I Am Worth It Challenge II

[MorningGlory]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

Wow, this has been the best challenge for having everyone dig deep and find the true meaning of committment and how to succeed.

Bravo to Jimmie for conducting such a meaningful challenge for us. The information and insight that we all gained from this will help us everyday in everything we plan to accomplish...not only our weight issues, but other issues that come into our lives. Thanks!!!

Yah..what she said!

Seriously, couldn't have said it better. I kind of wish this challenge was longer!

[jimmie 48]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

fowler, aren't you so excited for your dh to see the results from what you have been doing? how could he tempt you after seeing your hard work!

when i started out i would tell people i was low carbing just like you and for the same reasons. now i don't give a rip.

[jimmie 48]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

daina, you and fowler had a pretty good list of people that you might would have issues with. does it make you stronger each time you "defend" (for lack of a better word) your woe and your lifestyle?

church potlucks are the worst! lol
maybe that's why i got so much into the kitchen end of things back home. i didn't concentrate on low carb but anyone doing low carb could eat at least something at most meals.. potlucks? i stayed close to the chicken and veggies.

[jimmie 48]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

i would like to take a minute to thank my two mods that joined this challenge. becky and silly encouraged me so many times. i'd pitch something and i got feed back. silly did some searching for me and becky, our grand planner, provided the basis and most of the content for day three.

thank you both! for always having my back and being such an encouragement to me.

[purplecat]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

December 19
Looking Ahead - Commitment In Action
Homework/Board Work
1. The first focus of making a plan is to identify things that will jeopardize your commitment to yourself. This could be a hospital stay, vacation, relatives that know nothing about Atkins or are ill informed, or simple a restaurant. List at least 2 in each category:
Events: Holidays, Birthday Parties, Food days (on my job - they eat for any and every occasion).
Places: Job, Reunions
People: Family, Coworkers, and nosey people eavesdropping in your conversation and wanting to offer their 1/2 cent worth (can't even give them 2 cents for eavesdropping).


2. Write out alternative actions that will help you stay committed when you are faced with these temptations. I carry a cooler of legal foods to work. I keep a gallon size Ziplock bag in the refrigerator at work with legal foods (turkey breast, cheese, roast beef, etc.) for emergencies. I keep a pack of peanuts in my purse at all times if ever I'm caught out and not able to get to food (has happened several times). I carry pork skins and water in the trunk of my car. I know these things sound weird but it has kept me on plan. I avoid birthday parties like the plague ... maybe one day I'll attend one but right now the temptation would be painful. I don't go to restaurants (more economical to pack my food) unless it's Wendy's drive through when I'm caught out and starving. I eat before everyone brings in food (for food days). Some of my coworkers have been considerate enough to bring food I can eat.

3. Put your plan into action. Practice what you will say to people you know might try to get you off plan. Say it till you feel comfortable saying, being self assured and confident This has already happened. I had a certain coworker who tried to force me into a food day for Boss's Day. It didn't happen. I was in Induction and there were no legal foods. She tried to make it that we couldn't do it if I didn't participate. I just told them that they'd just have to go hungry. I take my food to work everyday. I usually fix several meats on Sunday so I can grab and go throughout the week. This way all I have to do is reheat at lunch. Today a doc at my job told me that she doesn't recommend Atkins (raises your cholesterol - did hers anyway per what she said because of eating all that meat and cheese) but she recommends SouthBeach. I told her that I haven't had any problems, that I don't eat much cheese due to allergies (but more veggies), that my labs will be drawn soon and that I'm 31 pounds lighter. She had nothing else to say other than I looked smaller.

[SunnySmile501]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

Sorry if this is discombobulated—it’s been one of them days!



