Hello all! Another quick post from Chicago...... I have not had time for proper greetings for everyone, but rest assured I am reading and using you and all your great efforts as inspiration while here. And I need some inspiration, as I think my coworkers have conspired to make me insane..... Last night was another bar night - and this time I arrived to plates of slider sized cheeseburgers! No lie - stacked 6 high!! I ate one and then ordered a salad. Credit me as there were about 5 of them sitting on a plate in front of me for 30 minutes before I ordered the salad. And they were good!

But the rest of the day was OP and I even crammed in a 30 minute walk after the bar. Weather here is lovely - upper 70s with a nice breeze off Lake Michigan. Hard not to want to be outside.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Good morning everyone.

I'm new to the board and starting day 7 of BDS. I'm a long time WW'er and ready for a change. I'm counting calories now and finding more success with that. I've been reading my ARC twice a day and keep forgetting to carry it with me but have been able to remember at least a couple of the list when I'm in the grocery store and considering the potato chip aisle. My DH loves chips and he doesn't need them anymore than I do so I really try to avoid bringing them home regularly.

I'm on a stay at home vacation this week and am going to a movie with a girlfriend. I plan to include a small movie popcorn in my eating for the day so now just need to track down the calories for that.

Have a good day!

Hi Coaches

Big surprise this morning. I weighed in *credit* and saw a drop of 2.0lbs = 279.5lbs. 280's are gone today... Tomorrow is my official weigh-in day when my ticker moves, or not, and I would like to move it down. So... you can bet I am WATP's today folks --- *credit* I just took a break from this note and did a 1 mile fat burning WATP. I want to do another 1 mile bout later this afternoon and maybe a third this evening. I want that 279 on my ticker tomorrow.

Today is a work day. I am about to start a few paintings for the women's festival. I need to take some time and look at some images. I have 4 mid-size canvases I'd like to paint with images of ladies having coffee or tea or something like that. Images of friends I think. We'll see where that goes.

TazzyHello and to the board! I'm with you on the chips--who needs em?? Good job leaving them at the store.

missyj Hello! KUDOS for leaving the sliders on the plate. I can imagine that was tough as it would have been really easy to say "but they're so cute! So small!" Excellent strategy to order a salad for yourself to prevent the "poor me's" from edging in. I am envious you are in Chicago. I've never been there and would really like to go.

eusebius CREDIT for weighing in and poo-pooing the weight gain. It is a blip as you are OP (credit!) and that's all that matters in the long run. It's just information...

BillBlueEyes CREDIT for throwing away stale cookies. Staleness was never a consideration as to whether I would eat or not eat a cookie so maybe you deserve DOUBLE SANDWICH COOKIE CREDITS here. I am curious... what will be the major change in your house after your renovations? More space? Man cave? New layout? Will it be done by the fall?

SuperChick Sorry your emotions fueled your eating yesterday. Been there. Done that. The only strategy that has ever really worked for me is to move myself physically away from that thing I want to eat. I need to go outside, go to another room, etc. A true distraction will work at times. Other times, I have to just white knuckle thorugh it though writing about exactly what I am feeling in the moment and simply saying NO to the craving will sometimes bring insight--but even still not remove the compulsion. It's hard and that's ok... Enjoy the Scottish sun!!

TriMommy CREDIT for recognizing your unconscious eating. That's always a shock to us all I think. And you are right, just cause it's a nibble here and nibble there it really adds up day in and day out. Good job.

maryann My motto is "persist in victory" precisely because on the heels of a triumph I often fall down. Why this is I don't really know but it is a real pattern with me... so I try to hang onto my victories now, when I am willing to be OP that is. CREDIT for moving ahead and remaining OP after the offplan eating though. This is how we succeed in the longterm!

rubidoux KUDOS for making a plan that takes your real life into consideration. Awesome that you have scheduled fun time for you and your boy and amde that a strategy to stay out of the food and OP. That can only be a good combo!

