Everyday Systems

Betty

KCCC, I think your idea of giving up trying to lose those last 5 lbs is so inspirational. I'm more and more sure that obsessing about weight is such a waste of time. Sometimes I now even catch myself in the mirror and think that I look pretty good. I've never been heavier, but I've never liked mysel...

Betty

Betty is: Female, 43, three kids, one hubby, one cat and half a dog (I walk the neighbors

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Betty

Im on the fence about 85% chocolate. On the one hand, there's less sugar in a 1 oz/ square than most people put in their morning coffee. On the other hand, it looks and feels and (let's be honest) tastes like an S.

Betty

Jemima, My s days are all over the place. Sometimes they look a lot like N days, but more often they are a kind of release valve: I revert to permasnacking and sugar nibbling. I agree with a lot of the posts here. Get your N days down. Make them as healthy and as moderate as you can. Don't focus on ...

Betty

For those of you who found not snacking hard, how long did it take for the perma-snack beast to die?? I have been eating very hearty meals (esp. if I compare them to some of the check in posts I read), certainly enough to maintain my weight :oops: , but I still get very hungry before each meal. Some...

Betty

I have a real weakness for chocolate covered nuts. In the past, I would go through periods when I would buy a bag almost every day. On Friday (an S day for me) I bought some, poured about a third of them into a bowl, stopped before I was finished (admittedly, this was hard, but I was starting to fee...

Betty

What habits are easiest for you? Which are the hardest?

For me:

Easy: no sweets, not eating after dinner (surprise!)

Hard: not snacking during the day, saying "no" at social occasions

Betty

Betty

Joab, Now that I know you're a teacher too, your schedule makes sense. I have had a terrible time with lunch on no-s because my schedule is different every day. Some days lunch is at 11:00 (way too early), and sometimes I don't have a break until 2:00 (way too late). And it's really hard to get into...

Betty

I think No-S makes a great "maintenence plan" after a hardcore diet. Don't be surprised, though, if it takes a while to lose those "last few pounds." From what I've heard on the board, the closer you get to your natural weight, the slower it goes. But if you're in it for the long haul, you'll get th...

Betty

Angelka,

Just wanted to add a word of support. Life is hard sometimes.

Wishing you the best,

Betty

Betty

Gail, Dont beat yourself up. I had a lot of trouble complying with no-s in the beginning too. After listening to some sage advice on this board, I decided to slow way down and really focus on habits one at a time. What I did was to break up the no-s habits into little bits. First, I did 21 days with...

Betty

Thanks for the replies. I've managed to get back on track. Funny how Special days (three family birthdays in two weeks) are actually a bit of annoyance. There I was, chugging away at no-s, and I could just feel the seedling habits getting washed away. Jaob, let's keep in touch. I feel like I've actu...

Betty

Im a teacher, so I have 6 weeks of vacation stretching in front of me. I also have been Sed-out with a slew of birthdays and social occastions in the past two weeks. Now, its Monday. Time to N. But its so, so hard to get back on track. There's this little voice in my head saying: c'mon, a little sli...

Betty

I miss snacking every single day. Sometimes it's so hard not to do it.

Oh when, oh when, will habit kick in???

Betty

Betty

But you know what else? (This of course from my limited knowledge of ALL french women, and from a friendship with just four of them) French women believe that they can, and should, be thin. All my French friends diet. They think of snacking as out of bounds., and they are careful not to overeat. The...

Betty

How can a sandwitch have 1500 calories??? I mean, I cant even imagine a deep fried chicken sandwitch would have that many. Am I just nieve?

Betty

Gingercake, I find little slip ups to be the hardest thing about No S. I tend to also think: "hey, I've messed up, I guess now I can go whole hog." Yuck. So what I do, which usually (but not always :oops: ) works is have a "No Binge Failure" tag on my habit cal. So say a co-worker brings chocolates ...

Betty

Thanks, Trytrytry

This was one of the most inspiring posts I've seen!

BTW, today is my s day and I'm being an idiot. Oy.
This post is going to help me get back on track.

