I had a day full of credits!
--weighed this morning (down)
--checked my sugar (no change)
--had weekly weigh-in (down 3.9 lbs)
--went to the weekly class for my program
--walked 22 minutes around the track at the gym!!! (first exercise in ages)
And, not only did I walk, my going to the gym caused my husband and daughter to come along. DD kept me company on the track and DH rode the bike.
I am going out after work Thursday and my doctor said I could have a meal there, but I'm not going to. I want to continue to work on my resistance muscle rather than starting this early having reasons why I can deviate. I'll consider it at the 4 or 5 week point, but for now, I think 100% compliance is in my best interest!
Joy, that's a really good idea to create a response card for the issues you're know are hard for you.
maryann That is awesome!!
BillBlueEyes: major credit for the walk, considering how cold it is! Are you planning for an afternoon snack?
Hope everyone is doing well!
Motivating Thoughts
A year from now Ill be glad I started. Every day counts.
Wednesday - Statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin born (1706, Boston)
Diet Coaches/Buddies Today is predicted to be a long snowy day. This is going to be a challenge since it's the day that we take care of the DGD. We have a thirty minute drive each way in the best of conditions. Might have to just stay at her house, which means that I've got to go pack a lunch and get ready earlier than planned. Snow isn't friendly to planned activities.
Eating was off due to snacking. Guess I should give myself credit for meals on plan. DW prepared sole for dinner - a real treat. The servings were a bit large since we're stuck with the size of the fish as come in the package. The good news is that a larger piece of sole is about the best nutrition per calorie of foods we eat.
Joy (gardenerjoy) Backing up to half a sandwich is a challenge. Kudos for thinking of a Response Card to help. [Putting Killers of the Flower Moon on my list - just another part of reality that I've not known about. Thanks.]
maryann - Yay for a gallon of water to help stay your plan.
curlyjax - Waving. Brace yourself for some rough weather today.
Beth (bethturnaround) Kudos for making it back to the gym - and for taking your DD and DH with you. [Good notion; if I planned for an afternoon snack, I could weave it into my plan for the day.]
Readers -
Quote:
day 4Give Yourself Credit
How and When to Give Yourself Credit
You also deserve credit every time you refrain from engaging in unhelpful behaviors. When you've finished eating, look for ways to give yourself credit for reframing from doing the unhelpful things you're tempted to do, such as the following:
Wanting to eat walking around, standing, or lounging, but not doing so
Refraining from taking second helpings
Refusing a free sample at the grocery store
Ignoring the baked goods someone brought to work
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 75.
Things continue rather busy here. I am eating fairly sensibly. I am exercising. Sleep is a little strange - no idea why, though it could be related to howling winds. I weigh myself in the mornings. And I am body swerving commercial bread, cake, biscuits. This sounds as though I eat a lot of it and I don't. I simply do not want to eat any as it's mostly horrible. It creeps into our lives when time is short. Even if the others eat it, I certainly don't have to.
At the office and I have a salad prepared and packed to eat here in an hour or so.
The SO is back and I am planning to go to my mother's. Clearing the decks here first.
gardenerjoy, your lettuce challenge comes up from time to time. For what it's worth, this is what I do. Run a basin of cold water whilst I'm unpacking and putting away the shopping. When it's full, pull the lettuce apart, put in the bowl and swish around a little. Carry on unpacking whilst the soil sinks to the bottom of the bowl. Take lettuce out and put in the salad spinner. Let it drain. Carry on unpacking. Spin. Carry on. Spin again. If it's dry enough put in a plastic bag in the salad drawer (optional). Otherwise, leave in the salad spinner on the kitchen table where people seem to eat it like crisps (=chips). I like this method as it takes my mind off two rather dreary tasks.
to all. No snow here but plenty further north. Wind is nippy.
Last edited by silverbirch; 01-17-2018 at 06:33 AM.
Yesterday was boring food-wise and I expect today to be the same. Yay for making food boring and letting life be my entertainment!
Weigh-in: +0.1 kg, Exercise: +25, 515/1200 minutes for January
bethturnaround: That's a lot of credits! I like your idea of sticking to the plan for a month or so to make sure it's solid for you.
BillBlueEyes: We have a steep driveway so I clear our calendar for snow predictions. But, sometimes that's just not possible. I'm scheduled to take care of DGN one morning next week. Fortunately, we're moving into a warm (and maybe wet) spell.
silverbirch: thanks! I wash lettuce in the same way, but as one big, long chore. Doing it while unpacking groceries could work for me!
Phone check in. First day of work. Another great day OP. Aside from several trips to bathroom ( which increase step count) the water felt terrific. This is the first time I haven't awakened thirsty in a long time. Schedule at work is half of last semester but I still feel I am recovering. So go slow. I feel Renewed hope that I can deal with this diagnosis step by step.
It helps to read yr posts, to know Beth is 100% compliant and BBE is planning snacks. It really is about intention and knowing I am not alone.
