Everyday Systems

Octavia

Thanks to the lovely Kathleen for the bump! I had completely lost my thread and thought it must have been deleted by accident! Donâ€™t understand why it had got lost, when I only checked in on the 1st of May, so not long ago. Hi Oolala! Iâ€™ve lost 4% of my body weight over the last five months. Iâ€...

Octavia

Kathleen, thank you - where was it? How did you find it? I looked everywhere! You are a star. ðŸ’

Hi Dalia, thanks for popping by again, and great that you are also experiencing this magical change!

Right, Iâ€™m abandoning this thread now and going back to my proper one.

Octavia

Thanks, Soprano! If it doesnâ€™t turn up, Iâ€™ll email Reinhard.

Octavia

OK...trying not to panic. I will simply start a new check in here....until hopefully I find the old one. Decent day, eating wise. Slightly joyless otherwise - spent the morning sorting DDâ€™s manic, messy room, throwing out clothes galore, and trying to create order. Then DD was angry with me for th...

Octavia

I hope this is some sort of blip - canâ€™t find my check in thread! Habitcal is still there. Could it have been accidentally deleted? Has this happened to anyone else? Maybe Iâ€™m just not seeing it.

Octavia

Hi Soprano and Linda, Yes, itâ€™s strange how even a chocolate-addicted body like mine can start to prefer to eat less. Or maybe the strange thing is that the mind is following the bodyâ€™s lead. Before, I could overcome/ignore the stuffed feeling if i really wanted to enjoy the gratification of tre...

Octavia

A very moderate N day, which is good. Had quite a lot on Sunday - we went out for a meal, and I had two glasses of wine and three courses. Felt really stuffed. So often Iâ€™d rather just eat at home, but we were being treated by FIL! Not complaining. Just realising that big meals with wine donâ€™t a...

Octavia

Good luck with your week!

Octavia

You have gone down a clothes size! Wow! Thatâ€™s fantastic.

I too will NOT get excited....I will be calm....it is not that important....ðŸ˜Š

But...HURRAH! ðŸ’ðŸ‘ðŸ¼ðŸ¾

Octavia

Good luck with your party preparations Linda! Iâ€™m also a terrible one for complaining about other people... I never mean to bitch: often Iâ€™m just trying to understand why people do what they do, and why I have a hard time dealing with it! Oh well. If people do annoying stuff, they surely deserve...

Octavia

...I think Iâ€™m less angry, too! Iâ€™m certainly getting much more done, fitting more into my day, instead of snacking or waiting impatiently for dinner time.

Octavia

Thanks for all your insights! Mostly I take the scale with a big pinch of salt. But my lower self would like to defy nature and see that needle move! If it never moves again, though, Iâ€™m still happy doing the No S routine. As you said Oolala, it is worth it as an end in itself. I totally believe t...

Octavia

Thanks for this inspiring testimonial, Kaalii!

Octavia

Hi from me too. Hope youâ€™re fully recovered from your cold. I too binge when Iâ€™m ill! Learning how to be ill â€˜wellâ€™ is a real life skill!
Take care.

Octavia

Thank you! Hope your day is going well.

Octavia

Hi Dalia, Sorry to hear that youâ€™re having a tough time right now. ðŸ’ At the beginning of my own No S journey, I kept away from the scale. I think it really helped, and if I started struggling to comply with the rules, I would stay off the scale again. It helps you focus on building the habits, a...

Octavia

Thanks, worth it! The scale has gone down again today - hurrah. And I have a few N days left before the weekend, so perhaps Iâ€™ll see the next number down, if Iâ€™m lucky!
Hope you have a good day.

Octavia

Good luck with your journey, Crystal. Iâ€™m impressed by your list of lowest weights - No S has really worked for you. Like you, Iâ€™m learning patience - just doing Vanilla and waiting, waiting, waiting! But it is working!

Octavia

Good luck with the Habitcal, Allison! I find it really helpful, much more than I ever thought I would.

Octavia

I feel the same. We have no choice. Itâ€™s No S or nothing!

Octavia

Total nightmare!!! Sounds like you have recovered amazingly well. ðŸ’ðŸ’ðŸ’

Octavia

Feeling a bit discouraged by the no weight loss thing. But the great thing is, that you donâ€™t have to feel super-motivated to do No S. I can continue without the â€˜carrotâ€™ of weight loss. (Such an ironic metaphor for those of us who tend to spurn carrots in favour of cream buns...)! In a way, i...

Octavia

Hi Dalia, Things are going very slowly for me, with regular plateaus. It takes me about a month to drop a pound, and during those weeks it will be down-up-down-up-down-up, on and on and on. I think you just have to stick with it. I suspect that if you keep doing No S, your appetite and habits gradua...

