This has been all fun and games until I get to day 5. Eat slowly?? Be mindful of my eating???? What??
I am a little stressed over the concept of eating slowly. I very seldom get to eat alone, I have a 14 month-old and am a SAHM. I realize other people do it with many more children than I have, I just haven't figured out how to do it yet!! I am nervous about day five. I think this may be one of the biggest challenges I have!
Out of curiosity, in addition to Billblueyes, are there other people that have successfully completed the entire 6 week program?
barbpos has. she's doing great with it too!
eating slowly and mindfully seems to be hard for many of us.
Diet Coaches – I ended the day juggling with fire but think I did OK.
I braced myself to stand down the muffins and Danish pastries for the third day, but was rescheduled to a whole day with no provided food. CREDIT the change in plans. Even better, I got the chance to take a LONG walk at lunch, then did a LONG walk after work so that my pedometer exceeded 20,000 steps for the first time in three months. CREDIT moi. Scale reading continued at the low point of its range. So, I'm feeling pretty good last evening when I go to a presentation about ocean birds. (The Albatross is my favorite bird; just gotta get to New Zealand to see the Wandering Albatross.)
The snack table isn't usually a problem at these presentations, but last night I faced about FIVE choices that could be described as unusually excellent. I chose a slice of an apple crumb cake marked Passover. Cleverly, I gave half to a friend who also only wanted half, then gave half of the remainder to DW who only wanted a taste. Then, feeling my oats from my walking and my noble decimation of the slice of cake I took a piece of dark chocolate covered pecans (also marked Passover). Incredibly good. Then I took a second piece. This one is going to be hard to declare as on plan. So I quickly rushed to my seat to avoid my sudden Desire for the three different types of homemade cookies also marked Passover. The label Passover had suddenly become a siren call for eat me. Oh Well for having the second. CREDIT moi for stopping at two. Kudos to all of you celebrating Passover if that is any example of the kinds of food you face all week.
Sue (CoastalSue) - Waving toward that swimming pool on the West Coast.
Heidi (hbuchwald) - Waving to Spring Break on the West Coast.
Jean (kuhljeanie) - Waving at the blur.
onebyone – Kudos for your on plan performance at the vernissage. (Thanks for the new word.) I was struck by your statement, "I still feel like eating everything though." What a reminder that our brains keep these old thoughts ready to pull up at any given opportunity. Extra Kudos for just going to bed and ignoring the obsolete thinking.
amy (gahundy) – Waving your way and sending supporting thoughts as you start your weekend. Hope you have some of those neat exercise activities planned.
Nessa (ladybugnessa) - I'm still savoring all your tips on eating slowly and mindfully. It is so easy to forget for so many real life reasons. Thanks again for posting all of those.
Robin (RobinW) - LOL at the thought of the place cards with your Helpful Responses on the table at a meeting. Might also consider posting the full nutritional info of the foods on the snack table in the format required by New York restaurants - wonder if that would reduce the amount consumed. Kudos for reading your Beck Workbook instead of eating when you were exhausted. Great example of using a diversion.
Kathy (tresor) - Boy do I detect the opportunity to make a fortune if you decide to publish The Shopping Diet, LOL. Especially if it works, like it did for you. Kudos for the on plan eating while shopping demonstration and for the continued, continued early morning walking.
KidsLibrarylady - Yep, I agree with Nessa (ladybugnessa), confronting the eating slowly and mindfully has been a challenge to a lot of us. I just love it. Eating mindfully makes such a major contribution to staying on plan for such a small effort - after we begin to get on top of it. Stay the course; a small child and a busy life are true challenges. However, my take is that wolfing down food is more of a habit that serves over eating. And it's a habit that can be broken by consciously working on it. I do remember how strange it felt at the beginning. Kudos for openly facing the challenge. Good luck.
Readers – “I’m so glad that you’ve chosen The Beck Diet Solution to help you lose weight and keep it off. I developed and fine-tuned this program during the many years I’ve worked as a Cognitive Therapist. ..." From the Introduction, Beck, pg 12.
