ok today is day 11 and i'm putting it off...ugh. why?

differentiate between Hunger Desire and Cravings...

hey nessa, how's it going? i hope you are feeling successful on today's task.
everybody else is sure quiet today, they must be sleeping! just kidding i know everyone on here is hard at work.
my day is going ok, bfast and lunch were both eaten sitting down and focusing on my food and my exercise for today is step aerobics (wish me luck). i enjoy that class but i mostly just march in place while everybody is bouncing all around me.
hope everybody is having a great day and has a good night...amy

focus on food... it's hard... but i can do it for part of my meal which i guess is better than none...

i'm still not able to exercise. i think that this has put me in a holding pattern.

i read the chapter. i thought about it today.

all this thinking about my food and my relationship to food makes me very uncomfortable....

Nessa:
introspection makes everybody uncomfortable, that's why no one does it

you are doing great! don't give up just because you are out of your comfort zone. that's where we achieve at the greatest level. we have to push our boundaries regardless of fear. in the words of the immortal Garth Brooks "life is not tried it is merely survived if we're standing outside the fire." don't worry, we are all on the other side with a bag of ice for your feet. I know you can do this, and don't worry about it taking longer than one day, things like this take some time.

as for me i went to my step class, it was good and then i hurried home then had to pick up dd and take her to her band rehearsal (she plays clarinet in the city woodwinds orchestra) and so by the time i got home to eat i was STARVED! i ate sitting down but i ate in such a hurry that i didn't notice what i was eating, i mean i know what i had, it was one chili dog, no bun and some fries, but i ate so fast i don't think i really enjoyed it, but i didn't go back for more either so that's progress.
hope everyone has a good night's sleep and wakes up tomorrow refreshed and ready for more!
amy

Hi there everyone,
I am done with the two late night conference days!!! My allotting 200 extra cals for a dessert worked tonight. I felt great and drank lots of water too.

Sue: what you say about being solid when at home and in normal routine mode, is SO true for me also. I am so challenged by special events and life is full of "special events". By the way, I practically count driving home a different way a "special event". I would love to redo the days that you identified with you if you are interested in company on that path. Two days per week of redos sound great (I am getting a feeling of deja vu here...).

You are all so inspriing-keeping on keeping going.

I must hit the hay..will have a bit more time tomorrow night for a more thorough check in. Keep on truckin' everyone. Til tomorrow, Heidi

Hi guys,

this day went quick!! Realized forgot to get something paper work in on time and had to get on the road for 5 hrs to get it done-Manana to do day 16 in the book. I really have to make peace with the NO Choice card or at least modifiy it in way which I consistantly use it. I am rebellious with the no choice idea-sort of get an "Oh Yeah watch me" attitude.- like you said onebyone- Anyway I need help on this one. I think the real biggie for me is emotional eating. When stressed It is like my mind says NO Choice to remaining on my food plan and sort of "I must" overeat to be calm. I think I would like to say no to emotional eating and yes to heathy eating.

Heidi-great minds-Since we did not eat at home as planned to my paperwork mishaps- I alloted 200 cals for a measured treat. I enjoyed it without going into mindless food land due to the trip.

Credit- i did get in at 1/2 hr swim-maybe shorter was good as muscles do get sore with the 1 hr pattern after a couple of days.

got all but 1/2lb to go to get all of the rest regain off.

must go DH has tick which must be removed immediatly,
sue

Diet Coaches – Interesting article in the April 2008 Nutrition Action Health Letter comparing lean and obese people. They instrumented the subjects for 8 weeks to measure their NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) - meaning the time spent "ambulating" about not counting time designated as exercise time. Seems that lean people spend about 2.5 hours more per day (350 cals) moving rather than sitting. Sobering info. They conclude that low daily NEAT time is a major contribution to obesity.

Bought more strawberries yesterday went I went walking. We're really enjoying strawberries now. Then adult DD dropped by and "went shopping" in my fridge - goodbye half of them. Great, I'm now required to go walking again to get more - that's just throwing the rabbit into the brier patch, LOL.

Sue (CoastalSue) - Kudos for your half hour swim. Congrats on progress on the regain. And Kudos for going forward even when it's difficult.