Betty

Betty

A long time ago I went out to breakfast with a friend and her boyfriend. We all ordered pancakes. I put butter and syrup on mine and so did my friend, but her boyfriend ate them plain. Only at the very end did he load his last 3 bites with tons of butter and syrup. Ever since I saw him do that, even...

Betty

One of the great things about NoS is that it just makes so much sense. I mean, giving yourself the chance, guilt free, to eat differently on those days (xmas, birthdays) where you would fail on a diet anyway. In the beginning, I also treated pmS days as S days. I decided that I wouldn't use Veteran'...

Betty

I want to echo what other people have already said. I an 5'3 and when I was in college I ate whatever I wanted and "yo-yoed" between 120 and 113 pounds and I was never satisfied. I wanted to be 110 too! I looked in the mirror and saw myself as a blimp. When I look back at photos of those days, the 1...

Betty

I've given up coffee and tea for health reasons, but still have the occasional cocoa. However, I don't use the store bought stuff, which is really too sweet for me, even on an S day. When I was in France I went to a cafe that sold "chocolate espressos." Just cocoa and milk. I make mine with a tiny t...

Betty

Linda, I say, don't weigh yourself! You sound like you've got such a healthy attitude towards food now, and that that is giving you peace. If you know that the scale will influence your mood negatively then just don't do it. Start an exercise program instead. Just my two cents...Im actually addicted...

Betty

For me, the point of the "no seconds" rule is to have a sense, in advance, of what I'm eating and to stop when (or before!) it's done. If I want an orange with my meal, I don't stress about it actually fitting on the plate. But I do put it next to my plate at the beginning of the meal. I see it and ...

Betty

KCCC, I'm a super fast eater, too. And it's especially noticable because my kids are SO SLOW. One thing I do is eat with little utensils. Use desert forks rather than regular ones, and the size of each bite gets smaller. I'm not sure how your colleagues would react, but at home you could try it. I t...

Betty

Maybe you could use the "blank" color too?

PT: Yellow
Eliptical: Green
Shovelglove: blank
failure: red

??

Betty

Hate to be a downer, but I still find that my tendency to eat for emotional reasons makes no S hard. Sure, the rules are clear, but those old habits, so old they're almost writteen in every cell of my body, that food=comfort, still often win out. On a really "bad" day, emotional eating is soooooo ha...

Betty

"Enough is a feast."

Does anyone know who said that? I think it's a great motto for NO S, and definitely a motto I strive towards, with my tendency to binge...

Betty

I do Fridays and Saturdays, because I tend to go out on Fridays more than any other day. Also, I like practicing having an at-home N day.

Betty

This was great-- really inspiring.

Betty

Laura Ann, I'm not offended at all! As a matter of fact, I'm battling a lot of the same issues you are. I agree, perfectionism can be used as an excuse. But I also tend to make excuses to the tune of: oh, well, I already blew it. A failure is a failure, so where's the ice cream? Having the No Binge ...

Betty

Coming back to No-S after quite a long lapse, I'm remembering all over again where the sticky points are. For me, one of the hardest things is to fail and then continue to maintain strictness. I read an article once about how total abstinance programs like AA don't work so well with perfectionists b...

Betty

Whoops! Sorry Nichole!

B.

Betty

Ive decided to eeeeeeaaase into No S. My willpower is in the toilet, and I want to stretch that muscle and get it strong before I start a full blown program and fail again. So, I've broken No S into a bunch of little bits, and the plan is to do each for 3 weeks, folding each subsequent habit as I fe...

Betty

I've been thinking about all of this, and have decided to slow waaaaay down. After all, if the goal is to adopt habits and not just get to a certain weight, and if this really is a marathon and not a sprint, then Im going to focus on building habit and willpower BEFORE I get to no-s. What I did this...

Betty

The best part about starting no-S for me was switching my view of success from a number to a behavior. It was such a relief that I could, at any weight, put a green star on the calander. Because if I focus on a number that's months or years away it makes me feel like I can't consider myself a succes...

