[gardenerjoy]

I did make a plan yesterday. Even better, I followed it! I have a plan for today, too.

WI: -0.1 kg, Exercise: +50 785/1400 minutes for September, Food: 100% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

onebyone: nice to see you here! You know that I always love having you here and worry about you when you're away. Cool that you had such a great project to work on, though. I hope you enjoy the time with your Florida sister and that will make up for some of the less pleasant aspects of those days.

VioletDolphin83: good for you for experimenting with your points to see what works. Posting is much the same -- see what works for you. Daily works for me and things start to slip if I start skipping it.

[bethFromDayton]

Hi all,

Had to make an adjustment to my breakfast plan today. I slept too late and didn't have time for breakfast before my doctor's appointment, so ended up with a Lite Delight muffin from McDs. When the nurse was entering all my data in, the program actually asked her to verify my weight, since it's down 50 lbs from what it was when I was last there 2 years ago.

I didn't walk in the morning, but did walk in the evening. My foot is giving me problems. I made an appointment with the podiatrist for tomorrow to talk about it--it's been 5.5 months since my surgery--and I'm still having issues.

I've got lunch and snack packed for tomorrow and all of tomorrow's food entered into MFP. I'm going out for breakfast (work meeting), so looked up the restaurant's web page and decided what to order.

I didn't read Beck today--and it's too late to do that now. I will read a chapter tomorrow.

For spontaneous exercise, I only used the 3rd floor restroom yesterday and today (I work on the 1st floor).

And I had one fewer soda at work and drank water instead, so credit for that, too.

I'm having another party on Saturday. (It'd be easier to diet if I didn't go to or give parties.) I am going to plan my snacks in advance and spend as little time as possible in the kitchen and around the food. I'm the host, so that's a bit hard, but people tend to make themselves at home in my kitchen, so I don't have to do everything myself. Parties have been my downfall.

Any ideas for a response card to combat: "I'm not going to think about it"--and then REALLY not thinking about it? I turn off my brain for the remainder of the event and eat nonstop. I need to intercept that somehow--preferably early. I have been successful at parties in the past--I know it's possible and that I can do it. I need to convince myself that I can have a great time and hardly eat at all even though there is plenty of food there.

gardenerjoy: Credit for having and following your plan!

ForMyGirls: Credit for walking--even in the rain--and what a great bonus to get to do it with someone you want to be with![/B]

BillBE: I'm impressed with the dumping of cookies. I have many cookies in my freezer--and have two upcoming parties to serve them at. They're homemade cookies, though, which are harder to dump. I hope your back is improving.

VioletDolphin: Credit for exercising as much as you did! As for posting, I post as close to daily as I can manage. I find that doing well OP and writing longer and more detailed posts go together. When I "do it quickly", it seems to coincide with not making my weight loss and health a priority. You'll find what you need for your best success!

Take care, all!

[VioletDolphin83]

Hi coaches!
Lost another 0.4 kg so now I'm out of the 130s! Yay!! I guess I don't really need to post often here because I already have 2 diet coaches off the net. Does anyone else have more than one coach? I tell my husband my weight every day and how well I'm eating and exercising etc. I tell him about my cravings, the side effects I've had of weightloss, my motivations, everything really. I come here when I have a problem that I think only other dieters can solve.

I worry that I've become too obsessive about my weightloss and really need to figure out how to balance it with everything else in my life. Normally I'm a housewife and have novel writing as a hobby. Well both have suffered since focusing so much on my weightloss. But I feel I need this level of motivation in order to lose weight. And I really do have to lose weight because I'm having problems with my back, knees and ankles due to my weight and it's really limiting my mobility. I was thin up until the age of 20 and I've been obese for about 8 years and I feel that I'm not really built for carrying this amount of weight. One thing that gets me through the day is remembering what it was like to be thinner and having a life without aching joints.

I successfully lost my excess weight in the past in my early twenties through eating healthier and controlling my portions. I didn't lose weight with any program. I also didn't weigh myself often but I took notice of my clothing sizes instead and also went by measuring tape. Unfortunately I only maintained the weightloss for 6 months and then I started gaining weight again. So I guess I have that to look back on too.

Sorry for a bit of a life story. I just felt the need to vent.

[3rdTimeLucky]

Hello. Flying visit. Have been doing well. Have discovered MyFitnessPal. How epic is that!! Will post again later but wanted to say hi.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Special walk, CREDIT moi, to hear a lecture about Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. Hard to justify why I'd go to listen to such a "bummer of a topic" in the words of the speaker. With the floods in Colorado and the drought in California it's hard to ignore the subject. Did gym, CREDIT moi, including my second exercise class. I was better at remembering a sequence of four steps, LOL, and delighted when a more flexible member got lost more than I did.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, partially because there's no nibble food in the house now. There is benefit to empty shelves when that special kind of hunger strikes whose source is in feelings instead of the gut. We had a dinner salad without lettuce because my neat scheme to double our lettuce consumption wasn't matched with a scheme to procure double the lettuce, LOL.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Yay for planning.

