Good Evening, Coaches.

I am proud to say I have one 100% Stage 1 Beck skills in a row. I have my meal planned for tomorrow - certainly not extremely low cal but excellent practice for achieving 100%. Absolutely no deviations from a food plan is extremely difficult (read almost never) so making a liberal plan to practice the discipline makes sense.

gardenerjoy and nationalparker: Love the tales of perils of walking with a mate. DH is a farmer. He is outside all day. I never ask him to walk with me unless we are on vacation. He hates it. He says he doesn't make me go to the classroom on our vacation.

cathydoe: Food is definitly my definition of comfort - especially if I feel off. I am so thankful to be practicing the Beck Skills. I don't even realize how often I want to go and comfort myself. Eye opening.

BBE: Just read a statistic that once a man gets out of his 50s he can easily live to 90. True?

onebyone: Nice scale drop.

love2garden: I too feel lucky to have snagged my DH. He towered above all contenders ( I was on a dating roll).

curlyjax: We have had a lot of fun as a family at the gym.

karenrn: A new plan is exciting but always an adjustment.

Hello Coaches,

This week is going well so far- including a night in the hotel yesterday. Also taking credit for managing a truck load of stress today without eating over it. On a positive note, it is nice to add some fruit to my life again. Not having it for 2 weeks makes it seem like a treat now.

That is all. I have a plan for tomorrow. Like onebyone I am trying to focus on 5 pounds at a time only. The rest is just too much to deal with.

Take care everyone

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Walk, CREDIT moi, found that a Korean BBQ restaurant has replaced the McDonalds that had been at that high-traffic location for decades. I hope that that's a trend. They didn't seem to have many customers (at 5 in the afternoon, DUH!); maybe I'll get DW to go real soon to help them get started.

Eating was 100% on plan, CREDIT moi. When I was feeling 'hungry' I noted that it was time for an afternoon snack so I had a small bowl of baby carrots. By my personal calorie counting scheme, carrots have zero calories. I do this since I'm convinced that I've never gained weight by eating veggies, it's always been from cookies, candy, crackers, and cheese.


onebyone – Neat to be so clear with your 5 pound goal. I love the credit, "ate green things" - with details left to the imagination of the reader.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – LOL at the "MLK Dispensation" - I'm sure Dr. King would be delighted. I like the notion that you were actually hungry when you had your snack.

CeeJay - Super Kudos for "managing a truck load of stress today without eating over it" - stress is one great generator of sabotaging thoughts.

maryann - Kudos for a day of "100% Stage 1 Beck skills." [I'm not sure of the exact statistics, but I've read similar stuff: at my age, each year I live increases my life expectancy.]

nationalparker – Of course you should drive a mile to save $1 on "chicken italian turkey sausage." For what it's worth, for the life of me I can't figure out its ingredients, LOL, and whether I'm likely to find them in Italy when I go in May.

Sending supportive thoughts as you remember your parents and your kitty. It's such a gift to have positive memories of parents to ponder.


flnu - Waving back. My take is that it's a good trip with kids if you bring them all home.

Karen (karenrn) - Yay for a luggage scale to keep you clear. Dark chocolate satisfies me while milk chocolate makes me want more.

curlyjax - Kudos for resisting ice cream cake. Feel free to check in when you're crabby - seems like a bunch of folks find 3FC a welcome place to dump the feelings that real-life doesn't tolerate.

love2garden - Congrats on those 5 pounds lost forever. Savoring the thought that you've know your DH almost 60 years - you're very lucky.

Readers -

Hi Coaches!

Food okish, credit. No formal plan yesterday but I made good choices and got some rest. Today I head to Denver to take mom to medical appts-have picked a healthy restaurant for lunch. Family stuff very unsettling and complex. The old "One Day at A Time" is very soothing right now.

Take care all!

CREDIT for not letting scale vagaries discourage me. Five days ago, I hit a new high for the year. Today, I hit a new low. I have no explanation for either. Except that, the new low means that following my plan works in the long run.

WI: -0.15 kg (new low) , Exercise: +30 800/1200 minutes for January, Food: 100% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

Realized the need to be more flexible when my activity plans include DH ... our walk "right after work" ended up coming a bit later as he had to repair something and so I stopped on an errand as well ... but credits that we got out there and walked before dinner. But by the time we got home, it was after 8 p.m. and the idea of starting at that point turned into a soup run to Panera. Stayed OP. DH asked if I'd share a cinnamon roll with him in the morning (630 calories!) Before I knew the calorie count, I said yes, thinking I'd just freeze my half and he wouldn't know because he gets a bit frustrated if I skip things EVEN when he knows why. I don't understand this and it just IS.