Octavia

Hi idontknow, Have been enjoying the conversations on your thread, and taking comfort from Oolalaâ€™s advice (hope you donâ€™t mind me â€˜scavengingâ€™ from your thread! ðŸ™‚). Why is it so easy for many men to lose weight? The ones I know just decide to give up beer for a few weeks or months, and t...

Octavia

So annoying - ate so moderately yesterday, yet weight has gone up. Well, thatâ€™s how weight goes, isnâ€™t it? ðŸ™„ Sigh.

Onwards.

Octavia

Reporting back on my S weekend. Saturday had no treats whatsoever - was working and got home very late, and felt I needed to eat sensibly all day. There was no time to enjoy treats, really....but I did get the feeling that my N day habits were controlling my behaviour, and thatâ€™s good. Sunday, ate...

Octavia

Thanks Dalia! Hope youâ€™re having a good S weekend!

Octavia

Wow, itâ€™s boiling hot today. I had an ice lolly, which Iâ€™m counting as a frozen drink....!

Octavia

Thank you, Larkspur! Yes, Iâ€™m British. Thanks to Soprano too, for ongoing support! Itâ€™s much appreciated. Happy to see the scale still registering a low weight - hoping it is not just a fleeting dip this time - it is indicating that Iâ€™ve lost 6lb since Jan. If thatâ€™s true, then itâ€™s great ...

Octavia

Looks like you are doing incredibly well! Although I am still doing Vanilla, Iâ€™m really fascinated by IF, as it seems like a natural extension of No S. From what Iâ€™ve read in the forum, it seems to help train the appetite further, so its a good habit-producing thing. Linda, your posts certainly ...

Octavia

...those diet questions are really barmy, and you wonder what sort of a person is posting them. Very young, not very educated, maybe. Or perhaps just not very experienced. I did try the Cabbage Soup diet myself once, and lasted one day. I realised it was making me hate both cabbage and soup! Quora d...

Octavia

hurrah, the high weight of last weekend was a passing thing...so it seems! Summing up my No S experience so far. Iâ€™ve been amazed and delighted to find that the N day routine has become an instinctive habit. The Habitcal has been surprisingly helpful, in that it makes me think ahead and imagine th...

Octavia

Hi Soprano! Thanks again for your insights! I think the reason I have mad S days is that I really enjoy giving up all the efforts of the N days....more than I enjoy the benefits of the N days. It feels such a luxurious release, letting those lower brain instincts off the leash every weekend. I hope ...

Octavia

Thanks, worth it and Soprano! I have eaten rather badly and randomly this weekend. But I still have a feeling that at some point, the penny will drop, and I will decide of my own free will that the discomfort of emptiness and delayed gratification is preferable to the futility of permasnacking. Of c...

Octavia

Alison, I wish I had more wise words to comfort you, but words seem very inadequate right now, so I just wanted to send sympathy. Itâ€™s amazing youâ€™re still standing, girl, let alone skipping through meadows watching the birds. Youâ€™re showing unbelievable strength....and all with a couple of ic...

Octavia

Hi Maggie, just to say, I hope you all get well soon. I liked your description of the brain â€˜meltingâ€™ with boredom when playing cars. I never found a way of describing how I used to feel when forced to do role playing for hours with my DD....your phrase sums it up brilliantly. It was agony! (And...

Octavia

Thank you, Begin and Soprano! I feel encouraged by those observations. Maybe I am doing OK. Weight was up a bit today, which makes it look like a miniscule weight loss since I started. Like, 3lb in four months. I sometimes wonder if Iâ€™m just moving calories around, rather than eating any less. But...

Octavia

That is a great feeling, Dalia! I had a similar experience when I left half a bar of my favourite chocolate in the fridge a the end of the weekend, forgot about it, then the following weekend realised that DD had eaten it during the week. This is a total reversal of what normally happens! I eat HER ...

Octavia

Hi Larkspur, Thanks for your very interesting posts! That made for sobering reading, the insights of Ray Hinish. Like Crystal quoted, the thing about not being able to control the scale is certainly true for me now Iâ€™m over 50. This has reminded me of my original promise to myself, to do No S whet...

Octavia

So funny to see a Skippy advert popping up at the bottom of this discussion! I havenâ€™t seen the ad, but I think the aspect of eating peanut butter with a spoon is the real shocker here! Itâ€™s as if they are trying to normalise and legitimise that behaviour. And maybe subliminally reassure parents...

Octavia

Hi Alene, Iâ€™ve always thought that drinks, alcoholic or otherwise, can be had at any time. I donâ€™t see alcohol as an S, myself. But alcohol is subject to other social rules anyway - maybe thatâ€™s why it doesnâ€™t need to be an S. I see glass ceiling as an optional thing, for those of us who mig...

