......Ive been trying to stay off the scale, I dont need to be fighting with myself over numbers when I can keep on keepin' on....and my clothes are getting bigger
Holy crow am I exhausted. I am achey too. I did everything in the studio but the inventory and anything to do with cleaning the kiln room, but I'll have plenty of time to get to that next week.
Why you ask? Because the transit workers voted down the forced vote (75% against) and so now we have a transit strike with no end in sight. Some federal mediator is meeting with the two sides separately on Monday to see if they can get something going. This means that I continue to get a ride into the school with Val in the office and I am there for the full work day: 9-5. I have Fridays off though and won't be in. If I am smart, I will be doing my homework at the school so I don't know.
It's stressful.
The whole city is in a bad mood.
Parking is hard to come by and getting harder. Traffic is picking up again as people get back to the regular schedule after the holidays. It's cold and getting colder.
Foodwise I was a bit off plan today. Maybe 80% for the day. I had some fried homefried potatoes at breakfast which are sort of on plan. Too many carbs as I had the toast AND the potatoes. But then for lunch there were no carbs of note so that was on plan (carbs once before 3 is the official line for today. Potatoes=1 and bread =1 ... so this was one more = offplan). For dinner I ate bbq chicken wings. I hurled myself through the door and onto the couch, exhausted, and DH had dinner ready. I ate them. The skin I am not supposed to have but I am truly unwilling to give that up. I ate it last week sometime too. Really not ready to eat skinless chicken. so....... coaches. I really really want chocolate and desserts of any kind. I've been thinking about them all afternoon. But that's as far as I go with that. It's cause I am tired is all, and a growly bear trying to soothe myself when I'd rather be hibernating. maybe the parties involved in the transit strike are also growly northern bears and that's why they can't come up with a compromise for us, the citizens, eh?
Wow. Now I'm getting a headache. I better just go rest. Sorry I can't get to personals today. Have a great night.
Coaches/Buddies I was home all day with DS, who seems better but not well yet. He is chewing on EVERYTHING. Because of the illness I did not start easing into the Phase 2 food plan as expected, but did make a plan and stuck to it today, mostly. I had one unplanned square of dark chocolate after dinner that wasn't on the plan (my plan was a little light today and I was hungrier and more tired than normal). I suppose I must do my Cheat Sheet on that. I was up with DS last night so my defenses are down and I'll have to shore them up; Response Cards here I come. Looking forward to my popcorn tonight!
maryblu You talk about the Maintainers as if they/we have it all together. Here's a secret--we are all Maintainers, and none of us know it all. I just keep learning. It is why I read so much. I continue to have the hope that I'll find something to make this all easy, or at least easier.
I don't know much about set points. My body continues to surprise me. I haven't yet reached a serious plateau that I couldn't explain by my behavior. I can't always explain the behavior, LOL. I guess that is why I'm doing Beck stuff.
Kim The Wellness Challenge seems interesting. Do you find the prize motivating? Or the camaraderie? (I even looked that up and it still looks like it is spelled wrong!)
Bill Has your DW taken to throwing stuff out yet? Ah, tinkering. DH (also an engineer) can do it for hours?
onebyone I hope that strike ends soon. Sounds like you are having a rough time with the logistics I take for granted.
Lily Sounds like you need lots of credit. Like the To Do list.
Jeanie Wow! Just wow.
RobinW Hurray for bigger clothes!
Since my day to myself got shot today, I'll have to plan to plan again on Phase 2. I don't have the energy tonight, so maybe tomorrow.
OMG, Kuhljeanie, yessssssss..I can *so* spot the Project Manager. You sure know how to take the fun out of cooking. Hats off to ya, girl. Wuddeva works.
Have had another delightful day just keeping the volume adjustment low. When I keep it low, I don't have to track so much the *what*.
I will never forget something I learned on Jeopardy about 25 yrs. ago. It was just after Alex Trebek took over as host. (Toss up question for those of us of a certain....ahemm.....vintage........without googling it, who was the FIRST host of Jeopardy??)
The champion had lost a lot of weight, I think 100#s. Alex asked him for advice for those in the audience who were dieting. This is almost verbatim, because it struck me so ...
..He said, "I would say don't worry so much about what you eat as how you think about food." Sound like Beck?
I hope he kept it off. He won a pile of money.
I am working on another training session; will incorporate CBT, as it is now my "go to" solution for lots of behavior modification, as others have so eloquently noted here.
