[AZtricia]

Hello Coaches!

Pizza day and swim meeting today. Off to see what is up for the summer season. I plan to skip pizza and have the last of the left over chicken, but have room for 1 slice if I can not resist the smell.

Cheryl/GosfordGirl Wishing you a great PT session tomorrow. Kudos for OP.

BillBlueEyes Kudos for not doubling your lunch when the calories were not satisfying. Happy spring!

shcirerf Kudos for your diligence in attending ww!

6crowsgold Awesome for more letters and staying OP!

CeeJay Hurray for 5 OP days!

Debbie/Lexxiss Hurray for healthy. Congrats on the new grand-baby!

gardenerjoy Great progress on your exercise goal.

flnu Kudos for back on track!

[onebyone]

Coaches

Well I met the next art submission deadline. The one I decided I wouldn't do ended up bugging me so much, that I was letting myself down, that I worked on my lino carving and attempted test printing at home last night (didn't work-no brayer-fingers not a good substitute). By the time I knew I would have to try to print it at my studio it was 8:30, with a freezing rain warning so I opted to go very early and give it one shot and get back home before DH left for work at 9:30. It worked ( I was there by 6:30am) but I came home exhausted and made bad food choices all day long after I mailed the thing off at the post office an hour before my self-imposed 12noon deadline. So, for the day I am well over 1000 calories over. *credit for tracking even if I am overeating. I also had sugar. I had a no sugar day yesterday *credit* but DH brought home tiny donuts (sheesh). I even bought popcorn cause I knew I was in a slippery state of mind today. Exhaustion and stress relief is a bad combo for resistance for me.

I'm on plan now though with trips to the gym planned everyday until I see my trainer on Monday.

Bye for now.

[nationalparker]

One day closer to the weekend... They cut DH's shift by a day again, so we've got a fire and I'm making to do lists for everything from printing summer movie schedules at our art musuem, to jotting down what's free around town during the summer as a reminder to print those schedules when available. I imagine we'll stick closer to home this year with my folks' issue.

Weight the same today, so I'm jumping right in and dropping my ticker by one. The heck with waiting to see it for a week I had a larger dinner tonight than I've been having, but still on the small side, so should be okay.

Dinner with neighbors is set for tomorrow. Looking forward to it as we all seem to become hermits and just talk while shoveling snow or wave while scurrying into homes during the winter. One neighbor's father just passed away a few weeks ago after months of split caregiving, so I imagine she'll enjoy a break as well.

[GosfordGirl]

Hi Coaches

Yay for the autumnal equinox. I was forced to go and look it up because I thought it was 21st or 22nd - not so.

As I write this it is 10.47 am on 21st March 2012 in Sydney - and it is 23.47 on 20th March in UK or GMT. The equinox was apparently on 20 th March 2014 @ 16:57 GMT. So I have had 7 hours of autumn. It doesn't feel like it unfortunately but it won't be long hopefully before the sun is moving to you frozen northern hemisphere folks who in NY have now apparently had Spring for 3 hours - does it feel any better yet? Is that correct or is it further confused by summer time?

Credits

• Weighed and logged weight (had been avoiding logging it but did it today - slightly up)
• Planned food and have so far stuck to plan
• Posted here
• Did PT session this am and stayed on the bike for 10 minutes afterwards (can't see myself doing 30 minutes but who knows - the motivation app my do the job)
• Did 9400 steps and lots of active minutes with more incidental walking to do
• Listened twice to the motivation app
• Got house organised this evening so that I can get through work on the weekend

It is now 19.20 pm and I am finishing my post. Still haven't planned food for dinner or tomorrow so that is a risk

BillBE - we seem to be posting at the same time - each end of the day. Cricket Bars seem a challenge. They do look interesting but they would have to be yum - I guess they are gluten free

6crowsgold - An elliptical tech desk sounds like a lot of incidental exercise - not sure I found the right site when I went looking but what I found seemed to overcome the problems of sitting too long! Credit for "still OP"

CeeJay - credit for 5 days OP! And credit for prepping for o/n at a hotel. Hoping to see 7 days OP

Debbie(Lexxiss) - I agree - undone chores bring my eating and planning undone. So I have adopted your idea of the essentials in the morning. I am slowly getting to even do them! Congrats on a grandchild and look forward to seeing whether you have a GS or GD

