Re: Speaking of the scale (and free days)

January 6, 2008

I'm no expert at all, but I have battles with the scale too. In fact, the scale

is going up in my attic TODAY and I'm not bringing it back down. I'm going to

judge things by measurements and clothes.

I plan on sticking exactly to the book for free days. I will have one only. If I

want to eat a big nasty cheeseburger for dinner, then I will. If I want to eat

chocolate for dinner I will. I will judge it by what I'm in the mood for that

day and not worry about it. I may not be in the mood for anything really

fattening, I'll just see. Eating bad one day out of seven is not going to throw

your whole program in the gutter.

I seriously would consider getting rid of that scale though!

To: bodyforlifewomensclub2@...: megily2810@...: Sun, 6

Jan 2008 13:55:33 +0000Subject: Speaking of the

scale (and free days)

Speaking of ignoring the scale (see my last post), I know that scaleweight is

largely irrelevant if you're following BFL, since so manychanges are occurring

to body fat and bone density. But, in the past, free days have been a HUGE

problem for me. In fact,that's how I added the 10 pounds I've been trying to get

rid of forthe last two years. I'd eat healthy and exercise all week, eat my

waythrough the weekend, and steadily put on 0.5 to 1 pound a week. So I'm trying

to be really careful with my free days. Since I have atendency to binge, I'm

limiting it to one free (but very free) meal.For example, this week, I had a

normal BFL breakfast and snack, wentout to eat for lunch and had a meatloaf

sandwich with fries and abread pudding dessert. Then I was too stuffed to eat

dinner, so thetotal for the day was about 2300 calories. Now back to the scale

and my question. I'm currently up 0.6 pounds(and a full pound from my low) (I'm

a little under 5'6 " and 142pounds). Because I'm worried about slow gain over

time, I'm temptedto delay my free day next week (which would be on Tuesday)

until thescale drops back down. But I know if I get rid of the free day, thatit

will be much harder for me to follow this plan and I'm likely to gonuts at some

point. So do I just ignore what the scale's doing andhave my free day/meal? Keep

the free day/meal, but scale it back? Orcut it out for a week and see what

happens?Thanks!Megily

_________________________________________________________________

Make distant family not so distant with Windows Vista® + Windows Live™.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/digitallife/keepintouch.mspx?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_CPC\

_VideoChat_distantfamily_012008

January 6, 2008

Quoting megily2810 :

> So I'm trying to be really careful with my free days. Since I have a

> tendency to binge, I'm limiting it to one free (but very free) meal.

> For example, this week, I had a normal BFL breakfast and snack, went

> out to eat for lunch and had a meatloaf sandwich with fries and a

> bread pudding dessert. Then I was too stuffed to eat dinner, so the

> total for the day was about 2300 calories.

Next time, share the bread pudding (or do you really need it at all,

after a meatloaf sandwich and fries?). I think you might need to slow

down and listen to your body -- were you really still hungry after the

sandwich and fries?

If you didn't eat the rest of the day, then you must have overeaten at

lunch. Based on my interpretation of the program, skipping meals is

counterproductive.

From my perspective, just because it's a free day doesn't mean to go

hog wild. Listen to your body and see what you *really* want -- maybe

a salad with chicken, and then the bread pudding, would have been just

as satisfying.

Just my 2 cents... Dana

----------------------------------------------------------------

This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.

January 6, 2008

This is not a numbers game, and if you treat it that way, you'll fail. If

you let a fraction of a pound determine your actions, you're just doomed.

It's about consistency, not crazy drama. " I gained six tenths of a pound,

I'm cancelling free day. " That's drama. That's absurd. You want to get rid

of the new muscle you've gained? You want to slow your metabolism back down?

Make your fat more comfortable? Your body squishier? Your cravings more out

of control? WHY? Why would you want to sabotage yourself like that when

you've barely started? You take that scale outside right now and back over

it with your car!

It's all about consistency. People look like what they do. If you get up and

eat and train like an athlete every day, you'll look like an athlete. If you

weigh yourself every day, and you feel guilty, and you doubt everything, and

you cancel free day, and you quit, and you you binge, and you start over,

you'll always look like a mushy, failed dieter. Pull yourself together and

follow the program with no concern at all for what the scale is doing.

Here's a good quote from Hussman's site:

From Dr. Hussman: " Here is your job today: adhere to a

winning pattern of action that you know will produce

results if you follow it consistently. That's all. And

if you do that today, congratulate yourself as a

winner. If instead, you insist on measuring your

success by whether or not the scale or caliper show

progress today, you're creating a game you can lose.

