I am in awe that anyone can do that. Over 20 years ago pre-kids I got myself up to a regular 2 mile run, but I simply can't even imagine the effort it takes to run (or jog or walk or whatever it takes) that far. Good for you.

Midnight Struggles

Hi diet coaches. Had an all around good day yesterday. Stayed within my eating plan, ignored hunger and did my small bit of excercise. Thought to myself "this is getting easier and easier". And then...

Woke up at midnight with indigestion went back to bed and tossed and turned until 1 p.m., couldn't go back to sleep. Guess I was more upset about things at work than I realized. Had someone resign on short notice, work won't go away, but not allowed to replace the employee, so once again everyone has to take on more work.

Decided to go watch some mindless TV to make me sleepy. It didn't. Then, here come the sabotoging thoughts. "Why don't you go downstairs and get something to eat, that will relax you and you can go back to sleep". Now, I could have eaten something within my food plan legitimately since it's now after midnight it's the next day, right? By the intent of my new rule of "No Choice, No Eating After 10" was really meant to include "until breakfast time the following day". So I decide, I have no choice, I'm not eating.

Well that doesn't relieve the insomnia and the tension I'm feeling. But I talk back to those devil thoughts saying, "I may be wide awake and feeling tense, but I'll feel worse if I also break my no choice rule, so take that!". So, I won the first battle, but the sabatoging thoughts weren't finished with me. Up until now, eating something required me to get up, unset the security alarm, go down a flight of stairs and get something to eat. But what do I see now? A tin of the most delicious key lime cookies that I bought my husband for a special treat -- right there on the coffee table in front of me. This isn't fair!!!! Well darn it, I wasn't going to break my after 10 rule. I picked those darn cookies up and put them where I couldn't see them and that was the end of that. I enjoyed watching the end of an old Twilight Zone, went to bed at 2 a.m., slept soundly, and got up this a.m. feeling good about myself. Credit moi!

Happy May 6th Fellow Beckers!

I have met my first 5 pound loss goal. I hope that I'm not jinxing myself by telling. I actually saw the number on the scale last week but with the daily fluctuations, I don't actually believe it until the number sticks around for a few days.

onebyone - thanks for posting the link to the Dash diet. DH went to doctor yesterday and was told to start WALKING! I was thrilled that the dr told him to walk and to watch the sugar. DH is on BP meds and I would love for him to correct the situation by improving his diet. He really isn't a big eater, just loves sweets and chocolate. I'm going to start making slight changes in our pantry so he doesn't suspect what I'm up to. I don't want to be a nag about his eating and exercise habits so I may have to be sneaky about it. DH is a picky eater - hates garlic & onions, and the only seasoning he wants on his food is salt & pepper (lots of salt!). I have to be creative when it comes to new dishes. I have planted some herb plants so maybe he'll give the herbs a try since its being grown in our own yard.

Kuhljeanie - I am so envious about your half marathon. My sister wants me to train for one being held in November. I'm up to a 6 mile run for my long run but my knees remind me that they are almost 50 so I am a little leery of training for more.

Everyone - have a great day and be mindful of Beck!

QUESTION ??

Lately I have become a really picky eater. Yesterday I realized I now hate any foods made with yeast. I used to love bread, cinnamon buns and doughnuts. I had one bite of a homemade cinnamon bun and almost gagged. i discreetly discarded it into my napkin. Then I started thinking about all the foods I no longer like. The list includes most meat, most dairy products and the list goes on. I have used soy milk and tofu for years.

I wonder if this is a aging thing, a medication thing or a just weird me thing..lol Is this happening to others?? I also like simple foods and no exotic flavors or sauces.

I love reading your stories. You make this plan real for me. thank you all for sharing your stories. I learn from the struggles and applaud your triumphs.

It is our time!!!

Tresor,

Congrats on the 5 lb. loss. You know how the saying goes, "how do you eat an elephant? one bite at a time". Concentrating on 5 lb. losses allows you to keep from getting discouraged and before long they add up to the total weight loss you were targeting in the first place. Good for you!

CoastalSue,

Your persistence is an inspiration. I you hadn't done what you've done to achieve your 75lb. loss you would have topped 400 lbs. by now. You are so much better off than where you were before and your continued persistence will win out. Keep it up!

