Hi everyone - Listened to a meditation cd last night and fell asleep quickly. Now all my body wants to do is sleep!! will i throw everything off by having a nap?? I think I am getting my daughter's cold, too. I did my strength training today so I feel good about that.
Oh and I have my period so i'm back up a pound. Meh. Hopefully it's gone by official weigh-in on Monday.
Forgot to do the put-extra-food-on-your-plate exercise yesterday, so I'll do it at dinner tonight. i did leave some couscous on my plate last night though
kuhljeanie - great ARC - i love the "freeing up energy" bit as well. So far all I'm doing for CBT/insomnia this week is keeping a sleep log - when I went to bed, when I turned out the light, how many times I woke up and for how long, etc. Of course now that I'm doing that, I have two nights of 8.5 hours in a row, LOL! The great thing is that I get to e-mail my sleep log to the researcher who designed the program, and he then gives me personalized recommendations. cool, huh?
Kara (Walking Princess) - You are doing great! Cool idea to laminate your cards. Happy Birthday in advance, LOL! I hear you on the weekends. I always check the online menus for any restaurants I go to and pick something within my budget, as ChinaMaine said - then NO CHOICE, that's what I'm eating. The end. It's not easy though.
ChinaMaine - Great news that you can work normal days until vacation. congrats on 0.75 lbs, awesome! 38 pounds total is so inspiring!!
I totally agree about small baby steps and one decision at a time. We will get there!
RobinW and wndranne - back
onebyone - It is so interesting to read the checklists from BDFL. I'm not planning to get it until I finish BDS - too overwhelming The spirit seems to be the same even if the wording is different. Big credit to you for accomplishing so many of the items already!! LOL on the "grasshopper" reference ... boy I'm old!!
Bill - yes yes yes! lowering slowly is the key! well done! I'm totally the same with buying produce. My fridge becomes a science lab very quickly.
Une - 2.5 lbs, congrats!! keep it up!!
OK that's all for now folks! More coffee please ...
cheers
Erika
1. During a normal day's activities, I will no longer be sore at the end of it.
2. I will not question whether I have the energy/stamina to get from point a to point b. I know I have it.
3. I will again wear wacky clothes and will have my choice of them cause most things will fit.
4. I will not feel like I am abusing myself with food any longer.
5. I will handle food challenges and it won't feel like a superhuman effort to do so.
6. I will know I am prolonging my life and can look forward to a ripe old age full of vitality and art!
7. I will finally feel able to pull off either platinum blonde hair or hair with a royal blue streak in it.
8. Most glasses frames will look okay on me and I will be happier wearing them-they will look more like "accessory" than "necessity" on my thinner face.
9. I will pursue more opportunities to expose my artwork cause I know I will look good on tv, or in the paper or on video. I won't feel ashamed of how I look to strangers (WHY does this bother me so?)
10. Health-weight related issues will lessen or disappear altogether. These include: leg pain via hipbones due to too much weight; high blood pressure; lowering of cholesterol, rise in energy level, uplifted mood and general sense of accomplishment for facing down a 35 year old personal demon.
onebyone, that is a beautiful list. just awesome. love the bit on longevity in life and art, am with you on the desire to dress well, and i friggin' LOVE the thing about a blue streak in your hair. i should have as a personal goal (career, not weight-related) to have a job where i can wear my nosering every day and have purple hair again. what a goal! erika, thanks! i love hearing what's working for you. i already have a record of my sleep from my monitor - can you PM me with the name of the guy you're working with specifically? is it expensive?
congrats une! 2.5 lbs is exciting good stuff!
heya anne! right back atcha.
yay on really working the muscle, bill! sometimes when i'm doing something that feels uncomfortable when i'm working out (not painful, but uncomfortable) i remind myself that it's SUPPOSED to be uncomfortable. it's uncomfortable to challenge your body, but if you're not challenging your body, it's kind of a waste of time. in the wise words of ms. michaels. i certainly feel better AFTER i exercise if i push myself, for sure. china, again congrats on a tremendous accomplishment, and how lovely for your doc to recognize that! i also find that when my DH goes out of town, the missing is nicely balanced by the joys of sleeping in a big bed by myself, and having one less person using dishes and leaving stuff everywhere. definitely prefer him at home, but...
