Sunday report
 

It's a victory day today. OP yesterday in spite of all of its hurdles!

Ended up not having lunch out with guests. They wanted to plan to meet and eat lunch at 11:00 am (we finished breakfast at 8 and I had planned to dress shop from 10 to noon). The 11 am time was planned because they knew that their family member was going to surgery at 10:30 and they could leave hopsital, meet us and be back well before he came back from surgery. They also wanted to bring their almost 4 year old grandson with them. I had picked out two restaurants that serve great seafood so I could stay OP. Neither one likely to be great for a tired 4 year old. I just said, "This is not going to work for me." So, suggested they spend time with their extended family for lunch, and that we would catch up with them later. Or that DH would meet them but I would not. DH was NOT HAPPY with me. But, I had internally asked myself was it fair for me to totally interrupt my plans for guests that really weren't here to see us. We had not planned this visit. Even though we know them well and like them, they have never visited us to see us. Always only when they need a place to stay for a family event in town. So, should I have gone to a fast food restaurant at 11 am just so I would not disappoint them? Old me would have done it. New me, said "I don't think so." At any rate, DH got over it, they probably didn't really mind it. Had an OP lunch at home after shopping!

Found a dress for the September wedding! :woohoo:It was on sale and fit almost perfectly. (Hard to believe). Slightly snug at waist, but that gives motivation to keep on eating healthy and exercising. Now have to find one for stepson's wedding in November. More time for that, so a little less pressure.

Great pool work out yesterday. Squeezed it in between lunch and getting ready for 4:30 pm arrival at party. Credit MOI. Would have been easy to say "I'm too busy."

Pièce de résistance of the day was party behavior! Stayed with the plan for no wine until entree. Must of had 5 glasses of water with lemon or lime. Hostess really could not believe it, but she got used to it after about the 4th time "Aren't you ready for a glass of wine yet?" My taking the veggies and shrimp worked well too. Everyone liked them, but even more importantly, I had really wiped out some of my appetite by the time burgers were served. Ended up having only plain burger, no bun, small serving of fruit salad, more veggies. Desert was an incredible tort cake made up a neighbor. I declined, but instead had another 2 oz of wine. Everyone was raving about the desert. "Are you sure you don't want some?" "It looks delicious, but no thank you."

BBE-Way to resist the basement full of Olive Oil..LOL. Kudos for dealing with FREE FOOD and beating the system! I must have missed the fact that Seven Questions was for things that stump you. I need to reread that day. I thought it was just to organize thinking about sabotaging thoughts...not necessarily only those that stump you.

freer-non scale goal is only mentioned on Day 10, I think. Basically, it is something that allows you guage your progress that is not a direct link to weight. In my case, it is fitting into a jacket that was too small. Non scale goal is not essential, but it does help when the numbers disappoint to have a second yard stick.

RobinW-You must have some very clever mice! LOL on the "chicken plan" to keep daughter cooking. Kudos for getting her on your side on eating healthy.

Got to run. DH has breakfast ready and guests are waiting.

Great Sunday to all!

Happy Sunday Morning
 

Good Morning coaches

Had a great art show yesterday. I was very pleased with my sales and the reactions of people to my work. The rain held off until 3:30 and this caused the hobbyists, not used to selling outdoors in the rain like us, to scramble and pull down their tents and displays and DRIVE THEIR VEHICLES(!) onto the public park pathways while customers with baby strollers, cyclists, and people were still strolling by on the same pathways to see the art that was still on display! Hello :?: Where were the organizers? If I was an organizer, I'd have been taken digital pictures of the offending liscense plates, submitting them to the city, and having the city mail them a fine. I am sure it is against some city by-law to drive into a public park! Wow. Just was so amazed at this behaviour. When you fill out the application form for the show they make you promise, in big bold letters, not to drive onto the park. They also make you promise to stay until the end of the show, 5 pm. People. It's incredible. And once one starts, it's like dominoes and the rest just follow. I continued to sell well into the rain and right up to 5. Silly. And quite dangerous for those people trying to get out first.

