Diet Coaches - Just another day on plan. CREDIT moi. Lunch was a particularly tasty chickpea stew over couscous (leftovers from dinner). It's a gift of my new journey that I find a simple chickpea with tomatoes stew so tasty. Previously, I would only have noted the obvious lack of a large serving of meat.

Sue (CoastalSue) - Waving as you arrive home.

Heidi (hbuchwald) - Kudos for really moving forward on your triathlon. What a motivator to have a tuned up pimped up bike. Are you doing swimming AND biking or just biking? And Kudos for the skating exercise. Do all the kids use inline skates at the rink?

wendy (wendylan) - Glad you're licking the flu and taking care of yourself. It's tough to do anything with the flu bug. Ouch for losing support at work, but it's not unusual for other people to go about their normal eating habits. We have to learn to follow our written food plans even when surrounded by food, and, much harder, surrounded by friends eating that food. Some people report that it's easier to stay on track with NO CHOICE when they have a written plan. Keep the faith, you're winning because you're staying in the game.

onebyone – So, let the journey begin. Bon Voyage! I do so identify with the reluctance to roboticaly follow instructions, per your check to see if "really required to do this," LOL. Just love your definition of "creative tension." What a powerful description of the way to lead a fulfilling life. Thanks.

Amy (gahundy) – Great that you have a plan already in place. If you haven't written it down, you might find it useful to do so. I resisted writing down my plan since I had it so clearly in my own head, but, when I did write it down, I found it very useful to articulate my plan for restaurants, eating with friends, and special occasions such as big family events and weddings. Another person who doesn't understand "success can."

Readers – “… Compare this result with people who diet but don’t receive Cognitive Therapy treatment. Research completed at Tufts University found that between 50 to 70 percent of people who started one of four widely used diets were unable to stay on their diets and continue to lose weight for a year. …” Beck, pg 20.

__________________
XXXXXXX 7 XXXXXXX 14 XXXXXXX 21 XXXXXXX 28 XXXXXXX 35 XXXXXXX 42
Completed Beck Program-day 42. You’ve met your goal. Congratulations!

billie and heidi (and anyone else who may have missed it)
The Success Can: i found a quote that i just loved that said "success comes in cans, not in cannots" well being the goofy person that i am, i decided to take the first part of that quote literally ...Success comes in Cans. so i decorated a can and filled it with slips of papers that have motivationl quotes on them. some are just little short bits and some are longer, but the general idea is to keep it on hand so that when i have a hard time remembering my goals and keeping the faith i can go to my "success can" and find my motivation again.

hi y'all,

just a quick shout out. mostly i wanted to say hey to wendy, because i'm getting over the flu myself and i know exactly how you're feeling! sometimes i win the battle and sometimes i lose. sometimes it feels like i've been banging my head against the same issues for DECADES and i haven't made much in the way of progress at all. but it's just not true! right now you feel frustrated and tired and crappy, and it's real. but it's also temporary. are you getting judgemental with yourself instead of being gentle? you're still sick and having a tough time. if you just let yourself ride it out, it'll get better. i promise. we're all here for you when it's good, and when it's bad too.

i have triumphed over midterms! officially over. i'm still sick too, and i haven't exercised since last saturday. i'm too tired to miss is but i'm feeling a kind of guilt that's not actual guilt (guilt-light?) for resting. marathon is a week closer and i'm not a week readier, but i know i need to let my body recover from flu, and training right now is the wrong thing to do. maybe i'll try some running websites today to see what they say about skipping a week or two if you get sick - can i make it up or is this going to negatively affect my race?

happy to hear that y'all liked the cake pictures! i've still got a lot of learning and practicing to do, but maybe i've moved beyond basic beginner stuff. (yay!)

nice one with the can, amy! that's great. and kudos bill on such a huge acheivement - appreciating the great food right in front of you rather than noticing what you don't have. i'm having an awareness that this is connected somehow to enjoying the bite that's in my mouth rather than thinking about getting the next piece on my fork.

have a really wonderful weekend, everyone!