December 19
Looking Ahead - Commitment In Action
Homework/Board Work


1. The first focus of making a plan is to identify things that will jeopardize your commitment to yourself. This could be a hospital stay, vacation, relatives that know nothing about Atkins or are ill informed, or simple a restaurant. List at least 2 in each category:



Events:
Christmas party at church tonight starting at 7:00 p.m.
Christmas Sunday School party


Places:
UVA Medical Center
Restaurants that put sugar in everything



People:
My non-cooking sister
S-I-L and brother


2. Write out alternative actions that will help you stay committed when you are faced with these temptations.

Events:

Christmas party at church tonight starting at 7:00 p.m.:

(1:00 p.m.) I’m still trying to decide what to do about this one. There are more problems than just the types of food that will be available. My contract with myself pledges to have my dinner finished before 7 p.m. and to eat nothing after. There is a valid reason for this rule. I don’t have a problem with taking food for myself, and I will probably stand out by eating nothing. I am busy baking cookies, cupcakes and ham biscuits to take for others. I know the smell of the homemade rolls baking will be torture, but I have done it plenty of other times.

(2:30 p.m.) The way I see it I have to do one of two things: 1. Alter my goal contract to take into consideration unavoidable situations that require eating food after 7:00 p.m. and after dinner. The contract has been altered several times since it’s inception in 2005. 2. Acknowledge the fact that there was a real need for the rule and abide by the rule.

(10:15 p.m.) I had to bake and frost 10 dozen mini cupcakes and make 35 ham biscuits. I was already way behind and way in over my head due to my continuing health problems…THEN I had drop-in company that got here at 3:00 p.m. and stayed until almost 5:00 p.m. By then I was so far behind, that I barely got finished and in the shower in time to get to the church by 6:30. All I had time to eat was a few bites of ham as I was slicing it to put on the rolls. I ended up eating a slice of salami, a pinwheel of ham & cream cheese, a few cubes of cheese, four grapes and two strawberries. That was at about 7:30. I didn’t even know that we were going to have choir practice after, so I am just getting home.

This is not what I had intended. I had gone back and read the end of my goal contract, and decided to abide by it. This is what it says:

Forthwith my goal is to be more self-disciplined, patient, tolerant, and understanding of all people with whom I come into contact, so that each night when I prepare for bed I can look back upon the day and honestly know that I regret only those words left unsaid and those deeds left undone.

This is an irrevocable contract I make with myself.

Then…life happened.

Christmas Sunday School party: This event is past, but I know it will come up again. We get invited to a beautiful log cabin, owned by a restaurateur with several restaurants, way out in the back of beyond.

She always offers to do all the cooking and we are just supposed to bring ourselves. The one just past was the first one that I had ever attended. She just said she would cook something easy, like lasagna. Up until the day of, I kept asking everyone if they had any idea what was on the menu—no one had a clue. I was not comfortable calling and asking, even though my sister said I should. A few people at church know that I not only don’t eat wheat, I’m allergic to it.

I ended up taking sliced turkey and guessed that she would at least have a salad. I was right about the salad, but she didn’t have one legal dressing. She had all kinds of appetizers, all non-legal, and the main course was lasagna and garlic bread, and then there were a dozen desserts. I made do with my turkey and a lot of salad with a touch of the least damaging dressing. I had to explain my wheat/grain allergy, and that caused a lot of questions.

I need to find out in advance what is being served and either offer to bring my own food and dressing or let her provide something I can eat. I was concerned that she was already providing food for 40 people, and didn’t want her to feel obligated to cook something just for me. I was embarrassed to call ahead and discuss the menu, but it turned out worse to go so far away from civilization that cell phones don’t work and be there for hours, unprepared.

Places:

UVA Medical Center: Many weekly appointments, sometimes many in one day, are a reality for me for the rest of my life. UVA is an 80-mile round-trip away from home and across a treacherous mountain. I have had to regroup many times, but now make sure I have emergency foods (pork rinds, small pouches of tuna, potted meat, and packets of mustard & mayo) in a cooler in my trunk, individual servings of protein in the freezer and a nice lunch box cooler with everything I need in a zipper pouch, ready to fill with food. I have bottled water and a 32-ounce water bottle with me at all times. Sometimes I have so many appointments in so many different locations in the same day, it’s all I can do to choke down a few bites, but it is the best I can do.

