Morning everyone
Eating has been so so. Scale is up time to knuckle down again.
Does anyone else find the summer a hard time to stay on track? Most people tell me they find it easy with all the fresh fruit and veggies etc available but I find it easier to overeat...with barbecues, parties,,too hot to cook so I'll order out. All those excuses. Plus many more.
Got in lots of exercise yesterday, played with my dgd all day. Ever try to keep up with a two yr old,,,, I was a tired puppy last night.
Today walking to the studio in this sunshine.....I'm waking up feeling 'lighter' in spirit these days. The sunshine helps me a lot.
Sparky I hope you hear something soon
Ani I couldn't avoid them either......good for you stopping at 2 helpings!
Bill I love how you enjoy your food...mindful eating at its best
Onebyone I would love to see your pottery!
Gardener joy sounds like your mind goes into cruise control when you don't have a plan and knows what to do !!
National Parker a plan in place is good!
Welcome back cheatinvegan
Curlyjax and lovetogarden waving hi!!!
Hello Coaches
After the potato chip slip, I stayed on track the rest of the day. Felt really good to see a slip as simply part of being a human being. (I read somewhere how we may WISH we were gods and goddesses. But the reality is that we are human beings. Imperfect human beings.)
And, as human beings, we strive to do as well as we can.
Credit for 10K+ steps
And here's an exciting thing.. I STARTED the Couch to 5K running program. I actually started. I had expected I couldn't do the Week1/Day1 20 minute workout consisting of 4 minute walk + 1 minute run repeated 4 times. I didn't think I could run the full minute. But I could. One minute WAS within my capability. And the 4 minutes of walking in between was sufficient rest. So I'm amazed, pleased, and stoked to repeat that tomorrow.
As to diet, I'm trying a tiny change in pattern. Beck teaches us to learn to FEEL what hunger feels like. My morning pattern is that after a breakfast of cereal + skim milk + protein powder, we take our long morning walk. I always take along a banana. But, yesterday I realized, I'm not HUNGRY at that point. Breakfast was filling enough. So the last 2 days, I saved the banana for until I GET HUNGRY. Thus giving me a chance to pay attention to the eventual sensation of hunger. If I do this for other meals, it means more snacks to have handy to "calm the crabby needs-a-nap child" at her incorrigable times of day. LOL
Cheatin' Vegan Kudos for a good day: reading your AC’s, walking, yoga, and for the wisdom to realize you need and deserve the space to grieve the loss of your friend.
Bill: Thanks for helping me compose a response to my sabotaging thought “I don’t care”. “I DO CARE very much”. Yay for lovely weather and Kudos for the walks and OP eating. Thanks for mentioning salmon. It sounds delicious. In general, I’m not a fan of fish (unfortunate given its health benefits) but I LOVE salmon. I need to plan it more often.
Spanky: Thanks for suggesting my bf keep his snacks hidden. Great idea. Good that you’ve been able to let go of the need for a response from the seller and looking at other opportunities in the meantime. Glad your stealth approach is working. Best not to break the spell by telling.
P/A: I love how you say you got in so much exercise you were “tired as a puppy”. Yay on waking to sunshine and a feeling of lightness in spirit. As to best time of year to diet, for me, it’s all in my attitude, my thinking, my decision to commit, doesn’t matter the time of year. When I’m in “don’t wanna” mood, anytime of year is tough. When I’m in “I can do this. I know I can”, then anytime of year is surmountable … Makes me think of that song … I like Paris in the springtime, I like Paris in the fall …. With Beck skills and the support of a dozen “licensed” coaches here, you’ll do great this summer.
GardenerJoy: Yay for the 100% OP day and kudos for making note of how good it feels to achieve that. 100% days like this will be much more frequent now…. Success breeds success. Sounds like you’re on a roll.
Know this will be a busy evening, so I'm checking in now. On track yesterday and onto Day 18 today. So far, so good, but know tonight will be a bit of a challenge as we're picking up salads and thin crust cheese pizza en route to inlaws to drop off pooch before we head out of town in a few days. I will nearly ALWAYS choose to enjoy a bit more pizza than I need, and am deciding to start with the salad and at least get in the veggies. This pizza isn't greasy or thick, so it's a modest amount of calories, so not hugely a trigger, and we won't bring any leftovers with us. Heading into dinner with ample calories, though.
Goal met yesterday to get on exercise bike and increase time by 20% (which wasn't a huge deal when not going too long to start with), but quads are feeling it and goal is to get on one more time before we fly out.
There are candy bars ALL OVER - must be more than 100 around here. Driving me bonkers. No choice.
