Hi diet friends,

Today felt decadent (after low carbing); I had grapes!, and a tortilla shell, and lots of veggies! Went to a work bbq party. I've eaten ~1600 today and using fitday again. I'm trying not to make a self-fulfilling prophesy b/c I don't know how I could lose eating like this. Keeping my fingers crossed.

When I did Weight Watchers successfully, I ate a lot of soup. I've always loved soup, and it filled me up. So today again I ate veggie soup with a beef broth base and lots of garlic. Soups can be really easy; today just a bunch of cans of beef broth, a can of wax beans, and then chopped garlic, celery and onion. It'll last for a while, too.

THanks you guys for sharing the great food ideas; I will try some of those.

Thyroid-challenged Liannie, Stacy, and Sue--wow, that's interesting that we all have thyroid issues. Sue, I can't BELIEVE your doc didn't put you on thyroid replacement...are your blood values OK? I had weight gain, hairloss, fatigue, complete change in me, and then I finally got diagnosed. Thank GOD my hairloss has stopped after a looooong time and my hair has filled in a lot. It really was a factor in my emotional eating b/c I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me, and the docs were useless. I had to totally take charge of my treatment.

Shout out to Karina....I can't remember if you were one or two weeks in Philly...hope you are having fun and managing OK. I love your vision of all of us here in a year, thriving and successful.

Beck-wise, I'm starting the day when we start writing down our food plan for the next day. I'm still reading response cards, and still finding that eating mindfully makes a huge difference.

girly....

Hi to all

Girly-super good luck about the diet changes-I feel I can maintain the diet longer with a greater variety and flexability. Plus I never was a big protein eater at any time in my life- I got real tired of it. I am happier with low cal. yep I am not too happy with my doc-he seems younger than my kids and really acts like I am not worth the time due to my obesity. Starting in Nov our health provider will change and be a ton of money more each month-hopefully it will be worth it.

L thank for the good ideas-what kind of frozen stuff tastes good and is low cal -as good as BBQ chicken pizza? I'll check out the brand of meat.

tomarrow it is off the big cities-see two of our sons and 2 grandbabies. May not get back to you folks until Monday.

get thinner
sue

Hi everyone,
I'm leaving Philly tomorrow, which is good since everyday my diet efforts have gone a little downhill. At least I have managed to stay under 2,000 cals every day, and under 1,800 on several days. I really hope that I don't gain from this week, but I'm afraid I will. We'll see, though!

Girly, since you like soup, you should really check out the volumetrics plan. It's all about how to get the most bang for the buck, calorie-wise. I'm trying to aim for between 1200 and 1600 cals a day. EVeryone is different, but what works best for me is to eat light for breakfast and lunch (since I'm busy and don't have time to focus on hunger) and then I get to eat a larger dinner, which fills me up. I do best when I eat something like smart ones for lunch.

Was it Sue who asked how I'm managing to control my eating? I guess I'm lucky that these friends are fairly thin and just not big eaters. I think I would feel embarrassed to eat big portions of dinner, and I'm just totally avoiding things like their homemade ice-cream and any other snacks. Today I had lunch on a small plate, and I think it helped me eat less. By the way, your Buddhist study group sounds interesting--seems like you are always doing something intriguing (surprising since you don't live in a city).

Funny that all of you have thyroid problems; I don't have that, but I do have Poly-cystic ovarian syndrome and the metabolic resistance that comes with it. One of my reasons to lose weight is to end my PCOS and conceive next time without fertility drugs.

Talk to you all soon! Hope your weekend is going great!
Karina

Happy Saturday Everyone!

Sue, I've lately been eating the frozen South Beach Diet dinners. I absolutely love the kung pao chicken, savory pork and grean beans, caprese chicken with broccoli and the beef/broccoli with Asian noodles. I pretty much alternate them throughout the week for my lunches at work. I ate Lean Cuisines before and basically got used to them, even though they weren't exactly like Mom's home cooking.

