[shrinkin]

Good morning coaches,

An OP day for me for calories and water. Not a planned exercise day. Some unplanned exercise (parked further away to have to walk futher and walked to a meeting rather than drove). Big victory at dinner (thanks to freer for help). DH and I did not plan for dinner so ate out. (yup bad planning could derail me). Went online and picked out a restaurant...Bonefish grill and selected my meal ahead of time. Split some ahi tuna with DH for appetizer. Had grilled sea bass and steamed veggies for dinner. Used a strategy to limit wine intake by telling myself to only have water until the entrees arrived. It worked! So OP and eating out...it can be done!

Weigh in today..no change. OH WELL. I can tell I have more muscle and have lost inches. Belt is down two notches (on the last one!). Nonscale goal of jacket fitting status: close, but not quite. Can now button 2 of 3 buttons, so it is wearable, but not truly fitting. Not much to go though.

BBE-Kudos on that clutter attack! Bravo for continuing on with your workout even though gym crowded. Understand your concern about my calories. However, not sure that eating when not hungry is ever a good idea. Internist suggested 1000 calories a day would be OK. I have seen the absolute minimum 1200 cals around on the internet, but it is not based on any real data. Biggest concern for me personally is to avoid resetting my BMR lower which for me, seems to take about 3 days. So, I don't do protracted low calories. Thanks for the positive vibes for the weekend. I will need them. Have volunteered to take appetizer to neighbors party and have decided to take shrimp cocktail. Thinking about taking a veggie tray too. Still interested in Seven Questions?

freer-Congrats on the 1/2 pound! It all counts and the lilttle steps add up. Thanks for your post yesterday pm about your lunch planning. I happened to pick it up on my email just before dinner dilemma. Inspired me to be good too!

onebyone-Sending positive thoughts to you for your food plan and getting ready for shows! Agree that it takes time and repetition for changing our behaviors. Persistence and patience! Hard lessons for me.

kuhljeanie-Glad to hear that your head is together and you are making great strides on the move! Give yourself some pats on the back! Keep on dodging the chocolate and the bread.

goodnuff-Way to go with your postings of ARC and kudos for taking on that long hill!

Busy day today at work, physical therapy day, and it is a pool day.

Thinking positive thoughts for all Beckies!

[RobinW]

I get here then I get distracted.

Im doing good, but I need to reset my alarm on my phone to remind me to read my cards.

Thanks for the link Bill, for the book on cd! I tried to find it on itunes, because I would love to just be able to download it.

My daughter is cooking tonight. (she's 11) I dont remember how this all came about, but it should be interesting

oh.......and I discovered mouse droppings this morning! I am NOT impressed!! I hate those little buggers!! We just got rid of the ant problem, weed problem, now the mice have found us. So I will be heading to home depot this afternoon for traps, and that foam filler stuff to plug any and all holes I can find. If we cant get rid of them, hubby will be living by himself! I should go get a bunch of big plastic containers too......to keep them out of the cereal and whatnot

.......having printing issues today too. Big ugly bands of color that arent suppose to be there.

This is one of those days I need to chant "oh well" and just deal with it without food.

Wish me luck!

Have a great day everyone.

[onebyone]

Good Afternoon Coaches

Went to the school this morning. Spent minimal time there, came home to get to work, and find that I just don't want to do any work. I've avoided it now for an hour. Called a friend, and now am posting here.

I have been okay foodwise. Not great but okay. Tonight is an unknown challenge. We are going to a Britannia Beach Sunset Culinary Evening. This is a beach/park/community centre we can walk to in about 20 minutes. It's one of my favorite places on earth so I am always happy to go there. From what I understand, chefs from across the city and the students at the local culinary school are putting together an evening of sample dishes that guests can try for $2.00/serving of whatever you want. Mango lobster, lime coconut shrimp, a carving table area, drinks, desserts. It starts at 6:30pm goes to 9:30pm. This is the second of two events for the year so I feel fortunate to have heard about it. The weather looks promising too. So far no rain. So I'm excited about this food event. Will keep Beck priniciples in mind and will report back that I did well.

Okay better go and get some work in. Will check in tonight.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches – Was sent to buy a Jalapeρo Pepper. First store had none - now that was odd. Duh!!! Read the papers. Salmonella scare about Jalapeρo Peppers from Mexico. Found one at the second store. Bought it; DW cooked with it; I'm typing this morning. Either wasn't a problem pepper or was sufficiently cooked. For being alive, CREDIT moi. For making a choice with large risks and small up sides. Oh Well.

onebyone – Your "Culinary Evening" sounds fun. Have a mango lobster for me. Only $2 an item seems pretty low; seems like one could overeat before they felt the financial pinch.

