Slept late so didn't post this morning. A rushing about day, just a minute here before some guests arrive to go to dinner. Hopefully we'll do a Thai restaurant since I can't go wrong with Thai food.

Had a meatloaf sandwich for breakfast again, as tweaked by spinnymouse on another thread. Feel like I'm swimming against the tide for such a little thing, LOL.

Did well at a potluck lunch, consuming a big serving of vegetable stew before anything else. That seemed to get the satisfied feeling quickly so that subsequent eating was pretty easy to bound. Eating slowly and mindfully requires some active work for in in a potluck situation, where I'm drawn toward a gobble-everything-I-can type of thinking. I was too late for the butternut squash with walnuts, but had some fig couscous and a big green salad.

Didn't have any cravings to work against today.


Bethany - Welcome !

Glad to have another person contributing to understanding how to work the Beck strategies into our lives. Being "stubborn" can be a BIG advantage in making progress.

Since I first made my Advantages Response card, I've continued to tweak each item to be a very specific to me. E.g. I changed "For good health", to "To avoid dying of diabetes like my grandfather." The specifics hit me harder as I read the card.


Sue - Great that you're not doing any mindless eating or drinking. Methinks that a major part of Beck is just steering us away from mindlessness. Of course, the devil is in the details of executing that notion. Let us know how you are remaining mindful in the midst of your houseful of guests and celebration.

Friends, Lurkers, and secret Beck followers - Hello. Hope you are having a mindful day.



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It was nice to stay on plan yesterday since that included both a potluck lunch and dinner at a Thai restaurant. At the potluck, the strategy of starting with a soup (called "vegetable stew") made staying on plan for the remainder easier. The Thai restaurant is a familiar place within walking distance of home. It's pretty easy to stay on track at a Thai restaurant. I had a spicy dish, so might have completed a days worth of water consumption during one meal

I grade my Hunger Monitoring Chart only a C- since it is good enough but failed to record all events on the same day. Oh Well. But, now I can move forward with the other program-days. Good !!

Today will be Going Hungry day: breakfast at 5am, skip morning snack, skip lunch, skip afternoon snack, and eat dinner about 6pm. Kinda odd that it comes with the small advantage that I don't have to pack a lunch. I made a Hunger Discomfort Scale in my daily appointment book ready to fill in. The hard part will be to remember to record my discomfort every hour.


Bethany - Congrats on choosing your diets. I look forward to hearing your opinion of Volumetrics since I haven't read the book, but like the ideas as I've gleamed from reading the Volumetrics thread.

Also like the way you expressed:
Sue proposed food blocking sun glasses, LOL. But, until she finds where to buy those, we have to find a Beck style strategy for changing our thinking about FREE food - something with the punch of "Hunger is not an emergency." E.g. A friend once skipped an expensive pre-paid dinner at his resort to have dinner with a group of us, making the casually dismissive remark, "They can make me pay for it, but they can't make me eat it." We need that level of distance from FREE.


Sue - Hope your entertaining weekend was a joy and you're back in the grove for the week ahead.


Readers, Red Sox fans, non-fans, indifferents - Have a mindful eating and exercising day



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Completed Beck Program-day 12. 30 to go. Keep going!

Bill: I hope your 'hungry" day is going well.

Sue: I hope your week is going well.

I have completed Day 3 "Eat While Sitting" and I didn't really have any trouble. I eat lunch and breakfast at my desk at work and since I am a receptionist I am pretty much tied to that desk. If anything I just need more time between clients to eat. lol. I did have to consciously remind myself to not take bites on the way back to my desk because I'm always in such a hurry, but it has gone really well.
Well, I guess that is all for now.

I hope you all are having a great day.

Bethany

Hello everyone,

billblueeyes- how did the hunger day go? What did you learn with the task? Was it worth it?

Bethany-I also count and record the daily cals also about 1500-1600-How do you record them? I use the free version of Fitday? I like the flixablity plus I have really learned alot about food and what the cal count is about the items.