Alana in Canada Sleep and water. So basic eh? Our bodies do so much repair work while we sleep it is no wonder your body let go a few pounds after a good rest. Thanks for the thoughts on overdoing it re: WATP. I decided to rethink my gung-ho approach upon reading that the other day and instead upped the intensity but kept the length of the workout the same. Work harder and smarter right? I am just so darn ANXIOUS to see some "real" weight drop off... but whatever I want, my body does what it wants in the end... I can only do the footwork and that is only one step at a time.

pamatga BIG CREDITS for all you are doing. I think you are firing on all cylinders! I am thrilled to read your sleep is so good. It wasn't that long ago that it wasn't. AWESOME. I am the same as you in that I too believe I will always be hungry when I eat a normal portion size. I struggle with this when, really, I need just accept it. Thank you for your great example.

Beverlyjoy I haven't said back yet! So great to see you here and I was so thrilled to read and be reminded of this: Oh the dish soap strategy. It really is a great way to put an end to a food craving.

Must be off... have a good Thursday gang

Hi Coaches!

We arrived in Santa Fe and nothing foodwise really went as I might have planned, in the best case scenario. I did my best and basically didn't eat much while everyone snacked through the evening. It was obvious dinner wasn't going to happen. After everyone went to bed DH and I went out to the store. I had sushi and 2 yogurts for dinner...then had some sun chips.

Re: the Sane Food Diet....yesterday was sane except for the chips at the end..while in a controlled portion they just weren't necessary and I knew that.

Today is starting good...we brought the vita mix and have enjoyed green smoothies already. Good nutrition sure helps.

Hi folks - I stayed with my plan yesterday... I am grateful.

My friend, Sally, asked me if I wanted to go to dinner at Bravo (at 8:30 pm) and see "The Help", movie after. at 11pm. It was with her book club and their friends. Nineteen women went to see the movie. It was great fun. The movie is a must see. Food wise, I did just fine.. and I am grateful. At 6pm I had a big lettuce salad with some 2% cheese, crutons made from light ww bread and some vinegar and oil. At dinner - 9pm by the time we ate, I had a small chopped salad with grilled salmon. The whole day was still around 1300 calories. Wow... it's amazing what a person can do around food when they decide they just will make the right choices. Most of my life, I make unhealthful choices around food. Somehow - yesterday worked out fine and I am feeling good about it.

Also - I planned and tracked my food, drank lots of water, wrote down my food, left a bite, ate much slower, didn't eat one bite while standing, weighed myself, and did a few stretches.

I am planning for a healthy day.

Onebyone - awesome fat burning session!! I hear you on the carbs… they can be tough to give up. You are doing well to figure your ‘life with carbs’ in advance. LOL

super chick - surfing! …what great exercise. It’s nice when folks start to notice. I love the idea of keeping track of some complements for a time when you’re having a tough day. Thanks for sharing that.

Trimommy - don’t worry about personals… sometimes folks do them… other times they don’t have time. Wonderful to be working on your RC and planning food for the next day. Good for you for noticing how often you automatically go to food all day. It’s amazing for me too.

Pamatga - Pam, I hear ya on struggling what to do when going to a function where the food is provided. Do you need to bring a dish to pass. You could ask ahead and see what’s being served. Tell them the doctor wants you to watch your salt or sugar. Sometimes a little white lie helps us in the food department. Way to go on your BL Buddy Challenge.

Alana - I am so glad you found the pictures! Sleep is good. I am glad you can try to fit a way to get the sweet fix everyday. Planning for it is good.

Rubedoux - yes, I have to admit that I have taken food from the garbage too.. I agree, it must be gone or uneatable. Good job on your planning. It helps everyone get their needs filled.

Maryann - for me too.. Sometimes staying away from a treat can have a ’rebound’ effect later. Bravo for getting back on plan!! And planning for a good one today.

super chick - major credit for doing the deep breathing and counting to forstall some unplanned eating.

Billbe - YAY… for throwing away stale cookies and getting the others packed and out of sight!!!

Erika - I understand your disappointment in not seeing the scale move down. I think it’s hard to learn that that number can fluctuate not always in regards to food. Carry on.

Gosh… I have four more personals to do and I need to leave…. Shout out to missyj
, lexxiss, tazzy, and another post from onebyone.