Girly, it's funny how decadent you feel eating fruit when you've low-carbed! We bought dinner from Boston Market last night and I ate about 1/4 cup each of the sweet potato casserole and the apples. WOW, how sweet they tasted! Definitely much richer than they would have seemed if I was still gorging on carbs every day. I enjoyed them, was satisfied with way less and even found the potatoes TOO sweet. Weird, huh? Considering how I could pretty much have mainlined chocolate sauce 2 months ago...

Karina, glad you're having a good time and not stressing out too much about the food. Vacations are to be enjoyed and anxiety must be left behind! In a way I'm glad I married a man who doesn't eat too much because it does tend to rein me in a bit. At least when he can see me. I've certainly had my binges in secret since the wedding but hopefully they are behind me now.

Hey Stacy, wherever you are. Love that jawline!

As for me today, I practiced hunger tolerance again. It's getting much easier now that I'm just having latte for breakfast and no solid food until lunch. I also did Day 30's lesson about eating out. I looked ahead online at the menu, found the calorie count, decided what to have and had just that. I got a smaller plate and put half the food on it, ate it and brought the rest home. I can't believe I didn't gobble it all down like some kind of refugee, ESPECIALLY because I had a beer first. It's amazing how this book is changing my life!

Have a great Saturday all. I'll check back with you tomorrow!
L

Hey everyone

Today my husband completed his first triathlon. I was so proud of him! I would like to compete too sometime but the open ocean scares me. I think I'll be sticking the the running events for awhile...

Ugh, my diet went downhill yesterday and today. I did great all week then all of a sudden yesterday I ate an oreo. And then another. And then a bowl of ice cream during my bout of insomnia last night. Then today was pretty much a repeat. Tomorrow is my weigh-in too, so I'm definitely nervous. One thing's for sure, the Oreos are going in the TRASH. I really feel crappy too. Physically and emotionally. You'd think I'd remember how crappy I feel afterwards BEFORE I put that oreo/ice cream/chips in my mouth.

sue, hope you have fun on your trip!

karina, may I ask what the symptoms of PCOS are? I've heard of it and doctors have even briefly mentioned it to me but I never really knew what it was.

liannie, wow! That's amazing about the restaurant! Congratulations on such a huge feat.

Hi Stacy. Glad to see you. And congrats to DH on the triathlon! As for your sugar binge...I try to learn from my diet mistakes so they don't seem like a complete waste of my life. Maybe you can salvage the Oreo/ice cream slips by learning from them. It sounds like it was that first Oreo that opened the floodgates to everything else. What caused you to have it? Emotional distress, fatigue, inability to resist the sight and smell because you're feeling deprived on some level? Since we seem to be the "introspective thread" at 3FC, it seems to follow that we should try to figure out why these things happen and how a chapter from Dr. Beck's book can help prevent it the next time.

Happy Sunday to everyone else! I surprisingly found myself down another 3 lbs. this weigh-in. I got on and off the scale 3 times because I couldn't believe it. I might make that July goal yet...

Have a great weekend.
L

Hi friends,

I'm losing on low cal....maybe this is going to work!

Today was the day where I'm supposed to write down everything I'll eat AND not veer from it. Again I'm fighting it. It seems too strict. But I'm going to try it for a week; Im telling myself what I did before hasn't worked (for years). I'll make the NO CHOICE card and do it for a week, and then re-evaluate. How are you all doing on that task? Any advice?

Because I can eat a lot of veggies, I feel so satisfied when I look at my colorful plate with decent amounts of food. I've been eating right around 1600.

Liannie, congrats on your big whoosh...fun! And I'm going to try the South Beach meals--I've never even looked at those b4.

Hi to Karina, Sue, and Stacy...wishing you a week filled with successes.

girly

liannie, you know I honestly don't know what triggered it. I was in the kitchen (cleaning or making dinner, I can't remember), saw the oreos, and just startes eating. I told myself I'd have, ok three, then finally five. It was ridiculous. Looking back on it I can't believe I let myself eat them or the rest of it later. I can't recall anything too emotional going on at the time. It may have just been the "It's not fair, I want it" monster rearing its head. I really need to work on that attitude because it pops up fairly often. And congrats on the 5 pounds, that a huge loss!

