Everyday Systems

Kathleen

Thanks, NoSRocks! I was considering reducing the number of weeks that I just maintain after the five pound weight loss but then thought -- Na.... -- it's not worth it to read another six months of my journal!
Kathleen

Kathleen

BrightAngel, I am continuing to read the journal. At the moment, my son is hounding me to get on the computer so he can finish up the one remaining merit badge he needs to complete his Eagle requirements. What's wrong with this picture? Yesterday was the end of the quarter, and he was home all day. ...

Kathleen

The saying "Follow your heart" makes me cringe since I am dealing with a 16 year old boy whose heart tells him to waste hours playing a game called Runescape. IE says you will eventually want to eat what is good for you. My experience was that I just kept eating and was constantly evaluating if I wa...

Kathleen

BrightAngel, I admit it. I caved. I'm sorry. I sound like my son who always has an excuse: It's November 1 in Minnesota, and I cannot squeeze a coat over work clothes. I'm also ringless, and Tom enjoys looking at my ring finger and asking, "Are you married?" The ring is in hte safety deposit box. I ...

Kathleen

The Blessings of Simplicity: October 21, 2012 The No S Diet: Many different modifications over almost four years, especially one which allowed everything in front of me at one meal instead of one plateful at one meal. (Month 1) Day 1 - Monday, September 8, 2008: 215.0 The Sustainable Diet: Unrestri...

Kathleen

I got to June and was cured of that idea.
Kathleen

Kathleen

Eurobabe2, I do think I have some peace about it. We got him a teacher to help him with study skills, he went once and said he thought it was helpful, but he did not do what she asked and didn't want to go back. Forcing him through Kumon was helpful. He did learn math. Forcing him to meet with a stu...

Kathleen

nosnos,
I think my start date was October 5 because that's when I gave up the idea of "taking an S Day" whenever I felt like it. Highest weight ever: that was 222.
Kathleen

Kathleen

oolala53, Last night, he was toggling between playing Runescape and studying for a Calculus AP test. I figured out how to block him from Runescape. It's sad. I wish he'd grow up. I am delighted that Tom is working with him instead of blaming me for his not being trained. In the end, it is up to him....

Kathleen

nosnos, Thanks for the encouragement! This diet is sloooooooooow. It's good that I'm so busy with my family and job. I can put the diet on the back burner and focus on other things, giving the diet time to work. My little doggie is standing next to me, slowly wagging her tail. Time for a walk! Kathl...

Kathleen

oolala53, Tom has decided to stop blaming me and work with Tommy himself. I'm working with a guy who has older kids, and he's heard ten straight workdays of my telling him about Tommy. Today he told me about himself: bored with AP classes, dropped out of college, bumped around low level jobs for a t...

Kathleen

oolala53, I do agree with you. We live two miles -- two miles! -- from the golf course, and he was having me drive him. The first time he started to caddy, he had me drive him back and forth three times in a day so he did not have to sit around the caddyshack. I'm a "softie" as Katie says. My brothe...

Kathleen

It is best to have a bit of perspective. I am very upset about what is happening in the country right now, and I see that my son has picked up the virus of thinking that working is a choice because whether you work or not has little to no impact on lifestyle. What is my cure? Reading The Life and Ti...

Kathleen

NoSRocks, Thanks! What's best of all is how little I am now thinking about my eating habits. There's the new job and the boy with a D in AP World History and the presidential/vice presidential debates and the need to figure out an exercise program around my job and the reconfiguration of furniture i...

Kathleen

nosnos, I'm currently stuffed, having waited up until midnight to eat and then gotten up at 5:30 AM to eat. Am I upset? Not at all. When Tommy lost his Eagle Scout project paperwork three weeks before the project date, I told another parent of an Eagle Scout who said, "All part of the process." That...

