Diet Coaches/Buddies - Ate on-plan at last night's party. CREDIT moi. Big deal because I had fears of drifting into a mindless eating night; the opportunities were certainly there. Had exactly one plate - tiny little appetizer-size-fill-me-up-multiple-times plate. Filled it more than half full of a green leaf salad containing orange slices and walnuts, leaving room for only two potato lattes with a dab of homemade apple sauce on each. No cheese, no homemade fudge, none of the mounds of cookies and other holiday treats. Later I had a taste-sized serving of the hostess's Moosewood Cookbook mushroom bisque. Boy was that good.

OK, now two eating events between 6pm and midnight. Gotta get my head into arriving with a plan for each. It isn't a surprise that I'm going. I've RSVP'd both events. With a plan, both will can be simple eating events.


onebyone - Whopping BIG Kudos for that kitchen make over. That's some real contribution to a supportive environment. Neat candlelight dinner. Thanks for the pictures; I immediately recognized your astronaut painting; it looks good there.


Jean (kuhljeanie) - Ouch for feeling sick, both you and el nino. Thanks for the insight, "worship at the altar of the goddess of form, and she will double your efforts and return them to you." Yep, I agree, that's both funny and painfully true.

Interesting thoughts about thin people eating on a cruise ship. I've always assumed that I'd never do a cruise because for fear that I'd fall into non-stop grazing and meal time stuffing, and also assumed that sane people somehow withstood that.


Heidi (landlady6) - LOL at your DD yelling hello to the miis. LOL at my use of "miis" as if that's now a word in the English language. Yay for eating mindfully.

Robin (RobinW) - Kudos for that chicken Caesar salad and all the walking with your DD. Appreciate the awareness that it's a pain to pay for the personal trainer. Will follow with interest whether you decide to go back to yours.

Anne (wndranne) - Kudos for the demonstration of your 15 minute resistance technique. Gotta add that one to my arsenal. Ouch for the reality of weaning - just have to imagine the psychological trauma being exaggerated by the hormones. And thank you for your kind words.


shrinkin - Welcome back from Dallas and the land of in-laws pushing food. Ouch that you face an over-full agenda to bring up that feeling of "overwhelmed." Good for you for immediately confronting that feeling since I think it's a kind of portal into mindless eating.

Kudos for your amazing three pool trips during your stay, despite the time cost of getting there. And Kudos to you DH for recognizing food-pushing so he could be supportive of your efforts at restraint.


Chris (Anglemoma210) - Ouch for the long a-fib and feeling sick. Sending supportive thoughts for your health and for your DH's initial phone visit with the EEO. Glad you're also reading CBDL.

Andrea (thinkerbell) - Yep, you state it all too well. When we're in an on-plan cycle, the strategies work for staying there. But, when we're off-plan, getting back is big time tough. Kudos for digging to find your triggers - methinks that's the kind of hard word the Beck suggests, rather than relying only on the hard work of white knuckle will power in the face of cravings.

You well state the current reality with, "When I was younger, my body was more forgiving." Yep, we done spent that snap-back body. And Kudos for choosing to put the books back. I do know about buying books faster than I can read them.


Readers -

Dear Coaches,

I need to confess my silly "fat" thinking surrounding my recent crash! Hopefully owning up to it so publicly will help me to release it.

First, I do have a white flour/starch thing.....in my head, all other foods are OK....not a trigger and do not start the cycle (left-over from my South beach and Carbohydrate addicts' diet days)

Secondly, there is a near-by resaurant that makes the best burgers and fries....knowing that this is low quality food, it is a treat that I indulge in once-a-month....I have learned to split the burger and fries (or leave half on my plate) because eating the whole thing gives me a food-hangover the next day. So I figured out a way to enjoy it in moderation.

Now, as I shared, my DH makes gumpkys for Christmas and Easter....it is gound meat and rice wrapped in cabbage leaves with a tomato sauce gravy...yummy....and my twice yearly treat. In my head, it is not white flour.....so, it is not a problem. In my head, since I only can eat it twice a year, I indulge, not a problem with quantity, but quality....basically one gumpky, B-L-D. Afterall, a head of cabbage makes alot of gumpkys!

I know it may seem so obvious to you'all, but it was not to me.....if eating one hamburger gives me a food hang-over, why, oh why, am I so surprised that all that ground meat makes me feel like crap! DUH! Can someone whip me with a cabbage leave? It is like the magic of Christmas suspends common-sense.....my body is shaking it's lovely sausage finger at me...silly, silly girl!

Well, it's been a blessed 3 days since I have been back on track and I do have the Lightness of Being (LOB) back....nothing, nothing tastes as good as feeling light and energetic feels...nothing....not even Christmas gumpkys!