HI guys,

we are exhausted, broke and stuffed from our short trip-has a great time tho. We actually don't want to eat another meal out for a long time-I purposely did not count count cals and I know I have re-gain some weight-at least some water, but here is the really good news for me. 1. I Want to eat more low cal and more veggies again,i.e want to go back to food program, 2. I was leaving food on my plate-just too full and the stuff too rich, 3. now know I like simple organic fresh veggies-yummy 4. didn't feel alcohol was important part of the social gather. I am so happy to know I feel better doing the new stuff-recording and keeping in a cal count. Yes. I am actually looking forward to cottage cheese and frozen blueberries with splenda for breakfast tomarrow. I am beginning to be food conscious. Hugh change for me-
we did the yucky box store shopping and walked for miles with my walker-another drive to lose more weight-better mobility

girlythin-I hope the recording part get easier for you. I find the menu planning and precording easier. Often I doing many repetitive meals with the sense of cals of most things now. I know what amount of cals works the best for me for breakfast and lunch. For me the hard part is so little prepared food, unless I make the sauce don't know what in the restrurante's salad dressing, sauce ect. Glad you said you are losing some lbs.

L great loss yess that is wonderful-thanks for the frozen food suggestions-will check them out. I agree that this book was be so helpful for making changes.Or at least this has come into my life at the right time for me to listen to the info. I have not done the only half of a meal yet-looking up the menu on the internet-some gret ideas then to bring 1/2, Never had that thougt during my last trip-good stuff.

Karina Welcome back home-Glad you enjoyed your trip and worked to record your cals. avoiding Ice Cream homemade no less is awesome. Hope there is no gain and have an easy time going back you food plans.

Stacy-one of the hardest is that implusive out of control eating-oreo/ice cream night. If we could really answer that question we could be the next diet gurus-I label that type behavior as my unruly toddler-I cut my nose to spite my face sort of behavior. interesting questions Liannie could it be physical-drop in blood sugar? emotional-must have comfort food., visual? if you hadn't seen the stuff would you over eaten other foods? Location- would you have it at friends' place? I must admit I can not have ANY sweets in the house, I will eat 4 bowls of ice cream mindlessly, never 4 apples. Then after the over-eating comes the self berating. I do believe that a thin person just go-whoops I ate too much so will cut back tomarrow.
hope you are back on track-I know that I will have the same behavior and response some day soon also. If you get any insights let us know.

loving be back on the coast
coastal sue

Good Morning All,

I went from a night shift Monday to a day shift Tuesday with very little time in between. I've read your posts, LOVE you all and will hopefully respond this evening.

Still doing okay except I ate too much on Sunday (emotional setback--gotta work on that lesson).

More later,
L

Hi friends,
I was down to 174.5 today.....I have to check tomorrow because it is hard to believe. But no, I believe, I believe.

I had a great tennis workout today, and man, being in the sun and exercising, I am actually not hungry. That's a great feeling.

Sue, congrats on giving yourself credit for ALL your realizations. I still find it hard to not drink when others are, but you're right...we're there for the people, not the crushed fermented red grapes. ANd thanks...it's a great idea to be repetitive with the meals, and also great to know it gets easier w/the cal counting...right now I really don't have a good sense at all.

My biggest challenge continues to be the planning, for sure. Being able to eat a frozen meal at midday has helped TONS. I didn't shop on Friday, as I had scheduled--there was a party and I didn't want to do it when I got home.

At work we've had a weight challenge going on--no support or education or anything; just a contest and the pool is $80. So every week I've been the same or an increase, and this was the first week that I actually had a loss. It has been quite humiliating b/c I'm the one that sends the weekly results email out to everyone. I'm still at the bottom of the list because I gained, gained, and now have only started to lose.

In the book, I'm at the plan the night before (which I do) and then follow the plan, telling yourself NO CHOICE. I've tried it at least 3 days and I haven't made it. I think I'm just going to give it a rest and come back to it next week, or when I shop this Friday.

Excitedly,~girly

Hi everyone,
Sorry I've been MIA lately. I actually just got some surprising news...
Remember how I said that losing weight so I could get pregnant without fertility meds was a goal of mine? Well, it turns out I actually am pregnant. I took a test on a whim when we got back from Philly (wish I had before since I was drinking about every night there), and it was clear as day. The nurse said I'm about 8 weeks along. So bizarre, I just can't believe it. We tried for a year and did several rounds of treatments to conceive our daughter. I just don't even know what to think. I feel terrible for all the drinking I've done, but what can I do now? Hopefully it will work out alright.

