Credit Moi. I've been identifying the skills that I need to work on from the first 14 days. One, was to find a diet coach. Never did that a year ago when I was following Beck, so glad to have found all of you!
I have been able to fit in a bit of excercise on the treadmill every work day for the last 2 weeks! The secret? It's so simple I am embarrassed to admit it. Just picking out what I'm going to wear the next day and having it ready to go. Amazing how making a little change like that can work so well.
Just a short check in as need to soon be off again.
Northwest-so agree sometimes change is just one quick new habit which works-I find preping those veggie 1st thing in the morning guarantees that I'll cook them at dinner-never too tired to turn the burner on.-that is what I love about Beck one small change master after another and I slowly lose weight and make some permanet healthy habits. I sure have taken it slow, but feel that changes are real.
onebyone-you are doing so great-maybe tires need that new inner tubes or new patches. Great shots, continue that mindful eating. Yea to no sugar!
Wendylan-I am also a very slow loser and increditable fast gainer-gain last week end just eating 1600 cals-My body just does not follow that charts about the rate of losing-it is kind of OH Well-go back to fewer cals. It has taken me over 2 yrs-but I am down 79 lbs (probably lost a total of 120 lbs based upon going up and down so much-still good to get weight off the bones.
You diet sounds fine-start it and then find out if will work-if not then modify so it is not right for you. At times I need and do fine with measured limited treats-other weeks I do better with no treats for weeks. Dieting is a mixture of a sensible food plan and blending my emotional needs, weekly schedule of activities, availability of foods , social schedule-ect.
KulkJeanie-I"ll be on the look out for the song-I can only get one lame radio station where I live and most of the day it is canned music- But I did get some ideas in my head from old songs for the late 60' and 70's.- there has been some very nasty addictive stuff that is white!!some legal some not.
Overall I find counting cals the easiest also Can set aside some cool stuff for a treat- Even Beck has candy a night-Just started geting a weekly delivery of organic veggies grown here on the coast. It is so good tasting. I also tend to have a weeks menu planned and supplies-easier. Plus we are miles from the store and hate a 25 minute run just to get some ingredient.
Kidlibrarylady- Many many congradulation on your newest family member!! Nutrionist sounds like a great idea-get the scoop on what is the right approach to eating while pregant-maybe even if you don't lose but keep the gaining low would work-
bikingBillBlueEyes-Bet it is good granola though.
Heidi-bet you have this hot west coast temp at your place also-hot still nights are so rare for us. Best wishes for the family
Diet Coaches Rather than take an invigorating walk yesterday, I attended a lunch time seminar on how to write my will so that, if I die tomorrow, the government takes the minimum from my hard earned retirement money that I won't get to spend. Some days I feel motivated to plan hard to keep the government from taking my money. Some days I feel that if I die tomorrow I'll be dead. There was a big tray of brownies and cookies which I self-righteously ignored - that stuff'll kill you. But then again, that was the topic of the seminar. I ate my 2 quart container of raw veggies happily pondering that brownies and cookies were served at a seminar concerning if I die tomorrow. CREDIT moi.
Sue (CoastalSue) - LOL at "bikingBillBlueEyes." Yep, it's good granola. It finally dawned on me that no one could possibly sell a granola with exactly my favorite list of ingredients. And making granola makes me feel that the '60s are still with us.
Heidi (hbuchwald) - Waving to the west coast. Continuing to send supportive thoughts.
wendy (wendylan) - Yep, "So easy to gain and so slow to lose." Kudos for the big bowl of fruit and big bowl of veggies.
Jean (kuhljeanie) - Yea for a diet that includes "good chocolate and cake."
onebyone Thanks for the pictures of your stuff; love your whimsical style - "moostical pin" cracks me up. Re your bike tires: did they return to round when you got off? Perhaps you just need to increase the pressure to the 50-80 pound range. Kudos for working on your bike and Kudos for the extra walking.
redballoon - Waving around the globe. Hope all is on plan.
northwest - What a great example of using a simple behavior change to impact the ability to stay on plan. Kudos, Kudos.