Today I am preparing for the start of my foodplan that I will follow for the next 8 weeks. I am trying the Crack the Fat-Loss Code plan. 8 weeks of instructions to follow, designed by a woman ho was a marathon runner and body builder with all the degrees you'd want. I am willing to give it a go. I like a structured boost sometimes. It takes all the confusion out of it for me and I like being told what to do for a little while. I am going to give this a real go. The first week is very low carb to get the body to start using fat for fuel. Strict. She says after that nothing is restricted but it is conted and fit into specific patterns...

What this really says to me is that PLANNING is involved. I know from personal experience that when I plan ahead and prepare my food I am successful. So my plan is to follow the first week and then start at the gym a week from Monday. I'm expecting to feel crappy for the first few days--sugar withdrawal and all that. Will do one major thing at a time.

So I feel good. I have a plan and am moving forward. Now to find my Beck book! Sheesh!

Have a good Sunday everyone.

Good morning coaches,

Well I am having a full blown attack of sabotaging thoughts so I thought I better get on here and write! Help! :)

This morning I am still at 7 lbs. lost. I went back and counted and I hit 7 lbs. lost 10 days ago! Now in the interest of complete objectivity (which my mind is not willing to listen to right now) I hit my lowest weight - 8 lbs. lost - 4 days ago. But really I've been between 7-8 lbs. lost for 10 days. I've been OP with the exception of 1 off-plan planned meal per week. I've been doing aerobics 5 hours a week. I even have taken 2 doses of an over-the-counter diuretic. Nothing. What is wrong?! :cry:

I know, I know, Beck says to wait 2 weigh-ins of 0 lbs. lost before changing things. By that calculation I have until this coming Friday. But this is getting under my skin and I don't want to eat over it. Any ideas? Can anyone share any similar experiences? Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. :cry:

kuhl I meant to congratulate you on wearing your skinny jeans. :carrot: I'm sure that is quite a rush! Like most people who diet a lot, I must have every size in my closet. I look forward to that day.

shrinkin High five for that impressive party behavior! I'm sure it will give you more muscle for the next time a social occasion comes up.

onebyone Great to hear you are going to do some food planning. It's really the best way. Have you ever used fitday.com? There's a free online version, but I ended up buying their software for my desktop. Makes it easy.

Morning all...I am back from vacation. I did have a wonderful one...spent time with my brother and neice. Then we wend to dh's family and did alot and had fun. After that we went to dd and sil's . I did gain a little but that is okay as we did eat out alot. I knew that I would gain some but did not gain as much as I thought I would. I am so ready to get back to some kinda routine until school starts. Well need to go and unpack. Will try to check in later.

Persist, persist...and find a Nonscale goal!
 

I find when I lose a lot at first, it may slow down to almost a standstill on the scale. If you have lost 7-8 pounds over a month, that is pretty much right on target (1.5-2 pounds a week). But, particularly with exercise, the body is likely redistributing the weight, more of it is muscle (which is heavier than fat). So, scale can hit a steady spot for a while.

Highly recommend you focus on some nonscale goals/measuring tools. I, too, have a closet full of sizes so it is easy to find something in three categories: snug but close, a little further to go (2-4 inches too small), and dreaming for someday. With the first category being clothes that are very close, I can usually wear them and watch them getting looser. Progress on nonscale goals helps me withstand the disappointment of scale numbers that may not reflect my real success. Go any clothes fitting looser after those 7-8 pounds? Got some that you can get into but not quite wear?

Other nonscale goals that deserves big credits are number of days on food plan over a given time period (you pick it...a week, two weeks, a month) and number of days of good exercise over time period. These are totally under my control (at least I like to think they are), wherease scale is an "out of my control number" that in my mind is simply unreliable.

If you persist, the scale will follow...it has to! Only issue is how long it takes. When I am discouraged, I just try to take it a day at a time.

I also read my ARC when discouraged...reminds me of why it matters.

Hope some of this helps you get thru this rough spot!

OK, shrinkin, I will walk into that closet of clothes and find something snug to use as my non-scale goal. I guess you're right - 7-8 lbs. for a month is good.

Did you ever have this happen to you for this length of time?