Have a great day, folks.

GD fellow Becksters!

Tazzy to our "Beck cave" where all the creature comforts abound. Great Job on the chips. I do believe that WW really has a lot of wisdom that a lot of people haven't given them credit. I did 3-4 stints with WW over the past 30 years and they were the original with their "Core" program and planned snacks. Although "counting calories" sounds so "yesterday", I still feel like "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule of thumb. If it works then do it. It does and I do!

missyj I know this restaurant and those sliders..... Fantastic Job in looking the other way. Maybe, next time you could bring dish soap and give it a squirt. Wouldn't the waiter be surprised by that????

eusebius RE: weight gain. I think Dr. Beck really enlightened me how to view numbers on the scale. If the weight gain is less than 2 weeks then it can be attributed to hormones, sodium, eating more/exercising less (easy to fix). If it is more than 2 weeks, then use that information to tweak your "plan".

BillBlueEyes Can you feel the love and concern we all for you and your reno-snacking?? Besides all the wonderful previous "ideas", what I do is "divide and conquer" the irrestible by putting some in the freezer. I have a new refridgerator and I would break a crown if I ate something directly out of my freezer and then I would really be blue (at $1500 a pop!).

SuperChick Great previous suggestions. Again, "out of sight out of mind" always works for me. I got into trouble this past weekend when trying to be nice to my sweetie I made homemade, from scratch cinnamon rolls with icing. I did use whole wheat organic pastry flour but guess who ate the majority of them? Well, it wasn't my DH!! "Next time" (the house smelled awesome and it was raining outside too-perfect afternoon for baking) I plan on doing exactly what I just told Bill to do: I will cut them up individually (before the second rising) and then pop all but a couple in the freezer which I can then take out individually "as needed". So, why didn't I do that before?? I just wasn't thinking......

TriMommy Seems unplanned eating is the topic of the day today. Well, as it has been said, "the best laid plans of mice and men...." I thought of another quote, "If you don't know where you are going, then more than likely you will end up someplace else." PLANNING is the new buzz word... Great Job on your efforts.

maryann Great Job on your continued staying the course and that is really what is the definition of success here. Another quote just popped in my head: "Fail to Plan and you Plan to Fail". Seems a little harsh, but again, seems the Universe is trying to tell us all something.

rubidoux Great Job in Planning (once again).


Alana in Canada Sleep and water. How absolutely essential to us as humans and yet two things we consistently neglect. Here are some stats I came across: we can go without food for up to 60 days but we can only survive without water a few days!! Funny but most of us (well alright me then) have that the other way around!! As for sleep, if you go more than 24 hours (and my record was 36 about 3 months ago and I had a technician in the house doing some rewiring and he was asking me to make intelligent decisions) your mind starts to slow down, your ability to make cognitive decisions erodes and you can even start to hallucinate (hopefully not when you are driving).

onebyone Major Credit goes out to you to fit your new WATP dvd into your already hectic and busy schedule!! Yes, it appears that I am on a roll. TY!! I have had nearly 2 1/2 weeks of 8-9 hours of sleep each night. With this renewed physical activity the past couple of days, I will admit that by the end of the night (well 2 a.m. actually) I am tired enough to call it a day. I am riding a wave here, Superchick. I hope you can find something that will do it for you as well.

Beverlyjoy Don't give up! We have your back, lady!! . Actually, there is one woman, a very severe diabetic who sits and watches the rest of us eat year round. She has amazing strength. I have never seen her waver in 2 years since DH and I joined this group. Never! I am bringing my bean muffins and picking up a tray of cut up veggies from that same grocery store I go to. I saw it displayed yesterday in the produce section and I decided that way I can eat from my own stuff and leave the rest alone.