In Covey's words, you're putting yourself in

the position of trying to manage consequences rather

than actions. You'll never get a reliable sense of

confidence that way. Look, you're following a program

that works. Do troubleshoot. Do review your workouts,

food choices, portion sizes, and meal plans. But make

every day a game you can win. "

> Speaking of ignoring the scale (see my last post), I know that scale

> weight is largely irrelevant if you're following BFL, since so many

> changes are occurring to body fat and bone density.

>

> But, in the past, free days have been a HUGE problem for me. In fact,

> that's how I added the 10 pounds I've been trying to get rid of for

> the last two years. I'd eat healthy and exercise all week, eat my way

> through the weekend, and steadily put on 0.5 to 1 pound a week.

>

> So I'm trying to be really careful with my free days. Since I have a

> tendency to binge, I'm limiting it to one free (but very free) meal.

> For example, this week, I had a normal BFL breakfast and snack, went

> out to eat for lunch and had a meatloaf sandwich with fries and a

> bread pudding dessert. Then I was too stuffed to eat dinner, so the

> total for the day was about 2300 calories.

>

> Now back to the scale and my question. I'm currently up 0.6 pounds

> (and a full pound from my low) (I'm a little under 5'6 " and 142

> pounds). Because I'm worried about slow gain over time, I'm tempted

> to delay my free day next week (which would be on Tuesday) until the

> scale drops back down. But I know if I get rid of the free day, that

> it will be much harder for me to follow this plan and I'm likely to go

> nuts at some point. So do I just ignore what the scale's doing and

> have my free day/meal? Keep the free day/meal, but scale it back? Or

> cut it out for a week and see what happens?

>

> Thanks!

> Megily

>

January 6, 2008

Whew. Thank you. It's soooo easy to psyche myself out. Like you, I

can eat A LOT on a free day. I thought I'd done a pretty good job

reining it in, so that I don't get into a binge mode, but can still

*freely* enjoy my food (which I do, a lot). I'll keep doing what I'm

doing, making sure I'm not going hogwild nuts, but still eating fun

stuff on the free day, and stop thinking about the numbers.

>

> > Speaking of ignoring the scale (see my last post), I know that scale

> > weight is largely irrelevant if you're following BFL, since so many

> > changes are occurring to body fat and bone density.

> >

> > But, in the past, free days have been a HUGE problem for me. In fact,

> > that's how I added the 10 pounds I've been trying to get rid of for

> > the last two years. I'd eat healthy and exercise all week, eat my way

> > through the weekend, and steadily put on 0.5 to 1 pound a week.

> >

> > So I'm trying to be really careful with my free days. Since I have a

> > tendency to binge, I'm limiting it to one free (but very free) meal.

> > For example, this week, I had a normal BFL breakfast and snack, went

> > out to eat for lunch and had a meatloaf sandwich with fries and a

> > bread pudding dessert. Then I was too stuffed to eat dinner, so the

> > total for the day was about 2300 calories.

> >

> > Now back to the scale and my question. I'm currently up 0.6 pounds

> > (and a full pound from my low) (I'm a little under 5'6 " and 142

> > pounds). Because I'm worried about slow gain over time, I'm tempted

> > to delay my free day next week (which would be on Tuesday) until the

> > scale drops back down. But I know if I get rid of the free day, that

> > it will be much harder for me to follow this plan and I'm likely to go

> > nuts at some point. So do I just ignore what the scale's doing and

> > have my free day/meal? Keep the free day/meal, but scale it back? Or

> > cut it out for a week and see what happens?

> >

> > Thanks!

> > Megily

> >

January 6, 2008

Just found this _2002_ post from you. Glad to see you're consistent

in your good advice!

*****************************

From: Skwigg

To: bodyforlifewomensclub2

Sent: Monday, May 06, 2002 3:26 PM

Subject: Re: Discouraged already!

This may sound nutty, but I think the bingeing is probably being

caused by the threat of no free days. That tends to result in last

chance eating. Like, I'd better eat the whole pie now because this is

my LAST CHANCE. After tomorrow, I'm never eating pie again.

That kind of thinking always backfires in a bad way. Maybe you'd be

better off with a planned free day. Eat mostly healthy but have a

pre-set portion of a few things you really want. I mean, write it down

and measure it and stuff - say, this is *exactly* what I'm eating.

Know it ahead of time, eat it slowly, enjoy it, feel proud and

satisfied the next day. Look forward to the following week

when you're going to have a few portions of some other stuff. The

tenth cookie doesn't taste any better than the first one. So, why not

eat one or two and really enjoy it?