hi kara!
still feeling blah but pressing on with the food and walking. a couple of turns around the parking lot a few times a day keeps me from eating from boredom, and helps me get my calorie burn up where i like to see it. it's not ideal, but it'll do for now. i'm certainly not panicked anymore about blowing up like a balloon. i did, however, rub my ankles raw while wearing shoes that were perfectly comfortable last year. it's been two days and they're still weeping plasma (but not blood anymore, thankfully.) so i'm wearing less-than-approrpriate shoes to work while they heal. so far, no one seems to have noticed or care. yay.
sleep continues to be tough. more than 1 or 2 nights in a row of 4-6 hours really starts to hurt. falling asleep isn't too bad; it's the night and early-morning wakings. what does the sleep-CBT say to do about that? half the time i don't even remember it, but i see it when i upload my sensewear data, and i can feel it. aaaargh. am considering going back to the 5:00 am workouts, but it's brutal because el nino will wake up too and wander downstairs at 5:45, and that's a whole new arena of painful, since he has no concept of weekends. so. hmm.
stopped by the neighbor's house yesterday to ask him to do something about his yard, but he didn't answer the door. left a note asking him to call but so far, nothing. i'm going to give it another day or two before i file a complaint with the city. aside from that, there's not much i can do...think good thoughts about the right person finding my house! ($2500 of basement water-repair later.) ciao, becksters!
Today's exercise in the book said not to deceive myself into thinking it's ok to eat things with various excuses. I am trying to just stay focused by reading my cards and following my plan. I did the lesson for today, I exercised for 45 minutes and am on plan for food today. I feel good.
BillBlueEyes - great job on learning to lower the dumbells slower. I'm sure you will see a big different very soon. When I read that, it reminded me of how we have to eat slower and more mindfully too. I guess our world is always going so fast we just need to slow everything down a bit. Thanks for the supportive thoughts for all the eating out this weekend. It wouldn't be bad with just one meal but so many over 3 days, yikes! I can use all the supportive thoughts I can get. I'll just take it one meal at a time. As you said, it's a good time to practice that skill.
Une - congratulations for staying on plan, getting your exercise in and for your weight loss. Great job!
Wndranne -
Erica - thanks for the birthday wishes and the tips for eating out this weekend. I think it is a great idea and I'm going to give it a try! Don't worry about the weight gain. It's just water and will come off as soon as your cycle is done. You are doing great
Onebyone - great job on staying on track! I like your response cards too!
Kuhljeannie - sorry to hear you are having some trouble. I think you are doing great. Any exercise is better than none as Dr. Beck, and as you said, it keeps you from eating out of boredeom. Hang in there
Have a good evening, I'll try and check back later.
Drove past the donuts today--yay!!!! And I'm done with this therapy location, so no more of those donuts. Now I'll just have to bolt past the chocolatier at the new location. . .
I used some of the Thin Commandments stuff in thinking about the donuts--the idea that I've tasted it all before, there's nothing new about it, and do I like enough to wear it, which considering I've been ingesting 1/2 lb of donuts every week for two years, means I'm already wearing it. . .
I didn't walk at lunch--miserable weather and general sluggyness. Tracked food, credit. Last night for my birthday dinner with dh, I left food on my plate, credit.
Walking Princess--Yeah, the leaving food on my plate thing is really hard. Like you, at a restaurant I eat it all--but I was pleased I left some last night. It was enough pasta to feed a family of four.
kuhljeanie--kudos on walking around the parking lot--I talk myself out of spontaneous exercise a lot of the time by discounting it--but every bit does help.
one by one--cool for being systematic and doing the checklist, and for doing new ARC's. Yay on the life of vitality and art!
eusebius--that's great you are doing CBT for insomnia. I read about a book by James Claiborn, The Habit Change Workbook, which is supposed to take this approach.
irishune--credit for staying OP with eating.
ChinaMaine--congrats on the positive doctor's visit and 38 pounds lost! I agree about the procrastination--that's a major component of my ocd, putting off doing anything because I think I have to do it "perfectly"--so I don't do it at all in order to avoid the anxiety. Definitely all or nothing thinking.