Credits:

Stats for Day 3(yesterday):
*Down 3.2 lbs. but, in all fairness, I overate this past weekend and that is probably mostly sodium "bloat" but still glad to see it gone.
*calories came in at 2113 (13 more than my recommended high) and sodium was 2919 mg (first time in 3 days under my recommended 3000)
*walked 1.75 miles
*did some interval walking on the treadmill-started out 1.3 mph, then went up to 1.5 mph, up and down, for 10 minutes.
*did all my strength exercises that I have previously listed in spite of injuring my upper back. Just went very sloooow and was careful. Backed that up with EX-Tylenol to keep inflammation down.
*3 serv veg-2 c. cooked broccoli, 1 c mixed chopped spinach and fire roasted tomatoes mixed in with my morning omelet
*3 serv fruit-2 c of cantalope, fresh from my home organic garden (wonderful!!) and a whole apple
*80 oz non caloric beverages
*read my Beck Diet Solution response cards

Tip I used from BDS: after each meal (esp when eating out since I went out last night to eat) ask yourself:"Could I easily go for a moderate to brisk walk right now? If the answer is Yes, then I/you am experiencing NORMAL FULLNESS.

P.S. In order for me to get my NS Klondike ice cream bars I had to walk past glazed donuts, creme cakes and some other wonderful looking bakery goods. I think I may talk to the grocery store manager (seriously) and ask if he would consider putting the NS confections in the end of the refrigerated aisle so we go in and get out without being so tempted. I managed to turn a blind eye to them but gosh I was salivating by the time I got to the register to check out. However, went home, had one NS ice cream bar, watched AGT and then did my late night "homework" before calling it a day.

Hope all of yours is wonderful as well.

Pam

Coaches/Buddies, I’ve got some angst today. I’m not sure why, but I could attribute it to a vast number of things. I’m not sure if I feel lazy because I’m down or I feel down because I’m lazy. Argh! It is the battle of my wills and unrealistic expectations that I can achieve the level of health I want with minimal time investment. WRONG! I want to whine that I can’t do it because I’m defective, but that is ridiculous. Days like this I always find myself massively reorganizing and recommitting to achieving the same miraculous changes without actually doing the work. WRONG AGAIN! Thanks for listening to my frustrated rant.

Sending safe thoughts to those in the UK. I hope those involved in the riot mess will put their heads back on soon.

P.S. Thanks for the comfort from all of your posts. You have helped me a great deal today. Have GardenerJoy or Shepherdess been on lately?

Yesterday/Today’s Essentials:
Weigh-in: +0.5 lbs.
Read Advantage Cards two times: no, only once
Read Response Cards at least two times: no, only once
Ate slowly, sitting down, noticing every bite: at breakfast
Gave myself credit when I engaged in helpful eating behaviors: yes
Did spontaneous exercise: yes
Did planned exercise: yes
Wrote out food plan for tomorrow: yes
Tracked today’s food: yes
Left food on my plate: not at breakfast
Ate only to normal fullness: no
Identified and responded to a self-deluding thought: no

[B]Alana in Canada[B], hope you are feeling better after the good sleep. Good luck with your meal planning for the day.

BeverlyJoy, great to see you too and awesome job being on plan! I am so glad for you that you did so well on your Girls’ night.

BillBlueEyes, great job tossing your cookies!

Eusebius, I hear you on losing your head planning your life when you should be focusing on the day before you! Thanks for the reminder. Good job getting in the walk yesterday. Don’t stay discouraged by the scale! Tomorrow will be better for you.

Lexxiss, great job planning for your travel alternatives. I go to my mom’s house for the weekend, which always turns in to a food mess for me. So, you’ve reminded and inspired me that I need to think about this tonight and make some preparations before we leave tomorrow. Thank you.

MissyJ, nice job getting back on track after the fried diversion! Nice to meet you!

Onebyone, I hope you have a great show this weekend. Congratulations on the exciting loss.

PamatGA, thanks for the warm thoughts. You’re stomach will shrink! It looks like you’ve had a couple of terrific days in a row.

Rubidoux, great job telling hunger it was no big deal!! Did your book come? I’m pretty psyched to move forward in my program.

SuperChick, nice to meet you! How fun to surf before work! I need to check out the adore yourself slim site. I love Gok! Also, I’m glad you got to see the sun.

Tazzy, welcome to the group. This is a fantastic bunch of people. Great job with your ARCs.

