Whelp. My experiment was pretty decisive. Normal snacks and a normal supper resulted in a dramatic weight loss. Two days of heavier snacks and a lighter supper resulted in a gain and then maintenance of that gain. Good motivation to stick to the plan, especially with snacks.
Part of the problem is that I've been hungry the last few days. It helps to remind myself that this happens sometimes, that the pattern will change and I won't be hungry every day for the rest of my life, and that hunger is not an emergency.
Weigh-in: -0.6 kg, Exercise: +40, 1075/1200 minutes for October
nationalparker: Sounds like a good reason to re-watch Up. Not that one needs a much of an excuse for that.
Our book club meets monthly, most of the time, but we combine our November/December meetings into one so I have a little more time to read the next book. It's a very popular novel, Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult, so I imagine it will be a quick one to read. That reminds me, though, I better get on the wait list at the library.
BillBlueEyes: Today's quote from Beck on extra advantages is exactly what I'm struggling to believe but have fully experienced in the past.
curlyjax: Clearwater Beach for a solo vacation sounds amazing. That reminds me that I had exactly that solo vacation planned for September 12, 2001 and I still haven't taken it. Probably time to reschedule it.
Always good to read catch up posts. It reminds me this blog is always here even if I am not. I have been in Charleston for a week and Tahoe three days before that. I'm midway through an unnecessary but apparently necessary 13 hour travel day. I am in Chicago. I found the Yoga room then Mass. Credit. One Chicago dog and some dried fruit. I hope to finish some planning now. I have no idea what my weight is. I felt I had a pretty reasonable balance between tasting fabulous foods and not sinking into a vat of Southern cream and fried food. Sleep was the greatest sacrifice and I must remember to be gently with myself as I catch up. Great to see college girl friends and I will be grateful to be home again.
The new regime is going quite well. I'm not hungry and appear to have lost weight. The challenge will be travelling to/from and being at my mother's. We're going by train so that will cut down on stress and strain, I hope.
curlyjax, good news about the chairs! Also about your brief solo vaca in Florida. I could do with one of those.
Bill, thanks for posting links to the birds you've seen. They seem so exotic to me! You've mentioned fig newtons before. Do you eat them slowly or is the tendency to bolt them because you're talking?
Very interesting about the emergency button and DW's parents. Although my mother saw the sense in having one as her brother had had a few falls, including one where he lay alone and cold for ages, I think what made it OK for her was that the UK control centre is in the next county and feels local. It's 73 miles and they speak in the same way there. I talked about it being just round the corner quite a bit, in order to make the technology feel friendly. There have been a few incidents but this is the first time she's used the button. So glad she was able to.
nationalparker, 'food options in the house' are always good. The opposite is not a good scenario.
gardenerjoy, ooh, snacks. I find them troublesome because they morph so easily, with just a slip of the spoon or knife or looking the other way when counting, into something bigger than planned. Good luck with your snack experiment which sounds good. ETA: just seen that it went well. Credit! A broken collar bone sounds painful. How did they strap you up?
maryann, I posted before I saw you'd posted! Very good to see you, jetting about the country!
Last edited by silverbirch; 10-29-2017 at 11:39 AM.
silverbirch--not being hungry and having lost weight. That's about as good as it gets.
maryann--It's nice that you've done well even when on vacation.
gardenerjoy--At least you now know.
curlyjax--I understand meaning to post and then not doing it for a while. I discovered today that I have not posted for 15 days!
BillBlueEyes--I'm not one of the many veterans on this forum, but I assume that a little bit of eating when you're not hungry just because you like the food is natural and normal.
nationalparker--I understand the desire for pizza.
During the last two weeks, I've done terrible on the Beck Diet. I only went over my reasons for losing weight about five times total. I only opened the book a few times. I didn't progress. I got up and ate in the middle of the night on the majority of days. I have, however, continued to lose weight, because I've done a fairly good job of sticking to my goal of a 500 calorie per day deficit.
I was back on track today. I think I've found a solution to my Beck Diet problems. The last few weeks, I've gotten up an hour early and ran on the treadmill. I can replace that with doing my Beck Diet work. I'll probably be able to still get on the treadmill, but only a few times per week. At this crucial time, following the Beck Diet takes precedence over exercise.
As to continuing to lose weight, how much credit should I give myself? I know this forum likes focusing on the positive, but what I did is only kind of good. Losing weight is not the problem. Losing weight in a manner that will enable me to keep it off is the goal. Thus, at least I think, I've done just okay during the last two weeks.
I know some people on this forum were already practicing CBT. Does anyone have general CBT self-help books that they recommend for depression?
