I am thinking of all of you in the frigid East. How I wish we could trade weather for awhile. You will get mid 70's and sunny; we would have blessed snow.
Yesterday was OP until another mindless craving attack. I had cleaned the house, exercised, spent time with my guys and then I had to have a giant molasses cookie from the bakery down the street. Unfathomable. Credit for actually eating my planned dinner (still the monster salad from the restaurant). I am not willing today to skip dinner to save calories. Credit also for drinking all my water and a smoothie for one meal. Credit for weighing in - 3 pounds from ticker.
I have written down my plan for the day. It includes two smoothies and 1 meal. I want to save some calories for tomorrow night when DH takes me to dinner and a concert ( my bday present).
I am going to see the Eagles. Yeah! Can't wait.
BethFromDayton: Credit for boundaries around the sugarfest.
Nationalparker: I am with you over frustration at thoughtless eating.
ForMyGirls: Loved the story about talking to your girl about smoothies. I really value the communication my son and I have about nutrition.
Seadwaters: My heart wasn't in my exercise yesterday either. The key is that we do it.
BBE: You are certainly on a roll. Credit.
FutureFitChick: Congrats on leaving something on the plate. This is huge.
Gardenerjoy: One of the reasons I read this blog is to remember small phrases that I have heard a thousand times before but fail to apply in real time. Yesterday's cookie episode was a failure to "strengthen my resistance muscle" as you said in your post. What I like about the muscle idea is that it is never a perfect, "done" process. It is something I do everyday - like brushing my teeth.
flnu: What I learned from the stomach exercise was that I was uncomfortable when my stomach was empty in the evenings- not when I was hungry but when my stomach was concave and a little growly. This would occur when I had eaten properly that day. And those evenings were the prelude to a weightloss the next morning. On a daily basis, I have to aim for that feeling at night otherwise it will result in a maintenance weight or a gain. When I do reach that feeling, I have to consciously tell myself "This is healthy." "This is success." I am getting better."
Hello coaches.
I decided to reread day 1 of Beck to see if that would kick start my reading ARC's. What I've concluded is that I need to rewrite mine. Many are still good, but others need tweaking from when I originally made the card a couple years ago. I think it will be easier to read more relevant motivation. So goal for tomorrow...new ARC card. Still fighting a cold, head feels a size too big for my skull and throat is sore. OP eating, walked the dog twice, and stopped at dinner when I was full even though I had one more thing on my plan.
Cheryl/seadwaters So glad you had a lovely weekend. Hurray for space and finished projects! So glad your fermenting worked well. Hope you are up to walking your "girls" more tomorrow. Hope your planing for a busier work schedule goes well and you remember to treat yourself with kindness.
ForMyGirls Congrats for acknowledging the bed time is for YOU! Loved your story about the smoothie and that you had what you wanted at a better time. Glad you enjoyed your quirky movie.
BillBlueEyes Hurray for avoiding snacks! You are such a good example of a strong resistance muscle. I so don't miss that crunchy snow, brrrr! Blender Oat pancakes are a Sue Gregg recipe made with oatmeal, yogurt, water, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon...mixed in a strong blender, quite healthy and very yummy. DH had to steal the last few because my boys were having too much fun devouring them. Even the 8 yo had eaten 12 before dh had finished 4. Next time I'll have to do a triple batch.
FutureFitChick So glad you were able to check in and that you found machines you can use at the gym. WhooHoo for the good feeling of leaving food. Hope all the per-surgery prep goes well. Hello to another flip phone user Hope you'll be able to track and plan more tomorrow.
flnu I didn't get much out of the hungry exercise either. What made the hunger vs craving real to me was fasting for my surgery. I had to have 12 hours of clear liquids, 12 hours of nothing, then they didn't feed me till almost a whole day later. The experience made it very clear to me that hunger is not an emergency, most of what I thought was hunger was craving and that hunger was something I could deal with (I had just done it!). Don't know if my insight will help unless you are willing to do a fast, though.
gardenerjoy Bummer for the emotional eating, stress is tough. So glad your walk led to a solution for your frustration Hope you have better luck strengthening your resistance muscle tomorrow.
maryann Hope you have a wonderful time at the dinner and concert with your dh. Credit for sticking to your planned dinner, perhaps next time you clean house you can have a planned snack for afterwards as the exercise probably makes you hungry.