Robin (RobinW) - Can't wait to hear the results from, "My daughter is cooking tonight. (she's 11) " You remind me that the bulk grains section of Whole Foods suggests placing purchases in the freezer for a few day to prevent the larvae from growing. LOL, sorta, I guess. I suppose larvae contain protein.

shrinkin - Yay for an OP day. Big Kudos for the restaurant success - OP at a restaurant is so encouraging. Yep, I am "still interested in Seven Questions." How do you suggest we go about this?


Readers – "… Then things likely become somewhat more difficult. ...

Cravings set in or intensify. ... " Beck, pg 24.

[shrinkin]

Morning coaches!

My eyes are not yet fully open. My way of making time for my plan included getting up an hour earlier to get my posting done, get food plan done, read Beck and cook breakfast. The body was not ready today!

Yesterday an OP day with an unexpected wrinkle. Company confirmed they are coming this weekend. I decided my anxiety over need to clothes shop in spite of company had to be addressed. [I have to buy two formal dresses for weddings this fall and had not started looking. Formal wears comes in second to swmsuits in dread shopping category] So, took myself out looking last night and got in some unplanned exercise walking the mall. No luck on dresses though. With limited time, stopped at Panera for something to eat before driving to the pool. Made what I thought would be an OK choice (1/2 chicken sandwich and 1/2 strawberry non-fat poppy seed salad). Looked it up on line when I got home. 1/2 sandwich has an amazing 400 CALORIES! Glad I had 1/2.,,,CREDIT! Salad was a redeeming 90 cals. So, overall meal OK and stayed OP. Sandwiches at Panera look pretty calorie dense in general.

Pool work out so-so. Had the lane next to the wall and had to share with "the splasher". [I call him that because he is a very big guy, wears full snorkel gear and flippers and slaps the water hard in both hand and leg stroke.] Decided I just had to hang in there no matter what. Made it a contest of wills over who would give up first. He won, but I did get in 40 min of solid, if unenjoyable workout. So, guess we both won! Credit MOI for going after shopping and enduring.

BBE-Glad you had a "good" Jalapeno pepper and that you are still with us. EEW for that larva comment. Not sure on the 7 questions...you have an idea? I haven't had a sabotaging thought in a couple of days...amazing. Or maybe I just did not ID them!

Onebyone-Culinary Evening sounds great....but oh so challenging to stay OP. Hope you had that lobster as well as other healthy goodies! Looking forward to your report. Wondering when your next workout session is.

RobinW-Glad to hear you are doing well with your program! Great that your DD is cooking! It reminds me of when I let my younger one have the kitchen and plan and cook a meal. Well, she choose to do 4 different kinds of potatoes for dinner. [Guess that tells you what food groups the kids learned at an early age.] It was hard to keep from laughing when we got to the table and saw all those potatoes as the only dinner selections. But, she was soooo proud of having done it, we tried to compliment her without laughing. Happy to report she later learned more diversity in her culinary approach. She is now 26 years old and is a good cook. Surprised about the mice. We usually get them as the weather gets cooler and they come in from the cold. Traps should do the job.,,,but I share the YUCK factor.

It is going to be an OP Friday. I can feel it! Sending to all!

[freer]

Good morning Coaches,

shrinkin So proud of you and your restaurant experience. Happy I could help inspire. This area is definitely one of my trickiest and most challenging. Luckily it doesn't come up too often. I suppose if I were the type to eat out everyday I'd get more practice. Since I became a new second-career teacher, I'm happy, at least from the lunch aspect, not to have to make a restaurant choice every day at lunch. Bringing your own lunch is so much more controlled and less caloric!

Yesterday my husband left to be out of town from Th-Sun. In the past this was a recipe for disaster. (If no one's around it doesn't count, right?) Late last night I had a HUGE crunchy craving. He wasn't around. Soooooo tempting. The craving went on and on. I kept keeping my morning weigh-in in mind and the fact that I've come so far. One month of Beck under my belt. I haven't binged for all that time. I'm down 8 pounds. My friends, it was HARD.

The good news is, I must've gotten through it because I woke up on the couch with the tv on! A new anti-craving technique - SLEEP THROUGH THE CRAVING! What was really strange was that when I woke up, I had that old feeling as if I had given into the craving. It's just that familar. That's how often I give in that my mind assumed I had. And I hadn't! When I moved to my bed for the night I was able to get to sleep easily, knowing I had stuck to my plan. Usually, I'd have trouble sleeping because I'd be beating myself up over going off plan. Anyway, Credit: ME for getting through my trickiest craving situation in a month.

