[MrsCalypso]

Popping in to say hi. No personals today. I'm eating well but not feeling that motivated to keep up with the Beck book, so I'm going to take a few days off. It's a very busy week for me. I'm not dropping out, though!

[Penny.]

Good morning!

I survived my first two days back to work. Today I have my CPR recertification class, then some food prep, then taking my 11yo to the "Tuesday Market" (kind of like a farmer's market) for a Covid vaccine event to get the new child booster. Hopefully the line won't be too long for that.

The next food I picked out to prep is a quinoa with cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, garbanzos, feta and a protein- I got tofu. To serve with mixed greens and a drizzle of dressing. It sounded like my kind of food! Hopefully it's yummy.

Maryann, sorry you got hit with the plague and I'm glad it seems to be passing quickly.

Joy, that's great your back is feeling better. I also order my mattresses online, untested. As long as it's a firm-ish mattress, I figure all the spring mattresses are the same. My back cannot handle a pillow top or any memory foam. It'll sink in after a while without those things speeding it along. Lol

[maryann]

Happy Summer SOLSTICE

I have officially written down a food plan for today. It says: Smoothie, Smoothie, Grain Bowl. It is the most structured I have been in a very long while. Still I have remained in an undesirable weight decade and am now pushing to the next. I am finally ready JUST FOR TODAY to write down a meal plan. Hopefully the simplicity of it will not invoke rebellion in me. Up to this point I have kept to my red, yellow, green light food plan but I need something more structured to lose.

Today I will finished two more colored stone lessons and maybe take the final. I will yoga and carpet clean one more room. In between, I will continue with my current obsession of Duotrigordle. My best is completing the puzzle with +2 guesses left. I am looking for a +3 guesses left.

Momma Meli thanks for the tip of not overexerting myself. I will be very careful.

BBE: Many stones have no color I just learned without some kind of treatment. Fascinating. In fact the course advised me in describing all stones as MOST LIKELY having had a treatment in deference to disclosure. for instance did you know that all Tanzanite is heat treated? It is the only way to bring out its color. Treated stones are not necessarily less in value than untreated stones. Fascinating.

nationalparker: I can make a good case that your stepdaughter has "oppositional defiance." Do a little research When I come across a similar student I have to use the "love and logic" approach. They are seeking a negative emotion to come from me so I give them only verbal compassion and a consequence. I am just teasing a bit but I do have to remind myself that family in my life is often just doing the best they can. Having said that I will give you full disclosure, I just blocked my husband's phone last night. I told him I would call him when I test negative. He has been at the ranch and we are terrible phone communicators. His bedside manner is awful and gruff and I keep yelling at him because of it. So I will wait until we can have a reasonable conversation in an environment that sets us up for success rather than failure.

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

Food on plan and weight down slightly. Today we did the longer Bell Pass hike for the first time in a couple weeks. It was great and although not as cool as yesterday still pretty good. I call under 80 degrees when we start pretty good these days. I'm continuing to soak my finger. It looks like I should stick a needle in it, but I'm trying to hold off. I'm meeting a friend for lunch today and have looked at the menu to find something that will work for me if they hold the cheese. All I have to do is choose something to wear and that is a little more fun than it used to be.

Dh and I have been mostly eating Buddha bowls or Burritos for dinner with another recipe thrown in once or twice a week. I was feeling kind of guilty and a bit odd about it until I listened to a podcast yesterday about meal prep and they eat what they call Nourish bowls every day with different ingredients. I guess as long as we're happy with it and it's good nutrition I won't worry about it right now.

I'm going to skip the personals until later or tomorrow cause I want to get ready and figure out what I'll wear. Have a great day!

[nationalparker]

We got home to Florida this evening but my brother has been in the ER since noon or so and is awaiting a blood transfusion, side effects of chemo. SIL has been texting and they'll be there until at least 2 a.m. as they are doing two blood flows. (Starting one now and another one after that ) ... Calling to our nurses on here...is this worrisome? I'm worrying. He started oral chemo a couple of months ago after his tumor indicators kept increasing. Pancreatic cancer about five years ago and Whipple four (?) Years ago. My SIL is a retired nurse but sometimes she talks over my head and I have to keep asking questions. I asked if this is related to his severe hip pain that just presented last week and not sure...mri in two days now.

I offered for us to get a hotel room to keep things calmer so we'll see. She just said we'll be going to right to bed when we get home...I meant for the week. I'll check again in the morning.