TriMommy, welcome and great job yesterday!

We ordered pizza as an impromptu birthday supper for my daughter and her friend--I wound up eating 3 pieces. Poor planning on my part--I had fresh salmon in the fridge--but I decided to join them in watching their move--so I didn't take any time to cook.

I do not want to get hung up on perfectionism, but I'm really getting concerned. I seem to have NO "resistance" muscle at all. Can you help?

Futurefit--Doing all those Beck activities is very time consuming. You are doing great! What kind of toime, exactly do you need? Can you time yourself? I have to do dishes by hand at my house--and I have very little counter space--which means that I usually either prep my food in a very small space surrounded by dirty dishes--or I wash them first. Once, when I was taking a time management course, we were advised to time all of our activities for a week. I was shocked to learn that I could wash the dishes and start a load of laundry in 15 minutes. (Laundry involves running to the basement, too).

From that point on, though I still don't like doing them, it's not the BIG BAD UGLY job it used to be. In fact, yesterday, I felt great while I was doing them.

Maybe you can time your most "dreaded" activities--and maybe you'll be nicely surprised. At the very least, you will have a good handle on how much time you need to schedule to get the job done.

Pamatga--you sound so great! Way to go, girl! About that brisk walk after eating--seriously? Oh my. Something to think about.

Beverlyjoy--kudos for a great day!

Lexxiss--I was just reading the Beck chapter last night where she recommends asking hotel management to clear out the min-fridge for you and going shopping and filling it up with good food for yourself. Our family is so frugal, we have done this the few times we've actually stayed in a motel with a fridge. We used to attend a homeschool conference for two days and nights a year--and only one of our meals was taken "out." The rest all came from the min-fridge. (Pre-bagged salads, a Roast chicken and a loaf of bread, fruit and yogurt go a long way!)

Onebyone--hooray for the weight loss! I'm so glad you decided to up your intensity but keep the workout do-able.

Welcome Tazzy. Congrats for starting with Beck.

Missyj--Chicago! What a beautiful city! How I envy you. I spent a weekend there many, many years ago. I loved visiting the Art Institute. Will you have time to visit? Congrats on resisting those sliders. Do you know I've never had one? I'm not sure I've even seen them in real life, lol! (We don't go out much.)


eusebius--what Pam said! Don't be discouraged.

BBE--I commend you for putting the cookie-like things in a box and sealing it up. That's taking care of yourself! Do tell us more about these renovations, if you have time. Sounds like you are near completion, are you? Won't that be a happy day.

Superchick--I've been doing a fair bit of reading on the whole emotional eating thing. Turns out our lizard brain is asserting itself when this happens--and it does things, apparently 10x faster than our cognitive, rational brain. Yes, part of the solution definitely seems to be retraining our habits--absolutely. You are on the right track. I'm right there with you, too, "slaving away" in the kitchen while everyone else does something "moire fun." Oh well.

Trimommy--congrats on catching yourself eating standing up. It is a bit of an eye opener, isn't it? When I first read about it, I figured I had that one down. I never ate standing up. But, then I find myself standing at the counter, chopping something and putting a piece in my mouth. No way. I must have just started after reading about it in Beck. That's what I figured happened.

Maryanne--hope your day is less exhausting, today. Take care of yourself.

Rubidoux--Major kudos to you for PS: Not as much sleep last night--and I have a huge head-ache! It is hot and humid here--much more than I'm used to. The whole summer has been this way. Blech. I miss my dry prairie summers.

I'm writing, 50k words last month and on track for 50k more this month. Apparently I can't add a big thing to my day, taking 2 or more hours, and not have some other things slide. Who would have thought? But I don't want to give up anything! And I'm still refusing to decide. However, it can't be any of these things --> posting here, weighing in, planning meals, exercising. Okay. Onward and upwards.

Welcome TriMommy and Tazzy! Welcome back BeverlyJoy and FutureFitChick! Greetings, all!

Hi Coaches,

Alana, I had to reply because you asked about something that I have struggled with - control and pizza I wondered for years how to stop myself from eating too much of it (and other foods truth be told).

