Scale moved me up another 3lbs overnight to 265.2. There is no better time to come here and commit to a re-start beginning today.
I'll start simply.
Today I commit to no sugar YES, no snacking YES, and to drinking 8 cups of water NO. And I mean water and not any other wet liquidy substance.
Today I will spend an hour working on Art -- painting or printmaking NO.
Today I will go for a walk around the block NO.
Today I will return or renew library books YES.
I teach this afternoon so I must find something to bring into class with me YES.
Yesterday I dealt with the car. The battery did not want to charge up. Even The Eliminator could not eliminate the problem. I called CAA and they sent a guy who boosted me and I just drove over to my dealer and they dealt with it. New battery. New start. Something accomplished.
I was looking for inspiration and found this quote by Napoleon Bonaparte: "Respect the burden." Who knows what context he may have said that in. For me the immediate burden is of drawing the line at certain foods and hopping back on the wagon. I am in and will check back this evening as to how the day went.
I set my intention this morning to be on plan today.
Food wasn't a struggle today--but focus was. Went to a great talk tonight on dealing with stalled projects. Guess you have to be the right kind of geek to enjoy that.
Credits--weighed (slightly down), sugar (down yesterday, up today), compliant with meds.
Haven't exercised--and I'm beat and going to bed.
maryann, onebyone: this is what I remind myself of:
I came back here 10 lbs more than I'd started from before. Nobody judged me--I was welcomed back and encouraged--and I hope you feel encouraged, too. We've all struggled or we wouldn't be here--you both have incredible grit to put yourselves out there and be vulnerable. You are so much more than the scale, so much more than a mistake of a day or a week or a year--we all move towards 'better'--and that's all we can do.
Woke up and realized I hadn't submitted this--just had written it. (Which isn't good, because I don't want to miss two days in a row)
Onebyone: Love "respect the burden." Fantastic. I would also like to add, "The soul is increased through subtraction." by Sister Mildred. I stayed completely OP with the meal replacements. I practiced distractions which became meaningful activities. After a year of a clothing ban, I searched through Thread up which is a consignment internet sight I have wanted to try. I found three items that would fill holes in my wardrobe: a pair of business dress pants that fit at this weight, a black tunic long enough to wear with leggings, and a maxi skirt. It will be fun to see how fast the things show up, if they fit, etc. . . I had made my spartan commitment last year for Lent. I only replaced a pair of jeans, pajamas, work shoes and some underthings. Now with these three new items and a forty dollar gift certificate I received for Macy's, I am thinking of going another year! At the very least I am going to commit to consignment and thrift stores. I have been reading about the incredible tole the garment industry takes on the environment. I will focus on American made if possible.
I woke up not hungry. "My soul increases through subtraction." "Respect the burden."
Thought of Beth. It is neat to be mirroring to a smaller degree your meal replacement plan. "If she can do it , I can do it." Vice versa kind of thing.
BBE: We have halo tangerines here which are top notch.
Silverbirch: Glad you are thinking about getting up and around.
Ticker is a pound under the dreaded 70's. That feels great! Shrink is today, so credit for handling that better this appt.
Day Four. Almost half a week under my belt and the temptations are still all around, esp at work. I am waiting to hear news of DB's surgery this morning from my SIL. I spoke with both of them, separate calls, yesterday. She said I'd be the first one she alerted, but I just want to be in the loop - her/their sons should be right up top, too, but thought that was kind of her to reassure me. I know she has to leave the hospital, basically, to get enough signal to call, and I don't want her to do that. I will, for the first time in years, bring my phone into our staff meeting today, and excuse myself if she calls. Nervous. Breakfast was odd, but on plan. DH is laughing at me for salad for breakfast, but with the summery balsamics (cara cara orange mixed with a bit of coconut), I don't mind it. Protein was rotisserie chicken.
Lunch is packed - turkey burger and green beans (a heavy protein/veg day) ... dinner will be determined later. I have a few options, so that's good.
Anticipating another check in so I don't stress eat. Have volunteering gig today over lunch as well, so that'll be a break from the office.
Posting late. Posting at all because so many of you are demonstrating the power of posting even when it feels late or weird or whatever. Posting is always powerful even when it's some of those other things too. My early morning meeting went two hours. I have another meeting at lunch time. And, I still want to do some of my stuff. So, I'm going to do what it takes and take the small bits of time that I have to focus on what I want to do.
All went well so far with my brother's surgery! Such a relief. It was a long day for SIL ... arrival at hospital at 5:30 a.m. and surgery started at 9 or so, finished around 4. I was nervous all day, but so relieved when she called with the news. I told her how thankful we are for her. I tell her that often. I think it's good to hear sometimes. If I wasn't trying to stay on plan, I would have gone off the rails bigtime today, that I know.
