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I fully believe that exercise helps me lose weight.  It also keeps me from getting the blues.  I know that I need to exercise every day because I honestly feel better each and every day that I exercise.  I already have planned on getting up at 6:40 to exercise and will continue to do so.  I also hope to walk in the evening to help with stress and mood.  On Wednesdays I have to leave the house early and give myself permission to exercise in the afternoon on those days.

Planned Exercise:

I have a puppy so I need to walk outside with her.  I really enjoy it.  I think I would get a more intense workout at home using my DVD's but right now that is overwhelming and my puppy will enjoy the longer walks.  I am going to use my IPOD and put a audio book on it to listen to while I walk.  After my walk I am going to do a TTapp dvd.  I really like TTapp because of how it makes me feel and how it tones my core.  I want to keep my back strong and TTapp is a great tool for that.  Because I am aware that TTapp can get boring I will gladly substitude Turbo Jam for TTapp when needed.  Both are great for different reasons.  Both are beginner DVD's for 20-25 minutes.  On rainy days I will exercise inside (poor Jasmine!!)


Spontaneous Exercise:  

For starters my son's rooms are on the second floor and the laundry room is on the main floor.  I really procrastinate bringing their laundry upstairs.  Right now I have two full baskets of their clothes.  When they pick through it they seem to unfold it and that causes problems of needing to iron and making more work for us (ok, ME).  So, I am going to start bringing each load to their rooms fresh out of the dryer.  I use to do the laundry every day and really enjoyed that.  I am stating here and now that I am going to start doing that again so that I never have the problem of baskets of clean but wrinkled clothes.

Also, I am going to wear a pedometer.  I have a good one so I might as well dust it off and use it.

Praise:  

Overall I am really happy that I am:
doing my assignments
exercising
making better choices:  


this morning I almost slipped back into old habits and was considering going to Pronto and getting a chocolate donut and a Dr. Pepper.  Yes, I was really  thinking about it.  I wasn't able to eat breakfast before I left for work.  Instead I stopped at the grocery store and got oatmeal, skim milk, and a banana.  Ironically, I walked into the office and there were donuts!  I still made my oatmeal and enjoyed every bite.

For lunch I had a subway wrap and a banana.  It is getting easier to put the chips away for my son.  I get the BBQ baked lays for him.  I know they aren't a bad choice but I also don't need them.  For some reason everyone, in general, thinks was need the sandwich AND the sides.  We really don't.  The wrap is filling by itself.



Gina

Day 9 is something I have been working on.  I have made some good changes but I am inconsistent.  I have already decided that I am going to get up at 6:40 and go for a 2 mile walk with my dog.  After that I am going to do a 20 minute video.  I have been doing TTapp but if that gets too mundane then I will add in Turbo Jam or Slim in 6.  I like all 3 of them.  I also go for a 1-2 mile after work when I can.  I am not going to push too hard on that right now.

6:40 get up and go for a walk and get my TTapp video started

7:30 wake up kids and do our morning routine (make beds, put away laundry, breakfast)

10:00 go to work

4:15 get home.  If I am making something in the oven get it ready and throw it in before I go for a walk.  If it is grilling or something I can't do until dinnertime then go for a walk right away.

6:00 supper

after supper and before my evening clean up I can relax, extra cleaning/organizing, hot tub, read a book, watch tv (bachelor tonight!!), walk if I didn't get it done after work, or get the boys involved in something

8:00 get my housework and laundry done for the next day

That is really pretty simple.  I just have to be consistent.  If I don't get up early I know that I can squeeze my walk and workout in after 8 but that really messes up my morning routine and something suffers.  I need to start getting up and out the door.  

I am able to read and do my journal at work and also make my menu from work also.   I can easily stop on the way home at the grocery store.  I just have to make sure that I know what I am making before I leave and then it is a snap.

Morning Praise:

walked 2 miles
did a TTapp video
housework
ate a hearty on plan breakfast (oatmeal, milk, fruit, eggs, toast)

Notes:  I really believe that starting the day off with a high fiber breakfast with protein really sets the day.  I really feel so much more in control for the rest of the day by starting the morning right.

This weekend was so busy!  I have continued to work on my diet plan and the Beck Diet Solution.  I haven't read my cards like I should because I have been away and didn't bring my cards with me.  I think I need to make a set of cards for my purse.  This was the first weekend that I have been using TBDS and I didn't realize I would have have this problem .  During the work week I brought my beck book to work and also had access to my computer and the journals.  I will work my cards Monday.