Diet coaches
I revisited all my response cards and advantages cards it was interesting to see what was relevant and what still applied - in fact they all did. I find it hard to work with lists as I just go through the motions and skim them so to set an alarm for me to read them twice a day would not help unless I found a way to make them significant and relevant - I have a touch of ADD I think. However it works for me to read all my notes early and reflect upon why I am doing this. I did that early today and I went through all my cut and pasted postings and it mobilised me to get organised and on track today - whatever works for you I guess.
I found a posting I had cut and pasted from CeeJay which helped when I first joined the list as a checklist for me for a while; I found another post I had copied that I called Wishn' & hopn' & prayn' which spoke to the magical thinking of believing that wishin' & hopin' & prayin' will lead to changes as opposed to working with one's thinking and having a belief that I can change myself if I have a plan and was posted on another list in 3FC; I found another post that discussed "getting EXCITED about the changes you are about to make. Don't dread them. Find the joy in this!!! In other words - set yourself up for success". So I found all my old notes inspirational
Credits today:
Having a healthy plan for food and sticking to it
Walking the dogs this morning and although my heart wasn't in it saying "No choice" and doing the extra time anyway
Doing arm and leg weights this afternoon
Getting organised this morning and preparing food for the day
Weighing myself
Checking in with my coaches
Read advantages and response cards
Logged all my food on MFP
Using distraction techniques to stay away from food this evening and closing the kitchen
Diet Coaches/Buddies – Walked, CREDIT moi, to the library to return a book and didn't bring home, Jarred Diamond, The World Until Yesterday - important because I admitted that the reading stack was already overfull. Food isn't the only place where our "mouth can be bigger than our stomach." The appeal is that his book, Guns, Germs, and Steel work me up to some basic reality of the developed and developing worlds that hadn't appeared in my high school history classes.
Streak continued to 69, CREDIT moi. I'm indebted to this streak notion for making me aware that I was about to eat home popped popcorn when we watched a DVD with some friends. EVERYBODY was chomping the popcorn; I didn't. Came home and had an orange for evening snack. Probably not that many calories, but it would have mussed about with my mindset.
Joy (gardenerjoy) – Gotta love, "solved my unsolvable problem five minutes later." Thanks for walking through wrestling with stress - it's an issue for me.
Cheryl (seadwaters) – Good stuff from your cut-and-paste file, particularly noting, "set yourself up for success."
FutureFitChick – LOL at showered and dressed before checking the time - LOL because I did that once to find myself fully awake at 1am in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in my belly. The joys of being a morning person. Kudos for leaving food on your plate; that can be a tough one.
maryann - Ouch for the attack of the giant molasses cookie with Kudos for getting right back on track. Two posters talking Eagles on the same day is a coincidence. Are you going to see Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, or Hotel California Eagles?
Beth (bethFromDayton) – Yay for kickboxing. I, too, am waiting for the Polar Vortex to move along.
AZtricia - Thanks for the reminder that periodically rewriting can improve our ARC. Just awesome realizing how much food can go down at a table full of growing males.
flnu - From the day 11 exercise, I learned that my hunger switched on exactly at the clock time that I expected to eat. If I was fully engaged - say tromping about outside - the hunger didn't appear until I realized that I hadn't been aware of the time, when it suddenly jumped out. From this I concluded that my concept of hunger is actually a good internal clock that serves as Pavlov's bell to make me drool for food. Kudos for continuing your streaks.
Readers -
Quote:
day 11Differentiate Between Hunger, Desire, and Cravings
Monitor Your Hunger
To better differentiate between these sensations, pick a day to note what you experience before, during, and after you eat.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), pg 118.
Food 100% OP? yes ; Health activities 100% OP? yes ; Drank 2L water? yes ; Went to bed on time? yes ; Streak count: 1
Credit: younger DD suggested we make home made icecream for our weekly dessert. I adjusted my day's food to make room for a small serve - and measured the small serve so that i was OP :-) i also didn't sample the mixture or lick the beaters while we were making it or snack on the choc chips:-)
Big excitement for the day: older DD, who has recently been very resistant to healthy living asked tonight "Mummy - can you help me lose weight". Will be rocky roads ahead for sure but i am thrilled that she wants to address it and thrilled that she sees me as someone who can help her (our relationship is not always an easy one).