Readers " I recently asked dieters Im working with to list what they know now about dieting that they wish theyd known years ago. This is what they said: " From the Introduction, Beck, pg 13.
Hi all! Thanks, Bill, for the wave. It got me in here, embarrassed and a scattered and...sigh...just not doing anything to be proud of as far as eating less goes. Ok, I stayed away from cigs for 3 weeks solid and I have been making lots of fresh vegetable juice (mostly carrot) and stayed clear of booze and sugar more often than not, but...sigh...I am doing nothing to lose weight. I don't know. I feel so stuck. Have to do something...going to try to not get down...but try to put it all together again. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.
first, BIG KUDOS to redballoon for no cigarettes, booze, and mostly no refined sugar. that's tremendous, and i'd hardly call it "stuck." maybe "not accomplishing every last thing i want to do simultaneously," but stuck? absolutely not. if you're really feeling bad, how about a walk outside, if you can? you just need to remember the big picture. you're doing great! just imagine the changes that are happening in your lungs and your arteries! you've made it so much easier for your body to take that deep breath you talked about. go on with your bad self.
morning bill! i'm in agreement. after i die, i'll be dead. i won't be worrying, period. the only thing i really care about is what i leave to my kid and my husband if he's still around. most impressive and a big kudo to you for not eating free brownies while contemplating your eventual demise. not sure if i could do that! sue, the song is about 20 years old...don't know if they even play it on the radio anymore. i'm not getting older, though. we're also looking forward to our weekly supply of organic fruit and veggies. our csa doesn't start harvesting until june. can't wait! it's my first year doing it and we're all super excited. i've got three wonderful vegetarian cookbooks, and i'm looking forward to finding some new ways to cook some new veggies. shout out to the northwest! jillian michaels talked about a guy she was training who passed a doughnut shop on his way to work every morning, and couldn't help but stop and get one (or two.) the solution? take a different route to work. problem solved! THANK YOU for reminding me how simple it can be when we stop thinking about things as obstacles and see them with new eyes. very cool. hey wendy, i hear you on the 5 lbs. i gained 6 over the last month. i'm just not going to worry about it; it's done. i'm trying really hard to focus on what i can do today - but it's hard not to think about where i would be if i'd staying on plan more faithfully the last 6 months. diet sounds great! the general gist that we all seem to have is to include all the food groups, watch amounts, and be able to be flexible when we need to be. it's also really helpful to hear everyone's variations, so i'll have some ideas on tweaking if/when what i'm doing isn't working the way i want. thanks everyone! the most important thing for me seems to be exercising regularly. i feel about a million times better when i do, and i burn about 800 calories a day more, so unplanned eating doesn't have the same impact. i also sleep better and i pay more attention to eating well. i should take a page from northwest's book and come up with an easy way of fitting it in. it's not nearly the challenge now that it was before...i bet i could schedule it in outlook as an appointment, since the gym is at work, and it would be just like every other obligation i keep without thinking about it.
today is day 3! eat sitting down. luckily for me i worked this one pretty righteously the first time around, and it's pretty much automatic. wouldn't hurt though to pay extra attention to doing it, because i know that there are times when i slip. so that's a focus today.
today's advantage: I inspire my family to take good care of themselves. I'm a good role model for my kids.
i want to add, for my husband too. he's got some health/emotional stuff that's been going on for a long time, and i hate that he tolerates feeling so bad so often. he's a grownup so i can't make him do what i want (like go to a sleep clinic, get his back surgery, etc.) and nagging strikes me as non-productive. all i can do is take the best possible care of myself and be a role model for him and for el nino. that's the advantage that's on my mind this morning, after he told me last night that he's hesitant to get his apnea treated because he has such bad dreams. i hate that and i want to do something about it, but like i said, i can't change him or force him to do something because i think he should.
happy thursday, everyone! weekend coming soon...what are your plans?
Last edited by kuhljeanie; 05-15-2008 at 09:40 AM.