We have had a very busy and joyful time-I like the devil in the detail-mindful eating isn't as good as pre planning, measuring and recording every bite. I sure get so over food stimulated with all the company we have had and all the meal preps I have done.

bless my DH-I don't realize how bare I keep the kitchen until company comes and then I get snack food, breads, sweets and cook richer main courses. Luckly everything really caloric has been eaten, now back to basic. I really have a problem of over eating when there is alot of processed food around.
Even though I have lost 55 lb I have so much to learn to cope with cravings and desire and recognize feeling full. When I lost the weight from last Jan-June it basically just DH and myself eating every meal prepared at home. Since then it has been alot of company, short trips, birthdays, Just too much food about and I have over eaten.

I also must learn other ways to reward, relax and respect myself. Food has been the magic bullet for years-upset, overtired, celebrating, yucky tasks to do, being in pain,-just eat. I can not make a list of 10 things which I can do to give my self a quick pick me up instead of eating food.-naturally I don't have be hunger in order to treat me self with food.

I am a retired speical ed teacher and I would try to change behaviors of my students not by punishment, but by replacing the behavior with another pleasant activity. kind of like stop chewing your nails by have small rubber ball to squeeze when nervous. I have got to figure out some coping skills when so busy and so much food about. No choice just does work then. It will work once or twice a day but when there is contineous foods choices then I lose it.

I'll be fine and follow my eating plan- the next company will be vets day in Nov. I got to have a plan by then for remain on my food plan. They love cosco and various treats from there.

Hope all is well
sue

• Did “Hunger Day” Monday, at last !!. Had no food from breakfast until dinner. Recorded my hunger Discomfort Chart every hour. Never recorded over a 3 (0 is lowest). Hunger just didn’t figure into my day, possibly because I had committed to not eating lunch. My highest discomfort was just a conditioned “I’m ready to eat now” at the regular time for my morning and afternoon snack. Have to remember this next time I order lunch and feel like I’m starving while waiting for food to arrive and thus have to stuff myself with the bread and butter on the table. That will be a craving, not hunger.

• Walked to Trader Joe’s for lunch hour to get sunflower seeds for my granola, timing my arrival back at the office for my 1:30pm meeting. Didn’t give myself time to think about hunger because I was actively doing something that interested me.

• Bought 6 ears of corn from the Farmer’s Market on the way, which I cooked last night to have in the fridge for lunches. I love cold corn on the cob - no salt, no butter.

• Ate meatloaf on whole wheat for breakfast again. spinymouse has helped me solve my problem with the leftover meatloaf.

• DW made Hubbard Squash mashed with McIntosh Apple for dinner – with grilled chicken, green beans, and mixed greens salad. All but the chicken came from my urban foraging at farmers' markets. I had a slice of DD's birthday cake – no big decision. It was a good enough cake, but only OK on my chart of stuff I really wanted. She seemed pleased that I had some, but it would have been OK not to eat it. We sent ALL the remaining cake home with DD – that’s a good “Manage your Environment” step.

• Won’t pack lunch again today because of a meeting that includes deli sandwiches for lunch. Good opportunity to concentrate on choosing wisely from limited choices - there will be some good enough choices available. Usually there's a few boxed grilled chicken over mixed greens salad with a zillion calorie foil package of Caesar's Salad dressing.

• Will work the Cravings Ratings Chart (discrete events) today, then I can call the Cravings day complete and continue forward with the next Program-days. But, will continue working craving daily, I haven’t conquered this.


Bethany - Congrats on moving forward through the "Eat while sitting" program-day. LOL at the thought of snacking on your food while walking to sit down - I've done that in the six steps from the microwave to the table, like I was starving.

Working a reception desk would seem to offer many opportunities to use food in response to tension, boredom, and revenge on the clients for whom you're gracious even though they deserve rudeness. So, you have many opportunities to work strategies in response. I, too, spend most of my day sitting at my desk. It used to annoy me when I had to attend a meeting at a distant corner of my building. Now, I think of it as a gift.