Bill--I like your idea of acknowledging the idea that fullness *will* set in after 20 minutes, since it's such an act of faith for me I need to keep reminding myself of this.
Stage 1 - The Success Skills Plan
9 skills to master * today's challenges written in blue
motivate yourself daily
read advantage deck NO don't have one yet
read response cards YES credit
weigh yourself daily
weigh just once record change/weight YES I found myself really wanting to hop on and off and on after the first weigh-in number. It's what I used to do but I resisted it. extra credit here.credit
eat slowly, while sitting down and enjoying every bite
I ate everything slowly, while sitting down enjoying everybite YES creditI caught myself twice from eating standing up. I almost did it but realized in time. The second time I was at the school for two art openings and the food is always walking around food but I loaded up the napkin and made a point to sit down on the bench and eat it. I really enjoyed the grapes!extra credit here
give yourself credit
I gave myself credit throughout the day for every positive eating behaviour YES credit
get moving
I did spontaneous exercise YES credit
planned exercise NO
overcome hunger, cravings and emotional eating
I tolerated hunger and non-hunger without eating YES credit
I recognized that fullness sets in 20 min after a meal YES- I actually timed this today and held myself to one giant bowl of food for lunch. I kept thinking about the stuff leftover in the kitchen but waited the full 20 min. I still desired it but didn't have any. DH ended up eating it for his lunch later on. extra credit here
I stopped eating when my food was gone YES credit
I calmed down before I ate YES I was conscious of this today.credit
plan and monitor your eating
I filled in my foodplan chart N/A yet this is a stage 2 thing
follow your plan no matter what
I followed my plan precisely YES I've done things I was told to do-food choices not part of this yetcreditI used resistance techniques YES read my response cards "not about me" credit
get back on track right away
I filled in my cheat sheet NA
contact your diet buddy YES hey buddies! credit
No list of ten tasks. I didn't do much else today as I was getting my order ready to send out and had to cut the day short due to having to get to the school this evening. It is garbage night though so I have to clean that fridge out! That's part of the tasks btw: get your environment in order
Nuxmaga - great job on passing up the donuts. I know exactly how hard that is! Great job on leaving food on your plate too. That is my biggest challenge to date. We'll see how I do this weekend.
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Had my morning snack of a quarter cup of unsalted roasted soy nuts before a meeting at work and decided to stand down the food pusher just to train my resistance muscle. The food pusher brought in a container of fresh Bing Cherries. Oooops; Changed my mind. Decided to break my decision to turn down whatever he brought in since cherries are "good for me;" Oh Well, you can't win them all. Meeting ended abruptly, very early, before he had a chance to offer them. So, . . . hmmmm . . . OK then, CREDIT moi for not eating an unplanned snack that I had already committed to eating because it wasn't offered.
For the life of me I can't figure out the moral of that story.
Jean (kuhljeanie) - Kudos for making your first attempt to contact your neighbor about his yard. And Kudos for getting in some walking in the parking lot.
And Thanks for "I remind myself that it's SUPPOSED to be uncomfortable" - Yep, why wouldn't I intuitively remember that.
onebyone - Congrats on the loss that brings you into the 60's. I particularly liked the Advantage Response Card, "I will again wear wacky clothes... ." And Kudos for doing the 20 minute timing after your lunch as well as Kudos for sitting down to eat your napkin of munchies at the art opening - I never get that one right.
Anne (wndranne) - Waving back. Was thinking of your bike ride of the other day and remembered that Mount Washington in New Hampshire is only 6000 feet and you did 7000 feet. Makes it even more impressive to me when I think of it like that.
Erika (eusebius) - Yay for sleep; Kudos for so sanely attacking the problem with your CBT sleep strategies. And Kudos for leaving couscous on your plate. LOL at "My fridge becomes a science lab very quickly." BTDT.
Margaret (Nuxmaga) - Happy Birthday!!! Kudos for leaving food on your plate even at your birthday dinner.
Neat ideas from the Thin Commandments: "I've tasted it all before, there's nothing new about it, and do I like it enough to wear it."
Kara (Walking Princess) - Yay for working the issue of excuses for eating. I wish I could say that I generated creative excuses, but I just pull out the same, shopworn set and try to reuse them, LOL.