My current solution is this: I say to myself that I am "on plan" everyday. So even if I eat additional food, I still track it to the best of my ability. Then, at the end of the day when I review things, I see the situation in the cold light of day. I have to work to stay calm about what happened, forgive myself, and think about how I'd do better next time.

Doing those steps has helped me a) avoid sneaky eating that leads to more sneaky eating, b) learn to be kinder to myself c) stay accountable to my overall goals.

Remember, this journey just requires persistence, not perfection ! Credit to you for going public with one mistake and trying to learn how to do better in the future. That's an important step right there.

Woodland

Yay! I got my book! Haven't had nearly as much time to read as I'd like, but still!

Now, I need a favor from you guys who have read it. Tomorrow I'm going off plan for a dinner party. My current plan is this: I will eat during a two hour window instead of my usual sit down and eat one meal thing, and during that time I will allow myself anything that is the equivalent of my usual plan (ie, any meat, basically), any green-type salads, and pick two off-plan items as my treats (so maybe a carby side and a desert, for example). I'm not going to worry *much* about portions, though I don't want to go totally overboard. So, the favor -- I'm wondering if there're any parts of the book I should be reading before the party. It looks like "stay in control when eating out" might be helpful. But I'm also wondering what she's got to say about planned cheating and whether there might be anything else helpful.

I am a little bummed that this party is tomorrow. I've been looking forward to it for a while and kept asking hubby when it was gonna be, he didn't know, then yesterday he says "oh, it's friday." Gah! So, no time to really prepare mentally and get used to the idea. I'm bummed that my streak will end, since it was probably the longest good streak of my life. Sigh... But I suppose it will be a learning experience to factor some real life into my eating plan.

Today was good. All OP. Credit! I did my walk during ds's karate even though I was feeling lazy and wanted to sit in the car and read my book. Little guy insisted, so I have him to thank for that. Credit, anyway! And credit for some spontaneous walking we did this morning with our playgroup around a pond.

maryann, It's great you got right back on. I think that's a great skill! I tried to add dark chocolate to my plan and had a similar result. Stinks though. It would be so nice to have some freakin' chocolate once in a while. What is your job?

TriMommy, Noticing that unplanned eating is a good first step. I was doing that, too, at first, but now it has become a habit not to. I don't even lick a finger while cooking for the kids. I bet you feel pretty stuck sometimes nursing your LO. Since mine's 2 1/2 I can tell him "later" if I need (want) to. I will miss it when we're done, though.

SuperChick, Yay for the sun! I wonder if that will help with the emotions. I know a good sunny day does wonders for me. And I also know those days when it feels like everything is getting under your skin, even stuff that shouldn't. For me it feels chemical when that happens and I wonder if eating is really a form of self-medicating. I hope your strategy helps if you find yourself there again.

BBE, Good riddance to those cookies! You definitely deserve tons of credit for that!

eusebius, I would love to do a playdate! I have been finding the whole playdate dynamic to be so hard lately, for both of my kids. Mostly the parents are crazy. You'd be such a breath of fresh air, plus, we'd have something to talk about. After 11 days of losses, I think it makes sense (although still no fun) that the scale is bouncing up a little. I have had two or three times where I've lost for quite a number of days and at the end that has always happened. It did come back down for me, though. I doubt it's anything you did, just your body getting it's equilibrium or something.

missyj, The salad was a great response! Way to go!

Tazzy, Welcome! And good job with the chips! Keeping them out of the house is a good way to go. I hope you had a good time with your friend!

onebyone, Woo! hoo! I get so excited by those ten pound increments, too. Each one of them is such a huge accomplishment.

Lexxiss, That sounds like a good compromise for dinner -- though I wish there had been something really lovely and on plan for you.

Beverlyjoy, Sounds like you had a great day!

Pam, Three pounds is three pounds! Nice! And wtg with the NS klondikes!

FutureFitChick, It is so unfair at how hard and what a slow process weight loss is. There should be an amnesty day or something where if you promise to eat well from now on, you get to be thin and healthy. If only I were in charge of these things...

