CREDIT for following a plan even on a day when I was convinced my weight would go up, due to soy sauce in our supper. I followed my plan and it didn't go up. That's a nice surprise!

CREDIT for getting my streak of 100% SSSheet days to 4.

WI: -0.05 kg (new low) , Exercise: +55 855/1200 minutes for January, Food: 100% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

love2garden: This is my fourth time going step-by-step through a Beck book and the first time I've attempted to work with the Success Skill Sheets. And, it's still going to take me most of the month to get 7 days in a row. It's not easy. Fortunately, in my experience, it's also not necessary. I'm finding it a good way to challenge myself right now.

silverbirch: love seeing you whenever you drop by!

onebyone: woohoo! Celebrating your first 5 pounds!

Welcome, sensualappeal!

BillBlueEyes: yep, my stack of seed catalogs is waiting for attention, too.

Slithering in for a post.

Yesterday was on plan until I got an email from my son's teacher about his all-day-bad-behavior-streak that day. [He is adopted with emotional issues and we do our best to coach him each night on "good choices", but these days happen.]

No it didn't help to go on a carb binge thereafter. I said that to myself as I was eating them. Did not step away from it, but am on plan today.

All I can do is get back on plan and try to stay there.

Rapid check in. Wishing for rapid weight loss. Not happenin'.

Heading to the dinner theatre tonight with DH to see The Odd Couple. We enjoy these outings - he said he'll be all dressed up by the time I get home from work. Hope I can find something that fits well and I'm confident in. Knowing that we'll have dessert there for free has enabled me to say no to many office kitchen temptations today. DH returns to work tomorrow night so I will have several nights of lighter dinners. Feel like I'm making good choices and yet the scale is reading so high. Frustrated. But keepin' on keepin' on.

Activity last night and today has been moving my office to another location so lots of steps.

hey coaches!
credit for not eating a late night snack yesterday night, and also for actually feeling some hunger today in the am before lunch, I haven't felt that for awhile.

Went to gym with DS to acclimate him to weight room. He really liked it and wants to go more so hopefully that will inspire me to get moving on it. Only problem is it is almost 20 minutes away in non rush hour traffic, so I don't want that to deter me. But feeling good about taking that step.

Spanky-I hear you, I was upset a few days ago and went on a chip and sweet binge. As you say, go back to plan and start anew!
Waving to all!

Hello to all,

OP but still have not figured out how to work exercise into my day.

Best,
flnu

Good Evening, Coaches.

Three days in a row with 100% on Stage 1 Success Worksheets. Like gardenerjoy I find this whole process is so helpful in that it forces me to see how lax I have become. I lost 15 pounds last year and now know how I gained it back - one "give in" at a time. The exercise part has been the hardest. I have not done daily exercise for years. Spontaneous is easy enough. My school is very spread out. Rather than call a teacher, i walk over to talk to them. The planned exercise is difficult. The days I work are high energy and I want to go nowhere and do nothing in the evenings. I have settled this week on sit ups and pushups plus various stretching. True, the routines are brief but they are better than NOTHING.
Wave to all.

Friday - National Handwriting Day (John Hancock's birthday)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Eating was 100% on plan, CREDIT moi, for a third day in a row. I feel myself standing on much more solid ground at 100% than when I'm just nearly there. It's the snacks under control that matters the most. Lunch was some leftovers that DW had designated for lunches because it was too little to make two servings. Yet I made lunch two days in a row. Feels good to be choosing moderate quantities.

Exercise got usurped by an unexpected visit by my DD - Ouch for missing the walk but Yay for a visit from a young adult moving through life at the speed of light. Since we always made the kids the highest priority, they must assume that we have no other scheduled life, LOL.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – I would spend the day thinking that the scale owed me one since the soy sauce didn't show up and thus expect a big drop the next day. Me and scales don't have a rational relationship.

maryann - I'm always impressed that you remember to do stretching exercises. I read that they're important, but they seldom make their way into my life.

spanky - Kudos and supportive thoughts for continuing to respond calmly to your DS's behavior - without getting confused as if you'd caused it. Perhaps you can send yourself an email describing your day's carb behavior so that you can have a supportive chat with yourself about "good choices."

nationalparker – Neat that you can be so conscious of balancing food at the theatre against other possibilities.

flnu - I join you in a missed exercise day. Hope we both catch it today.

curlyjax - Yay for DS's interest to help motivate you toward the gym.

Readers -

Good morning coaches,

I am here and reading your posts each day. I feel like my life is the same every day. I am in kind of a holding pattern and boring to write about each day, although it does fulfill my being accountable. My exercise is consistent, but for the most part I eat back most of the calories I burn, so weight loss is pretty much non-existent. I have bounced between 149 and 151 for at least a month. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful I didn't gain over the holidays, but now I need to have enough of a calorie deficit to lose. Even if it's only a pound a week.

