday - Snowpocalypse Nemo
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Zipper update: Realized that clear tape would be best for a permanent fix to my coat. Then remembered that Scotch Tape is clear, so tried that. Worked perfectly, but pulled off after several cycles of putting on the coat. I do need a more permanent tape - perhaps the nylon tape sold for emergency tent repair at the sporting goods stores. There's a crafts store (Michael's) within walking distance that might have something. Current attempt is normal Adhesive Tape from the medicine closet since it's made of cloth. It's working, but the white is highly visible when the coat isn't zipped. Such a great diversion while the snow just keeps getting deeper outside.

Exercise was walking (CREDIT moi) to the supermarket for bananas. I'd made my normal weekend trip at 7 am yesterday - when no one would be there. Was I ever wrong; it was packed. When leaving at 7:30 am the parking lot was jammed with folks looking for a space. But the bananas weren't available yet - a first for me to see a supermarket without bananas - which is why I had to go walking later to get them. Eating while watching the snow accumulate was good enough, CREDIT moi.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – LMAO at the Amazon reviews of the banana slicer. Sending sleepy thoughts your way.

Debbie (Lexxiss) – Neat use of No Choice for swimming.

Beverlyjoy – Yay for "a healthy day."

maryann - Sweet potatoes cooked with apples is one of the best - can't wait to hear how they taste when juiced.

BigchiefDavid – Congrats on those three pounds. Will think of you enjoying the parades while I'm shoveling. I do have the advantage that I can't snack while wearing gloves, LOL.

nationalparker – I'll also think of you being warm when shoveling today. Enjoy your trip.

Julia (Julia150) – Sending supportive thoughts as you process your feelings for doing the professional thing with the Child Protective Services call. Kudos for being aware that feelings aren't hunger. I wish you well.

Readers -

Weekend...finally!
 

Hi everybody, it's saturday, finally! I weighed in this morning and I was happy to see I'm stable, because it's been a hard and busy week and I overate on thursday evening. I had a craving, I identified the trigger.. but....I don't know, I didn't want to reply to my sabotating thoughts, sometimes it happens unfortunately. I'm not perfect, I know that. :^:
Anyway, I told myself I'm not a bad person for that, and I compensate with my eating yesterday, I stayed OP I went swimming, walking every working day of the week, so credit to me.
I ate a small breakfast this morning and only a salad without dressing sause only vinegard for lunch, because I'm gonna have pizza tonight so I'll be within 1400 Kcal, good planning!
Anyway about cravings and overeating I decided to create a sort of card with some questions I will have to answer to when those situations happens. A sort of PIR (post incident review) to identify time, thoughts, feelings and so on. I will force myself to answer the questions, I think this could help preventing overeating and understand better how to avoid it.
I wish you all a very good weekend!
Baci,
Kitty

Hi all.

Checking I. Com Chicago on my iPhone.

BillBE--I saw the original of your avatar yesterday!

Even eating two restaurant meals yesterday (brunch and dinner) my best estimates had me close to my weight loss calorie goal.

I had two pieces of pizza, feeling a bit defiant about it and while eati g the second, thought about having a slice from the other pizza, but eating slowly and savoring my Chicago pizza left me full and satisfied after two slices.

For brunch, I asked for one egg instead of the two that came with the meal, but their definition of a small amount of hash browns didn't match mine. So, I partitioned it off and only ate what I "kept" as a serving.

No exercise unless you count walking all day at The Art Institute.

Today is grandma's birthday party--97th--I am rereading Beck before we go and reminding myself that special occasions aren't an excuse for going off plan.

Best to all--personals will wait until I have a computer again!

Hey Coaches and Becksters:

Quick check in before heading out for Carnival world...sending positive thoughts for those facing the snowy onslaught..

Bill--just remember to use those legs when you're shoveling, and I've found it's much harder snack on the parade route when there's a kid on my shoulders, not that it can't be done :)

Until that time...

Good Morning, Coaches.

Credit for having a plan even though Dance Duty sent me into the office for chocolate foraging. As has been my pattern, I compensated with a small dinner. (Grrrr. ) It is the weekend and I am changing this pattern this minute. Credit for going to DS Spaghetti dinner and eating nothing (I ate homemade split pea soup before I left-yum.) Planned food and planned walk today. Just hanging with DS sounds good to me. We desperately need seem winter here in california. The draught is ominous for my farmer husband.

I juiced a sweet potato and two fuji apple and it was DELICIOUS--fresh and sweet. After I go food shopping, i am going to try pineapple, orange and sweet potato. I hear it is even better. Going to juice for DS this morning. It feels like a luxury.