Alana, I think my eating plan is 95% of my resistance muscle. I have removed food from my moment to moment life altogether because if I have to think about food all day because there is always a scheduled feeding around the corner, I WILL think about food all day, and I find that is just too hard for me. I make my meal almost the exact same thing every night so that I don't have to think about it. It's bacon and yogurt. NO CHOICE. Also, chemically, I cannot handle carbs, and eating them will crush any sort of resistance I might otherwise muster. It's like a carb snowball when I eat a cookie. I am never satisfied by one cookie (or one anything carby) and it always makes me want more no matter how full or stuffed I am. I know that a lot of people I tell about my eating plan are horrified by the idea of it, but the reason it works for me is that it doesn't set me up for failure like having to eat dribs and drabs of almost yummy stuff all day long. I would never get anywhere that way. I tell you this not to say you should follow my diet (though you are welcome to! lol I could use some company.) But just to say that I totally get where you are.

Tazzy

And in honor of joining 3FC this month,

For this thread, how did you learn about the books by Dr. Judith Beck?

And how did you find this Beck Forum on the 3 Fat Chicks site?

Hey all you Becksters in the Beck Cave ( Pam!) happy Friday!

Weigh-in: +0.2lb. I seem to be doing a good job of maintaining this week, phrump
Credits: checked in, weighed in, gym before work, biked to work, read ARC, stopped myself from eating extra chocolate last night. I wasn’t hungry, just wanted it. So it stayed in the cupboard.

BBE – credit at throwing out the cookies – I find that so satisfying when you make that decision and do it. I think Beck mentions this in her book, about how the torment over whether or not to eat can be solved by choosing not to eat as well as choosing to eat. Well done!

Erika – don’t get put off by one slight increase – you’re doing a cracking job and I’m slowly learning that the week / month / year is made of weight ups and downs but it’s definitely on the down trend for you

Onebyone – fingers the ticker is on it’s way down today. you’re right, it is a compulsion. I need to retrain my brain! If only it were that easy… at the thought of BBE having a ‘man-cave’

Beverlyjoy – is the film good? I read the book at Christmas and enjoyed it, I’m not sure when it’s out in the UK… good work on the sane food choices when out with 19 women!

Pam – I know have ridiculous images of BBE (even though i do not know what he looks like!) as Bat-man (or Beck-man?) residing in his Beck Cave!

Futurefitchick – I hear you on the angst. Someday’s, it’s just there. You know Gok! Can you get his shows in the US?

Alana – Everyone has days like this but I think you’re being unnecessarily down on yourself – I bet there’s loads of little things you’ve done today that you wouldn’t have done had you not started this journey which are all helping. Did you want to eat more than 3 slices of pizza but stopped? Helpful eating behaviour. It can be hard but by trying to look for the positive and not totally focus on the negative (i.e. eating pizza) your next choice will be born out of a desire to look after yourself (stopping when full, making a healthy choice) not out of loathing for yourself (i.e. I can’t believe I ate that pizza, I’ll only eat salad all day tomorrow to make up for it – not helpful behaviour)… woah, I got a bit deep there I wasn’t expecting that!
P.S. you’ve made massive leaps and bounds since you started here – I bet if you look back at your first post then a couple of recent posts you’ll see the difference

Woodland – I echo what you say, be kind to yourself! 'Persistence not perfection' – love it

Rubidoux – I totally get SAD – in the deepest winter here in Aberdeen in isn’t light until 9:30 and gets dark at 3:30! Very depressing… on the subject of the party, whilst it sounds like lunacy you might actually get there and decide not to cheat at all…

Joy – big up on the writing and the determination to keep juggling those balls and keeping them up in the air

One more thing – I’ve got another challenge tonight (life’s full of them!) – it’s a friend’s birthday and we’re going out to the pub / bar tonight. I need to decide how I’m going to approach it in terms of drinking… I don’t want to be obviously not drinking, but I also find it hard to drink drinks slowly (I’m the same with all drinks, tea, water etc)! Apart from the drink calories, I hate being hungover and also then not being able to exercise and the desire to eat crappy food… but I do like to have a drink or two… catch 22! I have a bit of an all or nothing attitude in the past to drink; I find it hard to find a middle ground on a night out… I think I may try to decide before hand how many drinks I’m going to have and stick to it, or perhaps alternate one alcoholic drink with one non-alcoholic drink… any suggestions welcome!