ON PLAN DAY! I looked back on old journal and noticed that the weeks that I didn't really lose much when I was doing the Fast Metabolism Diet before were the weeks when I tried to be too limiting on the healthy fat days, trying to stretch out the most limiting phase 2 days like it would help me that much more. So I'm going to commit to really eating the correct combos (breakfast includes vegetables 5 of 7 days). DH was home very late for dinner, and initial plans were for him to grill his chops. I ended up with prepping him spicy chicken soup and a chicken/cheddar wrap. He was more excited for the wrap than anything so far this week, which was funny. His ice cream cake is weighing on my mind. I'm stronger than that. At least tonight I am.
Weighed in tonight at my weight loss class--down another 3.2 pounds. It feels as if I'm not making progress, but obviously, I am. I need to believe the evidence!
I didn't manage to finish one of my products today--it was a new one to me and it was just horrid. Fortunately, it was a sample and I only had the one. Now I know not to buy it!
The snow was just starting to come down after class, so we went to the gym and I walked the track. They closed early due to water problems, but I walked 24 minutes (goal was 20). So, I've walked 2 days this week, which was my goal. Still have to do my resistance work--haven't done that--but I'm giving myself credit for my two walks. I'm fighting the 'it's barely anything" trap--it's more than I was doing and I had to drive to the gym (both times in snow)--I deserve credit for that, no matter how loud the voice is that says other people are doing more exercise than that.
Other credits--went to my weight loss class, weighed myself this morning (down), checked my sugar (down, but still too high). I'm not sure if I took my morning med, but I took my dinner time one. Drank lots of water.
In other news, my daughter told me she wanted me to keep some cards under the snacks cabinet--where DH keeps nuts, trail mix, and the m&Ms to make said trail mix. She said that the one that says "I deserve a treat" and then follows it with "I deserve to be healthy. That treat won't help me reach my goals. I am not going to eat that." keeps her from snacking on the M&Ms!
I told her that I shuffle the cards up and re-sort them so that the 4-5 I have in various spots aren't always the same. I don't read my cards first thing in the morning, necessarily--I have them in little piles and read them at my desk, or when I get socks out of the drawer, or take my morning meds. I think it's pretty cool that they're helping DD!
Final disappointing news is my son was supposed to fly in tonight (arriving about now) and his flight was cancelled due to weather keeping planes from being where they needed to be. He's rescheduled for tomorrow but we're expecting a ton of snow, so I'm a bit worried about whether he'll be able to make it this weekend.
maryann: what a day of credits--OP, good visit with shrink, and kitchen closed! I'm glad the meal replacements are working for you. I wasn't sure, for myself, but it turns out the narrowing of choices is really a good thing for me right now. My plan has me eating every 3 hours--way more often that I thought I would want to eat, but it's working.
nationalparker: I'm glad to hear your brother's surgery went well--and you had an OP day. Big credit for staying OP through the stress!
joy: Posting does seem to help. Your day sounds super busy.
onebyone: It's always just one day at a time--one hour at a time. I'm looking forward to seeing your credits for today.
silverbirch: I hope you're on the mend. This one really was a doozy.
BillBlueEyes: I did my graduate work at William & Mary. We used to say "300 years of tradition and no progress"
Friday - The Beatles appear on American TV (1964, The Ed Sullivan Show)
Diet Coaches/Buddies – This household is suffering from the standard calamity of a male with a cold. Calamity it is to be sure. Ouch! I sniffle about from one room to another. There's a box of tissues in every room - two in some rooms so that I don't have to get up. I'll buy more at the grocery store today. The good news is that DW went off to an evening event that I didn't want to attend but she was able to bring an acceptable excuse for my absence.
Eating wasn't so good. I tried to snack myself out of sniffling. Eating doesn't solve the symptoms of a common cold. I had a slice of bread and butter for dinner in an attempt to compensate. It felt good to be punishing the cold to make it go away. Made it to Trader Joe's to buy California Raisins, California Almonds, and California Walnuts - noting that they had something in common. Two wins: I bought DW a potted plant for Valentine's Day; it was stunning. She immediately declared that it'd be the centerpiece when she has some botanical friends over for dinner on Monday. And I got a string of Valentine stickers that the DGD can use to make cards for her parents when we have her next Wednesday. They're wins because I usually think of Valentine's Day when the newspaper says that it's today and 50% of the males of the world will be hustling about at the last minute to buy something.
onebyone – Love the quote by Napoleon Bonaparte: "Respect the burden." Even if I'm not sure exactly what it means. Kudos, indeed, for "I stayed no sugar and no snacks."
Joy (gardenerjoy) – Just the right thought for me today, "So, I'm going to do what it takes."
silverbirch – I do understand that the plan for the day can be to get up.
maryann - Yay for having a positive attitude about your appointment today.
nationalparker – So happy that your DB's surgery went well. Kudos for doing a volunteering gig over lunch to get the mind away from the office.
curlyjax - Here, it was cold enough that the chunk of ice on my car was hard to chip off.
