[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Well my combination of chili and bean sprouts was a kick. CREDIT moi. These bean sprouts are BIG - maybe two inches - and strong. So eating them was a challenge, but their cold crunch was nice against the heated chili. I used to occasionally get a bowl of chili from the cafeteria - along with 4 or 5 packages of crackers. Sobering to remember that an arguably healthy food can be used as an excuse to consume so many crackers.

Did my "racking fracking lunges" at the gym. CREDIT moi. Helped to move them along just laughing at their new name.


stacylambert - Yay for digging out your old Advantages Response Card. Now that's a good way to get a running start. How much will you change then now?

onebyone - Ouch for the "persist in victory" trap. You are also facing transitions this semester that can undermine your efforts. Good luck in continuing to confront that stuff.

Can't wait to hear you Wii Fit report. If I could do Wii Fit on my kitchen table perhaps that could be my motivation for clearing my clutter, LOL.


Jean (kuhljeanie) - Kudos for "an easy 4 miles" on your treadmill. And three more Kudos for planning, buying, and installing it to make that possible. LOL at the joy of trying to make a toddler move. BTDT. "rake spaghetti uphill" ranks right up there with "nailing jelly to a tree." No strategy to offer. Perhaps something like, "It's time to put Barney in his car seat," where El Nino plays a major role in buckling his precious Barney in the seat next to him.

Sending supportive thoughts for making the transition from Bistro to Jeanstro. Trying not to be seen visibly drooling at the thought of two freezers full of vacuum packed frozen meals. Not a shabby problem to face.


Robin (RobinW) - Waving. Sending healing thoughts and virtual chicken soup.

Anne (wndranne) - Congrats for a belt notch; that's one of the best NSV's there is. Ouch for Blah, blah, blah, blah." And Ouch for preemptive stress for flying with your kids. Maybe a nice cabin attendant will find them charming and chat with them the whole trip.

Tera (twilit tera) - Kudos again for getting to the pool. LOL that "yesterday was lame." Some days are like that.

Thanks for the tip on food chopping. I do need to either become a mindful chopper, to drop stuff in the food processor, or to buy one of those gadgets that Robin (RobinW) recommended. Perhaps sharpening my knife is a compromise.


Chris (angelmomma210) - Good news that your DH has a class, certainly for the class itself but mostly for having a structured event back in his life after so many years of going to the office. Kudos for "some time for me."

ChinaMaine - Kudos for retrieving NO CHOICE from under your "ugliest shoes." Whatever it takes, LOL.

Thanks for the info on Shrimp Fra Diavolo; I googled recipes and pictures, and even got stuck on Wiki reading about the famous Neapolitan guerrilla leader, Fra Diavolo, who was nicknamed "Brother Devil" as a rambunctious boy. Always good to try to fill in my history of Europe. It sounds like good eating; Would appreciate your easy recipe, I'd like to try it.

By-the-by, you can edit one of your own posts by clicking the [Edit] button at the bottom. I have to do it regularly. Appreciate that I no longer have to try to guess at SOL, LOL.


Tali199 - Yep, Super Kudos for working out when that tired. And Super Thanks for limiting the details of the preparation for your 90 year old mother's colonoscopy. I have a 70 year old friend who announced that her recent colonoscopy (with a ten year pass) was her last - just thinks she'll no longer be interested in the results at the price of the prep.

Readers -

"Success Skill 5
Get Moving
Exercise is important in losing weight and keeping it off for these reasons:

...
It helps you control your appetite.
...

" The Complete Beck Diet for Life, pg 69

[twilit tera]

Tuesday Report

OP all the way - food, supplements, exercise, 3FC x2

I was wrong last night about the pain in my hip. It still hurts, so I spent most of pool time waving my arms. No more baths at home. me for working out when I could have used the pain as an excuse.

Now, I'm tired, and I hurt a bit. I'm finding it hard to resist feeling sorry for myself again. I have too much to do to mope.

Bill: for finding a way to make lunges fun! I hope you get the giggles for years to come.

[RobinW]

Good Morning

Im here and about 60% op. I have the right mind set, but the inner fat chick is fighter harder than the thin chick.

Just one day at a time!! I also KNOW that I need to keep junk food out of the house! It talks to me........and I KNOW that I shouldn't eat food that talks to me! It's possessed ya know!?!!

