Good Morning. Coaches.

Dipped my toe back into work yesterday. Back full force on Monday. I still feel scattered and confused. After a meeting last night, I came back to my car to find it still ON and the door open with my purse inside. Good Grief! This has happened before. I drive a hybrid and I can't hear the motor running. Ironic that my phone will be picked out of the purse I am wearing but noone wil drive off in my running car that I have abandoned. OK I take the gimme.

Counselor appointment was good. DH felt he had made a lot of progress this year with his single appts. I felt he was maing sincere effort and progress in helping me. I'm still not myself but I am surrounded by honesty, open-mindedness and compassion. I know it will be a long road for me but I am willing to walk it.

gardenerjoy: I also believe in the 100% business for a week. I am willing to keep practicing because history has shown me that my way keeps getting the same old results. I want new, longer lasting results.

Have a good day all.

Opinions Please---which book is the best to start with? The red one or the green one?

Left the house with 2 pair of socks on today...and my feet still froze! Dog gone it the air is cold!! Burrrrr!

There sure is a lot of threads on 3FC for Ideal Protein Diet...anyone have any personal insight with that diet? I will google after I write this.

Thanks for being here everyone!

I want to check in at the end of the day today but know I won't have time or the "aloneness" I want in order to do it undisturbed. I'm wanting to eat more today, not sure why. I went home to move the pets around at lunch, and that is such a trigger for me to have one more thing. I need to be more mindful of that. Luckily the "things" were small and light (cup of light popcorn for 35 calories, etc.).

DH was to work tomorrow but now will be off. I wanted the time alone to just "be" but will be thankful that he isn't tired of spending the time with me. I'm committing to setting aside time to relax and not feeling like I must be getting things done all weekend.

Main project is to "find" more space in the garage to more easily park the cars - this will be fun with the high tomorrow to be 15. Was all bent out of shape last night when I stopped at the market to buy ground turkey to make DH meat loaf and mashed potatoes - a fave of his on a cold winter night (below 0) ... had to rework it as there was no ground turkey, so went with something else, but his first words were, "You've GOT TO park closer to the edge of the garage so I can get my car in." I was three inches too close to the center. For some reason that rankled me. I expected more of a, "Hey, this looks good!" Sad ending was the turkey and gravy was tough and I gave my portion to the dog. As well as what was to be left over. She thought it was Thanksgiving all over. So one being was happy.

Goal for tonight is to have hot tea for my "dessert" and call it good. Maybe that will soothe my cranky mind. Apologies for the negativity. Weight still under 167 so keeping fingers crossed i can stay there and meet this first goal.

Hi All,
My stomach felt a bit better today. I tracked calories and came in under goal, credit. My DH proposed we walk right when he got home from work and we did one very cold mile, credit. More time in the studio which calmed my anxiety a bit, though I am behind on all the other business stuff like blogging and social media updates and stocking my etsy shop. I have a big craft show to apply to this week - it will be good to get that done with! Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Hello Coaches,

So excited to report Day 6 of South Beach Phase One is done. I am 100% on plan so far. I feel so excited that I have managed this. More tomorrow!

Hello again my Beck Friends. It's nice to know you're out there. Last time I was really into Beck, it was just me and my best friend doing it. Nice to see other people successfully using the Solution! Bill and Gardenerjoy, I find your stories very inspirational!

I've had a good few days on program. I'm liking the Food Addicts diet. You can find it by googling "Food Addicts meal plan" and it will take you to Food Addicts Anonymous. I have slightly modified the plan (added an extra fat serving and extra fruit), but have mostly kept the spirit of the plan. I have no desire to go to FA or OA. I had a strange stint in OA in the 90's and it just isn't for me. Although I do believe there are some similarities between Beck and OA/FA. For example, writing out your food plan the night before is something many people do when they are in OA/FA. I am enjoying the food plan because there is plenty to eat and because it has no sugar or wheat, my cravings are really minimal.

I'm enjoying reading all your posts!

Love2garden- Love your credits!

Cathydoe- I need to remember I'm good enough, too! My inner critic is really judgmental. She's a neat freak and disappointed that I'm not one as well. She also sounds a lot like my mother.

CeeJay- Great job getting going, sticking on plan and losing pounds!!! I, too, would like less pain! I hope you are able to walk easily again. Walking outdoors is one of the great pleasures in life (IMHO).

BillBlueEyes- Thanks for all you do for this thread! And yay on checking off some of your "to-do's" this week.

KarenRN- Sorry you are a little under the weather, wishing you continued healing and onto your hiking plans and goals.

Lexxiss- So sorry about the family drama. It's a real punch in the gut. Good for you for recognizing the things you DO have control over.

Nationalparker- So sorry about your kitty, I was there a year ago and it was soooo sad.

Gardenerjoy- Yay on the continued weight loss! Although your kg's confuse me...lol. And I love your new response card about the 3 breaths. I've been trying to eat, sitting down, undistracted, and it can get a little boring! But I guess the opposite is being so anxious you don't even enjoy what you're eating. I tell myself, "if you love food so much, you need to slow down and enjoy it!" I'm also admiring your dedication to the solution!

