[maryann]

Good morning, Coaches.

Wonderful first day launch of the paddleboard. It couldn't have been more beautiful - a clear day with green blue river water emptying into the ocean. There was certainly a learning curve (note to self: put the scag on) but in the end I was up and paddling against some significant current and wind. Set up and take down was super easy. Very satisfied. DH patiently waited in a chair by the shore. Include a great talk with DH, the gardens and a harbor restaurant dinner and I would count the day among one of my all time favorite. DH had to go back this morning. I will hike the headlands and then paddle. Tonight I will start on my diamond grading class. What a charmed life I lead.

Held strong to no dessert or manufactured food. Good.

My little sister came down with COVID. She is 10 years younger and also a teacher. So ironic that neither of us became sick during 2 years at school.

Penny: Credit for choosing exercise.
Karen: I agree about keeping fit. There was a couple n the pool yesterday that had been retired for 2 years: multiple surgeries, and weight prohibitive for exercising. It is a good reminder to me to keep moving.

Wave to all.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Picked up the (6 yo) DGD from her gymnastics summer camp. Boy, were they organized. We were required to produce an ID, found to be on the approved pickup list, and then a counselor was sent to retrieve her. No chance for kid-napping there. Went from there to a playground in her town that she knows well. She hooked up with some kids. Great and convoluted social interaction where each kid was given a turn to play with the 'widget' that we'd brought her - I guess as a late kindergarten graduation gift. (DW had picked it up for 50 cents from the yard sale by the teenager next door hoping for, maybe, a five-minute interest.) At least a half-dozen kids were all involved in queuing up for their turn. It was a wire thing with beads that expands and changes shapes in a marvelous engineering design. Was surprised that it remained interesting for so long. Best 50 cent present ever.

Eating was on plan with no unplanned daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. I had planned to snack on leftover grapes on the drive home after dropping off the DGD. It's a drive in evening rush-hour traffic so I've always planned to consume whatever the DGD didn't consume from the snacks we've packed for her to reduce the tension. Dinner on the patio was a mixed affair: our standard grilled pork chops combined with the leftover veggies from the Chinese restaurant takeout. We had to get done to get back inside to watch a Smithsonian Zoom-cast about exploring for exoplanets. It was only a few years ago that we only wondered if there were other planets out there beyond our Solar System. Now they're catalogued in the thousands with a new satellite going up that is capable of expanding that number to hundreds of thousands. Might have to consider going back to school in astrophysics to chase all this down.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Congrats on meeting your June exercise goals - with days to spare. Glad that stretching is helping with the back pain.

maryann - Had to let Amazon clue me in about a paddle board skeg. Great new word for me (although it's only four letters long). Sounds like a really good day.

Karen (karenrn) - You're a good friend to spend several hours driving your friend.

curlyjax - Your new cooking experiments sound really good. How neat it is that your DS is a co-conspirator.

Penny. - Yep, hauling groceries up the stairs counts as resistance exercise. Kudos for hiking alone after your 11 you DD changed their mind.

MommaMeli - Happy Birthday to your 8-yo DD. Kudos for realistically exploring what you're eating. I suspect that within your family, that can be hard. I do remember that, even with only two kids, food got swapped around regularly. Eating on plan is a tad easier for me because I plan to eat the meal that DW prepares for dinner every night. She's very food conscious. My breakfast and lunch that I make myself are comfortably repetitious. The easiest way for me to go astray is to have a container of Dark Chocolate coated Almonds ice cream in the freezer. The easiest way to avoid that is to note that I'm the only one who brings such stuff home; then don't buy it at the store. My eating life is much easier than a family with five kids.

Readers -

Chapter 6 Stage 3 - The Challenging Situations Plan

challenging situation skills

Before the Event

2. Consult your Memory Box. Earlier in the day, read through the cards in our Memory Box. These memories can help motivate you for the upcoming event as you remember compliments and situations in which you were proud of yourself.

Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 133.