So I tried about 1/2" pie shaped piece of one bite and decided it wasn't worth the calories and so left my half and prepped a more filling/healthier breakfast.

Bill - OOPS - I'm so used to writing turkey italian sausage that this one was ONLY chicken and I added that turkey in there! It's the al fresco brand and was pretty darned good. No - you won't find any of that over there! But the best dang pizza in southern Italy! I was just talking to DH about places that so supremely touch our souls and Florence is that place for me. If I could afford it, I'd move in a heartbeat.

Maryann - SMILING at the analogy of taking you to a classroom on your vacation Clever. Credits for solidifying the Stage 1 skills!! I'm using your acceptance of the 0.5 pounds/week loss rate last year to recognize that is fine, and could result in 20+pounds in a year if steady.

KarenRN - Interesting to me on the choc desire following some dark choc. I will pay more attention to that. I, too, am not a chocoholic, but sometimes notice myself leaning toward it much more often.

CurlyJax - On the contrary, sounds like you're doing GOOD with some choices for passing on the ice cream cake, etc. Credits!! Do you have the winter blahs a bit this week? I did last week - was not in a kind frame of mind.

Thank you all for the kind words about my parents. It's good to know that they'll be with me in my memories and thoughts for years to come. I still haven't had that day that folks talk about - the first day that they didn't cross your mind, but I'm sure that'll come one day. I AM blessed to have had such a good life growing up, certainly not without issues and loss, but the stability and love was evident. I'd written my parents a letter a number of years ago, thanking them for giving me such a good start in life. I found that in their memory box after they passed. One point they made clear was to not expect to move out as a young adult at the same standard of living that they worked their whole life to attain...and I find myself pointing that out to the young adults I've worked with through the years - the sense of entitlement amazed me. (Not sure why I spouted that out but it came to mind.)

Have a great day, all!

Friends, learning from Maryann, I'm taking what I can from Beck and leaving the rest.

There's a lot that's good in Beck but the whole package is definitely not for me. That's why I haven't been able to resume daily postings after being away on family business.

I'll be reading and I'll call in from time to time, if that's OK with you. For now, though, much credit to you for all you're doing! And thanks for having me!

I did manage the fast day without a slip and felt much better. Yesterday was on plan plus 134 calories. Today I am on plan so far.

Reading here, I begin to suspect there is a new Beck book out, some of the terms seem new to me.

Today I'm replacing Sucralose with Stevia to see if it affects the bloat sucralose seems to give me. My own short term goal is also to lose five pounds and then "set a while" to let my body get used to it and not panic as it seems to do if I keep pushing for a lower weight too soon.

Best to all!

Credit: Packed a lunch with fruit, 1/2 peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread, with some raspberry jam, 1/2 banana, and Kashi TLC bar. Credit: Packed plenty of water. Credit: Hour at gym and certainly feel the results.
Credit: Breakfast and Supper on plan and satisfied. No snacks today so far.

The five pound goal seems to be OK with many of us. I can't think of more right now.

After really working at the gym, the full body massage was such a blessing! Twice a month I have this gift from DH.

Karen, I planned for my chocolate treat and put it off as long as I could last night. Savored it, but really wanted more. Think I'll go back to keeping candy out of the house.

Silverbirch, following Beck EXACTLY? Who can? I'm doing the best I can and it is far better than I ever did before.

Getting enough veggies in each day seems to be my biggest issue. I agree with Bill, usually carrots are easy to wash, peal and enjoy. The crunch is so satisfying and certainly doesn't add many calories.

Fruit, I have to restrain myself, I dearly love fruit and with citrus so available this time of year, that is found on our kitchen table daily. That leaves only one more fruit for day, OUCH.

Congratulations to any who perfectly fill out 7 consecutive days of Beck's Skills success sheets. I can't string that many together, but have made progress that direction that surprises me.