Although I praised myself for good decisions I feel that getting on my computer and keeping the journal updated with my praise is really beneficial.  I realize that there will be times when I can't get on the computer and I accept that.  I am only saying that the praise has helped and I will continue to add it to my journal.

Day 6 is about getting a diet coach.  I feel I have all of the support in place.  I have the weight watchers online subscription and also have my online community.  My sister has lost over 40 pounds now on the weight watchers core and she is always willing to give me advice.  Also, it was really nice because we were both asked to go to our Aunt's for lunch.  I was a little nervous about what my Aunt was serving and didn't know how to tell my Aunt that I couldn't have some of the things she was serving.  It turned out easy.  My sister and I focused on the positive and ate what was allowed and didn't even mention what we weren't having.  So, I was very aware of how easy it was to have someone else eating just like me.  I felt normal instead of complicated.

Day 7 is about cleaning up our environment.  I have been working on that for a long time.  My kids do have snacks but I keep them in a pantry in the garage.  That works great.  Sometimes they will bring it in the house and leave it in the main living areas but I usually take it right out once I see it.  Seeing it has gotten me into trouble before but, in general, I have a pretty good method of keeping all of the junk food and unallowed foods out of my sight.  At work the only person who brings treats is a person who I have seen make food in her home and all I can say is that I imagine her unsanitary techniques and any temptation is gone.  If any of you have a problem with home made treats just imagine the person who made them licking the spoon and fingers and I bet and desire to have any will be GONE!  

I have a handle on day 6 and 7 but I still am working on praise. 

Gina

Today Judith Beck asked us to slow down our eating pace.  If we slow down our eating speed our bodies will have time to send us the signal that we have ate enough.  It can take up to 20 minutes to get that signal.  I really don't think I eat fast.  As a matter of fact I am the one everyone is waiting on at the end of a meal.  Even so I am learning to do the assignments that Judith Beck gives us because I may end up learning something about myself that I didn't anticipate.

I had every intention of setting my timer for 10 seconds between every bite for breakfast but I sincerely couldn't do that.  We have road construction and I would have been late if I took too much time.  I am not going to beat myself up over that.  Instead I am going to praise myself for the good food choices that I made for breakfast.

At lunch I slowed my pace and I felt so full that I didn't finish my lunch.  I intentionally left food on my plate.  Before I sat down I told myself that I was going to stop eating when I felt full whether there was food on my plate or not.  

I am going to continue with giving myself praise until I feel like I do it automatically.  I will edit this so that I have 3 different times that I praise myself.  We have a lot of graduations this weekend so some of the praise will be delayed.  I will do my best to keep up with my journal.

Breakfast:

I made fantastic food choices.

I walked for a mile and then did a TTapp video.

I have my period yet I don't have a headache.  I have always wondered if what I eat or lack of exercise contributed to my hormone headaches.  In my 20's and early 30's I didn't get the headaches after I started to eat low-fat and exercised at least an hour consistently.  It is too soon to tell but I am going to give myself the thumbs up for getting the experiment started.

Lunch:

My husband and I normally eat out for our noon meal.  Again I had to steer him to a place that had healthy choices for me.  I feel a little bad about keeping him from going to his favorite places yet he understands that I need to do this.

I made good choices.

I didn't take the ice cream Darin offered me.

I ate slower

I didn't eat all of my egg white omelet

Gina

That was a bigger day than I anticipated.

Today my assignment is to praise myself.  Before I read the chapter I thought to myself that it was a silly assignment.  I was thinking about the Saturday Night Live skit "and doggone it I like me".  So, initially I was not serious about Day 4.  That changed after reading the first paragraph.  She said that many overweight people are very hard on themselves.  Really that is true.  

I really believe that the weight gain is the effect of being so darn hard on ourselves and NOT the cause.  

Another truth that I have noticed about overweight people is that they often put other people first.  In my water aerobics class there is the especially big woman who breaks my heart.  She is always putting herself in the awkward places where she  can't even see the instructor so everyone else can see.   One day we didn't have enough weights and I sat back and observed.  She didn't take any weights for herself.  If you just sit back and watch you will see it too.  I really have noticed that overweight people have such generous hearts and put themselves last.  I have just started to notice this and can really see this cycle in myself.  Everyone else is first and I am last. 