Dinner was chipotle and I saved about a third of mine for tomorrow. I did ask for a lot of lettuce so made sure to eat that before it gets soggy.

Maryanne - very interesting! I now try to have as little interaction with her as possible. I do not answer her calls unless we have our DGS. everything else is text so no "you said this" as she lies too much. She has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and is so dramatic about everything but I just don't engage anymore. She tells her son she wants him to stay a baby. He's almost five. So when he shows me something he's learned etc, and I say wow what a big boy you're getting to be, he says mommy wants me to be a baby. She doesn't like me growing up. Argh!! I tell him that everyone grows up etc but he doesn't get it yet.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was with a chunk of family that was in town, perhaps moving back East where we'll see them more often. Dinner was takeout from a "Himalayan Restaurant" consumed on my nephew's back patio. A fox appeared about 50 meters away, "He's around all the time." This isn't out in the country. Apparently it has adapted. Saw enough rabbits hopping about that I had no doubt that it had ample access to food. I ate rationally even though all the dishes were shared and the opportunity to over consume existed since there were leftovers. Dessert was Waffle Balls soaked in a sugary rosewater syrup dipped in rice puff cereal. Declared it rare and unusual and ate dessert - which is rare for me. Had feeling that it's purpose was to bring back memories of eating this as a child since it was a tad bland for a first-time consumer. Another motivator was that the restaurant provided them for FREE even though it turned out that I was a guest and my whole meal was FREE anyway, LOL. Still enjoyed the FREE dessert.

Dinner conversation included discussing if school-bus sized nuclear fusion power plants distributed everywhere was a good idea. "What could possibly go wrong?" was the general dubious response. The arguments for nuclear fusion power plants are strong. But it might take a while to convince folks that one belongs in their back yard. Got reminded that accidents at a nuclear plant result in a 20-mile evacuation. Was interesting that the threat of being evacuated was more real during the discussion than the threat of being contaminated. Quite fun since the school bus size was new to me.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Hats off for getting up to watch sunrise on the Summer Solstice. Thanks for the tale of your father's mischief during his youth.

maryann - Kudos for writing down a food plan for the day. Thanks for the info about colored gems. So I had to google Tanzanite - so varied. Your course must be so interesting.

nationalparker – LOL at spellcheck changing lingerer to lingerie. May be the first time I've ever seen 'lingerer' used. Sending supportive thoughts for your brother and family. So good for your SIL that you can be there for support.

Karen (karenrn) - Hope the finger figures out how to unswell on its own. Neat to plan in advance what to order at your restaurant meal.

Penny. - Congrats for surviving your first two days back at work. Your 'next food' certainly has all the ingredients that make me drool.

MrsCalypso - Kudos for figuring out that you need to take care of yourself without being swamped with Internet.

MommaMeli - Welcome to the diet phase of your journey. Sounds like you're well prepared for it. Good luck with that electrical problem in your camper; I agree, they can be seriously difficult to isolate. Neat that your DD wore a family heirloom - without complaining that it was old fashioned, LOL.

Readers -

Chapter 6 Stage 3 - The Challenging Situations Plan

challenging situation skills

Before the Event
1. Change your mindset.

And if you make one exception, why not make more? Then you really put yourself at risk for gaining back weight. Just think: There are about 104 weekend days a year, not to mention the numerous holidays, anniversaries, birthdays, showers, weddings, parties, restaurant meals, fairs, conferences, meeting, special occasions, and vacation days.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 131.

[MommaMeli]

Good morning, coaches! Day 14: Start your diet

Even though I went ahead and started yesterday, I still read today's entry. It was helpful because it talked a lot about the habit of writing down the food plan. I can see how if I get in the habit now, I will be more likely to acknowledge overeating later when it inevitably will happen. If I acknowledge it, I can choose to go back on plan. Instead of ignoring it (like last time) and abandoning the weight loss journey.

The scale says I gained back most of the weight I lost last year. I guess I already knew that. I really don't want to do that again. My mom is obese, and I can see the toll the weight is taking on her health in her 60s. While I can't guarantee good health, being at a healthy weight is one thing I can do to prevent health problems as I age.