Heidi (hbuchwald) - Kudos for planning and executing the 200 calories for your evening. Such a good example of a premptive creative strategy to face a difficult situation. Yea that the conferences are over and you can get back to your comfortable schedule.

Mez (mezmerize) - Kudos for continuing to be Eight Mile Mez. Ouch for an acting up knee.

Barbara (barbpos) – Ouch! Kudos for being on a path to support your heart to help it find its way to ticking calmly. A sobering reminder to the rest of us that our healthy life styles show our love of our hearts. Sending you supporting thoughts.

onebyone – Congrats to your scale for settling down to reality. And thanks for your exposure of a thinking error that also slips into my mind so easily:My greatest concern is going slightly off track and then dropping all efforts at the healthy life style. I'm capable of doing that when I sever the link in my brain that what I'm trying to do is possible and I can be responsible. And the easiest way for me to sever that link is by one of the 9 Common Thinking Errors of Program-day 26. So, I just reread them; thanks for the reminder. And Kudos for fighting them yourself.

Good perspective this: "Take the good thoughts and feelings where you can get them." Turns my negative thought into a positive one.

amy (gahundy) – Kudos for standing down the Desire for a midnight snack. And Big Kudos for seeing your thinking error so clearly, "for some reason i have it in my mind that it will help me sleep, it seldom does." Today must be fix our thinking errors day on the Beck thread.

Nessa (ladybugnessa) - Kudos for overcoming "I'm putting it off" and reading Differentiate Between Hunger, Desire, and Cravings. And Kudos for focusing "for part of my meal." It constantly surprised me which part of the Beck stuff pushed my buttons, but push my buttons it did (and does). Ouch that you can't exercise right now, but, nevertheless, keep the faith and keep on keeping on.


Readers – "… And research continues to show that people who are significantly overweight are at higher risk for a number of diseases and medical conditions. … " From the Forward by Aaron T. Beck, M.D., Beck, pg 10.

__________________
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Completed Beck Program-day 42. You’ve met your goal. Congratulations!

Hello Coaches

Just a short post from me this morning to start my day off right. I stayed on plan yesterday. Credit moi. I did some extra walking last night, choosing the 15 minute walk from the transit station to my house instead of waiting the 14 minutes for my bus. Credit moi. I DID NOT EAT at my friend's house when she ofered me pizza and I was starving right after school. I dropped by for coffee and a chat and it always stretches into a 3 hour "quick chat" so by the time I got home it was 9pm. I got to her place around 5pm. But I waited and practiced Beck's "No Choice" and "Say No to Food Pushers" and got through it. Easier to stay on plan than get on plan kept running thorugh my head too. That line works for me. yay! credit moi.

Today is a very busy day off. 3 submissions are due on friday: 1) a miniature print submission for an international exhibit to be held at our school. Need to get 2 prints matted this morning 2) submitting work for the school's boutique. Need to make a few jewelry items for the showcase and get a painting together too... 3) scholarship applications are due. I wasn't going to enter but I can throw 5 things together and present them well, so, mostly under peer pressure (fellow students were aghast I wouldn't submit *sigh*), I will do that as well. Busy.

I'd better go. have to have breakfast and am off to the school. I'll be back later to check in with everyone. Bye for now!

love my title... let's do my personals first as I'm often bad about those:

gahundy thanks for the support and I knew I liked you for a reason. "life is not tried it is merely survivied if you're standing outside the fire" ONE of my most favorite quotes of all time!
Congrats for noticing you were starved and ate too quickly. rushed eating is one of my big huge problems! it ties in to the practice hunger tolerance doesn't it? I mean I'm FINE if i'm not eating... and just keep NOT eating but once you throw that switch, i'm all up in the food! i guess we have to figure out that fine line between not eating and being in control and that first bite that opens the flood gates....

hbuchwald I too am fine as long as i have my day to day routine... take me out of that and i'm floundering... so many of us are creatures of habits. congrats on your 200 calorie dessert plan working.

coastalsue congrats on your swim. I too rebel at "no choice" and i haven't even gotten there yet... did you get the tick off of your DH???