Judith Beck said in the first paragraph that we are especially hard on ourselves.  I know that to be true of myself so I paid attention and read on.  Next she started talking about how we dwell on the negative.  I am pretty optimistic about everyone and everything except anything that has to do with me.  I am so rough on myself that i feel I don't do anything right and even when I do something right I don't give myself credit.   Recently I saw a good friend of mine from high school and I made a comment that I would not have given a second thought until he said "well, I see that you are still hard on yourself".  I was speechless and really thought about it.  I am always putting myself down. 

Beck went on to explain why being hard on ourselves keeps us from losing weight.  When we do something wrong we start to feel hopeless.  True for me!  I have mentioned before that I have an all or nothing attitude.  If diet plan is going smoothly I am on top of the world but when I stuggle and give in to temptation or make a bad decision it will spiral into something bigger and I end up going off program.   I go on and off my diet program consisistenly.  I am always trying the next diet.  I lose 5-10 pounds and then go off program and gain it back.  

I have heard that successful dieters leave slips behind them and get right back on plan with the very next meal.  I don't leave it behind me.  If I cannot do it pefectly I give up.  I didn't even realize it until I started day 4.  Some examples of what I beat myself up over are when  I can't go home for lunch and I either grab something off plan or go home starving and out of control, or order something healthy and it comes loaded with oil, or we go to a restaurant without healthy options (yes those places still exist in Iowa).   I normally do the best I can but because it wasn't perfect I really do feel hopeless.  True that, huh.  

Judith Beck says that if we praise ourselves for what we are doing right it will counter the effect caused from beating ourselves up.  

I thought Day 4 was a meaningless day that I was just going to fake it through.   Instead I have found something that is at the core of why I go on an off my diet plans.  I think the reason I have such an all-or-nothing approach is because once I make a mistake I feel hopeless and that all of my focused hard work is meaningless.  Essentially, I just throw my arms up and give in to whatever it is that tempts me next.  It isn't willpower.  It is believing in and trusting myself.

SO, part of the assignment is to give myself praise every few hours.  I will edit this later to add my afternoon and evening praise.

Morning praise:

What I have done right!

• walked 2 miles even though I was torn between skipping the walk and doing some domestic work
• had a healthy breakfast of oatmeal, skim milk, egg and 1 slice of toast
• took my vitamins
• drank my water

Mid-day praise:

•  My husband and I eat lunch together and suggested that we go somewhere that I knew they would not be anything for me to eat on my plan so I suggested Subway.
• At Subway I got my wrap and didn't get the chips.  I was fine without them.
• I kept drining my water!

Evening praise:

Wow do I deserve some praise for this evening!  My sister and I were setting up for a garage sale.  This was one of those times were I didn't have time to eat and would have just let myself grab something quick or even stop at McDonald's.  I didn't.  I got my work done and then went to Hy-Vee and got a banana and roasted chicken to eat at home.  I am so proud of myself!!  Sometimes eating healthy isn't as easy but it is worth it!  My sister had candy out too but I didn't have any.

Gina

Today is pretty basic.  Beck wants us to eat sitting down.  No problem.  She feels that if we eat a portion of our calories while standing and then sit down to what is left we we'll feel deprived.  I don't think I really eat much while standing.  I am not one who eats while I make dinner because I am a little germ phobic.  I smell it to see if I have it right and then before I call everyone in I have a small taste and adjust the seasonings.  I have read though that many people felt they didn't eat while standing but were surprised after doing day 3.  I guess we will see.

My diet starts today! 

In other news I have learned a little more about core.  I know I can do it.  I really like the food that is allowed.   I have been trying more of the healthy foods and some have become staples.  For example we only eat whole wheat pasta because we prefer it (try Davinci).  We have only skim milk in the house and I have given up regular soda.  Those are just a few examples.  Sometimes I wonder what on earth is keeping me from losing!  I think I am too inconsistent.  One day it is whole wheat pasta and the next day it is Casey's Pizza.  Sometimes I just get home and don't know what to I am going to make.  Later in the Beck Diet Solution she teaches us to plan our menu and I think that will be a really good tool.  I have tried that before so I hope there is something in that lesson to help me a little more.

There are two foods that aren't core that I am going to try to incorporate with my points.  One is whey protein and the other is ground flax seeds.  I think both are "super foods" and I am going to use my points.  I think if I walk 2-4 miles a day that I will have enough points to allow a daily smoothy.