Sitting down for the first time in 10 hours this afternoon/evening. I'm bushed. DH woke up and wanted pancakes, so we ended up, after a while, deciding to go out for brunch. Then a quick stop at Target for baking ingredients and I got started on the goodies for him to take into the office. Prepped both of those and a set for my office of the cookies, and chili and the soup for this week. I'm tired and a bit sore. I feel my age tonight. I planned to skip all the goodies but did end up eating two shortbread witch fingers and half of another one. The ones that didn't come out good enough. I should have just acknowledged that and kept them here to enjoy one each day. Credit is slim today - I love pancakes but know that all the carbs would be too much for me and I'd get back into craving a lot more of them... so went with an omelet and split it in two - eating the second half later this afternoon. It's a small credit, since I still did eat cookies, but I thought it was a good choice.
This week i head to my brother's on Wednesday and am not going to try to follow my plan, but rather just follow a veggie heavy menu with smart other choices for the other foods. My huge online order of balsamic came in, unscathed, so I'm set for a lot of good stuff with that.
I'm calling it a night and only half cleaning up the kitchen, but deciding to run a bath instead.
It was a good weekend for us. We went on a whale watch, and saw about 10 different humpback whales. It was fantastic, once I figured out how to deal with anger at people shoving in the midst of their excitement. When went out for a brief sail, and today was spent running errands.
Food was pretty close to on plan. I am going to continue to work on leaving food on my plate this week. I'm giving myself major credit for making a meal plan for the week first time in almost a year.
Bill Blue Eyes, bummer for the dastardly software-induced doughnuts. But, I do like the idea of modifying the plan to suit realistic expectations. The sentiment was similarly reinforced by Gardener Joy.
Curly Jax, I'm sorry your husband has been dealing with cancer. I wish you all strength and fortitude in your day to day battles!
Gardener Joy, great job getting your plan in place! I found the results of your experiment interesting! Thanks for the reminder that
Quote:
It helps to remind myself that this happens sometimes, that the pattern will change and I won't be hungry every day for the rest of my life, and that hunger is not an emergency.
Keeng Kong, good luck with finding your balance between exercise and Beck studies. Living a healthy lifestyle take so much time (until we get the hang of the habits)!
Mary Ann, good luck with your eating on your travels! It is so hard for me to stay on plan when my sleep is off and I'm traveling!
National Parker, I hope the balsamic is amazing! Big credit for choosing the omelet instead of pancakes!
Silver Birch, I am so delighted to read your template is working well for you! That is terrific! I'm glad your mother was OK after the fall!
The colder weather is here to stay, I think. It could go up again I suppose. This year has been erratic in many ways, including the weather. Food this week has been good. Today was off plan but I knew it would be. Back on plan now. It feels better on plan than off. Credit for feeling that way tonight.
Monday - Orson Welles's War of the Worlds broadcast (1938, Radio)
Diet Coaches/Buddies The rain has started. We've been having weather as if winter was never going to arrive, but it's begun. We had to drive everywhere. What a bummer. Exercise was limited. I'd better get used to it.
Eating was OK. A morning snack existed due to chatting with folks during happy hour in the morning. I did gather my wits and exit since being away from food is the most dependable way to avoid eating it. We took a friend to dinner at an Indian restaurant. I haven't had Indian food in a while. I managed to leave food - including leaving a chunk of naan which I've never done. It wasn't a low-calorie meal, but it was bounded and I did leave some of my dish. In fact our guest took the leftovers home, LOL. Just leaving food at a restaurant is worth a CREDIT moi even if I wish the total had been smaller. I did get worked up to visit Alaska sooner rather than later. Our friend suggests that it's good to go while still physically active to see its best natural places.
onebyone Useful thought for me, "It feels better on plan than off." Cool weather does seem to be arriving.
Joy (gardenerjoy) Found a definition of Whelp here. Thanks for teaching me such a useful new word. And thanks for "I won't be hungry every day for the rest of my life" - sometimes it feels like forever when it's really not.
silverbirch Yay for a train ride to avoid stress and strain. [Interesting question; Yep, I tend to just snarf down the Fig Newtons since we're talking and preoccupied. That might help me to strategize how to limit them. Congrats for finding a way to make the button seem OK for your mom. Your comment made me realize that the issue with the call from Florida might not have been the distance (as she claimed) but that the person working the call center likely had an accent so that they sounded like a 'foreigner' to the MIL.]