Betty

I grew up in the 70s in the first "health food" wave. We werent allowed any sugar at all. when my husband proposed the "one treat a day" plan for our kids I kind of balked. The idea is this: each day the kids can have one (small) treat any time they ask, even if it's right after breakfast. And that'...

Betty

Lunch is my hardest meal to get right, too. I have breakfast down (oatmeal made from milk with almond butter mixed in and fruit on top) and dinner comes naturally out as dinner (protien, carbs, veggie) But lunch... brown bagging it....always feels a bit like a snack to me, and it's the hours after t...

Betty

Lunch is my hardest meal to get right, too. I have breakfast down (oatmeal made from milk with almond butter mixed in and fruit on top) and dinner comes naturally out as dinner (protien, carbs, veggie) But lunch... brown bagging it....always feels a bit like a snack to me, and it's the hours after t...

Betty

Thank you so much, everyone. Here's your advice in a nutshell:

Take it day by day, minute by minute If I need to.
motivation follows action
Practice willpower to get better at it
Don't take on too many changes at once

Not a bad set of mantras!

Thanks, Betty

Betty

Hi Guys, I took 6 months off of No-S (Hope this isn't too much info, but I've been depressed, in therapy, and working a high-stress job. The last thing I've had energy for is dieting; I've been on a sort of mental overload.) I am feeling a bit grey. Gained about 8 pounds, which on my 5' 3" frame is ...

Betty

I am aching all over from a 30 minute snowball fight with my kids yesterday. Didn't do a lot of running, just bending over and throwing.

Trying to think how to incorporate this into my shovelglove routine... haven't been this sore in years!

Betty

62 kg Sunday: S Day Monday: Failure Tuesday: Failure Wednesday: Success Thursday: No Bi nge Failure Not a sparkling week in terms of habits, or weight loss (last week must have been a water-retaining blip.) Luckily I maintained, now it's back on track, girlie. Next weigh in I hope to be 61.7. It wil...

Betty

Last week I spent a 4 day weekend abroad, at a traditional wedding (12 course dinner!) ceremony. Luckily, two of the days were on S days, and though I scheduled one of the other days as an S day, I was unable to find the strength to No-S on the fourth day. Somehow, this perpetrated a week of failure...

Betty

62.5 KG Oh Woe! For the first time I didn't lose weight, but gained. I did get a little sloppy this week, but a whole kilo's worth? I know weight isn't supposed to be the point, but it still really bothers me. A motivational downer. Sun success Mon success Tues failure WEd no binge failure Thurs suc...

Betty

Try a squeeze of orange, a sprig of mint and a twig of lemon grass. Yum.

Betty

I also struggle with a wacky, busy schedule. What has helped is becoming a milk drinker! When I have a late (3:00) lunch, I have a big glass at 11, when I have an early lunch (11), I have a big glass at 3.

Try drinking either at 6 or at 8:30, and see which one helps the most.

Betty

Betty

I take my S days on Friday and Saturday, so Thursday is the last N day of the week. In looking at my habit cal over the past 6 months, I notice that 90% of my failures take place on Thursdays. Now, Thursday is my hardest work day, but I think the proximity to S days also has something to do with the...

Betty

Hey, wait a minute, I did lose weight!!!

Goal for next weigh in: 61.4

Betty

Didn't lose any weight this week, because I got sloppy. Had two failure days, and another day with some funny stuff (had to tend to the kids in the middle of dinner and then came back to it later). Sunday: success Monday: success (+ funny stuff) Tuesday: Success Wednesday: failure Thursday: ( no bin...

Betty

I make my oatmeal with milk and add a teaspoon of almond or peanut butter after its cooked. I find that if I have a big bowl plus half a piece of fruit I can make it to lunch without being toooo hungry. The almond butter and milk are key, though. Without the fat and protein it just disappears mid mo...

Betty

I've voiced this opinion before, and it was unpopular, but I maintain that one of the great things about no s is that it takes into account the times when it just doesn't make sense to diet. I mean, giving yourself the freedom to call birthdays "special" days means being free from guilt when it's ne...

