Hi Coaches!

I wrote a post yesterday AM but the internet didn't cooperate before work called. credit anyway. Yesterday was a good and planned day. I've made my plan for today, too. It's much simpler while DH is away and I'm enjoying that. Nothing too exciting here....I just looked out and am waiting for the time it's light enough to get in the yard for 20 min. before work.

BBE, I watched the news last eve and was happy for your city to reclaim it's marathon. Yay. Kudos for being that human hole digger as your DW moves plants. I find I'm that way, too. Still watching for those sweet peas to pop out of the ground.

maryann, my smoothie always has kale, ginger root, celery, parsley, beet, carrot and apple. Fruit additions include banana, strawberry, raspberries, pineapple (whatever needs to be used first). Veggie additions include cabbage (I prefer purple) and add quite often. I also use stems from broccoli and cauliflower. I add both a greens and protein powder. I now mix my protein powder myself using equal portions of chia seed, flax seed (ground) and hemp seed.

nationalparker, I am not tired of hearing from you. I send you cyber hugs and really feel it helps to be able to check in here and tell it like it is. I've found the need in "real life" to cheer others, be super positive and share all the bright side of life. Here I can let out more of my true feelings about events in my life, which I do feel helps with my food situation. It's the one thing I can do for me when it seems I spend so much time caring for others.

Take care everyone. Work time is rapidly approaching.

Good morning:

Will be checking back in tonight to see if I could do this today:

-listen to motivation app done
-read advantage and response cards done
-check back in with my coaches tonight forgot but am doing now
-get outside for some fresh air done
-do arm/shoulder strengthening exercises done
-work on writing some goals (Diet Fix Day ?) done
-eat NO sugar done
Food Plan stayed on plan!
-egg whites and oatmeal
-salad, turkey soup
-yogourt and berries
-turkey, potato, veggies
-cottage cheese and mandarins

Hope everyone has a great day!!

I didn't feel like weighing and measuring yesterday, so I didn't. That led to feeling "off plan" which led to a super-sized snack. Then, when I had to run an unexpected errand to an unexpected place with an unexpected chocolate selection...well. I did enjoy my treat, though, so if there's anything to that, I'm in good shape.

I feel a bit like I was set up. Except that I saw it coming a mile away and could have stopped it if I wanted.

So, a part of me would just like to go off track for a few days. DH's nephew is getting married on Friday (with reception dinner) and we're also invited to the rehearsal dinner on Thursday. The saboteur whispers that if I stay off track than I "get" to eat whatever I want at those two events. But, I've been at this long enough to know that I'll enjoy the events more if I go in with a plan.

I trust my Beck-style pre-plan more than The Diet Fix's approach to these sorts of events. My plan will be "focus on the veggies and eat tiny servings of anything else I want to taste, including dessert."

For the rest of this week, I'm going back to a more Beck way of doing things, but I am going to plan foods that are easy to measure and I'm going to work on timing meals to reduce hunger.

This incident reminds me of one of my skepticisms of all plans that claim to reduce hunger. The vast majority of my excess calories weren't consumed when I was hungry. It's helpful to reduce hunger, of course, but I'll never succeed if that's my only tool. There are other tools in The Diet Fix -- I'll see if I can pick them up in my next round through the 10 days, but not until after the wedding.

WI: NA kg, Exercise: +30 1110/1500 minutes for April, Food: 70% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

nationalparker: I'm not tired of reading your posts. I feel honored that you let us walk beside you on this journey.

BillBlueEyes: I normally serve salad alongside dinner, but then I eat mine after since I like my hot food to be hot. DH eats his more at the same time, going back and forth.

Tuesday.

Yesterday was OP. Today is already a tough Fast day. There will be treats all week at work for National Lab Week. Today is the Pizza Party. Tonight is my second workout of my week's planned set of 3-60 min workouts. And my mind is already suggesting I should carbo-load on the pizza so I can survive the workout....(!)

Note to Self: We know any pizza intake will cause Terminal Bloat that will never be gone by Saturday's critical [maybe halfway point] Weigh-In. This is a "No Choice".

