IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, try try try again and again (and again...)

** ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK **

**NOT PURE DUKAN**


Morning all!

I'll start by briefly recapping my story.

Overweight and on diets since my early teens, I lost 71K (11 stone 2lbs) in 2002 and 2003, and stabilised with the 80/20 method (and cigarettes). At 70K I was initially content, then continued to 67K, but after quitting smoking, found myself up at almost 80K again. I lost 9K my usual way (healthy eating, unlimited fruit and veg, but little or no starchy carbs), but couldn't seem to get below 71K.

I started Dukan in November 2007 at 71.1K. Reached 63.5K by Christmas 2007, at which point I went into Consolidation, lost the plot, and have seemingly been playing with the same kilos, since!

This year I've been over my Dukan start weight all year, despite "dieting" 95% of the time.

I am now taking away the ketosis crutch, because I've been abusing it (by regularly overeating at weekends, knowing I can recuperate with successive PPs during the week). I'm now looking at my behaviour more closely...

So for the past three weeks I've been working with some totally Dukan friendly days, some healthy eating days, and if a social occasion arises, I'm learning to deal with that too. And instead of either refusing to go or going and skipping dessert and choosing diet fodder, I've been having a "normal meal", with dessert, and then learning NOT to consider the rest of the day a write off "so I might as well continue".

A couple of years ago, on a different diet website, I became friendly with a French girl who in time revealed she was a psychologist. I've bought a CBT book, and am reading it slowly... and pondering a lot... (much as I did before quitting smoking). She's in town this week on holiday and we're meeting for lunch on Friday... while I don't want to "abuse", I shall certainly see what she thinks of this sort of mind therapy... because, as I've said before, my problems seem to lie elsewhere than purely in losing weight which is the easy part! (well, you know what I mean...).

Hi Jo nice to see you have your own diary now and we promise to hijack, i mean NOT to hijack it.
Wow yes would be interesting ref the CBT, i think i would benefit from a couple of sessions ref my ocd and eating problems, bingeing etc etc

I'm still not ready to actually consult anyone officially yet... this is *just* a book, but already it's given me interesting food for thought...

My boss, back from his vacation, just offered me a fresh brioche from the boulangerie. I had no problem refusing. It's Tuesday. Why would I want to overeat on a Tuesday? Actually, rather, why would I consider eating a brioche to be overeating? It's not. Just that it's not breakfast time and I'm not hungry, right? AND it's not planned.

Unplanned eating isn't good...

Unplanned in public is better than planned binge in secret.
But having the habit of saying no is great.

Well done. And a Brioche??? bah. croissant maybe

croissant me too

lol x

Hi Jo, great you are doing this, I wish you all the luck. xxx

One of the things I must do is...

Eat Sitting Down...

I've chosen this task for myself today because... I always eat sitting down.

Do you? And, if not, try to always do so. They say that "unplanned eating is much more likely to occur if you're standing up".

really? i wonder why?

It's like when we're in the kitchen preparing food... it's easy to nibble on bits and pieces which we're preparing our dishes, filling our plates, without even necessarily realising we're doing it.

Sitting down in front of a proper plate of food helps us to realise we've eaten a meal.

ah i see. I never pick when cooking food. lol . can never be bothered!

With Dukan, it's easier not to... (raw chicken doesn't do it for me either!! heehee!!)

lol me neither!

Hey Jo glad you have a diary now. I think alot of what you've said makes sense. I know I've been really bad this week, mainly as I've felt crap so eaten what I feel like. Now with the exception of a takeaway on Friday night I've generally been eating good food, not healthy but good decent food and I've felt really full which makes resisting snacks much easier.

What I've found in my non diet week is I want to be good. I don't want carbs. I've been eating bread out of convenience but its made me feel bloated, I don't want it. I certainly don't want pasta or rice, which has left me feeling frankly a bit lost. I don't want to eat anything which is a strange feeling. Telling myself I can eat whatever I want means I'm no desperately trying to have foods because I can't have them.

Whilst I'm dieting I always want a big bar of chocolate etc etc now I've said to myself I can have it I'm not rushing out to get one. All I really want is an oat bran muffin but I've no splenda to make any!!!!

So sorry to hijack but I think sometimes dieting is all psychological, if only I could find a way to trick my brain into wanting to exercise......

Another one for the ways to eat less is "eat slowly" I had a big salad yesterday which I was munching away on when I realised I'd been picking at it for about 40 minutes and actually I was full.

I appreciate your input Becky and yes, you're right... eating properly at the table, slowly and savouring our food... (just as I was brought up actually!! and I never eat at the table, preferring my knees in front of the TV. Exactly what they say not to do!

I'm ashamed to say that I didn't read a single page of "the book" last night, preferring instead to continue the novel I'm reading. Fair enough.

Today my assignment is to write down all the reasons I want to lose weight, rating how important each is to me.

This card will then come everywhere with me, to be added to and amended as necessary, but particularly to be READ twice a day and each time I have cravings, temptations or sabotaging thoughts.

I've thought of "the obvious" things to put on the card... but as those things have never prevented me raising hand to mouth in the past, why would they now... so must rummage a little deeper...

Will be interesting to hear you reasons jo.
maybe we should all be digging deep and start a thread on this (if you dont mind intruders

I think together is great...

Why do we want to lose weight? (given that, for some of us, we've already done that and regained again)... what can help us next time refuse [x] in favour of staying slim?

I'm ashamed to say that I read a couple of pages of the book last night and can hardly recall what they were about! That's the trouble with bedtime reading - if I'm half asleep, does anything go in? It must do surely cos I read my quit smoking book this way!

Anyway... I do remember them talking about our sabotaging techniques... how when we're tempted to eat something or other, we use EXCUSES to eat it (it's my/her birthday; I'm feeling sad/happy/depressed/whatever; I deserve it; etc etc.

It talked also about two muscles:
your "resistance muscle"; and
your "giving in muscle".
Each time you use either muscle, you strengthen it.

This is the book I bought - I have been reading the reviews below..;
http://www.amazon.com/Beck-Diet-Solution-Train-Person/dp/0848731735/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top