Betty

Down one kilo: 62.2 kg
Goal for next weigh in (Feb 15): 61.7 kg

Sun: success
Mon: s day
Tues: failure
Wed: sucess
Thurs: (no Binge) failure

Kind of a spotty week. But I'm spurred on by seeing the scale move. Next week will be a success!

Betty

On my habit cal I have a tab for a "no binge failure." I actually find it harder to stick to No S when I've failed than when I haven't. So when I DO have that peice of cake and then get on with my day, I actually feel, like wosnes says, pretty sucessful.

Betty

Try a chocolate espresso! I make mine without sugar, but you could put the amount you'd put in a coffee without cheating, I think. It quells, squashes and annihilates every urge you may have for sweet chocolate, especially handy for *those* days of the month. Here's the recipie: Use a slightly round...

Betty

I read an article a month ago about a study on willpower. The researchers concluded that people only have a limited amount of it to "spend". Once your reserves of will have been tapped (for the day??) it becomes veeeeeery hard to keep it up. It seems to me that this is a very good reason to follow N...

Betty

Basically I agree completely with what silverfish says. Don't worry about it, and don't let yourself feel guilty. In the long run, the misplaced guilt is probably more harmful than the excess food. love it. I think, given my propensity to worrying, that Silverfish is right on. Thanks for all the re...

Betty

My first two S days were out of control. It was as if the floodgates had burst open. Sweets were ok, but boy, did I snack. And I think I snacked enough to offset all of the hard work I had done in the week. So the question is, will it get better? I would love to hear the experiences of those who've ...

Betty

Yes, I do seem a bit negative. But it's part of facing facts for me. The status quo is not really acceptable any more. And, to me, knowing that something will be hard makes it easier to do, because it's often not AS hard as I think. If I go into something thinking it will be easy, and then it gets h...

Betty

Yes, do be careful. The general rule of thumb for exercise is to add no more than 10% a week: 10 % more weight or 10% more time. I learned this the hard way. I got so into shovelglove and so impressed with my improvement that I added more time too soon (when I started I could only do about 8 minutes...

Betty

Thanks so much for all the advice. What I've gleaned from all of it is that I need to make a plan, and, as KCCC says so eloquently, treat myself gently. After all, that's what making time for a social lunch is, isn't it? The problem is that I'm a teacher and a mom. So while the other teachers have c...

Betty

Started No S for the third time on Sunday. Weight: 138 (Gak!) My hope is that in six months I will have the habit down AND be at my fighting weight of 125. Maybe not. I'd settle for having the habit down and being 132. But habit, ah, and will power. Short of supply around here. In my notebook I wrot...

Betty

I gave up dieting almost a year ago, tired of the yo yo and the constant obsession with food. When I found No S in May, I breathed a sigh of relief. But I've found it so hard to keep up. That is to say, my No S Diet still makes the same yo you pattern as the diets of old. And because the weight loss...

Betty

How many days of the month is it a problem? What I like about No S is that it takes into account the pattern of our lives, the common sense wisdom of "you're going to fail on your diet on special days, so just call them special and enjoy them." And I think that, to some extent, trying to fight biolo...

Betty

Last night I weighed myself, as usual, and afterwards, as usual, I felt depressed. Then it ocurred to me: if what I'm attempting to do is create habits that will define my eating for a lifetime, why am I obsessed with a number rather than the green on my habitcal? Because the truth is, I have been (...

Betty

Hi Jocelyn, I'm in the same boat. Back and forth with No S, but right now very motivated to make it a habit. I'm definitely eating a lot at each meal and it's hard because I'm not losing any weight. So it's nice to hear from others that this is a normal part of beginning NoS. Also, in order to focus...

Betty

Thanks for all the advice! What I'm going to do, tentatively, is to add a small mid morning snack to my day. Make it part of my habit, then, if all goes well, phase it out over time. Because the truth is, if I fail most days I get discouraged. Hopefully a string of successes that include a little sn...

Betty

Hi There, I started following No S in June and was pretty much on board in the summer, enough to lose a little weight and feel more in control about my eating. But when summer vacation ended (I'm a teacher) I found it really hard to stick to the plan and fell off completely--until now, I hope. Let m...