Ah, thanks, kuhljeanie! You made me feel a lot better. You made me look at the things I AM doing. You see, it's SO hard because the environment at work is horrible and the boss seems to just have a thing out for me. I can do no right, try as I may, and do all the work I can I will get NO praise unless it is preceding a criticism. I am being held to much, much higher standards than anyone else and I am NOT being rewarded for it. No, I am being demoted and humiliated. It throws a dark, dark shadow over everything I do and the efforts and successes I make with eating and health are kept completely in the dark. No one notices. No one cares...except people like you and others here. I'm no kid. I don't hunger for praise and pats on the back, but the efforts I make are not getting me to the point where I can SEE them, such as in losing weight and looking GOOD. But, thank you for your words. They mean a lot, but it is SO hard to keep going....
Yesterday, I was thinking, perhaps I need to do a mind trick. I am always up for a dare and whenever someone tells me I can't do something, I am sure to try harder. Also, I find that when I'm in an environment where people don't care about their health or eating I am much more likely to care myself. Here, in Japan, people don't care about health so much. They are, however, VERY concerned about being thin or at least looking it. And I think it doesn't help me lose the excess. I am so contrary....foolish, I know. But, I was thinking, maybe it I say to myself, OK, forget it. Don't lose weight. Stay chubby. Stay heavy, to heck with 'em, maybe saying that would get me going. Strange?
Oh, and heh, thanks about the no cigs congrats. You know, it was weird. I hadn't smoked in nearly two decades, maybe more. I used to chain smoke before going cold turkey (all-or-nothing stuff I am good at... ) and then for March and April I was going like a chimney. People who I met during that time only knew of me as a smoker. Then, when I stopped, NO ONE, not one single person said a thing. Maybe they noticed. Maybe they didn't. Just weird. Still, it is a Japanese thing NOT to comment much, but I do so miss the recognition....
Last edited by redballoon; 05-15-2008 at 07:00 PM.
I have had a non-stop activity filled day. I didn't even realize I hadn't read the posts here until a few minutes ago and then I realized I hadn't posted so here I am. I'll keep this short and sweet. I have a list of things to take credit for *ahem*
- I walked extra today and tonight... more than 30 minutes worth
- I stuck to my foodplan and abstained from sugar and second helpings today
- I am continuing to read the Ultra-metabolism book I bought yesterday. A clearer idea of my food-plan is emerging through the reading of this book and I can feel a willingness growing in me to do some radical changes like "eat nothing that comes with a label on it" <---- this is one of the main ideas in the book... aim to eat only whole foods.
So things are relatively calm right now and going well. Still no beck book so thanks kuhljeanie for summarizing day 3-eat sitting down. I too have internalized that one. An additional kudo for me for doing that automatically today.
Wow so tired. Better get to bed. Thanks everyone for your posts. I hope to get back to personals in the a.m.
Boy it is hot on the coast! Worked very hard at my one day job and really feel beat. That pool will be unswimmable tomarrow with wall to wall people-I get so spoiled with so few in the pool just because it has 30 mph winds and 42 degrees.
I have done well following my food plan-drinking lots of water.
I have two large packages of celery-does any one have so low cal favorites with this veggie?
onebyone many good pluses and successes for your day.
redballoon-glad you are posting here as we do understand that struggle to make changes-I am 300lb-still very obese even tho I have lost 79 lb-few compliments as I am still fat therefore little recognition for my loss-except everyone here know the hard work. Hang in here. sorry work is so stressful.
KulhJeanie-great advantage card-Our role as shopper, menu planner and main cook has a big influence on the family. Just my changes has improve my skinny DH health. eats many more veggies than before-my lack of alcohol drastically cut back his amount-we were great bingers together-sweets or wine.
BillBlueEyes-Dh and I have written a family trust plan-we are happy with that approach. We have little income, but an inflated priced one acre with a ocean view-want the kids to get the large piece of the worth.