Bill~ WTG on your 20,000+ steps!! Im looking forward to the day I can do the same thing you did with that piece of cake. To me, that is still in the super human category You're a Beck Super Hero!!
I was struggling last night with some feelings. Some incidents happened yesterday that specifically centered around me, and my efforts as a woman business owner. These incidents put in a spotlight(and will for the entire month of may) All wonderful things that your "normal" eater wouldnt have issues with. I was good until I was given the article to read. I was ok with it all, I had made a point of not reading it until last night It was a wonderful article, but alot of those feelings of doubt, and I dont deserve this....and all that other crap that goes on in my head surfaced.
I got on the treadmill, and unfortunately I couldnt get my ipod loud enough to drown out the thoughts. I fought them between songs, but got thru my workout, had a big glass of water, then got my butt into bed.
Im alot better this morning.....hubby wants to frame the article. I thinking about this one. I dont think I could manage a whole day of feeling like I did last night for only 2 hrs before bedtime.
Im having another planned unplanned lunch today. It will be one of those salads from the deli next door
Well, in spite of my panic yesterday at seeing myself eat too much only to have it all be okay in the end, now that that is in the past it kind of surprises me. In reality, I went into my extra points by ONE. Yes, that's ONE, uno, un. ONE. What gets me this morning about that whole thing is look what a small slip I had? Ever since doing Beck I have pretty much stayed on my foodplan. It's really incredible. I used to regularly slip up, and I mean really slip up, often for two or three days in a row if lucky, sometimes a week or more, losing hope all along the way. I have been actively trying to lose weight since Feb 2007. Went off plan big time over the summer, tried in Sept 07, nope, then again in Nov 07 when I decided to stick things out for one year no matter what. I would just keep getting back on plan if I went off... and off I did. I came here to this group when I found my Beck Book (that I got in Nov 07 but promptly "lost") and that was February. I did the 6 week program, and am now a month out of the formal program and trying to use Beck in my everyday life. Some habits are really ingrained now, like eating sitting down. I always catch myself if I eat anything standing up. I know I need to eat slowly, take my time, taste my food which makes me want to eat only good food since I am choosing what to eat consciously and eating consciously, why waste my time on crappy food? THIS is a BIG change. But knowing what happened yesterday it amazes me that my slip was so small and caused me to react so big. I corrected immediately and do not want my program to get away from me. In the weeks of Beck, and since, my binge eating is extremely reduced in frequency and in the amount of food taken in. Something is definitley different and if I just continue the way I am now, the weight will come off. 90% of the week I am on plan. Sometimes more. It's AWESOME. Funny how these feelings of gratitude and just sheer acceptance of where I am right now have come through doing this. I was just hit by it all this morning. I wanted to thank KidsLibrarylady for asking who else had finished the Beck program. It really made me review my own experience with it. Thanks. I hope you choose to give it a really good try. Things really change. And we have all had trouble with eating sitting down and eating slowly. Working on these two things IMHO is very very important but you don't need to do it perfectly, just try it. Be slower than you are now. Give it a chance and don't be afraid. Just try.
RobinW Good Morning to you. Good going on planning your lunch. Sounds great to me! And good for you that you didn't let negativity put you in the food, but instead on the treadmill. That's a great habit to get into. Big Kudos to you for that!
BillBlueEyes Kudos for passing over the non-manufactured treats last night, and for being aware of your desire to stay on plan in the face of it all. Awesome. And 20,000 steps. Whoa. 2x the recommended daily amount. I think counting steps makes it more fun to actually take the steps. I had a cheap pedometer for a while and enjoyed it (I lost it off my shoe one day).
Maybe I need another one.
tresor Wow. Great going with the walking. Soon you'll be missing it when you don't do it! Awesome.