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Walk, CREDIT moi, included stopping by the library to pick up a book they'd reserved for me. The temps had gone up to be in the upper teens. (Hard to believe that I wrote that sentence, LOL.) It was still cold enough to want to keep marching forward and not dawdle. I did have to shovel a thin layer of snow from the sidewalk - almost too little to bother.

Food was OK. Dinner included spaghetti squash - our first time this season. DW serves it with just a little butter and salt. In the past, I've put Marinara sauce over it to feel like a spaghetti dinner. Plans are fermenting to take a week in Italy this summer. I'm a bit boggled at airfares - didn't expect to pay close to $1800 round trip.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Like the idea of "many fewer thoughts in a day about food." That reminds me to look more carefully at what activities serve to exclude food thoughts.

CeeJay - Six Kudos for success in your early South Beach Phase One journey. Is that part done now or is there more to go?

maryann - I know about leaving a hybrid car 'running' - BTDT. My brain is used to making the engine quiet then moving on; it's still a learning process for me to think differently.

nationalparker – LOL at the memories of a dog to dispose of cooking failures. Neat plan to have hot tea for 'dessert.'

Karen (karenrn) - Ouch for feeling under the weather. Sleeping in until 4:30 a.m. would be unusual for me, LOL.

Margaret (Nuxmaga) - Kudos for a walk with your DH despite the cold. Although I usually walk alone, walking with someone makes the time and duration less of an issue.

curlypudge - Ouch for the memories of anxiety about homework. Yep, an occasional "bleagh" day comes along.

cathydoe - My take is that if you plan to do the Beck Strategies for a long time, you'll eventually read both books - with perhaps a year between. If that was your plan, the Pink Book is a more methodical beginning: 42 'days' through it. The Green Book is, perhaps, better organized for getting your arms around all the strategies sooner. But either way will work. Ideal Protein Diet is a Very Low Calorie diet. My suggestion is to sure that you want a diet period with calories that low and that you have an eating plan for your return to 'normal' eating. One question you might ask is, What diet plan was used by the folks who hang around the maintenance threads? Not many graduates from extreme diets show up there.

Danielle (MarinMaven) - Kudos for finding, choosing, and staying on your Food Addicts diet. I am a big fan of modifying a plan to make it one's own.

Readers -

Quick check-in. CREDIT for another 100% OP day yesterday -- in fact, it was my first 100% on the Success Skills Sheet.

Today's challenge is an activity that involves standing for an hour in the cold, followed by lunch and hot drinks. But I've done this before (but not quite as cold) so I have a plan for lunch. I'm reminding myself that more food won't make me warmer. Time and hot tea will do that. If I doesn't work, I'll take a hot bath when I get home.

WI: +0.15 kg , Exercise: +60 340/1200 minutes for January, Food: 100% op, Read my Advantages and Responses: yes

cathydoe: I think which book to choose depends on what you want right now. The material is much the same, but the presentation is very different. The pink book is a one task a day approach--although you're encouraged to take longer if you need to. The green book is more go at your own pace -- sometimes covering a lot of material quickly, and other times slowing down to absorb something new and try it out in your own life. I've done both, but the green book works better for me -- I like working with themes more than with a task a day. The green book also has a diet plan in it--you can ignore it if you've got your own plan but it can be a good starting point if you don't.

CeeJay: Woohoo! Celebrating with you!

BillBlueEyes: I've bought airfare to Europe three times in three years and was shocked all three times. Apparently, one doesn't get over it. I still have airfares stuck in my head from the late 1980s, I guess. I didn't go anywhere then, but I dreamed about it often enough to look at the airfares from time to time. The good news is, once I bought my ticket, it was a sunk cost and I quit thinking about it anymore so I could enjoy my vacation. Italy sounds exciting!

Quick check-in from me. Credit for weighing myself this morning. Credit for finding the spreadsheet (unused since August) and entering the amount. Yes, 7lbs down from this time last year. Interesting.

hi coaches!
credit for housecleaning exercising. I am tackling some truly disgusting things like the long neglected bathtub, which really takes arm muscle. Magic eraser is amazing!! I'm not usually motivated for "winter cleaning" but somehow this January I am, so i am going with it!!
I'm thinking I should change my username- get the pudge out, that is kind of negative.

Ceejay- good for you! the first stage can be hard but you are cruising thru! I find the not eating bread/crackers/pasta challenging but when you know its for a short time, its easier to get through.
cathydoe-i too like the pink book to start, its a little more organized for how i think. i like the green book food ideas.
Bill-interesting idea, what diets do the maintainers choose, as they are able to stick with it. I never thought about that, thank you!

Good Morning, Coaches.

A sunny 60 degrees today. Spontaneous exercise will be housecleaning (like curleypudge). I am using green book skill sheets (like gardenerjoy). To satisfy my "planned exercise" requirement, I will make a commitment for a mile walk around the block (like Nuxmaga). It occurs to me again the benefit of posting here. All of you remind me in the aggregate of a holistically healthy food life. All these little reminders add up to big changes.