Do you daily eat 2 quarts of raw veggies? I do good with 2 cups
Ah, thanks coastalsue. And a big hand to you for your weight loss! ....and three cheers!! Sometimes I think there are more people out there who want to keep you fat (not you personally) or less than your best than people who want to see you shine. Jealousy is everywhere, isn't it? It's so good to have a place like this where people can cheer each other on. You go, girl!! You have lost nearly 40 percent, 40!!!!, of the weight you want to lose. That's stupendous!! You're almost to the peak and then you're going to be just skipping down the other side of that mountain of effort you're putting in. Power to you! Oh, god, yes, my boss is amazing...today, ok, the outright slights were unbelievable. Why does she do it? I'm not the only one. But they are subtle and then not. It's like she really doesn't get it, or does she? Oh, well, I'm not going to analyze her. I just try to be strong...feel sorry for her and her need to think she's rubbing my nose in her little power trip...sigh. Thank you again. You're a gem!
Last edited by redballoon; 05-16-2008 at 04:16 AM.
Diet Coaches Had one of those little successes yesterday that feel so good. Three of us were stumped on an annoying minor problem with an older software application that was preventing us from doing our real work. I went back to my office to research a solution from among the obvious choices: read, again, the User's Manuals; contact the manufacturer's help line; email the instructor of a course that we took. But first I Google'd the question. Got the answer immediately!!! BIG Kudos to the Google team for such a productive site. And CREDIT moi for saving myself some headache.
Sue (CoastalSue) - LOL at you having the pool to yourself just because of 30 mph winds and 42 degrees. You can have my share when that's the weather - brrrrrrrr. Kudos for following your food plan. You asked, "Do you daily eat 2 quarts of raw veggies?" Yep, my container can hold a cuke, a red bell pepper, a handful of sugar snaps, handful of cauliflower, handful of broccoli, and four leaves of Romaine Lettuce. I keep my carrots, cabbage, and plum tomatoes separately. All those raw veggies make me very happy.
Heidi (hbuchwald) - Waving to the West coast. Continuing to send supportive thoughts.
wendy (wendylan) - Waving; hope all is going well with your continued exercise.
Jean (kuhljeanie) - Kudos that you are just marching along to Program-day 3: Eat sitting down. I remain surprised how easy it is to stick the first bite in my mouth when I serve myself something. I'm currently working on not taking the first bite of banana when I slice it into my granola - a very small issue but it carries the distinction between serving myself an allocated portion of food vs. continuously grazing. I can feel the difference; it's worth wrestling to the ground to get the benefit from the Beck plan of removing our emotions from our food serving.
onebyone Kudos for giving yourself credit. And Kudos for the walking, sticking to the food plan, and reading about your new diet plan. Love the notion "eat nothing that comes with a label on it." Hope that doesn't eliminate all the fruits and vegetables with those d*mn little sticky labels, LOL.
redballoon - My goodness but you're doing well. Kudos for the cigs. Kudos for the booze. Kudos for the sugar. Ouch that your work situation is so unrewarding; it's tough to remain mindful that your boss's problems are her problems and not a reflection of your worth. That is so hard when it's so helpful to get the small recognitions that we like in a day. Keep the faith.
Readers "I now know:
I can control my eating if I plan in advance what I need to do and if I practice what I need to say over and over to myself." From the Introduction, Beck, pg 13.
Go up and promptly had breakfast. Credit moi for this not-so-small-thing. I've been skipping breakfast lately. Why? Don't really know, feeling too rushed is the easy answer, and it was getting close to being a habit. It's the WORST thing you can do. So not today. I ate. Saw the drop on the scale this morning. Hope to see it "officially" tomorrow. Sanity is starting to return to my life foodwise. So glad my deviations are no longer month-long forays into bad food and worse feelings. Am very grateful to get back to it in a few days or a week or so if it's really bad. I think that deserves a kudos in itself.
Today I have to get things finished up for market this weekend. paintings are half done. Didn't pick payment up as I have nothing to deliver to them. promised I'd get stuff there by the weekend. Will do it today. Need to replace stock I sold last week ie. pins! About 25 of them and some earrings too. have to get on that and need to pick up packaging materials at the local store that's having a grand re-opening in a new location. I hope to find some great buys and/or products... love looking at fancy packaging. Eye candy for sure.