VioletDolphin83 – Goodbye 130's. Congratulations. Kudos for the terrific Response, "remembering what it was like to be thinner." A little obsession seems right to me when getting started on a new life style. Subsequently, planning can reduce obsession.

Beth (bethFromDayton) – Kudos for small steps like one less soda. In Response to, "I'm not going to think about it," you could try, "Because I'll have a plan and will just mindlessly follow my plan." [Dumping a homemade cookie won't occur until after I've attained enlightenment.]

ForMyGirls - Yay for combining walking with enjoyable conversation.

3rdTimeLucky - Flying Hello right back. Neat that you like MyFitnessPal.

Readers -

day 6 Find a Diet Coach

What to Discuss with your Coach

During your scheduled weekly meeting, you should talk about: . . .

• The struggles you had in the past week. Talk about your cravings, slipups, or this program. Ask your coach to help you find ways to deal with setbacks and challenges in the future. Report your sabotaging thoughts and ask for help with how to respond to them.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), pg 87.

[ForMyGirls]

Hello coaches,

Big excitement for the day was a radical haircut :-) really short pixie cut (think Jamie Lee Curtis or Judi Dench). I haven't had it this short since I was in my late 20's but I just love it!

100% OP on food today but I didn't do my planned exercise - wasn't "in the mood" in the morning and promised myself I would do it later. I should know by now that that just doesn't work for me. Will have to make a "I'm not in the mood" response card. Some credits - I didn't celebrate my haircut with an Icecream from a favourite Icecream place just near my hairdresser - I just enjoyed the haircut :-) I didn't turn to food in my "not in the mood" mood. In fact - it is kinda cool that I didn't even really contemplate trying to change my mood with food.

Gardener joy - yay for plans made and followed

Beth - yay to you for changing your health so much you made a computer do a double-take! Some thoughts for party strategies - are some of the things you said in your post a good response? "I have been successful in the past" or "I can have fun without eating". I wonder whether a mindfulness approach might help as well so rather than arguing with the thoughts just acknowledge them. Eg: "oh, there it is again, that "I want to eat that cookie" thought". Is another strategy to nurse a drink of some sort - perhaps a hot drink so it last's a long time - so your hands are busy. Hot drink might be good too because there is the warmth in your hands to give an alternate focus. Maybe even a distraction strategy - plan for "when I think of eating the food instead I will notice the warmth of the drink in my hands". Not sure if any of that will be helpful- parties are pretty tricky.

VioletDolphin - it was good to hear some life story. I know what you mean about the weight loss become a bit all consuming - but I figure if there is room and time in your life to devote lots of time to your weight loss then grab that time and use it! I am in one of the less busy times of my life at the moment so figure I will make the most of this opportunity to bed down some new habits and hopefully it will take a bit less of my time when life gets busier again. I am finding that I spend a lot less time posting, planning etc than I did in the first month or so, so I think my theory is working.

3TL -Hi back :-)

BBE - I empathised with the benefits of a no nibble food kitchen. When I was so grumpy last weekend I spent a good ten minutes in front of the pantry and fridge thinking "if i am going to blow this diet I'm so not doing it for a boring muesli bar" and eventually walked away with an apple. Totally love your suggested response for Beth!

[Lexxiss]

Hi Coaches!

I'm on the run but wanted to say hi! The rains have pretty much stopped which has been helpful but flooding still continues as the water continues to move out of the mountains and onto the plains. Our friend from Alaska took extra time to stop by the restaurant yesterday as he was driving to Estes Park for the first time since his evacuation to see what he had left. He was pretty fortunate losing his greenhouse and deck yet having a structure left to repair.
There has been extra work with my mom's rentals and I'm taking every moment at home to continue the process of getting everything in order for when our contractors come on Monday. I'm keeping a handle on my food, which is good....still taking my lunch to work has been most helpful. My morning exercise routine doesn't exist right now but lots of spontaneous exercise in other forms.

VioletDolphin, yay for continued weightloss. I draw a big flower on a sheet of paper. The petals all contain separate "things" that I do and the center of the flower is "Balance". I found that there were certain activities that I needed to let go of in order to find time for dieting....but with my petal approach I have also found time to include activities that were and still are important to me.

everyone else!