[curlyjax]

The call with the case manager and my dad went well. Then my dad called me a few more times that day Things finally were sorted out at the end of the day. Its going to take awhile, but I’m glad we are on the right track.
I got into some caramels at work, and then I overate at a last minute small birthday party I ended up going to with my widow friend. I felt a little jealous hearing about some of the women’s lives with all their friends, and family nearby, but then I pulled myself out of it.
Today I have a dr appt to find out the results of a pelvic ultrasound and possibly do more testing if it doesn’t look right, so i’m a little nervous, but fingers crossed.
Maryann- i’m impressed you can use the SUP, I do not have the balance for those.
Gardenerjoy-credit for meeting exercise goal indeed!
Karen- yes, I am doubling certain meals so it makes things easier, and we do takeout 1-2 times a week, so it works out-when I plan. You are so nice to help your friend. Good reminder on staying fit as we age.
Penny-credit for hiking alone, I’m glad you’re having a less packed day.
Mommameli- I hear you, I definitely had to make some changes to lose weight in the past, and am working on it again. Happy birthday to DD, what a nice age.
Bill- how nice you got to spend time with DGD. That is a great deal on a toy indeed, glad to hear kiddos are interested in things like that.

[nationalparker]

All is going well on our trip and today is our last full day at the beach resort. It looks like rain all afternoon, so we've made tentative plans to go see the movie The Phantom of the Open. (British flick based on true events) We don't think that one will last in theaters too long where we are. I do miss our pets something fierce (just cats now ... The "just" meaning our dog passed nearly two years ago, not that cats are lesser haha).
Am extremely happy with the small resort we chose - affordable and is wonderful for families or those on a budget or specific eating plan with the full kitchen as well as pots, pans and dishes, etc. Pool has a loop of a lazy river feature, which we enjoyed on repeat as much as the kids :-) A great mix of clientele here.

We went to the market yesterday evening and picked up a veggie tray, more fruit and hummus. We'll have leftovers from last night's dinner for lunch today and probably be set for dinner. I'm thankful DH is up for doing that, and he was the one who asked if we could get the veggie tray :-) he's eating healthier than me. I better get my game on. We dined out a few meals but good for us to balance it out.

We took a long walk on the beach yesterday morning, and expect will do the same here before long. Then we spent the entire morning until a little after noon in the pool. The vitamin D is certainly a mood booster.

Will get off here and ready to walk!

[MommaMeli]

Good morning coaches! Day 20: Get Back on Track

Lots of good reminders in this chapter. It occurred to me while reading that last time, I would get frustrated every time I went off track because it often meant I was not going to lose weight that week. It is probably why I stopped doing the program.

But as I was thinking about it, weight loss skills are almost like pre-reading skills. You have to work on pre-reading skills until you have them down before you start reading. It doesn't matter how bad you want to learn to read. If it takes 1 month or 1 year to learn all the pre-reading skills, you can still learn to read as long as you don't quit. And as long as you stick with it, you will eventually learn to read. (I homeschool my kids. My 5-yo is learning to read, and it is a slow process this time around.)

So I didn't lose weight last week. I'm probably still on my pre-weight loss skills. I can push ahead too hard and burn out and quit. Or I can accept where I'm at and patiently take as much time as I need without fear that I'll never get where I want to go.

Had a good day yesterday. Credit for skipping 1 dessert and again for executing my party eating plan. Some cousins we had not seen in years dropped by and the birthday party turned into a wonderful reunion. Stayed out way to late, but it was one of those times that was worth it.

I noticed some resistance this morning to filling out my food plan for the day. I was trying to put it off and hope the kids got up before I finished it so that I could eat whatever I wanted. I managed to curb that impulse, but I'm going to have to be on the watch for it. Last weekend I planned all my meals on Friday since we were heading to the lake and then I reviewed and updated the plan every morning. I think that was a key to my success so I'm going to try it again tomorrow.

I've got to do accounting work today- probably my least favorite job that I've been putting off all week. I'm going to start right after breakfast instead of waiting until afternoon like I've done all week. Somehow, waiting until afternoon turns into waiting until tomorrow. I'm just going to have to allow some screen time for the little ones so I don't get interrupted every 15 seconds.

maryann Absolutely loved hearing about your "charmed life" this morning. It is so important to be grateful for the good times and keep them in our hearts.