Hello Coaches: I followed Beck Day 15 to a T. Credit moi. Today is day 16 "No Choice". I already used that very phrase this morning as I tried to negotiate with myself to change my foodplan for today that I wrote last night. I didn't change it. I had no choice but to say no. I suspect this will come in handy over the next month or so. I haven't filled in my daily schedule yet and it's already almost 11 so I am off to do that, and to get ready for painting class. I love painting class.

gahundy The success can! I just finished off a giant coffee can and I have been reluctant to just throw it away. It will now become my success can! THANK YOU SO MUCH for this idea!

wendylan Sorry you are running into difficulties with coworkers and being sick and being tired. To my eyes, you obviously want to succeed. You keep trying. This is a good thing. Write down your roadblocks and write down the ways you plan to handle them next time. You have great tools with Beck. Find what will work for you use them. And if you are sick and tired you are in no position to judge yourself and how you're doing cause you're sick and tired! The fine points of anything are elusive you when you feel fuzzy around the edges! Be kind to yourself. Of course you can do this. We're here to help. It takes as long as it takes.

hbuchwald Wow you're doing a triathalon? Now there's a secret dream of mine. Kudos to you for having the drive and determination to do that!

BillBlueEyes Congrats on staying on plan. I made a cauliflower soup two days ago and I am having some for lunch today. Previous to weighing and measuring that soup would have been gone the first night. It feels weird to have leftovers in my fridge.

kuhljeanie The idea of being focused on the food in your mouth and not the next one on your fork is really a key one for me. I discovered it's really hard for me to do. Thanks for mentioning it. BTW what are you studying??Congrats on getting through midterms! Mine are overwith too. Such a relief.

All the best to everyone. Enjoy your day.

Dear Beckies,

*sigh..I miss you....still with you in spirit, but barely keeping up with the posts.

Still frozen here in Northland. Woke up this morning to 20 below. March 6, and we are still in the deep freeze. But, hey, no wind.... I went out and started cars in my night gown. Our blood gets pretty thick this time of the year...

Here is some edification for our charm bracelet idea.....from Newsweek this week...Belief Watch.......Will Bowen, pastor of a church in Kansas City, MO, gives out purple bracelets that say "SPIRIT"...you wear it on one wrist, and when you catch yourself and stop a behavior you don't want, you move it to the other. The article goes on to talk about CBT and "thought stopping". Sound familiar??

I tell you, we are ONTO SOMETHING! I see it in all your posts, the "ah ha" moments. Kudos, all.

Hello all

Welcome to gahundy-Liked your success comes in cans ideas.

You all wrote about such important issues for changes our eating habits really enjoyed reading them and sharing so many of the same issues. I am just going to jump in with some of my responses to our short vacation. Did come back with a small gain but not worried as plan to get that stuff off quickly. In spite of the gain I have made some good changes so I am giving myself credit plus it give me much hope that I expect to continue losing and will maintain the loss permanently. Here are the factors that are helping me the most.
1. Eating quality food-a lot of stuff is bland low quality processed food in the restaurants -best meal was in a small organic restaurant-yummy and low cal.
2. Eating slowly and paying attention to taste, texture and I how feel eating it. Most time craving for me came from sweet/starchy yet bland unhealthy foods- a sense of not being satisfied-lots of cheap ice cream not as good as a small bit of super dark chocolate.
3 Forgive myself when I did blow it and think about at least one step I can do next time.
4.When wanting to eat something- 1. Check if hungry-usually not. 2. What am I feeling? Usually coping with some uncomfortable moods 3. Great quote learned here- How can any food help that problem. 4. Work on solving the mood without food.
5. Allowing myself some controlled treats during the past and during the trip really helped me not to go over board feeling it is now or never. (learned that here from Heidi)
6. I can feel my body wanting a more healthy lifestyle-missed swimming, fresh greens, stomach dislikes being stuffed. Brain now goes “why the heck did you do” that versus “You must eat more at any bodily cost or you go crazy with cravings. My brain is learning to listen to my body.-Hugh step for me.

