Summer of Heroes - June 2017 Lifestyle/Weight loss Challenge

Yes this stuff is amazing! I use a different brand..Santa something but it's awesome. I love peanut butter in my smoothies so this lets me have it without all the calories!
That sounds interesting! I'll have to try it. It's always tough for me to get enough protein in.
 
QOTD -- This week I am doing better then last week. Really anything was better then last week. I was just being a mom. Too many things popped up and by the end of the week I was just emotionally and physically drained. I did work out on Saturday and last night. I should have gone Tuesday but we went to the library with the kids instead. Still no excuse because I still had time to go. My husband and I did put a list together of meals and have pretty much stuck to it. Last night we just had a quick meal. No real reason other then I wasn't hungry because i ate lunch at 2. So it was just chicken patties. Not horrible calorie wise but much better then fast food. We also made an egg casserole for us to have for breakfast. It only has eggs, potato and chirizo. It has been really spicy but only 366 calories. I have not been tracking but have been very conscious of what I have been eating. So bottom line I am doing better this week. I still need to step it up more but at least I am doing better. I also just looked and I am maintaining my weight so far for the most part. I am only up .4 pounds.
 
One thing you did great last week! (or 5!)
One think you will do better or differently last week
Is your goal still working for you? If it doesn't - you can change it at any time!
I hope you all are smashing it

Great: I've been killing it at the gym!
Do better: Food and drinking! So many birthdays (so many Geminis in my life LOL!) and I am the designated baker... Plus going out dancing and drinking wasn't too good for the scale. Another birthday tonight, but for this one, I made a key lime pie at the birthday girl's request instead of cake. I will of course have some, but being that this meal won't have the accompanying tempting food as the last party, I think I will be able to keep myself in check and more balanced.

The gym goal is going great, and I'm not ready to change up my goal just yet... BUT if the scale keeps at this plateau through the end of the month, I may need to work on having a deficit next month to get me to my goal by August first. That's my new deadline. We will be heading back to Disney August 10 for my cousin's wedding, so that seems an appropriate goal date.
 


16th of June
Topic for today: Emotional Eating
Do you eat to avoid or enhance emotions? If so do you have plan to deal with this


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I will post some info on acceptance and commitment approach in the post below. This is the last hard question on my part of the month - I will keep it light for the weekend and @piglet1979 will take over Monday
 
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Acceptance and commitment training is a behavior therapy approach, and I don't at all claim to be expert or intent to do therapy online! But I feel there is element of simplicity of it I can try to explain, at least how I view it

In it's core it means uncomfortable feelings are part of life and habitually doing things to mute them can take you away from your true values. It means that you can let the feelings be and still do the committed actions towards their goals

Example
Personal Value:
1) I want better job, so I can purchase better health care for my family or go to nicer vacation
2) I want to be healthy eater and exercise so I can be good example for my family

Actions that take me close to my goals
1) Do presentations I need to do in work, upskill by taking more training and exams, cope with stress with bath and walks & breathing
2) eat healthy, exercise, sleep and so on

Uncomfortable feelings
1) anxiety, stress, fear of failure
2) I feel fat, uncertain I can really do it, I feel ugly and not good enough

Actions taken to avoid the uncomfortable feeling
1) don't sign up for training, don't do presentations
2) avoid or cancel plans, eat, drink too much

Most people get caught up in a cycle of uncomfortable thoughts and emotions and actions to try to avoid those. The assumption is When I feel better, I’ll do what matters to me. Uncomfortable feelings are part of life. It doesn't matter how slim you get, you will still get "I am fat" thoughts. Habitually doing actions to take you away from the uncomfortable feelings can take you away from the life you dream to live. It doesn’t work well for living a life that is meaningful, or moving towards your goals or values. Eventually we’re going to work on having those same thoughts and feelings and still taking the actions that are in line with your values and what matters to you


Am I taking actions away from uncomfortable thoughts and emotions?
Or
Am I taking actions towards values and what matters to me?

