Everyday Systems

Congratulations, Judy. This more than make up for your chinese buffet.

Looking forward to more good new from you in coming weeks, months, years,

Reinhard

Hey, I've still got over a month to procrastinate on the photo!

No funny stuff or non-weekend S-days since last check-in.

Reinhard

Judy, It sounds like you've already made your decision, but here's my take for what it's worth. The success/failure business is a tool, not and end. I tend to find it's helpful to be strict, because otherwise I'd gradually degenerate into "anything goes" murkiness. What you describe was certainly no...

Congratulations on your continued progress. I like your application of "no snacking" to distraction management. The more I think about it, the more deeply related the problems of gluttony and "busy idleness" seem to be. It works even for TV: watching a planned, discrete "meal" of a program can be ve...

Doug, I'm glad it's working well for you. Thanks for de-lurking and letting us know.

I like to think that even if one is not very overweight, no-s is humane and unobtrusive enough that it's attractive as a precautionary measure.

Madacebo, Have you seen the original design document for shovelglove? The idea was to make it portable. But travel was never much of an issue for me, and such a device would have been flimsy and unsatisfying and hard to make. Here's what I do instead, excerpted from a previous post : Even pre-9-11, ...

Dede, A lot of women (and some men) found shovelglove by way of "Mistress Krista"'s site: http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=47 http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=83 She's pretty hard core about exercise, and seems happy with an 8 pounder. Interesting site, but no...

This is a tad clunky at the moment, but somewhat useful:

http://everydaysystems.com/search

You can use it to search the web, too.

I'll diddle with it a bit more before sticking on the homepages. Don't be shy about posting suggestions for improvements.

Reinhard

Submitting to the council of my more legally savvy friends, I've formed a "Limited Liability Company" to protect myself from the litigious and accident prone. So if you whacked yourself in the head with a sledgehammer and were planning on suing me, it's too late. Go and spill some coffee on yourself...

I do think snacking is at (or close to) the root of the obesity epidemic, and that it's not fair to just blame the greedy companies that are satisfying our greedy appetites (not to let them off the hook either, there is plenty of blame to go around). But I think the reason we snack goes deeper than ...

It's amazing how fit we'd be if we just did the things we used to do instead of resorting to "labor saving devices." Isn't it much more satisfying to do something useful than dodge doing it and then make up for this dodge by useless exertion in the gym? I'm amazed at how shortsighted we are. Thanks ...

I eat dried fruit every day in my oatmeal. I wouldn't consider it a sweet unless you eat a bag of it a sitting.

Welcome, Dede (sorry for the delay, you've read about Weekend Luddite , haven't you?). Books on tape are urban ranger are a natural fit -- I'd barely have time to "read" anything if it weren't for combining them. I hope your fears are indeed irrational and that you thoroughly overcome them, and get ...

Congratulations on the job, Jan (and sorry about the last one). My only concern is, is this one going to inspire you to come up with any new shovelglove movements?

Sister Michele,

I'm sorry I haven't welcomed you sooner -- welcome! The no-s rules are profane of course, but I think they are a natural fit for someone with practice in more sacred orders. I am very excited to have you on board!

Reinhard

Vicky, I like the variety in your smilies! Of couse I guess less variety would be better from a dieting standpoint :P CarrieAnn is right. Don't be surprised if it takes some fighting to build these habits now and keep bouncing back because once you get these habits down it's open country in front of...

Welcome back, MerryKat, Tonsha. This is one place I like to see seconds (and thirds, fourths, tenths, etc).

Welcome, Robbyrob, and thanks for the link. I'm very happy to see "functional exercise" catching on vs. cosmetic exercise. But here's one issue I have with the movements described in this article and that I've read about in other places: it's still all about muscle, not about mind. The movements may...

Hi Kevin, At least you're plateauing in a good place! You're made quite a bit of progress. Don't be discouraged. Remember all that "maintenance is more important than progress" stuff. A plateau is a platform. Whatever you do, don't slide off. Build from there, slowly, stably -- or at least don't bud...

Honestly, I think it's mostly a question of habit. I'd consider just piling those plates up to build the habit. You can fit a ridiculous amount of food on a plate (so much so that it can be a problem). That would be my default recommendation. If that's not going to fly, take the fourth mini-meal wit...

Bob, Question: is it the actually intake that is a problem, or the fact that it demoralizes you into botching the rest of the week? Suggestion: I guess that was kind of a pointless question, because either way (or both ways!), something has to be done. Here's an idea: for you, take "sometimes" to me...