HI there everyone,
Taking off my mask, snorkel and fins from over here in WA state to say hello to my peeps! Things are settling down now-at least the main highway is open again. Anyway, I had set a small goal to lose 5 lbs in 2 weeks (committed on the wii with weigh ins everyday)..I got to 4.4. I was a bit disappointed since I have been exercising and eating really well (not on an official plan or even planning a lot ahead yet) and drinking more water. Usually, at the beginning of changing my eating habits, I lose a LOT of lbs... here's to being over 40 I guess? Oh well.. I still feel really good, alert and, while tired from working the whole week after 2.5. weeks off, I feel more rested than I usually do. I definitely went to bed earlier several nights this past week than usual-makes a difference. I am a single mom, as many of you know, and fight wanting to stay up late for "me time" after dd goes to bed. Many times, eating is a part of "me time". I tried on for size "what does my body need right now?" this week and many times it was REST not FOOD... food was the habit and brings joy on some level. Really paying attention and feeding my body nutritious and delicious food is REAL me time!!!
kuhljeanie: you could write a book with your recipes in it.. seriously, I would buy! I love that idea. I took a class many years ago called something like, "Cooking ahead one month at a time". It included shopping lists and how to prep all the stuff for all the meals and you do all the work in one day for one month. I should try to dig that stuff up to see if the meals appeal to me now-I vaguely remember what the food was besides there being several casseroles.
wndranne: Wow-thanks for the reality check on how maintainers think. It really does remind me that this whole thing is a journey and, for us, it will never end. It will always be something we have to work at. Big congrats on keeping so much weight off for so many years. It really is valuable for us to hear from people like you and Bill who have maintained their goal weight for so long.
BBE: Have things melted yet over there? It was nasty weather a few days ago but I haven't kept up since then... BRRRRR.
Mary: No clue who the host was before Alex, I love, love, love the words "spring is comin"! What do you mean when you say you are working on another training session? Just curious if it is exercise or food plan or something else? You can do it girl! I mean WE can do it!
Hello to everyone else-I will be back tomorrow, must put smallfry down and then myself.
Happy Weekend!
Diet Coaches/Buddies - After dinner snack was grapefruit, a particularly sweet and juicy one. CREDIT moi. It's that time of year to send heaping gratitude to the California growers and Florida farmers who continue to send shipments of citrus fruits to the frigid Northeast.
maryblu - That's a neat statement, "I would say don't worry so much about what you eat as how you think about food." Yep, sounds Beck to me. Thanks for the reminder "Spring is coming!" The seed catalogs are arriving daily.
Heidi (landlady6) - Kudos for seeing that sometimes your body "needs REST not FOOD." What an insight.
Ouch for your flooding; it was amazing to see pictures in the paper of the major disruptions in Washington state due to highway flooding. Glad to hear that the major highway has reopened. Nope, we're not thawed here yet. In fact, with a sheet of ice on the ground, some nine inches of snow are predicted. I'm grateful to those who remind me that the days are getting longer and that Spring is coming.
Growly Bear (onebyone) - Ouch that the transportation union voted to continue the strike. Double Ouch for craving dark chocolate, but Kudos for resisting. Yay for all the work you did in the ceramic studio. Good luck in thinking up a plan for full days at the school..
Robin (RobinW) - Yay for "keep on keepin' on....and my clothes are getting bigger." Yep, nothing tastes as good as baggy pants feel.
Project Manager Jean (kuhljeanie) - Missing the Risk/Opportunity chart, LOL. I do admire the Jean style thoroughness you bring to your planning.
Pondering your comments that recognizing that on-plan eating is a chronic issue helps you to be more compassionate toward non-helpful coping mechanisms in others. I feel that also. I'm pleased that being a maintainer and reading the struggles of others here has made me more aware of how little I know about this process. Particularly pleased because I once read of a successful loser who advertised his services as a professional will power guru (what a crock, LOL). Thanks for those thoughts.
Anne (wndranne) - Ouch for DS not feeling well yet. But Yay for chewing on everything - so much to learn and the mouth is such a powerful sensor.
Yep, my DW is a master of throwing away food. Before her weekly shopping trip she just discards the leftovers that interfere with moving forward. It's like the fridge is a tool to help her make our life. I admire her ability.
lilyyoung - Kudos for resolving the tension with your real life Diet Coach; smart move to take action there. And Kudos for giving yourself credit for a nice list of steps getting a healthy lifestyle together.
Do you have a specific strategy for "Tolerate negative emotions without turning to food."
Readers -
". . . If you don't learn how to talk back to your sabotaging thoughts, you will give in, eat, and weaken your resistance muscle." The Complete Beck Diet for Life, pg 20.