Betty

Long break-- starting again. Week 1: started at 138 lbs , the highest ever. had 2 failures , one was minor (started getting lightheaded during a walk and tried to find a store with some milk but couldn't so I had an energy bar from a drug store) Second failure was major: will power just crumbled. Af...

Betty

Hi Everyone, I started No S over the summer but got lost when summer vacation was over. Reading the recent post about how we have a limited budget for self control really hit home. I have a pretty stressful life, one in which I have to constantly fight against my natural impulses (having to be socia...

Betty

Two weeks of straight failure. Life got crazy and so did I. Weight up 3 pounds. Don't even check my habit cal; it will make you cry.

So. Back to the drawing board. Any advice out there on how to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and regain lost confidence?

Betty

Betty

I'm having a real problem with S days. It's like the floodgates open and I just can't stop eating. Not necessarily junk food, but large, meal-like snacks. And I try to stop. I tell myself, ok, enough is enough, but I just keep eating. S days are much worse than typical days before No S, and though I...

Betty

I've always been a permasnacker...thought I got hungry after about 3 hours. And it's true, about three hours after a meal I do get these hunger prickles. But what I've noticed is that if I wait about an hour, the prickles go away and then I can cruise to about 6 hours before I really start to get hu...

Betty

I've tried shovelgloving this week, and have enjoyed the workout (ever so much more interesting than the dumbell routine). However, I have some rough cartilage in my knees (an ailment sometimes called runners knee) which causes them to get sore when over used, and though you would expect shovelglove...

Betty

August 1

Weight 60.5 kg
(down 2 kg)

(And now on to the next one! Back on track on August 10)

Betty

When I first moved abroad, I met someone who said that American bread was way too sweet. Knees jerking, I said, "hey, no it isn't." But now when I visit relatives in the states I'm amazed at how sweet the bread tastes, even the stuff from the health food stores. Do you have a super strong reaction t...

Betty

Although I'm just a No S novice, I tend to agree with Deb about not having orange days. Too many colors imply too many choices. It is also very vague in that although it suggests the failure wasn't too bad, but doesn't give any exact idea of what happened. Was it a few string beans while making dinn...

Betty

I've decided to pracitce "extreme moderation" even on my failures. What usually happens is this: I get hungry or nibbly and secumb to a snack, then realizing that I've just had a failure, I decide that since I've already failed I can go ahead and ransack the fridge. To counteract this, I've a new ha...

Betty

Dear Sugarfemme, I totally understand how you feel. I am also doing no s with very little support from the people around me. My hubby insists on having all sorts of snack food around, co-workers pressure me to participate in the mid morning snack and friends who are dieting poo poo no S. Thank god f...

Betty

I can accept that going overboard on S days is part of the learning process. However, I've run into a snag and hope that someone out there has some advice for me. Ive just completed a perfect week. The first. Yay for me. And now, on an S day, I don't feel particularly compelled to snack or sweet. Ho...

Betty

After a pretty disasterous, idiotic vacation (where I gained back 3 of the 4 pounds I had lost in the two weeks previous) I've come back to two successful days, and it feels great. I mean, it's still really hard to resist temptation, but I'm incredibly surprised that I can go six hours without eatin...

Betty

Thanks Londonmum. I do hope that over time this gets easier. Waiting for habit to kick in... And here's another question: should I count the vacation days as S days or as failures? The truth is, I did hope to continue with N days while I was away, but it just seemed impossible in the face of all the...

Betty

Ã did two more or less successful weeks of NoS before I went on a week long vacation. Despite planning to stick with No S while on vacation, I failed utterly and went back to the perma snacking regime. Now I"m trying to get back on track again. Any advice for vacations? I'm a schoolteacher and I hav...

Betty

I followed No S to the letter for 2 weeks, but this third week little cracks have been showing up in my resolve. (I won't bore you with the details, but things here are a wee bit stressy, weather has been rainy for weeks, houseguests visiting, the usual suspects) Anyway, one night hubby brought out ...