Sue - Sounds like you had a good visit. It's easy to see how house guests and food prep for them is a trigger for some mindless eating.

I look forward to hearing what distractions you find work for you in your stressful type of situations. In Beck terms, it sounds like you're making your Distraction Activities Chart. It's nice to hear that this is a strategy that you're in the habit of using with your students. Distraction has been the most powerful tool against craving for me so far.


Beck ex-pats - What part of the Beck program did you take with you?



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Hello

Beck followers-to us all having changing brain patterns. To healthy eating,

BillblueEyes-I bet we could share recipes-everything you are buying and dw is cooking is very similiar to our meals when it is just the two of us. Yes to sending the treat home with dd. ps I love corn-it is so sweet I don't need anything on it- love it hot or cold also. There is alot of research out there the it is good to eat "dinner" like meal for breakfast. Why should we start the day with a light meal when we have the whole day infront of us and then load in the cals at night just to go to bed. I knew one man who lost weight by eating dinner in the morning and a very light meal at night.

We get a weekly large bag of organic vegetable from a local farm which they pick that day. I don't like tomatoes yet the last 3 weeks they have been so delicious-my daughter in law also doesn't like tomatoes and loved these. Food grown 1000s of miles away, then shipped and stored for days or weeks just is not a great as local grown produce.

I also ordered a cooking magazine-called EatingWell-lots of recipes dealing with what is in season. It has helped me change some of my cooking ways. Plus they give the cals with each dish.

Bethany-that sitting down to eat is both easy and occassionaly hard-Since I adding more fresh herbs than a recipes calls for I want to taste the mixture at the stove. But sitting and slowly down are both very important tasks for me to do daily. eating with awareness is so important for me.

Billblueeyes-I found the same thing to be true on the hunger exercise.

I am actually concerned with how little hunger plays in my eating. Today i am really feeling the unhealthy addictive pattern I still have toward food and sometimes alcohol. I am very aware of how easy for me follow my food desires and cravings when the my home environment is filled with processed food and/or drink- the drive is so ingrained-years of being over 200lb in my adult life. Yet I always had the denial pattern it is ok because tomorrow i will diet and lose it all. The good new that I have learned and use some healthy techniques at home when it is calm and just dh and myself. The bad new is that when my life gets really busy, social, or stressed i lose the new pattern and go back to overeating. I have regained less than 3 lbs so I am please that I have put alot back on but I am so disappointed with myself that I have not lost anything for about 3 months.

I am so suprised how important I have made food in my life to satify non hunger needs-most of my emotional and physical needs. I have sort of known it, but today I really feel it. I am bit overwhelmed with how critical it is for me to change this pattern. Back to beck and other ways to relax and reward myself without food.

sorry to keep harping on the same problem for me but I really feel so stuck and rather hopeless on how to change my addiction for calming effect of food for rest of my life.

take care
sue

Bill: Well done on hunger day. You seem to have really dealt with it well. Buying food even. Your mention of fresh corn on the cob made my mouth water. I agree with both you and Sue about that. It is perfect all by itself.

Sue: I completely understand what you are saying about actual hunger having little to do with eating. Somewhere along the way I turned to food for comfort and I haven't really figured out how to get it otherwise.

