Everyday Systems

Man, I need media training.

The number of "um"s, "sort of"s, and "you know"s that come out of my mouth.

Thank you! I'm still interested!

Listening now...

Reinhard

I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know.

I just added it to the "scripts" section.

http://everydaysystems.com/podcast/scri ... tness.html

I need to clean these up at some point... they're not even spell checked. And they don't correspond 100% to what I say.

Reinhard

Hexagon, I think the reason not to give up (I'm not talking about the specific methodology of no-s, which might not be for you, but the bigger issue of getting to a healthy weight) is that it's sort of in the realm of responsibility (not to me or to society, but yourself). It's not like an optional ...

Speaking of full of sugar drinks, here's a lovely one for an S-day:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caipirinha

Ignore the obnoxious hipness. It'll be unhip soon enough.

Reinhard

Officially, "no seconds" means stick with one physical plate. But feel free to adapt it to your preferences if that makes sense. There are times when one physical plate is just not possible, and your British definition is the only reasonable option (or "virtual plating"). Drinks (unless they're full...

I'm not impressed with how many strokes it took the guy to smash it. More shovelglove! http://www.planetboredom.net/video.php?id=2944 I love it how sickeningly commercial this "anti commercial" action is. While he's striking out against consumerism he's shouting out advertisements for his .com Reinh...

Nice...

And just think, as the weather gets even poopier, your shoveling skills will start to come in handy.

Reinhard

Yeah, it could suggest anti-bookmark candidates to you.

"You've been visiting this site an awful lot... anti bookmark it?"

Reinhard

Glad to hear it! That's great news.

Thanks for dropping by to let us know.

Reinhard

Who needs bookmarks in the age of google? It's all too easy to find what you're looking for, even if you aren't really looking for it. What we need are the opposite: anti-book marks of forbidden sites, to jar us into a little more consciousness again. This is a simple little distraction management s...

I am glad to hear the arrogant guy was converted (couldn't have been that arrogant if he gave it a try).

Make sure to wrap a sweater around that sword!

Reinhard

I am waiting for the day when I come across one of those carnival hammer hit the bell games... I'll put them out of business

Reinhard

I do say fruit juice is ok, but there's something kinda mealy about smoothies.

But if that's what it takes, go for it. I'd limit it to one a day and maybe think of it as a 4th mini meal. It's not ideal, but it's better than permasnacking. And who cares about ideal if it's good enough.

Reinhard

Nice! (several days late)

I have taken unplanned S days for arguably less compelling reasons, so I think I'm going to go with Phil on this one. But it really depends on you: what's more motivating, getting to the 21 ASAP or getting there in the most badass uncompromising way? Trading days is dangerous, I wouldn't advise it. ...

I'd say the European dietary advantage is this: they eat regular meals instead of permasnacking. Not because they're on some diet but because society is still structured around this. There are many other differences, but I think they mostly spring from eating meals. Eating discreet meals makes you t...

KCCC, In terms of "levels," personal olympics works well with big picture, positive goals. For something like no-s, where a sustainable daily "good enough" is really all we're looking for, and additional postive levels can actually be counterproductive by enouraging a hoarding mentality, a "negative...

Thanks for the clarification, Navin. Not only are the concepts of "having a failure" and "being a failure" distinct, but I think that by admitting that you have failures and calling them that, you are actually less likely to think of yourself as being a failure. Why? Because you take this bad thing ...

Thanks for the update, Silverfish. Nothing like a self-deprecating complement for authenticity! I'm so glad to hear that no-s continues to be both pleasant and effective for you. It's great that your focus is on behavior and attitude rather than scale numbers (though you've done great in that depart...

I'd advise against it. Thanksgiving itself isn't going to make much of a difference. It's one day. It's clearly a major holiday. Enjoy it. Keep it one day and you'll be fine. Start trying to compensate for it and you introduce complexity and a bad precedent of paying "reparations" which will make yo...