BillBlueEyes Google. I have had a lot of thoughts about the young'uns these days and how easy it is to access things that we had to research through card files and interlibrary loan and talking to others and still get a fraction of the information that you can get by going to Google let alone following links. Blows my mind. I know this is having a profound effect on people... can't put my finger on what that is exactly. It keeps me occupied thinking about it. Kudos btw on 2 quarts of raw veggies a day. Who/how do you get that stuff ready for every day? Do you cut it up once a week or the night before? You are such a shiny beacon of hope BBE. I appreciate your posts very much.
redballoon Unfortunately there are some people who make themselves feel better by making others feels worse. Stay away from them. It has NOTHING to do with you. Toxic toxic toxic. Let yourself feel your accomplishments. With each success you'll move forward into the next goal, the next action, the next step. We never change everything at once. Glad you're here with us.
coastalsue Fair weather swimmers indeed! Phooey! Glad you are getting some nice weather. How are the birdhouses coming along? Are you making ones with decorative facings like saloons, or apartment buildings or more traditional ones? Do you paint them or aim them at specific types of birds people may want to attract in your area? Around here people used to get purple martin houses cause these birds love to eat mosquitos... and they like to live in colonies so the houses were big condo-like things...lots of compartments. Just curious. When is your show again? Kudos on the foodplan success!
kuhljeanie Could you post a sentence about the focus for day 4? Still looking for my book! You help me stay on track with this... And I agree that we can be good examples for others. DH really needs to get on board but it takes what it takes. Perhaps seeing me get sexy and hot will spur him on... to weightloss I mean ... stop thinking that! hahaha!
Big hellos to Kidslibrarylady (congratulations on the baby-to-be!), wendylan, northwest, hbuchwald, elkfordian and anyone out there who lurks and chooses not to post! TGIF!
sure thing, one! kudos on breakfast and all your sales!
give yourself some credit, even if it feels stupid, unwarranted, or unnatural. i don't have much trouble with this one - it makes sense, seems right, yada yada. i just don't do it enough. it's easy with the big things (yay me! i ran a half marathon or yay me! i finished my masters) but the little things (yay me! i stopped binging sooner than i used to???) is harder to get my arms around. doesn't make it any less important, though, and the longer i keep at this, the more obvious it becomes that success is a million small choices and little changes. the big stuff is great, but it won't get you through those numerous uneventful days. a thousand boring days of doing my job (eating well, exercising, finding non-food related entertainment) on those days, it's important to have that little voice cheering me on for the small victories. the cookie i didn't eat. the extra 20 feet of walking from parking at the far end of the garage. the food i left on my plate.
the hardest time to give yourself credit is when you're doing something great at the same time you're not living up to your superhuman expectations (i'm talking to YOU, redballoon! ) you still deserve a high five, even when you don't do everything perfectly. just waking up every morning and knowing you're going to try again deserves credit. yesterday, i ate way too much. i was planning on 1900 calories, and i ate closer to 2500. i was planning on running, but my back was sore from the last three days, so i didn't go. however, i ate slowly. even though i went over my calories, i didn't binge. i waited between snacks to determine if i was genuinely hungry (i was!). i logged every last thing i put in my mouth. i didn't beat myself up. not exercising was probably the right choice since my muscles needed a break, and it doesn't mean i'll never do it again. (right, bill? )
my advantage focus for today: I’m able to focus my time and energy on all kinds of issues that have nothing to do with food, weight or body size.
wouldn't it be wonderful to come here in the morning (or whenever works for you) to check in with this fabulous group, do the accountability thing and touch base, and then go on with you day? i would love to get this fat monkey off my back. when i was young, i had terrible acne, and after it went away, it took a good three years to get my hands away from my face. it was just habit to hide my face behind my hands or my hair. what a feeling when i stopped doing it! i wonder how many ways i try to hide my body because i'm ashamed of it. pulling my shirt down, buying the same 3 styles that "camoflauge" the parts i dislike, trying not to get photographed from the side because i hate the way my chin looks. there are probably dozens that i'm not even aware of. i waste so much time and energy on being fat...what would i be capable of if i didn't wake up every morning and struggle to find something to wear that i feel like i look good in? if i wasn't having a constant conversation in my head about what to "let" myself eat? bill, i know that you're still having those conversations. have they decreased in frequency and intensity over the last six months?
hey redballoon! what a great opportunity to practice maintaining your boundaries. i wonder what kind of wound your boss is carrying around that she feels compelled to lash out at you. do you think she finds you threatening in some way?
northwest and elkfordian - how's it going?
hope wendy and heidi are doing okay! thinking about you. also hope maryblu is recovered from the yardwork.