[gardenerjoy]

Yesterday didn't quite go according to plan. I made reasonable but not perfect substitutes.

I found myself timing snacks for emotional comfort. Last week, I noticed that one day and the next day it was worse. So, I decided to use that as a warning signal that it was time for an intervention to address my fears. I took the hour and a half or so that was necessary to do that and I feel better now with some new tools to handle my challenges.

WI: +0.35kg, Exercise: +35 820/1400 minutes for September, Food: 80% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

bethfromDayton: Response to I'm not going to think about it: I AM going to think about it -- I'm going to think about how much I love my new size, my new clothes, my new health benefits and how more weight loss will give me even more of these advantages. I AM going to think about the plan that I made for this party and I AM going to follow it because it will feel so good to report to my coaches that I did that.

BillBlueEyes: LOL at needing double the lettuce. I buy an amazing amount of lettuce -- it is hard to keep up. Sometimes I switch it up and make cabbage salad -- especially when it's available locally and in the dead of winter when lettuce gets expensive and cabbage gets cheap.

ForMyGirls: love the sound of your haircut and great that you managed to enjoy just the haircut without adding unnecessary food to the already celebratory moment.

Lexxiss: thanks for reporting in when we're all thinking of you.

[bethFromDayton]

Originally Posted by ForMyGirls

Will have to make a "I'm not in the mood" response card.

"I don't have to be in the mood. I just have to do it."

Mine is "I don't feel like it", so I tell myself that I don't have to want to, I just have to do it.

(Thanks for your other thoughts about my party problem--those are really good and helpful.

[onebyone]

Hi, Coaches.

I'm back facing life again. I am ready to deal with my new circumstances whatever happens. My sister will be calling me any minute to tell me she's arrived and the trip to move my mother near me will have begun.

This new start has had me face that I need to make and stick to a new start for myself as well. My brother is truly gone. My other sister is not in my life. My mother is not that well, and my MIL will require help as she has cataract and shoulder surgery all within the next 6 weeks. And I need to help myself through this too.

I liked this in VioletDolphin83's tagline:

First goal: To stay with this diet for a month Another group member, Lexxiss also recommended this to me several times as it helped her turn the corner a few years back. Just commit and stay the course for 30 days no matter what. I am ready to do that. Ready to try again. Ready to fire on all cylinders once more. I don't have a choice really--well, I do but not doing this, not trying, giving up and giving in bring weight gain and even this 10lbs extra that has come on me since my Dr. Day appt on Aug 29th is really slowing me down. I know I complained about being 250, but it sure is better than 260. Truly. And it's not about the number on the scale or the clothes, or even the way I look in pictures--of which there have been plenty the last few weeks-- it's about how I feel and how I am behaving: my mood, my interactions with others, my feelings about myself. My whole being is effected by crap food and overeating and eating in secret. It's not a good way to live.

Bye for now.

[nationalparker]

Not avoiding checking in here - work has me swamped and I got home yesterday late and just crumbled. Today I zipped home at lunch to move the pets around and snag a healthy bite there and on the way back in to work there were more than 12 emergency vehicles including two swat trucks going to a community next to mine. My work problems dissipated in my mind. Someone else's lives were changing drastically and I'm thankful for my safety, freedom, employment, family, etc.

[ForMyGirls]

Weekly weigh in this morning and down .5kg. Could be all hair - but hey I'm taking it :-)

[bethFromDayton]

Hi everyone,

BillBE: You are right about mindless following my plan. I stood down donuts at work until it got easy to do so and I wasn't tempted by sweets at work almost ever.

I really appreciate the inputs on responses to myself at parties. I do love my new size. I love my new clothes (the slinky knit black jacket I wore today is now my favorite piece of clothing. I don't know if I like it more than my previous favorite slinky knit blue striped jacket, but that one has gone in the give away pile.) I do love that I find it so much easier to get around. I love that my A1C (blood sugar) is low enough that I was proud to tell it to the nurse today.

I also like the idea of being more mindful about it--acknowledging that I want a cookie, or I want another handful of chips--oh, there I go again. That's a great idea.

Plan wise, food was exactly to plan. I ordered exactly what I intended at the breakfast meeting. I ate my planned lunch and snack. I made exactly what I planned for dinner, and I enjoyed my planned ice cream treat.

Exercise, though, is a bit problematical. I saw the podiatrist today, and basically, my foot surgery didn't work. I am not in a position now to have it re-done, since I just started a new job. I got a cortisone shot (ouch!) and will start wearing my shoe inserts again. For walking, he wants me to get a running shoe (rather than a walking shoe) with a very stiff bottom. He gave me the name of two stores that would be able to help me find something appropriate (as opposed to mall chains). I may try walking tomorrow with the insert in my shoe to see if it helps.