Thank you so much for your words of advice.

scale disappointments, good news, Onebyone
 

Hi, Freer,

Yes, my scale has been disappointing too. Weight this week on weigh in day, no change. Went back and looked at my fitday records. My weight today is the same number as 9 days ago. Difference is that nine days ago, I was happy because it was a relatively low number. Now, it is a relatively high number (In past three days, I have seen 1-1.5 pounds less than today's weight. So, I know wt is going down, it is just very slow). Seems pointless to get alarmed over a single number.

If you weigh every day, you will get a better idea of your personal pattern. I hear many people are relatively static, then lose 3-4 pounds, then go static, then lose a big amount again. People like me, bounce all around, but the trend downward is still apparent. Most important is to not let the scale convince you to give up.

Not sure if you have the book or the workbook...
"Be confident. Overall, your weight will go down, but it's unlikely to go down every week." ...Day 21, Beck page 175. Really great chapter!

Also, some good responses to sabotaging thoughts about scale on page 249:

"Reaching a plateau is a normal part of losing weight. I'm feeling discourged now becuse I put in a lot of effort. But this is supposed to happen from time to time." and ...

"I have a choice now. I can dwell on how unfair it seems that the scale didn't go lower. Or I can focus on how much weight I've lost up to this point and give myself credit fror all of the changes I've made in my thinking and behavior so far.

IMO, losing pounds is most impacted by diet and losing inches is most impacted by exercise. So, if lack of scale motion continues look at your diet carefully, but don't panic.

:crossed: Hoping we both have a loss on our next weight in day...but not letting that stop us!

Onebyone...glad you had a great art show day...in spite of the rain!

angelmomma210-Horray for you not gaining as much as you thought while vacationing! Welcome back to 3FC...I am a newbie during your absence. Look forward to you sharing with us.

Good afternoon!

Stuck on day 2.

I want to make sure I pick plans that are right for me. I think the commitment of it scares me. I know there are a few sites that have free menu plans and that they can be tweaked to match your preferences. Picking one means planning and I'm not good at that. I've been eating whatever and whenever for so long. I have not ever followed an actual diet plan, I went to WW but I never ate within my points. When I lost weight last time I followed the principles of WW loosely and exercised.

Being "on a diet" scares me. I don't want to feel like I can't have something if I want it. For example a cake was brought in for one of my co-workers for her birthday. Everyone was remarking how delicious it was and one of my friends sat in the break room lamenting on how she shouldn't have a piece...but it looks so good. But she hadn't followed her diet (LAWL) very good the last few days......but the pieces were small. etc., etc. She ended up having some and talking about wanting to have a Culver's cheeseburger and fries for the last 2 days. It just frustrated me because she seemed so tortured by it and I don't want to feel like that. Then I went to see my sister and mom and throughout the day they talked about the various things they've eaten recently and how "bad" they were for eating them. I hate that mentality. I thought it about myself so much in the past that I’ve actually convinced myself now that it's okay to eat whatever I want because I WANT "it". Well, I've managed to "WANT" myself up to over 300 pounds.

This is going to be hard! How many times do you have to read a response card before you believe it?

It’s been so helpful to read that everyone here struggles at times and it hasn’t killed any of you yet.
It doesn’t stop me from thinking that I may be the first casualty of dieting though!

Freer: I judged my success on a scale once. The result was gaining back the 45 pounds I lost and then another 20. An employee of the gym that I worked out at had suggested that I pay attention to my NSV. Unfortunately I didn’t listen. In the 3 months that the scale needle didn’t move I had gone down from a size 22 to an 18 and those were getting baggy, had lost inches all over, and had increased the speed on the treadmill by 1.5 miles/hour. But when I couldn’t get the scale number to go down I quit. DON’T GIVE UP!!! The scale will eventually reflect your success but NSV’s will keep you going until it does.

OK shrinkin, I've got my non-scale goal. I measured my waist and am going to shoot for 1 inch less. Typically when I lose weight, my waist is the first to go, so I'm setting myself up for success.

I do not have the Beck book. I have the audio book and the workbook. I have glanced at the workbook, but mostly it's the audio book that I am using. The only problem with the audio book is that there is no table of contents! Doesn't seem like an issue, but when you want to go review a passage, it's somewhere across 4 cds and probably 120 tracks. I think I am going to go through the workbook and write the cd track next to the matching page. That way I can refer back to things more easily. This is definitely a book you go back to again and again.

