Coastalsue – If I thought the herbs would make the trip I’d send you some. My sister was stating how expensive my areogardens were. I do admit they were. (A bit over $250.00) One my husband got one clearance. I said yes but so is eating unhealthy. I no longer eat fast food and I make really healthy meals now. It’s not just open a can and pour. Plus I really love seeing me actually grow something. I’m a terrible gardener. I’ve even managed to kill cactuses. Also how much am I saving in future medical bills if I continued to eat the old way. I don’t think she got it but I couldn’t be more happy with aerogardens and that is all that matters. Glad to hear you maintained.

Hbuchwald – I’ve never heard of quinoa. Is it a protein replacement like Tufo or a veggie? Sound interesting. Sounds like you have a wonderful day. WTG

BillBluesEyes – Kudos on keeping that chocolate at bay. Your wife has a great idea for getting rid of it.

Onebyone – Welcome!! I too was big on “tasting” while standing. I found I sample way more than I though. Especially when watching my grandkids. Kudos on catching yourself.

Hawfowler – Welcome!!! I look forward to helping you with your WL journey.

As for me trying to play catch up with post. School was delayed 2 hrs and it has thrown off my day. So if I missed anyone I’m very sorry. I’m going to try and sneak a workout in before the grandkids are here. I’m a bit nervous about speaking with the surgeon so I’ll keep that and mine and not let it give me a reason to snack. I’m in control.

Hi everyone! Welcome onebyone and hafowler!

It's just lovely taking a short break this AM to read everyone's thoughts. I'm resonating with so many, after this weekend...every Feb we have a nice brunch to celebrate the many Feb birthdays in my family, and I overdid it. I could feel it on the way home that I was too full, and I commented on it, and DH said, "you didn't eat that much! About half of what you ate last year." So in the face of eating off-plan, I guess a little credit to moi for having re-framed my idea of overfull. I still didn't want to eat again until 8:00 last night - but to my credit again, a few months ago I would have eaten sooner because it was time.

On my long run this Saturday, I did something painful to my foot. The swelling is much improved, but I feel a little panicked that I might have injured myself. The real fear is that I won't be able to exercise the way I have been, or even worse, that I won't be able to run my race in May. I'm trying to figure out how to identify a podiatrist who will tell me what I want to hear.:^:

And can I just take a moment and credit DH? He saw me limping around, and told me to sit down and give him a list of stuff to cook. Now the fridge is completely stuffed full of healthy, portioned meals and fresh fruit and veggies. All the party food is gone (except for the last remaining pieces of cake, but I'm no longer interested. I sort of hit saturation.) It's time to start thinking about practicing royal icing flowers for the wedding cake.

The Hunger Day...I distinctly recall that as the day I was inspired to post, since I wasn't sure I was doing it right. And now looking back I'm pretty sure that I didn't. I overdid it (is there ANYTHING I don't?) and actually got to the point where it was an emergency. It did make normal hunger more recognizable though, and thinking about that now, might be one of the reasons I had so much off plan eating last week. I'd been hungry most of the day for both weeks I'd been on plan. I'd been satisfied for a few minutes after each meal, but the rest of the time I was hungry. But I would just say to myself, hunger is not an emergency, and I don't need to eat. This is true - but I don't think Beck's intention is that we ignore feeling hungry most of the time. I need to play with my plan so I'm only really hungry just before mealtimes - not all the time! I loved hearing that Maryblu gets hungry every three hours, and that's how you know you're eating the right amount. That sounds like a good measure. It's so hard for me to figure out how many calories I should be eating to lose, between exercise and nursing. I'll up it another 200 a day and see if that works. It just feels like I'm eating way more calories than other people on diets - but if I continue to lose, I guess that's what I need.