Restaurants: I’m from a very large and spread out family (not body type!). Most are very busy, and the only way to get together is call a bunch of them and get together at a restaurant. I don’t even like to eat out, but I want to get together with my family. They all know about and most approve of my WOE, so I am usually asked where I want to/can eat. I made a big mistake by choosing Applebee’s once, because I knew I could get a steak, salad and veggies. What I didn’t know was that they put sugar in everything including the glaze on the steak. I found this out after a nasty reaction to the meal, and by calling after the fact. I have never again picked that restaurant. From then on, I call before going anywhere new.

People:

My non-cooking sister: There are more inevitable events in my life, and I have been learning more each time I have to deal with them. More hospitalizations and surgery are in my future and my cooking and driving challenged and fat phobic sister will come down from Ohio to take care of me. She is super skinny and eats horribly. Last summer (2006) I had no choice but get up out of my sick bed and cook for us both. This year, I had more notice, so I cooked and cooked and froze it all before surgery, so all she would have to do is warm it up. I had more trouble getting her to actually pour some dressing on my salad, and she absolutely couldn’t bring herself to brush olive oil on my veggies to get them ready to roast. She eventually helped me eat all my Atkins meals and liked it all.

S-I-L and brother: These are the only people that have a problem with Atkins and that is due to their doctor telling them that the diet would kill me. He told them all the untrue stuff that is in the press. He told them that they HAD to get me to stop before I died from kidney failure. I, in turn, defended Dr. Atkins and the plan, and told them that my doctor was 100% behind every thing I have done. These two doctors are in the same office. I decided that I would just have to show them how much better I am and they have backed off quite a bit, but my brother still e-mails me articles to prove their doctor right. I continually show them what I eat and ask how this food could possible hurt me.



3. Put your plan into action. Practice what you will say to people you know might try to get you off plan. Say it till you feel comfortable saying, being self assured and confident.
I say the truth. I am allergic to wheat and I don’t eat sugar. I’m a really straight forward person, and very few people attempt to sway me in any way.



Look at each day as another chance to practice eating right. If you eat off plan, have the courage to take back control the very next minute, the very next bite, the very next meal.

[decreaseself]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

1. The first focus of making a plan is to identify things that will jeopardize your commitment to yourself. This could be a hospital stay, vacation, relatives that know nothing about Atkins or are ill informed, or simple a restaurant. List at least 2 in each category:
Events: New Year's Eve Party; Christmas Eve Dinner
Places: Greune Hall(for Bob Scneider Concert); New Job starting Jan. 8
People: Friends that will be at both the party and the concert; People that are negative about this WOL (met one at a Chirstmas party that told me, "oh that's the diet that you lose a lot of weight really fast, then it slows down, and you gain it all back")


2. Write out alternative actions that will help you stay committed when you are faced with these temptations.
My action plan is to be myself, because since I have made this commitment and treating it as a "moral obligation" (thanks Sunny!), cheating is not an option. My friends will tell me things as they did at a Christmas party I went to such as: "Come on one glass of wine won't hurt" or "Oh just have one bite, you gotta taste it" Well, no, I don't I didn't then and I will not at the upcoming events. If they are persistent to the point where I am not enjoying myself, I will simply leave.

3. Put your plan into action. Practice what you will say to people you know might try to get you off plan. Say it till you feel comfortable saying, being self assured and
"With all due respect (name), this WOE has proven successful for many people, I feel better than I have in a long time. I am happy to have found something to make me look better and feel better. Surely you wouldn't want to say anything to try to take that away from me."

I guess that will be my answer rather than: "Look here you misinformed idgit, don't you be talkin' about anything you don't know about you hear? You're probably just jealous anyway. Why don't you just go sabotage yourself?" Just kiddin'

[pamelainaustin]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

I guess that will be my answer rather than: "Look here you misinformed idgit, don't you be talkin' about anything you don't know about you hear? You're probably just jealous anyway. Why don't you just go sabotage yourself?" Just kiddin'

Hehehe...Decreaseself, you are not alone. This sounds exactly like something I WOULD say....