Bill That sounds like a cool toy. I would have had to stand in line for a turn as well.

curlyjax Sound like a stressful day coming up. Wishing good results for you.

karen Good reminder of what exercise does for us as we age. I've seen it in the elderly people in my life as well.

nationalparker Enjoy your last beach day and the good Vitamin D.

Penny Way to hike by yourself and not abandon the plan!

[gardenerjoy]

Yesterday's exercise included picking up lots of sticks ahead of mowing -- using well-formed squats and lunges to strengthen my legs and protect my back.

For even greater resistance, I moved two 70-pound buckets of wheat from the mailbox at the end of the lane into the trunk of the car and then, from the trunk of the car to inside the front door. They may just sit there for a while because that was more than my healing back should really be taking on. DH moved part of a tree trunk during the mowing. We probably should have coordinated better and done both of those projects together instead of separately. Either that or called to see if the neighborhood teenager wanted to help us out for a tenner. We're still getting the hang of this over-60 stuff.

Somehow all of that triggered a desire for an off-plan snack that I caved into. And then regretted enough that it will keep that sort of thing away for a while. I used to not notice how bad I felt, physically, after overeating. But now that I have plenty of experience with eating an adequate amount, I'm much more aware of unpleasant sugar rushes, overly full feelings in the belly, and excess caloric energy sweeping around my body just when I'm trying to get to sleep.

Exercise +95, 1515/1500 minutes for June

BillBlueEyes: I think of you often as I'm listening to Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, the audiobook read by the author Neil deGrasse Tyson. Today's topic was the mystery of dark matter.

MommaMeli: I appreciated your wise thoughts on patience as we learn. I'm still learning!

[karenrn]

Good morning coaches,

Food was on plan except for about 3 cups of air popped popcorn leftover from dh last night. Weight is back down. I'm feeling very motivated, but that doesn't always mean much. I'm going to Costco this morning and will have all the healthy foods on hand. I might look through the recipes and make something different today. We're having some grey skies this morning, which is wonderful.

I've just gotten home from a solo hike. I cut it just a tiny bit short due to the threat of rain and I did get a sprinkle at the end.

Listened to my book Beautiful Country which I'm enjoying. I called ds yesterday before leaving with my friend and found he was at the hospital with a broken wrist. Not sure why I happened to call when it was later there than I would usually call (with the 14 hour time difference). Maybe it was a Mom thing. Anyway his s.o. called at the end of my hike this morning to tell me he is out of surgery and will be okay. I think it was a 3 hour surgery. She was speaking quietly and I was in the car, so I'll learn more when I talk to him later. They do have good medical care in Thailand, so I'm not worried about that and he does have insurance and resources. Even though he is a grown man, I worry.

GardenerJoy I hope you didn't over do it with all the heavy lifting. Thank you for mentioning the book, I've borrowed the audiobook from the library. Even if I don't understand much it is only 4 hours of not understanding. ha ha

MommaMeli I appreciate your thoughts too. I think I'm going to start pre tracking my meals in MFP. I have a plan in my head, but I know when I used to write a food plan it was helpful.

Nationalparker Your trip sounds just great. I have never floated in a Lazy River. Maybe I need a staycation right here, I know we have several resorts that have them. Great job on healthy food choices. As for missing the pets, we can't bear the thought of being away from Otis, as crazy as that sounds. If you met him you would understand I'm sure.

Curlyjax It sounds like the case manager was a really good move. Praying that your doctor appointment goes just fine and that all is well.

Bill Boy that little toy was a good find. Isn't that the case though, you just need know which item it will be. Driving through rush hour traffic in Boston doesn't sound like a lot of fun. I've only been there a couple of times, but the traffic seemed worse than Seattle.

Maryann Have fun with the paddle board. The only time we tried it was in Hawaii a few years back. Us gals did well, I think the lower center of gravity helped. The two guys had a hard time and dh even fell off and lost his wedding ring. It is sure good core exercise.

Penny Good job hiking alone. Honestly I just love hiking alone. Sometimes I think my best thoughts out there and I love that I can set whatever pace seems best. If I really want to push myself I can, or if I just want to go and not worry about pushing I can do that.

Waving to Mrs Calypso. Time to get cleaned up so I can be at Costco when the doors open.