Day Four was hard. I realize today that eating while sitting down yesterday wasn't difficult because I wasn't PO'd for the majority of my day. lol. I will say that I caught myself and immediately stopped chewing until I was sitting. lol. When I reflect now I see that the moment of realization followed closely by: "Oh God! Spit it out, spit it out." was semi-humorous. If I hadn't been so angry at the time I would've laughed. It was just one of those days where it felt like clients and co-workers were walking all over me, and instead of telling people how I felt I pushed it all back inside (which is why I need to be a Becker) and felt panicked. I had to get out of the office. I didn't go out for lunch, but I didn't make the healthiest choices at home. I can accept that... I know that I am in the process of learning still and that I will gradually become accustomed to pulling out the response cards... I wish I had thought to at least read my list when I left the office for my impromptu break.
I did give myself credit for a few things today:
1. I tried a new breakfast of Dannon light n' fit yogurt with granola. It was surprisingly filling and I am glad that I risked it. I wasn't hungry at all... until I got angry.
2. I read my response cards at least 3 times today. Setting an alarm really helps.
3. I may not have made the best decisions for my lunch, but I did NOT clean my plate which is pretty huge for me.
4. I drank water and avoided caffeinated beverages today.
5. I was able to get over my bad day and ended up having a decent evening.

So that is all for now. I know that tomorrow will be a better day.

Good Night!

Bethany

• When food is calling my name, that’s a craving.
• I've purchased a Hersey dark chocolate square (50 calories) to eat before handing out Hersey milk chocolate Halloween bars this evening. I love dark chocolate; it satisfies me. I like milk chocolate; but, it makes me want to eat more chocolate. This is a planned test on handling cravings. I will report the results to this board.
• (Actually purchased a package of 14 little squares, but gave the other 13 to DW, who will eat one a day as NO BIG DEAL. It's kinda weird watching a person eating normally.)
• When I have a craving I’ll: cycle through the five Mindset Techniques, then Create Distance, then Distract Myself, then Drink Water, and lastly Breathing Relaxation.

Mindset Anti-cravings techniques:
1. Label It
2. Stand Firm
3. NO CHOICE
4. Imagine the aftermath
5. Read Advantages Card

Behavioral Anti-cravings techniques:
1. Create Distance – move the food or move myself
2. Drink water or low cal beverage
3. Relax – use breathing technique
4. Distract myself – do something


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• Ate splendidly at lunch yesterday, despite my concerns: roasted veggie calzone, eating only a quarter of the crust, plus mixed greens salad (no dressing) with pickled peppers (roasted red bell and miniature yellow bell), roasted onions, and capers. An unusual spread for a lunch brought in to a meeting at work. Skipped the black olives, cheeses, salami’s, and ham. Skipped BIG platter of three kinds of fresh baked cookies, as well as juices and colas.

• Dealt with cravings for cookies, extra calzone, completing the crust on my veggie calzone, juices, anti-pasta plate of salami’s and cheeses and black olives. Dealt with craving to take home the leftovers on the serving plates from lunch. Why do I have a craving to scrounge some odd food that isn't mine, that I've already passed over once, and that isn't on my eating plan? The food isn't even wasted because the evening cleaning crew carefully gathers it up for their own meal break.

• Modest walking and short gym workout, but that did include a new high in repetition count on my chest press with dumb bells. I was just barely abel to complete, leaving the muscles fatigued as is appropriate. Great feeling. A small step toward getting back my enthusiasm for gym.


Sue - I'm glad you keep harping on the cravings issue because I agree that confronting cravings is the key to mindful eating.

Seems to me that you're on the right track with the big step of acknowledging the denial pattern, so that you are working the issue today instead of "starting tomorrow." I have experienced that disconnect where I knew I was eating pointlessly, yet didn't connect that I could do something else.

I, too, find EatingWell to be great magazine. Really like their web site. I might subscribe after I get caught up on the too many magazines coming into the house already.

Will continue to try to draw some meaning from my Hunger exercise, and your experience. Maybe try it again after a year of Beck to see if I'm more connected to feelings of hunger. Perhaps the only meaning is that I don't experience real hunger, so developing craving strategies is all that's required.


Bethany - Congrats for giving yourself credit, right on your Beck track !!!

And BIG congrats for getting back on track for the evening. That's a bid deal to avoid falling into a hole because of a perceived weak response. That's an issue for me; I am able to lose the connection that I am in control when I'm entertaining the negative feelings that I did something off track. So, I can allow a small event to become a big event. You seemed to counter this rather nicely.