Heidi, so glad to hear that Henry's in the clear! Also, I'm a huge fan of quinoa - what kind of seasonings do you put in your wraps? I've been making a quinoa salad with corn, basil, and sweet peppers that I got out of the Moosewood low-fat cookbook. Sue - that's a good collection, but I have another one called "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison, and that is a COMPREHENSIVE TOME of a cookbook that has everything you could ever imagine veggie-wise. I'm so looking forward to finishing school so I have more time to COOK! I love, love, love cooking. And thanks Mez for turning me on to Aerogardens. DH and I were looking at them last night, and are going to get one for the new house. Which one do you have? Which seed kit?

Bill, thank you for raising the intellectual bar of our conversations! :) I haven't read Beckett in years but that's good stuff. I used to be huge into Ionesco. Made me excited to think about my kid getting old enough to start appreciating really good writing and ideas. (NOT a reason to eat cake.) ;)

The BIG highlight of my weekend - when we got home from the brunch yesterday, all three of us took a real nap (2+) hours. It was absolutely blissful - just the most delicious and wonderful thing! Ahhh.

Here's to a fabulous week of feeling strong and healthy!

Hello everyone. Thanks for the kind welcome!

I found Day 4 not bad but today! Hoo Boy! Day 5 Mindful eating. I've already had 4 sabotaging thoughts I wrote down. And resistance? wow. I do not want to eat slowly. I always inhale my food. Always shovel it in. never really care about it excpet in the company of one inlaw who really eats slow! Super slow. Even regular eaters comment about her pace. And to me it's torture. She eats to enjoy the company at the table. Go figure. And she doesn't struggle with a weight issue as far as I can see (you never know what goes on in a person's heart).

I did follow the book for breakfast. It's plain I now have to reclaim my kitchen table. It's been a pseudo-countertop for too long. We NEVER use it. I think I've eaten there twice in the 4 years we've lived here. That's about to change. I think I'll make that my "change in the environment" that she writes about on Day 5. It'll be a big obvious one if I get that table set up for actual eating!


BillBlueEyes to answer you question I reside in the northern hemisphere, above the equator, above the border with the United States, in Canada, in Ontario, in Ottawa, in a rented townhome with a hubby and a tubby cat who is also engaged, unbeknowst to her, in a struggle to lose weight. It's mostly my struggle not to overfeed her... and me!

All the best to you all today!

Hi all. I decided to stop being overwhelmed by the thought of responding to all of you and to post again.

Day 8 here and doing very well. I love the "if hunger isn't the problem, food isn't the solution" response card. I now have it posted on my fridge, and it's my signature line on the South Beach Diet forum. I also really love the idea that if I eat over a problem, I then have 2 problems.


BBE- I to have a live coach - a friend of mine told me about Beck, and we started together. We've talked almost every day this past week. But, I plan to use this forum as support as well. And as much as I like the Sox, I'm not counting on them :) any Bostonian would be crazy to do that ....my success is in my hands (with support, of course), not theirs.

HAFOWLER - I see we're just a day or so off from eachother. I look forward to sharing this journey with you.

Hi Mez - almost forgot. Quinoa (pronounced "keen-wa") is a grain, looks and cooks a lot like couscous, but has a nutty flavor. It's just fabulous as far as grains go - lots of fiber and protein, and it packs a nutritional wallop with B-6, magnesium, manganese, copper, folate, zinc, and riboflavin (to name a few.) A great alternative to pasta, good hot or cold, easy to cook.

Good on ya, Barbpos! I was until recently trying to keep up with everyone, and it got to be too much. My hat is off to Bill, Sue, and everyone so thoughtful and considerate to respond to every single person. I just can't do it but I don't let that stop me from posting. Who knows? That random thought you decide to post might be exactly what I need to hear today, whether or not you specifically direct it to me. :)

Kuhljeanie – Both Aerogardens are the basic ones. (you can buy the accessories for full size plants to work with also) It comes with Gourmet Herb Mix. (Italian and Purple Basil, Parsley, Chives, Cilantro, Mint and Dill.) I bought other seed packs since Target had them on clearance for only 4 dollars. I just started the salad mix with has romaine lettuce I’m not sure what the other mix of lettuce. I found a web site that list what is in it. I’ll have to find the addy. I also bought a box of romaine lettuce and a box of Italian Herb mix which contains mint, basil, savory, parsley, garlic chives, oregano and thyme. WTG on noticing how full you felt! You know I use to just ignore it before I got the beck book. Now I’m so aware of many things and still learning! Quinoa sounds wonderful I’m going to look for it thanks for the tip!