Last edited by kuhljeanie; 05-16-2008 at 11:00 AM.
Did day 3 yesterday,sitting down to eat.Not hard for me because I do sit down to eat for the most part unless I am cutting up fruit and veggies and I eat a few.Day 4 give myself credit,harder for me,I seem to have alot of negative self talk going on in the background of my mind. Credit today:I slept in until 12 noon,credit for taking care of myself.Credit:Yesterday got most of my garden in,alot of exercise for hours,lifting those 40 pound bags,weeding ,raking,bending lifting.Matter of fact a neighbor came by saying "Wendy are you still out here?" credit plan for today:making chicken strips with salsa,black olives rice and salad for today's lunch and lunch to bring to work Sat and dinner is planned too.
kuhljeanie-Love your advantage of the day! "advantage focus for today: Im able to focus my time and energy on all kinds of issues that have nothing to do with food, weight or body size." It is hard to imagine not thinking about these things all the time.
onebyone-Good luck at the market this weekend,are there alot of tempting foods at the sale?I know at the craft shows there are always way too many foods that smell and look so good.
BillBlueEyes-"practice what I need to say over and over to myself"-thanks for that today.I want to work on this instead of thinking this is too hard,can't do this ect..
coastalsue-Good job with the food plan and water.Do you still go to the pool even when crowded?I don't like to but I will do some deep water exercises with the water walking belt if I can't swim.Do you have an alternate exercise?I have the treadmill,bike and boflex at home but can't say I have used them in a long time.
redballoon-Great job so far!To stop smoking is a huge feat in itself!As our step today says Give yourself credit for the things you are doing well,we can't change everything at once.
This evening I am giving myself credit for completing my task and delivering some paintings to the store before the weekend arrived as I promised, AND for doing this without stress eating. Credit moi.
I give myself credit for planning dinner and making sure we had salad and fruit for dessert. I did have a bit more salad than I served myself and when I ate my banana I did it standing up. Could hardly wait for it. Oh well. But... credit moi for no sugar today.
It's important for me to recognize the good things, the successes. I always point them out in others too. I see/hear/feel so much negativity in people. I can think of no situation where a negative attitude is helpful. Are there any
kuhljeanie Your advantage for the day is something I have thought about often. On a grand scale, just what would the world be like if we stopped worrying about our size, our diets, our age and used all that surpressed energy for doing things in the world for others, for ourselves... Lots of thwarted energy used to maintain an attitude of "less than". It would really be a revolution. Doubt it will ever happen.... not trying to be negative (haha!) just recognize where we are vs. where we'd have to be and how much peace we would all have to feel. Not really what the world is into right now.
wendylan
Quote:
onebyone-Good luck at the market this weekend,are there alot of tempting foods at the sale?I know at the craft shows there are always way too many foods that smell and look so good.
Thanks for the good wishes. Tempting food at the market is everywhere I look. Many bakers making everything you can think of in every form. Even a chocolate truffle maker is very nearby. Sometimes at the end of the day I will find a freebie left for me in my booth. A stack of cookies usually. I hope I make some money tomorrow to buy some of George's fresh ****ake mushrooms. (omg this thing censored that! sh-i-t-ake mushrooms! sheesh)And some local asparagus. That's on my wish list.
