Welcome Stacy!

Ellen, I agree that you might not want to do day 12. Maybe, at most, prolong your hunger. Instead of eating at your normal time eat an hour later.

Well, I was home with a migraine started by allergies so I didn't get anything done yesterday. I forgot my book today. I know that today is day 10 and exercise but I am going to wait and read it.

Gina

Hi Kathy! I think that is a great idea to leave the weekends to strengthen your tools.

Poll: what has been TBDS's greatest tool for you to date??

Some of the days are easy because I am a "professional dieter". I have done some of the things already but clearly I am missing SOMETHING or I would have lost the weight by now. I think the two strongest tools that I have learned from TBDS that I didn't already do was from Day 4-praise and Day 1-motivation. I think reminding myself of why I really want to lose weight has helped me focus and I slip less because of it. Also, I am very hard on myself and I can see how much I need to praise myself to counter my natural tendancies.

So, to praise myself (day 4)

I have made a lot of healthy changes.



Have a great hump day!

Well, girls, I made it through Day 12 - and then some! I actually didn't get to eat dinner until about 8:00 last night... but you know what, the hunger really does come and go, and when you put the discomfort of hunger in perspective (that's what the chart's supposed to do), it really isn't so bad. If you're not going to do Day 12 right away, that's fine, and if you have health issues that prevent you from doing Day 12, you definitely shouldn't - but at least give it a try sometime, if you can. It's scary, but it's worth it. I feel very empowered!

Today's Day 13 (I'm there, too, Tresor!) - and it deals with cravings, ugh. To top that off, I have PMS... what kind of timing is that?? I came up with a different kind of card for cravings... not exactly a response card, but more of a "reference" in that it has a list of all the techniques I can try to help me battle a craving. I'm actually doing okay - no cravings today - but I just KNOW that there'll be a day when I get a taste in my mouth for something and I'll need to bust out that card!!

Welcome to Stacy and Tresor!! Glad you could join us. We've really got a nice little group going on here, and we know now how important it is to find support. Glad to have you!

Gina - attagirl!!! You should be so proud of yourself for learning those skills... because they'll help you with so many other things, too. You are doing a terrific job with TBDS. No more "professional dieting" - ever!

Ellen, you are so right - this is NOT a race, and everyone needs to learn the skills at their own pace... that is an excellent point, and maybe one I need to remind myself of.

OK, ladies - back to my cubicle I go... will try to check in later, and post a longer journal entry tonight (I was in such a rush this morning!).

Hope everyone's having a great day!!

Exercise: here is my journal. I went to the library and got the Kite Runner on CD to listen to on my IPOD. I am really looking forward to it. My hope is that I will walk a little more just to hear what happens next. That is how I am when I read a book ---just one more chapter----one more----and before you know it my house is a mess, the kids are hungry, and . . . you get the idea.

http://schaug.livejournal.com/2752.html

SUZ! Wow, I am really glad to hear that day 12 went well for you! You go girl!!!!! I haven't read your journal yet but want to go take a look. I love the word empowered! That really gives me hope.

Gina

A lot of this is about empowerment, I think... slowly but surely, we are learning that we can gain mastery over the things and behaviors that we have been allowing to control us. Food, hunger and temptation are no longer the enemy!

So today I am doing both Day 14 (planning meals) and 15 (the actual start date of dieting and monitoring food) because I have already started dieting and I was already sort of planning my meals... but admit and acknowledge that I do need to work on planning and keeping track of the plan more meticulously. I'm doing that in my LJ, and I will use that to monitor my food progress during the course of the day.

We also weigh in on Day 15... and I'm happy to report another loss, so I'm down to 159. Amazing how just the little tweaks here and there have made a two-pound difference over two weeks!

OK - running REALLY late now - talk to you girls later! Have an awesome day!

Day 13 for me - Making the decision: Am I hungry? Am I desiring something to eat? or am I craving something?

I walk home for lunch (part of the planned exercise for the day) and I am HUNGRY! I have a South Beach grilled chicken wrap for lunch (eating slowly while seated of course). I finish the wraps and still feel a little hungry but I tell myself to give it some time and let your lunch register. Woo hoo for me!!

So far I've got it under control for today and my dinner is planned and I have room for a sugar free ice cream bar for my dessert.

Kathy

Attagirl, Kathy! Doesn't having control feel great??

*~*~*~*~*

Girls - I'd like to put a motion on the floor...

Since this thread's getting big and unwieldy, I propose that we start a new thread on Monday and every Monday after that - just so navigating through these threads doesn't get unwieldy/unmanageable.

How say you all?

*~*~*~*~*

OK - so yesterday we had a birthday in our office and we had a birthday cake for the honoree, which I resisted and was fine with...

But TODAY there is another birthday, and ANOTHER CAKE!! What IS this??? Someone has a wicked, evil sense of humor for throwing all this temptation my way. Nevermind! I shall be strong. NO CHOICE.

Gotta run, girls - how's everyone doing? Can we get a status check on you all, please?

omg i got the book a couple of days ago and i am so so giddy lol just a couple questions tho:
i wanna do the fat smash diet, starting with the detox phase which lasts 9 days. I was wondering if i should start right away with tbds or if i should wait until the next phase where i can introduce more foods, like chicken and fish and other types of protein and carbs.
Also, did you guys read the entire book before you started or did you read the intro and go day by day?
thanks and good luck everyone!!

rowdy, do you watch seinfeld? That just reminded me of Elaine and the office parties! *giggle* Huge congrats on resisting though. Well done!

bean, I think technically you're supposed to read one day at a time. If you go back to the beginning of the thread there is someone (and I'm sure more) who read the whole thing first. I've done a couple days together here or there, mainly when I already have that days task under control or it wouldn't take a whole day (such as choosing your program. Also when you're reading the tbds you are supposed to wait until the third week to start your actual diet plan so technically you should start it before you start the fat smash diet. Good luck and welcome!