Strictness builds habit faster. Dumb down what to be strict about with "fence around the law." Avoid punishment and reparations.

http://everydaysystems.com/podcast

Sorry about your hubris come down... but good for you for catching yourself. I've found that knowing I've committed to reporting failures here (and a little about their extent) is is very helpful both in keeping me from messing up to beging with and for "damage control" when I do. Virtual plating is...

Big Phil hit it... I'm less concerned about the calories of the cocoa than what it symbolizes. It seems so desserty. If you could keep it at that, no problem. But I'm concerned it will be a slippery slope. If you think you can handle it, go for it. But be aware of this danger and if you run into tro...

Has she tried audiobooks?

The more highbrow the better.

I sleep like a stone, but I sleep like a stone falling off a cliff when I listen to an audiobook -- off olympus mons if it's something of literary value.

And worst case scenario you're not just wasting your time.

Reinhard

I like it... though I'm pretty good with finances just out of natural excessive fear and miserliness.

Is there a story behind the name? I didn't see it..

Reinhard

Well, better the spam go here than "on topic." If "off topic" does no more than deflect spam, that's something!

Reinhard

Thanks for the suggestions... I think one of my problems is I never seem to have more than 15 minutes at a time to deal with this. I'll try the ips. I've got a bunch of email patterns blacklisted, and that seemed to have worked for a while, but those are so easy to change.

Welcome!

Just out of curiosity, how did Himalayan imports lead to shovelglove?

I think I found the site, but I have to register for an account to see the shovelglove posts.

http://www.himalayan-imports.com/

and

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forum ... .php?f=796

Reinhard

I would be careful... people have posted some impressive contraptions, but an extra 10 or 20 bucks isn't an awful lot to pay for a little extra insurance that you aren't going to send a block of steel flying through the window. Amazon has free shipping on many sledges. http://astore.amazon.com/every...

Pretty good run, Stuart! Glad shovelglove and urban ranger are going well, too. As for plate sharing pressure, some suggestions: 1) feign lack of hunger as an excuse (hard, but perversely satisfying) 2) virtual plate (an advanced move, but this is a tricky situation) 3) fear not the doggy bag (works...

I'm a computer programmer, and I used to get really uncomfortable sitting in front of the computer all day. But my habit of "lunch walking" has done wonders for that -- especially since I've added seven flights of stairs. Really gets the blood flowing. And it's a much better, more wholesome and sati...

It probably is easier to focus on one new behavior at a time until you've habitualized it a bit. I started nos at a few months before I started shovelglove (or even thought of it). It's not like they conflict in any way, but you only have so much willpower to spend, and new habits are expensive in t...

Sorry... must find some programmatic way to deal with this. It's getting worse and worse, and it stinks to have to use half my bulletin board time to deal with this.

Took a shovelglove S day veterans day.

Otherwise no funny stuff.

Hexagon, Sorry you've run into some trouble, but when big life changes like moving to a new job in a different part of the country happen, it's hard to keep young habits running smoothly. I would say don't beat yourself up too much and don't despair about being able to pick up again when things sett...

szymon, At the beginning, big firsts are fine. If you can stick with this for a week, even if you're not actually eating any less than you were before, you've made progress in terms of self-discipline and habit. The most important, most enforceable part is sticking with the three plates. And I have ...

Thanks for posting this. Need to get that "routines" section of the site up soon to include this and others.... Yeah, I love that post shovelglove feeling of leaving the house feeling generally prepared to deal with emergencies and disasters. Not that I'm ever required to liberate people trapped und...

Welcome, elai. I don't stretch or warmup... though I guess it couldn't hurt. I would definitely: 1) not do shovelglove tomorrow if you are still sore. 2) do the moves very slowly, in slow motion almost, and try to ambush the point where anything doesn't feel right. Make a note of it, and skip that m...

It works, and I eat everything (except "diet food"). I drink whole milk, I buy extra high fat butter because it tastes better, and though I get plenty of vegetables and whole grains, potatoes and pasta and white bread are also regulars. Sound impossible? Well it shouldn't. It's how we ate as little ...