We completely dialed it down yesterday evening on a cold and blustery night. It was -19 with the wind chill on my walk after work with the pooch. She still insisted on sniffing everything, though I imagine all scents are frozen over. But what do I know with a clearly less evolved human nose vs. canine. I had made chili on Monday and so I heated that up, lit the fireplace and we burned through a good stack of wood, while playing a new board game that I talked DH into playing. I'd enjoyed it last week at my sister's and it was fairly quick moving. He, however, evaluates every possible move like he's competing to face off against a national champion. He won, and I had fun, so I guess that's what counts. I DID go off plan with a bit of sweet popcorn, though, but all meals/other snacks were on target.
This morning was no warmer - remained 0 with the wind chills still at -15. I'm ready for spring.
Activity was nearly nil. I'd gotten on the exercise bike the day before, but not yesterday - it didn't even dawn on me. So tonight, I will do that before DH gets home. Even 20 mins is better than none as a start.
Dinner tonight was prepped last night to save time (I don't know that it actually saves time, but it enables fewer dishes on the night we need it...if that makes sense) - turkey meatballs in marinara. Cut a step by using jarred sauce with no added sugar. I can doctor that up and that does save me time. Time time time. That's what I'm working for - to have freedom of time down the line. Time to call my own.
As many seem to be doing with the new calendar page, I'm antsy to clear out some things from my cupboards - dishes I no longer use (GASP - this is HARD for me - dishes are the hardest things for me to part with), so I'm starting with some casserole dishes. But since I've thought about it, why do I not use them? Because they're not in a convenient spot. They're good! So instead of clearing them out, I'm talking myself into moving them into a better area. I think what I need to do is to clear out a cupboard at a time and re-evaluate what stays/what gets donated. I had enough space when I moved in, so there's clearly enough cupboards, even though I have a small kitchen with few cabinets. Thanks for letting me come to terms with that line of thinking here.
Last edited by nationalparker; 01-17-2018 at 12:49 PM.
Quick check at the time I struggle. Kitchen is closed, I can plan whatever I want for tomorrow but today is finished even if I have 3 hours of activity left.
Today was my first office work day in a while. I declined going to lunch with people in favor of the stuff I brought. My new director wanted to take me to lunch and I told him that my doctor had put me on a really restrictive phone call and I couldn't eat out.
Credit: I weighted today (no change) and checked my sugar (still not going down). I ate everything sitting down.
And the big one--I had a momentary sense of "I wanna go downstairs and forage in the kitchen" and I was able to tell myself I wasn't hungry--I was just at loose ends--and that foraging in the kitchen was the wrong answer. Distracted myself and then my phone buzzed to tell me to go eat my 8:00 pm serving. YAY for distraction! And YAY for using this time to really break food habits.
maryann: Congrats on closing the kitchen--and recognizing that activity time doesn't have to equal kitchen time. Checking in here more than once a day sometimes does make sense, doesn't it?
nationalparker: Brr. Just brr. I thought 3 degrees waiting for the train was cold! What game were you playing? DH and I are big into board games.
Joy: YAY for boring food and exciting life.
silverbirch: Thanks for this reminder Even if the others eat it, I certainly don't have to.
BillBlueEyes: Sole is awesome. I'm a bit confused about how package size determines portion size, though. Hope you had a great day with DGD!
Advantages Response Card: Why do I want to lose weight?
Ill be able to wear clothes I already own that are in storage.
Thursday - A.A .Milne born (Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin, Tigger) (1882,London)
Diet Coaches/Buddies Exercise was chase the DGD day, CREDIT moi. With accumulating snow predicted, we stayed at her house instead of the round trip back to ours. We took her to a local indoor playspace where she got much exercise in a convoluted 'bouncy house' - the most complex I've ever seen. Once again, she demonstrated that she could require me to carry her out, without jacket or boots, while screaming. She stopped as soon as we got to the car and wanted a book. It's all a show. Favorite moment: she asked, "Are we going to my house or to your house?" I just love that it blows my mind that she can formulate a question to get a piece of information that she wanted. It was new to her to leave her house in our car and then return to her house instead of ours. I did get some minor exercise shoveling the thin snow layer from out driveway.
Food was OK, CREDIT moi, except for too much afternoon snack. All the (most obvious) off-plan food in the house is now gone, so staying the path should be easier. Dinner was pumpkin soup which feels a bit spartan to me. As if we're saving the planet by eating what's leftover in the cellar as we await spring. (I feel bad that the title of my post doesn't have enough room to include "Eeyore, Piglet, and Roo." Hope they're not offended.)
Joy (gardenerjoy) Yay for "boring food-wise."
silverbirch Great notion, "Even if the others eat it, I certainly don't have to."
maryann - Thanks for the reminder, "step by step."
nationalparker "0 [fahrenheit] with the wind chills still at -15" is quite cold - smart to be inside by the fire.
Beth (bethturnaround) Kudos for skipping the lunch with colleagues even though it was your first day at work. And Kudos, indeed, for "foraging in the kitchen was the wrong answer."