This morning was my weekly weigh-in day and I lost a wopping ZERO for the week. All week OP and 5 hours of exercise. Quite frustrating. I will try to look at it as, OH WELL, but I lost 8 pounds in a month.

I went back and read the link that onebyone referred me to a few weeks back on the dreaded scale. I suspect sodium may be the culprit since I have been having soup everyday for lunch and using a boxed mix as the basis for my dinners (i.e., Zatarains, Taste of Thai). I figure even if the sodium is holding water on me, eventually the scale has to go down as I'm allegedly losing fat.

I am doing my best to recognize my sabotaging thoughts. So far so good.

[RobinW]

Good Morning

With all the rushing around this morning, I forgot to eat breakfast I was sitting here wondering why I was hungry already......then I realized it is because I hadnt eaten yet.

This morning consisted of checking all the traps, and only one sticky trap had all the peanut butter eaten off of it, with lots of little mouse prints, and half the glue chewed away in the middle. Im thinking the sticky traps DIDNT work!!!! Hubby and I moved all the traps around this morning....found more droppings next to that particular sticky trap, but none anywhere else. So we have a few snapper type traps behind the stove. Usually when it gets cold we start to see signs too, but they usually stay in the basement, and I usually get one or 2 per fall, and then nothing. The weather here has gotten much cooler, it has been getting down into the low 60's at night. But I didnt think that was cold enough. I just hate knowing they are moving around in my house.

K, eating........not too shabby!! I blended up a couple different cottage cheese "puddings/smoothies" for the next couple days.....looks like I"ll be eating my 3pm cottage cheese snack for breaky Exercise isnt happening, but I'll get back on that.

Bill~ even without the salmonella scare, I wouldnt touch those peppers! Can't handle the heat.

freer~ I love "sleep thru the craving"!!! Great idea!!

shrinkin~ great job on 1/2 the sandwich and salad! Sometimes going to the websites to find the calorie counts is enough to keep me away from the goodies. It is a very rare time I'll have any cakes or whatnot from starbucks. When I do....I share it with hubby.

My daughter's cooking adventures turned out great. She wanted to make some fish that we get at sam's club, noodles and corn. Everything was mostly to be boiled and the fish just went in the toaster oven for 25 min. Nice and easy. She did very well, but didnt like how hot everything got She wants to cook again tonight. But without so much of mom's help this time. I think she wants to make tacos.

I better get to work........have a great day everyone.

[kuhljeanie]

happy friday everyone!

i'm doing fine with beck, but tired. the argument in my head yesterday over going to the gym (had a headache from being overtired) was over fairly quickly, and ended up being a very good workout that made me feel better. just a little more reinforcement that exercise is far better than overeating in picking me up when i need it! i've been so hungry all the time, i stopped at chipotle for lunch and managed to get out of there for 600 calories. i nailed my calorie deficit for the day (and then some, even with dinner at the baseball game), so credit moi! it's getting to be more habitual, and i find myself thinking about my advantage: i gravitate naturally towards the healthiest food choices. getting there, bit by bit. another NSV: today, i am comfortably wearing the smallest pair of jeans i own. when i bought them, they just fit - by the time they were hemmed i couldn't wear them anymore. a couple of years and a baby later, i can!

thanks for the support, bill! it's not an ouch, though. i'm finally at a point where i can live with my feelings, whatever they are. it's liberating to know that i can be sad and it's okay, it's appropriate, and it's temporary. i know i can handle these things as they come up. i'm really getting it - if i use food to anesthetize myself from my feelings, in addition to the physical damage the food does, i've put up a barrier to understanding my own experience. which is a kind of sleepwalking through life. i should do less emotional sleeping and more ACTUAL sleeping. (still working on that!) glad to hear you survived your dinner. we got a bunch of hot peppers from our CSA; what a blessing to have local produce grown by people we know!

shrinkin, i just love the way you took what could have been an excuse to not swim and turned it into a contest. a bit competitive, huh? i've also been shocked to discover the caloric content of chain-restaurant food. did you know that a roly poly veggie wrap has 600 calories? how the heck can you get that many calories into a wrap filled with raw sprouts and peppers???

hello onebyone! wondering how your culinary adventure went last night. did you set up some guidelines for yourself before you went? that seems to help me a lot when i don't know what's going to be available.

freer, what a fabulous technique! i'm guessing that 75% of my cravings are due (at least in part) to being tired, so sleeping through it serves two ends. NICE! i've had a similar experience to yours - phantom remorse. we ate at golden corral, and i fought tooth and nail and managed to get out of there without a single bite of anything fried or sugary. i totally stayed on plan. by the time i got home. i was feeling disappointed in myself because of the way i traditionally pigged out there. funny, huh? 8 lbs in a month is absolutely outstanding. congratulations!

hiya robin! we used to have mouse problems too. now we have cats fighting all night...not sure which is worse...

have a wonderful weekend! i'll be baking tomorrow to try and get ahead of the curve with the packing, etc. wish me luck!