Well it looks like surgery for me on Monday. One of the gallstones I have is 1 1/2 inch. It was pretty much of a done deal as far as surgery no thinking about it. So off to the doctor Thursday to make sure my heart and lungs et are ok for it. If they do laparoscopic my recover will be quicker since it's only 4 small incisions usually recover time is around 10 days. If they have to open me enough for his hand to get through it will be 4 days in the hospital and much longer recovery. I was told that the doctor plans on doing it laparoscopic but things may change during surgery and he will do open surgery. I sure hope not since it will leave a bigger scar and the recovery time. So that is where I sit now. I've have to make a to do list of things I'll need done before Monday. Plus they said shop for the food you plan to eat afterward. I'll try and pop on to answer, support and just be there for you guys. If what I say is short please don't be offended.

Good luck, mezmerize! Take care of yourself.

I'm down 2 pounds this week, which makes me really happy. One of the many things that's different about this lifestyle change (as opposed to my "diets" of the past) is that I'm doing it slowly, the smart and sane way. Eating well, exercising. In the past, I starved, over-exercised. I would never be happy with .5-2 pounds/week of loss. Hence the extra 100 pounds I'm carrying around, and my body's low starvation set point.

The Beck Plan is helping me more than I can say, and it's another huge difference. I'm working on reprogramming my mind as well as my body. I have to stop thinking like a fat person, and learn to think like a lean, healthy person.

Eating mindfully, only eating while sitting down and giving myself credit often and generously have made this more like a challenging game than a chore. I can't wait for my workout every day. I love planning my meals and snacks -- seeing how much I can eat for the least points (I do WW Flex). There isn't enough credit in the world to give myself for those! :)

Hope everyone is well!

Hello peeps!
Not much to report here. I had a great day in many ways. It felt good to be back at work as it turns out. DD and I did our pretend "cooking show" where we cook together and act like we are talking to the cameras. She is hilarious when she does this. We made homemade fish sticks and they are the best ones we have ever made. We have done this a few times and didn't LOVE the recipe. Both of us love this one! Any parents out there read any of Ellyn Satter's stuff about feeding kids? She calls herself a "nutrition moderate" and stresses everyone love their food, enjoy eating and try to relax and trust ourselves with food and feeding. She is a nutritionist and hates all the rules-even the ones regarding the food pyramid. I don't have that total trust in myself about food/feeding yet but I do think that I am building it. Her philosophy is that parents are responsible for the when, where and what of eating the kids are responsible for the if and how much they want to eat. WOW. I am still reading but have been trying to enjoy what I eat-fits with being mindful/appreciative and eating slowly.

I got out of bed this morning and did 10 minutes of yoga with a show on tv. It felt good to get up early and stretch and do something physical. I will do another 20 minutes of something tonight in addition. Credit moi!

Okay, I want an aerogarden now after hearing all about it from mezmerize! Actually, it would be great to have two: one for the greens and one for the herbs.

Til tomorrow, Heidi

Hello all,

we had a great weather today after being slammed by storms and 60 miles hr winds during the weekend, no power at time, today-lots of sun but still some wind. The pool actually felt warm due to the solar gain. yummy swimming. Had a calm, relaxing easy going day. what a treat and how unusual. Nice when eating healthy is so easy and there are no food fixations. My weight is plateauing but I am losing inches so soon the lbs will drop again-onward to get under 300's. I have to make peace that I am a very slow loser but it beat gaining and being 400lbs.