Beth (bethturnaround) – I do like the notion of a talk about dealing with stalled projects. If that makes me Geek, so be it. And I'm a fan of the fonts you use on your Motivating Thoughts. Congrats for raising a DD astute enough to want to read your Motivating Thoughts. [LOL at your William and Mary saying.]
Readers -
Quote:
day 5Eat Slowly and Mindfully
How to Notice What You're Eating
It's very easy to become distracted when you eat, which can reduce the degree of satisfaction you're getting from your food.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Beck Diet Solution (Pink book), Pg 80.
I'm feeling more determined today to get my eating back in order. I'm going to try limiting snacks to salads and fruit. That's generally where things go wrong for me, so some creativity there will make a bigger impact than it might seem.
I woke up so happy I had an on plan day yesterday. I want to do it again. I want more of THAT good stuff.
A year ago this kind of derailment that I just experienced would send me around the bend mentally and emotionally, thereby pretty much ensuring that I would manifest this turmoil physically on my body with weight gains.
That is, actually, as I write it, exactly what I did this past week in reacting to the events of the past 6weeks.
However what's different, and what I have have gained through getting back on the wagon so many times and just moving forward, is that I *know* I can right myself. I can begin to implement the steps that work for me - lo and behold I have figured out what absolutely DOES work for me, a major CREDIT there for sure. Like a super major big deal.
And so, today I commit my intention to have an OP day as follows:
Today I commit to no sugar YES, no snacking YES, and to drinking 8 cups of water NO. And I mean water and not any other wet liquidy substance.
Today the kitchen will be closed at 7pm or before YES.
Today I will spend an hour working on Art -- painting or printmaking YES.
Today I will go for a walk around the block NO.
Today I will do a sinkload of dishes, dry, and put them away NO.
I set my intention this morning to be on plan today.
I will check back this evening as to how the day went.
Credit for plans to bring some peace and progress to the day: food in MFP; gym after school today, permission to buy an on demand movie while the boys are at the basketball game, and finally to accept my outside duty request to the homecoming rally. I am not lazy. I am not shirking my job. I can't be with those kinds of crowds. For today, I will get off my back and not wonder what other people think of me.
Weight dropped to two pounds below ticker.My mother would say, " the scale owed me." I am just happy to be farther away from the 70s. I changed my water up a little with lemon juice, 2 T maple syrup, and 1/2 t. Himalayan salt. That helps with electrolytes I guess. I think the water has really helped me to be able to switch up meds.
I think about what AA says about finding my way. Follow the H.O.W. of the program. Honesty, Open mindedness and Willingness to make the changes needed. This is a life style skill and it is my practice for today.
Day 5 - So far, so good. Donut Friday. Today, in addition to the regular box that a coworker brings in (to much excitement by others - it's not something that folks wish he wouldn't do... some laud him as their hero!) there were four other boxes of fancy bakery donuts around the office, even with knives near them so you could cut off a small chunk of one. THAT proved very, very tempting, because a whole donut - um, no. A bite? Well, why not? But one bit of sugar leads to more desire for it. Snacks were 100% on plan - healthy fats and vegetable combo (hummus and bell pepper and raw cashews and carrot sticks). Today I've eaten more but feel hungrier. I almost dare to feel that my system is burning things off. We'll see. Down 2.2 pounds this week. I tended to see the lower point on Friday mornings, then trend up a bit. But as long as it kept trending downward overall, I'm good with that. Aiming to finish the first week out strong, even if this is the low-tide point on the scale. Supposedly (!) flooding the body with healthy fats will have it shed some. It's hard for me to accept that while I did lose a lot of weight on it, it was still a little at a time, but was steadier than other plans.
Mid day check in. Congrats all of you for renewed commitments. I'm OP and plan a gym visit with a treat of purchased audiobook. Ridiculously expensive but I'd pay the same for a dinner out and it last a lot longer. Usually I use library but no go for the next in the series. New med seemed to work great. I will finish the day strong.
I looked back on old journal and noticed that the weeks that I didn't really lose much when I was doing the Fast Metabolism Diet before were the weeks when I tried to be too limiting on the healthy fat days, trying to stretch out the most limiting phase 2 days like it would help me that much more. So I'm going to commit to really eating the correct combos (breakfast includes vegetables 5 of 7 days). DH was home very late for dinner, and initial plans were for him to grill his chops. I ended up with prepping him spicy chicken soup and a chicken/cheddar wrap. He was more excited for the wrap than anything so far this week, which was funny. His ice cream cake is weighing on my mind. I'm stronger than that. At least tonight I am.
Friday - The Beatles appear on American TV (1964, The Ed Sullivan Show)
what's different, and what I have have gained through getting back on the wagon so many times and just moving forward, is that I *know* I can right myself. I can begin to implement the steps that work for me - lo and behold I have figured out what absolutely DOES work for me, a major CREDIT there for sure. Like a super major big deal.
265.2 weight did not go up this morning. 
Huzzah!