Congratulations Karina! That's huge news! I'm so happy for you.

Honestly I don't know about the drinking. I'm sure it's pretty common though with so many pregnancies being unplanned or surprises. Did you say anything when you were at the doctor?

girly, good job on the loss! I struggle with planning and sticking to it as well. I generally do good during the week but then on the weeked we end up eating out or bbq or something. What did help me though and might help you as well would be to plan out like a week's worth of meals THEN go shopping. So you're only getting the food you need and it makes it harder to stray from the plan.

Things are going better here. No sweet binges the last couple days. I'm also down to 173 as of this morning so that's great news. I had a great run last night too on the beach. Things are pretty good

Good Morning Ladies,

Just popping in for a minute to say hello and keep the thread alive.

Good job on the weight loss, Girly! Low cal, lowER carb is working for me right now too. I'm still convinced it's all about calories in/calories out but I need to be free of my carb addiction so I'll limit carb choices too.

Welcome back, Sue! Isn't it nice to actually CRAVE healthy foods? It shows how your tastes are changing and that your body likes your new way of eating. As days pass into months and years, these new habits will translate into a new body.

CONGRATS on the pregnancy Karina!! You know it's funny about the drinking. When I was pregnant with my son 30 years ago, my baby book actually said that drinking a glass of beer a day gave you better milk because of the brewer's yeast. So I drank one most days, and nothing bad happened. It is drinking to excess on a regular basis that is really bad. We'll be sending positive waves your way but I think you'll be okay.

Hey Stacy! 173, that's great. I agree with you about planning then shopping. It makes all the difference. Spontaneity spells trouble for us overeaters. I have problems with weekends too but they are a fact of life so I think I will try to conserve during the week when life is dull so I can eat more when fun is in the air. How about you?

As for me, work is busy busy busy and I'm beyond exhausted right now. Plus selling and buying a house (with one deal possibly falling through) has me on my last nerve. And then there was traffic court this morning for a speeding ticket I had. I'm trying really hard to stay within my calorie allotment since going up to 2000 on Sunday but exercise is suffering a bit because I'm just so darned tired! If I'm lucky the scale will be kind to me Sunday. If not, I'll keep trying.

Any particular Beck lessons you ladies are working on this week?

L

Greetings

Karian-Big Big Congratulations on new baby Enjoy your pregnancy and work at not worrying about the earlier drinks. You have stopped and that is the most important for the remaining months. It is amazing how healthy the vast majority of babies are given the range of mom’s health, medical care, sanitation world wide, and other factors. Many of my friends' moms drank and smoke throught their pregnancies, all this was not a worry prior to the 1980's or so. Sometimes our medical knowledge can almost lead to more worry that is necessary. I have had many friends who either drank or took serious medication not knowing yet they were pregnant and worried for months and had absolultey perfect babies. Enjoy your new addition-Always thought the stress of graduate school increased the likely hood of getting pregnant. When one is "ready" to get pregnant, then nothing happens.

girlythin, glad that you are losing on the low cal and carbs. I do feel I can (and must) live this with type of eating the rest of my life. If I am too low carb, I begin to lust after fruit and veggies. I feel more balanced with this approach.

Liannie-thanks for the encouragment-I truly feel that I am going to have a much more normal life and will stop being so addicted to food. I am having many more" glad I am doing this days" versus feeling defeated, disgusted and self pitying days. My next task is to eat "like a thin person" versus fat lady gone wild when with friends-I have such a "party' mentality. Party in this case means permission for me to over eat and drink. Always have to undo some gained weight after each gathering.
Buying a new home-serious stress and work-good luck-Hard to do all the Beck steps when exhausted-keep those low-cal fast foods meals around if that will help?

Stacy -glad you had a good loss. I still find your athletic abilities amazing, plus life is so much fun when moving. Keep up the great runs

Ladies we all are working so hard,
to a thinner tomarrow
sue