Credit for Food on plan yesterday with the addition of a serving of rice at dinner. We needed a little more since I literally lit the chicken on fire. It was still edible, but not nearly as good as it could have been. We all had a nice chuckle over it at dinner. I had run for a water bottle when the connected water hose was only 4 feet away. The fire was 3 feet high. The water bottle did nothing; it was like spitting on a forest fire. I am becoming notorious for ineptitude in emergencies. Fortunately DH was home to grab the hose and put it out. Dinner, the grill, and the carport were saved. This story may end up being told at my funeral.

The camper problem was isolated to the water heater. DH disconnected it, and we are looking into replacing it. I'm sure ordering one will take some time. We are still going; I can heat water in the Instant Pot for washing dishes. We don't need hot showers at the lake this month when it is going to be 104.

I already know eating on plan at the lake is going to be a challenge for me. We are going with 4-5 other families that will bring food to share. I am cooking enough for a small army, since both of the boys are inviting friends. That means I need to make enough food for 4 pre-teen boys that will be swimming & kayaking all day. Even though I didn't buy any processed food to take along, we will be frying fish, and I've already made granola bars. I'm sure cookies or brownies will get made by someone this week. I'm baking bread as well today. All of these foods are tempting, but I'm focused on portion sizes. My plan allows 2 treats per week, so I'll have to say no to some things.

No personals today. I need to get to the garden before it gets too hot.

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

I've hiked the last 4 days so I took today off and just walked Otis. We have the tree guys coming today to trim our palm trees. Food was on plan yesterday, but weight is up anyway. I can see puffiness under my eyes, so I think it's water retention. I did well with my choice at lunch which was a chopped veggie salad (hold the feta), but I forgot to say light on the dressing so I'm sure there were more calories there than I would have liked. I'm just glad I didn't go get the vegan cookie that crossed my mind yesterday. It's feels better to know for sure I didn't overeat and this weight increase is just a fluctuation. I'll drink lots of water today. My finger looks like it's just healing on it's own. There was some acute inflammation and now it's diminishing and not sore. I'm not sure there's something in there or not. If there was maybe the macrophages ate it up. I'll soak it again today.

MommaMeli I'm glad you didn't burn yourself or burn down the carport. I hope you're so busy having fun that the food isn't too tempting on your trip. I'll admit the treats would be the problem for me. Sometimes I just have to say no to having any if there is a big supply or I would embarrass myself by not stopping. Sounds like maybe the boys will eat them up before you even have the chance.

Bill Sounds like the fox at your nephew's house is not a problem. We have some out here that are rabid. My backpacking body goes by the name of Foxbait on Instagram due to a fox attacking her tent last year.

Nationalparker I think becoming anemic and needing transfusions after chemo is fairly common. Of course you have every right to be worried though, pancreatic cancer is no joke. I don't know what stage your brothers cancer was/is. I'm glad they've found what has been working for him. I would imagine he will feel a good bit better after the transfusions.

Maryann It sounds like you must be recovering pretty well. Nice that you have your gemology courses to work on while you're home.

Penny Let us know how the quinoa dish turns out.

Waving to everyone and I'm going to get a few things done around here while I have my morning energy.

[gardenerjoy]

I tested myself for COVID, for the very first time, at 4am -- it was negative. I woke up from a dream that I had COVID and I was feeling icky. All of my symptoms could be explained by allergies, our second heat wave this month, dealing with intermittent back pain for a week, and the time of day. When I got up to go to the bathroom, though, I coughed a couple of times. So, I figured better safe than sorry. I'm feeling somewhat better, now, after more sleep, caffeine, and breakfast.

Exercise +50, 1100/1500 minutes for June

nationalparker: In my birth family, we started travel days before breakfast -- stopping somewhere an hour or two later to eat at a diner. As an adult, I have yet to find a travel partner who will do that with me.
Sending healing energies in the direction of Florida for your brother. I had a blood transfusion when I was dealing with cancer and chemo at age 23 -- best medicine ever! I went from months of no energy at all to suddenly feeling back to my normal 20-something self.

karenrn: We currently have four dishes in our repertoire, which is working fine for us. We might get up to five dishes if the weather ever turns pleasant and we start using the grill.

[maryann]

Good morning, Coaches.