See: http://www.tvacres.com/admascots_jared_subway.htm That's less than I do (2.25 miles) And yet it was enough exercise to help him take off 245 pounds. And as was mentioned in a previous thread , his subway diet is basically a subset of No-s (also 3 meals, but more rules about what those meals sho...

You might want to consider a better default cereal than frosted flakes... There are all kinds of crazy "health" cereals that are almost as sweet but have some redeeming value. Experiment a little, at least.

1 special S day since last check-in (Halloween). Nothing to report otherwise. 16 to 20 pound shovelglove upgrade proceeding smoothly.

Glad it's going well. My only refinement of "go slow" would be "go slower than you *feel* you should, rely on your mind because your body is going to give you very delayed messages about this." Also do not feel a lick of shame in taking the next day off if you get such a message.

Karl, I think I had something similar about a year ago. I remember also self diagnosing it as plantar fasciitis (I called it "fascist foot"). It bugged me for weeks, maybe even months. The cure? Decent sneakers. That was it. I've never had a problem since. Walking is harder core than one would like ...

If the no-s diet is twice as effective as other diets, most people will still fail. If it's five times as effective, most people will still fail. And unlike other systems, which start out easy and then become insufferable, the hard part with no-s is up front. I wish it weren't so, but that probably ...

Freakwitch, don't apologize for not continuing to keep such meticulous track. Being confident enough in habit not to have to check in daily/keep precise count of days on habit is a milestone in itself. My personal rule is: report funny stuff more or less immediately, post a "nothing to report" if no...

Hi Demonic Angel Anne, If you eat it with a meal, and they aren't actually just cleverly branded candy bars/sugar soda, you can indulge with a clear no-s conscience. Though I suspect you may have a problem on both counts... That being said, if you work out that avidly, you might be able to afford a ...

Welcome, Swamp duck. Cookie shop worker... that'll be tough, but very impressive. If online journaling seems awful to you, remember that you only have to do it for 21 (successful) days. Use your aversion as extra incentive.

That's great news, Sandy. Especially regarding your escape to peace of mind from the "positive" food obsession of gluttony and the negative food obsession of most dieting.

I always take Halloween. It's an S day almost entirely about S.

Welcome back, Jordonk. The afternoon meal the others here suggest is totally ok. Just keep it circumscribed and don't go looking to break any weight loss speed records. You should be hungry by the time dinner comes around (this is a good feeling, I think), but not starving. Regarding fatty, salty pr...

Blue Daisy, Here's a good mini-goal: go for a mirror image of that last red bout, a week of solid green. Congratulations on staying firmly accountable and honest with yourself. Now with a clear conscience, shake it off and go for green. It looks awful here, seeing just that week, but think what a ti...

That's a big jump, Feakwitch! Bigger than my biggest jump, from 12 to 16. I know you know this, but it can't hurt to hear it again and again and again: be very careful. Nothing exciting to report on my own upgrade: I've worked my way up almost to my full old 16 pounder routine with the 20 pounder. I...

Very nice.. sounds a little like "churning butter." I wonder how many of these you'd have to do to burn off an order of medium fries?

Judith, If you think it's going to be a problem, don't take the unnecessary risk of having cake in the fridge Monday. Many of us here can deal with that kind of temptation without a problem, but we're advanced in habit. I'd say either 1) wait a week or two or three until your habits are stronger bef...

Merrykat, I'm sorry to hear this -- it sounds very frustrating. I think what it boils down to is: are you eating less than you were before? No s should at least make it easier to answer that question, there are far fewer inputs to consider. If you are eating less, and keep moving (as it sounds like ...

Thanks for your kind words, Shameless Hussey!

Sorry about the age thing, Judith. I'm working on it!

Glad no-s is clicking for you both.

Congratulations, Vicky. Every day you get under your belt the easier it gets. If you do slip up, just shake it right off and get back with it.

Miss Louann, glad it's sticking despite the slip-ups. Keep at it. It gets easier and easier and more and more pleasant.

Emma, cake was just an enemy before, now it's an ally. The prospect of legitimate, deserved cake helps you make it to the weekend.

Wow, what a picture! But hey, better be a corpse shambling around a mall than festering in bed :-) Frankly, even in the most inhospitable climates I think "nowhere to walk to" is a bigger problem than the temperature. Remember the "segway," and how they were going "design cities around this inventio...