Thanks all for listening and for all of your insights (definitely psychological Anne...thanks!)....yes Christmas traditions can and will change! (Thanks Bill for that one!)

It feels good on this New Year's Eve day to have such new resolve and insight!

Happy New Year!

Never, never, never give up!

Andrea aka thinkerbell

Good Morning

We woke up this morning to another winter wonderland. It was all gone by yesterday. Oh well

I spent 6 hours in the malls with my dd yesterday I am NOT a mall person!!!! But she managed to get me out shopping for most of the day!!! I was beat by the time we got home. The malls were crazy busy, parking was impossible, and I prayed my dd would say, "its ok mom, we'll come back another day" She didnt Oh well...I had fun anyway She was thrilled with all her purchases, and all the good deals she got! Me too for that matter

onebyone~ I love the cheerful color of your kitchen!! Kudos for making it thru your first day back on beck!!! Kudos for on plan food in the fridge too!!

kuhljeanie~ feel better soon

landlady6~ I love those chickens! No cooking!! That's the best part. Hubby isnt too keen on them tho, he says they feel mushy and dry. He's funny about that stuff. But its been nice to have it to toss in my ceasar, and for him to make sandwiches.

thinkerbell~ yup, salad is what food eats Its the lettuce I think that I dont really like. I'll tolerate romaine, and I do like baby spinach leaves. Other than that, to me its a waste of energy to eat the stuff

I havent had gumpkies in years!! I love them split open with a heap of butter melted down the middle. I was thinking about that burger joint you were talking about. How about if you order it bun-free and replace the fries with veggies. This way you still get your red meat, but without all the other stuff that will contribute to your food hangover. Just a thought....I crave red meat one in a while, and that's what I'll do.

Bill~ Big honkin' KUDOS for eating on plan during your party, and for your preplanning of the next 2 parties! Awesome!!You've had lots of holiday events, and I dont know if I would have made it thru consistently the way you have. Great job!

The snow will help keep me out of the malls today! Yah!

Food was 100% on, exercise.......hours of walking in the malls water was next to nil, and replaced with coffee. I'll have to fix that. I just dont like drinking lots of water, and then having to use the public bathroom Ick!

That's it for me.........have a great day everyone!

Good Morning Coaches

I just finished my breakfast and am getting ready to make something. I keep looking for my sketchbook but it's lost for now. Oh well. Gotta move ahead, sketchbook or no.

I'm very happy to be back on my foodplan this morning. The bloat is slipping away. That's just so great. I can feel my arteries thanking me. I think today I will do some mini trampolining. You know coaches, I have a wii fit just sitting at DBIL's house. He hasn't mailed it and so we will head off to Toronto next week sometime and bring the darn thing home! I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for the wii fit to come into my life already! Actually, this is the motivation I need to get the living room cleaned up and re-arranged. Wow. It's true! We couldn't do the wii fit the way the room is set up right now. There's no space. So I have to make the space and so maybe waiting for the wii isn't a bad thing afterall...especially since I want it soooo baaaad! Motivation is built into this whole thing and I have A LOT to do. DH isn't escaping this one either. Poor boy. We have to move his giant tv and that, my friends, he will step in to do for sure.

So credit moi for continuing to self motivate re: cleaning. Actually BIG credit moi for doing that. I was so smart to have done the kitchen because I can see it is possible. I don't think of myself as someone who knows what to do re: cleaning up. Really. So one success breeds another and I have always thought that and it's working out that way again. Also it's garbage day so I can take advantage of that too... oh things are coming together!

I had a bit of a rough patch foodwise yesterday. Not enough planning and not enough green things in the house. I have old expensive ($1.99)cucumbers and iceberg lettuce available to me in the department store at the mall (buses still on strike = no real grocery store shopping) but there is an ethnic (arabic?) grocery near by. I may wander in and see what they have in terms of veggies. Seems they carry meat too. That could be helpful. Also there is a place called the Shree Freshmart which when I last wandered in was not very fresh. Maybe it's better now? Something is better than nothing.
I'm also going to check out the grocery delivery service. There is one company who is all online and their delivery charge is $12.00. But a cab to the nearest grocery would be at least that there and back. DH may go for it and I have wanted to try it for quite some time. I'll run that by him today.

Oh yeah so my rough patch had me placing more food than I thought I was going to have on my plate. I guess I could stop here cause I see what the problem was. I didn't write down my food. I kept it all in my head with a dismissive "yeah yeah I know how to do this I don't need to do that". DENIAL and wrong thinking at work here. I'm writing out my food asap. haven't done that yet today but I am only one meal in!