Diet Coaches – Yesterday my training class had a big tray of muffins and Danish Pastry as well as the afternoon tray of fresh baked cookies and bags of potato chips. I had a Bosc pear and an Empire Apple. CREDIT moi. The good news is that's what I really wanted. So funny, I didn't have time to finish my lunch at my desk during our short lunch break, so, I brought my container of veggies back to the training. Was slightly embarrassed to be seen eating such a large container of "rabbit food". It did draw a comment from an old friend, "I see why you're so skinny now that I've seen what you eat." Took a bike ride after work through a natural area. Biking certainly gives more miles of viewing than the same time walking.

Sue (CoastalSue) - Waving toward the West Coast and its ISP's. Hope a swim is in you life today.

Heidi (hbuchwald) - Waving and sending healing thoughts for Henry and support for you and DD.

onebyone – Kudos for turning to the steel cut oats to lead you in making a change. (Gotta go try those someday.) You have such a big change to make from over busy student to summer market entrepreneur. Not surprising that it's going to take some juggling to get there. Keep the faith.

Lori (elkfordian) - Love the affirmation, "It is our time!!!" Your question about changing tastes is intriguing, but, sorry, I have no clue as to what might be the cause. Hopefully one of the regular posters or readers will identify. For myself, I have noticed changes in my tastes since I began my healthy journey. Since reducing sugar and salt, I better taste foods themselves and look forward to a greater variety of tastes other than the standard fast food three: fat, sugar, salt.

redballoon - LOL at your response to your Sabotaging Thoughts, "...well, I can't say here what I say to them, but it ain't pretty." Kudos for working so clearly on your Beck thinking to get on track. It's just lovely that you share with us how you're doing it. Kudos for your on plan eating and sitting down on your walk home.

Kathy (tresor) - Congrats on your first 5 pound loss. I share your style of interpreting the scale: it has to show for a few days for me to accept it as my weight. Have you tried lemon pepper or the Mrs. Dash seasonings for your DH? Both of those are tasty, no sodium, seasonings that are more palatable to some people who are early on in their appreciation of strong spices and herbs.

northwest - Wow, what a tale of the "Midnight Struggles." Such a great demonstration of recognizing then actively fighting the Sabotaging Thoughts. I most admire that you so clearly recognized that your feelings were being driven by Sabotaging Thoughts; I think that's the hard part. Kudos for such a performance while tired and feeling the stresses from work. And Big Kudos for giving yourself credit also.


Readers – “…And then, at some point, they meet their first challenge, and dieting gets hard. This happens to everyone. …" From the Introduction, Beck, pg 12.


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

hi all.....still sick, and eating toast not planned, but its all that I want. Ive moved up from feeling like dog doodoo on the bottom of your shoe, to just irritating sticky gum you cant get rid of stuck to the bottom of your shoe. Progress I guess. I stayed home from the shop yesterday and slept for most of the day. I might venture over to the store today....we'll see, I need to get some fresh air.

Hello coaches

I don't feel like I have anything new to write about today. I am just enjoying the fact that I get to stay home all day, no interruptions, no need to go anywhere. I woke up early and went into my little backyard and planted my "10 mystery hosta collection" which was shipped to me last week along with my christmas present to my brother: two coryllus avelana contorta = corkscrew hazelnut trees. Boy are they something! and the box! I came home to a 6' x 3' x 3' box on the kitchen floor. Glad the trees have gone to my brother's house and happy to have my hostas in the good earth. I can't wait to watch them all growing season to see what they are! I am considering covering the other side of my little yeard, where a bunch of burrs grew last year that I don't want returning this year, with my red plastic ground cloth/cover. It'd smother the weeds for sure.
And as you can see coaches, these the thoughts on my mind right now. Pleasant ones for sure.
Foodwise I've had steel cut oats and a pb and banana sandwich. Not sure what else is on the menu. And because I don't know that you can also infer I haven't written out my food and I haven't. I think I am hung up trying to get it "perfect" the perfect blend of WW and DASH. Sheesh. For the need to do things perfectly aka "done right" I have procrastinated in many areas of my life. Wow. You know I wrote that and all of a sudden I got a huge urge to go out and buy a bag of chips. Really. Guess I don't want to know about my procrastination do I? Nope. "I am not going out to buy chips. I am happy here in my comfy chair. There is good food in the house and I will eat in a few hours. Thank you for your input."