By reading Beck, doing the exercises and posting here-I have slowly made food changes. I think it is unfair that Beck creates an illusion that a mire 6 weeks plan can completely retrain your brain thin. It has taken me a lot of practice to learn to cope with my emotions which overeating masks. It has also taken a long time of eating healthy to learn how good my body can feel when eating right-too much alcohol, salt, fats, sugar, volume make me feel icky -Hugh change-But that is the feeling which makes these changes permanent. BillBlueEyes you can go on a food cruise and stay healthy out of choice not willpower. Along with your mind you have been programming your body to be healthy and it will let you know to stop.

Big HI to all

Sue

Thank you everyone for the support I do appreciate all of it!
i am back to work for Sat and have a good lunch packed.Picked up some sale produce,strawberries,grapes,grape tomatoes,cucumbers and have them all packed along with a slice of healthy bananna bread I baked earlier.Not doing great with the food but I am trying.I do believe perhaps I am being a bit hard on myself.Also I am not sure that I will sign up for another session of ww after it ends in 7 weeks.It seems to get me all stressed out,maybe because it is at work.I keep thinking about the weigh in for days ahead and get upset because I am fallling behind others in the weight loss and I seemed to be eating alot around weigh in day.Then on weigh in day I try to not eat or drink until the meeting but then I overeat after.I will judge for the next 7 weeks but I don't think it is helping me like I thought it would. I do want to be accountable but I feel like I am adding undo pressure on myself.I am also flip flopping between flex and core and can't seem to get that right either.Flex points seem to make me focus too much on food all day and I get nervous I am going to run out and I felt hungry all the time.Core is more restrictive in choices but lets you eat until full and not count so much.Core is difficult when eating out but I am not hungry on it but crave some sweets at times. I myself would probably use a blend of flex and core if I was not attending meetings ect...Thanks for listening.wendy

Hello coaches:
Today I was in Trader Joes and hungry and ate a whole bag of TJs brand of Pirates Booty. It was good but way too much. I got into that mindset of “if I am blowing it anyway…”… and had some potato chips and some chocolate. Then I stopped. I logged it all and still the calories weren’t as much as I thought they would be-amazing. Even amidst my feeding frenzy I was going so fast but still saying what I wanted to respond with to myself (I will regret this…I deserve to take good care of myself,e tc..) but ignoring it or talking back to myself (stubborn teenage girlish)…. Ideas for next time I am tempted: 1. don’t go shopping when hungry 2. WAIT a few minutes…3. Stop and think (like Sue did)…am I hungry? If not, what am I feeling? Is food the solution to this problem?

BillBlueEyes: I feel the same way about appreciating lots of the food I am eating versus realizing what is missing. WONDERFUL! I am just biking but we are “cross training” as a support to each other and to get into better shape, etc.. and for FUN. We swam tonight.. boy, CoastalSue-I have never been a lap swimmer so really had no baseline to what I would be able to do the first time doing laps. We figured out that my friend will need to build up to doing 32 times across the pool (25 yards) to make the ½ mile that she will need to do for the triathlon. We did 10 times across and had enough. Now, I could do the breast stroke till the cows come home, I was doing the crawl and was TIRED by the end of 10 times. I felt GREAT exercising my whole body though. The kids had fun too and want to do this every Friday night! I have major appreciation for Sue’s 45-60 minute swims so many times per week! I love having the quotes from the book at the end of your messages Bill-great reminders of good nuggets from the book-thanks!

Gahundy: ooooooh… now I get the success can concept! What a fun idea-where do you get your quotes?

Kuhljeanie: I like looking at the slowing down while eating concept in terms of appreciating the bite I have in my mouth.