Thursday
Thanks, Bill, for the wave. It got me in here, embarrassed and a scattered and...sigh...just not doing anything to be proud of as far as eating less goes. Ok, I stayed away from cigs for 3 weeks solid and I have been making lots of fresh vegetable juice (mostly carrot) and stayed clear of booze and sugar more often than not, but...sigh...I am doing nothing to lose weight. I don't know. I feel so stuck. Have to do something...going to try to not get down...but try to put it all together again. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.
we're also looking forward to our weekly supply of organic fruit and veggies. our csa doesn't start harvesting until june. can't wait! it's my first year doing it and we're all super excited. i've got three wonderful vegetarian cookbooks, and i'm looking forward to finding some new ways to cook some new veggies. shout out to the northwest! jillian michaels talked about a guy she was training who passed a doughnut shop on his way to work every morning, and couldn't help but stop and get one (or two.) the solution? take a different route to work. problem solved! THANK YOU for reminding me how simple it can be when we stop thinking about things as obstacles and see them with new eyes. very cool. hey wendy, i hear you on the 5 lbs. i gained 6 over the last month. i'm just not going to worry about it; it's done. i'm trying really hard to focus on what i can do today - but it's hard not to think about where i would be if i'd staying on plan more faithfully the last 6 months. diet sounds great! the general gist that we all seem to have is to include all the food groups, watch amounts, and be able to be flexible when we need to be. it's also really helpful to hear everyone's variations, so i'll have some ideas on tweaking if/when what i'm doing isn't working the way i want. thanks everyone! the most important thing for me seems to be exercising regularly. i feel about a million times better when i do, and i burn about 800 calories a day more, so unplanned eating doesn't have the same impact. i also sleep better and i pay more attention to eating well. i should take a page from northwest's book and come up with an easy way of fitting it in. it's not nearly the challenge now that it was before...i bet i could schedule it in outlook as an appointment, since the gym is at work, and it would be just like every other obligation i keep without thinking about it. 
You made me feel a lot better. You made me look at the things I AM doing. You see, it's SO hard because the environment at work is horrible and the boss seems to just have a thing out for me. I can do no right, try as I may, and do all the work I can I will get NO praise unless it is preceding a criticism. I am being held to much, much higher standards than anyone else and I am NOT being rewarded for it. No, I am being demoted and humiliated. It throws a dark, dark shadow over everything I do and the efforts and successes I make with eating and health are kept completely in the dark. No one notices. No one cares...except people like you and others here. I'm no kid. I don't hunger for praise and pats on the back, but the efforts I make are not getting me to the point where I can SEE them, such as in losing weight and looking GOOD. But, thank you for your words. They mean a lot, but it is SO hard to keep going....
) and then for March and April I was going like a chimney. People who I met during that time only knew of me as a smoker. Then, when I stopped, NO ONE, not one single person said a thing. Maybe they noticed. Maybe they didn't. Just weird. Still, it is a Japanese thing NOT to comment much, but I do so miss the recognition....
....and three cheers!! 
Friday-long weekend here
i don't have much trouble with this one - it makes sense, seems right, yada yada. i just don't do it enough. it's easy with the big things (yay me! i ran a half marathon or yay me! i finished my masters) but the little things (yay me! i stopped binging sooner than i used to???) is harder to get my arms around. doesn't make it any less important, though, and the longer i keep at this, the more obvious it becomes that success is a million small choices and little changes. the big stuff is great, but it won't get you through those numerous uneventful days. a thousand boring days of doing my job (eating well, exercising, finding non-food related entertainment) on those days, it's important to have that little voice cheering me on for the small victories. the cookie i didn't eat. the extra 20 feet of walking from parking at the far end of the garage. the food i left on my plate. 
) you still deserve a high five, even when you don't do everything perfectly. just waking up every morning and knowing you're going to try again deserves credit. yesterday, i ate way too much. i was planning on 1900 calories, and i ate closer to 2500. i was planning on running, but my back was sore from the last three days, so i didn't go. however, i ate slowly. even though i went over my calories, i didn't binge. i waited between snacks to determine if i was genuinely hungry (i was!). i logged every last thing i put in my mouth. i didn't beat myself up. not exercising was probably the right choice since my muscles needed a break, and it doesn't mean i'll never do it again. (right, bill? 