Kathleen

Hi Eileen, Yes, progress has been rapid. I haven't weighed this "little" since April 22 and am almost back to my starting weight four years ago! Thanks for the encouragement. It's not just about the number of the scale. It's also about being able to have a life! The S stands for Sanity. This is the ...

Kathleen

Hi nosnos, I am irritated with myself as you can imagine. My job is business analyst and what that means is that you define requirements in a way that is unambiguous. Either the person can log in to your system or he cannot. Either the password is right or it is not. I don't deal well with ambiguity...

Kathleen

Nicole, Can you be tested for food allergies? That would be a first step. When I first started on the Intuitive Eating approach, I was above 200 pounds. The diet was that you eat what you want and then your body no longer craves what you want. I had not eaten peanut clusters in perhaps 20 years. The...

Kathleen

Your body is starving, you finally are feeding it what it wants, and it is indulging. Do you want to be managing your weight by paying careful attention to exactly what goes into it, or are you willing to give up on a specific weight goal and let your body gradually gain confidence that another star...

Kathleen

Great description of the problem with "portion control" and somebody else (in this case, the government) telling you how much you should eat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IB7NDUSBOo Here is a Young Turks (liberal) view of the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBRFDTOi0-k The best thing they c...

Kathleen

reneew, Yep -- the point is to create a habit that results in eating which results in a healthy body weight. Did I eat a lot today? Yep. Does it matter? Nope. What matters is I find myself not liking how I feel after eating so much which results in my appreciating N Days which leads eventually to le...

Kathleen

Berry, I appreciate the recommendation. There is no one-size-fits-all in dieting. What I've found is that it is best for me if I limit having any sort of judgment in the process of deciding what to eat. With No S, I pay attention to food three times per day during the week. That's why the diet works...

Kathleen

The Blessings of Simplicity: October 21, 2012 The No S Diet: Many different modifications over almost four years, especially one which allowed everything in front of me at one meal instead of one plateful at one meal. (Month 1) Day 1 - Monday, September 8, 2008: 215.0 The Sustainable Diet: Unrestri...

Kathleen

Berry, I've tried that. I shudder to think of the results....always belly-gazing. My weight went up, too. My goal is to think less about eating and food. That approach resulted in my thinking more about weight and food. My dear Anne earlier this summer said that she decided on the No S Diet because ...

Kathleen

oolala53, I just got home from picking up my son from a party, so now the house is quiet and I have a chance to read your post more thoughtfully and respond. Allowing unrestricted eating on S Days is not the same as giving in the binges. It is true that I have eaten a lot on S Days, but that is not ...

Kathleen

Oh my, I'm not sure what I wrote. I'm overwhelmed. Now Katie had to go to the doctor for an infection, and the handyman found mold so he is tearing out some sheetrock and putting in new insulation. The rest of the basement cannot be painted until tomorrow because he's still fixing what Tom started f...

Kathleen

Note to self: follow the letter of the No S Diet and don't worry about the spirit because it will come, it will come... Welcome back. I've been here four years and weigh two pounds more than when I started? Why? Lots of tweaks. Lots of restarts. "Some things are best learned the hard way" is a favor...

Kathleen

I do know that I am among people who understand. Bluebunny just gave a description of a binge: "This has really been my main problem ... usually once a week, sometimes twice and that lead to my weight gain, approx. 20 pounds, most of it since sept. 2010 ? For example last week I visited my buddy and...

Kathleen

Hi reneew, I came to realize that there were two very different reasons for S Days. Weekend S Days are like opening a can of pop slowly to let out the pressure before it explodes. You need those days to keep you on the diet during the week. Weekday S Days are more for social events or other unexpect...

Kathleen

Hi nosnos, Thanks for the boost! I am thinking less about food and more about life. That's the big benefit of this diet. As for changing the start date, I did so because I changed the diet, turning weekday S Days into either S Events (appropriate for social reasons only) or Failures. The idea of an ...

