COMPLETE DISASTER!!

[Daphne]

I've been on the No S diet for 16 days and I've had 5 failures. I manage to let myself down everyday. I'm quite discouraged. Any ideas for getting back on track? This is my 4th day in a row of FAILURE!

[kccc]

First... be gentle with yourself. This is probably drastically different from what you've done before, and you're picking a hard time to do it.

Then pull out your "analytical hat". What is happening when you fail? Are you hungry because your meals aren't substantial enough? Are you eating to procrastinate on dreaded chores? Are you just surrendering to the lure of the sugar all around this season?

Go the other direction, too. If you've been doing this for 16 days, that means you've succeeded for 11. What worked on those days?

If you have a copy of the book, read through it again. If you don't, listen to the podcasts.

Break the habits down to a point where you feel you CAN succeed. Maybe take the habits one at a time - no sweets this week, then add no seconds/snacks. Maybe there's ONE snack that is hard to give up. So, do everything No-S but that one, and make that one snack "limited choices" until you feel that you can let go of it...

You are building new habits, and simultaneously breaking old ones. If you're like most of us were, you probably eat unconsciously a lot of the time! Forming new habits is not easy... BUT, the good news is that unlike most diets, No-S is hardest at the beginning. As the weeks go on, it will get easier.

Good luck!

[Jammin' Jan]

Hmmm, so 16 days and 5 failures...this means you've enjoyed


11 Successes!


Don't worry too much; it's hard to break a bad habit and replace it with a good habit. Just keep trying and don't give up.

[~reneew]

I think most of us have been there off and on. You could maybe set a little goal of say, 1 week. That gives you 5 N days. Think short term. When you can successfully do that, then go for 21 to be in the 21 day club. Don't forget to take your S days. Freeze stuff on N days to eat on the S days. Don't forget to record it on your habitcal... and think Green!!! We're here for ya!

[Daphne]

Thank you for your replies. I'm learning that sweets, snacks and seconds are ALL big problems for me. I will try the 5 day and that won't seem so daunting.

I've been filling in my chart. The problem with keeping a small snack for awhile means I need to mark a red failure. It bothers me a lot.

Thank you again. I'll hang in I guess....

[mrsj]

What has helped me a lot is H2Orange throughout the day. Keeps the blood sugar up. My problem is in the evenings-my sweet tooth is screaming! It's just a habit. So I make a cup of old fashioned cocoa. Check out the Cocoa beach thread. Daily check-in helps. The wannabe club helps. Really wanting to be a member of the 21 day club helps. Keeping busy helps. I knit socks in the evening. It's hard to stuff one's face while the hands are occupied.

Keep up the good work! You have had 11 days of success!!! That is more than double the amount of failures. Remember that!

[wosnes]

I've been filling in my chart. The problem with keeping a small snack for awhile means I need to mark a red failure. It bothers me a lot.

You're wrong about that small snack being a failure. If you decide to start with one habit at a time, such as no sweets, for instance, only messing up that one habit is a failure. When you add the second, then messing up either is a failure. And so on.

Don't make it any more difficult than you need to! Concentrate on getting through one day at a time and don't worry about the day before or the next day.

Be sure to take your S days, because you CANNOT fail on S days -- and that's important.

[reinhard]

Dear Daphne,

It takes most people MANY tries to create a new habit like no-s.

So don't feel like there's anything unusual about not being able to make it stick your first attempt.

If you keep getting undone by "one small snack," you can also consider officially allowing a 4th mini-meal, at least initially. This is a very common mod, and might give you enough breathing room and flexibility to keep the structure from snapping altogether.

And if the word "failure" is making you feel too down about yourself, think "red" instead. Same clarity, without the emotional baggage.

Best wishes and looking forward to hearing more from you,

Reinhard

[Kevin]

There are plenty of people for whom one day is enough of a goal, at least at the beginning. I can remember telling myself "if I still want to eat in an hour, I'll let myself."

I guess what I'm saying, is while this is simple, it's not always easy, so go easy on yourself. Don't kick yourself. You'll get there.

I think most of us have been there off and on. You could maybe set a little goal of say, 1 week. That gives you 5 N days. Think short term. When you can successfully do that, then go for 21 to be in the 21 day club. Don't forget to take your S days. Freeze stuff on N days to eat on the S days. Don't forget to record it on your habitcal... and think Green!!! :wink: We're here for ya!