A kilogram is not bad at all considering all that travel. Stasis would have been progress.

I'm thinking of getting the little powerbook or ibook when my current 3 year old 14 inch ibook dies (I'm determined to run it into the ground first).

Judith, I think the trick is, when you're online make sure you know why. Aimless web surfing is only marginally better than tv channel surfing, and since there are an infinite number of websites to surf so it sucks up much more time. Keeping myself away from the computer on weekends forces me to be ...

Nice choice of "glove," Zaren. We should put up a shovelglove fashion show page. SurfingBuddha: you're right that it continues to get more enjoyable as you get used to it. But you still need to keep your guard up. Focus on doing the minimum, not on reaching new maximums. Do it every morning without ...

This is fascinating. Of course, I'd recommend not having the candies around at all, but that's just an extension of the same pyschology. Gotta love statistics involving hershey's kisses...

Thanks for posting this, Karl. My solution has been "let my wife worry about it" (she drives to work, I walk) but I understand that won't work for everyone. I do find that having days of the week/month for certain cyclical/repetitive tasks beats the pants off of trying to keep track of them individu...

Deb, This is why I'm a little nervous about your decision. To extend the analogy I use on the home page, good habit is like a domesticated animal. You've more or less tamed it with carrot and stick. It's harnessed to your wagon and pulling you along. This shouldn't be tiring. If it is, if the animal...

The thing that's shocking is how fast this happened. 1985 was not that long ago. Even 1991 (the year I graduated high school) was not that bad. But keep scrolling and they start having to come up with new colors to represent higher and higher obesity rates. The highest rates from the early years bec...

There are three problems with scales: 1) they are not particularly accurate. Even medical scales can fluctuate wildly -- we had to see a medical specialist a few months ago because our daughter's pediatrician's scale was off by over 10% of her body weight. 2) your short term weight naturally fluctua...

Thank you, Freakwitch, this is great stuff. "Hibernate" -- so ominous! A couple of things occur to me: 1) reward is critical. Not just to rewire habits, but to sustain them. 2) rules are helpful even when you're not bumping up against them all the time anymore. I've been doing this for over 3 years ...

Congratulations, Galemarie! Not only on the loss, but also on shaking off "total and utter disaster" and resisting my personal greatest weakness, social pressure.

Be careful, Deb. If your habits are good, then you won't notice the No-s rules much. If they're not, then you need them. It's not a choice between pure conscious vigilance or pure unconscious habit, but using both in tandem. When one gets tired, the other picks up the slack. With that note of cautio...

Judy, I think there is value in routine, both for diet and many other things. For example, I think, knowing almost nothing about the subject, that it might help with your insomnia. Among other things, routine relieves you of having to make lots of trifling decisions. And because you can plan out how...

Several pieces of advice: 1) try to save the three course meals for S days, that way you don't have to wrack your brains about it. 2) here's ideal behavior at a chinese restaurant: fill up a plate with rice and portions from the dishes, take home the rest in a doggy bag. Chinese food makes great lef...

I hadn't noticed it... but here's a positive way to spin it: you get a thinner, happier self as a Christmas present and you have less to resolve on New Years. Besides, I imagine most of us are going eat so much on those double S days that "deprivation" is going to be the furthest thing from our mind...

Welcome, Judy. Thanks for your kind words. 56 years of diets! Wow. You've kindled my competitive spirit. I will be very happy if no-s finally does it for you. I'm happy to set up a seniors section. I'm just a little nervous that we don't have quite enough members yet to keep it going. Would anyone e...

You've got an interesting check-in, Freakwitch. Besides all the brilliant observations, you combine variety in what you do with regularity in doing something (and posting about it). That's a great combination (especially for us), if you can keep it up. Good luck moving up to the heavier sledge. Reme...

Welcome, Igby. I've never heard of thintuition. I looked at thintuition.com but couldn't figure out what you're actually supposed to do. Extrapolating (perhaps erroneously) from this experience, I'd say the good thing about no-s is that it's specific (and there are no membership dues). Most other "n...

Navin, Sorry it's been so long... Congratulations on being the lowest weight in your adult life. That's not a bad place to plateau for a bit... Being off by one, from your running goal and your weight loss goal means you've probably set very good goals! So are you going to ride the bumper car when y...

