Day #40 - Enrich Your Life

1- Get my Ph.D.
2- Hike Hadrian's Wall 80-mile trail, or some other long hike.
3- Run another Marathon.
4- Start a career in the health field.
5- Garden

Hadrian's Wall

1. Lose weight
2. Train to get in shape by making an exercise plan
3. Buy good pair of hiking shoes
4. Save up the money by cutting back on food and eating out

CREDIT: I threw away half a sandwich this morning after I looked up the calories and saw that it was way too high for me to finish.

Day #39 - Keep up with Exercise

• Focus on how I'll feel after I exercise
• Put exercise in the "no choice" category
• Exercise with a friend or trainer
• Give myself credit
• Focus on progress
• End exercise session with something positive

My own ideas that help:

• Look forward to listening to audiobooks
• End with meditation and stretching
• 30 minutes is better than nothing

CREDIT: I'm sticking to my plan today, and not being discouraged by some weekend setbacks.

Day #38- Deal with a Plateau

1. Continue what I am doing and see if you start to lose weight again.
2. Reduce my daily calorie intake by 200 calories (as long as it is safe and reasonable).
3. Increase daily exercise by 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Call this your goal weight and move to maintenance.

I should expect occasional weight gains or plateaus, even if I'm doing everything right.

CREDIT: I exercised today with Sports Active, and went for a short walk too.

Day #36- Reduce Stress

Three steps to reduce stress:

1. Solve the Problem (Use the Seven Question Technique)
2. Relax (Use guided imagery, meditation, do something enjoyable)
3. Change your mindset. Don't think things like...

• I should always do my best
• I should always prevent problems from happening
• I shouldn't rely on others
• I always make other people happy
• I shouldn't show weakness
• I should put other people first
• I shouldn't let anyone else do important things, because they might do them wrong

Relax my self-imposed "rules" that are similar to those above.

• Think of someone with more relaxed standards. What rules do they go by?
• Would I really want the people I love to have to live by my rules for myself?
  
• What are the advantages of changing these rules?
• Take the words always and never out of my rules.
• Insert the word reasonable instead.

Relax rules for other people.

• Other people can't always be perfect.
• Other people can't read my mind.
• Other people can't always be grateful or recognize what I do.
• Other people can't always make me happy, and they might make me sad sometimes.
• Other people can't always treat me fairly.
• Other people can't always understand me.
• Other people can't always see things my way.
• Other people don't always value the same things I do.
  

To relax my rules for other people:

• I don't have control over other people.
• Take the words always and never out of my rules
• Be realistic in my expectations of other people

CREDIT: I ate a healthy breakfast this morning.

Day #36- Believe It.

It's not just a fluke that I'm losing weight. It won't come back overnight. This is because I am now using cognitive therapy tools which work.

Some of the things I've learned:

• I can leave food on my plate and not feel bad
• I can feel hungry and not be stressed about it
• I can say to myself that I don't have a choice if I want the result I want
• Exercise is a priority
• I refrain from spontaneous eating
• I eat slowly
• I eat sitting down
• I recognize and know how to respond to my sabotaging thoughts
• I give myself credit for the things I do right
• I know how to eat out without overdoing it
• I know how to get back on track
• I know the advantages of losing weight are higher than the advantages of eating the wrong things

Once I believe that I've lost weight due to my own efforts, dieting will be easier.

CREDIT: I passed up pizza at work.
Blood Pressure: 163/87

Day #35- Tracking Weight

Day #34- Solve Problems

Identify Problem (this is the same as the The Seven Question Technique)

1. Thinking Errors?
2. Evidence that the thought might not be true.
3. Alternative explanations
4. Realistic outcome of this situation
5. What is the effect of my believing this negative thought?
6. What would I tell my friend in this situation?
7. What should I do now?

Error, True.
Outcome, View.
Effect, Tell, Do.

Once I recognize that food won't make my problems go away, dieting will be easier.

CREDIT: I've exercised 3/3 days so far this week.

I've stopped losing weight, so I've analyzed the situation and my thinking error is overly positive fortune telling. I've stopped measuring food as carefully. Also, I forget to sit down. I forget to eat slowly.

Day #33- Eliminate Emotional Eating

People without a weight problem don't think of eating to feel better. A negative emotion is not an emergency, it's natural. Food might be an effective distraction temporarily, but eating doesn't solve the problem that led to my distress in the first place.

Label how I am feeling
Stand firm
No choice!
Imagine the aftermath of giving in.
Read my Advantage Response Card
Distract Self
Drink water
Relax


CREDIT: I only ate half my sandwich for lunch today.