Stacy - no, I haven't seen that episode - or at least I did and I don't remember...! Either way, this is not the first time I've been compared to Elaine!

Bean - I read the book one day at a time - only once did I do two days at once. I know some here have read through the entire book once before doing the plan, but I prefer to read one day at a time. It keeps me motivated with the thought of "I wonder what tomorrow's challenge will be!"

Today's challenge (day 17) is to leave food on my plate - intentionally. Don't know about you ladies, but for me, this is going to be extremely difficult and I'm not real sure how I'm going to handle it.

Hello Beck Book Devotees,

I am also following the book and have been searching online for a support group to use as my diet coach. I joined one on another board just as everyone was relapsing or disappearing or whatever. Mind if I fall in with you? I'm on Day 5 but not doing very well yet with Days 1-4, and I really need some accountability to get my butt in gear.

Lianne
188/not weighing yet/150

Oh, Liannie! Of course, welcome!!

What exactly are you having trouble with on Days 1 - 4? I think a LOT of us had difficulty on Day 4 (giving ourselves credit)... I know I did...

Anyway, welcome to the group! Hope to hear lots more from you.

And how about the rest of you girls..?? How's everyone doing? Everyone make it through the holiday weekend okay? I got through mostly unscathed. I didn't plan food the way I wanted to, but I still managed to be okay and didn't overeat/overstuff myself like I usually do at picnics!

I also went shopping with DH... and I bought the first size 10 shorts I've had in years! I just about did backflips in the fitting rooms at Old Navy!

TBDS really works!!!

Hi Suz and everyone,

Thanks for the welcome. I am SO glad to be here! My main problem with Days 1-4 has been, well, the whole thing actually. I feel like I need to master each task before I move on to the next one which is really dumb because it would probably take me 10 years to get through the book, right?

Initially I struggled over my reasons for wanting to lose the weight for about 3 days. I thought I KNEW all the reasons but when I went through Beck's checklist they all sounded so generic and not-quite-truthful-enough, even though I did agree with them all. I finally realized that I want to get down to a lower weight because I think then I will be happy again. Now that's really crazy because happiness should not be contingent upon size. I know what I'm really trying to do is turn back the clock to a happier time when I was coincidentally smaller. And it's completely unrealistic to think that a smaller size will give me a cleaner house, a more attentive husband, a less stressful job, less worry about my son, fewer interactions with my toxic boss and all the things that contribute to the daily mental gloom that makes me turn to food.

I finally got past Day 1 when I made a master plan for my life in which I decided that my gift to myself for my birthday (in late December) would be a new job. DH and I are already moving to a new house in August, and I can just hire a weekly maid service to help with cleaning so that I will like the environment I don't have time to take care of because of the wacko job. My son's depression will always worry me but he's an adult and I'll have to learn to live with that. So that was Day 1 and it took me a week to get through it.

Then I picked 2 diets: Leanness Lifestyle (which I still haven't finished reading because it is 490 pages) and my old fall-back: 1500 calories/lots of produce and water/fewer carbs.

I kept forgetting to read the cards (still scraps of paper because I havent bought index cards yet), but I moved on to eating sitting down. What a struggle! I haven't made it a full day yet without screwing up at least once.

Nonetheless, I did Day 4 and tried to give myself credit. Unfortunately, it's been a holiday weekend and I found little to give myself credit for because I lost all control on Friday's pizza dinner with DH, then Saturday's carb-laden lunch turned into an all-day munch fest when the cravings overwhelmed my capacity to stop, and Sunday's dinner with 2 fat friends became a 3-hour Sangria-fueled Tapas fest that left me with a massive hangover on Monday.

But, on "Day 5", Monday (actually like 10 days into the plan), I did eat a slow and mindful breakfast before having lunch standing up while working on stuff for the barbecue.

So here I am on Day 6, imperfect as all ****, but still hanging in there and looking for my diet coach. Like I said earlier, I scoped out another group on the YaYas board but just as I was joining, they were all falling off the wagon or whatever and fate led me here.

I'm no stranger to dieting because I've been doing it on and off for almost 40 years (since first finding Dr. Stillman's book when I was about 12). Having weighed as much as 240 and as little as 120 as an adult, and I've learned how to TAKE the weight off. I just have never gotten the hang of KEEPING it off. I believe in cognitive behavioral therapy, so I think TBDS is going to be the key and I am really ready to move forward with it.

Anyway, I've written a book here so I will stop now. Let me just say that I THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME JOIN and I hope to be as much help to you all as I'm sure you will be for me. And I promise not to be so verbose next time...

Welcome Liannie to our group. We're all on different days and some of us are doing BDS to the letter and some of us (like me) are marching to a different drummer. I read the whole book first and then went back to the beginning.

I'm currently concentrating on Day 11 and Day 13 - these tasks are about cravings, desires, & actual hunger feelings. I think that I'm going to stay here for a few extra days. I have problems sticking to any plan on the weekends and I've got to get over this problem before I can suceed. My weekends are not as structured as the weekdays so I have to make a plan and get some really good response cards before the weekend comes around again. How do the rest of you handle weekends?

Kathy