FutureFitChick That's a lot of humpback whales; did you go all the way out to Stellwagen Bank (National Marine Sanctuary)? Yep, Kudos indeed for making a week's meal plan.
maryann - Congrats for having a good week in Charleston with old friends. Fried foods are a major Southern issue. Hope you made it out of Chicago.
nationalparker Ten hours is a long day. Yay for "unscathed" balsamic. Yep, planning for a small amount of cookie sampling allows staying on plan.
curlyjax - That's a super price for dining room chairs - Congrats for finding those. Hope the issues your DH is having get resolved.
keengkong - Kudos for getting up an hour early to make time for exercise. Congrats for continuing to lose weight. My take is to give yourself credit whenever working in a positive manner. My attitude comes from my own history of only giving myself credit for perfection - thus seldom to never. [Eating when not 'hungry' is a slippery slope for me because it easily becomes a large amount rather than the "little bit" that my mind commits to.]
Readers -
Quote:
chapter 5 Week 1 - Get Ready: Lay the Groundwork
day 1Record the Advantages of Losing Weight
Make Your Advantages Response Card
Copy all of the advantages you've identified onto a 3x5 index card (or the equivalent that you can carry around in your appointment book, wallet, purse, or pocket. You're going to read this card at least twice a day until you no longer struggle with dieting - and then whenever the need arises.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 58.
Hi Beck crew! We've had a lot of activity in the last 24 hours. Great to see you all here!
I planned my week, including food, yesterday -- credit! Then, got grumpy with DH when he wanted to change supper plans. That would impact the whole week! We did it my way and survived.
The week feels like there may be too much stuff in it. That makes a plan in the morning all the more important. Credit for getting that done while I composed this post.
Weigh-in: +0.2 kg, Exercise: +40, 1115/1200 minutes for October
maryann: good to have you back. Welcome home, assuming you made it!
silverbirch: I found British trains quite relaxing except that we always worried about where our big duffel bags would go. We ended up standing on one leg of a trip, but had the most delightful conversation with a British person of our whole visit while doing that.
Doctors don't do much with collarbones. I had a sling for a few weeks to let it heal. There's still a bump and a weird occasional pain that reminds me that something went wrong there.
keengkong: When things have gone badly, I try to learn from what didn't work, put it behind me, and move on. I focus my credit on the turnaround and the new plan because that helps with the "move on" part.
nationalparker: eating a half omelet when you went out for pancakes would be a big credit for me. And, all that willpower would put me in a bad place for having cookies around. Yay for the balsamic vinegar!
FutureFitChick: I'm very jealous of the opportunity to see whales on a day trip.
onebyone: We're still getting the occasional teaser day in the 70s, but mostly we're in the more normal 50s. Our trees have finally caught up and started shedding leaves. They were pretty confused for a while about whether we would ever transition to colder weather.
BillBlueEyes: "Whelp" is apparently regional. St. Louis is where the South and North meet so we draw from a wide variety of linguist influences.
I woke up this morning with a headache, which happens often, but I am struggling to get rid of this one. So, I am resting with an ice "helmet" on.
Breakfast was on plan, but I forgot to leave anything behind. I am thinking it might be worth the time to go through and write out my cards again (I keep electronic versions in my phone). Lunch will be Cesar salad with broiled chicken. Dinner will be leftover lasagna and zucchini from last night.
Have a great day!
Bill Blue Eyes, way to go leaving naan on the plate. Yes, we were at Stellwagen. The guides were overjoyed with the number, as were the passengers. We had a visit from "Abyss" who spent about 10 minutes 5 feet from the port side slapping the water with his/her pectoral fins. We saw a group of four about a Ό mile off the boat. And then were treated to a separate group of five, including "UFO" and "29" about 50 meters from the bow. One did breach, but I missed it. I was hoping we'd see just one whale, given the lateness of the season.
Gardener Joy, awesome job sticking to the plan last night in spite of deterrents, and great job with the plan during a busy week. I still catch my husband saying words like "far-ty" instead of "forty" and other Missouri speech nuances. He hasn't lived there in twenty-two years.
One by One, I'm jealous of your cold! It is so warm here! Good luck this week!
All of a sudden, my time before my trip seems to be disappearing so quickly. I decided to skip the labor intensive treat, and maybe do another option for a friend's birthday in the morning (mini apple muffins that are called baked donuts and rolled in cinn sugar) ... they take 1.5 cups of small diced apples and if there's an ingredient that I have now it's apples! Depends on how early I hit the sack tonight if I can get up and prep.
Just waiting for DH to get home (I asked him to stop and get the Halloween candy) to put supper on the table - a conglomeration of baked sweet potato with sauteed onions and spicy buffalo chicken sausage with roasted broccoli. I am aiming to get back on here to post personals later tonight. Have been semi-on plan today. A decent effort. At least dinner is on plan. Actually all meals were but the one cookie and one stick of a kit kat bar were decidedly NOT on plan.