northwest Your post reminds me why it's so important not to give into those urges... it makes us feel much stronger and raises our self-esteem and optimism that we can do this. Thanks for the vivid reminder.

tresor First, congrats on your 5lb loss! Yay! And, I have a DH like yours: no onions, peppers, mushrooms, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, fish or other seafood. And he loves salt too...and sugar...licorice especially. He says for me to cook whatever I want and he's okay with picking out the things that he doesn't like. Unbeknownst to him I swiitched to whole wheat pasta. He didn't say a word. He's even eaten tofu in the form of the faux ground beef tofu in chili and pasta sauce. So long as he doesn't see it in the fridge or me putting it on the stove he will never know

elkfordian I have gone through phases like you describe, though I would always end it by reverting back to my poor food ways if I got into binging. I am weird with chicken. It's got to do with the smell, raw and cooked. It smells really "raw" or "bloody" somehow. Can't describe it better than that. I think our body's have an inner wisdom. Sounds to me like your body is avoiding yeast. I have read that yeast can be extremely prolific and destructive and some people advocate doing exactly what you are doing in terms of yeast: eliminating it. There's also the fact that as we age we lose more of our sense of taste. It diminishes as do our other senses. Could be a bit of this too... and perhaps your cancer treatments have also had a hand in this. It's so complicated isn't it? So long as you are getting the nutrition your body needs, I wouldn't worry about it... but it is interesting isn't it? Enjoy your day... hope it's warm and sunny where you are.

BillBlueEyes So happy to hear that you preferred your own food, the fresh stuff, over the abundant display of manufactured foodstuffs on that table. What a fundamental shift. Kudos to you! Thanks for reminding me that I am making a shift here, a change in my basic day to day life. Of course I'd be in limbo and such and my food would be rocky. It's only been two weeks since school ended and with three shows opening over the last week (I have a picture of my street show in my avatar--this is the spaceman display in those 3 bay windows--love the street setting!) and now my other market starts up this Saturday, well it's a lot to deal with, even though this is what I do. I look forward to next week and my schedule settling down for the summer.

RobinW I hope you continue to improve today. Get some air, and if you need to rest, get that too!

Hello to everyone out there!

no time right now for reading or personals but i wanted to share that i've created a day 11 Hunger Monitoring Chart in Excel if anyone wants to use it just drop me a pm and let me know...

Onebyone - how do you cook the steel cut oats? A new health store just opened 2 blocks from my home so I visited them yesterday and made a purchase. Everyone in the store told me a diffferent way to fix them. I also bought some stevia to try. I have been using Splenda and have recently read about the horrors of Splenda so the lady at the health food store gave me some samples of stevia to try.

Robin - I hope your feeling better real soon.

I follow the directions on my box which go like this:
Microwave 2 servings(this is how I cook it) for 2 servings (1000 watts microwave)
1. In an 8 cup (2L) microwaveable glass bowl (I use a large pyrex measuring cup) add 2 1/2 cups boiling water and 1/2 cup oats.
2. Microwave uncovered at MEDIUM-HIGH (80%) for 15 - 18 minutes.
3. Add 1/4 tsp salt ( I don't) (optional) and serve with milk and brown sugar. (I eat it plain. This makes 2 cups of oats.)

Stovetop 4 servings
1. In a saucepan bring 4 1/2 cups (1125 ml) water to a boil.
2. Add 1 cup (250 ml) of oats.
3. Reduce heat to MEDIUM and simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until thickened. Stir occasionally.
4. Add 1/4 tsp salt (optional) and serve with milk and brown sugar.


What I really want to try is this posted somewhere else:

Hope it's okay to have posted a recipe here..?

HI guys,

meant to post last night and feel alseep at 7:15 -silly back only really let me sleep in a chair- be so glad when those muscle get happy again-soon I hope.