Onebyone: you go girl-you are on a roll! I am doing a triathlon but with two friends as a relay team. It is a sprint triathlon so is shorter than a typical one. I am doing the biking part which is 12 miles. It is a great way for me to do this and not be totally freaked out/overwhelmed. If I am up to it, I may do the whole thing next year. We will see how this year goes first of course!

Maryblu: HI!!! That bracelet thing is great-there was a guy awhile ago from a church that was handing “complaint bracelets” to encourage people to be more positive. He wanted people to switch the bracelet to the other side if they complained about something. Same concept… wow-only 20 below? Bikini weather huh? That is beyond cold… amazing that cars even run in that cold of weather. Good to hear from you whenever you can post. Take good care.

Coastalsue: WOW! You took Beck on the road and are sounding so healthy. I am having the same realization that the quality of the food matters in the area of feeling satisfied. I have always felt deprived when limiting my food intake in the past. I really do look forward to most food that I eat now which is huge. Yeah-6 weeks is not enough… I really think that many of the steps should be allotted more than one day. We are changing lifelong habits and thinking patterns which doesn’t happen overnight. Big kudos to you on all of the great things you are doing to get past that emotional eating. I need to keep that quote about food not being able to solve the problem if the problem isn’t hunger int eh forefront of my mind… You took the time to REALLy process when you wanted to eat. I am inspired by you!

Wendylan: Are your two chosen plans the WW flex and core plans? If you were to have a third backup choice, what would it be? That weigh in stuff and the stress you are going through at work because of it sounds horrible. Accountability is wonderful but if it means torturing yourself…not worth it! Can you somehow reframe the WW plan at work in your mind so that you don’t invest a lot in comparing your process to others’? I always like it when BillBlueEyes says, “my body, my process” (or something similar to that…)… Do your colleagues compare food/weight/obstacles, etc..? It does sound like you are lightening up a bit on yourself-that is good. This stuff really does take a lot of time and it will never be a perfect road (bummer huh?).

Til tomorrow, Heidi

Diet Coaches - Added squats to my gym routines yesterday, finally admitting that I've been avoiding them due to weak muscles not due to protecting my knees. CREDIT moi. Tried something new last night. DW served macaroni and cheese - comfort food night. I had a small serving just so I could go back and have seconds. There's a special double comfort in that second helping that I had been missing. It worked, I felt all the extra comfort. CREDIT moi. (Ignoring the inconvenient question of whether food is for my comfort instead of my health.)

[Looking for someone to start the discussion for Program-day 14, Plan for Tomorrow]

Sue (CoastalSue) - Kudos for returning from a vacation so upbeat and full of good ideas. Great to have you back. Have read your thoughts three times, they are such a good reminder of the key issues. I particularly like, "you can go on a food cruise and stay healthy out of choice not willpower," to put it all into a single perspective. But of course, we're learning to make choices, not learning to clench our teeth to willpower ourselves to the healthy lifestyle. You're right that 6 weeks seems a bit optimistic for the changes we're attempting, at least it is for me.

MaryBlu - WOW, CBT in Newsweek - have we been discovered or what! Sending warm thoughts to you starting your cars in your nightgown in negative 20 degrees. LOL, so unable to visualize the nightgown section of Victoria's Secret in Minnesota.

Heidi (hbuchwald) - Minor Ouch for minor eating diversion at Trader Jo's. Big Kudos for conducting the full fledged wrestling match twixt Sabotaging Thoughts and Helpful Responses - a great example of how Beck works in real life. Sometimes it works immediately, somethings the impact is delayed a bit. And Big Kudos for the terse lessons learned after it was all over. Particularly liked, "1. Don’t go shopping when hungry." I shop like a maniac when I hit the store hungry. It does take a bit of planning ahead because sometimes I hit the store hungry because that's why I had to go to the store in the first place. Oh Well.

wendy (wendylan) - Kudos for mushing forward with Saturday's lunch all packed - using produce that was on SALE even. What more is needed for happiness. You're doing great by going forward. It does seem useful to use something like my body, my process (thanks Heidi) to ward off the neggies around the WW weigh ins. Perhaps you can find a version of I'm a paying customer here; I deserve to allow myself to have a positive experience. And Kudos for continuing to post when it's feeling tough.