Im feeling better....this one was a bit rough. It isnt too often I'll admit I need to go home to bed.

Bill~ Thanks for the healing vibes! I love the idea of sprouts with your chili!! Im going to have to give that one a try. You had asked me once (and I forgot to reply until now) if I grew my own sprouts. No I dont, do you? It's hit and miss in the grocery stores for them. If I dont hit it right, all that is left are the old runny ones. Yuck! Big kudos for getting your lunges done!!

Tera~ Yah for op all the way!!

Anne~ Kudos for getting your cards read and today planned out!! Have your kids flown before?

ChinaMaine~ Kudos for keeping to your plan even when you are feeling humdrum!! You did good

Tali~ As much as I enjoy my days off, I find it easier to stick to my plan and routine when Im at work.

onebyone~


I seem to have gotten myself involved in some new networking groups. Its good, but I always find it so stressful when we get busy.

Our interview went well with our potential salesman, but now Im not so sure. So we are still looking.

We started another website....more stuff to keep up with. There just isnt enough time in the day.

Well, anyway, Im feeling more centered. I need to find a more aggressive distraction when the emotional eating gets me. If you have any thoughts on this one, let me know. It certainly needs to be aggressive, the passive things I do when cravings come or boredom eating creeps up just dont cut it for the rollercoaster I was on last week. I did some walking....but that didnt work very well.

Have a great day everyone!

[Tali199]

Hello all my Beck Buddies and Coaches

I’m feeling good and doing well. I got eight hours of sleep last night so I’m feeling back to normal. I’m totally OP with everything. I’m continuing to read BDS and I’m just loving it. It amazes me how this book is covering every sabotaging thought that I ever had during past weight loss attempts. BB (Before Beck), I didn’t know how to handle those thoughts, so I would always end up giving in to them. Now I’ve been given the ammunition I need to fight back. I’m going to order the other Beck book today.

ChinaMaine – Congrats on hitting you new low. Now we just have to work on your attitude. Some times we just have to sit down, regroup and come up with a new plan of action.

Anne and ChinaMaine -- My mother’s procedure went fine – thanks!

Anne – Good for you for getting OP even though you were feeling BLAH. Are you feeling better today?

Tera and Anne – Monday was an anomaly for me, I normally get 8 hours of sleep every night. Even before I started changing my eating habits and exercising, I needed a good 6 hours of sleep just to function. But, now that I’m making so many changes, my body demands 8 hours of sleep, and I listen to it.

Robin – Glad you’re feeling better.

Tera – I will let you know when/where I get the BF% test done, but it definitely won’t be any time soon. I’m going to wait until I lose a significant amount of weight before I have it done. In the meantime I’ll just go by my hand held device.

Bill – LOL about your comment about my mother’s colonoscopy. Yeah, considering her age, it will probably be the last time she’ll have to deal with it.

Tera -- I hope your hip starts feeling better soon!

Everyone have a GREAT day!

[onebyone]

Good Afternoon Coaches

Well. It's just not a good food day and the worst of it is I just don't care enough to shake myself out of this funk. *be gone sabotaging thought*Crumbs.
I have yet another trigger besides persist in victory it's "feeling bloated". When I feel bloated, and I mean stomach out to here, round hard and full, this ALWAYS pushes me to eat. I think it's about eating to feel something besides bloated and fat and the irony of course is that this strategy KEEPS me feeling full and keeps my weight up there so I REMAIN fat. I have pretty much noticed this "strategy" in me. Talk about your self-sabotage. Sheesh. Credit moi for noticing these things. for not recognizing it and for reinforcing bad habits. Phooey. Credit moi for logging my calories into fit day yesterday and today.

No report about the wii fit. I still have a cluttered living room. I may just see what I can do anyway.

Tali199 Credit to you for being OP 100%. I needed to hear someone was. I am sure it feels good!

RobinW Robin, I ate the food that talked to me. It's all gone now. This is definitely not a strategy I recommend, (though it did shut it up ). I am within my calorie count as I write this today but food consisted of all fast food today. Yikes. Poor empty calories. Is this OP? Technically, yes. And sometimes technically has to be good enough. Oh Well. Maybe the next time you feel driven to eat just drop me an email and I'll do the same okay? Sometimes just writing it down makes it go away. Hope your days get progressively better and better

twilit tera indeed for avoiding mopiness, being OP and waving your arms in the pool, just like this: yay! yay! yay!

