Thought Records

Curlygurl

Full Member
Hello all. I've been lurking here a while, and occasionally chip in. I started Foundation in June, lost 2 stone 13 lbs, and spent about 10 weeks in Developers, constantly lapsing and never reaching my goal. Decided to take a break in December, and have restarted back last week.

Anyhoo - my wheels fell off as once I lapsed I found it hard to get back on the wagon. Ghe first couple of times, I 'got away with it', didn't gain, and indeed sometimes carried on losing a pound of 2. That didn't last long. And I didn't bother with much of the homework. With perfect 20/20 hindsight, I now see how foolish it was to pay for this counselling and not actually take advantage of it or learn from it. My eyes were dazzled by the poundage melting, my mind not concerned with how I would maintain it.

I regained 1 stone 6 lbs, and am treating this all as a fresh start. I am ready, willing and able to reach my goal.

So tonight, we did Thought Records. Didn't really grasp it first time round, but tonight I did. It was like a light going on. I hope none of you mind if I post it here - hopefully someone might find it useful.

WHAT HAPPENED

I came home from my first weigh in, and I went straight to the fridge, and opened the cheese box. I unwrapped each of the cheeses and tasted a morsel off each of them. Put them back in the fridge and ate 2 pickled onions out of the jar.

WHAT WERE MY MOST IMPORTANT THOUGHTS (HOT THOUGHT IN BOLD)

a. I'm so hungry.
b. That cheese is so tasty, it's too good to waste.
c. I'll be back in ketosis by next week, I bet I'll still have a good loss even if I do eat tonight.
d. If I have this cheese, I might as well have some nice toast with it.
e. If I have cheese and toast tonight, it's going to be really hard to stay abstinent over the weekend when my friend is here.
f. The cheese needs to be out of the fridge for at least a couple of hours be at it's best.
g. Idiot!!! I make life hard for myself soemtimes.

HOW I FELT (%)

Annoyed (25%)
Deprived (25%)
Proud (50%)

WHAT I DID/MIGHT HAVE DONE IN THE PAST

Ate all the cheese. And had some hot buttery toast. And then made some popcorn. Or ordered noodles from the Chinese takeaway under my flat. Eaten it, felt sick, and be full of remorse and self loathing. Found it hard to get back into abstinence.

EVIDENCE FOR HOT THOUGHT

When I have laspsed in the past I have found it really hard to get back into abstinence.
I find it especially challenging to stick with the diet around my friends. A small lapse has turned into a weekend, has turned into a week, has turned into a weight gain.

EVIDENCE AGAINST HOT THOUGHT

There'sno evidence against it. It's a shame I didn't have this thought before I opened the fridge.

MORE REALISTIC THOUGHT

The thought is fine, and is what enabled me to halt before I did any serious damage. I just need to work on the timing.

HOW I FEEL NOW

Glad that I didn't let a nibble become a full blown lapse.
Foolish for even having the nibble.
More focused on remaining abstinent.
Optimistic that I can avoid making the same mistake again.

HOW I MIGHT BEHAVE NOW

Just take a few more minutes to think before I open the fridge.
Do the Thought Record before taking any action - if I had analysed my feelings/urges a bit more, I may not have even nibbled.

In the past when I have had even a teeny little lapse, I have tried to ignore it and it has just snowballed over the course of a few days. I'm hoping that by doing this exercise, I have acknowledged that it has happened, and I have drawn a line under it.

Anyway, a lengthy post!!! Sorry if I've bored you rigid. How are other people getting on with the homework - have you found the Thought Records useful?
 
I struggle with the thought records but my LLC has encouraged us to do just one this week and bring them in. The most useful one I ever did had nothing to do with food but really helped me to work through a very difficult period I went through about two months ago. I hope your thought record has been helpful and in line with your post I'm going to get some thought records done this week!

I also wanted to tell everyone that this week (although I haven't changed my ticker) my BMI went under 25! What a buzz!! I actually shed a tear or two on the way home!
Linze
 
Hi ya Curly Girl :wavey:,

I've not been bored at all by your post. It's actually quite a revelation for me. An a-ha moment so to speak. What a brilliant tool these thought records are. I try to keep a journal but it's not nearly as focused as your record. I can see why you guys pay extra for the CBT. Luckily, my CDC is training in this area and I'm sort of his guinea pig. He spends so much time on me - the dear man. I found your post so useful, I've saved it.
 
Brilliant Curly Whurly, I think the thought record is one of the most powerful things we learn on LL. I did mine this week and intend to practice a bit.

Well done Linz it must be a lovely feeling:)
 
Didn't bore me, I find thought records fascinating but have never done one - think I'll have to give them a go.

Cheers for that.
 
Thought records are great.
You could trying sticking an empty one to the fridge, that will remind you every time you open the door that there isn't anything in there for you.
 
Well done CG. Both for resisting a full blown binge AND for recognising the thoughts that take you there. Any sort of self understanding has got to help (even if it's not a magic wand and still requires willpower) you deal with similar situations in the future.

I find that I push the boundaries just a bit. I suppose it's a rebellion - if a rather feeble one. I won't go and eat carbs or chocolate (mmmmmm, just the word has me dribbling!) but will have tiny bits of protein - knowing I can "get away with it". It's not perfect behaviour but it does stop me going spectacularly off-piste. So I'm not beating myself up about it too much whilst I work on hoising my halo and achieving saintly perfection.

PS Pickled onions? Got to have citric acid in them. Don't risk throwing yourself out of ketosis - it's too damn hard getting in to it.
 
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