Laughing at the image of you walking back to your desk trying not to chew your mouthful of food.

Sorry that you had a rough day with clients and co-workers. May tomorrow be better.



Lurkers all - Have a Happy Halloween with mindful eating.







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Well Happy Halloween,

Bethany-great to get past the stress and have a good evening. I am glad you are giving your self justly deserved credit. For me keeping this weight for a life time requires a postive, forgiving and accepting attitude about how my day goes. Too often I have gotten down on myself for problems of the day. when someone is a jerk i go- I should of, could of and must next time ect- Hey they were a jerk and then left, I keep going on still reliving the scene. Plus then I am critiquing me-not them.

BillBlueEyes-awsome work-Such positive steps. that weight is and will be staying off!!!! The craving gobblens will not get to you with such a clear plan to deal with the candy tonight. Thanks for posting it-always helps me too.

Ate according to plan and recorded eveything. Been doing that now for 2 days and I have gained another # annoyed but not worried as I accidently put a touch too much salt in the soup last night. It will go away. Inspite of the scales I do feel more successful.
my diet blahs are going away and feel that I will get the next 50Lb off.

take care
tomorrow more new brain pathways.

sue

Today was mostly good. In the daytime I stuck to "eating slowly and mindfully" very well despite being at work. My husband and I went out to dinner and I was able to stick to task there too. I ordered chicken stir fry from Bennigan's with a salad (FF ranch on the side) to start. I paid more attention to my water and eating slowly so by the time our main course came I had only eaten about half. And sticking to the plan I was able to bring home slightly more than half of my meal.
One thing that I know I have to work on is having food near me while I am watching TV. I ate Halloween candy mindlessly while we watched Spider-man 3, but I am not going to beat myself up about it though. Old habits are hard to break and I cannot expect the new ones to be automatically installed. It takes practice.

I'll end with two things that I am very proud of about today:
1. A client asked me to make a phone call for her that I wasn't comfortable making. (I work at a mental health center and she is one of the people that will expect you to do everything for her if you aren't careful). I told her I would see what I could do, but called her back a couple minutes late and actually told her that it wasn't a call I was comfortable making. I told her that she could make the call and let them know that they can contact me if they had any questions.
2. One of my co-workers tried to get me to stay late because another of the girls needed to leave early for an appointment, but I did the same thing last week and I was frustrated with myself afterward because I've just recently revamped my schedule in a way that will make me more happy. Instead of filling the awkward silence which was supposed to be filled with me volunteering to stay two hours late, I didn't say anything. They made it work without me.

I am sorry to ramble on like this, but I am very proud of myself today. It wasn't a perfect day, but I cannot remember the last time I stood up for myself or said 'no' to someone when asked to do something that I really didn't want to do. I don't mind being someone that can be depended on, but I do mind being the person who taken advantage of for being too nice to say no.

Woo.. I'm done.

Bill, Sue: I hope you both had wonderful days today and

Edited to add: In my building today there was a free lunch. We found our about it in our morning meeting. Bill- I thought of you when people heard about it and made their comments. One girl said: "Free food! I'll make time for that." I just thought it was funny to see such enthusiastic response to food... I managed to avoid the food since I had already planned on my Lean Cuisine. It was unusual because no one ever asks me if I want anything when they go down to get food, but today I was asked at least 5 times by people.

• Wrote down my set of eating choices for meals and snacks.

• Wrote down strategies for snacking while shopping and eating at: restaurants, parties, potlucks, friends’ houses, and big events (e.g. weddings).• My plan is to select from that set of choices and strategies.