Hi everyone. I've been lurking here, but not posting lately. As Nessa said, I'm continuing to do well....even through Passover...with a lot of planning, some flexibility, and Beck skills...Bill, it's not the sweets that tempt me as much as some of the high fat starchy foods, but I've incorporated some of them in reasonable portions, and left others for next year.
I did have my most major slip-up since starting Beck the first night of Passover. I came home from the seder at my cousins having eaten exactly as planned, except one extra bite of charoset (dried fruit and nuts which represent the mortar used by slaves, but have become a major passover treat). Dinner included 1/2 a matza ball with soup, a small piece of matza kugel, turkey, brisket, lots of veggies, fruit, and one bite each of 3 different cakes (brownie, nut bar, and sponge cake). I had a great time with family....so when I got home, why did I have to have nuts, dried fruit, and a matza ball, eaten quickly standing up in my kitchen? OH WELL I got right back on track, but it was a reminder of how vigilant we need to be.
I started Beck 9 1/2 weeks ago. There are other people here who were here before me (Coastal Sue, Kuhl Jeanie, Mez, and others) and One-by-One started around the same time. I also got totally back on South Beach at the same time (I'd been working on getting back since the end of December after a long backslide from past success). I've been through the book, day by day, doing many of the exercises and thinking about all the concepts. That doesn't mean I have it all down though...not by any stretch. I continue to struggle with eating slowly and without distractions. I continue to draw on my ARC and responses....I'm only 30 pounds into a 100 pound weight-loss journey but I am in such a better place than when I started, physically and emotionally.
Hi all,
We just got back from a spin through the neighborhood on the tandem bike set up. What a kick! We both laughed and had a lot of fun. Nothing like the sweet song of Old MacDonald from a 5 yr old behind you while pedaling a bike... fun way to exercise and get outside. We visited neighbors along the way too.
I have been doing Beck now since February and have completed the book and all of the steps. I am slowly rereading the book. I too feel like there are certain things that remain constant: cooking healthy food, eat sitting down, praise myself for things that I do more often and check in here with my coaches on a regular basis. It hasn't been a perfect road but a much smoother road than any other one I have been on for weight loss. It feels like a true lifestyle change for me and I too feel better in my head as well as physically than I have in a long time. If I look at the really big picture, the one that shows me how long of a time I was overweight and binging, it really is amazing that when I have "eaten off plan" while on Beck, that it hasn't been that huge of a deal in comparison. I do think that because I have been focusing on "calming down and enjoying life" instead of letting stress get the best of me and overwhelming myself constantly while doing Beck, that it all relates to "taking good care of myself" in general.
Kudos to me for:
exercising four days in a row: dance class, walking on treadmill, dancing with the stars dvd and biking. I am managing the recipes/cooking thing really well with what feels more and more like a routine rather than a novelty! I have resisted tempting foods with responding to those blasted sabotaging thoughts.
Hello to all of you my Beck friends and coaches..happy weekend to you all. Til tomorrow...
I had a mental image of "the gang" sitting around a campfire in Zion Canyon. We were sipping wine and sharing stories. I put many messages into my heart... treat yourself like you would treat your best friend.... slips will happen just dust yourself off and walk the road..a glass of wine is fine (oops I made that one up) The image made aware that this is a sacred place. We are safe to share our experiences. No one will try to "fix" us but instead offer guidance and insights.
Before I left this daydream I wanted to share one story with you. A little sad but true and funny. At one point after my second mastectomy I learned I now needed (you may close your eyes any dear men reading this) my "lady" parts removed. I dropped into a morbid and dark head space. I wrote my obit, planned the service and amended my will. I asked my husband to cash in a small bit of $$ I had tucked away for a rainy day. I felt like I was in the middle of a monsoon. I sent him on a mission to buy a plot and headstone in my favorite graveyard. This required a journey of a few days. He arrived home and seemed a little too cheery and happy with himself. He dragged confused me outside. There behind our truck was a beautiful new travel trailer!!! He then said "WOULD YOU RATHER LIE DOWN AND DIE OR GO CAMPING???