Kudos for OP with food and OP with 45 minutes of exercise. Good CBT thought, "I'll just take it one meal at a time."
Une (irishune) - Congrats on the lost pounds and Kudos for OP with food. Is weather in your gorgeous corner of Ireland attractive enough for walking these days (my favorite form of exercise)?
Readers -
Quote:
How Thin People Think . . .
• Do you sometimes eat because it doesn't feel fair that you can't eat just like everyone else? . . . The Beck Diet Solution, pg 33.
Last edited by BillBlueEyes; 08-01-2009 at 06:01 AM.
Reason: Typo
Drove my DH to the airport at 4 AM. Well, he drove actually, and I dozed. But I did drive home. I got home to find my monthly visitor had arrived – grrrr wish he’d call first. I was darn tired yesterday and the only exercise I did was to walk Moose. I also was HUNGRY all day. I made a half-hearted effort to say ‘hunger is not an emergency’ and ‘no choice’. But I did have about 450 calories over what I planned. Oh well…
WI-down .75 lbs (new low!), Read my cards, made a plan. Food – off-plan, Exercise – off-plan.
china, FWIW, now that i’m paying attention i’m noticing that i get crazy hungry right before TOM too. the good news is that i’m not very hungry at all once it actually starts, so i might start allowing myself a few hundred extra calories at that time, knowing that i’ll cut back by the same amount a day or two later. then it’s not binging – it’s planning for those predictable fluctuations in hunger. congrats on a new low! man, those are exciting. i’m still working my way back down to my pre-unemployment low, but after that i’ll get to experience that thrill again. good story, bill! maybe the moral is, no matter how much you plan (or don’t) and commit to sticking to the plan (or don’t,) if you don’t eat it, you’ll end up feeling perfectly fine about that (which may not be the case if you do eat.) which is good to know. thanks for sharing! kara, you’ll do great this weekend! the truth is that it can be harder when it’s just one restaurant. when you go to so many in a short period of time, they get less special, and it’s easier to just say no. at least that was my experience when i was doing a lot of business travel. and a lot of the seasoned beck vets will also tell you that planning and making that commitment to stick to the plan before you ever walk in the door is key. online menus are wonderful. what the heck did we do before the internet? onebyone, lovely work at your job thingy! i still struggle with finding a place to sit when it’s not a sit-down type thing. maybe i should make a new rule – if there’s no place to sit, i shouldn’t be eating. usually the food at those events – at the ones i go to anyway, they’re usually calorie bombs. you’re rocking it! already back out of the 270’s. that’s got to feel good! maybe when you hit the 250’s you can get that blue streak in your hair and i can live vicariously through you. margaret, awesome job with the doughnuts! i like that stuff from the thin commandment and am planning on stealing shamelessly. thanks! kara, thanks for the reminder about making excuses. i do that ALL THE TIME and it just makes things harder.
still haven’t heard back from neighbor guy. i may try the house again, but i’m thinking the next step is to call the city and register a formal complaint. i might wait until after i’ve had the basement flooding problem fixed, since that’s officially the end of the tasks under my control.
i’ve been staggering under an onslaught of ideas for my not-yet-in-existence bakery. had a real doozy of a good one on my drive to work this morning. i’m still working on the “could you really DO that?” stuff with it, but it’s all coming from thinking about how to make a bakery centered around art and music. going beyond displaying art for sale on the walls (though that’s a fine, fine thing and i’d for sure do that.) anyway, it occurred to me last night (as i was eating a cupcake configuration i’m working on for a party in a couple of weeks) that cakebaking and weight loss are sort of counter-intuitive to each other. but then i remembered that the woman who did my wedding cake was a perfectly normal size, and if i’m surrounded by it every single day, there’s no way i can even try to think of it as special or different or new. plus i’d like to have soup available too - i'll be eating that once we open. in, say, three years or so.
managed to stay in my calorie range even with the cupcake, so go me! still working the parking lot for exercise. if i continue to get up before 5:30, i’ll just put on my sports bra and turn on the wii, even if i can only get in 15 minutes before i have to shower. can’t worry about el nino getting habituated to waking up early. i don’t know a single teenager who wants to be up with mommy at 5:15 am…so if i do nothing, eventually that problem will solve itself, right?