It's warm at home in Florida, so I'm excited about the 80 degrees. I was freezing walking our dog tonight - to be 28. Not snowing, so that's good.
I am happy to report I hopped back on plan as planned! Credit moi.
Scale bumped up 1 lb due to yesterday's food choices. It went up the day before that too. Neither day is real weight. Just flux. Tomorrow will still be in flux but if on plan again I may see some sort of reality based number on Wednesday. Wednesday is official weigh-in day so wherever I am at there I will be.
DH told me we are going somewhere for Friday and Saturday night. Saturday is my birthday. I specifically requested this but I never get my requests, except maybe this time! A two day couch potato weekend in a cottage by water with fireplace, all meals included, possible hot tub outdoors or spa or something. I sure hope that's what's happening. I, we, need a break.
Guess that's it. Just checking in. Have a good night.
Diet Coaches/Buddies Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, without snacks. Experienced the old 'hunger' in the afternoon while I was trying to get something done. There is no question that my stomach is connected to the tension part of my brain. The heroic part of my day was to spend some time with DW preparing to do "Estate Planning" - a topic that I've always thought was reserved for those with fortunes to distribute. The money part is easy. The hard part is trying to envision what to do for each case of one of us becoming immobile or increasingly demented. Versions of the future that aren't rosy are hard to visualize even though we know cases of all the unexpected combinations happening to people around us.
Exercise was walking to class, CREDIT moi. I feel like a wimp thinking of walking as exercise when Lewis and Clark more or less walked to the Pacific coast and back. I'm getting antsy - the snows are heavy in the Bitterroots in the winter of 1806 causing the Corps of Discovery to linger. Explorers don't do well just sitting waiting for snow to melt.
onebyone That's exciting to have a surprise happening this weekend for your birthday. An outdoor hot tub while it's snowing is just the best.
Joy (gardenerjoy) Figuring out how much "stuff" is to be crammed into a week is just so much like being an adult.
FutureFitChick Hope that headache is gone by now. Your meals sound good.
maryann - Waving. Watch your newspapers! Apparently, the New England Patriots football team has decided that since quarterback Tom Brady has lasted until the age of 40 he can go for another ten years. Thus we sold our backup quarterback to the San Francisco 49's. The guy is good. You guys won big. The good news is that I won't have to read about awful world events in the papers this morning since all will be focused on second-guessing football decisions.
nationalparker Sounds smart to skip the labor intensive cookies so you have some time to prepare for your trip to Florida. 28 degrees sounds like winter.
Readers -
Quote:
chapter 5 Week 1 - Get Ready: Lay the Groundwork
day 1Record the Advantages of Losing Weight
Make Your Advantages Response Card
To make the list more compelling, itemize the advantages in order of importance to you. Copy your reasons verbatim from the Reasons I Want to Lose Weight Chart (page 57) or express them in your own words. If a reason is personal and you don't want to risk others seeing it, write it down in a code that only you will understand.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 58.
The big news is that I managed to have a hair cut yesterday! I've been going to the same person for 30 years (I know, it's a lifetime). He's in London, I've never lived in London, but it seems to have worked out. I see him every four to six months. He's so good that the hair cut lasts but towards the end I really know it's time because I seem to turn into another person.
The DB and I are at my mother's. As ever, lots to do. I am trying to take things very slowly as it's easy to find myself doing too much. And that's probably when I turn to sugar in some form to give myself energy. The DB observed that he and I need a change of scene which made me think that a change of scene doesn't need to include wall-to-wall work.
Bill, I want to remind you that you've got an umbrella, in case it rains again. You've probably got some good wet weather gear too, but I do understand that sometimes it's so wet that you can't even contemplate going out in it.
Credit for thinking 'estate planning' through. Difficult but it really does make sense, as you know. Apart from the personal alarm button, the single most useful thing we've done was to get power of attorney (finance, and health and wellbeing) lined up. It took a lot of concentration at the time but it's working fairly smoothly where it needs to now. Some people won't even think about it and that makes simple things so complicated further down the line.
onebyone, sounding promising for a birthday treat!
nationalparker, credit for deciding against a labour intensive job.
FFC, I haven't heard of an ice helmet for headaches. I've recently learnt they can prevent hair loss during chemotherapy though.
gardenerjoy, 'too much stuff' is, as Bill has commented, an adult state of affairs. Sometimes I've had it with this grown-up business.
Monday - Orson Welles's War of the Worlds broadcast (1938, Radio)
Off to have another bash at the kitchen.