[maryann]

Happy final day of June!

I can't believe I have been on vacation nearly a month. It has really been a wonderful vacation even accounting for having Covid. My second outing on the SUP was without DH who had to head home. It was quite an opportunity for growth. Onlookers from the side were shutting tips. My skeg was on backwards My paddle was in the water backwards I need to stand in the middle of the board. Then when I fell in and struggled to "dolphin up" the whole beach cheered. I felt like I was in the Olympics . Quite a hoot!

I just happened to find a bonfire AA meeting on the beach last night. It is what is called a young people's group but young at heart are welcome. They do things a little differently - call out funny slogans and cheer in funny ways through familiar passages that are read at every meeting. It was like attending a midnight Rocky Horror Picture Show viewing. Wonderful to shake my program up. When it was my turn to share, I told them I felt it serendipity because I got sober at 23 and was living proof that they never have to drink again. I am misting up just writing this because I am so grateful for my sobriety.. There was a 23 year old there who came up to thank me afterwards. She had one day sober.

3rd day of no desserts or "Bliss Manufactured Sweets" (BMS) I feel really good about myself.

nationalparker: I feel proud We ate so much of the food I brought. Great $ saver and so easy on the food program. It helps to have the spouse on board.
BBE: Love the DGD stories.it makes me miss the days when DH was little and all of life was a mystery. thankful that DS still looks at the world with wonder and enthusiasm.
Karen: Best thoughts for DS. Mothers never stop worrying.
Joy: Take it easy on the back. Little steps. Lots of communication I have to remind myself.
Curley: It is so easy to judge my insides with other people's outsides. I look at my friends for example who went to Canada and think they are closer now and I am on the outs but that is just my imagination. They struggle just as much as I do. i know that.
Momma Meli. I know it is tough but I can't judge my success just by the scale. As I learned on the paddleboard yesterday in a swift current: working hard sometimes means i am just staying even.

No time to proof. Off to breakfast and I don't want to lose the post. Consider it a draft!!

[nationalparker]

A great day... Sun and sand and then pool time before modeling to the room to prep our lunch and get cleaned up. We went to see The Phantom of the Open, and I gave it five stars. Karen, I think you and your DH would enjoy (based on true events, golf).

Dinner this evening was in the room ... Fresh veg and pasta. I'm bringing home some items i can't find at home so hope it all makes it intact. Plus I found a good price on kitty litter and have had trouble getting it at Sams at home, so am I spending what I save by buying that and having extra weight in the car? I won't mention that.

Now reading and watching the waves roll in.

Heard from my brother who is back in for more labs again as other values are wonky from Monday. it is always something it seems.

So behind on any personals... Maryann, love the rooting section you had!
Bill, those gifts are the best! I'm on a hunt to find something small for dgs... He loves small things but not matchbox cars.
momma meli - many credits for great planning and eating at the lake! You've set the precedent!

[BillBlueEyes]

<moved to the July Thread; today is NOT June 31>

[curlyjax]

Dr visit went well. I did undergo an endometrial biopsy which was painful but the doc was reassuring and said I would get results tuesday, and everything was looking pretty good. I felt crampy afterwards so I decided to take a sick day. I did treat myself to a spinach/cheese croissant, and some cookies, and lolling on the sofa. Later on I made two types of chicken drumsticks in the microwave for DS’s dinner tonight, as I will be out with a friend, yay.
I now have plans for the long weekend with 4 different people, it never rains but it pours. Today will be a very hot day; I’m taking it easy for a few days anyhow so fine to be inside.
Nationalparker-I’m so glad you’re both having such a relaxing time! Thanks for mentioning that movie, it looks very fun.
Mommameli- I like the idea of pre-weight loss skills.
Gardenerjoy- wow, nice functional strength exercise!
Karen- once a mom, always a mom! Yeah for some grey skies and a break from the sun.
Maryann- that is awesome about the SUP! How nice to stumble upon a new uplifting meeting.
Bill-Pita chips do indeed “slide down without concern”- yay for putting an end to that.

[BillBlueEyes]

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Beck Diet For Life/Solution – July 2022 – Support, Discussion, Buddy/Coach

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