We just took over our biggest competitor. And by biggest, I mean that taking them over means we are doubling (at least) our case load and the size of our firm. I couldn’t talk about it before it was a done deal, but this is what we’ve been dealing with for the last week and a half. And now it’s Sunday night and I just worked 12 hours, which I will probably be doing 6 days a week for the foreseeable future.
So, I love you all. I miss you like crazy. Blog reading will be my priority so I can at least be in the know and support you all with comments now and then. But I wanted you to know where I’m at.
Without further ado, please enjoy today’s guest post from our friend Betsy!
I’ve tried being gentle and loving with myself when it comes to my weight loss and healthy-living efforts, but all that has gotten me is a warm-fuzzy feeling coupled with bouts of self-loathing and desperation, so the hell with that. I’m resorting to tough love. To help guide me on this never-before-traversed-tough-love path I’ve created and implemented a plan based on the advice outlined in the two books (Kessler and Beck) I discussed in my last post.
What are the goals of this plan?
To eliminate the chaos that surrounds mealtimes.
To break my desire for, and emotional dependence on hyperpalatable foods.
To reframe my relationship with food: i.e. food is for fuel (family, friends and activity are for reward and comfort).
What is the plan? It’s pretty basic because if I set too many rules I tend to forget about them or lose track of them or mix them up and reverse them and return to my habitual eating. So “don’t eat after 8PM” becomes “eat with abandon after 8PM.” So my plan goes like this:
ELIMINATE all sugar, white flours, pastas, junk food, cakes, chips, processed foods, and fast food.
Set mealtimes in advance and eat ONLY at those times.
Spend a few minutes each day creating the next day’s meal plan.
Select a few meal options for each meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack) and eat them again and again and again.
Complete Beck’s Success Skills (Stage 1) for seven consecutive days and then assess. (I need to assess today!)
I have to tell you that I am VERY proud of myself for including the word and action “ELIMINATE” in my plan because I usually lean towards the healthy living camp that frowns upon eliminating food types as it is said that can lead to a nasty mentality of deprivation thus leading to cravings and overindulgence. But alas, I’ve tried (and tried and tried and tried) to keep all foods fair game, in moderation, and that has not worked for me. At all. So in a moment of bravery and tough love, I have given up those foods that have comforted me for 30+ years. I have finally admitted to myself that reaching my goal (of being a fit, healthy person) will not be attained by consuming my trigger foods. It just isn’t gonna happen that way for me.
In preparation for launching my new plan I held a multi-day event called The Great Food Funerals of 2011. During this time I enjoyed my go-to comfort foods, thanked them for the years of support, told them I no longer needed them, and released them and asked them to release me. I realize this sounds ridiculous but I am one for grand gestures when it comes to life changing moments, and this farewell to my food faves deserved a proper send off.
It’s day eight since I implemented this plan and I’m finding Beck’s whole “NO CHOICE” approach a huge relief. The moment my mind starts going down that road of trying to justify giving into a food craving that isn’t in my day’s eating plan, I take a deep breath and say, “NO CHOICE.” And then there is a blissful silence. My mind doesn’t try to tell me I deserve it, or just this once won’t be a big deal, or that I should eat it because I want it and I’m an adult and get to make my own decisions so just go ahead and enjoy it. When I say, “NO CHOICE” all of that chatter evaporates. It’s so simplistic that I’m amazed it’s working for me.
I’m also amazed because I found this approach tedious and difficult just a few months ago. Obviously, I wasn’t ready to make these changes and so I resisted them with fervor akin to a televangelist. But today I’m ready because I am tired of expending all of my energy fighting with myself in a battle over food. It’s just so darn tedious to constantly be engaged in a battle of wills with myself. It’s also quite absurd and such a self-centered use of my precious life energy. So enough. Enough.
That’s what I’m doing – I’m taking a day. A day to catch up on your comments here. A day to catch up on your blogs and leave as many comments as I can! And a day to maybe, if I can squeeze it in, hang out with y’all on Twitter.