I'm can't say I'm happy to read so much about "constant vigilance". I've always harbored the notion that if I can make healthy eating a habit, I'll be free of my food obsession. I quit smoking 25 years ago and alcohol 22 years ago and meat 6 years ago and even the thought of returning to any of those habits never occurs to me. No problem (knock on wood). I will admit I made a few "practice runs" before I was successful. I've always believed my diet failures were just that, and eventually I'd be able to put the whole issue behind me.
What I'm hearing from you long-timers is forget it, it's never over. I think I knew that on some level. I'm not going to let it discourage me, I'll try to focus on how much easier it will get to be. Also it's an opportunity to be proud of myself every single day. My other addictions may not be difficult to control, but since they don't provide a challenge, I seldom feel a sense of accomplishment. Going to take some thought retraining.
Made it the requisite 3 days of totally eating consciously. Obviously since it was such a struggle, I should keep at it. But before my perfectionism sabotages my willpower, I think I'm going to allow one distraction; eating with family and friends, when the situation occurs. I know darn well it's the TV/reading/snacking pattern that does me in. Adding in next skill: Identifying hunger/craving desire, and plan to stay here for a while. I do think there is a tendency to try to do too much, too well, too soon, which can be a sneaky way to sabotage myself.
Bill I like your phrase That's not about me; a new mantra for when I spy the chips and crackers. And Nothing tastes as good as baggy pants . I'm making response cards for them!
Citrus fruit is particularly delightful this time of year, isn't it? Have you tried Cara Cara oranges? You can feel the sunshine!There are some benefits to eating consciously.
bennyhannamama - A friend of mine is starting the Wellness Challenge at our gym - She's very excited too. It will be interesting to see how the programs compare. A friendly group atmosphere is so motivating; like here!
kuhljeanie - Another one for a response card: Our set point is as strong as it is long; there's a catchy way to remember it will get easier. Thanks for the encouragement.
RobinW I share your reluctance to get on the scale. When you do, I've found it helpful to use the scale as a thermometer analogy; we don't freak out over a 99 degree temperature; it's just a body quirk.
landlady6 Kudos on asking what you body needs right now; I've been surprised to find, working on the "identify hunger/craving/desire" skill, often I'm just plain thirsty!
Hubby took me out for dinner last night, and around here if you dont go early on a friday night you usually have a 45 min wait. Buy the time we got where we were going, it was a 35-45 min wait. Neither of us wanted to wait that long.
So.....I left the restaurant decision up to him. Well....we ended up at The Original pancake House. I didnt realize until I sat down and looked at the menu that it was basically carb haven!! I had a broccoli omelette.
I had eggs for lunch, and wasnt happy with my choices at the pancake house. I found myself resenting the fact that the food wasnt particularly good, I resented the fact that this was my 3rd and final meal of the day and I didnt enjoy it!
This took up about 2 stupid hours of fighting with myself. When I got home I wanted to make myself another meal. A good one!! One that tasted good, and was worthy of being one of my daily meals!!
Seems Ive become a food snob! If Im going to eat it, it better be good, and worthy!! How funny is that?!! Im thinking this is probably a very good thing. Eating clean and healthy is a good thing. Ive finally realized that I feel so much better eating this way. Beck has helped so much in dealing with the head stuff that my attitude is changing about the way I look at food. You know what? I LIKE it!!
When I got home, I decided to have 2 baby dill pickles (off plan) but the flavour was strong enough to get my mind and tastebuds thinking about something else. I didnt eat another meal and was more settled after my discussion with myself
Bill~ Big Kudos for not being the fridge cleaner outer anymore!!
onebyone~ take your growly bear home, bundle up on nice warm clothes, get into bed with a good book I hate it when food talks to me and tells me I should be eating this or that Ive gotten better at shutting it out....sending positive thoughts your way to shut out the chocolate talk!
davidette~ Ive had those same thoughts....it never gets easier etc etc. But I believe if you stick with this program, it will get easier. It has for me.
landlady~ Kudos for your 4.4lbs gone!!
Food and exercise is going good I still need to get more water in tho I know it makes a difference, but drinking cold water, and having to pee in our very very cold shop bathroom is a big deterrant I'll work on it.
Coaches/Buddies I did my Cheat Sheet on the chocolate last night, and basically came to the conclusion that my planning wasn't terribly good, since dinner was pretty calorie dense and volumetrically small, and after 20 minutes I was still hungry. I'm going to try to do better planning, not leaving things to the last minute and think a bit more about the content of my meals and snacks. I say try because with sick kids, things don't always go smoothly and this is life and not fantasyland.