[RobinW]

i use food to anesthetize myself from my feelings, in addition to the physical damage the food does, i've put up a barrier to understanding my own experience. which is a kind of sleepwalking through life. i should do less emotional sleeping and more ACTUAL sleeping.

I dont think Ive ever seen in print exactly how Ive been feeling, and what it does to me. Thanks for that kuhljeanie! Congrats on the skinny jeans too!!

[shrinkin]

Some victory dances going on here for Freer and those 8 pounds and Kuhljeanie and those skinny jeans!!

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches – With darkening skies and a little thunder in the distance, the obvious Sabotaging Thought appeared: "Better skip gym today, I could get wet!" I just love it. I have Gore-Tex rain gear, stacks of umbrellas, and only 3 blocks to walk home where the dry clothes live. Just DO it worked. I went. CREDIT moi. Deluge of a thunderstorm after I got home. We've had strong thunderstorms nearly every day for a couple of weeks - unusual for around here. Getting a little damp.

Jean (kuhljeanie) - Oooohh ... I also like that one, "food to anesthetize myself from my feelings ... is a kind of sleepwalking through life." Kudos for taking it all on.

Robin (RobinW) - Pondering your "I forgot to eat breakfast." Just doesn't happen to me - my coffee and breakfast are number one when I get up. Good luck with your mice. I'm jealous of your live in chef - that could turn out to be a good thing.

shrinkin - Great Panera choice. Kudos for enduring the shopping without resorting to food as consolation. And Kudos for continuing to swim beside "the splasher." Love the four types of potatoes meal, LOL. Still trying to think of a way to work together on the seven questions technique.

freer - I am so LOL at "A new anti-craving technique - SLEEP THROUGH THE CRAVING!" Kudos for standing that down. Big Kudos for using Oh Well when you were disappointed at zero pounds lost.

Readers – "… Then things likely become somewhat more difficult. ...

Life intervenes.. ... " Beck, pg 24.

[shrinkin]

Mornin' coaches!

On target yesterday for calories. Upper end of range though because I had a second glass of wine last night. One with dinner and one with guests. Enjoying the taste of alcohol is a real weakness for me. It is not that I can't not have it...but I JUST LIKE THE FLAVOR. Good that I stayed in calorie range, but I really should use the cals for food...not a second glass. Methinks this is going to continue to be a battle for a long time. Wasn't an exercise day and other than walking to get mail, no unplanned exercise.

Made plans for neighborhood party tonight. Taking shrimp cocktail and a veggie tray. Got DH to go by produce shop with me and to committ to making the cocktail sauce for me. My behavior plan is to have lots of veggies and shrimp before dinner and not have any alcohol until I have entree. [That is going to be very tough because I like a nice glass of wine in hand...will think WATER, WATER]. It is an outdoor barbecue, so entree will be a plain burger, no bread. Suspect there will be a salad and that will be my other dinner item. This will be a very tough event because all of the neighbors are bringing dishes and they generally are food pushers. Need to reread that day of Beck today. My recall of that is "No, thank you." and "No, it looks deliciouis, but I am fine." Probably some more nuggets from that day that I need to take with me. Old me would have used the thought that I "don't want to disappoint them". Now, I am going to focus on not wanting to disappoint myself. Gotta flex my resistance muscle!

House guests insisting on taking us out to lunch today. Wow...interferes with both am shopping plans and trying to get to pool before party starts at 4:30. Also, need to figure out how to get thru that one OP. Hmmm...maybe I can get on line and find a spot that has a good menu. Can get DH to help me steer the conversation toward that idea. He is really in my corner on working on my diet/health.

BBE-Happy the rain held off until after your gym trip...but happier that you went in spite of the ominous skies! WTG!

Also seem to remember your recent enjoyment of walking in rain. But, maybe not the thunderstorms. Wonder if your sabotaging thought would have worked for seven questions approach?

freer-Big credits for conquering the craving! Share your pain with DH travelling and the temptation to go to mental place that knocks off plan. Glad you are on the lookout for those sabotaging thoughts! When my DH travels, I have thought "I can just do some fast food because it's not worth cooking." "I should have something special (aka off plan and fattening) because he probably is going out for great dinner." "It is unfair that I am not with him." His most recent trip, I countered with. "I am worth whatever I have to do to stay OP...including cooking for one, shopping for one....whatever it takes I will do. I want to succeed in being healthier and I want to feel proud when DH gets back." "I WILL DO IT." You are probably building muscle that also may impact the scale. Do you have a Nonscale goal?