Jean (kuhljeanie) - Congrats for triumphing over midterms. Ouch that you're still under the flu. Add me to the admirers of your cakes - I really didn't know that mortal people did fondant. I've stolen your comment for my Response Cards, "enjoying the bite that's in my mouth rather than thinking about getting the next piece on my fork." Says it better than I've heard it before. Thanks for that.

onebyone – Kudos for using NO CHOICE to stick to your food plan. You've got me thinking about why Beck is so adamant on writing our plan a day ahead. Perhaps she's working to help us separate our emotional thoughts about food from our selection of what to eat. Reading your comments helps me to realize that I don't have an unemotional notion of selecting food. The thought of a dietitian planning a month's menu is alien to me - how could one know what they wanted to eat a month in advance. Methinks that I still have room to work here.

Amy (gahundy) – Neat! You have invented putting your Advantages Response Card item-by-item into a Success Can for "remembering my goals and keeping the faith." What a fun way to do it.

Readers – “… Even more discouraging, other studies that track how people fare after they lose weight reveal a sobering trend: Most people who lose weight on any given diet regain most of the lost weight within a year.” Beck, pg 20.

__________________
XXXXXXX 7 XXXXXXX 14 XXXXXXX 21 XXXXXXX 28 XXXXXXX 35 XXXXXXX 42
Completed Beck Program-day 42. You’ve met your goal. Congratulations!

Hi all,

I've poked in over the past week, but haven't posted. I'm at day 20....very hard to believe...and going strong.....

My food has been squeeky clean...the biggest slip-up was picking at roasted vegetables from the serving plate, when my plate of food was gone, and we were sitting aroung the dinner table. Really....that's it for unplanned eating....wow!!! Mostly it hasn't been a struggle at all. Exercise is good too. Six days each of the last two weeks, and every day this week of either Curves or 20-30 minutes on the treadmill. Today is my 5 minute day (I like the idea of just a little planned exercise even on a day off).

I'm reading the chapter daily, referring to my advantages and some responses. Though I tend to do it more in my head than referring to the cards. I do look at the full advantage list...since it's more nuanced...but I also have a short version mantra, which I use many times a day. It's "For my health, for my appearance, for my self-esteem"

My diet coach seems to have fallen off the path. She was out of town last weekend and has had a hard time getting back. But, one of my south beach board buddies got the book and is very enthused about it....and we're doing a daily check-in in each other's journals...I consider her one of my diet coaches, but haven't officially asked.

I have one practice that I wanted to check out with you guys to see what you think. I do not plan my food in the evening, for the next day. But, I do plan and write it down in the morning, before I eat anything. On weekdays, I pack up my breakfast food, morning snack, and lunch food (often except salad, which I get at the work salad bar). At that time, I also decide what I'm having for afternoon snack, dinner, and evening snack, and I write the day down in my journal. For me, that works very naturally and comfortably. Do you think I should keep doing what I'm doing, or deal with the resistence I have to doing it the night before?

ON the health front, I went to the cardiologist this week, and the news was pretty good. My A Fibb isn't bad enough to need to go on coumadin(yeah), and the echocardiogram looked good (HUGE relief...no major heart damage). I do have a new prescription, a stress echocardiogram and follow-up visit scheduled....and a big incentive to lose weight and exercise...

Thanks for listening. I know it would be good for me to be more active here....there's a lot of wisdom, strength, and support here....

Hello Coaches Okay. Credit to me for finding my Beck workbook two weeks ago, picking it up, reading it, finding you guys, and doing it. I officially weigh in on Saturdays and this morning the scale was down 3.6lbs. I am thrilled.