BTW, I noticed you talking about going to Gruene Hall to see Bob Scneider and it gave me a smile. Me and mr. pamelainaustin spent our honeymoon at the Gruene Mansion Inn in the Corn Crib cottage 23 years ago this week--haven't thought about that in a while. We have gone to the Riverwalk several times in the past few years to see the Christmas lights but that trip was special. I have a picture of us standing on the steps at the Little Rhine Steakhouse that is in a collage on the wall of my office. Ah, memories...

[inhisgrip]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

Well I'm so committed to this challenge I'm posting after midnight because I wanted to make sure I did the work. It has been such a long day and I'm ready to crash.



December 19
Looking Ahead - Commitment In Action


1. The first focus of making a plan is to identify things that will jeopardize your commitment to yourself. This could be a hospital stay, vacation, relatives that know nothing about Atkins or are ill informed, or simple a restaurant. List at least 2 in each category:
Events: Faculty Meetings, Chuch covered dish suppers
Places: Work, My parent's home
People: Other teachers at school, misinformed friends who think they know what Atkins is but really have no clue

2. Write out alternative actions that will help you stay committed when you are faced with these temptations.

I've learned that I always need to keep legal snacks handy at work. We have food at every faculty meeting and there are often special treats (donuts, cakes, bagels) left in the workroom for us to eat during the week. When I get hungry and am not prepared with legal snacks I start to rationalize why it's okay for me to eat the donut "just this one time." As far as other people I have learned to not disclose what WOE I'm doing. If someone asks I just say that I'm watching what I eat and excercising (which is the truth). I get tired of having to explain myself for Atkins. Only my close friends know.

3. Put your plan into action. Practice what you will say to people you know might try to get you off plan. Say it till you feel comfortable saying, being self assured and confident

"No Thanks. I can't have that." Fortunately I don't have too many people trying to pressure me to eat things I don't want.

[decreaseself]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

I spent 8 hours painting my mom's Dining Room today, had to make 24 bell shaped sugar cookies for my son's School party tomorrow, and just wanted to go to bed, but here I sit reading everyone's posts. It is so inspiring.

Pam- I love everything about Greune, sounds like your time there was special. Thanks for sharing. ROTFL about, "Look at my butt!" That is so something I would say. Before this WOE, I would have a Donut with other people at work and tell them, I have to eat this, because I just don't think my butt is big enough yet. BTW, a Donut sounds disgusting to me now. YAY!!

Willlose40- I believe that we are from the same city-You are right, you have to stay away from Bud Jones! Since we cannot stay away from Fiesta (we would be really lame if we did), we just have to plan ahead!

Cat- ROTFL about 1/2 cent, because they are not worth 2 cents! Funny!

Silly-I like your idea of keeping cheese, veggies, and salami in your purse. I am going to do that. Thanks!

Jimmie-Love the, "I don't give a rip!"

Daione- I loved your answer to the last question on what you say to people. I think I will incorportate the "emotionally, physically, and mentally into my response.....that was good.

[jimmie 48]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

December 19
Looking Ahead - Commitment In Action
Homework/Board Work
1. The first focus of making a plan is to identify things that will jeopardize your commitment to yourself. This could be a hospital stay, vacation, relatives that know nothing about Atkins or are ill informed, or simple a restaurant. List at least 2 in each category:
Events: Holidays, Birthday Parties, Food days (on my job - they eat for any and every occasion).
Places: Job, Reunions
People: Family, Coworkers, and nosey people eavesdropping in your conversation and wanting to offer their 1/2 cent worth (can't even give them 2 cents for eavesdropping).