Billblueeyes You wrote

You are also facing transitions this semester that can undermine your efforts. Good luck in continuing to confront that stuff.

BBE, you are so perceptive. Thank you for righting me when I am tilting. Yes, many changes are afoot. Many. I sure hope I let myself lose the weight as one of my changes. Thanks for the perspective. I needed that.

[AnneWonders]

Coaches/Buddies I almost fell down a flight of steps today, and while I didn't feel especially dizzy before it happened, it was pretty clear I need to actually deal with this sinus infection that isn't really going away instead of just sort of ignoring it and hoping for the best. So I went to urgent care, got my antibiotics changed and came home for sleep. Sleep didn't happen of course, and now I'm stressed about running myself out of time off work in February with the rest of the year still to get through.

Anyway, I had an off-plan snack. Well, the snack wasn't off plan exactly, but the portion size sure was. About a 450 cal diversion. An official feeling lousy pity party. I worked all my Beck strategies really hard before I caved, but today I wanted to just eat more than I wanted to lose weight. And then I got right back on plan, much to my surprise, eating the dinner and even the final snack I'd planned for the day. Big credit there, boxing up my pity party and putting in right where it belonged, in the past.

I'm sooo tired of feeling lousy. Fortunately DS is feeling really good and is fun, and DD seems to be responding positively to some of the ScreamFree parenting ideas (or is just having a good week), so I feel like the jello is raked and the spaghetti is nailed. Heh. And the laundry got done while I wasn't sleeping as a double bonus. Let me put that in the active voice where it belongs. I did the laundry today. I'm claiming a credit.

Tera Sorry the bath did a number on your hip. Double sorry that it still hurts after sleep. Glad the RCs on the food worked for you. Sounds like a good strategy.

Bill I think Meg one time said she eats chili on broccoli slaw. I thought that sounded nice as well. Good job on the RFLunges!

Thanks for the good thoughts on the flight. But reading this and reading my summary above makes me realize I'm just borrowing stress from tomorrow that I don't need to worry about right now. Like I don't have enough just being sick and feeling cruddy. I can stress about the trip next week when it happens. I can stress about a lack of available sick days later if I need more, and I may not. I'm going to try to deal with one crappy situation at a time. Please if I'm still borrowing stress tomorrow.

RobinW I think we should send our inner fat chicks out to a movie or something because they are not doing us any favors.

And that talking food thing, a definite sign that it has been around way too long since it evolving into a higher life form and just needs to go.

DD has flown before, but it has been a while. This is DS's first trip.

I like running as an active distraction, but have sort of a hard time dropping everything to do it. I often fantasize about taking up boxing or a martial art, just to pound the snot out of something. One of these days, I may get a heavy bag. I think it could be a lovely addition to my living room, and frankly given our housekeeping, who would know?

Oh yeah, . I think 60% is great. Really.

Tali I love the CT strategies. So helpful.

onebyone Yes, BIG CREDITS for noticing your patterns. You have identified some unhelpful thoughts, and now you can work on them. Which will help with the unhelpful behaviors and the unhelpful feelings. And Credit for being technically on plan, because yeah, good enough is good enough.

I'm hope I'm not sounding too snarky talking to you guys, but I sort of feel like I'm talking to myself as well. Some days personals are a good good thing all around.

I think I'm going to do a quick plan, read the big RCs, brush teeth and get to bed an hour early tonight. It's my night with DS and I could use the sleep now, and I'm finally exhausted.

Anne

[ChinaMaine]

Getting back in the groove.

Beck – WI-unchanged–Made a plan for today; read my cards, finished Skill 8. I see cheatsheets are in Skill 9, so I look forward to learning to use them. Some of my decisions just perplex me, I think they’ll help me figure out how to make better decisions.

Food – Yesterday I was off plan mid-day (no afternoon snack or salad before dinner). So I allotted myself about 250 calories for high protein snacks after dinner (should I get hungry). I chose snacks that met my calorie goal (credit). Unfortunately, the snacks were high in saturated fat, causing me to go over my overall saturated fat goal. I need to be more specific about my post-dinner snacks in my plan so I can be sure they won’t mess up my saturated fat goal of <= 9% per day.