I am still here and we have taken 3 years of wonderful camping trips. He expressed his heart by that one simple,brave, crazy and defiant act.
I felt these type of emotions when I read the first response card. DO IT ANYWAYS!! I know I will stumble and fight my dark side. I also know I have a reserve of inner strength to draw on. I also have this wonderful group around my day-dream campfire. Do it anyways..
You can come camping with me anytime. I wonder how many calories are in toasted marshmallows ??
Be well today... Lori
Diet Coaches – Recognized a Thinking Error yesterday. I've wanted to get back into bike riding after a hiatus of a half dozen years. But can't because I need a new bike and I've been slow looking slowly and dealing with sticker shock and zillions of choices and price ranges. Then big (obvious) idea - I don't need to wait until I buy a new bike, I can resurrect my current bike (35 years old, but was a quality bike back when purchased) to have something to ride to the bike stores to shop. Dusted it off, pumped up the tires - they held!! Helmet fits good enough for now. Rode to a local bike shop which immediately evaluated it as good enough to take a tune up, and gave me an appointment for Thursday. I'm on my way to being back in business. CREDIT moi.
Sue (CoastalSue) - Waving toward the swimming pool on the sunny west coast.
MaryBlu - Waving toward Minnesota; feeling the need for a dose of that unique MaryBlu humor.
Heidi (hbuchwald) - What a joyful image of you riding your bike with a 5 year old iPod on a tandem behind. Appreciate that you pulled back to give us an overview of life on Beck after completing the 6 week program. Kudos for what you're doing and Big Kudos for giving yourself credit for it.
Jean (kuhljeanie) - Waving toward the blur.
Barbara (barbpos) – Kudos for experiencing the joys of family during Passover and for planning in advance how to stay on plan. And Kudos for getting right back on track after the gratuitous snack "eaten quickly standing up in my kitchen." 'zmazing how quickly the hand can get food into the mouth before the brain can engage. I like that you "incorporated some of them in reasonable portions, and left others for next year." Such a great demo of using strategies to stay the course. Kudos. Kudos.
onebyone – Thanks for the synopsis of your journey with your tribute to gratitude and acceptance. Kudos for incorporating the Beck strategies into your daily life. It's good for me to be reminded of the importance of eating slowing and tasting each bite, since my big over eating was always of mediocre food. Also like your observation that, when you've drifted off plan, you get back quickly rather than spending a few days adrift.
amy (gahundy) – Waving during the weekend while sending supporting thoughts that you've got some of your neat activities planned.
Robin (RobinW) - Congrats for the "wonderful" article about your efforts as a business woman. Kudos for facing all the emotions it brings up. And Big Kudos for posting about it here; a little sunlight does wonders for reducing the size of our fears. I do hope you encourage your DH to frame it and let that help shrink the dark feelings even smaller as you, yourself, march forward to being a "normal" eater.
Lori (elkfordian) - Thanks for the perspective that this is a sacred place where we are safe to share our experiences. And what a place you picked for us to have our campfire!! (Pictures of Zion Canyon in Southern Utah can be seen at http://www.zioncanyon.com/) Joining your fantasy of the whole group of Beckers hiking in to our campfire to share feeling healthy and active. Thank you for sharing your very personal story. Your DH purchasing the camper is just amazing.
Readers – “It’s been wonderful working with dieters during the past 20 years. It’s been so gratifying to see how their lives have improved; how losing weight built their confidence; and how their confidence helped them to form new relationships, get better jobs, and engage in more enriching activities. Equally important, losing weight has helped them improve their health, feel better physically, and improve their quality of life. " From the Introduction, Beck, pg 12.
Lori~I have to tell you, I burst into tears when I read what your husband did. I love how he loves you I also love the imagery you gave me this morning....it puts me in a wonderful place when I think of coming here.