Also, thank you so much for letting me know of your 9 day struggle! Sounds familiar and really really makes me feel better. Congratulations on the amount you've lost so far! Very impressive. You said you are a newbie here. How long have you been doing Beck?

goodnuff I can certainly identify with where you are at. I've done every diet which makes me just like just about anyone on this board, eh? :D I don't take well to really really structured things like WW. All that talk of points etc. makes me want to rebel - and I do. I'm just basically following a low calorie diet. The key here is pure Beck - plan your menu and write it down. Still and all, you need to be ready to do this.

My thought would be to read on past day 2. Beck really has some profound thought processes that are unlike anything I've ever read before. The biggie for me is that eating is not an emergency. Also her thoughts on cravings and 'it's not fair.' I just have never seen these thought processes broken down like this. Maybe as you read you'll discover the same.

I think it's great that she doesn't start you on a diet right away. So while you're stuck on day 2 and you're still afraid to diet, have no fear. The diet won't start for days while you begin to wrap your head around these concepts.

Thanks also for your input on those numbers on the scale. What is NSV?

Have a great evening, coaches.

A (mixed) Beckie Message
 

...Or perhaps, not so much. First of all, a gracious Beckie good day to all...

I have been embroiled in the Project from **** for the last month, but it has resolved itself at least for the present. The big d--- road block is gone; there is much that could still go wrong in the next 3 weeks, but for now, I am calm. I have not taken a single day off this summer, not one, and that is soooooooo not me. All this in the way of 'splainin' (which I know is not required on this thread) my reading quite often, but not posting. I have been reading; someone has to keep an eye on BillBE..;);)

I can't stay still after reading your post, Goodnuff. Beck says choose 2 diets, so you must do that. One that would "allow" you to choose any food you like is Weight Watchers points; calorie counting would give you the same freedom of choice. My suggestion after reading your concern about commitment and the "forbidden" food dilemma is to simply choose your first diet as "moderation", or "cutting back". It is so simple. Just eat less. Choose and eat exactly what you want, just quit before you are full. If you are hungry 3 hours after you have eaten, then you are doing it right. If you wake up hungry for breakfast, you are doing it right.

I lost 80 #s doing exactly that. I gained the 20 back by getting into that diet mentality mode again, but over the course of a year a half, many years ago, I lost 5#s a month, month after month, but just eating less. By eating slowly and passionately.......just less. And I enjoyed my food so much more. Nothing tastes as good as food does when you are hungry!

I said it a 1000 times. Life is to short to eat crappy food. Eat whatever, and I mean WHATEVER, you want, just quit before you are full. Stay calm and choose what you want. If you choose a Big Mac and it doesn't taste good, throw it away and get DQ....whatever. I have never had a Big Mac in my life, but I remember getting something to go that was aweful and just chucking it and getting something else. It won't happen often, and as Beck says, hunger is not an emergency, so just get something else.

Please consider it; you could get started that way, anyway.

Hello to all.

Monday
 

Diet Coaches – Lunch included an heirloom tomato on toasted pita bread with a drizzle of olive oil and basil from our patio. Dinner included DW's tomatoes diced with only olive oil and a little salt. August is my month to be fixated on tomatoes and olive oil. For appreciating the taste and quality of summer's fresh foods, CREDIT moi. Celebrating my one year anniversary on 3FC - but next month is the big celebration of one year on the Beck threads.

Sue (CoastalSue) - Waving toward the west coast. Hope the selling went well this weekend.

MaryBlu - Hello, Hello. Hope that being "broiled in the Project from ****" allowed you to tend your gardens. (Did you ever notice that the imagery of folks from Minnesota often refers to warmth, LOL) You must be reaping your harvest about now. Good to know that you're still out there even when not posting.

onebyone – Yay for the great sales and for encountering the people who appreciate your art. Amazing story of idjits driving on the sidewalks during the open hours of a fair. Kinda embarrassing to be a fellow homo sapien when the herd mentality is pointed out. Need a Beck type thought here, like, Rain is Not an Emergency, LOL. Wishing you well on the next leg of you journey on the "Crack the Fat-Loss Code plan." Methinks you've summed up Beck pretty well with: angelmomma210 - Welcome back from vacation. Love reading both the joy of the adventures and the desire to get back to the routine.