I have temporarily drop my cals down to 1200-keep on losing- so badly want to get down under 300-maybe in a week or so I could be-This is suppose to be too low for my weight but it's fun to get on the scales and see parts of a lb come off every day.

How seriously do you folks believe if one gets too low that then your metabolism will slow down also? The charts show that I should have between 1500-1700 cals daily for my size.

I had a senior moment when talking about the tv show-it was Alice Walker-Not Alice Waters( but she is great cook) I started to mediate more regularily since the show.

Much credit went to a board meeting-very cramped quarters and never had the bakery goodies-Trying so see how long I can go with no sugar or wine. Right now not missing either of them-know the day will come when I'll have to add some in moderation before I have a blow out. I do miss my super dark chocolate square tho

Trying a short day in pool tomarrow-want to make sure I don't further annoy my back-may just doing alot of walking in the pool.

I like steel cut oats also-since they need so much time I'll make a batch and then refrigerate them and microwave some each day. Your recipes sound yummy OnebyOne.

Is there a site to explain how to put pics on here?-Loved looking at the art work and those georgeous cakes.

BillBlueEyes-That guy saw the truth you are skinny because of how you eat. Tonight we had broccoli, raw carrots, cherry tomatoes, Jicama and grilled chicken-all the colors looked great and hugh plate probably wasn't over 450 cals.-sure beats a 800 cal burger.


Bravo Northwest late night alone eating has been one of my biggest down falls to gain weight in the past. Great mastering of the NO Choice card-I need a much higher success rate on that one-good for you!!

Tresor-Congradulation on your 5 lb loss-enjoy that success!

Robin W Get well soon-That stomach flu can be nasty!

Elkfordian-yes ,my eating has changed a lot especially the last 10 yrs. Tolerate even less fats, can feel sugar rushes much more-don't like that feeling. many food feel "heavier" to me. Love spices still but too much will cause insomnia-especially fresh ginger. Beef can seem too strong to me-really just a bit of meat in a stew. I like a protein shake in lieu of much meats- I could become a vegetarian but Dh would have a hard time. Really like fresh veggies and fruit-A simple freshly picked fruit/veggie is the best.

onebyone-always a delight to read your posting and hearing about your activities-love the pics

Redballoon-I understand those strong loud self critical voices-I have them also and overeating has been my major way of calming them-too bad for only 5 minutes, them pop some more food in. I love Beck in that is non judgemental -and some day I can give myself credit for doing many of the Beck steps even thought my Cal count was too high. Hey there was a voice that made you sit down with the snack credit, This change is a learning process- I love reading my advantage cards-it reminds me of the big picture. I have been a slow loser but I do continue to lose This losing weight has been a lot of work resulting in psychologically changing attitudes for me-I do get bouts of depression but have been learning the old method of overeating will not help. Glad you can hear the stronger clear and supportive side of you. It will only get stronger-

Heidi-best wishes to you.

sue

Hi my friends..

It amazes me that we are located literally around the world. I know we have folks in the USA, Japan and Canada. Have I missed anyone?? I have a friend just home from Japan. Every evening while he was there he sent me pictures using his laptop. Isn't that amazing??

I am so grateful to be alive at this moment in history. We are still making new exciting discoveries. We are unearthing and learning about cultures long gone. We are finally realizing we have to care for our lovely planet.

We are learning to be proactive with our health. And here we are!! We can share, learn and laugh with each other. I am so glad I found my way here..

Onebyone you are such a inspiration. Thank you for your insights. I had to lol about your hostas. I have 1 pathetic flower bed. We have a very short growing season up here. We are almost past the tree line. The last couple of years I also planted fern and hostas. I was so proud of them and took pictures with a ruler to show my friend they were about 12 inches high!! The next day my meany-meany jelly beany friend sent me pictures of her hostas. They were at least 4 FEET high and very wide. She calls hers hosta bushes. Usually the deer feast on mine. So sad..

Redballoon were you born in Japan? It is a country I have always wanted to visit. I went on several "Doctors without borders" trips with a team from Japan. It was always hard work but so much fun also.

I must learn to post pictures also. thank you all for your thoughts.

My thought for today is "Grin and Share it"