I followed my food plan 90% yesterday. I added in a low carb tortilla with cheese at the end of the day. I will rewrite my food plan: groat bowl, smoothie, veggie bowl. Two smoothies is too much like a diet. I still like the simplicity of writing it down. Good. Made peace with DH after blocking him on the phone for two days. We had a long talk. He knows he struggles when I am sick. He gets so scared something is going to happen to me he turns into a bear. I suggested he buy a card that expresses his feelings, flowers, or a little written note.- anything comforting and supportive. He was cute and sent the song "I'm so tired of being alone" by Al Green. I continue to be grateful for a husband who will claim his side of the street while I try to claim mine.

I have a hallway to do and my office with the carpet cleaner. I didn't get any gemology lessons in. I want to rectify that today. i did do yoga. Keep cool all of you who are in the heatwave. We are warming up again as well.

Mamma Meli: You are my hero with all those kids running around and all that food. 1 day at a time. I have had some success in trying to "feel hungry" before I sit and eat. I don't try to limit the items I eat but still I really struggle in the situation you are describing.
Karen: That salt retention is a momentum killer.

Wave to all.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Was conscious that we weren't picking up the (6 yo) DGD from Kindergarten. She's charging forth in summer camp. We'll have her for an overnight soon but I miss our regularly scheduled event with her. Read more of my book about craters and asteroids. The planetary geologists have learned to identify which asteroid a specific meteorite comes from by the ratio of its oxygen isotopes. They were quite surprised to discover that each planet, and asteroid has a different measured ratio. And, the great discovery, the moon's data fits EXACTLY on the same plot as the earth! One more piece of evidence that the moon came from the earth. I'm ready to go back to school to become a planetary geologist.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner included cherries - apparently they're just coming into season. I'm glad they're a tad pricey since I can consume whatever size bowl of them sits in front of me. Also included grilled salmon and more garden-grown lettuce salad. DW's last two cookies from the eight our friend gave us are still sitting one the kitchen counter. I'm married to a person who can 'forget' to eat homemade cookies. How can one forget to eat a cookie? With all due respect, methinks she's abnormal.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Interesting that your family would start traveling before breakfast. We did that when backpacking on a mountain. Made a cup of coffee to drink while packing up the site then hiking for an hour or so. Then, with the sun up and a little warmth in the air, we'd stop for our breakfast. Had forgotten that.

maryann - Congrats for making peace with your DH. You do sound like you're healing just fine.

nationalparker – Waving. Sending supportive thoughts for your brother in Florida.

Karen (karenrn) - Congrats to your finger for healing itself, or to the macrophages for doing the work. That link is just my amusement remembering that I wouldn't recognize macrophages if we met.

MommaMeli - LMAO at "literally lit the chicken on fire" - what a tale. Congrats for coming out of this with no damage to the carport - and even an edible dinner. Your trip to the lake with 4-5 other families sounds super fun.

Readers -

Chapter 6 Stage 3 - The Challenging Situations Plan

challenging situation skills

Before the Event
1. Change your mindset.

Making exceptions also can lead to obsessing about your decision. Should I make an exception for this party? Should I make an exception for this event? Sticking to a predetermined rule takes the struggle and pain out of dieting.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 131.

[MommaMeli]

Good morning coaches! Day 16: Prevent unplanned eating

Today was a timely read since I'm headed to the lake tomorrow with lots of tempting food. I think the NO CHOICE mantra was a double-edged sword for me last time I did this diet. On the positive side, it really helped me reduce my cravings. Not dialoguing with myself and justifying things definitely helped me lose weight. That is my plan for this weekend- not dialoguing with myself about what I can eat. I actually planned out the whole weekend when I planned today's meals.

On the negative side, I took it very literally and so that means I went hungry somedays. If I didn't plan enough food for a meal, I gave myself NO CHOICE about eating more and that was pretty miserable. And I had to turn down things my kids made that they really wanted me to try. That just didn't feel good. Part of learning to cook/bake is enjoying the results with people you love.

So I am not going to keep the bad parts this time. I will try anything my kids make (a small serving anyway). And I will allow myself to increase my meals when needed. Yesterday, I knew dinner was too small so I added a quick spinach salad that wasn't on plan. And I'm just not going to stop myself from doing things like that.

I'm surprised at how helpful it is to write my strategies like this. I'm feeling like this board could be a key to long term success for me.

maryann Cheers for making up with the husband (and also for more variety in eating)! My DH is a grumpy bear when I'm sick too. He feels the weight of the world on his shoulders when he has to take on my role in addition to his own. Hang in there!

gardenerjoy I can't believe that is the first time you tested for COVID. I can't even begin to count the number of times I imagined I had COVID before I actually did. With 5 kids illness is a rather common experience. When we brought home #4, the doctor told us their would be a virus in our house 75% of the time- and she was spot on. Glad you were negative!

karen I didn't know you had palm trees in Arizona. I haven't been there since I was 5.