Today, I’ve been op - until dinner. I decided to have a small slice of garlic toast with my Shrimp Fra Diavolo -- wonderful! But it wasn't somthing I considered when putting my plan together this AM... Since I haven't been hungry since dinner I removed my plans for an after-dinner snack. Good news: over the last 2 days my sat fat evens out to be on track. My calories today are about 150 below what I planned. So, I have a feeling that Beck wouldn't approve of my flexibility, but I'm hard pressed to feel too bad about it...

Exercise – op

Anne Credit for cards and kicking adolescent butt. I just wrote out those RCs today. I seem to need to kick a lot o adolescent butt myself… I know it’s frustrating, but I’m sure you are right that the scale will respond once you are off the antibiotics – about another 5 days?

Anne -for tonight - Credit for getting right back on the horse (after your 450 cal diversion). I really hope the new antibiotics work a lot better than the last batch - YIKES! So, with new antibiotics is it another 10 days til you are done? I don't blame you for feeling frustrated-I know I would...

Bill – Thanks for the tip on editing posts (it will surely come in handy). I’ll post the Fra Diavolo recipe in the next few days…

twilit tera – Credit for the Newman-O success strategy! Sorry your hip is still sore – and credit for exercising anyway!

Robin I know some food talks to me too! Good luck finding the aggressive strategies you need. Give the thin chick the ammunition she needs to fight the fat chick!!

one by one I really hope you have a better day tomorrow. Good luck and a big

Tali - op – credit!

[twilit tera]

Hello, my Beckbuddies!

It's so nice to be back here again. It's been a long drawn-out day. While I didn't accomplish all that I intended to school-wise, I did get some of it done and all that I'd planned to housekeeping-wise. Spent the day very tired, had to resist eating the entire frozen pizza I baked for dinner, but I did. I pulled it out of the oven thinking "I'm going to eat this whole thing and I don't care" but as it turned out I did care and had sense long enough after I started feeling the hunger pass to set it down. "If after 10 minutes I still want to finish it, I'm going to. So there." And after 10 minutes I decided I didn't want to. After 15, I decided to put it away for later. me.

Robin: Some days the fat chick wins and some days it's the thin chick. Wish it could be otherwise. But we will keep fighting. I'm on the thin chick's side.

Tali: Glad to hear you make getting your rest a priority. I'm also pleased to hear that your mom got through okay.

onebyone: Thank you so much for being my cheerleader today!! It's really gonna help me get out to the gym tomorrow!

Anne: for putting the pity party behind you. for getting what your body needs to get better. I feel your anxiety over sick days. Been there too. That is fantastic news about your progress with the kids!

ChinaMaine: I love the way you track - analyzing what went on to apply the knowledge later. That's powerful stuff!

Everybody: Goodnight. I'll check in after the health club tomorrow with my usual report.

[BillBlueEyes]

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Deliberately chose my after work walk to avoid Whole Foods. CREDIT moi. I'm getting a little too familiar with that place. And, just to exercise my resistance muscle, which was feeling a little limp, I skipped my pre-dinner snack since DW was in the kitchen beginning to cook. CREDIT moi. Feeling the need to watch out for the lazy edges of staying on course.

onebyone - Yep, BIG Kudos for the clear self assessment - that lets you line up the guns to fight back. I do love your statement from before, "anything worth fighting will fight back." Sending another burst of supporting thoughts as you're turning a corner here.

Jean (kuhljeanie) - Waving. Sending supportive thoughts to you and speed-up thoughts to El Nino.

Robin (RobinW) - Yay for "feeling more centered." Kudos for being 60% OP and charging forward. LOL at food that talks to you. Perhaps it would help to post a big sign like, LIBRARY, NO TALKING. Hope that you keep reminding yourself that you're feeling better; this self talk works.

Nope, I bought my bean sprouts all sprouted. (Went and measured them; they're three inches long!) These came with the most marvelous list of aspecific medical claims, including protection against "certain cancers." I dream of sprouting my own just to make the sixties come back.


Anne (wndranne) - Ouch for real medical issues; Kudos for acknowledging them and taking action before you're hospitalized. But biggest Kudso for "boxing up my pity party" in such short order.

Perhaps you need a good song to sing. Humbly submitting:

You an'me, we sweat an' strain,
Body all achin' an' racket wid pain,
Rake dat jello!
Nail dat 'getti!
Git a little drunk
An' you land in jail.

Tera (twilit tera) - Kudos for getting to the pool even in the face of a good excuse. And Big Kudos for using stellar CT strategies to talk yourself out of a whole pizza.