I read your posts everyday and I know it helps keep my brain focused even when I can't post. Thanks. I spent 13 hours at my project on Sunday, went to my "real job" yesterday then zipped up right after work to receive our first check from the new tenants moving in. They are thrilled and so am I. I sat waiting at my mother's last night until 930pm when my siblings finally arrived...amidst a bit of snow. It will be a very busy week and I'm going to try and get a little extra rest somewhere in between. Food has continued to be acceptable and my weight stays near ticker...less than 2# off the other day. I recognize often(especially at the restaurant) just how important these Beck skills have been to me....I pretty much think before I eat now. Take care everyone....just wanted to say hello.
Day 12 is practicing hunger toleration aka skipping lunch. I was surprised by how useful it was to create a ranked list of discomfort. Hunger, as I experience it between meals, is less uncomfortable than a lot of other things I cheerfully (or sometimes sullenly) tolerate, like wearing high heels. Good to drive that point home. Hunger is just not an emergency. Good to know.
Gardenerjoy: Credit for the walks but credit too for identifying and trouble-shooting the willingness-to-measure issue. Are there concrete steps you took to strengthen your resistance muscle? I know that it’s coming up in the book, but I haven’t got there yet. It’s a good metaphor…calling it a muscle emphasizes that its use-it-or-lose-it aspects.
Maryann: I just realized that I do that too, gauging weight loss by how my stomach feels. I don’t think I have your precision, but I realized I generally can tell from my body whether I’ll be losing weight this week. I will focus on building positive associations for that feeling.
Tricia: Thanks for sharing your fasting story. I can imagine it and I will think on it. Back to your day, sounds like you rocked it despite being sick. I hope you are feeling better very soon.
Seadwaters: I am adding the excited about changes post to my own cut and paste file. I was really surprise at how much reading my go-to-bed card helps. I’m on a 6 day streak of going to bed by 11, and that is the most sleep I’ve gotten in maybe years. Sad.
BBE: Do you eat at the exact same time every day? How big is the range? I can eat breakfast anywhere between 8 and about 10:30. Lunch has an even bigger range. I read once in a get-your-baby-to-sleep book that we train babies to become hungry at a particular time when they consistently get fed at a particular time, such as 3 am. Congrats on your well developed resistance muscle.
ForMyGirls: That is great that your daughter approached you! How old are your girls? Mine are 6 and 2. I have been putting off baking with them because cookie dough is so hard for me to resist. There’s a potluck at work this week, maybe I’ll bake cookies with them to bring to the potluck (and save some for the girls of course) as a resistance-muscle-strengthening exercise. I don’t want to avoid baking with them forever.
Hi, Lexxiss, I love seeing posts from people who have accomplished as much as you have!
I still haven’t got a handle on the stress-eating, but I had an idea last night for reducing the stress, so I’ll try that today. Maybe working on it from both angles, reduce stress and increase the resistance muscle, I can find a place where my willingness to follow my plan in the afternoon returns.
My idea, since some of you are struggling with similar issues, is to quit using word count as my goal. I have been behind all month. It's obviously not working for me right now. What is working, I realized, is that I'm putting the time into my writing that I intend to. So, I'm going to make that my goal -- track the time. It's something that I can measure and that I can successfully complete. Word count, at least at this moment, is measurable but unattainable.
WI: NA kg, Exercise: +45 1215/1400 minutes for January, Food: 70%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes
flnu: yay for completing Day 12! That's the experience I had, too. It has been so hopeful to me because it puts real experience behind "Hunger is not an emergency" which is one of the most useful realizations that Beck brought to my life. Developing the resistance muscle works a lot like regular muscles -- the more I do it, the stronger it gets.
Despite no check in yesterday that I posted (wrote and edited and just didn't post), was on plan and did well. Today is on track, too. Hoping to stay the course this week, while also cleaning out the fridge and using up what we have. Plan to just buy bananas and a small milk.