Breakfast:  heart smart blueberry oatmeal (yummy!), skim milk, strawberry and melon salad.

Lunch:  we will be eating out so I am hoping to talking my husband into going somewhere with a chef's salad or an egg white omelette (more protein)

Dinner:  I don't know I will probably stop at the store and get something to grill, a baked potato, and fruit or vegetables.



Gina

Today the Beck Diet Solution says to pick a diet plan and have a backup.  I have really been thinking about it today and feel that I am not getting as much support from the Volumetrics Diet as I feel I need.  I have also read that the Weight Watchers Core plan is based on Volumetrics and that Weight Watchers actually paid the Volumetrics creator for the research.  So, based on that I joined the Core plan online.  What I was really looking for is a list of foods and recipes.  The Volumetrics diet is based on Energy Density.  I am going to check the foods that I eat and make sure they are below 2 ED's.  Also, core has 8 healthy guidelines.  I read them tonight and feel that they are an important addition to my diet.  They are eating 5 fruit and vegetable servings, having 2 dairy servings, limiting alcohol, eating a serving of healthy oil (olive oil), drinking 8 glasses of water.  

In a way I feel a little overwhelmed.  But I asked a few questions online and most of the people who follow core say that after 2 weeks their cravings and urges to eat when they are not hungry were gone.  I really hope so. 

I really want to follow the Beck Diet Solution to the letter.  My primary diet is the Volumetrics diet with Weight Watchers support.  I was tempted to use Volumetrics as my primary diet and WW Core as my backup but I know that is essentially cheating.  I believe they are really similar and have to be open to trying something entirely different if this type of eating doesn't work for me.    I think my backup diet will be either the Weight Watchers Flex Plan or You on a Diet.  I don't really want to journal and measure everything as is required by the Flex plan.  So, I think I will go ahead and state hear and now that my backup diet is You on a Diet.

Primary:  Volumetrics Eating Plan with Weight Watchers Core support
Secondary:  You on a Diet

Day 2 was pretty good!!  Tonight we went out to pizza hut.  I ordered the salad bar and had ONE slice of thin crust pizza.  ONE!!  I feel pretty good about that.  It wasn't low ED but it was as close as one could get at pizza hut.

Motivation to lose weight:

• Feeling good and giving off a positive energy.
• Having an enthusiasm for life.
• Always ready for fun instead of just wanting to go home.
• Feeling accomplished.
• Clearer thinking.
• Leaving the house happy with how I look instead of feeling like I look as good as I can considering . . .
• Boating and vacations are huge motivators!
• Pride
• Image
• I want to be better at almost everything and need the energy  to be the mom I want to be, wife, daughter, and friend.
• I want to be more organized in my home and work and need the energy and clear thinking that comes from being healthy, eating right, and exercising. 
• the cute black-yellow-white outfit for Tara's wedding
• St. John

I am using the volumetrics diet and weight watchers core diet.  I am not measuring or counting calories.  I think by eating the right foods and avoiding junk foods I will be able to control my portions naturally.  My sister uses the Weight Watchers Core plan and it seems to be based on the same premise.  She doesn't count calories and has lost over 35 pounds since January.  I am hoping that I will be able to do the same as far as eating clean.

My menu for today:

Breakfast:  Oatmeal, skim milk, melon/strawberry salad.

Lunch:  Subway club wrap without cheese or mayo

Dinner:  Chicken Ala King:

After so many attempts to lose weight I have decided to try to change the way I think by working through the book called The Beck Diet Solution by Judith Beck.  There will be something for me to work on daily.  I will blog about what I am working on and the changes I am making and have made already because of the book.

The book uses cognitive psychology to teach us to think like a thin person.  My hope is that I quit thinking like a heavy person.  I can see that I have an all-or-nothing attitude and really struggle with believing that dieting works.  I also don't like giving something up today even though I will benefit in the long run.  It isn't really any wonder that none of the diets I have attempted haven't worked.  

The diet I will be using along with the Beck Solution is Volumetrics.  I think it is a live-able lifestyle and it doesn't hurt that Consumer Reports rated it #1.

I have to cut this short and wont be back until Monday.  I am doing a MS walk in Des Moines this weekend.  I will blog more later.  The reason I am anxious is because I need to leave right now for the walk.  Have a great weekend!

Gina