Spanky, Beck has a green book that Bill mentions on the first page, I believe.

quick wave coaches!
credit for resisting dessert at paneras- warm cookies right out of the oven, a new temptation!
Exercise included more cleaning of things i can't stand to do and thus they desperately need it like the oven (which was smoking the other day, oops) and the kitchen floor which i scrubbed on my hands and knees tonight, whew!
I sound like some kind of cleaning freak but really my house has been neglected for ....a loooong time, so it feels good to deal with some of that.

nationalparker- i did have the winter blahs- it seems to be coming on and off this january! Partly its the cold-At least my I can control the heat in my office and i crank it up really warm which is a treat!

Inspiring to read how well folks are doing: setting goals, losing weight, and following plans. I enjoy reading it and wave to all!

This is so funny, I actually bought the audio like 7 years ago but never went through it all because I lost weight with hypnosis the first time around. Now none of my computers have CD slots so i just downloaded it as an audiobook and I am going through it again. Day 2 but went into Day 4 since the first 14 days are pre-diet. I'm on one already. Yay

Good Evening, Coaches.

If I do my crunches and stretches after piano practice I will have two 100% days. Super human effort stopped me from slurping up the small bit of quiche crust left in the pan when I was doing the dishes. My mother use to say "why sell your soul for a pencil?" Why would I blow a string of "eating only while sitting" days for a piece of crust? Well, I blush to say it has been done before but NOT tonight.

Feels good.

Weight one pound under ticker.

spanky: I am going through the green Beck Diet for Life.
silverbirch: Glad you hopped in for a "mo".

Coaches!

Day 3 of the first part of South Beach Diet has come and gone. Scale reading (credit) this morning was 278. I met my first 5 lb goal. Grateful for that. I am 20% into the next 5lbs.
I bought myself an insulated lunch bag as I will be spending a lot of time in my studio over the next month and I am not leaving my food to chance. I've packed lunches this week and it seems like a no-brainer to keep doing that. So, I'll keep doing that. What was it someone here said once? Keep doing that thing that works and not the other things that don't. Does anyone recall that? The phrase was shorter and more elegant than what I wrote.

No workout today but it was extra long. That was good. I am expanding the things I do and adding more variety. This will help when I inevitably need to get my mind off of some craving. Thankfully I am on solid ground right now and looking forward to the next 5gone.

Have a good evening.

sensualappeal

And, in case you didn't get one of these five years ago,

How did you find out about the audio recording of the Pink Book by Dr. Judith Beck?

And how did you find our Beck Forum here on 3 Fat Chicks?

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. The snacks were under control because I had only one of the three planned. It was larger than I wished, but not larger than the total snacks planned for the day.

Walked, CREDIT moi, to an evening event. The big deal is that I spent two hours around a coffee table laden with some 10 different snacks. Walking there I planned to have none and that's exactly what happened. I'm pleased with that performance since they included dark chocolates, nuts, and some fine cheeses and crackers.


onebyone – Congrats for meeting your five pound goal. Neat to have taken up packing lunch for your studio.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Love to hear that planning works. (The stack of seed catalogs, set aside during the holidays, is now calling.)

Debbie (Lexxiss) – Sending supportive thoughts for the ongoing family stuff. Super Kudos for not attempting to eat to make the feelings go away.

silverbirch – Yes, do call in when that's what's right for you - you're such a positive influence around here and a help to me.

maryann - My thanks to your mom for "why sell your soul for a pencil?" Kudos for avoiding a crumb of crust - those little nibbles call me loudly.

spanky - Yep, there's a Green Book published after the Pink Book. You can read reviews of both here, Book Reviews, by AnnWonders. Kudos for thoughtfully modifying your sweetener.

nationalparker – Ouch for being grabbed by a cinnamon roll - even when you're just having soup. Yep, the "sense of entitlement" seems to unaware that life could ever exist without . . . <a long, long, string of stuff>.

curlyjax - Kudos for deep cleaning when that's what's needed. I dropped by a neighbor to borrow a tool and found him on his hands and knees scrubbing 40 year old grime from his kitchen linoleum. I was impressed.

love2garden - Yay for full body massage - wish I'd treat myself to those. A peanut butter sandwich for lunch sounds good to me.

sensualappeal - Congrats for being ahead of the game by being a veteran of the Beck Strategies. LOL at the missing CD slots since I miss them - even though I have 32 Gigabyte thumb drives to use whenever. My take is that's the section of the book before dieting begins are great to review to get comfortable with the skills again. Glad that you've joined us.

Readers -