Last night DH surprised me when I got out of a nice hot bubble bath (temps were -15 this morning, not counting wind), by having moved the guest mattress to in front of the crackling fireplace, and lit about 30 candles I had up on the mantel. We slept in front of the fire with a dog desperate to get on the mattress and a cat equally as desperate to keep the furry intruder off "her" territory. I slept fitfully, though warm, jumping every time logs dropped through the grate to the ground, and added more.
Bill - I tried to read Guns, Germs and Steel a few years back but ended up turning it back in, partly read. I think DH would really like it, so will suggest it as an audio book for his commute. Side note - do you have ANY recollection of the name of the movie that came out over the summer that was a cranky older guy a social director was trying to persuade into singing in a group? I wanted to see it, missed it, and now cannot figure out how to track down the name of it as I don't know who was in it, nor the title. It was only released to our art cinema here.
Hello all, I have been gone since the end of August from BDS. I just thought I could handle it on my own. Oops, big mistake. Sorry for disappearing. There are some great kudos on here. I do have some issues to overcome (who doesn't) but working on them instead of trying to ignore them will help I'm sure. Have a good day everyone. Gonna spend some time planning tomorrow's meals.
Good evening coaches. Another day fighting a virus, I'm not as miserable as dh yet so either the vitamins helped or I still have that to look forward to. Rewrote my ARCs and most were good. I had originally thought that every item would be better reinforced as a full sentence, I cut it down to phrases and that will be a faster reminder.
Eating OP, Exercise OP
bethFromDayton Glad to hear you enjoyed kickboxing, hope you are not too sore today. Great job on the extra steps. LOL about the polar vortex...brrr!
seadwaters I like the idea of reflecting, I do have trouble focusing on the same sentences over and over. WhooHoo for organized and on track motivation. I like the finding joy in the changes and setting up for success. Thanks for sharing your notes. Sounds like you had a great day!
BillBlueEyes Hurray for your continued streak and resisting the popcorn. Good thought about applying what we learn to all our life, thanks! Yes, my boys eat a ton. Part of it is growing, part is swim team, and another is I think they got dh's metabolism...dh has just packed over 6 ounces of meat for lunch and he eats twice that for dinner, but he's not that much more active than I am. How can he DO that?!?! Thankfully I'm getting over the "It isn't fair that I can't eat..." because every member of of my household eats more than me and is skinny.
ForMyGirls Hurray for an OP day with great choices. Hope you are able to find a good way to help DD.
Lexxiss Sounds like you are really busy, so glad you continue to practice Beck skills.
flnu You had a great day 12! Hurray! Hunger tolerance is great to learn and so important for dieting and healthy eating. Hurray for good sleep!
gardenerjoy Hope your stress reducing worked and that measuring time allows you to be successful. Congrats for getting in your exercise.
nationalparker Great job for two days on track and using your supplies of food. Hope you rest better tonight. Funny story about your cat and dog
Bunnababy Welcome back. Good to hear that checking in is encouraging you to plan. Hope you had an OP day!
I didn't want to record dinner tonight--I want to go to bed. But a streak is a streak--and today is day 49, I think. Can't shake a stick at that!
I am sore from kickboxing but it's a good sore. I only walked 4100 steps today--I'll have to figure out how I can tack on some more to hit 5000. People tell me that it has to be 10,000 to make a difference, but I'm working on the theory that "more than I'm doing" is a good thing.
I saw my GYN today (ordinary stuff) and she high-fived me--she was thrilled with me being 50 lbs less than I was when she saw me last!
I don't wanna have to, but I think I may have to start holding myself to an earlier bedtime. This is however many nights in a row that I haven't done personals because I let it get too late.
Credits though--roundabout walking in my office, OP food for all meals and my snack, water instead of soda during the day, recorded everything, weighed, read my cards.
I reread all my notes and advantage list this morning to keep me focussed - that is helpful. Today I worked on hunger. The other day when I went out without breakfast and was then confronted by a sausage sizzle I forgot that hunger is not an emergency. After lunch today I was still really hungry for some reason. I told myself to wait 20 minutes for food to hit bottom. Still hungry. Told myself I could have an apple at 3.30pm so could wait till then. That worked and I enjoyed the apple. I am now waiting patiently for it to be dinner time.