Octavia

Great news, beginagain! All the best for your renewed commitment to No S! ðŸŒº

Octavia

Octavia iz failin! I knew it wouldnâ€™t be a good N day cos of our dinner party, but the WTH effect really took hold this morning. Was in a bad mood due to all the tidying and cleaning required to get the house halfway respectable. Grumpily ate unnecessary ice cream! And felt more mentally blocked t...

Octavia

After all the Easter excess, my weight is stuck at about 5lb down from my first weigh-in, back in Jan. In my old calorie counting days, I could have lost 5lb in two weeks! But I was younger then - and of course, I couldnâ€™t keep it up: eating tiny snacks and treats all day long, alongside low calor...

Octavia

Thanks Larkspur and Soprano! Well done Lark for bursting out at that condescending woman! I reckon using the word â€˜stressâ€™ to describe how youâ€™re feeling is a good tip - because the person doesnâ€™t know whether you are going to get really mad or start crying...itâ€™s sort of neutral. But they...

Octavia

Just thinking more about the crying incident. I know as an assertive adult, it would have been more appropriate to express anger in the phone shop, in a calm and respectful way of course. But was it better to cry? Critical words, no matter how calmly spoken, alienate and make people defensive...wher...

Octavia

Thanks so much, Lark - you have no idea how much it means to me, to have this amazing support. ðŸ’ Do you think there could be a link between the fact that I let myself cry, and the fact that I recovered quickly from this incident? Is anxiety connected to holding things in and being afraid to show o...

Octavia

Thank you! It was an unpleasant experience. Husband is in New York and we are communicating via Messenger! Iâ€™m sure his phone would have been fine anyway.... but I have learned to be more wary of these phone shops - the youngsters who serve in them think nothing of keeping you hanging around for a...

Octavia

Fantastic news, Anne - and so encouraging. Thanks for outlining your "secrets" for us!

Octavia

Enjoy the meal!

Octavia

Yay! ðŸ˜Š Enjoy your bakery goodie! It feels to me like a miracle to go without snacks on N days. No S is truly amazing in retraining those impulses. I had a lovely long walk yesterday, nearly 2 hrs from 4 to 6 pm, on an empty stomach (after a tiny lunch)! Just took a bottle of water with me. I tota...

Octavia

PS. I donâ€™t know how to upload Habitcal into a post, Iâ€™m afraid - Maybe one of the long-term No Sers will be able to give advice.

Octavia

Hi Soprano, I found it really tough at first! I think No S works like that - itâ€™s incredibly hard to go without snacks at first, but it gets easier. Whereas with other diets, they start out sort of amusing, but turn into a nightmare. Donâ€™t forget you can have calorific drinks to help you. I need...

Octavia

Went for a long walk with DH. Amazing how these days I can do a long walk on an empty stomach! At one point I would have been packing snacks, and being terrified of fainting half way through. Then was really hungry and enjoyed my dinner a lot. I can feel a heavy S weekend coming on. Craving sweets. ...

Octavia

Hi from me, Skelton! I quite often think of mods, but Vanilla seems to have a magical power of habit-friendliness. Iâ€™ve been doing Vanilla since December and although my weight loss has been very slow (about a pound a month) I enjoy the routine so much that Iâ€™m not really tempted to alter it.......

Octavia

Really fascinated by your store cupboard eating plan...I find Iâ€™m doing a lot more of this, too. Now Iâ€™m not calling in at the supermarket all the time to buy chocolate (while pretending to stock up on kitchen roll etc.) I find Iâ€™ve developed a slight aversion to the place. This is good - a na...

Octavia

Hi Marina, Like Dalia, I also identify with lots of your challenges - doing the ordinary, self-caring things that others seem to do naturally. I keep trying to start new Everyday Systems to help with sleeping, waking and exercise. But I think Iâ€™ve not been moderate enough! Staying moderate is the ...

Octavia

...on a positive note, the cheese that I accidentally left in mumâ€™s fridge has just arrived in the post. ðŸ˜‚ðŸ˜‚ðŸ˜‚ She always seems slightly triumphant when we leave things (we have to take all the food with us, along with our clothes, gifts etc etc..) and she rings up to express her amazement ...

Octavia

Have just had a ghastly experience in a phone shop. Went in with DH, who is going to New York tomorrow, wanted to check that his phone would work. Spoke to a young assistant girl who talked very fast and unclearly, who indicated that it would be better for DH to swap to another network provider as i...