Aiming to get in personals before i head out - sorry for the lack of them lately. I love reading everyone's and am sending supportive, positive thoughts along to all!
quick wave coaches-
oog, terrible eating yesterday. I resisted these mini cupcakes at work for a long time then i gave in. I wish i was one of those folks who didn't like processed stuff from the grocery store but theres something about the taste of those things i remember from childhood or something....then i stress ate at home a LOT of stuff. I need to get back to buying desserts i don't like (of which there aren't many!)
-credits for a walk, some functional exercise in cleaning, and eating salads for lunch as usual. pa I know what you mean about summer. There is a LOT of really good ice cream around. I don't need as much food in the summer but i don't always cut back.
Another quick check in. It's a busy and kind of fun week. Got a walk in this morning, credit; and then went to a movie Above and Beyond, a good documentary about the volunteer 1948 Israeli air force. Very interesting but probably could have seen it on Netflix in the future. Food okay. Friends are now in town from MN for the next five days, so hope to get out for an easy hike with them.
I am filled with joy this evening. I spent the day as the fancy health clinic I get to go to once a year due to DH's job where they do every test under the sun. My results were unexpectedly great on some fronts and generally better across the board since I was last there in 2013. I have been avoiding and red scheduling appointments with them since last summer. So, highlights include:
-Bone density of a young person (doc wouldn't say how young but min. risk for fractures)
- cholesterol major drop due to meds so not at dangerous levels now good cholesterol up. Bad down.
-fitness/stress test yielded an Average on the result scale.up from fair by 4 pts. Doc was amazed.
-I had no results in the problem column. The worst is my blood sugar is a bit up. I am testing closer to the prediabetes number.
-my thumb xray revealed mild osteo arthritis in my two thumb joints. 25 years of fine movements will brimh that about.
So good news in that no major issues except the weight. Sr. Believes I could drop meds if I drop my weight down.
I feel as though I have a reprieve. I have some time to make the changes before anything truly serious kicks in. I think without you guys I would not have kept trying again when I lost my way. I am grateful for you all.
I expect a rise in weight for my weigh in tomorrow but the news from today tells me I am doing all right.
I left there thinking I could become the athletic fit person I have felt deep inside at times. It would be awesome to achieve this for the first time in my 50's.
My takeaway from my day is never give up. All the small things make real changes.
I had a fairly sedentary day because my son stayed home sick from school. We left the house to go the doctor, and that was it. However, (credit) I did get in a few minutes of yoga, (credit) had a fruit/veggie smoothie and a salad today (which is the extent of my current commitment to my diet until I ramp up in the next couple of weeks), and (credit) read advantages. It's daunting to think of reading my big long list every time, so I've been skimming until I get to one that really resonates for me on that particular day. Has anybody else had success with that kind of approach? I've been feeling like it's better than not reading at all, but I don't know if it's as good as disciplining myself to really hunker down and concentrate on my whole list every time.
BillBlueEyes, I'm so happy that you're getting to enjoy the benefits of spring. I lived in Brookline for one year (the rest of my life in snowfree parts of California) and was so shocked by how much space the snow took up. I had never thought about having to expend so much effort maneuvering around it. spanky, congratulations on your self-awareness working to find you calorie sweet spot. gardenerjoy, congratulations on a 100% day. That's awesome. p.a., wow. Two is such a fun but challenging age. They're suddenly so physically capable, but trying to communicate is still like playing charades all day. It's great physical and mental exercise keeping up with them. dailypractice, congratulations on your great attitude about the slip and on Couch to 5K. I'm a (slow) runner training for a long (for me) race in the fall, and it's great to have a program to follow. nationalparker, I love your approach to pizza planning, and I plan to steal it at some point. Pizza is a favorite, but it never satiates me, so I could eat one slice or four and feel just as hungry. I love the idea of starting with salad and then just limiting access. Have a great trip. curlyjax, congratulations on exercise and salad. I think the processed food folks know just how to find the combination of sugar and salt and fat to keep us craving them. It is not easy. karenrn, Enjoy hiking with friends. That sounds really fun. What part of Arizona do you call home? onebyone, congratulations on the test results!
Diet Coaches/Buddies – The first of two walks was, again, a triangulation: I was at hither until noon and had to be at yon by 1pm. Fortunately, it was only a thirty minute walk betwixt and I'd pass two possible places to get lunch in between: Burger King and an upscale bakery/sandwich shop. Now Burger King advertised several 2 for $5 items in their windows - neither of which were any more healthy than a Big Whopper. So I planned for the bakery. I choose my sandwich; Then, just before ordering, noticed that one could order half a sandwich. Well, I pondered, Why would they offer that? So, in a fleeting moment of sanity, I ordered the half sandwich. CREDIT moi - it was more than large enough for my lunch and I was spared the decision to overeat or to stuff a half-sandwich in my pocket for the rest of the afternoon. It was delicious, with the extra calories of thick bread grilled in butter. I still declare an on-plan day, although lunch was higher than usual. I cut some carbs at dinner to assuage my guilt.