Use the full habit traffic light for 21 days to build your habit, then switch to more efficient negative tracking.

http://everydaysystems.com/podcast/

This is exactly the scene I was talking about here:

http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=46

Thanks for posting the clip!

Reinhard

P.S. ditto fungus: these are great films. The third one especially, I think.

I have no idea regarding the surgery, but shovelglove does involve bending knees (if you don't bend your knees, you're putting way too much strain on your back), so I'd be very, very careful. You might want to show your doctor the movements you are doing. I hate to say this, but frankly, it sounds l...

Congratulations! 21 days and change. Your habit muscles are probably even bigger than your biceps.

I think I got about 90% of what I need for my "how heavy" page right here. Thanks all for contributing. I'll post the link when it's up.

Deb, Somehow I missed your post. Very funny... you've got a sweet kid (even if his oatmeal isn't). Ritchie will be happy to know that I, the diet guru, gave out kit kats and skittles this halloween. If there's one day in the year to enjoy stuff like that with a clear conscience, this is it. Reinhard

I'm glad you KCCC and Toro have moved beyond being tempted by this stuff already already. That was quick! There's a bag of kit kats and almond joys and twix bars and other delightful halloween junk in our fridge right now. Like you, I'm not even tempted. Don't get me wrong, I love the stuff. And wil...

nice! glad you're making progress and that our tips helped.

Reinhard

Hi Fungus, I thought I replied to this but I must have forgotten to hit "submit." I'm also a six footer and started out the a 12 pounder. I wouldn't go heavier than that to start out with unless you're already super fit. 10 pounds might be a good choice, too. I will put a "what size hammer?" up, but...

Good luck deb. Your 13 days was a good first run.

Reinhard

Negatives since last checkin: 1. Shovelglove failure last Friday (first in ages). Busy day, but that's no excuse. 2. I was on vacation Monday, did no-s ok, but took an S day for shovelglove. 3. glass ceiling failure Sunday. My best friend's wedding. I had 6 drinks. It was over a long period of time,...

Welcome, atc55. Most people take a few failures for no-s to catch. And even I years, into it, with founders zeal and all, (very) occasionally slip up. Yes, the 21 days includes S-days. And it's fine to take your s-days in the middle of the week if that's when you have off. It's probably a tad harder...

<r>Welcome, Hockeystar, and congratulations on your success so far.<br/> <br/> There's certainly nothing wrong with eating "clean," but no-s doesn't require it. It does encourage it, because by limiting your input opportunities, it raises the stakes, it makes you take each meal more seriously. But p...

My latest health hacks podcast is about habit tracking with the "habit traffic light."

http://everydaysystems.com/podcast/

The graphic is there already (I get lots of complaints about it from visually impaired people!) but the spammers have moved to the next level in the technological arms race and their bots can now read these (probably more reliably than people can). But they do seem to be total, predictable, illitera...

And Mrs. Mom too. I was home with my 2 year old most of last week and wow, my arms were sore from toting her around all over the place. Granted, I was a little crazily ambitious in terms of avoiding elevators and escalators and what not (for those who know the boston area, I carried my daughter in o...

I have nothing against wonderful junk like this if you eat it once in a while (I urban ranger past a tootsie roll factory every day on my way to work. Very tempting! I feel like a character out of Rahl Dahl). What gets me is, as you point out, how people who routinely wolf down family packs of them ...

Don't be concerned if the last 5 or so new bulletin board accounts always seem to be spam. I'm not letting the site go to pot, I delete them within 24 hours. It's just they keep on registering new ones. If you scroll down past the first few new users on the memberlist, you'll see the list looks much...

I got a great no-s related opportunity last Thursday (more details as I figure out what I'm allowed to reveal just now) but I'm afraid it's going to mean giving up morning luddite: there's just too much work involved and I don't have any other time to do it. So I'm putting that worthy system into hi...

Hope Richie feels better....

S for sick. Totally legit.

And it's halloween. Also totally legit.

You're doing great!