Azathoth, you've been doing great. Now show that you can take a punch and hit back. Looking forward to your next entries. On a more practical note: the coffee machine is my best friend at work parties. Moping around with your hands in your pockets won't do, but a having mug in your hand is apparentl...

Belated welcome, Azathoth.

And we'll be holding that reservation for you -- see you again in three weeks.

3 Special S days since last check-in.

2 for rosh hashana
1 for yom kippur (a fasting S day!)

We celebrate both Jewish and Christian holidays, so let no one complain that they have too many holidays to lose weight!

Reinhard

Arena walking = walking in a special indoor temperature controlled "arena" designed for walking. It doesn't look like there are a whole lot of these yet, and my personal preference is just to tough it out outside. But something to look out for if you're in a less temperate climate: http://www.trftim...

Just wanted to let you guys know everything's been going well since that little tweak last week. It's been really difficult to restrain myself in my enthusiasm, but I have -- and haven't felt the slightest hint of "tweakiness." I force myself to alternate between the 16 and 20 pounders, warming up w...

This is shocking. I know BMI isn't a perfect metric, but a proliferation of Arnold Schwarzeneggers this ain't. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/ Scroll through the powerpoint slides for full effect. It shows state by state obesity rates from 1985-2004. I took the (probably illegal)...

Annolope, A week is not a long time. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I didn't weigh myself at all until I was a couple months into it. You probably don't even want to lose more than a pound or two a week, for sustainability. Such a loss could easily not show up on an inaccurate consumer scale. I...

Happy birthday, fellow Libra! I'm happy to see you've overcoming your 15 year seasonal snacking habit with barely a bump! Like me, it sounds like the only thing that can ever get you now is social pressure (the ladies from Church buying you the ice cream). It's wonderful to be down to that level of ...

Blue Daisy,

Sorry it's been so long since I popped in here, but it sounds like you're doing great. Lots of green "success," lots of steps, and precious little pain and suffering. Your "S" vacation was well deserved, and from what it sounds like, well-handled, too.

Reinhard

CarrieAnn,

I'm happy you've broken the self-revenge cycle. And it may not be perfectly smooth progress, but it definitely sounds like you're jerking forward.

Looking forward to seeing you in the "my pants fell down forum."

Reinhard

Thanks for posting this, planner lady.

I've seen some academic articles on this, but this is the first popular reference. Wonderful. It's about time.

I'll see if I can find it online and post a link in the "but I'm a grazer!" section of the home page.

Welcome, SurfingBuddha.

I'm not sure why I've never personally felt the need for a warmup, but these look good. My one tiny nit: they should give the movements better names to describe the function they're exercising.

Looking forward to hearing more from you,

Reinhard

And no mention of shovelglove. Shocking!

Actually I'm happy more people think this is a good idea.

45 pounds. Sheesh. But you know, looking at the video, the movement doesn't look as real or as demanding as shovelglove shoveling.

Thanks for the link, Chris.

CarrieAnn, What you're doing sounds very sensible. Just be careful that the late afternoon snack-meal stays small and that you keep it in mind when filling your dinner plate. If this works. great. Don't give it another thought. But if you catch yourself turning this into a full-blown second dinner, ...

Rumba, congratulations and thanks for letting us know. That's a great loss and a great rate of loss -- neither dangerously fast nor discouragingly slow. Looking forward to your next success mark.

Food journaling can be useful a short term exercise, but it gets to be a real pain. I don't think it's something you want to rely on long term. If you want to keep track of something, I'd recommend simple "days on habit" until you hit 21. If you follow them, the no-s rules are a good enough approxim...

This sounds a bit like Big Phil's "crack the whip."

Just thinking about it with the 20 pounder has me "screaming in seconds!"

But I'm a little confused as to when the arm is extended.... so maybe I'm not imagining this right. Video would be great.

Reinhard

I'm still pretty brain dead from work-overload this week, but I just want to squeeze in a quick congratulations, Deb. You are the patron-postress of everyone for who has persisted through stubborn troubles with No-s, and it's wonderful to read about your continued successes.

Sorry to hear it, Vanilla. I've got no relevant experience to draw on to advise you... but I think Deb's note of caution is worth heeding.

I would have taken it (I get the day off and it's a legitimate national holiday), but I've had a lot of "special" S days recently and so I didn't (log entry pending). No guilt to those who did -- hope you enjoyed it.