Walked, CREDIT moi, as described above. Had to carry my jacket (again). I need to come to believe in the weather to leave home as if warm weather was here.
onebyone – Such good health news - Congrats - especially for "good cholesterol up" since that's certainly due to more exercise.
Joy (gardenerjoy) – Yay for accepting that sticking to a generous plan is, indeed, on-plan.
spanky - Yay for a "Stealth Approach" to exercise - whatever works. Kudos for accepting than no-response means that you have to move on.
nationalparker – Kudos for getting your exercise bike assembled and for incrementing your activity on your second use. Pizza is a challenge for me since my idea of a serving is larger than a rational meal size.
Karen (karenrn) - Yay for out of town friends to justify more exercise rather than more eating.
curlyjax - Ouch for mini-cupcakes available all day long. Yep, Kudos for salads for lunch.
p.a. - Summer is actually easier for me. My difficult season is winter when I can't go outside and nibbling on nuts and dried fruit seems like a good idea.
Ani (dailypractice) - Super Kudos for starting your Couch to 5K program, as well as for getting back on track after your "chip slip."
CheatinVegan - Hope your DS is recovering - Kudos are deserved just for surviving that. Thanks for pointing out "so much effort maneuvering around it [snow]" - Yep, that it is.
Readers -
Quote:
day 34Solve Problems
what are you thinking?
As you work on solving problems, many sabotaging thoughts can get in your way, undermining your confidence and leading you to automatically discount potential solutions. Use the following examples to help you respond to these thoughts.
Sabotaging Thought: I can't do this. I can't solve this problem. Helpful Response: Most problems can be solved - or partially solved - even if I don't see the solution right now.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), pg 234.
Still on plan and no change on the scale this morning. Amazingly, still on track with my stealth exercise.
Last night I had the clarifying thought that the calories I eat above my planned amount do not feed me, they feed the fat!
I have 4 dogs I could be walking but can never get out of the house of an evening due to issues with my son. Maybe I need to rethink this and put my husband on duty with DS while we walk. He goes to the porch for cigarette breaks, perhaps this could be my "Cigarette Break"!
CheatinVegan I do this same thing. If I try to read the whole list, I just blur. I'll pick one or two that seem to mean something and mull them over all day. Today's was "Not another FAT summer!"
I read somewhere yesterday that we make wiser, less-biased judgments about other peoples' lives than we do our own. A simple trick to borrow some of that wisdom for ourselves is to talk about ourselves in third person. These statements helped me yesterday:
Joy eats better all day when she measures her cereal at breakfast.
Joy committed to eating from home for the rest of April -- she'll make that easier today if she runs her errands in the morning.
Joy's to-do list is really long today. She'll do better if she stays calm and persistent. She might also want to think about ways she can make shorter to-do lists for the rest of the week.
It feels a little odd, but I've done stranger things to keep myself on course.
I'm half-way through my exercise goal, half-way through the month!
WI: -0.6 kg, Exercise: +40 650/1300 minutes for April, Food: 80% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes
p.a.: I have a hard time with summer, too. I've gained all but that first summer since I started this journey. For me, summer is supposed to be about wild abandon and feeling care free. That doesn't mesh well with what I have to do to maintain or lose weight. I'm going to try to find different ways to experience wild abandon this summer -- ways that don't include ice cream, bratwurst, or carry-outs.
I made frozen yogurt yesterday. I think the biggest difference between the summer that I lost and the summers that I didn't was that I ate more of my own frozen yogurt and less ice cream and frozen custard.
dailypractice: woohoo! What a terrific start to C25K!
onebyone: so happy you got good news from your doctor and that it's motivating you to keep working on your health.
CheatinVegan: I skim many of my Responses but try to read the Advantages more carefully. I retire both Advantages and Responses to keep things a little more streamlined (but I keep track of the old ones in case I decide I want them back). Some of them get ingrained in my head so I don't need to read them any more. Others don't seem as meaningful over time, so I stick with the ones that really motivate me right now.
Hi Coaches
On plan eating, including successful navigation of a goodie tray at a morning meeting, choosing just fruit and one slice of cheese, and bypassing the cookies.
Walked 4.5 miles plus completed Day 2 of the Couch to 5K training... interspersing the (short) bits of running into the walking schedule. Looks like I'll have to find where the joggers go in Rome so I can keep up with my new training schedule. LOL. Bob Dylan's voice is going thru my head as I think of that... remember it? "The streets of Rome are filled with rubble..." We leave for Italy a week from today.