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Wooo Hoooo !!!!!!!!!!!!! I ate my dark chocolate square. Didn’t crave the milk chocolate bars while handing them out. They are now gone. Halloween is done. The plan worked
When DW brought home the bag of Hersey's milk chocolate bars a week ago, I felt a HUGE craving for them - for the WHOLE bag. But, the craving was gone after I made the plan to eat ONE dark chocolate square before giving out the milk chocolate. Actually, trick-or-treaters started around 6pm, dinner and cleanup took an hour starting at 7:30, so I didn't even get around to eating my square until 8:30. Which was just fine, I was savoring the thought of eating it the whole time. Afterwards, I continued to savor it.

Gotta observe that this Beck stuff works for me. It isn't just that I didn't eat some chocolate by using my willpower to white knuckle my way thought it, it's that I didn't crave the chocolate by using a strategy to beat the craving. I'm really psyched.


Sue - Terrific to hear you write "my diet blahs are going away". What a great step going forward. Methinks that becking about is a weed killer on blahs, negative thinking, defeatism, and desire to just throw in the towel. Congratulations.


Bethany - Congratulations for taking the restaurant by plan - sounds like you took a series of steps to keep yourself eating mindfully while saving plenty of energy to enjoy dinner with your DH. Nice job.

It's great to hear your style of not beating yourself up for the TV snacking. Self acceptance seems to be such a BIG part of getting on top of eating. I'm still working on this one.

Loved reading your two instances of standing up for yourself at work. You keep up that kind of attitude and you'll have to put up with their respect for you just growing and growing. Which will make it easier to stand up for yourself. Kinda funny that we can build on our actions to spiral up just as we do to spiral down. Way to go !!!!!!!!

LOL at "Free food! I'll make time for that." It does seem so absurd when someone else says it. Congratulations for being so clear and sticking to your planed Lean Cuisine - not just once, but five additional times when colleagues just assumed you'd want FREE food. I'm SO GLAD it's not just me with such an irrational attitude.

I have this wonderful memory of hiking up a mountain in New Hampshire some years ago on a trail that ran along a stream. Whenever we were thirsty, we'd drink. There was no desire to drink too much or too little, just to savor the water because it was so cold, so fresh, so crystal clear. I dream of having that relationship with food. I am blessed with access to the equivalent of a stream of food much greater than I could possibly consume. Dream of having no desire to eat too much or too little, just to savor.


Covert Beckers - May today present an opportunity for a little extra spontaneous exercise.


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Completed Beck Program-day 14. 28 to go. Keep going!

Howdy,

BillBlueEyes-that is very inspiring about the chocolate posting, preplanning and beating the craving demons. Agree with your hope of having a relationship with food that can be enjoy and savored while only eating the correct amount to be healthy. It is only food -wonderful but not an emotional crutch.

All the recording and cal counting has helped me learn what a healthy amount of food is-particuliarly the calorie loaded stuff.

my goals for tomorrow-1. record in my craving rating chart for all day Friday. 2. activities to do when craving food. Set up card table to work on jigsaw puzzle and also organize some beads to make a necklace. 3. make some fancy computer lettering cards stating Take relaxing breathes.

I had a fun day -went to next big city about 10,000 folks-it is about 1 1/2 hrs away. Ate very healthy at the resturante-low cal chicken stew. Had a great day with out tons of cals.

Bethany-congradulation on taking care of yourself-both with the call and overtime request. I have been doing alot of emotional work along with the dieting. while I feel much better and have more energy being 55 lb less-I can get a bit down facing the "loss of my old buddy-mindless eating when stressed" It is so worth it in the long run but sometimes particuliar days and events makes it very hard. I am still at the point when the environment at home Must be free from all tempting foods. That candy dish would have driven me crazy.

On day three I am 2 lb less-yes.

sue

Beck stresses the importance of recording your eating, mentioning the study that dieters who kept records lost significantly more that dieters who didn't.

She stresses the importance of recording immediately to counter our ability to forget to small bites and second helpings that add up.


• I will select meals and snacks from my written food plan.

• I will immediately record every variation from that plan in my daily appointment calendar and transfer that daily to my journal.

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Completed Beck Program-day 15. 27 to go. Keep going!