BillBlueEyes thanks for that article. doesn't it tie in well with the spontaneous exercise ideas of Becks???
as for weight loss not being permanent... i think we will all forever have to be vigilant in our efforts... and i think that's so unfair... but then i haven't gotten to the life is not fair part of the plan yet....

onebyone congrats on staying on plan and taking that walk instead of waiting for the bus! and for saying NO! WELL DONE!


ah ok... now me

today is day 11/12 (they seem so joined to me) practice hunger tolerance.

been there done that. not happening today as we have major lunch plans...

i'm still thinking about eat slowly and mindfully... i wonder if i can even move on to hunger toleralnce if I haven't mastered slowly and mindfully yet....

i am thinking which is a better day to do hunger tolerance a work day when i get home and i would inhale everything or a day i'm already home and there's food all over all the time... i can't see using a day that i'm naturally busy and have no time to eat as a fair test of hunger tolerance.

and besides what do i do about the fact that hunger tolerance goes against EVERYTHING my plan is about???

ok coaches, new dilema...i ate my lunch (mashed potatos w/chicken and gravy and carrots) slowly and tasting each bite, but when i was done i was not satisfied. i wasn't hungry, just felt like something was missing. i don't know what i wanted, i just felt like i needed something else. someone brought oreos in but i didn't have one of those, but i did have a bite of a pnut butter sandwhich cookie ( i figured since i don't care for those as much as oreos i wouldn't eat more than one.) ate one bite of it and decided that it just didn't taste good and threw the rest away. i did eat a piece of hard candy though. i feel a little better, but still feel like i am missing something.
i never thought i would be able to say that i wanted something else to eat but knew that i wasn't hungry! how does everyone deal with wanting something more even when not hungry? do you eat it anyway or do you wait to have it when you are hungry? just curious. like i said i have never had these thoughts about food before so i am being thrown a curve ball here. it's so weird how i can see that some of my thinking has changed already!

gahundy what do you want hot? sweet? texture? I know for me a meal is not over till i have something hot and sweet... coffee or tea usually....

thanks nessa,
i think i was looking for something sweet and crunchy. i am trying not to eat if i am not hungry. we'll see how it goes tomorrow. thanks for being so sweet to me.
amy

ah a NAME amy!

amy i was struggling with that today... i ate my egg and v8 very late for me (around 8:30 instead of 7) because i waited for hunger... then at 10:30 i was still not HUNGRY... well about a 3 or 4 on a scale of ten but my plan tells us to eat every 2-3 hours.... so I ate it.

now it's 7:45 pm and i ate a late lunch at 2 pm ish and i'm just starting to feel hungry about a 6 or 7 on a scale of 10 I would say.. maybe a 5 i'm not sure... see that for me is the hard one.... I know FULL 0 or 1 on a scale of 10 with 10 being starving

I know STARVING 10 or 11 on a scale of 10

what is HUNGRY..... what is full? what is mildly full?

shades of gray.... <deep sigh>

HI everyone,
Coastalsue: Yowch on that tick for hubby. Hope that came out easily! Yes, that 200 cal allotment really worked! Glad that it worked for you too. Excellent that you are so close to getting back to your pregain weight.

BillBlueEyes: Very interesting (as I walk in place and type at the same time…ha!). That really does speak to it being a lifestyle thing doesn’t it?

Onebyone: Kudos on walking instead of bussing!

Nessa: Good luck with hunger tolerance when you are ready for it!

Amy: It is great to notice your thinking is changing about food. I guess I try to distract myself when I want something…or figure out what I am trying to solve by eating if it isn’t hunger. Coffee/tea was a great suggestion from Nessa.

On plan today and feeling good. Only two conferences left to reschedule but the bulk of them are behind me now! I am so close to having lost 50 lbs. my reward for myself is getting some of those sliding drawers for deep kitchen cabinets to be able to access cooking tools more easily.

I am actually looking forward to cooking something tomorrow and also figuring out what I want to cook sounds fun…amazing.

Off to look at beck book before snoozing!