The scale was kind this morning and I'm 1 pound away from my second 5 lb goal. I found a neat abs workout in Runner's World that is targeted for runner's needs, and told myself that I could try it, even if it wasn't on the NRLW program, which frankly isn't going so well for me--I'm getting too sore and it's wiping out days. I'm keeping at it at a low level to see if it gets better given some time. On track today so far, but it is pretty early for me. DH took DD to the park and DS is sleeping, so using my time now to (hopefully) get to sleep early. I had 8 (!!) almost uninterrupted hours of sleep last night, but it is my night with DS tonight, so I'm not expecting a repeat performance.
maryblu Love the Jeopardy contestant quote. Thanks for sharing!
Heidi Great job on those 4.4 in two teeny tiny weeks! Here's hoping you guys dry out soon.
Bill I think I envy your lentils more than your grapefruit, but it sounds excruciatingly healthy. Glad you enjoyed it! Interesting thought about the mouth being a sensor. For all of us I suppose, LOL.
davidette I'm sorry you are bummed about it being "never over." Sometimes I sort of get down about that too, and there are hard times when I just want to wallow in the unfairness. But I figure, what am I gonna do, quit? Even the hard times now are so much less than the hard times when I was morbidly obese. Most of the time when you get to a happy weight, you just need a few course corrections here and there. Your new habits carry you through. It's not so bad--I don't spend much time pining for the life of eating Doritos by the bag on the couch watching bad TV. The planning and monitoring is a small daily investment and frankly I love the way exercise makes me feel. And when I need a bigger course correction (like now, since pregnancy sent me out into the shipping lanes), I do it. Sure it would more fun to do what I feel like, but then I read my Advantages list, and it's crystal clear to me that this is worth it.
RobinW Sorry to hear about your disappointment with your dinner choice. Have I BTDT! I think you handled it well!
Ah, I finished The Instinct Diet. Definitely a "diet" book and not a book about weight loss. Liked it, with a couple caveats. It looks like a good overall program that keeps you both full and happy (and for me these are not really the same thing). It gives 4 basic menus, vegetarian and omnivorous menus, with basic (no cook or nearly so) and cooking choices with recipes, all with an intro two week Phase 1 and a longer term Phase 2. The caveats: while it does a good job of summarizing most of the good stuff I know about weight loss all in one spot, I don't think I got much new information here. It is extremely program focused. And finally, about half the book is recipes, which are essentially useless for me. I may play with the book a little more to milk it for a few ideas, but I'm not going to be on that program, or probably won't use it as one of my standard references.
Hi everyone. I stumbled across 3fatchicks by accident a couple of weeks ago when I was searching for something... Can't remember what now. More importantly I think was that I stumbled across a reference to The Beck Diet Solution. Lightbulb moment. I need to think like a thin person! I KNOW how to lose weight. And gain it back and lose it again and gain it back... I doubt there are many diet plans in existence that I haven't tried and I probably have read enough by now to become a nutritionist It's my brain and emotions that do me in! I ordered the book and it came yesterday. I'm reading it now and am hopeful especially since I reached an all time high weight when I stepped on the scales yesterday morning.
I look forward to learning from you all and getting rid of my excess pounds for once and for all!
Kay, welcome to our group. This is a wonderful, supportive group of people and we'll be glad to help you, too.
Good afternoon, everyone. I had WI at WW today - down another 2.6 pounds so that makes a total of 10.2 in 4 weeks. I am one happy person.
I'll be able to do all my Curves again starting new week. I don't have to wear the brace on my thumb anymore. Exercise is a big help to me in keeping my appetite at bay.
My "Beck Diet for Life" book came yesterday. It looks interesting so I'll start reading it today.
Doing alot better back to getting rid of the weight that I did gain over our break. Feel more in control and doing better with the a-fib. Feel more in control with the new meds. Glad for that.
Not much happening. I am so glad to read about what is happening to all. Thanks for all the support.
Diet Coaches/Buddies - My lunch of leftovers yesterday finished up three containers in the fridge. CREDIT moi for working to create order since I'm the one who insists that every uneaten bite be saved as a leftover and long-suffering DW is the one who has to toss whatever doesn't get eaten. AND they were delicious in themselves AND they reminded me of the meals from which they came.
Had a cookie after coming in from a cold, cold bird walk. Oh Well. I was anticipating coffee and a small muffin - our standard fare. But neither were available and chocolate chip cookies were so I pounced. I did stop at one, CREDIT moi for that. Even though I seriously avoid cookies, after I had the one, the whole container suddenly looked good. I rarely crave one of something. When I crave, it's the whole container that appeals.