shrinkin - Congrats on the dress - sounds like you lifted a big burden from your shoulders. BIG Kudos for choosing not to have lunch with your house guests. That's a big deal to honor your needs and to acknowledge the reality that you weren't giving up a joyful occasion, but a stressful occasion with a little seething resentment that could possibly end with everyone wishing they hadn't gone. OK, you tweaked me into rereading day 27: Master the Seven Questions Technique. Now to figure out how to work that together. ... to be continued.

freer - Congrats on the 7 pounds lost. RE "What is wrong?!" I can't improve on the advice from shrinkin. Neat that you've set yourself a Non Scale Victory (NSV) to direct your focus away from the scales. I've also experienced disappointing scale readings. For me, it works to plot the scale readings daily so that the trend is visible even through the reading plateaus. Keep the faith - you're winning.

M (goodnuff) – hmmmm... seems smart to dawdle a bit to address your reasons for not wanting to make a choice because, as MaryBlu suggests, there are plans that avoid the constraints that you anticipate as difficult. Personally, I lost my weight on my own plan with the attributes she suggests as "moderation." Then, after recognizing that a brief dawdle is a wise move to avoid getting into a bad place, it's useful to acknowledge that moving forward is your goal here, and to make two of the choices, using the limited knowledge that you have. Changes can be made later, as you can read from yesterday's postings, changes are being made by people with months of Beck experience. Good luck. Let us know what you choose. Would you care to share with us your major items on your Advantages Response Card?

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

Monday Greetings to all Beckies!
 

Happy Monday, Coaches!

This weekend was a PB (personal best) for me. On plan again yesterday in spite of special occasion, our 12th wedding anniversary, DH took me out for a dinner at a restaurant of my choosing. Based on internet menu, I picked a seafood restaurant. Had ahi tuna with some cucumber salad for appetizer and wild sockeye salmon for entree. It was wonderful! Entree had some mashed potatoes in the mix (menu did not reveal this). Tasted them (great flavor), but then left them all on the plate. Desert: had mixed berries while watching DH have their signature desert, twice baked apple pie and ice cream (argh....that was hard, second time in 48 hours watching others have great desert). Wine report: Hard to say for sure as DH insisted on getting a bottle. He says I only had 1.5 glasses. I was interdigitating water pretty aggressively; stopping the waitress from filling mine when she did his. CREDIT MOI for the no potatoes, desert choice and wine control!

Went to pool late afternoon and got in 35 min of hard exercise. Elbow still a problem and starting to have knee flare. Wearing an elbow brace when not in pool. PT again this week on Thursday. Not very enouraging so far. Recovery is going very slow.

Posted a lot yesterday (in part to keep from eating and keep my head into being OP). It is hard to misbehave when encouraging others to stay on plan.

BBE-Mmmm, love the sound of that olive oil and tomatoes. I envy your DW's great tomatoes. Our local ones have been almost nonexistent this year from the flooding this spring and summer. Happy anniversary! Like you, I am missing those posts from CoastalSue.

MaryBlu-Been missing you too. Happy to know that you are out there and will chip in some quick comments as you get a chance. Glad to hear that the "road block is gone". Will be thinking of you and knowing that you will be coming back more often when this period of stress is over.

goodnuff-I cant add much to the great advice about moderation from a couple of the best coaches on the board. Personally, I do calorie counting on line and like freer, use fitday.com. It works for me, but I know counting is not everyone's ideal way.

Regarding how many times reading a response card before you believe it. Not sure about that, maybe it depends on which card. If it is the ARC, I believed it right away because I only wrote my true thoughts. If it is one of the others that we all have to practice, could take some time. Would like to hear more from you on that because I think getting cards that work reflects getting thoughts that work. I do think the emphasis is on Practice, and Persistence, not on Perfection. You have succeed in past based on your post yesterday, you can do it again. Keep posting back, it is how we are all making progress in our thinking.