RobinWHi! I like shopping but the crowds here are big too. Yesterday at the movies it was packed. We saw Bolt and wow. So many kids. I am not used to that. And I got the giant drink and had to run pee in the middle of the movie and there was a line-up 10 deep for the bathroom! man. This time of year can be a real bother. Kudos for your mall walking!

thinkerbell And Kudos to you for being onplan and feeling good! It's a great way to start a brand new year... yay!

BillBlueEyes Extra heaping kudos on your plate (better than all the homemade cookies in the world ) for dealing with your food challenges this holiday season. You are a fine example that we can all do the things we want to and not have the wreckage of broken foodplans too. One does not mean the other. Awesome. Yesterday when I was feeling challenged I went searching for some maintenance threads here, and some success stories. I started reading the section with Goals. Boy that'll help motivate you if you can manage to get yourself to do it! Wow. Do you have a thread in particular you like to go to, where there is real wisdom? This where I went http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=199 is there another place too?

landlady6I am so looking forward to my wii fit. I love reading you are enjoying it. Kudos for doing it! For my kitchen I've decided going the wall sticker/applique way. Just need to find contact paper somewhere! And this can all wait. I have the giant living room area next to get wii fit ready

angelmomma210 hi! I don't know what an eeo is but I sure hope it brings you both what you are seeking. I'll bet you are really looking to put this trying year behind you! It's a good new start. Kudos for venting.

wndranne Kudos for being POP (perfectly on plan) and for bypassing the chips. Awesome! Planning is indeed the key, and kudos to you for following through with what you know works. Sorry to hear you are a bit sad but you know what that's about for sure. All things change. Think of all the great milestones ahead! Exciting!

kuhljeanieSo to see you back! Sorry to hear you're sick though. Bummer. I believe you are totally right that thin people overeat and don't overstress about it. They just re-adjust and they BELIEVE and KNOW they can shed the weight. Then they just do it. they take the actions that they know will work. Me? I've given up and given in way way too easily. it comes from my own experience but I need a new way of dealing with this and I BELIEVE I am walking toward my thin self everyday... everyday I am one step closer. Like BBE I will catch up to my thin self. It's already waiting for me. Take care of yourself!

shrinkin oh! I hope you are feeling better! The holiday fuss will be donewith tonight. Hang in there. Sorry to hear you are feeling overwhelmed too, but this is natural when are feeling sick. You're not at full shrinkin' power! Kudos on swimming while away and doing PT exercises. You will be back and fit as a fiddle soon. All the best!

EEO is the equal employment opportunity. I guess that you would call them the big guns.
Had a good thing happen that I did yesterday. Dh went to the mall and went to see's candy. He got me the black licorice and I figured that I could have 6 pieces with protein...ie nuts. And that is my play.

whoops, it's afternoon. yipes. staying home with el nino - he's feeling MUCH better than i am, but the ped said one more day at home. it's been...challenging. after a whopping 4 hours of sleep last night and a nose running like a fire hydrant, all i want to do is crash. the kid has other ideas - he's excited to have a special day home with mommy and has been firing on all cylanders. he's finally down for a nap, and shortly i will be too.

shouting out to all my peeps! on this new year's eve, i'm grateful to be sick now instead of in a week, when i start training seriously again (heidi, the flying pig is a marathon in cincinnati. i can see where that would be a bit puzzling.) i should be completely fine by then - and maybe back down to fighting (pre-cruise) weight, since i have little appetite.

happy new year's, everyone!

Coaches/Buddies Another good day today. Stayed on plan, had a planned treat, and generally enjoyed myself. Still adjusting to my new independence. I've decided to get my ears pierced--one ear grew shut a couple pregnancies ago and I haven't gotten it redone. My New Year's celebration tonight is just to be asleep! I did have a (planned) beer, which was nice.

We are going to IHOP for breakfast tomorrow, assuming it is open. I'll be ordering from the kid's menu, but still have to select my entree tonight.

Chris/angelmomma210 Hope the EEO contact went well.

Heidi/landlady6 I like Beckniques! Keep eating mindfully!

Andrea/thinkerbell Yeah, the 6 years included two pregnancies. It is hard, but I'm still me and want a good life for myself, so I see no other option. I figure I've got a couple more days of rough transition on the weaning and then I'm more or less normal again. Here's hoping your three day streak turns to four.

Bill/BillBlueEyes You did just one bite of mushroom bisque. Wow. Hope your events tonight go/went OK.

RobinW I also think mall shopping is a special kind of trial. I'm glad you did it and were able to have fun with your DD.

onebyone Sounds like you have some good ideas for getting your veggies during the strike. Let me know what you think of the WiiFit. I was sore just from bowling on our new one!

Jean/kuhljeanie Here's hoping you get better soon. I think there is almost nothing more exhausting than being home with a sick kid.

Happy New Year everyone! See you in the January thread.

Anne

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