Kathleen

milleum, Thank you. I think I've now figured out why fasting is a bad idea for me. My dis are growing up, and I've spent way too much time on my eating habits. The No S Diet calms me down and allows me to focus on my life. Maybe I'll have to learn this lesson about fasting again and again, but right...

Kathleen

milleum,
I went out last night to buy treats to eat at midnight and could not last even five hours. It's pathetic. Patience...
Kathleen

Kathleen

nosnos, Last night was a scary reminder of how it feels to be in a completely out of control binge. The weekends aren't that bad. I think I should just stick with No S because limiting eating on the weekend could result in binges during the week. Tom and Tommy went on a Boy Scout campout, so I was h...

Kathleen

The Blessings of Simplicity: September 21, 2012 The No S Diet: Many different modifications over almost four years, especially one which allowed everything in front of me at one meal instead of one plateful at one meal. (Month 1) Day 1 - Monday, September 8, 2008: 215.0 The S Day Diet: Unrestricted...

Kathleen

nosnos and BrightAngel, If I was 130 lbs., I would want to try fasting. Years and years ago, I read a book on fasting in which it said you cannot understand it unless you experience it. I think I dived in where I should have put a toe in the water. Last summer (summer of 2011), I fasted four 24 hour...

Kathleen

nosnos and milleum, The desire to fast just is not going away, and I do not know why. I think there is a spiritual aspect to overeating, and the suspicion comes from the fast that fasting is in almost every religion. Rather than ignore that feeling, I'm going to allow one small fast (skipping breakf...

Kathleen

NoSRocks,
I'm not at peace yet, but I am confident that I am on the path to peace.
Kathleen

Kathleen

milliem and NoSRocks,
Thanks for the encouragement. This diet is definitely a turtle diet rather than a hare diet: slow and steady wins the race. I am sick to death of being fat and need to be PATIENT!
Kathleen

Kathleen

nosnos,
I really felt panic yesterday morning. It was short sighted. Thanks for your reassuring note.
Kathleen

Kathleen

After I bought into the intuitive eating approach to dieting, it took me a long time to realize that anticipation of being able to eat is sometimes a cause rather than a symptom of hunger. In other words, if you give in to the urge to eat at 1 AM, you will train your body to feel hunger. It's like g...

Kathleen

oolala53,
Can you site where you got those figures? They are very interesting. Thanks.
Kathleen

Kathleen

Several years ago, I worked with a woman who lost 60 pounds on WW, regained it, lost 60 pounds again, regained the weight again, and was back on WW to lose 60 pounds again. When I think of a person who exemplifies persistence, I think of her. Yes, I was on WW, but not for very long -- several weeks ...

Kathleen

A suggestion for you: look up posts by Blueskighs.
Kathleen

Kathleen

nosnos, I finally made a commitment to No S. It was four years ago tomorrow that I started on No S. It took a long, long time for me to decide this is the way to go. Thanks for the encouragement! milleum, I looked into it, and it seems like a good idea. With an interview this afternoon, I have to pu...

Kathleen

Brianna,
I returned. There is sanity in No S.
Kathleen

Kathleen

reneew, I think allowing a child to be independent may be like allowing the dog, as we say it, to be a "free agent". If she is confined, she wants to get away. If she is let free, she tends to come to you. This was our first family vacation without Anne. There was more room in the tent, but also the...

Kathleen

Eurobabe2, Your post made me chuckle! My husband has gotten so mad about my son's -- let's say -- lack of motivation that he threatened to boot him out of the house the day he turns 18! My younger brother lived at home for several years after college and took 8 years to get through college, so I rea...

Kathleen

snapdragon, Anne's roommate just called our home looking for her. What's most comforting to me is that the roommate's Mom said to me, "Stephanie's a good girl, and I presume Anne is, too." Yep, Anne is, too. I told her the other day I have no concern about her skipping classes, getting into drugs, e...