Diet Coaches/Buddies - First big non-surprise of the day: I ate no unscheduled cookies (CREDIT moi) because . . . none were readily available. Packing them up into a box in the basement worked!

Second big non-surprise: I did not overeat at an evening meeting (CREDIT moi) because . . . no food was served. I take credit anyway since I had planned to avoid over eating and my head was in the right place. When I came home, I had a slowly consumed pasta salad and a green salad.


onebyone - Welcome back 270's - missed ya. Gotta love, "everything's good." [The redo is basically just repainting the insides, so no new spaces. The new kitchen and new bath just seemed to happen as a byproduct of the painting, LOL.]

Joy (gardenerjoy) – I know that feeling, "I don't want to give up anything!" Good luck finding your solution. I do hope that some level of posting here remains on your list.

FutureFitChick - Ouch for confronting that our goals in life are rarely with little effort. I experience that over and over - why did it take me an hour to do that simple task? Good luck finding your solution.

Erika (eusebius) - After 11 straight days of loses you need a little scale wiggle to remain humble, LOL.

Beverlyjoy – Movie evening with 19 buddies sounds fun. Sticking to your 1300 calories is great - Kudos.

Debbie (Lexxiss) - Long evenings with uncertain foods can be a challenge; Kudos for surviving.

pamatga - Love the notion that arranging your environment extends to the location of the NS Klondike ice cream bars.

Alana in Canada - It's tough to find the balance between "perfectionism" and using the Resistance Muscle. I can only offer support as you wrestle with that.

Woodland – Such a clear vision of what you're doing, "Doing those steps has helped me a) avoid sneaky eating that leads to more sneaky eating, b) learn to be kinder to myself c) stay accountable to my overall goals."

missyj - Waving toward the Windy City. Kudos for avoiding a stack of sliders in your face for so long.

rubidoux - You sound on track to take on that dinner party. My take is to plan, plan, plan to avoid the high calories appetizers and user moderation on the rest. Good luck.

Tazzy - Good insight on those chips. Just think, a whole isle of the supermarket you can now skip. Kudos for carefully planning your movie popcorn. Glad you've joined us.

Readers -

Coaches/Buddies, I ended up going off plan yesterday. I was not feeling well enough to go out to eat as planned, so I stayed in.

I still need to plan a strategy for going to my mom’s house this weekend…

Got to run or I’ll be late for my workout!

Yesterday/Today’s Essentials:
Weigh-in: no change
Read Advantage Cards two times: once
Read Response Cards at least two times: once
Ate slowly, sitting down, noticing every bite: no
Gave myself credit when I engaged in helpful eating behaviors: yes
Did spontaneous exercise: yes
Did planned exercise: none planned
Wrote out food plan for tomorrow: not yet
Tracked today’s food: yes
Left food on my plate: no
Ate only to normal fullness: yes
Identified and responded to a self-deluding thought: yes

[B]Alana in Canada[B], thanks for the reminder about timing myself. I used to do that with cleaning chores, but I hadn’t thought about doing that for health activities. Thanks! Your question about the resistance muscle reminds me that I have to celebrate all of the little resistance victories and that muscle is supposed to get strengthened through increased use.

BillBlueEyes, great job last night at the meeting and with the no surprise cookies.

GardenerJoy, good to read your post and be reminded that even successful veterans struggle with time!

Rubidoux, I LOVE the amnesty day idea! I have the pink book and there is a day toward the end regarding travel and dining out.

SuperChick, we don’t have cable, but I can find him online. I’m not sure where I first heard of him. As far as going out, I usually volunteer to be the designated driver or stick with a single cider or something like a rum and diet coke for the first drink, then just plain diet coke after that. No one really says anything. Great job stopping with the chocolate!

Woodland, nice to meet you! Great suggestions.