Jenny, You should not be starving and miserable on No-s. If your work schedule is such that the stretch between lunch and dinner is intolerably long, by all means give yourself and official "snack" meal in between. Others have done this successfully (see Kevin's check-in for an exemplary example). J...

Thanks for that post, Peetie. I don't think there's any better form of advertisement. So if no-s is working for you, folks, and you frequent other boards, post away!

Wow. I like the part about how if you shoot at someone he'll shoot back at you, but if you come at him with a shovel he'll panic (because you're obviously nuts?). Tony Soprano better hope that Russian never comes back. Funny, I seem to recall a shovel was involved in the "escape" scene. This reminds...

Well, despite all my wise, sober, promises, I overdid it a little. I was surprised at how relatively easy it seemed. I was able to do a full 21-14-7 routine (5b, plus 14 firemans and chop trees), with all my usual movements. It was hard, but good-hard. Until a couple hours later. Then I felt a littl...

Hi Flopsy, It probably depends on what you do at the gym, and for how long. Walking is certainly cheaper, safer, more useful, and more pleasant. I'm sure you can burn more calories in an hour doing something more strenuous, but a) you won't actually do it and b) walking is enough. Why do more than e...

Welcome, flopsy. My biggest problem was seconds. Snacks and sweets are so clear. You'd think seconds would be clear, but "what about soup?" "what about bread?" "what about 'tasting' while you're cooking?" Now my biggest problem by far is social pressure (though frankly, it's not much of a problem). ...

Congratulations, Dave. I wouldn't wrack my brains too much about why more comes off one week than another. Big picture, with these behaviors, you'll do fine. I've got much more muscle now than I ever had and I'm also 40 pounds lighter. It's a little sickening to think how many pounds of fat I must h...

Glad to hear it's going well, Louan. I think no-s should work great for someone who's had trouble swinging to both extremes. It gives a healthy minimum as well as a maximum. Don't worry about aborting the daily check-in. It should be a help, not a stress. "Daily" is a bit of a misnomer for many of u...

Yes, the 20 pounder. It doesn't feel that bad. Nothing like the percentage-wise much bigger jump from 12 to 16 I made 2 about years ago. Still, I'm planning on making this a very gradual upgrade. I'll post details here, of course.

Just a quick, preemptive reminder to keep things civil. This is an interesting thread, and it's been reasonably civil so far, just want to make sure it stays that way. Jan, thanks for posting this disturbing stat. I was about to post it myself. I'm slammed with work right now, but I'll comment later...

Gman wrote:reinhard What do you call a big plate?
Size wise?

I never gave this a thought, but I just measured:

My "big" dinner plates are 11 inches in diameter.

My smaller breakfast and lunch plates are 9 and a half inches.

Catbert,

Congratulations! That's great news. Thanks for letting us know -- and thank your husband for encouraging you to. Drop in every few months to let us know if it's still working for you.

Reinhard

Welcome, Jenny. You've found the right system. No-s is all about permanent, sustainable, pleasurable change. But this upside is also its downside: it's slow, it takes patience, starting up can be tough. Regarding drinks, to quote from the nos home page: http://nosdiet.com/#drinks I don't count alcoh...

Great idea. Post a picture if you get a chance.

This is awesome. Will beat the hell out of any RSI (or at least burn a lot of calories developing a different kind of RSI).

Thank you all. I'm touched. Sorry I didn't see this yesterday because of weekend luddite. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's a wonderful thing to know you've helped people (or at least hear them insist on it!). I feel very lucky.

Hi iMarzz,

I'm happy no-s is working so well for you.

20 years ago I was in 7th grade...

But just four years ago I was 40 pounds heavier than I am now.

Reinhard

Happy Birthday, Lisa Marie! Mine's Sunday. James, it's really your call about the 9 PM. I'd keep it because unless you're a vampire, it's not going to be a meal you're eating after 9. It's not really a modification, it's basically just a an added reminder to stick with the basic no-s rules. I don't ...

Thanks, Deb. Obtuse and I haven't faced off in a while. I think we're afraid of the damage we could do to each other at this point. In other news: I had my first surprise S-day yesterday (early birthday party). Being a few days early, it achieved genuine surprise, and finagled an extra S day for me ...

Sweet avatar, prodigal. Long time no post. Hope everything's going well (sounds like it from all the exercise you're doing!) Kevin: sorry for the massively delayed reaction on this, but I was confused about what you did 500 of, kept looking, forgot what I was looking for, got distracted by something...

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