ChinaMaine - Kudos for charging along in Beck through Skill 8. And from my perspective, Kudos for flexibility. There's a time for NO CHOICE and there's a time for flexibility. Give yourself credit for being aware that you're making that choice. Drooling over Shrimp Fra Diavolo.

Tali199 - Kudos for 8 hours sleep. Everything I read keeps stressing that and I keep telling myself it isn't required, but I suspect it is. Good job. Yay for the "ammunition I need to fight back."

Readers -

"Success Skill 5
Get Moving
Exercise is important in losing weight and keeping it off for these reasons:

...
It helps improve your health.
...

" The Complete Beck Diet for Life, pg 69

[davidette]

Tera My first name is Theresa. I go by my middle name of Davidette; but I answer to everything from Terry to Dave - there's probably some psychological issue with doing that , but one problem at a time. I didn't realize Theresa meant "reaper". The first thing that popped in my head was "you reap what you sow" which would make a pretty good response card, along the line of "you are what you eat". Thanks for a new visualization to work with!

Kudos for working out through the pain. Do anti-inflammatories or heating pads help? OP all the way, can't ask for more than that!

Pizza postponement, giving time for higher brain to kick in. Easier said than done.

Bill How's the elbow doing? I need to come up with a phrase that makes crunches amusing. Kudos for insight into resistance muscle needing a bit of work.

chinamaine Your flexibility is the groove I need to be working into! Kudos tracking saturated fat; I've been focusing on fat/protein/carb percentage, but I'm going to take a good look at the saturated numbers.

Anne A friend of mine has recurring ear infections and after mucho doctor visits and several specialists, she has discovered it's related to a food allergy! I wonder if that's possible with your sinus problems? Might be something to keep in mind if the problem recurs.

Kudos getting right back on plan immediately (I love the phrase "box the pity party") and BIG CREDIT recognizing you were borrowing stress. I create a lot of stress over things that never happen, in some kind of mistaken idea I'm planning ahead, but I seldom see that.

I took a kickboxing class with bags once and it was very cathartic. I was also surprised at how invigorating it was! Unfortunately the Y's kickboxing class doesn't have equipment and flailing at the air with your fist or foot just doesn't do it. And I have to admit, punching at things did sound like a dangerous habit / mind set to purposefully develop! (My yoga teacher was horrified )

onebyone Do you think all the changes you are facing could be causing an underlying anxiety that is leading to emotional eating? To quote Anne "borrowing stress" on a subconscious level? Here's an official Get that Wii out now! You have to make time for yourself and your diet program first, which I think you've told me before!

Tali Good job to your body re: sleep. OP with everything! Thanks for the quote from Gerald Mustane - I seem to need to hear that every day!

Robin Good to see you back, even at 60%. Distractions work best for me when it's something I've been wanting to do but don't make time for because more critical problems crowd out "nonessentials". Maybe browsing seed catalogs, planning your garden? Downloading some new music? Music can be a great mood lifter in itself. When you are too busy it's hard to give yourself a "break time" which means even more stress!

For the advice on the upcoming spring break attack; I plan to incorporate all of it! A shift in mental perspective, special event skills, flexible planning / flexible eating, 25% more , working my current plan into the week (I know I can get them to the gym with me), maintain not lose, enlist aid (emphasize health issues). I've got a lot of homework, but I expect to have specific RC cards and enough preplanned structure to avoid the decision making struggle so I can enjoy THEM. My current inflexible plan has become a crutch I can start doing without, and after all, a week really isn't so long. This is actually a good opportunity to earn lots of credit - my regular credit skills are not providing the pride they used to.

Got to go get ready to go to the Y, today is weight machines and cycling, and as usual it's so tempting to stay home. NO CHOICE!

[twilit tera]

Wednesday Report

OP 100% (food, supplements, pool, 3FCx2)

Today we got a late start at the healthclub because I left my purse (with the membership card that unlocks the locker) at home and didn't realize it til we arrived, so we had to come back to get it. We put in a full workout nonetheless, thanks to B's flexible work schedule. He wanted to cut it short, but I asked him to stay longer.

Still a little tired, even though lights went out at 10 last night. I've really got to work on being prepared for sleep when we go to bed, no more last minute getting ready for the next day.

Bill: for planning to avoid Whole Foods!