All is well. Worked out this morning. Still slow-carbing it.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of hanging out with two awesome blogging friends! I met Tara for the first time and got to see Jord again, in a Sunday combination that was the awesome-est-ever! We started, of course, with hugs all around. It’s the weirdest, coolest thing to finally meet someone you feel you already know because you follow their blog or Twitter or whatever. Like reuniting with a long lost friend!
We followed the love-fest hugs with a run along Lake Washington Boulevard. We jogged for 3.25 miles and chatted all the while, getting to know each other better than we already do from our blogs. It was super fun, and cemented my opinion that running with friends feels physically easier than running alone sometimes does.
After our run, we headed back to our cars and pulled out the goodies we’d coordinated for our picnic. Looking like hobos well-prepared individuals with our coolers, blankets, yoga mats, and more, we walked a ways up Lake Washington Boulevard and chose our spot for the next awesometastic Sunday experience – watching the Blue Angels perform! They were so awesome to watch!! As always, I reverted to my true nature as a 12 year old boy, as my vocabulary contracted to the following: “That’s so cool! This is so awesome!” with a few “Dude”s thrown in for good measure.
We were so tempted to zonk out for a nap on the blankets afterward, but if y’all know me, y’all know I’m chatty. Tara and Jord aren’t wallflowers either, so we chatted away for a while longer until Jord couldn’t put off her homework any longer decided to be the responsible adult that she is and go write her paper. More hugs all around, topped off with some promises to do it again soon.
You know what? I wish all of my blogging friends lived close enough to do that! I’ll admit to having been nervous beforehand. What if they don’t like me? What if they can’t stand running as slow as me? What if I say something totally stupid? Etc. Even extroverts struggle sometimes when meeting “new” people. But hanging out with these ladies today didn’t feel at all like meeting someone new; more like reuniting with old friends.
So that’s what I’ve got for you today, along with this encouragement: if you have the opportunity to meet someone in your blogging community, don’t let it pass you by! No matter how nervous you might be, it’ll be okay. You won’t pick your nose in front of them or fall flat on your face while jogging or do anything else totally dorky. And if you do? Don’t worry – they already love you, so they’ll just laugh at with you just the way your besties would.
Have you meet any of your blogging friends “in real life”? When/where was it – did you plan a get together, keep it casual, or attend a blogging conference? Do tell – I’d love to hear your stories!
P.S. I think I found a compromise on the “progress photos” issue. I’ve posted them on my SeattleRunnerGirl Facebook page, so if you’re interested, head over there, “like” me, and check it out!
I know I’m not alone in that I struggle a bit more with certain things on the weekends. My biggest challenge on the weekends is getting my workouts in! Eating healthy isn’t really a problem 90% of the time on the weekend, since I’m the one that cooks and shops for our household. I just don’t keep junk in the house, and my hubby doesn’t buy it either (thank goodness!).
But workouts? Yikes, when I am having an “at home” day, it’s really hard to get myself out the door. And when I’m busy with family in town or social functions, it’s just hard to make time. Anybody else have the same problem?
I’m going to start setting specific goals for myself on the weekends, kind of like I started doing for each month. (BTW, May goals recap and June goals post coming soon – maybe you’ll join me in setting some goals for June?)
Anyhoo, so my weekend goals are:
Get my Friday workout in before my work day is over.
Get my Saturday workout in within one hour of waking up OR go hiking with hubby (this will depend on the weather when we wake up Saturday!).
Plan for some movement of the bod on Sunday – dancing, yoga, a walk, some Wii Fit, whatevs. Just to keep the tush off the couch.
I have to confess I’ve already gotten my Friday workout in (I’m typing this post Friday afternoon to publish on Saturday!), so maybe that’s cheating so I’m taking lots of credit for that, since Fridays seem to be the hardest day to get my workouts in! Here’s me, patting my own back.
What are your goals for the weekend?
Toot your own horn – how’d you do great this week?
I am a thirty-something Seattle woman loving life, and losing weight along the way. I hope sharing my journey helps someone out there, and helps me too!
Recent Comments