freer-glad you have a nonscale goal and will be generating some NSV. I like picking one that is "low hanging fruit". Sucess does seem to breed success. I don't use a tape measure with confidence (not ever sure it is in quite the same place). I do have a leather belt that I use to watch the waist go down. Not as satisfying as a number, but I can count on it.
Re how long on Beck: Today is day 33 for this round of Beck and I have lost from 215.5 to current of 204.5. I did start Beck plan earlier this year. I lost from 221.5 to about 208, but never found a coach (hadn't found 3fc, but had websearched and called several local psychologists without success). At same time, I developed problems with both elbows with pool exercise; I did not get help but stopped exercising. Scale went static, and I got discouraged and quit! Went off plan and gained back to 215 before I turned myself around again. So, you can see why even though I am doing well at moment, I see the demons of not persisting. I also know the value of the board and the coaches here! I am determined to keep on keeping on this time. That is why my avatar is the blue rabbit. It makes me think of the battery commercial...keeps going and going and going. Silly, but I think of it when I log on here. Much of what I wrote to you yesterday was me talking to both of us. :)

Onebyone-hope you are out there having a great Monday!

Monday!
 

Good Morning Coaches

Well I did it. Planned my food for the day. Big credit to me for doing this. I've resisted it for months and regained 10lbs for my stubbborn efforts to avoid this. For me, planning works like nothing else. Right now I don't want to think about food so writing it out relieves me of that. It's on plan, I just have to make it/get it/eat it and try to follow the schedule of food. The bigger change for me is that I am trying to eat smaller meals more often. Both criteria will be new for me re: smaller and more often. I tend towards the less often/way too long between meals and then the giant meal at the end of the hours without food. I'm ready though. Ready to try it.

This is a good week for me to do this. I can't go to the school until the evening as there is a class in the ceramic studio all week. I stay away when that's the case, going in only after the class is over for the day, and I can put that off for a day or two. I am just at home getting ready for the Women's Art Festival this Sunday. Really looking forward to that show. It's always good.

And next week I start my workout at the new gym. So things are falling into place after floundering for so long. And that, coaches, is what is interesting. You spin and spin your wheels, thinking nothing's changing, nothing's happening, why can't I get this, and then all of a sudden you are doing things you never thought you could do. DON'T EVER GIVE UP! It takes what it takes and if you have to try this and try that before you find what works, so? So what? There are so many ways to do this, to get healthy and get fit and lose weight. What's most important is consistency and making a plan that works for you. Figure yourself out, what personality you are, what you like and can work with/live with and then find something that fits you, not the other way around. And you know, if it doesn't work out, you are allowed to change it YOU HAVEN'T FAILED you just need something else. Go get it!

shrinkin Wow you are doing so well! Mucho Creditos to you! I absolutely 100% agree with you about success breeding success. We professional dieters have had so many negative experiences with diets and losing and gaining weight, something that should be "so simple" and to see ourselves never reach the goal or be able to hang onto that goal when we finally reach it can be very very soul destroying. Really hits the self esteem where it hurts. So we need successes badly! I am sure it's why credits in the BECk program come up very fast in her program. It's about success and seeing that we are doing it. And even if we are off our programs, we can still do things, small things, daily to be proud of. And from here, we can grow into what we want to be. You are proof of that! Awesome.

BillBlueEyes I have never thought of drizzling olive oil on a tomato. Wow. I know I have eaten tomatoes with oil on them, but never thought of doing this simple thing. Although I did make a pasta with olive oil garlic and diced tomatoes... Funny. My tomatoes are trying to grow in the poor light of my backyard. They are shaded by a pine tree. I, at least, have been spared the nightly raids of the garden by the black squirrels here. Whenever I walk out to the bus I can see a squirrel, cucumber or squash in his little hands, munching away on top of a fence. It's good to be a squirrel at this time of the year. My biggest heartbreak was when I had an allottment garden and I went out there one afternoon to visit with my beloved watermelons. I was growing a rare yellow variety that took forever to set (heirlooms take forever!) and there it was. One of two, plucked from the vine at half size, tossed into the furough with one bite taken out of it. This was the work of a groundhog, who taste-tested every item in the garden that year, but it was the melon that broke my heart.

maryblu Glad to hear your hellish work event is in a lull. I am in for some of that in a week or two myself. And how is your garden? What are you harvesting?