(AZ)Tricia - thanks for the info on the Fitbit Force - that is the one I want to get and I am prone to contact allergies. The fitbit flex band doesn't cause a problem. You seem to have an awful lot of pizza nights or are the days just flashing by? Chicken sounds like a good alternative

Gardenerjoy - good luck with getting rid of the junk food habit - it is so easy to misplace a habit. Takes 21 - 42 days to create (depending who you read) and about 3 days to destroy

FLNU - food sounds interesting. Yes - cereals are scary high in calories and carbohydrates so goo you found out! Credit for yoga abs when it is "hard-for-me"

Onebyone - credit for getting yet another submission in and meeting your deadlines. Sad that you were 1000 calories over and that you are having problems with sugar - you have been so successful so you can do it again. Yay for on plan now. (The guy on the motivation app has a New Zealand accent - a bit like calling a Canadian an American )

Nationalparker - Good idea to drop you ticker - feels so good.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies – At lunch with friends in a restaurant, I was tempted to order the pulled pork sandwich. It was, perhaps, a clue to what I really wanted that the image was of a HUGE wad of pork. Then considered the Ruben (drooling over the thought of its grilled bread). Then the Ruben with turkey to assuage the guilt over its remaining zillion calories. Finally ordered blackened Cod substituting green salad for the Fried Onion Rings. I skipped the Whole Wheat bun except for one bite - verifying that it had been grilled and was hiding the calories of a stick of butter behind the 200 for its 'wholesome' whole wheat. CREDIT moi for a sane lunch instead of justifying why it would have been OK to eat large. It helped that, before ordering, I saw waiters walking past with tall stacks of fried onion rings. One view of them is enticing; a dozen views and I began to feel the taste of oil in my mouth.

Did gym, CREDIT moi - their Arms-and-Abs class. Ouch - the rock hard hunk leader worked both beyond my endurance. Good for me. I came home and had a protein shake because it fosters the feeling that I'm building muscle (it was OK as a planned snack).


onebyone – Honking Kudos for getting that print in the mail under deadline. Don't understand "freezing rain warning" - it's Spring! Ouch for uninvited tiny donuts.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Should be close to time for you to be getting your exercise tending garden. Spring will even come to Saint Louis.

CeeJay - Waving toward a hotel somewhere. Kudos for your continuing streak of On Plan days.

Debbie (Lexxiss) – Did you find out DGD/DGS? Wish I'd fully incorporate your insight, "duties untended have an impact on my food."

Cheryl (GosfordGirl) – Kudos for choosing fruit instead of cakes and sandwiches (back in your Summer post). Hope that your Autumn cuts the intense heat that's been visiting down under. Yep, you've got the Equinox figured out as best as I understand it. Kudos for your admirable list of credits, including keeping up with your Physical Therapy.

nationalparker – Kudos for printing those schedules in advance. We're great at reading reviews of a just-closed exhibit wishing we had made plans to go.

janelle (shcirerf) - Neat to create an additional compelling reason to keep up your Weight Watchers attendance. Kudos for your two year unbroken streak attending. Isn't 'Lifetime Member' the word I was looking for?

Tricia (AZtricia) - Glad that your DH didn't pack all the remaining chicken in his lunch as you'd expected. I've sorta been drooling over your leftover chicken as if it were in my fridge.

flnu - LOL at " Lunch was unidentifiable" - I've had some of those. Google helped me visualize Pomelo salad. Kudos for back on track.

6crowsgold - Just WOW for "Elliptical Tech Desk for my work station at my job" - what a neat way to get in some serious exercise during time otherwise wasted earning a living.

Readers -

day 13 Overcome Cravings

Anti-Craving Strategies - Behavioral Techniques
If you're still tempted to eat something you shouldn't after you've done all five mindset techniques, then try as many of the behavior techniques below as you need:

2. Drink a no- or low-calorie beverage. Thirst can mask as hunger and trigger you to eat. Consider drinking club soda, water with lemon, diluted juice (if your plan allows it), or another low-calorie food.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), pg 131.

[6crowsgold]

Friday!

I am amazed at finding myself still OP. Motivated to stick to it before Weigh-In Day tomorrow and hoping for a good one. This is the longest time I have ever recorded every calorie that goes down the hatch.

Three day weekend coming up with two good movies on deck.

Hoping it warms up so I can get my couch potato 4-Dog-Pack our for a spin [My dogs don't do "weather].