Reinhard

I'm sorry to hear this Natasha. I'm also sorry that I can't give you any useful advice. But if you feel shovelglove is exacerbating your condition, please stop, at least until you can run it by a medical professional.

These sound excellent, Alexander. Pump the bellows is a great name, too. I will try to remember them for my routine of 10s (or 14s) this Friday.

Reinhard

Welcome back, Hexagon. Good luck bringing your nos behavior back out of hibernation. Sounds like you've made a good start. It is shocking how big we've gotten, especially those of us who are less well off and less urban. I hope the word gets out that there is a cheap sub-, ex- and non- urban friendl...

Triple congratulations, Rosemary! Slow loss is the best kind. It rations the progress over a longer period of time, which helps keep you motivated, while gradually weaning you from needing a sense of progress, which is important, since (ideally) you're going to be spending most of your life just mai...

Welcome, KCCC. I'm so happy to hear no-s has been working for you. And thanks for posting your "just enough structure" formulation. Though I haven't expressed it quite the same way, it's a very nice way of expressing it, and the concept is key to most of the everyday systems. From: http://nosdiet.co...

My latest health hacks podcast segment is about how to identify behaviors that are easily automated into unconscious habit.

http://everydaysystems.com/podcast/

Congratulations on keeping up the streak! Neither nature nor (presumably) man-made upsettingness can hold you back. As for how you count success days, I think all the options you're considering still provide a meaningful incentive, and that's all that really matters. I like to count successes and ex...

Congratulations! That's some serious ranging. What a virtuous vacation! And without, from the sound of it, any compromise in terms of enjoyment.

And it sounds like you just did a time compressed, short cycle, glass ceiling

Gotta have *some* give on vacation.

Reinhard

Congratulations on surviving and racking up 9 days in a row! Wow, close call! And from nature, no less! My close calls have all involved being lost in thought and almost run over.

Reinhard

Glad to hear you're sticking with it and it's working well for you. You wouldn't think it, but it does actually work the legs a bit.

Reinhard

I am glad you followed James' excellent advice: Do NOT let yourself give up because 'you need a lighter hammer.' That may be true, but do SOMETHING every day (unless you absolutely need a day off for muscle soreness). The hardest habit to build is that of carving out the time, and for that, you don'...

I like it... motorized reconnaissance for the foot soldiers. A way to contribute to urban ranger even when you aren't doing it directly.

Reinhard

Thanks for the link! I should start collecting these on the glass ceiling home page.

Reinhard

Thanks again for the opportunity, Phayze. I was pretty nervous, but I'm happy with the way it went. You guys were great hosts.

Looking forward to hearing the recording (I think!

).

Reinhard

Welcome back, James. Sorry about the sledge... but I guess it's kind of a badge of honor. Purple heart shugging (sort of).

Reinhard

I've never done anything like this before, and there's a distinct possibility that I may crash and burn, but that only makes it more exciting, right? Tune in to WAIF 88.3 FM this Saturday at 12:00 noon to the Healthy Planet show. This month, Peggy and Annie will discuss a novel way to address weight...

Negative tracking sounds like a downer, but it's really very optimistic: it assumes the default is success. No news is good news.

Good luck, Deb! Happy you think this might be useful to you (and hope it is).

Reinhard

I think a lighter sledge does make sense... the best thing about shovelglove is that it's fun, and it isn't if your sledge is too heavy. Plus it's riskier. You can always save your heavier sledge for when you're strong enough to upgrade. Maybe I should set up some kind of sledgehammer barter system ...

Congratulations! Keep at it and you will get very strong. You'll look great, but you'll be even stronger than you look. And strong for useful stuff.

Hi Natasha,

Just pick your favorite move and start a third round. Or experiment with new moves. The number of reps aren't that important. It's great if you can get through two whole sets with some time left to spare.

Reinhard

Welcome Natasha! I'm afraid I'm utterly unqualified to comment on your injury, except to say PLEASE BE CAREFUL. As for weightlifting vs. shugging, shugging is a form of weightlifting, so I think you should be fine. I don't do anything else (except walk and pushups) and I'm pretty strong. In the mean...