I ended up doing my Fit Climb exercises at home on Wednesday after a 6 mile hike, credit. Yesterday 3 friends and I hiked Flatiron in the Superstitions, but the wind was so bad we had to stop at the top of Siphon Draw. It would not have been fun to continue and we're all strong hikers. Two of the gals did the Tour du Mont Blanc with me in 2013 and the other was Hiking Suzanne who could have pulled the rest of us along. It was disappointing not to do this hike though. It's about an hours drive and I don't often have friends who want to do it. Tammy lives in MN, Coleen is Canadian and Suzanne's principal residence is Park City, UT. That's the trouble with living here full time . . . many don't. Believe me, I realize my troubles are very insignificant.

Today's goals are to do the exercises at the Y, get the tax stuff ready for the accountant and file in the office.

After reading about Gardenerjoy and Maryann doing so well with the Success Sheets, I have again pulled out the green book.

I never have and probably never will follow Beck exactly, right Love2garden but in fact her ideas seem like just common sense and strengthening of the resistance muscle. It does seem for me and I've read many others as well, the range of weight gain/loss has narrowed significantly as I get older. I think a big part of that is that since retiring I have more than enough time to exercise.

Hello to all and welcome to sensualappeal.

OK, getting a grip. On plan yesterday and so far [which is not far] today. Weigh In tomorrow so I have more motivation.

Happy Friday!

Hi Coaches!

Checking in. Credit. Food within parameters of SBD and resisting overeating as a reaction to stress. Credit. Life getting more complicated....gave a tenant notice yesterday (wanted him out anyway) which will free rental if hubby's ex-wife needs it. For now, she is staying with us. That's ok. I'm committed to staying sane with food and scale stays pretty much the same. I've made a plan for our family dinner tonight. Will take it one day at a time, for now.

CREDIT for getting to Day 5 of 100% on the Success Skills Sheet. The best part is "I followed my plan precisely" -- it means I'm not thinking about food all day except to ask myself "what did I write on my plan?" Such a relief.

WI: +0.35 kg, Exercise: +40 895/1200 minutes for January, Food: 100% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

maryann: I exercise every day, but my life would be sedentary without it. I think stretching might be the perfect exercise for you on work days. Do you wear a pedometer? That might make you feel better about the days when you don't do cardio outside of work.

karenrn: LOL at you having a boring life to write about when you get to write things like this "I hiked Flatiron in the Superstitions, but the wind was so bad we had to stop at the top of Siphon Draw."

Lexxiss: I'm very impressed that "That's ok" is the response to hubby's ex-wife staying with you. Shows a great deal of maturity on the part of all three of you. I assume it's in service to the grandkids, so I'm glad that you can make it work.

Thank you Coaches for sharing!!!

Gardenerjoy 5 days on SSS is is really, really, great. Even stretching my legs as I lay across the bed has made my hips more flexible. Don't make up the bed till it "dries out" anyhow, so this works for me.

Lexxiss: Sure hope your almost ex-renter vacates quickly!

Karen you described my feelings so well. The self-dicipline to simply follow those sheets for 7 days will help me learn how important it is to be fully aware of the foods I eat and ESPECIALLY the way I'm thinking.

Last night after great day with DH and an OP Dinner with 1/2 boxed and brought home for another day, I was exhausted. Bit of fear as I drove after dark and noticed how much more the lights were bothering me than usual. Fear, that I may finally be needing cataract surgery, and I'm really afraid of surgery.

That fear was part of the reason I really went off plan. Took my planned amount of Cheese it, then as evening went late, I brought the box over to my chair - HUGE MISTAKE. I was comforting myself with the crunch, ate slowly and enjoyed each bite, BUT ate way too many.

Bill wrote "day 30 Stay in Control When Eating Out" and I did well before, during and for 2 or 3 hours after eating out. Then crashed! That Success Skills Sheet had to hit the "no go" pile. Starting again with day 1 of 7 but actually wiser.

Mary Ann Good for you, to keep going on the SSS so many days is really a great thing. I also agree that a pedometer would really show you how much you walk daily at work and let you feel better.

Curleyjax What great idea to share the gym with your son! If he likes it, it could be a huge opportunity for each of you.

Spanky Our emotions and concerns can certainly contribute to our silly ways of thinking and acting, right? You have quite a double task, it is hard enough to raise children, but when trying to change a behavior in another, it is doubly hard. Can he adopt some of Beck's ideas such as "NO CHOICE!" for some things?