ACT does not suggest focusing on doing anything with your negative feelings. It is about letting them be and still doing the committed actions, steps toward the goals you have. It's about creating flexibility – when I have the uncomfortable feelings, can I still take the actions towards my goals. Creating some distance from your thoughts and feelings.

If the negative pattern is Uncomfortable feelings, actions away from thoughts and emotions, more uncomfortable feelings (anxiety, eat, anxiety eat)
ACT aims at uncomfortable feelings, actions towards your values, getting the values and what matter to you (anxiety, walk or prepare healthy meal, getting to live the life you want to live.

It's about letting yourself experience discomfort. Uncomfortable feelings are normal. You will be all right! You can still do what you have set your mind on.

There are a lot of books and podcasts on it, I can make suggestions but for example if you get a thought I am fat, I will never be able to do it. It doesn't suggest debating and questing the thought. One of the suggestions is creating distance for it. Repeating it adding I think I am xyx. I noticed I think I am xyz. accepting that negative thoughts are part of life. Saying all right, I hear you but let me get to the gym as I am busy now. Or repeating the thought with Donald Duck voice and having a little laugh at it
 
Another acceptance quote I love

" the moment arrives. It’s like having a dress rehearsal versus a fully packed house on opening night of a theatrical performance. You know your lines; you practiced your songs; you imagined what you would do on opening night. But then it really happens, and you react in a way that’s not what you imagined. Or think of it like a birthday party. Someone has thrown you a beautiful birthday party, and everything looks great and is decorated the way you like, but you’re told you can’t have any cake or open any presents. It looks great on the outside, but inside you feel a level of frustration with the situation. There’s a stirring, down deep in your stomach, of restlessness and just wanting to tear into everything without a care in the world. Acceptance, for me, was being OK with just looking at the gifts and not feeling upset because I couldn’t open them. It was making peace with getting joy from the moment without needing more. I had to find new ways to enjoy the party. I would have to be selective and pick a gift or a treat every once in a while and allow that to be enough. That’s the phase I’m in now. I accept the rules that go along with the party of maintaining a large weight loss. I get to have the gift of a healthy body, but I have to be willing to pass on things from time to time. I have to be willing to have personal guidelines and restrictions. I have to be willing to do the work without an immediate payoff. I’m making a long-term investment, like putting money in a 401(k) or money market account instead of spending it now. I had to have a real sit-down moment with myself where I asked, what do I want more? To be like “everyone else” and eat without a thought of the outcome, or to have a healthy life and future, which means always having to be aware and mindful of my choices? A strange thing happened when I decided to accept not getting to have everything, all of the time. When I can only have one gift every once in a while, I really appreciate it. I never did before. I was either eating"
 


And my personal reply

I am working on it, I have been reading on ACT and some of it make sense.

For example I suffer from anxiety before my period. It's very physical hollow stomach feeling, exactly like the description of actual hunger I posted few days. Eating a large meal, can make different type of discomfit but actually soothes the anxiety. Early this week, when I over did it in the gym and I build up pressure in my mind debating oh no, I want to work out but should i shouldn't I, how could I do this, why did I do this. I end up eating a lot. I don't have many days like this but there isn't anything dramatic in my life right now. If there was, will quickly become a big issue. And

I am reading up on it, I am more aware of it now. We are naturally driven to avoid uncomfortable feelings. This is not easy! I need to toughen up
 
And my personal reply

I am working on it, I have been reading on ACT and some of it make sense.

For example I suffer from anxiety before my period. It's very physical hollow stomach feeling, exactly like the description of actual hunger I posted few days. Eating a large meal, can make different type of discomfit but actually soothes the anxiety. Early this week, when I over did it in the gym and I build up pressure in my mind debating oh no, I want to work out but should i shouldn't I, how could I do this, why did I do this. I end up eating a lot. I don't have many days like this but there isn't anything dramatic in my life right now. If there was, will quickly become a big issue. And

I am reading up on it, I am more aware of it now. We are naturally driven to avoid uncomfortable feelings. This is not easy! I need to toughen up

I never connected the two before, but I have anxiety and you're right - part of it is similar to hunger. Interesting.