Day #32- Traveling

When I travel here are some options so that I don't get fed up and abandon my diet all together:

• Allow self a few hundred extra calories per day
• Follow plan, but add minor splurges on a few occasions
• Follow diet but splurge on last day

Exercise more
Eat brunch instead of breakfast and lunch
Use strategies I've learned
Return to diet at home, and don't fret too much about a few gained pounds

CREDIT: I made it through the weekend without gaining all six pounds back.

Day #30 - Stay in Control While Eating Out

1. Plan ahead what I will eat
2. Anticipate any problems and rehearse them in my mind
3. Use the tolerate craving strategies I learned on Day #13
4. Assess success and give myself credit
5. Tell the sever how I want food prepared
6. If it is my meal off, remember that it is just one meal and do not let it sabotage my diet for the following week no matter how good it feels to be free of a diet for one night.

CREDIT: I'm sticking to my diet today, even with all the triggers in my home on a weekend.

Day #29- Resist Food Pushers

Think about this:
Why is it more important for me to please others than to do what is best for me? Will I really offend someone if I don't eat their food, or will they even remember in the future? It's probably not a big deal.

1. Create a sense of entitlement about turning down requests to eat. Think about the costs of accepting the offer.
2. Prepare an initial response. "No thank you. It looks so delicious, but I'm fine."
3. Visualize my plan of action. Who is most likely to push food on me and in what atmosphere? (Practice in mind ahead of time)

CREDIT: I cut the amount of food I normally eat on our date to about 1/3 last night.

Day #28- Tracking Weight

Day #27- The Seven Question Technique

1. What kind of thinking error could I be making?
2. What evidence is there that this thought might not be true (or completely true)?
3. What is the most realistic outcome of this situation?
4. Is there an alternative explanation or another way of viewing this?
   
5. What is the effect of my believing this thought and what could be the effect of changing my thinking?
6. What would I tell someone else if s/he were in this situation and had this thought?
7. What should I do now?

Short way to remember that I came up with (said like a poem):

Error, True.
Outcome, View.
Effect, Tell, Do.

1. Error
2. True
3. Outcome
4. View
   
5. Effect
6. Tell
7. Do
   

CREDIT: I passed up double chocolate cookies fresh from the oven today. I'm awesome. I also ate out and ordered the lightest thing on the menu instead of the thing that looked the best. It tasted fine!
Blood Pressure: 157/98 (Slightly High 1st stage)

Day #26 - Thinking Errors

All or nothing thinking
(Either I'm completely on my diet or I'm off my diet)

Negative Fortune Telling
(I didn't lose weight this week. I'll never be able to lose weight.)

Overly Positive Fortune Telling
(It's okay if I estimate the amount of food I'm supposed to eat instead of measuring it. I'll still lose weight.)

Emotional Reasoning
(I feel like a failure, so I am a failure) (I feel like I must have something sweet right now)

Mind Reading
(She will think I'm rude if I don't eat the brownies she made.)

Self-Deluding Thinking
(If no one sees me eat this, it won't count.)

Unhelpful Rules
(I can't waste food.)

Justification
(I deserve to eat this because I'm stressed)

Exaggerated Thinking
(I have no willpower)


CREDIT: I managed to eat on my plan again today.

Day #25- Sabotaging Thoughts

Whenever I have the desire to go off my diet, I'm going to stop and look for sabotaging thoughts.

Some sabotaging thoughts I've had:
It's not fair
One piece won't hurt
Everyone else gets to eat this
Who cares if I'm fat?
etc.


CREDIT: I haven't gone over my calorie level once since this diet started.

Day #24 - Deal with Discouragement

When I get discouraged:

• Read my advantage cards.
• Add up the difficult hours (how much time is REALLY spent struggling with my diet compared to not struggling with it?)
• What can I do today? Forget the long term, think of today. If it's hard tomorrow, deal with it then.

CREDIT: I turned down fresh bread from the oven yesterday. I thought that would be impossible, but it wasn't!
Blood Pressure: 157/100 (High, 2nd stage)

Day #23 - Counter the Unfairness Syndrom

I can either feel sorry for myself and stop following my plan, never reach my goal and be unhappy with myself ... or I can sympathize with myself but go ahead and do what I know I need to do. It may be unfair to have to diet, but it would be even more unfair for me to go through life unhealthy and overweight.

CREDIT: Even though I took a meal off last night, I didn't let it turn into a binge. I ate only half of my food and drank unsweetened tea instead of wine.
Blood Pressure: 142/85

Day #22 - Say "Oh, Well" to Disappointment

I want a doughnut. Oh, well!
I feel hungry. Oh, well!
I wish I could order a hamburger instead of this salad. Oh, well!
I don't want to exercise this morning. Oh, well!
It's not fair that everyone else gets to eat that. Oh, well!
Dieting is a bitch. Oh, well!

I should be expect to face times of doubt and disappointment. It might feel unfair or overwhelming. A good lesson of acceptance is to say, "Oh, well." and move on.