BBE: Might think about an iron-0on stabilizer-one sided. You can iron it on the back side of the zipper. Should cost about 10 cents. Joanna's fabrics has it.
Lexxiss: What goes in your smoothie?
Julia150: Sorry for the tough week. I certainly know how that goes. Blick.

The Game On Diet has a "day off" and another "meal off" each week. I did okay with the day off -- used it on days when the 5 defined meals wouldn't work around restaurant meals or events. But the "meal off" has backfired on me twice--turning into an hour-long overeating orgy. Not a good fit with my Beck skills. My plan needs some flexibility, but it still needs to be a plan!

BillBlueEyes: Hope all goes well with the clean-up from the big storm. Kudos for finding distraction in no-calorie coat repair.

Hi! Yesterday was a healthy day... grateful for that. Yesterday I really concentrated on eating slowly. Two meals were over 20 minutes . Dinner was about 17 minutes. The snacks were about five minutes each, maybe. Taking baby steps. I took Dr. Becks advice to count to ten after my bite of food is thoroughly chewed. That slows ya down, for sure. It actually takes a longer time than I thought to get a whole bite really chewed and swallowed.Credit.

My food was about 90% on plan. In the evening I had an extra rice cake and some apple. I still was within the perimeter of my plan - but, not planned. DH called and said he was hankering for 'real sloppy joes'. I didn't eat any and switched my dinner. But, it worked fine.

Some other credits: planned/measured/logged food, read Beck, exercise/sodium/water, always left a bite, seated mostly, deep breaths before each meal/snack, gave myself credit during the day, and did a meditation.

In congunction with my sodium watch I poached chicken to have in the freezer. Also, I've been cooking up bean/legumes to have on hand too. I am always amazed how much sodium is in almost any processed food.

Such a GOOD reminder from the excerpt from Dr. Beck's book today about NOT letting a time of overeating derail a whole day.. by starting again tomorrow. This is something that I still struggle with.

Gardenerjoy - credit for trying to make it all work. It is a learning process being on maintainance. For me, too, sometimes it's hard to have a 'free' meal and then not carry on eating off plan. It's hard to 'transition' back to the plan that very day. Practice, I guess will help, maybe.

maryann - I so understand how chocolate call be like a magnet. Hop right back on your plan and you will be fine. Your juice sounds delicious!! I saw Dr. Oz's show on the Belly Fat Diet. I was considering it... I can't eat dairy in the morning because of a medicine I take. I can't eat citrus (lemon) because of my reflux. Let me know how it goes.

bigchefdavid- great idea to have your child on your shoulders as a decoy from eating!!! Credit.

bethfromdayton - so glad you checked in. Credit for using many of your Beck techniques. Happy Birthday to your Grandma. Carry on!

bootedkitty - Credit for maintaining your weight during a busy time. You've handled so many things so well... identifying sabatoging thoughts, making a new card, and your PIR card. Glad you know you are NOT a bady person for eating some extra. Credit on all your planned exercise.

billbe - am loving the Tale of a Zipper. I imagine the food stores were packed yesterdday, indeed. I hope you and your family are OK and have some heat/power.

nationparker- credit for chekcing in. Hop back on your plan and do the best you can. Have fun!

Julia150 - yes, those reports to CPA are such an emotional time. Glad you checked. Enjoy your favorite restaurant... sounds like you are going with a plan. Credit

lexxiss/debbie - credit for no emotional eating! Yes, gotta get in your smoothie.

Have a great day!

Sunday - New Moon the day after Nemo
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Zipper update: Medicine cabinet Adhesive Tape stayed tight on the coat's inner lapel all day - no stuck zipper. It was a good stress test since I shoveled then rested for some six circuits zipping up and down each time. The snow was pretty heavy where mounded by the street plow making the whole affair a good upper body workout. A black magic marker would correct the brilliant white of Adhesive Tape. But I've seen magic marker make stains when wet, so that's not an optimum idea. The best notion to date is maryann's suggestion to use iron on patches. Iron-on makes them seriously permanent and I can get black. I've found them on Amazon in the new category of "Add-on Items" that will ship free on my next order of $25. All I have to do is find $25 worth of books that I need. I must buy books to make the patch on my coat fashionable. Rabbit in a brier patch.

Shoveling (for the exercise, CREDIT moi) loses its fun pretty quickly so I intersperse reading The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives which has me mesmerized. The book might achieve its goal to make be believe that I can't predict anything outside of random patterns. Each pause between shoveling seemed to draw its own snack - Ouch for a day of multiple snacks justified by all the exercise I was getting.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Kudos for working the issue of juggling real life with a five meal plan. Love the thought, "My plan needs some flexibility, but it still needs to be a plan!"