Kathleen

The Blessings of Simplicity: August 29, 2012 The No S Diet: Many different modifications over almost four years, especially one which allowed everything in front of me at one meal instead of one plateful at one meal. (Month 1) Day 1 - Monday, September 8, 2008: 215.0 The S Day Diet: One plateful of...

Kathleen

Nicole in MD, It is traumatic. We drove over to get the pastor's signature on Tommy's Eagle Scout project workbook, since he lost his prior workbook, I told her that our oldest was going to college this afternoon, and I teared up and she told me how she felt dropping off her children at college. It ...

Kathleen

The Blessings of Simplicity: August 29, 2012 Day 1 â€“ Wednesday, August 29, 2012: 222.0 Day 2 â€“ Thursday, August 30, 2012: Day 3 â€“ Friday, August 31, 2012: Day 4 â€“ Sunday, September 1, 2012: Day 5 â€“ Monday, September 2, 2012: Day 6 â€“ Tuesday, September 3, 2012: Day 7 â€“ Wednesday, Septe...

Kathleen

nosnos, This Day 1 is about being done with tweaking. I had two thoughts this morning: the economy is being killed by regulatory uncertainty, a very real thing having to do with employers not knowing what will be the next mandate to add costs to a business. This results in not hiring because of an u...

Kathleen

Now today is an S Day. I'll go back.

7:30 PM: What a dumb trick. I'm back to No S. I'm busy the next few days with Anne going to college, running around on Tommy's Eagle project, and going camping. Next week, I'll be back. The kids go to school on Tuesday.

Kathleen

Kathleen

I hear you. I am just following No S now and adding writing down what I eat. It's on Saturday that the change would be in treating the weekend as N Days. Let me consider this. I am stressed to the max because Anne is headed off to college. She's outside with Katie right now loading her rug into the ...

Kathleen

Journal:

Kathleen

Journal

Kathleen

Journal

Kathleen

Journal

Kathleen

Journal

Kathleen

I was trying to get to the top of page 23 and just made multiple postings.

Kathleen

August 27: I got up early this morning because Tom had to leave at 5 for a flight to Boston, and I sat down and read my journal since the end of February so that I could change my diet, per my agreement with BrightAngel. Here are some things I have realized: 1. How you diet is a matter of individual...

Kathleen

I told my husband that someone was inspired by my story, and he suggested I post a picture of myself and you wouldn't be so inspired! It is important to consider the long term. The short term doesn't look so good for me. I am squeezed into size 18 capris at the moment.
Kathleen

Kathleen

BrightAngel, I lost my appetite after reading just nine days of the journal, but then I had to endure the "last supper" effect of binge eating from having even considered changing the diet. All very strange... Your suggestion of a deterrent to my changing my diet seemed very manageable to me, but it...

Kathleen

nosnos, I mean it this time! We are struggling with a son who just does not seem motivated to do anything, and my husband tells me there is absolutely nothing I can do. To a large extent, that is true. I can remove the technical distractions. I can bribe. I cannot inject motivation into him. The sam...

Kathleen

Very interesting! I think that the response to a multitude of choices is to make a decision and stick with it or make a decision and only review it periodically. Senator Joe Lieberman wrote a book called The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath . He carves out a day per week without...

Kathleen

reneew, I'm done. I'm completely and totally done. It is possible at some point in the future I will consider adding fasting to the basic program. Maybe I'll skip a Friday breakfast. Maybe. I am giving myself at least until next July before I consider any changes and at least until I have establishe...

Kathleen

mimi,
Can you believe it -- I actually threw out the No S book again. I will get a new copy through Amazon this Saturday. I'm one of those people who has bought and thrown out that book several times. This time around, I'm keeping it in my nightstand for periodic review!
Kathleen

Kathleen

Hi mimi, It's particularly welcome to have encouragement from others who have gone off and on the diet until finally deciding this is it! I'm up six pounds from the start and you're down about thirty, but I just committed to it last week! Another year, and maybe thirty pounds gone for me as well! Ka...