I have put postits on the kitchen cabinets "Sit Down To Eat." The first day I tried the skill, I completely spaced the commitment until about 3 pm. Now I look into my kitchen and say, "Who the heck put postits on my cabinets?" I have resisted this step for four years. Credit for being willing to try tips once overlooked.

Weight is one pound below ticker.

BBE: I have committed to a trip to Ireland with the boys in March 2016. Thanks for prepping me for the sticker shock. It is going to cost us $6,000 just to get over there and back. Yikes.

Good afternoon to all.

Sunny but still cold here. Struggling to get supplimental heating to work in spite of being new 'out of the box'. TV room has windows on 3 sides. Great to view the birds and the garden, but in spite of furnace sending air in the room, it isn't enough when we are sitting with TV or reading. Eden Pure makes a heater that uses less electricity and usually heats this room very well. New one is not doing so well. (I really get upset sending back things that don't work, this would be the third one in less than 3 months.)

Do any of you besides Curlypudge and me find that the more clutter you remove, the easier it is to keep true to the diet? My house is looking better and better - yesterday it was tackling kitchen and pantry, today another part of the house. Still a long way to go but the progress is satisfying.

Credit: Crunchy apple snack instead of desired high fat/ high sugar one. Credit: Car to shop in spite of almost 3 hours waiting in very, very noisy and extreemly cold waiting room. Good book helped a lot but wish I had lunch before I went. Nothing to drink available but pop and I've never liked that. Anyhow. Car is now in good shape and I survived..

I've heard that being in cold causes extra calories to burn. Most of us should be burning far more than average, right?

NationalParker: How I sympathize with your need to just "be". Yet, like you said, having our loved one want to be with us certainly feels good. Normally I use the time he is out of the house to curl up in a chair and "be".

I have the pink Beck book and am re-reading it. Actually put down my fork several times at breakfast and savored the good, healthy breakfast I fixed for us.

Agree: Adapting a diet seems to make sense. I'm counting calories but logging on line, in way to make sure I'm meeting those basic needs for protein, veggies, dairy, whole grains, fruit and plenty of water. Fiber needs seem to be met easily this way.

Problem. Scale is same as it was last Saturday in spite of cut calories and incereased activity. I shall continue doing this for rest of January because somewhere along the line my body will wake up and release some weight.

I went to the gym today for the first time in 2015. Regrettably, my last workout was 12/23. I do mostly weights (it's a fast paced workout designed for me by a trainer), and I do some Cardio and Hi-intensity cardio. So, it was harder than usual because of the long break, but I still got through it! And I realized, that because of you all, I need to get more specific about my exercise plan! It used to be this, "You are trying to lose weight, so you should exercise more." I've written down my commitment for the coming week. Thanks for the inspiration!

It strikes me as I read all the different threads and the goal stories that soooo many of us have come to the realization that overly processed foods are toxic for us overeaters! They're really toxic for everyone, but in Overeaters, they strike a nerve and make us pork out! And while I'm not perfect, and have definitely slipped back to eating some of these things (hence the 27 pound weight gain in 2 years); I'm proud to be aware of this challenge and do the right things to better my health.

And I've always known that sugar is a slippery slope for me. I can have a little every day, but have to really be on guard that it doesn't turn to 2, then 3, then 4+ servings a day. This girl here can eat a bag of Valentine Conversation Hearts in a day (only Brach's brand ).

I think when these companies mix artificial flavorings and colorings with sugar and/or fat, it turns my addict brain into a junkie! That being said, I can actually have good chocolate in my house and be restrained with it because it doesn't trigger me the way that cheap candy (ala Hershey's, Snickers, etc). Although I can't say the same for good quality bakery goods (and I'm a great baker). When you mix white flour, sugar and fat, I have a hard time stopping.

So, I'm trying to cleanse my palate and my body of the refined sugars and wheat in hopes that the dieting is a little easier. And I can say that so far, this has been true. But ask me what I think after 3 months!!! LOL! One thing that I've noticed is that the Food Addicts diet has no "grain" component to the lunch and I miss it! But at the same time, I think it is good to get my body used to eating REAL proteins, fruits and veggies. Do not feel sorry for me, I eat very well...just no sugar or wheat (for now).

Okay...those are my musings for the afternoon. Be well my Beck Heroes and Heroines!

Hi All,
Tracked food and came in under calorie goal - credit. Went grocery shopping with DH, and walked all the aisles almost twice, credit. That felt longer than a mile! We snacked on cheese and ryvita crackers rather than going out for a snack, credit. I had studio time, and also cleaned out the pantry and the spices, credit.
Off to bed!

Better note and better food day Sunday. Dont get me wrong, food was very good...not op by any means, though. Frustrating to say something is important to me and then not follow through. Wrapping up an evening by a crackling fire. Dinner was Thai. Saved 2/3 of my entire BUT fr some unknown reason, i was ok ordering and eating fried vegetable rolls. Wth?

Busy all day long with clearing stuff out and drop offs at donation centers. But amazingly found the time to snack off and on all day...argh.

Six weeks to drop six pounds before our next trip. A goal.