freer An NSV is a "non-scale victory" like getting those jeans done up comfortably... or for me, fitting easily into that hated wooden arm chair that I can't right now. I would have thrown that thing out except for the fact that it is a good indicator of my size. I hate not being able to fit into a chair! Ugh! It will be a huge NSV to sit in it, then I'll take a picture and out it goes! Decluttering you know?! Ha! ;)

goodnuff Hi! How are you today? You've got some really good wisdom here from the other coaches. I just want to encourage you to move forward in the book as well. Don't get stuck. You don't need to. We don't actually follow a foodplan until Day 15. And we are 100% allowed to "do it our way". No one makes you follow a diet of any kind. I think that cutting back is an excellent do-able place to start. Even something as simple as "no second helpings". Make that your foodplan. I was successful too with allowing myself everything I wanted, I just couldn't have second helpings. And it was three meals and 2 snacks. So there has to be an end to my food. No grazing. I have had meals of chips or cookies. So? It's not great, but it's what was needed somedays. So? Who cares? I guarantee you won't do that for that long. You will get sick of it. Oh and I did have a strict "no foods in a bag" rule. All food made it to a plate. Eventually I craved green things and fruit. When you can have whatever you want to have, eventually you feel comfortable enough to choose what you really want and/or your body starts to tell you what it needs. You need to get into the book and move along. I was deeply sensitized to anyone telling me what to do/what to eat. I took as a personal offense and what I decided to do was to be willing to erect structures around my food. I would not allow anyone to tell me anything about the food, but I could have a foodplan that said" no second helpings this week." Or "this week I will eat everything on a plate". Or this week "I am drinking 8 glasses of water everyday". Make one change, one habit, one healthful act and make that "your foodplan". When you get that done and see yourself succeed on your new foodplan, you'll feel good and want to do more, see what else you can do.

You can trust yourself to work this out. You will. As one of your coaches, I absolutely know that. Keep in touch, even and especially if you get stuck.

angelmomma210 Welcome back! Glad to see you again... looking forward to your posts.

RobinW How's the mouse battle going? Hope you're winning! I have ants and am slowly dealing with that. Hate seeing them when I least expect it. makes me wonder where else they are... hope you have a great day!

All the best on this wonderful August Monday to all the lurkers who read this.

Good Morning :rain:

We caught one!!!!! Yah!!!! Hubby found him yesterday morning. I went out saturday and bought some better traps. These ones, the mouse has to actually step on the trigger to get to the pb! For what ever reason, they ate too gently on the others to trigger the little leaver. So far, no new evidence, and all empty traps still full of pb. Maybe it was only one wayward mouse in my house (I can hope cant I !?!?!)

I bought a big huge tomato the other too Bill, I just love sliced tomatoes on my tuna sandwiches. Adds moisture, without the fat. I dont have tomatoes yet in my garden, but I have flowers! :cb: I have LOTS of flowers on my zucchini plants, and a few peppers on my pepper plants. I didnt plant much this year, but hopefully next year I'll be a little more on the ball.

shrinkin~ sounds like you did awesome!!!! Great going!

onebyone~ looks like you are heading in the right direction. Great going!!

Have a great day everyone!

Happy Beck Greetings to all
 

and to RobinW, a sad note of country experience...no.......NO.....NO......one mouse caught is not an isolated incident........in an average year, I get 20, and lots more survive......in a bad year, I get lots more...and lots more survive....my only hope is to keep them in fear for their lives and in the basement and not on the main floor. I am allergic to cats, but am seriously considering a "ratter"type dawg. ...I am afraid for more comiserations, we may be reduced to PM-ing.!!!!

For those of us living and loving the Beck life, and that is all of us.........for we have had an awakening of sorts.....I am loving harvests of Cherry Tomatoes, and full-sized tomatoes of cool Minnesota varieties, Swiss Chard, Lettuce, Beets, ALL the herbs (Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, Basil, Thyme, Rosmary, Cilantro, Sage, Chives, Mint) Cucumbers, Squash, Zuchhini, our omnipresent raspberries, and coming soon, Sweet Corn!! Thank goodness SO is a vegetable gardener, or I would have nothing to report but an endless menu of flowers in bloom. ............. We all have our priorities. :):)

Love and encouragement to all........nothing is lost if we keep going!