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

Happy Friday to all and thank you for a whole week's worth of motivation!

[gardenerjoy]

I deliberately didn’t weigh this morning. I had stomach issues in the night so it didn’t seem like the scale’s data was relevant. My current theory is that this is an unusual allergy symptom – my doctor says that allergies are systemic so any symptom can be explained as part of the response.

Eating light today will come naturally.

WI: NA kg, Exercise: +50 1040/1500 minutes for March, Food: 100%op, Read my Advantages and Responses: no

[flnu]

Hello to all of you,
I ran 4K, not 5, today because I didn’t manage my pace well and just ran out of juice. Doesn’t really matter though. I like having goals and challenges, but any time I get out there and get sweaty is a good exercise day for me. I’m down 3.5 pounds on my Friday weigh-in at 170.5, which I immediately took as license to order the tiramisu (anti-credit) though I started with the grilled salmon (credit). I will be so thrilled to see the 160s. I have not seen those since graduate school. It is hard to actually believe that it will happen, and then maybe even the 150s. I do look around the forum though and see BBE and Joy and Maryann and Lexxiss and now Shcirerf, and remember that, yes, some people can and do, so I maybe the impossibility of it all isn’t necessarily true, or at least deserves to be tested.

Personals may be a bit jumbled as I might be responding to not your most recent post.

Shcirerf: Welcome! I love to see maintainers. And your starting weight was close to mine. Giant congratulations for maintain for two years – well done.

Nationalparker: That sounds like a really nice night. I would like a fire and whipping wind and feeling cozy. Add a little rain in there, and it’s perfect.

Oh, down a bit - this is working well, let's do this instead.

Oh yeah. This is striking me (in the best way) given the tiramisu I didn’t not plan to eat. (I’m am totally on board with the importance of enjoying food, the problem is that I plan to eat on-plan M-F so it is the day, not the food, that was the problem tonight.) I am so sorry about your dad.

Hi, Maryann, I hope you enjoyed Frozen and time with your DS. I also want to label things, but mostly I want to label them as wrong: mostly success with a little failure = failure, mostly failure with a little success = failure, and only 100% success = success. I am working on it.

Tricia: I am giving your shoulder credit, and you too for taking care of it. It is such a drag when the spirit is willing but the flesh is injured. Sounds like a solid plan for pizza night.

Cheryl: Thank you for your support. I hope personal training was enjoyable, credit for going either way though. That was a lot of exercise and credits. (And I am sorry if I asked this before but I am always on the look-out for new tools…motivation app? Is it the Grant Boddington one that Ceejay likes?)

BBE: Pomelo salad (yam som o) is from Thailand and it is unbelievably good. There’s coconut milk and toasted coconut and fresh mint and fried garlic and shallots and lime juice and cashews and a little sugar plus pomelo, which is the most addictive fruit ever, and shrimp.

It is also true for me that some things don’t register as food. “A granola bar doesn't go into my brain as food, so it didn't really satisfy.” This is why I force myself to put everything I am going to eat on my plate before I eat anything. I can look and see for myself that I am about to eat an entire, very substantial-looking plate of food. Sometimes it looks even a little debauched. Buffet plates are pernicious. The book I am reading claims that liquid calories really don’t register. Congrats on making lunch work out despite the Cricket surprise.

Now on to your most recent post: You rock. That is all.

6crowsgold: I love that there is such a thing as a fountain pen users group and that you write each other. I am also enjoying mentally putting your beautiful old-school fountain pens on your new high tech desk. Good for you! Also HUGE CREDIT for tracking. Just the act of writing it down, even scribbled on a napkin, is very helpful IMO.

Ceejay: Behaviors are more important than scale, so I hope you continue to rock the behaviors.

Lexxiss: Nice to hear that all is well. My daughter is 6 and I am already verklempt about picturing her as a mother and me a grandmother.

Hi, Joy, looks like exercise is on track for March. I like the idea of counting minutes (so I assume). I hope you are feeling better soon.

Onebyone: Credit for tracking even when it is telling you something you don’t want to hear. That is huge.

[Lexxiss]

Hi Coaches!

Intention to post today. Internet not cooperative. Comes a time for me when I acknowledge that continuing to try is, in fact, procrastination. Food yesterday so so, weigh in today ok anyway. Resisted buying goodies for DH at WhFoods while he sat in car. He can buy his own is effective strategy for me. Credit.