NationalParker The Odd Couple would be a delight to see! I miss the dinner theater that used to be within an evening drive from home. We used to go once a month as our Date Night when our 4 were young. Nearest one now is hours away, actually one is in another state. Oh, Well.

Indulged more than I probably needed to last night at dinner with a few more tiny potatoes (like fingerlings) than needed and then left most of the looked-forward-to dessert because it was not fresh. Credit for not still eating it but really, who would? It wasn't what I was anticipating, so really not much of a credit after all. The performance was great and we sat with a friendly couple. Conversation starting is 100% my role in our marriage, when we're out. Luckily that's not hard for me, as my dad used to say I always met a new friend wherever I went. (He also said I could talk to a brick wall, but that's an exaggeration... yet I do thank the walls of my home now and then for sheltering us in harmony, ha ha but that's a drywall wall)...hmmm...

Today went well ... for awhile. Breakfast and lunch were fine, then volunteered at a huge food bank location sorting food donations, from heavy cases of water, canned goods to light things for nearly four hours. Heavy lifting and loads of walking on concrete. Felt like we really made a good difference, then was ravenous when I got home and that is when things fell apart. I got home early and DH heads to work tonight, so as a treat (?) I ordered him chinese food - broccoli and beef ... and got kung pao for me. Not fried and veggie-laden, but also not light. I chose the smallest bowl we had that wasn't a prep bowl, and took less than a cup and then went back for seconds after a little while. I should have stopped there. DH left for work. Antsy and wiped out, feed throbbing, I thought, HMM... I have about 30 shreds of cheddar in a bag that's just sitting there. I'd better make a few nachos with baked scoops. So took 10 chips and had that. THEN OH ... I'll have a 100-calorie thing of candy. Seriously. And I thought I have GOT to stop this craziness, and ran a hot bath to put a stopgap in my mind ... at 5:45. I had to resort to that. I'm embarrassed. I rarely go from one thing to another and another and ... now I'm mad and full and cranky. I feel like I'm never going to get in a groove. I didn't even THINK to stop and read my cards. Not even on my radar tonight.

Even planned to do well by eating with my kiddie chop sticks since I can't master the others yet and these were dang cute that DH bought for my christmas stocking. Editing to say that the one serving of the chinese food will end up being five servings because I had two small ones, DH took one mid-size one in case he wanted more than part of his, and there is enough for two more in the container. $7 went a long way in that... so it wasn't HUGE portion.

Phew - enough moaning and groaning.

Karen - Please don't feel like your posts are routine by any means. I'm going to ditto what Joy said - I love your posts and the info from your hikes and those to come!

Bill - Boy - you picked a good Beck selection for today - i DO find it difficult to return to smaller portions after a larger eating day/special day. I need to pay attention to that and work on it. Great that DD stopped by - nice that they're close by and wanted - it's a good feeling for both. Dad and daughter :)

So I don't have the longest post for January here - I'm going to try to do another one later with add'l personals. All of the talk about the Success Sheets has me convinced NOW is the time to haul out my green book and get started with that baby.

Hello to all, I too am intrigued by your enthusiasm for the sheets. I don't have the green book, so I'm off to order it. Thank you all for sharing. Friday accountability weigh in: down 1.5 to 169.

Good Evening, Coaches.

Well I am giving myself a HUGE credit for four days in a row of 100% Stage 1 Skills. For the first time in memory, I didn't eat off plan on a Friday event day at work. These days usually involve me mirroring the frenzy of a headless chicken and masking my perfectionism with a cheerful smile. Inside on these days, I feel the old sinking blues and usually comfort myself with sugar bites all through the day and a food "reward" at the end. I tell myself, "Who could possibly stick to a plan on a day like today?"

I highly encourage anyone to do the Greenbook stage one skills challenge. The information I have received about myself, my thoughts, my emotions is jaw dropping. I really had fooled myself into thinking my eating is so involuntary and mysterious that dieting is nearly hopeless. But now that I am experiencing life without spontaneous eating, I see my patterns are crystal clear. It is not the food I am craving. I repeat, it is not grieving forbidden food I that is causing the depression to surface. I know this because I allow myself to eat anything I put in my plan the night before. What is making me blue is refusing to allow "self will to run riot" i.e. do anything I want anytime anywhere. I don't want to grow up emotionally. Maybe this is so tied to comforting myself during my dysfunctional childhood that I become disproportionality vulnerable when I practice resistance and sanity.

weight two pounds below ticker/ sit-ups and stretches planned for this evening.

To the "gardeners" love2 and joy: DH gave me a fitbit and this weekend's goal is to get it up and running.