Readers -
Quote:
day 4Give Yourself Credit
How and When to Give Yourself Credit
Giving myself credit is a skill I had to learn - but now it comes easily to me. I give myself credit throughout the day, whenever I finish a task or even part of a task. I say to myself, Good, that's done, even if it's just writing two more paragraphs of an article or brushing my teeth. It's quite easy for me to give myself credit when I eat right: Good, I ate what I'd planned. It's now especially easy for me to give myself credit when I pass up food I hadn't planned to eat, as I did this morning at a breakfast buffet: Good, I'm glad I didn't eat a doughnut, a bagel, and a lot of other stuff.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 76.
Update on DH: he decided to enter hospice care as his body is unable to tolerate more chemo and his body is breaking down. We have been trying it at home but its getting too much for me to manage so hes going to a lovely hospice residence today. I feel a little guilty but I just cant make him comfortable and I need help. There are folks there who can help him as well as the rest of the family and im looking forward to that.
curleyjax: I must start with giving you and your family my deepest sympathies. The grief you and your children are experiencing must be overwhelming. There is no way to handle this situation "right" so there is no need for guilt. I would imagine your husband wants to make these days as easy for his loved ones as possible. You are doing him a favor by choosing that lovely place.
Beth: Congrats on the resistance practice. Boy, that feeling of "I have to go rumage in the kitchen" is just a killer. Super credit for waiting out the craving. I practiced that at least six times last night after I closed the kitchen.
BBE: Yeah! The dangerous off plan food is gone! The world is a safer place.
I was thrilled to wake up to a two pound drop. Wow! I am only two pounds up from ticker. Drinking the gallon of water with lemon has been eye opening. I still had an extra glass of water before bed. I can't believe how dehydrated I was. Also, it is so simple. I have a gallon container and two "sippy cups" One at my work desk and one at home. The sugar cravings are still a ghost haunting me but they seem manageable. It is not a physical demand for carbs now but a psychological one. I have Beck solutions for those.
Back to work is exhausting but the students are great. I have to learn to teach as the "new" me - less hypomaniac (as I think I'll call myself.) It is uncomfortable but step by step, I can learn this.
I had a 7:15am meeting. And, tonight is my turn to lead the book club meeting at 7pm. That's a big book-ended day, especially since I'm still working to build back energy. I planned the day, including food, last night. So, I already have this credit: I had tea at our meeting place and came home to eat my normal breakfast.
curlyjax: I'm so sorry that your DH has reached this point. I've known families who used hospice and it has been a godsend. I hope that's your experience, too.
An on plan day yesterday and today [so far]. Riveting plans tonight include hunkering down with another fire and a movie. I am looking forward to a dark living room with just the mantle candles, fire and the movie. It's good for our dog to have time to settle in with us as well (pack time) as we get toward the end of the workweek. Must stop and pick up a rotisserie chicken for dinner.
CurlyJax - I have nothing but positive things to say of the hospice experience with my father. I hope it is the same for your family. The caring support and guidance they provided was so needed. I'm so sorry to hear this, though. I'll share what one coworker kept emailing me when I was caregiving - take care of YOU, too.
Beth - We were playing Sequence ... and Rummikub is another favorite of mine. Great job staying the course!
Bill - LOL "It's all a show". Maybe pick up Llama Llama Mad at Mama to read to her Our off-plan food is mostly out of the house, with the exception of the big (!) shipment of popcorn I had sent home from CO specialty shop. While corn isn't on the FMD, I said I was OK with a few splurges for movies now and then. I chose spicy kinds for myself and sweeter ones for DH. The big tube is fairly light, at 200 calories. I can live with that. But it can only be a weekly treat, not more than that or I'll want it even more often.
Maryann - Great credit to you for realizing that you're thirsty after the night and getting in a lot of water! How much longer do you anticipate teaching? I'm just longing to retire and think about it so often. I'm not skipping doing things now to wait for then, but boy, is it front and center in my mind.
Silverbirch - You're so right with "creeps into our lives when time is short" ... that's a good way for me to remember that the planning and food chopping/cooking/prep is important. Several weeks ago I stopped and picked up sub sandwiches because it was so much easier and I didn't have prepped food thawed. I could have stopped for soup, but no. Thank you.
Joy - Kudos for creating a workable plan for busy days. So many meetings include food/drink- boggles the mind. Like dating for working.
Quick check in for a long day. I have a planned treat and then the kitchen is closed. I totally can do this. I have begun looking at the average weight gain of the med as a challenge. I am going to CRUSH the average downward
That is awesome!!
Wednesday - Statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin born (1706, Boston)
to all. No snow here but plenty further north. Wind is nippy.
) the water felt terrific. This is the first time I haven't awakened thirsty in a long time. Schedule at work is half of last semester but I still feel I am recovering. So go slow. I feel Renewed hope that I can deal with this diagnosis step by step.