Here's a less drastic measure. 1. Figure out what time you want to be at work. Figure out what time you need to leave the house to get there on time. This is the critical number you should use for determining behavioral "success." 2. Figure out how long it really takes you to do everything you need ...

Have a kid. That totally solved this problem for me.

Pets work too.

Hit platinum this morning with pushups (55). Entering rock star mode...

My latest health hacks podcast segment is on habit management. http://everydaysystems.com/podcast/ Anything I can do to make these podcasts better? Any particular topics you'd like me to cover? The feedback I've gotten so far has been positive, but vague. I may run out of gas soon or go off on nutty...

You get extra kudos from me. Nice work, fellow ranger!

Welcome Orvette! 12 pounds is kind of heavy... I started with that, but I'm a six foot big boned dude. If you hold it close to the hammer head, it'll seem lighter. But it may not feel quite as natural to do that. If you take it really, really slow, don't do too many reps, and skip killer movements l...

Morning luddite failure monday -- had to get podcast out. No news is good news on all other fronts.

Welcome back, Mo. It's hard to replace habits that have been built up over decades with new ones. For most of us there will be many setbacks before we get them replaced. But think about what it will be like to have the very power that's working so effectively against you now, habit, on your side, pu...

Nice start, Deb!

Welcome wendy! Besides the weight control benefits, there are some great side effects from meals: better social and family life, a sort of metronome to order your day and its activities. As for gaining weight despite jogging, apparently people tend to overcompensate like crazy for exercise if they'r...

scaissie, "No self revenge." You should expect it to take several unsuccessful attempts to reform a habit as ingrained as overeating. The great thing is, this powerful force, habit, will soon be working for you. Keep at it, learn from your mistakes, make minor tweaks if necessary. And always feel fr...

Welcome, NuBiker. Starting with a broom is a great idea. A bunch of people in the forums started that way. It's a very low risk, low expense way to try out the moves and start building the habit. Carving out time is much harder than lifting weight -- and for carving out time, a broom is just fine. R...

Enjoy! There's no better way to explore a new city than on foot.

What kind of ridiculous moves are you doing, anyway? The ridiculous moves tend to be variants on smite the orc. "Smite the orc in the solar plexus," "Smite the orc in the kneecap." Violence comes naturally to the exhausted mind, I guess. I've been doing counts of 14 now rather than 10 to keep it a ...

Interesting article in the new york times "Seduced by Snacks? No, Not You" http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/11/dining/11snac.html?em&ex=1160884800&en=99e3967729e7d8b8&ei=5087%0A (registration required) The focus is on snack size (not such a huge issue for non-snackers like us). But that's helpful conf...

Deb, that is fantastic!

Even a hardened scale sceptic has to rejoice at a number like that.

Guess that extra urban ranging didn't take long to pay off!

Congratulations!

Reinhard

Best wishes this time around, want2bhealthy! It's tough when you're struggling to build the habit, but think you great it will be when you get there. And strictness does make it easier. If you sometimes get mad and your cat for jumping on the table and sometimes let it, it'll never learn. Appetite i...

I'm sorry to hear it LoveULife.... The problem with all this self help stuff is that we all have many problems and they're all interconnected, but you can't get anywhere unless you break off one piece at a time. It's an artificial break, but it's necessary. Things to try/keep in mind: 1) Try to find...

http://everydaysystems.com/podcast/

I'm out of active "production" standalone systems, so let me know what you'd like me to talk about next (if anything).

Reinhard

Everyday Systems

Search found 5900 matches

Shovelglove/Weekend Luddite combo?

Anti-bookmarks

Podcast segment #13: Strictness

Podcast segment #12: 21 days and negative tracking

Everyday Systems Podcast segment #11: Habit Tracking

Mr. Mom needs popeye forearms

Spam accounts

Everyday Systems Podcast #10: Habit Friendly Behaviors

Radio Interview Saturday

Everyday Systems Podcast #9: Habit Management

Mindless Eating

Glass ceiling podcast segment