Bill~ k, I did a bit more crying after I read your post too. Thankyou for your kind words. This is probably one of my biggest issues. Dealing with "Im really not all that" even tho, Ive worked hard to get there. Im just like everyone else.....and Im more than willing to help anyone else to build their businesses. ..........Im doing again Im a work in progress What awesome news that your bike is tuneup worthy, and you wont need a new one!
I am suppose to be home from the shop today, but some nice big orders came in yesterday. I know going to the shop, and keeping with the routine, and having my husband with me will keep me on track. Going into work today will accomplish the "overpromise and overdeliver" part of what we are trying to do. The bonus part....I wont wander into the fridge if Im alone at home today.
Food is all planned and salad is packed for lunch. Workouts are getting done...even did an extra mile last night on the treadmill. I was looking at the clock when I was about done, and decided I didnt want to go down and watch tv, so I may as well keep walking. I have to say....good tunes on your ipod keeps you moving!!
Have a great day everyone!!
I remembered after I posted this, that I posted a small blurb about our client of the month thingy on our facebook account for the business. Im working on getting into the business blog. Its just not that easy... if it was more business based with our company name highlighted rather than "RobinW" based it would be so much easier.
Had my weekly weigh-in: +2.2lbs. No real reason for it. I didn't go over my weekly plan, although a few days were rough but not off plan. I did eat a salty salad for dinner with olives and pickles and a salty garlic sauce for dressing last night. When I was done I was thirsty. I figured my weight would rise, being the sponge that I am.
I loathe seeing 250 again. OMG will it never end?? I tell you, my brain goes to this place and it says "do the radical diet. Do the fish-salad-chicken-no-carb-thing just for a week and put as much distance between you and 250 NOW! I can work myself up into a panic that this is an emergency! Hmmm. What is this likely to get me? A couple of things 1) I probably can't sustain that radical diet and that means I'll feel bad/like a failure and that sets me up to eat to feel better 2) I've done this diet before. has it worked? No. I can say no because, hello, I am here dealing with my weight. And as I see it now, if it worked the weight would be off of me. 3) This is a thinking error. I have been losing weight. Truth is I started Beck at 260.4 on Feb.23. 9 weeks today. I am down 9.2 lbs even with my weight gain of 2.2lbs. I am losing weight. I have lost weight and my body goes up and down by 1-7lb bounces. In the 9 weeks I've been on Beck this is what my real Saturday weigh-in numbers are
Feb 23 : 260.4
Mar 1: 258.8 -1.6
Mar 8: 255.2 -3.6
Mar 15: 254 -1.2
Mar 22: 257.2 +3.2
Mar 29:251.2 - 6.0
April 5: 251.8 +0.6
April 12: 256.2 +4.4
April 19: 249 -7.2
April 26: 251.2 +2.2
My body is far from the smooth steady 1-2 lbs per week drop that experts say we need to aim for. But 9lbs in 9 weeks is in that range, it just doesn't feel that way.
I just wanted to get this out of my system. I can feel it crowding out my serenity. NONONO.
I just need to stay the course and up the exercise this week. I've slacked on that ever since I felt like there was something up with my foot. I can get my bike out, but then I think I'll look ridiculous riding it cause I am so fat. This, my coaches, has stopped me for a few years now. Like BillBlueEyes I have a great vintage 10 speed racer, skinny tires and all, in my basement that I'd love to ride. But I feel like I am too fat for it... like I'll break it, bend the frame, or just look dumb. I need help re-thinking this one. I know it's a sign of narcissism that I think people will be watching me and spending time thinking about me, mostly we all think about ourselves, but I still think it. If anyone can help me get my bike out I'd appreciate it.
Okay time to move on with my day. Thanks for reading.
But I feel like I am too fat for it... like I'll break it, bend the frame, or just look dumb. I need help re-thinking this one. I know it's a sign of narcissism that I think people will be watching me and spending time thinking about me, mostly we all think about ourselves, but I still think it. If anyone can help me get my bike out I'd appreciate it.
