My shortest essay...

Check this out.  Essay's don't have to be long or involved.  They can be simple reminders.  Here's my shortest. It's nice to read this every now and then.  More now than then...

"Get Something Off My Plate"
"When feeling stressed, just getting one thing off my plate can really help relieve my stress.  Big things are better, but even small things can help.  Having a prioritization scheme can really help."

That's it.  Just a reminder that focusing on one thing to clear off the plate is good.  Essays don't have to be long or involved, they just need to work for you.  Have at it.

Here are my counter thoughts...

Regarding never shedding the pounds.  I really don't have that many pounds to loose.  I'm in the middle of my ideal weight range, just a little above the middle.  My pants fit pretty good, which is my real goal.  I've shed the weight before, and see no reason why I can't do it again.  Never is a long time.

Shouldn't have eaten so much?  Why not? It was a party.  Sure the food was high impact, but it usually is at such gatherings.  Eating like that infrequently is not a bad thing for my health. It's OK to eat that way on occasion.  I'm certainly not going to make a habit of it.

Never get to eat my favorite indulgences?  So what?  I really haven't given up anything that special.   All I really did was substitute one thing for another.  I'm not missing anything that I haven't had in the past.  What I substituted was just as good, if not better than the stuff I used to "treat" myself to.  Really.

Lookin' for some help...

[Note: I wrote this on Saturday, May 5, but must of forgot to select Publish]

First, a little background...
I used to be about 20-25 pounds heavier than I am now.  I dropped the weight about 9 years ago and have maintained my weight in the low 130's ever since.  That's right in the middle of the healthy weight range for me.  It was easier to do before I got married.  I simply ate healthy most of the time and had a few favorite indulgences that I would enjoy every now and then.  For some reason, I put about 5 pounds on over the Nov-Dec holidays and have had a dickens of a time shedding it.  Family events center around food, and having married into a big family there's lots of family events.

Now to today's situation.
Today we celebrated a birthday.  Lot's of fried foods, refined flour, fatty meats, and of course deserts.  When I'm around food like that I tend to eat it, particularly in a social situation.  Today was no different.  This led to thoughts such as "I'll never shed these pounds,"  "I shouldn't have eaten so much," and  "I'll never get to eat my favorite indulgences as long as I'm eating at these family events."  Those thoughts made me feel sad.

Got any counter thoughts for me?  I'll come up with some myself, but if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

I have a lot of entries in my tools...

It's interesting to see the stuff I have recorded in my tools.  Just skimming through can be a help, because I can see trends and themes.  I can also see how I've improved over these past several months.  It's been almost a year since I started on this effort.  I don't know the exact day, but it was in June of 2011 that I decided to start working on an app for myself.  Anyway, more on that next month.  Right now I just want to say that having these records of my thoughts on my phone is helpful in a couple of ways.  Reviewing an entry on its own can help me deal with a similar situation when it develops.  Reviewing multiple entries helps me see patterns and different way of looking at the same distortion.  Good stuff.  How about you?  Do you have enough entries to see patterns?

My Evening Reminder just popped open...

I'm still using the default reminder.  How did things go today?  I had a good day, which unfolded with no surprises.  I kept pretty busy at work and was busy after work as well.  I was expecting a quote from a plumber for some work on the house, but didn't get one.  However, no distorted thoughts such as should statements came up because of that.  Nor did I think that I'll never get my house in shape for a sale.  Not bad for me.  Tomorrow should be pretty good.  I'm in a sort of production mode at work reviewing data, I'll get that last quote and make a decision on the plumber.  Got the art walk tomorrow evening, which should be fun.  Goals for tomorrow?  Finish reviewing the data set I'm working on at work, notify the contractors (plumber and termite repair), get out of the office at lunchtime for some "me" time.  That should do.

Today was a busy day...

As I've recently stated, I've got a lot going on at work and at home these days.  I'm not as stressed as I used to be during times like this.  I've found it really does help to be proactive and review my thoughts and records at the end of the day.  It just helps me get things in perspective and battle these thoughts of imminent failure and the imaginary conflicts that will follow.  Sometimes when I review I realize that I have already gotten a lot done.  At other times I realize that the important stuff is getting done and what's not getting done can wait with no penalty.  I've even made good use of the Daily Goals tool today and hit them all.  Good stuff.  How's it working for you?

A level of confidentiality

One of the things I like about having Mood Sentry on my phone is the level of confidentiality it provides when I'm working my program in a public place.  I often go to a Starbuck's at lunch, and sometimes pull out my phone to review my entries and/or update my entries.  It's a good time for me to take a break and reflect since the morning is over and the afternoon is about to begin.  The other people in the store really have no idea what I'm up to.  I've pulled out self help books in public places like this, but prefer not to.  This is why I have the references in the app.  I can refer to them when making entries, or even just review them on their own.  I wonder if the other people staring at their phones are doing something similar?  Not with my app, I don't have enough downloads to justify that thought!