Credit for:
Checked in
Read advantages and responses
Measured and logged my food
Ate on plan and the plan included good choices
Ate mindfully - 20% of time only
Ate sitting down
Weighed myself
Exercised - walked in the morning as far as usual - reached 8000 steps over day
Made opportunities for incidental exercise by going the long way at work
Gave credit for positive behaviours
Tolerated hunger after lunch
Made a food plan for tomorrow
BillBE - good thinking about how unplanned behaviour could "have mussed about with my mindset". Taking liberties does open the door for more liberties for me ForMyGirls - wonderful that older DD is looking to you for guidance - must feel so good. Good luck with the rocky roads ahead Debbie - happy that the tenant is all settled and paying. You (and Bill and GardenerJoy and others) are an encouraging model that the Beck principles can work for the long term flnu - great analogy and comparison of tolerating all sorts of discomfort but drawing the line at hunger - really useful. There is lots written about sleep and weight loss. They go on about circadian entrainment. In other words in the evening we should turn off the lights, not look at computer or TV screens unless we have on yellow glasses (the blue light is stimulating - so use it in the morning) and get enough sleep to use for example growth hormone overnight. So you are on the right track to take care of your sleep GardenerJoy - I like the idea of changing what is measured. It totally makes sense to count how much time you have put into something rather than to measure the product - you are on to something. So for me that might mean to measure the days of healthful on plan eating within my calorie range rather than pounds lost Nationalparker - sounds idyllic - but I am sure it is not as much fun as it reads to be out of your own bed and in a power failure (and cold without the fire). Good plan to use up your stores of food from fridge while you can. Bunnababy - welcome back - great insight into what you need at the moment and that you felt able to come back. Sending good thoughts for the planning Tricia - sending healing thoughts for your virus and for having to also deal with a DH who is sick. A lot for a girl to handle. Glad you like reflecting - think it focusses on how we use the principles in action. Well done on getting over "it isn't fair" - I still struggle with that sometimes Beth (FromDayton) - credit for trying kickboxing! I am not surprised you are sore. It is great that you have these opportunities at work and that you are making the most of them. Yay for 50 lbs less and for impressing your medico. That must feel nice. Earlier bedtime sounds good for all the reasons I discussed with flnu. Walking the long way to the bathroom is a great strategy - I use it all the time
Food 100% OP? yes ; Health activities 100% OP? yes ; Drank 2L water? yes ; Went to bed on time? yes ; Streak count: 2
Just noticed that I was feeling guilty about the fact that this post will be short, and probably without personals, because it is again close to bedtime. Briefly contemplated breaking bedtime to do a longer post. Then remembered that I won't actually be disappointing you all - and even if somehow I do - that I am going to have to live with that because getting to bed on time is crucially important to my well being.
Credits:
- noticing that!
- Thanks to Beth's fine suggestion I have planned out all my food for next week - which is going to be a very stressful week for me so I am anticipating being a bit "off my game". Pleased that there is not a set of instructions to follow for the week so I only need to find the emotional energy to follow it rather than to work it out as well
- had planned a bigger than normal breakfast this morning but stopped at the usual amount because I was full
- noticed that the choc chips were calling my name and pleased to realise it felt unusual. Tomorrow I will try and hide them so I can't hear them next time they call out.
flnu - my girls are 7 and 9. I totally hear you on the baking - cooking with kids is soooo fun. Beth has some good strategies for baking - my paraphrase of her strategy is decide ahead of time how much of the product, or the bowl lickings you're going to have ahead of time and then sit and mindfully enjoy it. By knowing you are allowed some you don't get into the deprivation / binge mindset. My girls are fortunately now at the age where they enjoy helping cook savoury stuff too - which enables the experience without the temptation. Loved your take on the "discomfort scale". I think it would take 3 or 4 days of starvation before hunger matched the torture of an hour in high heels!
BEth - woohoo for 49!
Bunnababy - great to see you back. Would love to hear a credit from your first day back in the saddle :-)
Hope you'll be able to track and plan more tomorrow.
Hope you have better luck strengthening your resistance muscle tomorrow. 
Hope you have a wonderful time at the dinner and concert with your dh. Credit for sticking to your planned dinner, perhaps next time you clean house you can have a planned snack for afterwards as the exercise probably makes you hungry.
Tuesday