Heidi-great fun with the Heidi and DD cooking show-such a gift to your Dd plus learning positive attitudes. I am worling an improving my attitudes toward daily (boring) tasks. Satter's advice sound so much better than the keeping kids at table for hours until they ate their peas ect. I learned the clean plate lesson or else way too well.

mezmerize-hope for a quick easy surgery and recovery. Heard good things about laparoscopic-take care and we are rooting for a speedy recovery. If you become a distributor for the gardens let me know-they sound like a lot of fun. My poor herbs on the deck look awful-some died during a freeze, other just hate the cool windy salty air.

Hafowler-yeah on the 2lb lose. Like you I have tried to lose a lot of weight many ways-some very unhealthy-Beck is the 1 st time I am coping with my eating patterns and really learning new skills to cope with food-I am going slowly but am continuously losing. Most importantly I have confidence that I am not going to regain.

KulhJeanie-Posting is the most important-don't worry about note to each individual-I just love reading what is up with everyone and how things are going for them. Thanks for the Quinoa info-may get some soon. Just got see the Madison Veggie cookbook today-liked it alot. I really dislike the meat industry and want to greatly reduce my animal eating.

onebyone, barbpos-so gald you guys are joining in-I too really loved that quote of "If hunger is not the problem then how can food be the solution." I need a tatoo of it. I have spent year misusing food to solve emotional problems-tension, boredom, make my teens behave, blues-such a long list which I wanted ice cream to solve.

BillBlueEyes-I know you made the your appointment well prepared. And eating more food last night would not have made you finish quicker or more accurately. But the *&$% desire does crop up so quickly. Much credit for seeing the irrelevance of linking completely the taxes with food. I see you as being very vigilant and astute and don't believe you would do mindless eating for any serious length of time. I trust you to remain very committed to your new way of eating. Credit for sticking to the plan even if your early snack meant going to bed hunger.

wishes to all
sue

Tuesday
 

Diet Coaches - Did it. Made it to the accountant with the numbers all lined up in their respective columns. CREDIT moi. And better, before the day was over I had emailed her with the four pieces of missing information. Double CREDIT moi. Here in MA, we have to include proof of health insurance coverage (form 1099-HC) or the state will charge us for coverage. Wonder how many people will remember to get that form attached. Then back to feeling normal: walked, did gym, cooked up some green beans for this weeks lunches. Thanks for your support while I was feeling stressed - knowing it was there helped me ward off the munchies.

Sue (CoastalSue) - Kudos for your continued swimming; always sounds to me that you keep going like a freight train when you get to the water.

Heidi (hbuchwald) - Interesting thoughts about "trust ourselves with food and feeding." Like Intuitive Eating, that seems like a worthy goal for when we have this fat person thinking under control.

Jean (kuhljeanie) - Kudos for the family brunch - what a great measure of your progress. Jealousy for the naps. Ouch for the foot; hope there's a podiatrist out there strong enough to stand down your determination and make you take care of it. LOL at "intellectual bar"; you might have to wait for Erika (eusebius) to drop by if you want to discuss Ionesco.

Mez (mezmerize) - Ouch for the surgery. Kudos for your calm acceptance and rational planning. Your Aerogardens should have a nice salad ready when you recover.

barbpos – Kudos for having a live Diet Coach - that's the ideal. I need you to pound me with "if I eat over a problem, I then have 2 problems." That's always clear to me after I've stuffed munchies and the real problem remains. LOL at your realistic view of the Red Sox; sounds like this isn't your first year as a fan.

onebyone – Kudos for confronting mindful eating and rescuing your kitchen table. Love the thought of "unbeknowst to her" - can't wait for your book, Stealth Beck for Tubby's, LOL.

hafowler – Congrats for your 2 pounds. Kudos for giving yourself credit and for such a refreshing attitude toward your plan.