I did do spontaneous exercise again--I only used the 3rd floor restroom--I think that'll be a permanent thing.

VioletDolphin: When I started (Edited to correct: STOPPED) being less obsessive about my weight loss, I was less successful. If being successful requires you to be a bit obsessive for a while, it's probably worth it. And I think some people (I might be one) need to be obessive for a long time to keep from gaining it back. Others get into a groove and it starts coming more easily. Major congrats on being out of the 130s!

3rdTimeLucky: MyFitnessPal is a powerful tool, isn't it?

BillBE: Think of that poor lettuce you left at the store. What if noone bought it? Credit for walking and exercise and not nibbling!

ForMyGirls: Credit for de-coupling a haircut and ice cream! I'm glad you love your new 'do--and I bet it wasn't .5 kg of hair!

onebyone: Credit for perservering and posting even with a difficult computer. It sounds like you have so very much going on right now. I think it's courageous to realize you need more help.

Lexiss: Credit for bringing your own (controlled) lunch to work even with all the contractor mess at home.

gardenerjoy: Big credits for recognizing issues with the timing of your snacks.

onebyone: You're recognizing some tough things going on in your life as all these changes and acceptance of changes happen. Hugs.

nationalparker: Credit for recognizing how lucky you are.

Take care, all.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies – The second walk, CREDIT moi, was to procure that lettuce that was missing yesterday. I volunteered to go even as DW was preparing dinner because two days in a row without lettuce seemed like a crime. We had double volume again; might make this a habit. I did get my flu shot. Last year I was tardy getting it and felt foolish that I had spent the first half of the season exposed yet still had to get the shot. The Nurse-Practitioner suggested that I take Ibuprofen when I got home to alleviate the pain of the shot. I promptly forgot about it. I've never heard of taken something because of the pain of a shot.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. I found myself near a coffee pot looking at the nibbles for sale. Then decided that they weren't about me and moved on. Only the Italian Biscotti looked tempting, but I passed on it anyway.


onebyone – Hope moving your mother went/is going well. You've got a lot of emotional stuff to handle right now. Sending supportive thoughts that you stay in touch with your calm.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Your comment about cabbage salad reminds me that I've enjoyed broccoli-slaw in the past. Might be time to get back into that. Kudos for taking notice of the relationship of snacks with emotional comfort.

Debbie (Lexxiss) – Hoping that your contractors stay on schedule despite all the work caused by your rains and floods.

nationalparker – Kudos for allowing yourself to feel your good fortune as you witnessed the emergency vehicles.

Beth (bethFromDayton) – Ouch for the foot news; Kudos for keeping your spirits and planning your next move. It's so neat to read you celebrating your new self.

ForMyGirls - Congrats on that new haircut and the confidence that goes with it. Super Kudos for, "didn't even really contemplate trying to change my mood with food" - that's real progress. Congrats for that .5 kg gone forever.

Readers -

day 6 Find a Diet Coach

What to Discuss with your Coach

Initiate Communication at key times when:

• You're going into high-risk situations - such as a party or family celebration - in which you're concerned you might stray. Together, figure out which strategies you'll need to use.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), pg 87.

[ForMyGirls]

Hello coaches,
100% OP on the exercise and Wellbeing front. About 90% OP on food - probably the right amount of overall food but not the right balance if different types. Not giving myself grief - 2 meals ended having to be off plan so credit to me for eating only to mild fullness in both. Credit too for just getting into my exercise etc rather than waiting to be in the right mood (thanks Beth for the response card idea - what a winner). Was fun surprising people today with new 'do. Had a really helpful conversation with a colleague that might have loosened up some thinking with a project that has been feeling very stalled.

I also had the excitement today of unpacking some of my "too small" clothes. None are quite ready for wearing but they are really close - and it is great to have them there to remind me what is awaiting me :-) took a few "too big" clothes out too. Noticed there is a temptation to keep them "just in case" - apparently there is still a part of me that doesn't believe this. I am thinking to sit with that for a bit and take the time to really believe it rather than just ditching the clothes while operating on top of those feelings.

Lexxis - great to hear the rains have stopped. Yay to you for keeping your food on track

Gardener joy - yay for noticing emotional eating and finding a way to deal with the emotion

Onebyone - cheers to you for committing to the next 30 days. Hope all goes well with your Mum's move

National Parker - I hope that work is slowing down for you

Beth - so sorry to hear about your foot! That must be tough news to be receiving.

BBE - thanks for the reminder of international talk like a pirate day. I do so love a bit of random silliness

So on that note - all t'best me hearties!