Kathleen

nosnos, I like your Bliss of Simplicity so much I decided to title my thread The Blessings of Simplicity! There's a phrase from the first line of the U.S. Constitution on The Blessings of Liberty, and in a way simplicity does equal liberty. I've been through so many complicated diets: counting calor...

Kathleen

nosnos,
It's hard to explain, but it's not that I've started. It's that I've finished. Getting to this point is the finish line. Execution is effortless because what I'm doing is eating to satisfaction.
Kathleen

Kathleen

NoSRocks, Thank you for your kind post! I stuck with trying to find a diet that works out of love for my daughter, and now it is she who has helped me to return to No S! One thing she said last night is she think she gained weight because of snacking. She's a very disciplined child, and she thinks t...

Kathleen

I'm down one pound from last week and up almost five pounds from four years ago. If there ever was someone who had to keep on trying with this diet, it's been me! I am happy to report that my mood matches that of the day, with the sun streaming into the window. At some point, if you keep on trying w...

Kathleen

nosnos, It's going great! I think that my prior years of following this diet have not gone to waste. I am learning the lessons of them much more quickly. First lesson is: I will not starve. oolala53, The weekends are a kind of release to a pressure valve, which is why I would consider the diet inter...

Kathleen

I called it the Hunger Satisfaction Diet, and I remember once my son saying that what I thought was a stomach growl was really my stomach groaning as it tried to digest all the food in it!
Kathleen

Kathleen

nosnos, It may be that I have already accomplished my objective. My 18 year old went on the No S Diet at the start of the summer, has been exercising four times per week, and has lost 10 pounds. It was her example that helped pull me back as well. I realized in talking to that Mayo doctor that you n...

Kathleen

Here's to my weight following a trajectory similar to yours!

Kathleen

BrightAngel, Deal! I am working on an exercise program but will not tweak my eating or eating habits. oolala53, That's my tweak to this diet. I can have zero this month and four next month. I get two per month to use as I please. I followed this approach for about nine months, but then I started twe...

Kathleen

Eurobabe2, Thanks for letting me know it's Saturday! I was up and down all night, starting with the dog waking me up because of a scary thunderstorm! Then I weighed myself and spent a couple of hours facing reality. The prodigal son only returned once. I'm more reminded of the Biblical saying: "forg...

Kathleen

The Blessings of Simplicity: August 4, 2012 The No S Diet: Many different modifications over almost four years, especially one which allowed everything in front of me at one meal instead of one plateful at one meal. (Month 1) Day 1 - Monday, September 8, 2008: 215.0 The Blessings of Simplicity: One...

Kathleen

BrightAngel, TexArk, and nosnos, I need to think. Your input is welcome and appreciated. I am sitting here thinking, "What the h*ll happened that I ended up this fat?" I'm not making any decisions right now. I'm going to eat minimally and look at my exercise program. Is this whole thing some sort of...

Kathleen

BrightAngel, Let me think some more about this. What I could not stand about No S was the potential for failure, which is why I came up with the idea of a rolling average of two Exception Days per month. The problem with that approach, however, is that you don't create a habit if you are counting an...

Kathleen

I'm here. Let me think about it. Thanks.
Kathleen

Kathleen

The Novena Diet: July 29, 2012 - August, 2012 Weight : Day 1 â€“ Sunday, July 15, 2012: 220.0 Day 2 â€“ Monday, July 16, 2012: Day 3 â€“ Tuesday, July 17, 2012: Day 4 â€“ Wednesday, July 18, 2012: Day 5 â€“ Thursday, July 19, 2012: Day 6 â€“ Friday, July 20, 2012: Day 7 â€“ Saturday, July 21, 2012:...

Kathleen

NosRocks, I kept a journal while I was away, and I figured out why NoS works for many but not for me. It is the perfectionism in me that prevents it from working. My analogy to dieting is that of a parent trying to guide but not direct a teenager. The last thing you want is rebellion when parenting ...