Readers – “… But instead of gaining, you can lose weight and maintain your weight loss by practicing the principles you’ll learn in The Beck Diet Solution." Beck, pg 19.

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Completed Beck Program-day 42. You’ve met your goal. Congratulations!

Good Morning New Chums!

It's Day 6, Diet Coach time. I don't really have one. I thought I had one on another board but she's gone AWOL. I fear back into the food. So. I have a DH, and he would help, but I am reluctant to ask him. I have involved him in many of my past turnarounds with food and I am tired of seeing myself do that only to abandon the plan that was going to do it "this time". It is okay to have online diet coaches? I feel like I need to do exactly what she says in the book, which would mean asking for DH's help.

What do you guys do in terms of Diet Coaches?

As for following the book, I found myself fighting my fork this morning. I did not want to put the fork down. I had to deliberately tell myself to do it. Such resistance! I want to have the fork and the food on the way to the mouth right after the last forkful has gone in. wow. The frenzy of eating gets so disrupted by slowing down. It almost feels boring to me. Is that crazy or what? Hmmm. Would love to hear what you think.

Have a great day.

Hafowler – Congrats on the 2lbs loss! I like your view on making it a game than chore. I also slow down my system by starving myself. I had a 1lbs loss this week. That is with working out. I’m happy with it they all add up in the end.

hbuchwald – Your cooking show with DD sounds like it was a lot of fun. I’ll have to look into that book maybe my library carries it. It would be nice reading material when I’m laid up. I’m an Aerogarden Junkie! It’s getting so bad as I want another one! 1 for my herbs, 1 for my lettuces, 1 for either fruits or veggies. (they have strawberry plants as well as peppers, snow peas, green beans, tomato’s and now they have edible flowers which I’ve always wanted to try!) I seen somewhere they are even going to have tea. Geez my kitchen will soon really look like a jungle!

coastalsue – Kudos for being positive. I know that seeing that scale freeze or slowly move down can be a bit too much at time. I remind myself that it’s a temp thing and my body will get it and like you said it’s beats gaining.

BillBlueEyes – Kudos on making it do the accountant, working out and eating healthy! Aww a fresh salad form my aerogarden will give me something to look forward to. Right now I’m worried about the size scar.

Onebyone – Welcome!! You can have kind of Diet Coach that will work for you. Please do consider your DH you know many of us have had the “this time” and I’m sure your husband doesn’t think any less of you for that plan not working out. You will find a plan that will work so never give up and don’t be afraid to ask for his help. I have my DH help me and he’s been there for my past “this times” and if I need him.(which I hope I don’t ) the next time. This is a learning process and with each failure we learn. I think of this way. I’m a mother and a grandmother. When my kids/grandkids were learning to walk did I discourage them when they fell? No I cheered them on to try again and again giving them the confidence to go on and know they could do it. I still cheer them on with jobs interviews, my son taking the SAT and so on one must never give up. You’ll find your way.

As for me I’ve been busy trying to get things in order. My DH said not to worry he can take care of things. I want to because it takes my mind off it. Eek grandkids are here early.

Hi Onebyone! DH, DS and I are headed to Washington DC for St. Patty's Day for a very specific (Canadian) reason - Great Big Sea are playing! Do you know them? My BIL is from Winnipeg, and assures me that all Canadians are required by law to know a certain number of GBS songs. :) DH is my (sort of) diet coach, and the wonderful folks here are as well. He's magnificent and helpful and supportive and would never belittle me for being on round 173, but he can easily go from being coach to enabler, so I sometimes find I have to coach my coach. He also doesn't really understand what it's like to think like a fat person and is often puzzled by my challenges. Also, I could talk about food, exercise, and diet all day long and I'm pretty sure that would bore the crap out of him. Whatever works! My mom also lost 80 lbs over two years and has kept it off for five; she's fortunate in that she had a come-to-Jesus about her obesity one day out of the blue, made the decision, and that was that. Some of what I'm dealing with is great to talk about with her, other things she just doesn't get. So find your support wherever and with whomever it makes sense. I also feel ya on the shovelling thing. It's hard when I'm running late (which is usually.) But I also know that I do/did eat way too fast to try and get it in so I didn't have to think about what or how much I was eating. Hard to taste or enjoy it - which seems odd for someone who kept saying how much I love food! I seemed to love it but not have any respect for it. So, yeah. Right there with ya. :) I still have an almost daily conversation with myself at dinner to get that damn fork out of my hand and on the plate. Still don't believe that I need to have that next bite IMMEDIATELY ready when I haven't even swallowed the one in my mouth yet!