Til tomorrow, Heidi

Hi folks,

DH had a very nasty tick-plus had a sore reaction to the bugger. Now it is the wait and see if there are any lyme symptoms. it was got out quick which is good and less likely for lyme to develope.

Tonight we just got the live mouse kitty brought in- returned to the outdoors- 2nd one she brought into the house this week-the joys of rural living.

Chpter 16 Prevent unplanned eating

premise-the internal argument when struggling with eating or not eating something not part of the food plan causes tension which is emotionally and physically uncomfortable and when you make a decision about the eating the tension is reduced.

solutions-Firmly sayiing NO CHOICE to eating food not part of your food plan. This will decrease the struggle and discomfort. She likens this to brushing your teeth-You do not struggle over mundane everyday tasks-one just does the everyday rules of brushing your teeth.

Results-once you establish the NO CHOICE rule you rarely break it, don't think about it much, don't struggle, don't feel conflicted, don't feel deprieved and don't eat food you will regret seconds later. I.E. As your brain gets this retraining it will get easier.

In the text she include additional rules she folows for her food plan

1. eat substantial amounts of protein, veggies, and fruit at every meal,
2. the only junk food is after dinner.
3. only eat raw veggies while preparing dinner.
4. When eating out eat only up 25% more that I usually do when I'm home.

Make a NO CHOICE card and read it often.

this is the all time tough one for me to consistantly follow. Staying on a healthy food plan will never become a mundane tasks for me as there are a ton of complex/emotional reasons for me to overeat. I think on some primal level food will always be calming for me-intellectually I know food is not a fix it all and the consequences of using that way is horrible for my body.

Here is my card-GET REAL- get real to learn how to cope with tension and have a healthy body at the same time. Let the vision of food being emotionally healing go. It cures hunger not fatigue, sadiness, anger, confusion ect.

my other rules
1. Eat less than 1600 cals using foods of low fat, high fiber, proteins, veggies and fruits and some grains.
2. Swim at least 4 times a week for at least 4 hrs a week
3. 200 cals a day for a treat which can be planned or used for " for controlled implusive" eating-
4. When eating out, eating out up to only 25 % more that home-I find this can be used up just by the heavy use of fats in resturant cooking even in their veggies.
5. Highly "addictive" foods are not allowed in my home-(this basically is some unhealthy processed type of candy, cookies ect.) even skinny DH has improved cholesterol scores without the stuff. Makes going to the movies even more fun for the rare candy treat.

would love to hear your reactions. feedback and how you stop unplanned eating-

Heidi yeah for being close to 50 b lighter!! Like you I am amazed how much DH and I have slowly changed our cooking and meal prep-We now actually love a large range of veggies-big step from the potatoes and frozen peas dishes.Keep it up.

Onebyone-bravo for the walking and having some mottos to help stay on your plan-It is easier to stay on than to get back on again. Very True I can go into a number of days of "last' meal pattern-overeating because tomarrow I'll stop. then 4 lbs later what a pain to get off.

BillBlueEyes- So agree about all of those daily steps of the skinny-I live with a guy who can go and down the staris dozens of time to my once. I leave stuff on the stairs to make one big trip he just goes and forth continously. We joke he has two speeds go and sleep. Glad you have good berries-ours are still rather tasteless-look pretty but just missing that yummy factor.

Ladybugnessa and Gahundy-I also been thinking about what gives me a sense a treat the end of the meal. Checking out what gives you that taste is great. I have learned I like really strong taste-For dinner I have a 40 cal piece of super strong chocolate-so much flavor just a bit is satisfying, also love strong ginger flavors - I finding that strong taste is also a signal I am done eating. Hard candy may be your ticket or that hot beverage at the end of a meal. Glad you two made those points.

Ladybugnessa-When I did the hunger exercise I learned how rarely I actually felt hunger-and the other biggie for me was that after I ate the alloted amount and stopped it did take 20 minutes to feel fuller. I thought maybe years of overeating has "damaged' my ability to feel true hunger. So now my goal is to just learn to eat a "normal' amount of cals instead and kind of ignore pondering hunger too much. I can have some very hungry, hungry days on 1600 cals and other day are so easy-little or no hunger. Either way I stick to 1600 cals.

Best wishes to all

sue