Betty

July 1st: 61 Kg

(down 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) in 2 Weeks.)

But now I have to really remind myself to "fence around the law" Visiting chocoholic relatives eating away at my resolve. A few days of little nibbles, not enough to constitute a failure, but pretty darn close.

Watch it, girl!

Betty

Made it to another S day. It's satisfying to have done the second week but now I feel like I can't stop snacking. So my question is, how eSSy are your S days? Does the feeliing that you need to gobble up everything in sight to make up from a week of (relative) deprivation ease over time? It's not su...

Betty

I notice that I have some days that are easyish, and some days that are hard. Today it's been a real struggle not to cave and eat mindlessly, snackingly. Aargh! What do you do when you feel like eSing? so far today I've made it on pure will power, but too many of these days in a row would end with m...

Betty

Well, the first N day back went pretty well until just after dinner. We were relaxing in front of the tube with a glass of wine and I just caved. There was a voice in my head that said: "Some crackers would sure taste good right now" and before I knew it I had had enough cheese and crackers to const...

Betty

The first N day after my first set of S days was a failure. Sigh. Any tips for getting back track after loosening up for 2 days?

Betty

Betty

Thanks for the advice. I'll try the plan as is... actually, today feels a bit easier...Whew!

Betty

It seems like no one posts their weight here, but I'd like to have a place to record it to hopefully see my progress (to 56 kgs). So here goes:

On June 16 I began NoS. My weight was 62.5 kgs.

I'll post again at the end of june, and then at the end of every month.

Betty

I've been doing NoS, successfully, for the last 6 days. The first 4 days were fairly easy. I mean, I got hungry between meals, but I sort of embraced the hunger and got through it. Yesterday I hit a wall: I'm tired of not snacking. I really think that this diet is reasonable and I want to give it a ...

Betty

The best way I've found to sweeten yogurt is with some really good jam. It doesn't take much--a small spoonful--to create a sweet, but not too sugary, taste.

Betty

Dear J., My thoughts exactly. I'm on day 5 today, and though the first 4 days went well, were even exciting, I woke up this morning with exactly the same fear: what if I can't keep this up? What if I crack and then can't get back on track? I am a binge eater when the going gets tough. I love the ide...

Betty

4th day of NoS: I've been making it through the day without snacking, but have been really relying on a glass of milk or juice to get me through the last few hours before meals. Does anyone else do this? Is it ok? Will I be able to cut out the drinks as I get more comfortable with not snacking?? Tha...

Betty

I am now on day 3 of the NoS diet, and I have really been suprised that I can do it. I don't think I've gone a day without snacks in years and didn't think I could go a whole 6 hours without eating. Surprise, surprise!

Thanks, Reinhard!

Betty

Betty

I read about this diet a few weeks ago, but today I decided I would do it! I gained a lot of weight after having my two sons (about 12 kg), and it's really time to get real. I have tried everything: the zone, atkins, sugar busters. I hope that NoS will be the final solution. I think that not snaking...

Betty

I stumbled on this site in my internet travels. This looks like it could work. I'm not sure that I can go so long without eating, though (I'm a grazer). How hard is this diet? Do you really feel like you've got a habit down after just 21 days?

Everyday Systems

Search found 198 matches

Easy and Hard

summer vacation: SSSSSliding...

who said this?

No Binge Failures

Betty's 7-Phase Long term Plan

Back. Need help with will power, please!

snowball fight routine?

Strategic plan for bouncing back

Thursdays and Failure

Limited Willpower

The question every newbie asks...

betty's Friday check in

Having a hard time

stay off the scale

Please--some advice needed

Incredibly Hard/ Incredibly Easy

I'm Back, Sigh

Out of Control S days-- help needed

More on hunger

sore knees

Failures and moderation?

idiot proof me

Back from vacation part 2

back from vacation

"funny stuff"

S day

today is so hard

Getting back on track?

Betty's Check In

When does it get easier?

Liquid Calories

Suprised Myself

Betty's check in

This looks doable!