Kathleen

NoSRocks, The binge behavior is horrible -- it's as if my body is taken over. It reminds me of what I have read of people "blacking out" with drinking and then coming to not knowing where they are. BrightAngel, I think I need to take the week to really think through the last four years and then cons...

Kathleen

BrightAngel, You are absolutely right that the last 18 months have been a disaster. I'm going to go to camp, I am going to see if this approach works while I am there, and then I'm returning to vanilla No S if it doesn't. There may not appear to be much of a difference between 200 pounds and 220 pou...

Kathleen

nosnos, Let me think about it. You have persuaded me to consider the benefit that I got from No S of tuning out any thought of eating between meals and that is what brought peace. If I can give myself an incentive to eat three meals per day, maybe that would be good. The drawback of No S, at least f...

Kathleen

mimi, Keeping a food journal alone will not result in weight loss: it is also necessary to change behavior as a result of learning from what is written. For example, I bought a box of Wheat Thins, a food I simply cannot resist. Why? Being more self-aware can help. What I think could be a great appro...

Kathleen

nosnos, You are right about all my theorizing about why I eat. It doesn't really matter. I am very conscious of how much I have gained because it was really embarrassing to get in a swimsuit and am not sure I will even swim next week because I look so bad. Being buxom is particularly hard when you a...

Kathleen

Interesting idea to evaluate why you are eating... I almost never am hungry, so why do I eat? Is it habit, boredom, fear of starvation, what? I have no idea....
Kathleen

Kathleen

nosnos, Thank you for your post to me. It was obviously very heart-felt. I agree that I did feel a measure of peace with No S. My intent all along in documenting my thoughts regarding weight loss was to pass on the knowledge gained to my children, three of four of whom also show signs of a weight pr...

Kathleen

Hi BrightAngel, I have been extremely reluctant to take this step, having tried it once for two weeks and found it unpleasant. However, I think it does break through denial. I'm not so sure I want to figure out calorie counts. Instead, I'm just going to record what I eat each day. Today I was poppin...

Kathleen

Whoops! I'm still not used to being at such a high weight.
Kathleen

Kathleen

Eurobabe2, I will try to rate based on 1 - 10 but realize now I eat at 3 - 4, which is pretty darn sad since a 3 is actually negative. Yesterday, I experienced a 5. My goal will be to get to higher levels but I have to start somewhere. It's like exercising. I started with 5 minutes on the exercise b...

Kathleen

http://www.budgettravel.com/slideshow/t ... 720/#pic=3

Kathleen

Eurobabe2, We only go twice per year, and I endure it. What is sad is that my mother in law is almost 88, I love being with her, and we don't see her as often because she is across the street from my sister in law. I have skipped out both at New Year's and at Fourth of July, the times when the famil...

Kathleen

Thanks, Eurobabe2. I think I'm on the right track, but I've been saying that for years so we'll see ---
Kathleen

Kathleen

The Bright Line Diet After diet collapse: keep a food diary plus rewarding myself for restricting my eating to three meals in a day. The Bright Line Diet: (Month 1) Day 1 â€“ Wednesday, July 11, 2012: 220.0 Journal: Day 1 â€“ Sunday, July 1, 2012: 218.8 I am going to keep a food journal and rank wh...

Kathleen

Eurobabe2, I'm hardly one to say I've discovered the key to successful weight loss, but this is my current theory. My problem is that, like an alcoholic who never has another drink, I seem to need some sort of "bright line" between when I can eat and when I cannot. Having exceptions was a good idea,...

Kathleen

Eurobabe2,
Yes, there is no point in regretting the past. My brother posted a picture of his wife, and I looked at it and thought she looked 20 years younger than I am. Why beat myself up? It does not good.

I'll look to the future. What can I do today?

Kathleen

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