RobinW-Sorry to hear it is Mouse:1, Robin and DH-0. But confident you will be victorious! Credit for healthy snacks! Like BBE, I could not skip breakfast.

kuhljeanie-"I gravitate naturally towards the healthies food choices". I like that. Pat on the back for getting thru lunch out at only 600 cals. Proud of you for that. Credit again today for those skinny jeans. Having exercise as a desirable "go-to" must be great. Wonder if I will ever get to that point.

House guests up for breakfast. Gotta get on the run! Hope to report an OP day...but it is going to be a big challenge day! Positive thoughts for all of us!

[RobinW]

Good Morning

The mouse saga continues....one snap trap was minus its pb this morning and no mouse inside it But thankfully they didnt seem to come up to the main floor of the house.......at least I didnt see any poop up here.

My daughter made a stir fry last night for supper. With the same fish from last night as our protein. She is a very good little chopper!!!! All the broccoli was in nice little bit sized pieces. I think I'll get her to chop all the veggies for the soup today She also wants to make tacos tonight! We figured out why she wants to cook. She figures if she cooks we wont have chicken We eat alot of chicken and she gets really tired of it So if I keep serving chicken, she'll keep cookin' HA Mom's got her figured out!!

Food wasnt so good yesterday, dd and I had a little discussion about bringing goodies into the house. She knows I need to lose weight, and having all those treats in the house make it very hard for me. She understands a bit better now. Me trying to be the good mom and letting her have this or that, caused me to eat this or that. I think we have a plan, and she's up for it.

Bill~ great going getting to the gym in the rain!!

shrinkin~ ooohh, I understand the wine issue I like it too much too. I tend to eat too much when I drink.

Well, yesterdays breakfast time was filled with checking mouse traps, refilling and setting them, rushing to get lunches made with everyone standing around waiting for me so we could leave for the shop. Usually I have my shake when Im making lunches....but I was too flustered yesterday morning.

Todays plan.....I think dd and I are going to see The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.

Last night we watched Penelope!! Did anyone see it!? That is one of the best kids movies Ive seen in ages. Even my dd loved it!!

Alright, Im off to do something......I dont know what yet, but something (Im off)

Have a great day everyone!!

[freer]

Hi Coaches,

Just a quick hello. Going to a restaurant tonight so I'll have another chance to practice 'good' behavior. There are 2 possible restaurants and I've chosen something from each off of their online menus. Wish me luck!

shrinkin I do not have a non-scale goal. What are some examples of one? I must have missed this in Beck. Or not gotten to it yet.

Have a great day everyone!

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches – Berrio's Extra Virgin Olive Oil was on sale - just when we emptied our 3 liter can. Boy does that feel good - that has the same appeal to me as FREE food, but it's on plan, LOL. Only bought one extra 3-liters, rather than a basement full which would have bugged my DW immensely. CREDIT moi.

Robin (RobinW) - Pulling up my chair to watch the continuing saga of the mice; this is good. I suppose it would be polite for me to offer my hope that you settle this quickly, without disguising how much fun it is listening to the tale, LOL. Kudos for taking your DD through the learning stages of cooking.

shrinkin - Neat that you're flexing your Sue Antoinette with "Old me would have used the thought that I "don't want to disappoint them". Now, I am going to focus on not wanting to disappoint myself." Re Seven Questions Technique: hmmm... looking for a situation that stumps me - not wanting to do exercise doesn't confuse me - it's good enough for me to recognize the appeal of relaxing rather than taking action. My one excursion into 7 Questions was about my draw to FREE foods. I couldn't figure out why I was so drawn - even though I didn't have much money as a kid, that was so many years age. I ended up recognizing the appeal of FREE as a kid wasn't about money, and made the Response Card: "Eating FREE food gave me beat-the-system joy as a child. My adult joy is making the system work. I’m a doofus when I forget the difference." For me, the appeal of FREE food is similar to the joy of getting an extra candy bar from a vending machine when two fell instead of one. The Response Card has helped me a bit, although the initial draw remains strong.

freer - Kudos for doing your homework on the restaurants. Hope it's a fun time.


Readers – "… Then things likely become somewhat more difficult. ...

Your schedule gets busy. ... " Beck, pg 24.