CREDIT: I got up early on a Saturday morning and wrote in this blog.

Day #21 - Tracking Weight

I shouldn't expect my weight to go down every week - it won't. No need to let it sabotage my diet if it doesn't.







CREDIT: I had an emotionally difficult day with the death of a therapy client, yet I didn't binge eat or go off my diet.
Blood Pressure: 140/83 (slightly high)

Day #20 - Getting Back on Track

It takes about 3,500 extra calories to gain a pound. If I do slip up and eat a piece of pie or a hamburger I should never think, "I blew it and now I might as well go off my diet for the day." An extra 500 calories isn't going to make me gain weight, but if I go on a binge for a day it might lead to that.

• Acknowledge my initial slip.
• Recommit myself to my diet.
• Draw a symbolic line.
• Give myself credit for stopping- at any point.
• Watch out for feelings of failure and helplessness
• Continue to eat normally. (If I try to make up for it by eating less later it might make me anxious and resentful)

Response Card:
Get Back on Track!
Just because I slipped up doesn't mean I should keep eating. That makes no sense.

When I make a mistake and eat something I'm not supposed to I'm going to visualize tossing the food over my shoulder and say to myself, "Oh, well. GOOF! I guess I'll just hop back on the wagon now."

CREDIT: I pre-packed all my food to take to work today. Everything is measured out and contains the right amount of calories, plenty of veggies and fruit and whole grains.
Blood Pressure: 140/85

Day #19 - Stop Fooling Myself

I've already made a comprehensive list of excuses and solutions to those excuses. It's written on my other blog "Stodgy Legs Elf Tries to Run" in the literary style of that blog in this post.

Response Card:
It's NOT Okay!
It's not okay to eat unplanned food of any kind. I'm just trying to fool myself. Every single time I eat something I'm not supposed to, I strengthen my giving-in muscle and weaken my resistance muscle. I might feel good for the few seconds I'm eating, but I'll feel bad afterward. If I want to lose excess weight and keep it off, I absolutely must stop fooling myself.

Next time I catch myself thinking a self-deluding thought, I'm going to shout "Fly you Fool!" in my mind.

CREDIT: I passed up goodies that the neighbors brought over and interrupted myself from eating several snatches of food off my diet. I'm pretty proud of it.

Blood Pressure: 156/79 (Normal)

Day #18- Change my definiton of full

If I can take a brisk walk after a meal and feel comfortable, then I didn't overeat.

I need to remind myself that food will be coming later. Sometimes I panic that I won't get enough and might feel hungry between meals. For me, slight hunger isn't really an emergency. I need to learn that.

I will eat slowly and remind myself how yucky it feels to be too full. I will stop, put down my fork frequently and gauge my eating. More importantly, I will stick to my eating plan and notice that small portions are enough to keep my body energized.

CREDIT: I stuck to my calorie intake yesterday, ate sitting down, and went to the gym.
Blood Pressure: 162/98 (High 2nd stage)

Day #17 - Stop Overeating

Once I learn that I don't have to eat everything on my plate, dieting will be easier.

I tried this experiment at the restaurant twice this week-end. I was quite easily able to stop eating half-way through my food as long as I knew someone else would eat it. I have a difficult time wasting food, but not too difficult of a time stopping before my plate is clear. This is something I learned last year and have been successful at.

CREDIT: I ordered a very light meal at a restaurant yesterday and stopped when I was satisfied. I followed my plan almost completely yesterday with only one small mistake. I've analyzed that mistake and made it a learning experience.
Blood Pressure: 140/100 (High 2nd stage)

Day #16 - Prevent Unplanned Eating

Do I have to make a huge decision every day about whether or not to brush my teeth? No. The same should go for me following my plan. I shouldn't see it as a choice, because I've already made that choice.

Response Card: NO CHOICE

My rules:
1- Follow my eating list
2- Never go over 1600 calories
3- Sit down while eating & eat slowly
4- Don't snitch food while preparing a meal

CREDIT: I stuck to my plan yesterday and felt great!
Blood Pressure: 147/91 (High 1st Stage)

Day #15 - START DIET Monitor What I Eat

Today I start my diet. I will not be blogging everything I eat here, but I will be keeping track in a notebook, because it's more practical, since I don't have access to the internet for personal use during work.

Keeping track of what I eat will...
1- Help me be accountable
2- Help me with motivation
3- Help me build confidence
4- Help me recognize and solve problems

I will make written notations about what I eat immediately after I eat. At the end of the day I'll give myself credit for what I did right, and use the mistakes to help me learn where my problems are.

CREDIT: I've started a new diet and I want to improve my health. I'm taking those steps, and I know I can do it if I take it one day at a time and set small goals. I've failed before, but I've been successful before too, so I have the ability to be successful again.