Robin (RobinW) - Yay for being a food snob, LOL. If that's what it is to be fussy about what's going down, then I'm proud to be one also. Thanks for sharing your thinking process about the dinner out at "carb heaven." Remarkable that your brain knows that it isn't satisfied and wants real food. Big Kudos for standing down the draw to have a second dinner.
Anne (wndranne) - Kudos for following through with the Cheat Sheet about the chocolate. I admire your diligence in using the Beck strategies.
Yay for 8 hours of sleep. Wishing you well in selecting your exercise plan; methinks you're right on in avoiding "too sore." Neat distinction you make from The Instinct Diet that full and happy aren't the same thing for you. Yep, RobinW certainly displayed that for us.
Susan (QuilterInVA) - Congrats on the 10.2 pounds in four weeks. Easy to imagine that your're "one happy person." Yay for the thumb out of its brace.
Chris (Anglemomma210) - Yay for the continued calm heart rate. Great to hear that tone of "Feel more in control."
davidette - Congratulations on maintaining your choices on smoking, alcohol, and meat. That's some impressive years on maintenance for those.
Your comments about "constant vigilance" reminds me that Meg always stresses that the challenge of weight loss isn't loss, but keeping it gone. Nevertheless, I too wish maintenance was as automatic as brushing my teeth. Even though I plan and execute the purchases of tooth paste and brushes and schedule brushing itself, I don't view myself as thinking about it. But eating I still do. The choices I make seem to get easier as the months go by, but the requirement to actively plan before going to a buffet or a place offering FREE food samples remains. And when I don't plan, I drift away from my eating plan. Thanks for stressing this point.
And yep, just had my first Cara Cara orange this week - super tasty, super sweet; we'll have more. I'm, of course, drawn to them because I love the majestic Crested Caracara, which I've only seen once, in Texas.
AgileK9s - Neat that you've just started The Beck Diet Solution. My take is that it's a great book to work, even though The Complete Beck Diet for Life is available. The core strategies are the same and all of us who have done the 42 program days will look forward to following and supporting your progress along the path.
Love your observation that you "KNOW how to lose weight." It seems to be the topic of the day that maintenance is the harder challenge.
Are you willing to tell us about your K9s?
Readers -
"You will learn how to talk back to these thoughts by making Response Cards, which are index cards (or the equivalent) that are important reminders that you read every day. ..." The Complete Beck Diet for Life, pg 20.
Robin I am so impressed with your handling of the pancake house. I don't eat out much and when I do I anticipate enjoyment. Many times I been angry the meal did not live up to my expectations and used this as an excuse to come home and binge. The next time that happens I'll remember how you talked yourself through it. Thanks for the inspiration!
I'm going to the gym tomorrow for the first time in months and I know I'm going to feel really really good afterwards. Sore, but proud. I'm meeting friends for lunch afterwards to plan what exercise classes we can meet at regularly to motivate each other.
Thanks to all for the encouragement; it helps to hear the voices of experience confirm it does get easier.
checking in!
TGIF and I mean it. Day 5 week 2 of 8
What do you mean when you say you are working on another training session? Just curious if it is exercise or food plan or something else? You can do it girl! I mean WE can do it! 
Saturday
Obviously since it was such a struggle, I should keep at it. But before my perfectionism sabotages my willpower, I think I'm going to allow one distraction; eating with family and friends, when the situation occurs. I know darn well it's the TV/reading/snacking pattern that does me in. Adding in next skill: Identifying hunger/craving desire, and plan to stay here for a while. I do think there is a tendency to try to do too much, too well, too soon, which can be a sneaky way to sabotage myself. 
There are some benefits to eating consciously.
I had a broccoli omelette.
How funny is that?!! Im thinking this is probably a very good thing. Eating clean and healthy is a good thing. Ive finally realized that I feel so much better eating this way. Beck has helped so much in dealing with the head stuff that my attitude is changing about the way I look at food. You know what? I LIKE it!!
Ive gotten better at shutting it out....sending positive thoughts your way to shut out the chocolate talk!
I know it makes a difference, but drinking cold water, and having to pee in our very very cold shop bathroom is a big deterrant 
Introduction
It's my brain and emotions that do me in! I ordered the book and it came yesterday. I'm reading it now and am hopeful especially since I reached an all time high weight when I stepped on the scales yesterday morning. 
the meal did not live up to my expectations and used this as an excuse to come home and binge. The next time that happens I'll remember how you talked yourself through it. Thanks for the inspiration!