When I see a woman as large as me riding a bike, I always think to myself "you go girl" Because I know how hard it is to get on a bike being this size. I do notice her size, and then I envy her for getting on that bike and riding it!! I always thought I should have one of those "wide load" signs on the back of my t-shirt....with a little disclaimer underneath saying "not for long baby!"
I figured it out (this is said in jest, should you wonder.) Eating slowly and purposefully makes you eat less out of sheer boredom. Perhaps those of us with ADHD (that is not said in jest) should use this approach. I actually have almost an entire bag of popcorn leftover from last night because it was too boring to keep eating.
Diet Coaches – Rode my bike to the supermarket to buy a 3 liter can of olive oil. I'd almost forgotten how much fun it is. On my bike, I was easily able to ride to a second store to find the salad dressing that DW likes. With my big walking day yesterday and a LONG walk last night, I made my best walking week in six months (13844 steps/day average). CREDIT moi. There are tulips and daffodils everywhere. When spring finally gets here, it just pops down all at once. Feels so good.
Sue (CoastalSue) - Waving toward the west. May the ISP be with you.
Heidi (hbuchwald) - Waving toward Spring Break. Hope you and your iPod are biking away.
Jean (kuhljeanie) - Waving toward the blur.
onebyone – Congrats on the 9 lbs in 9 weeks. Kudos for working your Beck strategies at a steady pace to cause that. Thanks for sharing the thoughts about radical dieting. I share that ability to trigger into Thinking Errors when faced with a minor fluctuation from my plan. Big Kudos for exposing it so that you can experience the credit you're due for your diligent efforts. Need to get your vintage 10 speed bike out? JUST DO IT. I'll think of you when I take mine out today to send supporting thoughts for its resurrection.
amy (gahundy) – Waving toward your weekend - hoping that you have time for some of those neat exercise activities.
Nessa (ladybugnessa) - Kudos for "27 clean eating days." Hope DH is on the mend.
Robin (RobinW) - Congrats on the "nice big orders." In today's economy you guys must be doing something right! I like your phrase, "overpromise and overdeliver." Kudos for choosing the treadmill over TV. Perchance it was "Old McDonald" on your iPod, LOL.
KidsLibrarylady - LOL at your tale of leaving a half bag of popcorn due to boredom from eating slowly. I see another fortune to be made in a new diet book, Losing by Boredom. Better start shopping for an outfit to wear on Oprah, LOL.
Readers – “Although each dieter I’ve counseled had a slightly different story, all of them had struggled to lose weight, sometimes since their teen years. But it hadn’t been for lack of trying. They had all lost some weight – but every one of them had gained back most, if not all, of that lost weight. Why had they been so unsuccessful?" From the Introduction, Beck, pg 12.
Friday
You're a Beck Super Hero!! 
It was a wonderful article, but alot of those feelings of doubt, and I dont deserve this....and all that other crap that goes on in my head surfaced. 
TGIF everyone!
I also love the imagery you gave me this morning....it puts me in a wonderful place when I think of coming here.
OMG will it never end?? I tell you, my brain goes to this place and it says "do the radical diet. Do the fish-salad-chicken-no-carb-thing just for a week and put as much distance between you and 250 NOW! I can work myself up into a panic that this is an emergency! Hmmm. What is this likely to get me? A couple of things 1) I probably can't sustain that radical diet and that means I'll feel bad/like a failure and that sets me up to eat to feel better 2) I've done this diet before. has it worked? No. I can say no because, hello, I am here dealing with my weight. And as I see it now, if it worked the weight would be off of me. 3) This is a thinking error. I have been losing weight. Truth is I started Beck at 260.4 on Feb.23. 9 weeks today. I am down 9.2 lbs even with my weight gain of 2.2lbs. I am losing weight. I have lost weight and my body goes up and down by 1-7lb bounces. In the 9 weeks I've been on Beck this is what my real Saturday weigh-in numbers are
I figured out the secret....