It's a boy. Due in 20 weeks. Never been included in a sonogram. It was sure fascinating.

Thank goodness for iPhone can never figure why Internet is ok there but not o. My home computer when I am using phone to generate connection to computer. Oh well.

I'm out to rake the yard. Lots of spontaneous exercise there. Bought a portable thingies yesterday for putting air in bike tires...wheelbarrow tires...hand truck tires....can work off cigarette lighter in car. Fascinating, too. I see a short bike ride in my near future.

[maryann]

Good Morning, Coaches.

I continue to track, salad and smoothie (I have made salad and smoothie into verbs.) I have committed to weighing and measuring as well until the end of March to try and get off the last two renegade vacation pounds. I have been pretty successful except for about 200 "standing while eating" calories before I dragged my exhausted self to bed. Drat!. Nevertheless I call the day a win.

I plan to do a whole lot of nothing today. I am reading Wild. I am a backpacker (or was before my son was born.) It is a quick read and fun when I recognize parts of the Pacific Coast Trail I have travelled.

Food is logged. My only must do is a pilates class.

nationalparker: i saw Defending the Caveman with a bunch of girlfriends. You'll enjoy it.

Gosfordgirl: Super credit for sticking to a small piece of fruit at your meeting. Recently I have been trying the trick of looking at the free work food and saying, "What would I eat for the same calories if i could have anything in the world?"

BBE: I do reccommend Frozen: Good message and a nice example of modern light opera: recitative and duet. DS and I did a little dance during the closing credits which was bittersweet because I don't know how many little dances are left in my middleschool boy.

6growsgold: Cannot for the life of me figure out your avatar. I can be very dense about such things.

Ceejay: Good luck at your hotel.

Lexxiss: Is your big house project finished?

flnu: Credit for checking in.Fun to see you ticker moving downward.You can do this.

gardenerjoy: Hope you feel better.

[onebyone]

Ceejay mentioned the book The Diet Fix as being helpful to her this week. I found an online interview with the author of the book. I almost went to this Dr's clinic in Ottawa--but didn't cause we moved. I feel regret about that now--however, if you're interested here's the link--you can press the "listen" button and you should be able to hear it. Hopefully this will work for non-Canadians. His message is very Beckish.

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode...hy-diets-fail/

[shcirerf]

Flnu, thanks.
BBE, lifetime is the word.
Coffee break about over, back to sick cats and grumpy dogs. I work for a veterinarian.

[AZtricia]

Happy Friday Coaches.

Quick check in to say that 200 calories/day makes a huge difference for how quickly I loose. Lost another pound today and it is so encouraging to be back on a downward trend. I was thinking about weight loss as I walked pup today and concluded that I need ever shorter term goals than Beck's 5 pound. What works best for me is to focus on one pound at a time, I'm working on loosing a pound a week. I have a great graph that comes up on the home page of Dietpower and making sure that the line jumps down before 7 days pass is my focus for now. Jumping down after four days is of course much nicer but just watching to make sure the trend stays the right direction is what helps me. I'm not much for little gifts or celebrations, so I'm not planning any rewards. For now it is enough reward to say goodbye to those pounds forever. I may do something special when I reach my second 10% off. By then I may need a size I don't have still in my closet, so perhaps a shopping trip.

As far as today, OP for food and going to do my DVD when I finish typing.

I'm glad that 3FC is here and appreciate all you coaches taking this journey with me. Stick to it!

[nationalparker]

Not sure why, but the lure of the white box from the donut shop today has been a major challenge. I ended up cutting one in half and enjoying it with my light lunch. I didn't need it but will live with the calories - figure around 180 ... I wish I'd have written that to actually get it in my head first. Ah well. Dinner out with neighbor/s depending on how it shakes out - but will be a nice change for us, since we don't seem to get out that much with others here lately.

If I can't even pass up a freaking DONUT, I question whether I have the commitment to reach my goals. This will weigh on my mind today, taking on more importance than it should, I know. Breakfast was light and healthy and lunch was light (so I don't go over too much with dinner). DH and I are hitting the trail this afternoon if I get out early enough. Have enough to work on at home this weekend, leaving early might be what my soul needs here

[CeeJay]

Just popping in to say:

7 DAYS ON PLAN!!!!!!!!!!

I mean- really, really on plan. Plan food for the next day and eat that food and nothing else.

Thanks everyone for the support.