Sheesh.

Diet Power FB page:
Tuesday Reality Check: If you think, “I’m going to eat this because I just don’t care,” remind yourself that while it’s true you may not care right at that moment, you are going to care A LOT a few minutes from now (or the next time you get on the scale) if you jeopardize your weight loss. Don’t let one moment of not caring influence how you act!

And Dr. Yani (Diet Fix) Debunks Cheat Days: Link to his blog

Had a strange weigh in this morning! Down two pounds? Not sure I believe it. After struggling with several hungry days and eating at maintenance for the last 5 I'm wondering what is up. I do feel better today and found breakfast filling, so that is good and I'm ready to aim for 1 lb/wk loss again. Set my calorie levels back down this morning.

6crowsgold Sending lots of thoughts your direction for strong resistance to the pizza call!

gardenerjoy Loved reading about your wise decision to do what works for you - Beck - during the wedding. Hope you have a wonderful social time!

CeeJay I do better with no sugar too. Good to "see" you!

Lexxiss Kudos for OP and hoping you enjoy your relaxing day.

BillBlueEyes A normal day is good since your normal is healthy choices! It is an awesome place to be! As for salad, we prefer it with the meal...bite of this, bite of that...just as if it were a cooked veggie side dish. Though some of my kiddos eat only one thing at a time.

Cheryl/GosfordGirl Mmmmm ferments My pickles are gone and today is coop order due...might have to order more!

nationalparker (((HUGS))) Thanks for being real and sharing what is on your heart. We are not tired of you, but I'll bet you are tired of the stress and heartache. I know I would not wish your dad's situation on anyone.

maryann So glad your Easter celebration went well and that you enjoyed the new perspective. Always nice to bless others!

flnu So good to be back to what works. Wishing you an OP day.

onebyone Now you've got me really curious! What is a toothbrush level of exercise. Waiting impatiently for my library reserve of DF to arrive So glad your weekend was better than expected.

Checking in on this tough day:

Now past the Pizza Temptation. Stuck with my Soy Protein Shake and stayed OP--No Choice!

Still a lot of day left in this fast.

Coaches

I had the same experience with Diet Fix as gardenerjoy wrote about today. I didn't do all that tracking and so I felt off-plan. I'm going to fix the diet fix to work for me by tracking *in the way that works for me* echoing the wisdom of flnu, "Do the thing that works; don't do the thing that does not work." Thank you coaches for your help. Specifically, whatever Dr. Yoni says regarding tracking I am subsituting the tracking that most recently worked for me that I abandoned when I started reading his book. He's got other ideas beyond the tracking that I can focus on and that's what I'll do.

I'm going to set my toothbrush level at 5min-15min/1mile WATP workout. Or 5 min of calisthenics-jogging on the spot, jumping jacks, whatever I feel like doing. That'll be my daily minimum.

BTW the ice cream truck is driving around the neighbourhood RIGHT NOW. ARGH! He has the "music" blasting to get our attention--though it makes me laugh: an electronic version of La Cucaracha! This is the first time I've seen him all year. Last week we had a knife/scissor sharpener guy drive around the block too. Weird. Can the milkman make a comeback I wonder?? Bet the breadman could.

I'm checking back in later. Bye for now.

OK. I am calling day 6 done and heading to day 7. It's about indulging. I've done enough of that lately. It's not something that I can do in moderation. I'll see what I can glean from the good doctor on this topic...

Only three more days here and then I return home to DH and the pet crew. Despite sleeping only a few hours each night, I'll find it hard to leave. I'm wiped out now. Busy day and did half day's work this afternoon and then added more tonight. I am thankful that i've not fallen behind, but did remove myself from a project for the first time ever at work. My supervisors had reached out several times to stress that I should spend the time I can with my family, and they had someone willing to assist, so that was a major relief.