Davidette: Wow! What a koinkidink that we have the same first name! I'm glad that our name has become yet more ammunition in your fight against fat!

Unfortunately the inflammation is in a tissue that is relatively isolated from the blood stream, so oral anti-inflammatories haven't been any use. I've had all the injections that I can take for the year, and only the first one delivered any noticeable benefit.

It's also very deep, which negates any effect from heating pads or ice. About all I can do is relieve all the physical pressure I can (which is why the new shoes help so much) and keep exercising the weaker leg muscles to create more balance in the bone alignment - but I have to be careful to not pass the point of bearable discomfort while I exercise or I could do even more damage. This makes for a slow recovery period in my case. In the long run, I don't really know how much mobility I can recover - I'm just going to have to keep working at it.

Thank you for the kudos.

Regarding punching things: I think hitting things that were designed to take the punch is perfectly okay. Aggression has a place in our psyche, but very few "socially acceptable" outlets. It's not like you imagine that the punching bag is a person, is it?

When do the kids arrive?

[Tali199]

Hi all my Beckie Coaches/Buddies

100% OP and continuing to make my way through BDS

Okay, I need a little help. I’ve been working on trying to get my sodium levels down. As I’m sure you all know it’s tough because sodium is hidden in just about everything. I was shocked to find out how much sodium is in the “healthy” whole wheat bread I’ve been making my tuna sandwiches with. Anyway, I made some chili over the weekend and I used black beans. I don’t like to cook so I’m always looking for shortcuts, so I used canned black beans. Well, once everything was all said and done and I logged the meal into My Food Diary, the sodium level was off the charts. So, I know the best thing to do is to use dry beans. A while back I had a bad experience trying to boil some dry beans. I can’t remember all the details but it was an unpleasant experience. Now here’s my thought, a couple of years ago I bought a crock pot. Yes, it’s still in the box. But, I was thinking about using the crock pot to cook/boil – whatever – the beans in. Anyone have any thoughts/instructions/suggestions on this? Thanks in advance!

OnebyOne – What are your plans for getting yourself back on the right track? You certainly deserve credit for continuing to log your food into Fit Day and being “technically” OP. I hope you’re able to pull yourself out and up sooner rather than later.

Anne – I’m glad that you didn’t actually fall down the stairs. Glad you got new antibiotics, and hope they do the trick. Mucho credit for having your “snack” but getting right back on plan. Also mucho credit for working through all the strategies before you bowed down to your desire. I really hope you’re able to shake off your ailment soon. You’re right, try not to stress out about things you have absolutely no control over.

ChinaMaine – Good for you for getting back into the groove, even if you had to use some contortionist skills to do it. Also good for you for working on your sat. fat, as stated above, I’m trying to work on my sodium. It’s something I’m going to continue to work on because I have high blood pressure.

Tera – Yes – for not eating the entire pizza

Bill – Kudos for recognizing the need to never become complacent.

Davidette –

Everyone have a good day.

[kuhljeanie]

hi everyone,

again i'm apologizing for not being able to write as much as i'd like - since i'm on the bench, being online for anything other than training-related activities is frowned upon, and i'm not going to push it. so, quickly...more than one person commented on my response to perceived scarcity, and that rang a bell for me. i'm not sure exactly where it's from but there's definitely something to it. the idea of being without is terrifying to me. i can't consciously remember not having enough food, but when i was a brand-new mom, my mother told me that when she first had me, she didn't know she was supposed to feed me at night, and couldn't figure out why i cried every night. i (obviously) have no memory of this, and it may be a HUGE stretch - but who knows, my first experiences in the world were about not getting fed when i needed to, and some infant part of me is still anxious? regardless, i'm resonating to the idea that i'm scared of not having enough. odd it's never occurred to me before. thank you!