2. Write out alternative actions that will help you stay committed when you are faced with these temptations. I carry a cooler of legal foods to work. I keep a gallon size Ziplock bag in the refrigerator at work with legal foods (turkey breast, cheese, roast beef, etc.) for emergencies. I keep a pack of peanuts in my purse at all times if ever I'm caught out and not able to get to food (has happened several times). I carry pork skins and water in the trunk of my car. I know these things sound weird but it has kept me on plan. I avoid birthday parties like the plague ... maybe one day I'll attend one but right now the temptation would be painful. I don't go to restaurants (more economical to pack my food) unless it's Wendy's drive through when I'm caught out and starving. I eat before everyone brings in food (for food days). Some of my coworkers have been considerate enough to bring food I can eat.

3. Put your plan into action. Practice what you will say to people you know might try to get you off plan. Say it till you feel comfortable saying, being self assured and confident This has already happened. I had a certain coworker who tried to force me into a food day for Boss's Day. It didn't happen. I was in Induction and there were no legal foods. She tried to make it that we couldn't do it if I didn't participate. I just told them that they'd just have to go hungry. I take my food to work everyday. I usually fix several meats on Sunday so I can grab and go throughout the week. This way all I have to do is reheat at lunch. Today a doc at my job told me that she doesn't recommend Atkins (raises your cholesterol - did hers anyway per what she said because of eating all that meat and cheese) but she recommends SouthBeach. I told her that I haven't had any problems, that I don't eat much cheese due to allergies (but more veggies), that my labs will be drawn soon and that I'm 31 pounds lighter. She had nothing else to say other than I looked smaller.

cat, you look as though you are ready for anything! you sound very much prepared for whatever comes your way.

on the cholesterol thing: quite possibley a persons total cholesterol will go up BUT and this is the kicker, check the HDL numbers in relationship to the LDL numbers. TC is not the whole story. tell your bud that my TC is 254 but my HDL is 77. a rise from 28, pre atkins, and well above where i should be, in a good way.

[jimmie 48]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

decrease, i simply love the what you want to say to people. southerners would just add a "bless you little ol' heart" to the front of it. and seriously, i do like this approach....

Surely you wouldn't want to say anything to try to take that away from me."

who would have the nerve to continue to badger or tempt after being told that?
you sound very well prepared for whatever comes across your path.


lis, you got spirit, girl. you stayed up and got this done because you promised you would . i'm very proud of you!
i see those church potlucks again. oy.....
the good thing about those is there is usually plenty of legal food that show up.

[jimmie 48]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

sunny,
it sounds as though you continue to learn lessons for your woe. maybe you can take a bit of your own selected dressing next time, just in case?
we've seen lasagna mentioned a couple times in this challenge. i wonder if the lady would be up to having you bring an eggplant version or maybe, if she's a good cook, she'd like to try her hand at it. is that something you could be in conversation with her about?

tell me more about that not eating after 7, if you wouldn't mind. how's come?
is this because of our health or a preference such as not being able to sleep on a full stomach?


--------------
i'm jealous of y'alls office parties and get togethers. i miss that with church buds. i told jack we were doing a come and go or stay christmas party next year, i don't care where we are living!

[jimmie 48]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

this is award day!
i've checked and rechecked and for some i'll triple checked. i'll get my rounds done, take care of the daily stats chart and then i'll get your awards thread started in the Celebration forum.

11Bravo 0/3
apple 3/3
asoprano1432 0/3
Claudiabi 3/3
daione 3/3
decreaseself 3/3
diet42plz 0/3
dreamof145 3/3
elsy 3/3
fowlergirl 3/3
germensano 0/3
gmitroff 3/3
inhisgrip 3/3
Jessica Alexandra 0/3
jimmie 48 3/3
kate58 3/3
lanmaam 0/3
learning2loveme 3/3
LooseShoes 3/3
MorningGlory 3/3
Ms Sonya 0/3
mybelle37 0/3
nursechis 0/3
pamelainaustin 3/3
purplecat 3/3
sillygirl 3/3
Suga Britchess 3/3
SunnySmile501 3/3
Viking Jim 2/3
willlose40 3/3

[Claudiabi]

Re: I Am Worth It Challenge II

I liked the challenge!!

It was fun!!