I guess I tend to eat to avoid emotions. When I'm happy and healthiest (mentally), I eat much healthier and less.
 
For me it all depends on how bad something is. It is mild stress or being upset I am usually pretty good at keeping my eating in check. The really high stress I have issues. A little over a year and a half go our bank account was hacked and someone bought Iphones on Ebay with it. I just about lost it then. I was eating candy every day and not the single serving size either. It didn't help that the kids felt like these bad guys would find where we live and hurt us. For a few weeks my eating was horribly bad.
 
QOTD: I am definitely a stress eater, sometimes its for the comfort, sometimes its the sugar and sometimes it's just the physical need to chew. I don't believe happy/sad emotions are triggers but sometimes boredom can be problematic... and fear factors in as well. All things to work on.

The weather has turned wet and cold again... yesterday we had the most rain fall for a June 15 - woohoo! Last evening I had to close the bedroom window and turn the furnace on to take the chill/damp out of the house. June is normally pretty gloomy, with summer not actually starting until mid-July, but it is particularly painful this year, having had no spring at all. The weekend weather looks good enough though... cooler but no rain. No big plans for the weekend except working in the yard... and knitting on my current project. One of my roommates at the retreat introduced me to an easy shawl/scarf pattern that I'm knitting up with some of the yarn I got at the retreat market and I'm really liking the way it's coming together.

Hope all have a happy and healthful weekend!
 
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QOTD - I definitely eat more when things are upsetting or stressful. When my DH has stress, he stops eating. When I am stressed I have a hard time sleeping, when DH is stressed all he wants to do at home is sleep. We are definitely wired differently. I want carbs, sugar, chocolate to raise my serotonin levels to make me feel calmer, better. When things are going well, normal, I do not have the cravings, the hard time making good choices.
 
My most consistent thing is after a stressful day I just really want a Dr Pepper. Something about it just makes me feel relaxed.

The other big thing is dealing with frustration with my diet. There have been days where I would love nothing more than to throw my tracker out the window and eat an entire pizza. I get frustrated with feeling like I never get to eat the 'good' foods any more. Part of that is true. There are a few specific things that I will probably never (or maybe maybe very rarely) eat for the rest of my life (Sonic milkshakes, I'm looking at you). I think I've mentioned this before but it's just a process of conditioning myself to remember that my life will be full and complete even if I never have a Sonic milkshake ever again.
 
16th of June
Topic for today: Emotional Eating
Do you eat to avoid or enhance emotions? If so do you have plan to deal with this

Emotional eater here. Hello. :wave2:

It took me time at the beginning of my lifestyle change to recognize that food isn't a comfort but rather a way to fueling my body for the day. The pain that I am feeling cannot be healed with chocolate - no matter how delicious it is.

How did I remedy this: getting rid of the temptations in my house and recognizing the warning signs.

It may sound silly but you can't eat the sweets if they're not in the house. and then recognizing the warning signs will allow you do deal with the emotions/feelings in other ways. Crying, going out for a walk, channeling it into another activity. I've learned that instead of eating when emotional, that I should clean my house and let me tell you --- there's no better feeling that scrubbing counters and vacuuming when angry.

Hulk smash dirty laundry. Hulk clean house.
 
17th of June

Question of the day - how many veggies and fruits you eat in a day?

I figured at least one of my questions should be food related! Have a wonderful weekend



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QOTD- a few of each every day. I have a 1/4 cantaloupe just about every am, berries at night, sometimes apple, pear, as well and then a salad-romaine,peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes every day and usually some veg either in eggs, with dinner, eggplant or zucchini based dish..I love broc and cauli but since having thyroid/goiter problems I have read it is best to avoid cruciferous veggies I miss them.
 

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