But who's counting.
I've started logging my nutrition online. I've never used one of those trackers before, so I'm really impressed with how it works. It was helpful for me to look at my total intake the last few days to see some unexpected things and some glaring areas for improvement.
eg, I didn't think of pickles as being high in anything bad. Usually I don't even think to write down that I had a pickle with lunch (like I don't write down carrots and celery) ... It's true, a pickle only has 7 calories. But WOW, the sodium. I'm trying to stay under 1500, and one lousy pickle is 350 mg. Yikes. Not worth it.
So instead ... plain old cucumbers.
Why not?
Have a great rest of the day, everyone.
Ani
Last edited by dailypractice; 04-16-2015 at 06:28 PM.
Gardener joy my dd has a yonanas machine. It's makes awesome frozen 'fruit treats'. I tried hers and I'm going to get one for those hot summer days. I've made my own yogurt but never froze it . Hmmmm
OP today with the exception of more dinner than I needed and three gobstoppers on yet another freakin' DONUT DAY (well, this one included fried apple fritters)... I felt like I'd bypassed every single thing today and then ate more dinner than I needed because I didn't want to eat part and toss the rest before the trip. Not a deal-breaker but not the mentality I need heading into a trip.
Ani - What we notice most overseas is that no one is running/jogging, no gyms, just everyday activity and walk, walk, walking all over the cities. Well, except for the pick pockets who make the speedy getaways Would love to hear if it's the same when you're there. KUDOS on starting that C5k!
Bill - great job thinking and choosing the half bakery sandwich. Those calories seem to be better for our bodies, in my mind. I FIGURE the ingredients have to be healthier
It was a beautiful day here, and I went for a run along the water that felt great. I got in my planned smoothie and salad. I read (and really felt) advantages. I also felt my first real craving in a while and was able to catch myself long enough to drink a big glass of water and realize maybe I’d just been thirsty—seeking something, seeking something, oh! Water.
BillBlueEyes, the bakery sounds more satisfying than the Whopper, too. They taste so good in the moment, but somehow there’s no there there. spanky, that’s a great way of thinking about extra calories. Thanks! gardenerjoy, that’s a really interesting idea. After my son was born, I became kinder to myself because I started observing the way I treated myself and realized if I wouldn’t treat someone I loved that way I shouldn’t treat myself that way. Somehow that distance from self—like your third-person idea, which I’m definitely going to try—makes it easier to be rational. dailypractice, congratulations on making it through the meeting on plan and on C25K. I love the idea of running in Rome. That sounds like an amazing way to see the city. p.a., the yonanas looks really interesting. How does it work? nationalparker, congratulations on making it through donut day without donuts.
Diet Coaches/Buddies – Did gym with trainer, CREDIT moi, directed to carry weights while on the treadmill. Holding weights kept me from touching the rails which I'm directed to avoid in order to force my body to keep balance and to walk in a straight line. If I hold the rails lightly, I can almost go to sleep and let the legs finish the duration, LOL. But with the weights, I have to keep my eyes open to keep walking straight.
Eating was 100% on-plan, CREDIT moi, including the leftover grilled salmon - so good. Evening snack was a whole California Navel Orange; one more time, I note that the season is ending.
Joy (gardenerjoy) – What a clever way to be your own life coach. Think I'll try: Bill isn't going to overeat tonight with the kids despite a large spiral ham visible on the table.
spanky - Neat thought that the calories feed the fat - I'll try that next time I face an abundance.
nationalparker – "Fried apple fritters" are my downfall - each must be 600 calories. Kudos for avoiding your company's perpetual donut day.
p.a. - Yay for homemade yogurt.
Ani (dailypractice) - Yep, pickles are little bags of sodium - even though super low calorie sodium. Can't wait to hear your Rome adventure. Kudos for avoiding cookies in your face. Playing Bob Dylan's When I Paint My Masterpiece to hear the streets of Rome are filled with rubble.
CheatinVegan - Thanks for reminding me "there’s no there there" about fast food burgers. It's awful to stuff junk calories and then still be hungry for food. Kudos for recognizing that water satisfied what you craved.
Readers -
Quote:
day 34Solve Problems
what are you thinking?
As you work on solving problems, many sabotaging thoughts can get in your way, undermining your confidence and leading you to automatically discount potential solutions. Use the following examples to help you respond to these thoughts. . . .
Sabotaging Thought: This solution isn't going to work. Helpful Response: It might or might not. Maybe I should try it. I can call on a friend to help me figure out what to do.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), pg 234.
Spreading out food to match hunger levels.
Thursday - National Librarian Day
Would love to hear if it's the same when you're there. KUDOS on starting that C5k! 