Hi all - Brief check-in today.
I am officially sick. I have a cold, and I have evil gas pains. TMI right?? This being sick is really ticking me off. Between depression, UTI's, major back pain, colds, and insomnia, I have basically felt like crap since last October. You'd think adopting a healthy diet and exercise plan would help, right?? HA!
OK, rant over. I'm going for my walk now, even if I collapse in the middle of it. So there :P
Sorry for the negativity ... I am just fed up right now. Going to the doctor (AGAIN) on Tuesday ... hoping for some answers.
Send good thoughts this way, please.
Erika
P.S. 11 days OP.
BillBE, I think the moral is that sometimes it's better to be lucky than right!
I'm here. Still muddling through. Still holding on by my fingertips until I get the wherewithal to get it together. It's still coming, just not sure when. Got bruised up on the mountain bike on Wednesday, but going out on the road bike tomorrow anyway. Kids and work are driving me crazy. On the plus side, I slept last night without sleeping pills, so hey!
Sorry I don't have time to do a long post. I'm heading out with the girls to go scrapbooking tonight. This will be the first test as we are eating out for dinner. We decided to go to Subway which is probably the best choice for me out of all of the possibilities. I'm going to research the menu before I go like you guys suggested and then I'll be prepared when I go in there. Let's hope I can stay focused and not overeat. Then tomorrow is my bday so we are going out to breafast. I've got to stay focused! Send some supportive thoughts my way if you can, I'll need them
Today was a good day. I woke up a couple of hours later than usual, but felt rested. So, I had to reorganize my exercise schedule. I still did about 45 minutes: I walked Moose twice (credit) and mid-morning I took a quick 12 minute kayak ride. Got my heart rate up to 145 – it was fun! (credit again)
WI-unchanged, Read my cards, made a plan. Food – op, Exercise – op
Une 2.5 lbs down Credit for being op with food, and for keeping up the good fight with the exercise!
Bill Kudos for concentrating on going slow with weights – I tend to forget that…
at being ready to give in to the foodpusher, and then having no food pushed!! Perhaps it’s as our Mom’s all say – things do work out for the best. (Nah! Having the bing cherries would be best; high fiber, low calorie, yummy…)
Erika It’s great you’ve been staying on plan so well – especially when sick and miserable! And rant away, that’s what we’re here for. I know I’m good for a rant every month or two.
one by one Love your ARCs! You’re doing so well with the checklist! I found it really helped (although I haven’t done it in a while) – Do you find it helps?
Kuhljeanie Kudos for walking in the parking lot – can’t fight what works! Yikes about the shoes though – man! Neighbors can be such a pain – good luck getting through to yours…
I never noticed being especially hungry when TOM was on the doorstep, but it’s an interesting observation. I like your way of handling it – credit!
It’s so cool you dream of your bakery. I dream of powerball and paying off everyone’s mortgages. Your dream sounds much more involved and interesting.
Kara for reading your cards and following the plan! It’s harder than it sounds – so give yourself credit!
Credit for researching your dinner choices. Good luck with Subway and breakfast – you’ll do great!
Margaret So happy you’ve left the donuts behind!
Anne You and your mountain bike seem to have an abusive relationship; it always seems to be bruising you up. Credit for taking the punishment.
Since my DH is away, I'm going to turn on Mamma Mia and dance the night away. Ta-ta!
The spirit seems to be the same even if the wording is different. Big credit to you for accomplishing so many of the items already!! LOL on the "grasshopper" reference ... boy I'm old!!
first check in on Thursday
erika, thanks! i love hearing what's working for you. i already have a record of my sleep from my monitor - can you PM me with the name of the guy you're working with specifically? is it expensive? 
Thursday Report
WI-unchanged, Read my cards, made a plan. Food – op, Exercise – op 
Credit for being op with food, and for keeping up the good fight with the exercise!
at being ready to give in to the foodpusher, and then having no food pushed!! Perhaps it’s as our Mom’s all say – things do work out for the best. (Nah! Having the bing cherries would be best; high fiber, low calorie, yummy…)
for reading your cards and following the plan! It’s harder than it sounds – so give yourself credit!