tali, i'm a huge fan of shortcuts. i use canned beans - i just rinse them first. i don't know how much salt i lose that way, but it makes a huge difference in the taste. onebyone, i'll pull if you push. me AND you. we'll get there. anne, pleased to hear that both spaghetti and jello are where they oughta be. and agreed - your body is screaming for attention. better to look after it NOW and deal with later, later. i get caught up in that these days too. doesn't do me any favors either...tera, i'm inspired by your dedicated and drive. it's tough enough to keep on without chronic pain. the fact that you're doing it WITH pain is amazing. davidette, i love hearing you describe spring break as an opportunity to try something new, instead of something to be afraid of. that's absolutely awesome. you'll be great! bill, skipping a planned snack - that's some serious resistance muscle flexing. am with you on the slow spiral. it's so subtle at first, very easy to miss. i'm glad i have you to model vigilance. china, pasta fra diavolo just makes me salivate, and isn't it interesting how your intake seems to normalize when you look at more than one day at a time? i was upset by how many little OP forays i've made over the last week or so. when i look at averages over two weeks, though, i'm still in calorie deficit. no point in beating myself up over a little extra here or there, when the trend is good. way to keep that perspective! robin, girl, you take care of yourself! only demon food talks. demon food and my kid's mr. potato head, who chats with his corn buddy. (when did they start making mr. corn and mr. carrot???)

i need to work my resistance muscle harder, too, regardless of whether or not i'm stressed about money, babies, work, whatever. i'm mantra-ing again - asking my food what magical powers i'd like it to have, just to make it clear that FOOD HAS NO MAGICAL POWERS. but i'm open to ideas.

[RobinW]

Good Afternoon

It was snowing like a bugger earlier, and now its wonderfully sunny!! I love the sunshine!

Bill~ Kudos for your walking strategy to bypass Whole Foods!
"I dream of sprouting my own just to make the sixties come back." Do you really think it was sprouts they grew in the 60's? (or today for that matter) I married an authentic hippie He married a real square peg....and has to explain alot of the "alternative" stuff to me

Ok Bill....so where do we get seeds for these bean sprouts? I've never seen them, and Im not sure exactly what they are called. I'm not sure what Im looking for. I think my biggest challenge will be keeping the rabbits out of them!

Tali~ Yah for being op!! I usually boil my beans in a huge stock pot. Ive had issues in the past and this works best for me.

onebyone~ you're on! I think an email buddy might be a great benefit for both of us.

Anne~ Kudos for getting the laundry done!! Some days the laundry looks like MT. Everest

I like the idea of broccoslaw with chili too. Thats good when I cant find decent sprouts. Thanks!

As for the flying....my dd is a pro now. For her very first flight, it was in a prop-plane.....heading wayyyyyyyyyyy north!!! Bearskin Airlines (northern ontario) She was 3 and she had to sit across the aisle from me because it was only 2 rows of seats with the aisle in the middle. She did awesome! I made sure she had a sucker of some sort (spinning princess kind) incase her ears bothered her, and coloring books. She did great. Once in a while she has issues with her ears, so she always flys with jolly ranchers. Jolly ranchers because they are strong flavours and create alot of saliva to keep swallowing. If you make it fun and an adventure, they will be fine.

ChinaMaine~ Yah for getting back in the groove!!

Davidette~ Great job getting to the Y and not making it a choice!

Tera~ Yah for being 100% op!! Big kudos for getting your workout in even after having to go all the way back home!

Jean~ Those Mr. Potato heads are kinda scary.....Id have to toss it if it talked to me I should do the same thing with food eh?! Tossing instead of eating ....hmmm....didnt I read this in Beck's book and balked at the idea. Someone smack me!

Im revisiting the scale issue. I didnt want to get on it daily for my own reasons. But Im thinking if I make it a daily ritual, I may think twice about putting something in my mouth that shouldnt go there. Im still thinking on it. Its a real tough one for me.

.......have a great day everyone!

[onebyone]

Originally Posted by Tali199

So, I know the best thing to do is to use dry beans. A while back I had a bad experience trying to boil some dry beans. I can’t remember all the details but it was an unpleasant experience. Now here’s my thought, a couple of years ago I bought a crock pot. Yes, it’s still in the box. But, I was thinking about using the crock pot to cook/boil – whatever – the beans in. Anyone have any thoughts/instructions/suggestions on this? Thanks in advance!

Hi Tali199

I LOVE the bean and dried is the way to go. I try to eliminate sodium too and this will be a big help.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/driedbeantip.htm At that link are clear instructions about using dried beans. I've made several dishes with them. IMO you wouldn't be able to go from dry to cooked in the crockpot. But if you pre-soak and soften them up a bit then use the beans in a crockpot recipe it'll work out for sure. If you have a big crockpot you could make a big amount and freeze what you don't eat for later. I my crockpot.

Hey I just found this link and it looks even better -- it's got a link on freezing cooked dry beans for later! Exciting!
http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ciq-scratch-beans.shtml