Now have three more meds to add to my dad's mix, along with a mouth rinse. I've clearly turned into Nurse Ratchett (sp?) ... but so far, my dad has finally given in. My next "threat" will be to serenade him until he takes his meds ... and as I can't carry a tune in a bucket, as he's said, he should be forced to get them down to end the torture. ... was to ensure he had meds at 3 a.m. and that's HARD ... so went to bed at 1 after he'd taken one dose of something, up at 2:20 and then again at 3, and finally back to sleep around 4:30.

Have not eaten enough, nor particularly nutritionally today. Nothing bad, just nothing with many nutrients. I weighed myself this morning on one scale here and am up a few pounds and on the other scale and am down a few pounds, so a range of 4.5 pounds between the two scales. Which set me thinking, Hmmm... I want to buy a Taylor scale because that one is reading low. HA. And I'm kinda not really kidding...

Goal when I get home - and I might need reminding of this - is to walk on Saturday and Sunday with the pooch if the weather permits. While I've been on my feet most of the days, and doing chores and this & that, I've not done any longer walks at all. I have a feeling that I'll get home and just want to sleep and cuddle with the pets as DH is working this weekend.

I decided that no matter what the scale reads at home, I'm not coming down hard on myself like I often do. I have passed up eating from stress quite often these past two weeks, and that alone has been difficult. I was so upset talking to my brother the other night, at how guilty I felt being able to eat easily while my father and mother can barely choke down food or fluids some days.

Coaches

Today was Day 2 of Diet Fix (DF) and a fast day for the 5:2 diet. This is quite convenient because there is not a lot to log on the "Diarize day". I think I will try to diarise for a while. I currently put all my food into MFP and will continue to record calories and macronutrients, but it will also be useful to jot down the other aspects discussed in DF - the time, when I exercised, what was the hunger like when I ate etc, triggers identifiable, DDD score ("day's degree of difficulty") - it will be useful for me to know this information and it is very BECK like. I do agree that the progress through these days is a bit speedy but will see how I go.

I am getting distracted by long weekends and plaintive student emails and diaries and yesterday totally forgot that it was a gym evening - didn't even cross my mind and I came straight home and back to work after acupuncture. This morning I realised! Anyway I go to PT tomorrow morning. I can't do the 11.30 Tai Chi class - might try the Saturday class (if I remember of course). The acupuncture practitioner does Kung Fu and said his wife does Tai Chi and he agreed it might be useful. I won't progress with acupuncture unless I get something acute from now but it was helpful

BillBE - I eat salad with dinner or lunch or it is the meal itself. I am missing lentils because as a (previous 15yr) vegetarian I ate them regularly but as a follower of Paleo / Primal type diet they are more or less taboo. (unless soaked and prepared etc etc). Maybe DF will change my mind on that

Debbie (Lexxiss) - credit for getting up so early to do what you need to do. Glad you are enjoying a bit of solitude. Your smoothy sounds spectacular - do you juice or blend the veggies?

CeeJay - credit for checking in and having a plan - hope it all went to plan today

Gardenerjoy - I know what you mean - but I am used to weighing and tracking in MFP or I am out of control. Glad you relished your treat. Credit for seeing the saboteur on the horizon. I would love to be able to take on your special event plan but I tend to see them as an opportunity to go totally "off plan" - but I have very rare "events"

6crowsgold - Yay for staying OP in the face of much temptation! Hope you survived the rest of the fast day

Tricia (AZtricia) - I have been following following Dr Yoni's blog where he goes through each of his myths - good stuff. I have to say I like the image (and its title "fork you") for the previous day "You can't outrun your fork". Have attached. Hope the weight shift is "real" - that would be great after all your hungry days

Onebyone - Can't wait to see what "toothbrush" level of exercise in DF means - but it sounds like you have a plan

Nationalparker - amazing that you are keeping up with your work commitments while taking such good care of your parents. Huge that you are getting up through the night to give meds, and LOL at tormenting your father into taking treatment. The scale will do what the scale does - you deserve huge credit regardless

Credits (I hijacked CeeJay's list and changed it - neat)
- listen to motivation app
- read advantage and response cards
- check in with coaches
- logged food
- did fast day
- weighed myself and logged it
- ate on plan

Diet Coaches/Buddies – As I was walking, CREDIT moi, to Whole Foods to buy dinner, I planned how I would deal with FREE samples. It's not hard if I want to avoid them. I entered by their door near the hot foods section, did my shopping, and left without passing by the offerings. CREDIT moi for using basic Beck strategies for the obvious. (Un-CREDIT moi for taking a moment to beat up on myself because I don't do this every time.)