Big credit to moi for doing my 1 mi WATP workout last night after dinner. I was exhausted but hadn't done my official workout yet. Also credit moi for modifying my plan to suit my exhaustion level. I had planned 2mi but after the day I was too tired. usually that means I'd do nothing but I had NO CHOICE about whether I'd exercise or not, so I opted for the shorter version instead of nothing at all.

I've been looking at my foodplan and I need to add in more veggies. I will try to focus on that this coming week.

And today is Saturday, my tough day. I think that since I have lost 5 lbs, I will go out and buy myself an empty charm bracelet (if I can find one I can afford that is!) I need to keep myself happy and busy today. I always want to "celebrate" on Saturdays and this means more and varied food. Not today.

maryblu CBT is powerful stuff. I used to suffer from panic attacks and anxiety attacks. I helped myself get over it with CBT. If it could face down that level of fear I know it can work with this. It's such a practical form of therapy and we can do it whenever we need to. What we learn will stay with us for life. Good stuff.

coastalsue I know what you mean about the body wanting healthy food once it gets it. I too have had that experience and most times I've made that feeling go away... choosing unhealthy food usually cause it feels more "fun". I can't really explain it... I just feel like good healthy food is "boring" and unhealthy "fun and exciting". I'm gonna have to get my kicks other ways methinks! Or spice up the good stuff maybe?

wendylan I sent you a private message.. hope you got it! There are definitely ways to work WW so that it does work for you. All the best to you today at work!

hbuchwald Grocery stores to me are like liquor stores to alcoholics. I LOVE them. When DH and I travel I always want to check out the local grocery store and see what they have that we don't. Going there when I am hungry is so so hard. I am so influenced by my eyes and when I am hungry my brain is off. It's like my eyes are directly attached to my mouth and I want to eat everything I see... and the shinier the bag, the quicker the eats... that's what I want. I never crave cutting up broccoli and steaming it. Never. It's good to find out what our limits are and to plan for them. Next time it'll be better. Credit Vous for working on your plan to deal with this for next time!

BillBlueEyes I think it is normal to feel comforted by food. It is not wise to use food to comfort feelings/emotions. Feelings need to be expressed not buried under a pile of food. Choosing what we love to eat when we are hungry? Why not? Why can't we take pleasure in food? We can. And the way you handled it was brilliant. You knew you wanted second helpings so you planned for it. It was far from mindless eating. Kudos.

barbpos It sounds like what you are doing is working for you. I haven't been around long enough to know whether it's critical that you write your food plan down the day before. My inclination is to say it's okay your way so long as you write it down and stay accountable and honest. If you run into problems down the road change it up then. I don't know. For me I have chosen to try it her way. I am so very resistant to that level of planning that I want to do to it to see why I am. I find it comforting in the morning to know I've got my day planned already... but some days I will leave it open for sure. Great health news for you! Kudos.


first 5lbs off... aaaahhhhhhh...

Hello everyone. I find myself reading and rereading what is wrote. I'm having a bit of trouble staying fouced with these meds. I did manage to do 1 mile WATP express. I just walked no facy moves for me. I did feel it but pushed though and I wanted to one more mile after but stopped and cleaned house. I been pretty much bed ridden since my operation. Walking only a tiny bit. The meds make me very dizzy. So I cut it down to 1/2 tablet today and am able to fuction with medium discomfort. I've manage to say no to some "feel good" food my husband offered me. If it wasn't for beck I'm sure I would have wolfed them down. So even 1/2 dazed I was able to say no thanks. I've not been able to read the book once again a focus problem.

Here's Some Pictures of my areo GardenSalad1.jpg

that is my salad green mix. Here's one of my herbs.HerbGarden11JPG.jpg

Here's another one it's closeup of my salad. I'd say I'm ready for a smSalad2.jpgall salad.