Have a body that fits me and give thanks for it by taking good care of it

Since January I have lost 3 inches on my waist and 4 inches off my hips.

My house very often fills up with people, conveniently just at dinner time. Tonight, a nephew rejoiced to his grandpa over the phone that I had made eggrolls. A few months ago, when an impromtu party materialized, 19 people talked about how great the food was and wanted my recipe for Ranch dressing (which I got out of divulging by changing the subject). Another time, a brother-in-law and his kids, who were actually staying with some other relatives, showed up here at dinner time, saying that the food was better at our house.

So, OK, yeah – I am a good cook. Everyone says so. But wait a minute. I think I’m starting to discover a trend here. It is the same unfortunate trend that chefs encounter when they cook expecting other people to eat what they’ve created. YOU CAN’T SERVE FOOD TO OTHER PEOPLE IF YOU DON’T TASTE IT WHILE YOU’RE FIXING IT. You can’t.

So if this is a breakthrough, I need a resolution. Maybe it’s just a discovery. I’ll need to think about it for a while, cuz I’m pretty sure it’s a breakthrough. =7

IT’S OK TO STRUGGLE WITH THIS!!!

Struggling with giving up some food or other is hard, especially if it’s something you really like or are in the habit of having whenever you want.

I don’t know if I have any specific foods like this habitually, but I did have a good example today.

As I got up from reading Day 24 in the Beck book, I went in the kitchen to make some oatmeal and while I was waiting for the water to boil so I could turn it to simmer, I reached into my Dearest’s bag of Starburst jelly beans and picked out three orange ones and ate them. I like that tartness. It grabs me right behind the jaw and makes my mouth water. The lemon ones are my favorite.

It was obvious that I thought about what I was doing – - – I had to dig through the bag to find 3 the same, but I did not stop for a second to think about NOT eating them at all. That would have been a struggle once the craving set in.

Then, with a twist to what Dr. Beck talks about in Day 24, I started thinking,restricting certain things is like “breaking up” with that food. Whoever said breaking up was easy? Heck no! It’s hard as anything, but I can do hard things.

If I had never broken up with a boy, for example, I’d be married to that yucky 7th grader Charles with the curly eyelashes, who grew up to be about 4 inches shorter than me. hahahahaha!!! Funny thought. That’s what I want the jelly beans to become, so I am going to deliberately “struggle” with them. The lemon ones. mmmmm. I am going to observe my cravings for them and then NOT eat them.

Crap. This isn’t going to be as hard as I was actually hoping it would be. Now that I have that image in my head, lemon jelly beans make me laugh. Mwah ha ha!!!

I am trimming down my body as a way of taking care of my knees.

This program is pretty easy to follow so far. The ALWAYS sitting down to eat part is hard to remember, and the setting aside specific time to exercise without being able to get anything else DONE has not worked its way into my mindset yet, but for the most part, it’s pretty interesting.

Most of the activities these past few days have to do with setting up all areas of your life in order to be READY to stick to an eating and exercise plan.

Then come Days 11 (Differentiating between hunger, cravings, and the urge to eat) and 12 (Tolerating Hunger). Good definitions in the book allow people who have never thought about it to understand the differences. I’ve studied this in depth, but I still appreciated the descriptions.

The assignment for Day 12 is to skip a meal and pay attention to what actual hunger feels like and how it comes and goes. This was timed perfectly, as my church was holding a fast that happened to fall on the exact day I needed it! Wow—that is definitely going in the Synchronicity section of my next entry for Artist’s Way. Incredible.

What’s even nicer is that today is Weigh-In Wednesday (so named because I love alliteration), and I’m down another pound and a half. Hooray!

So far the exercises have to do with finding the concrete reasons to lose weight; finding a healthy, easy, and flexible eating plan; deciding to always eat sitting down; learning to give myself credit, even for small accomplishments; and to slow down and pay close attention to my food.

I’m having fun with it, so I must say, so far so good. Plus, I’ve already lost a pound! yippee!

Betcha wouldn’t expect to see an entry entitled “Choir” in this category, right? Well, singing is actually pretty hard work if you do it right.

I’ve been in performance choirs since 7th grade, but the last few years, have only sporadically joined choir at church, as is the case now. I joined this choir a year ago and had never bothered to memorize any of the dozen or songs we’ve performed thus far. I guess I’ve repented. ;)

We have a couple of awesome arrangements this month and I’ve been singing my little heart out all week. I’ve lost a couple of inches already!

Boy, my abdominal muscles have to be strong to belt out the high notes, lower the volume without losing intensity in the quiet bits, and project those low tones without rattling or bottoming out. Whew. Who’da thought singing was a workout?!

Well I discovered an unfortunate pattern. I guess I’m glad it’s uncovered now, but I wish it didn’t exist.

Yesterday I did really well paying attention to everything I ate and overcoming obstacles. Then, after bedtime, I called my mom. Yesterday was the day they finally came and carted my grandma off to the home, so after 2 years of giving constant 24-hour care to her, my mom is free. I called to see how she was doing.

While she was talking about things that were said 22 years ago, I found myself going to the kitchen and mindlessly eating 4 or 5 tortilla chips with salsa. True, not the worst thing in the world, especially since there are 4 chocolate-covered donuts in there (yes they are STILL in there. I’m not going to eat them), but I should have been sleeping (or at least just talking and listening) instead of eating.

So, all day today I have been thinking that this random eating (and subsequent discovery) was because of the discomfort I felt during the rather disturbing conversation.

But then I had a little BREAKTHROUGH while reading the second chapter of this Beck book. I realized that I nearly always ransack the fridge while I’m on the phone. It’s not emotional, though. It’s environmental!

When I was growing up, we had one of those wonderful old yellow wall phones – guess where – IN THE KITCHEN! We always rummaged around for something to munch on while we were on the phone. My brothers paid the price too. I should tell them about this.

On PeerTrainer, a couple of ‘friends’ and I are going to go through the Beck Diet Solution book and workbook together. We start as soon as the one who ordered her books on Amazon gets them. I checked the hardcover book out from the library and got the workbook for 40% off with a Borders coupon from bordersmedia.com.

I will be busy keeping track on PT with them, but will probably post a few entries about my progress and findings here as well.

I’m drinking a large glass of water every morning before I eat anything, and then another one throughtout the day. Whatever appetite I had for mindless munching is dwindling quickly. Yay.