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, including the dinner that I brought home from Whole Foods: white fish cooked with green herbs, Cole slaw with kale, ginger sweet potato latkes. The fish and Cole slaw were good but the sweet potato latkes were to-die-for. Volume estimation is a challenge for me at the store so I got four latkes and a quart of Cole slaw. For dinner I plated one latke each and half the Cole slaw. It's so neat to have the remainder for another meal. I got assigned procuring dinner because DW fell into an over packed day and wasn't going to make it home until 7:30 - and then exhausted. Worked out well.


onebyone – Those ice cream truck sounds send me right back to childhood feelings.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – Yep, three unexpected's in one sentence can surely lead to an expected. Kudos for being aware of what you need and want at the upcoming wedding - at which you'll feel so good about yourself because you thoughtfully designed what you're wearing.

CeeJay - Good plan for the day.

Debbie (Lexxiss) – Yay for those of us who get up before the sun is ready for us to go outside. [Our sugar snaps have stuck out their two starter leaves.]

Cheryl (GosfordGirl) – I join you feeling gratitude that there are food activists tweaking the system. Ouch for being so busy that a gym class can be forgotten.

nationalparker – Hang in there - you're doing well in the most difficult of circumstances. LOL at using your "I can't carry a tune in a bucket" as a motivational strategy.

6crowsgold - Ouch for a tough fast day - hope it improves. Kudos for doing your shake instead of pizza.

Readers -

Good morning everyone!

So excited that I stayed on plan yesterday. Best of all I was able to beat back all sugar cravings. What is with the sugar? Before I hit 50 I could have cared less, now I am really having to battle it.

Plan for the day:
-listen to motivation app done
-read advantage and response cards done
-check back in with my coaches tonight done
-get outside for some fresh air done
-do arm/shoulder strengthening exercises done
-eat NO sugar done
Food Plandone
-egg whites and oatmeal
-apple
-chicken and rice and veggies
-chili and salad
-cottage cheese and mandarins

One of my favourite pieces of Beck's advice is that staying on plan is not always hard and that staying on plan can mean less of a struggle. I find that so true for me. But on plan seems to flick on and off so often that I am constantly in either an "elevated, all-is-possible" frame of mind or a "I can't do it -game over" frame of mind. This is not great mental health and I need to stop it.

I was thinking, "hey - everyone on here is reading The Diet Fix but me ... I'm running behind!" ... then I received an alert from my library that it's now in and waiting for me when I get back. Good timing.

Has anyone seen any movies that are recommendable lately? When I get home, I want to do some things with DH that will be treats for us both. He's been working hard to hold down the homestead with all the pets (been eye-opening for him, I think) and I appreciate his understanding of my return here in a few weeks. I'd like to see "The Lunch Box" but it might be one for me and not him I missed the run of "Bad Words" - it ends tomorrow ... but hadn't heard anyone say they had seen it...

Hurray, "The Diet Fix" is on its way to my library

Pizza day, but I am rotisserie-ing two chickens and will have some of that instead. I wasn't still 2 pounds down today, but I expect that one of those was probably real and will show tomorrow.

FB Beck:
Sabotaging Thought: I’m so stressed, I just want to eat to relax.

Response: It’s true eating is relaxing and calming, but only in the short term! Ultimately it only makes me feel worse – if not in the moment, then the next time I get on the scale. Go do something else (drink hot tea, take a walk, listen to music, deep breathing). While these things may not be quite as effective as eating, they don’t come with ANY negative consequences.

Wednesday:

OP through Fast Day and OP so far today.

Work is chaotic, gotta go--all the best to y'all!

Thank you, AZTricia! I needed that Beck Thought for today ... that addresses my fear of what I'll do all day on Saturday when I'm back home!