Bill Love the phrase, "I ate rationally." I have never thought of it that way. I want to learn to eat "rationally" most of the time!

nationalparker Tough situation with your DGS. It took me a while as a mom to learn to let go of my own desire to keep my children and embrace & celebrate their growing independence. Keep encouraging him. She doesn't know how much she is hurting her future relationship with him.

[curlyjax]

I’m home, and so glad to be back! I set up a few things for my dad, including a care manager to meet with him next week. It’s sad to watch him struggle with his memory, but he’s also a very intelligent man and its interesting to see how his brain makes sense of some things. I do wish I lived closer to him. I sobbed a lot while I was there, the presence of my mom’s stuff and handwriting was both sad and comforting. The price of loving someone is losing them.

Anyhow- onwards and we’ll see what happens. I didn’t gain any weight while I was gone so I’m happy about that. I did eat a lot of junk in the car on the drive home but I’m okay with that; its a tough situation and i’m allowing myself some comfort food. But back at home I don’t need that. No time to make a plan or anything yesterday but I will cobble something for today and tomorrow and get back into a routine.

Maryann- hope you’re feeling better by now.

Bill- I don’t understand how anyone can forget to eat homemade cookies either

I’m still having trouble loading the website so i’ll have to figure out a workaround because you all are an important part of my morning routine! Wave to all.

[nationalparker]

I'm meeting a longtime friend for an early lunch and Panera is always our go to as we can stay there a long time without being an issue. Walking on the beach with her today won't happen as it's going to be 103 and high humidity... Even with the breeze I'll melt. This friend is about 18 years older and recently suffered a stroke while golfing but luckily a nearby doctor assisted immediately and she seems well. Will be good to see for myself. I've known her for about 35 years, I think. think. Will stop and pick up some fresh flowers first. At first I had wished I'd asked for a different meeting spot for better food choices as nearly everything at Panera has meat or cheese. And my frugal self hates to pay prime money there are it's not cheap, to have the expensive items pulled. I know my health and my plan is more important than the extra dollars but it still rankles. I like when places put the base price and the add chicken for $2.99 or whatever.

Food has been fine and my SIL is wonderful about cooking plant based for us, despite them being not completely but almost there. No trying to slide anything in. I enjoy cooking and she lets me help in the kitchen with prep.

I was able to get into the site today by going thru my history on phone to get to a recent post, vs the shortcut. Still an issue on phone and tablet but this side entrance helped. 😉

​​​​​​My brother seems well, fingers crossed this hip issue has a simple explanation. And that his labs are good! I so love my time with him.

[MrsCalypso]

Good Morning, Coaches. I still have waning motivation but I'm here! I have reviewed my "reasons for losing weight" card and it all is still applicable.

Today is Day 25, Identify Sabotaging Thoughts. When I first read this, I didn't think it applies to me, but today I can see how it does. The goal today is just to come up with the sabotaging thoughts, not responses to them.

I had a difficult time the past 2 nights. Both were social situations where there was a lot of food available. Tonight may be the same.

Sabotaging thoughts: Food is the only thing that makes me feel better. (Pain, emotional discomfort). I'll start again tomorrow. The earlier part of the day went well. This little bit won't hurt. I don't care right now, I just want to feel better. I'm sure I'll figure this out sometime, but for now I'm going to eat.

For tonight, as a safeguard, I won't eat at the social event (there will be a snack bar). If I am hungry, I will step away from the event to have something to eat, then come back. This is not a rule for the future, just something to get me through a difficult time today.

nationalparker I can relate to resenting paying the same price for less at a place that does not accommodate vegetarians as well.
curlyjax, hugs to you.
MamaMeli, kudos to you for choosing what works for you. You can always adjust later if needed, but I'm like you. I'm looking to have a greater quality of life, that's why I'm here!
Bill, you are an inspiring lifelong learner!
MaryAnn, gfy for finding that peace with DH
Joy, hope the threat of viral illness passes quickly!
karen, Glad your immune system is doing it's job well.
Penny, that recipe sounds good. I'm a firm mattress gal, too. Soft kills me.