Beverlyjoy – Eating slowly is easy for me at dinner with DW. We get to chatting and can go on for a long time. It's harder for lunch at my desk or snacks when I lose track and then suddenly all the food is gone.

maryann - Whatever "Dance Duty" is at a Middle School, it makes me want to go chocolate foraging from here, LOL. It's ominous also how little attention the drought is getting in public press - as if the source of our food was only the farmer's problem. [Thanks for the Iron-on tip - that's gotta be the way to go.]

BigchiefDavid – Yay for kids on the shoulders for keeping the hands away from snacking. Keep on trucking through Carnival mindfully. [Thanks for the reminder. I'm using the new bent handle snow shovel that helps to keep the back straight.]

Beth (bethFromDayton) – Super Kudos for eating mindfully while out and about in exciting places and celebrations. That carving up of breakfast deserves its own Kudos. Happy Birthday to your 97 year old grandmother. [Yep, The Art Institute of Chicago claims that its copy is the original of my Avatar. Will have Theo talk to them.]

Kitty (Bootedkitty) – Seems like a major part of success that you have accepted "I'm not perfect" and move from there to find responses to Sabotaging Thoughts. I drool every time you mention pizza, since the best pizza I've ever had was in Milano.

Readers -

Good morning everyone,

Ended up with a suprising weigh in this morning, down another 1.4, was convinced no loss was going to happen but just kept saying "follow the plan". Went to Costco yesterday and was getting really annoyed with everyone who had to stop for a sample, to the point of almost telling the store to line all the samples up in one aisle and then those of us just there to shop could while those there to "eat their lunch" could get out of the way :dizzy: And credit for me I didn't have any interest in trying any of them!

Going into the office today as I volunteered our boardroom for a workshop. It will give me a chance to do a few things at my desk that need undivided attention. I have some tax related work on files where we hired entertainment to come to Calgary who are non-residents. I'll have time while there to come back and catch up on personals. :wave:

Last day of the Game On Diet, but I think I'm going to keep going with that food plan for awhile. Except that I'm adding an orange back to my breakfast. And I'm letting go of the "meal off" notion and going back to the more Beck notion of planning meals out as needed.

I started four weeks ago near the top of my maintenance range and I ended near the bottom! Going on a diet is an unintuitive way of getting into maintenance, but I was really worried about some part of me deciding that maintenance meant going back to "normal." When, really, maintenance means maintaining what I've been doing for the last 3+ years: planning, cooking, exercising, eating with restraint.

I was pleased how easy the Game On Diet was for me. My companions on this really struggled. Beck was right -- dieting is a skill set. And, after 3+ years, I've got skills. Not perfect, of course. But then, that's one of the skills -- to not let perfectionism get in the way of progress.

Hi Coaches!

Glad to hear the storm is passing. I'm watching tv for a guy with big arms shoveling...I think I'll recognize the tape on his jacket zipper :lol:

As for me, still looking for a ripe organic banana as I travel back today and am in need of "just one".

Food has been pretty good these past few days and I actually managed to eat less than usual yesterday as a surprising reaction to the stressy issues which have popped up while I've been here. credit. Today is a dessert auction w/appetizers after church. DH just placed a smoothie in front of me which will help with the hunger issue. I made a gluten free blueberry pineapple cake and while it's not OP it does not have crisco frosting, either. I made an small sampler, which DH and I both sampled. I think he'll buy my cake for an outrageous amt of money instead of some of the others which have unidentified ingredients.

Better run!

Have Banana (I hope) Will Travel!

Good Morning, Coaches.

Quiet sunny day here in California. The boys are down at the ranch pulling out a tree. I plan to hang here near the gas stove and get not much done-- a difficult idea for an overachiever such as myself. Food was mostly OP--homemade split pea soup was a hit even with DS. Just got back from my first yoga in about ten days and boy was I tight.

Grocery store shopping has still not happened. Today is three weeks since i have hit the supermarket. Part of the delay was a self imposed pantry challenge to save some money and use up everything I have--no waste. My ground rules were I would shop when I ran out of milk for the boys or couldn't provide DS with at least five fruit and veggies a day. The challenge is a little easier for a farmer's wife whose husband brings up a box of sweet potatoes, picks oranges off our tree, grinds the wheat berries from August into flour and still has frozen pear puree from July. Credit though for regular meal planning and cooking from scratch--a lot. DH says I am no longer allowed to tease about Mormons since we "out stock" them now.

Anyway, for this shopping trip I have a new phone app which adds up costs on the shopping list. I can put the best price for the four stores I will hit.

Lexxiss: How is it possible that you mention crisco frosting and I think "Yum?"
Beverleyjoy: Glad yesterday was healthy. Thanks for the reminder that a diet starts any minute of the day we decide it to start.
BBE:Your book does sound interesting but i have to read The Vintage Collection of Contemporary Stories edited by Tobias Wolfe. I wonder when I will return to pleasure reading.