Mez, good, good luck and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that they can stay laparoscopic. We're considering getting the 3-aerogarden special they have advertised on the website - that might be a nice use of tax return funds! Course, will have to actually DO taxes in order to get the returns. I'm all over it, but DH tends to wait till the last minute. In prior years this wasn't an issue, but in prior years we weren't actually married. Hm.

Did make an appointment tomorrow with a podiatrist. I'm trying to talk myself out of working out tonight. I'm scheduled for a speed run today but maybe I'll substitute something easier on the elliptical. I just hate the idea of not working out. I didn't wear my pedometer today to avoid encouraging myself to walk more, and I feel oddly nekkid without it.

Hafowler, credit credit credit on the game mentality! I'm a sucker for spreadsheets. I track all my steps, my calories, my running pace, I average stuff, add it up, etc. It's more fun that way.

Feeling a little out of sorts the past couple of days....sluggish and a little queasy. My doctor friend tells me that it could be the A Fibb. of it could be the flu-like stuff that's going on around here. Despite not feeling great, I went to Curves yesterday after work (yea, me!), and proceeded to pull something in my knee on the leg curl machine....I iced it last night and it's still sore today, but somewhat better.

This is someone's idea of a bad joke, since I'm at Beck day 9...EXERCISE :). I actually started last week with 5X a week exercising -- either curves, treamill (20 minutes), or 45 minute dog walk, and now I'm not sure what to do while I heal a bit. Maybe I could look at swimming....the next town over has a nice pool with some public hours. For today, I think I'll do 5-10 minutes at 3 mph on my treadmill, without a lot of incline, and I'll see how I feel afterwards.

Hello all,I am still here just sick with the flu.Sleeping hours upon hours,fever,aches all over and eating whatever,had the very strong opinion that I don't feel well and I should eat whatever I want.Have not weighed myself and have not read my cards.Same old crap sneaks in so easily,I have been reading along and it sounds like everyone is doing really well.
barbpos,Hafowler,Onebyone welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!! ,it seems you are all jumping right in.The plan works,I find I slip up after a weigh in[lose or gain],when I don't feel well,or when I feel deprived.I tend to stop reading my cards and let myself slide.
I have finished the book and I think I need to start over.I do weight watchers and have been back and forth between flex and core, sign up Thur for another 8 weeks at work.I get frustrated also because others are losing faster than I,but I must admit they are following the plan all the time.In the past I have lost weight much quicker on ww.I swim for exercise and try for 4-5x a week,average of 40 laps.Due to this flu I have not gone since last Thur.I have to rerstart now! I have baked potatoes and chicken with rotissere chicken seasoning in the oven for dinner and salad[my boys tell me only girls like salad].I went to Sams Club while sick on Monday and threw all kinds of thing in the cart so I have every kind of fruit and vegetable you can think of and way too many loaves of bread and rolls.I spent $274 there,could hardly fit it in the frig.I bought a bathing suit and when I got it home realized it was marked wrong and not the right size.Note to self "Don't shop when sick and a bit dazed"Hope they will exchange the suit I did not even try it on.
mezmerize-Good luck with the gallbladder surgery.Hope you get to stick with the laproscopy so you can heal up real quick!