Octavia

Thanks, Linda & Auto! Glad you enjoyed my image of elderly Mum making puddings. When we arrived, she had made a ground rice pudding, and was waxing lyrical about some stuff she used to make when we were kids called â€˜Rice Cremolaâ€™. I remembered it as horrid yellow stodge, but this newer version w...

Octavia

Had my egg. It wasnâ€™t quite as enormous as it first appeared - the box was massive! Have enjoyed my usual treat-filled S days. Slightly worried that Iâ€™m going away for three days - one of them includes a big family meal, our Easter get-together...so Iâ€™m calling it an S day. The question is, ca...

Octavia

Good luck from me too, Crystal. Your 3-point plan looks very sound. All the best, and do let us know how you get on!

Octavia

Greetings beginagain! I can totally relate to your story - over 50, calorie counting no longer getting the results, scale never budging, dabbled with No S back in 2015, but didnâ€™t quite get the process. I thought it was requiring loads of willpower for no results. But what I realise now is that gr...

Octavia

Hi Auto, Enjoying all these discussions on the different types of hunger. I get all three you describe - the spaced out feeling, the growly tummy, the vicious desperation feeling. Wouldnâ€™t it be great if we could really know whatâ€™s going on in there? I think it was Proust who said that trying to...

Octavia

Totally agree - itâ€™s infuriating.

Octavia

Thanks Auto! Hope you have a great Easter too.

Octavia

Thank you Worth it, for cheering me on! Have a great weekend.

Octavia

Iâ€™ve has a more cheerful day - didnâ€™t feel like eating much, and to my amazement my weight has dropped to half a stone less than my starting point! This is miraculous. When you consider how much chocolate Iâ€™ve put away in the last three months, on S days! Iâ€™ve had as much as I could wish for...

Octavia

...here I am, on the internet again! But learning to stay off it more. Already gaining feedback about my new habit ideas. Trying to get up earlier and do a longish run or walk first thing is not quite working. The exercise yesterday made me late with some work, then hurried and stressed, and I had o...

Octavia

All the best from me, too. Such a challenging situation for you and your family - I donâ€™t really know what to say, but just want to send sympathy, courage and good wishes. Your presence will definitely be an asset at this time. Keep checking in with us all whenever you can!

Octavia

Really interesting observations from you two! Thatâ€™s exactly what I feel Iâ€™m grappling with - I havenâ€™t even mastered the basics of life: eating, sleeping and getting up - how can I expect to create habits based on creativity, looking after my home, having a more fun social life? But facing up...

Octavia

Wow!

That blood sugar article! Are doing doing the experiment? Do share your findings with us, Auto!

Octavia

I love that word, Linda - sticktoitness. No S really does build these qualities. Trust is so important: Iâ€™ve only lost a pound a month since I started 4 months ago, but Iâ€™m not in a hurry to make adaptations - I feel I need to get more water under the bridge, just keep trusting, keep doing it. W...

Octavia

Iâ€™ve been doing Vanilla since I started No S in December 2017, but like you minkalue, I feel bad when I snack and graze on S days. And yet, the freedom/permission to do that is part of the safety valve for me. So...Iâ€™m wondering whether to try a mod of only allowing fruit/veg as snacks on S days...

Octavia

Hi Friyay! Thanks for dropping by my thread the other day. Just wanted to add, I too was always physically hungry two hours or so after a meal, in my early No S days. I used juice, milk, and lots of coffee and tea, to get by. One day I was so desperate I had a cuppa soup. It all helped establish the...

Octavia

Thanks Friyay and Auto! Iâ€™ve been looking back over my whole thread recently, and it is encouraging to see how I have changed, and my weight has indeed gone down. Iâ€™ve learned so much about habit building! I now want to put this learning to further use and build better sleeping, waking and exerc...

Octavia

Iâ€™ve had a nine week streak of total compliance! Today was a red, though. DH and DD wanted to go out for a meal. I was starving so relinquished my plan of having two poached eggs for dinner! We had a lovely meal in our favourite restaurant. I had a starter and main plus two glasses of wine. But I ...

Octavia

I thought Iâ€™d be more moderate today, but no, itâ€™s been a typically festive S day with chocolate as a snack, and two desserts, one after lunch and one after dinner. Itâ€™s possible that I havenâ€™t snacked quite as much as I used to do, though: no nuts, crisps, wine or biscuits. Possibly a step ...

Octavia

Have been listening to Reinhardâ€™s podcasts! Went back to the earliest ones, where he talks about habit-building. Really inspirational. Thanks for the reminder, Oolala.

Octavia

I too am a cross between a cello and hourglass...and a vase! ðŸ˜Š
One of T&Sâ€™s top tips was to add huge earrings to the cello lady, in the pic where sheâ€™s wearing that long dress.
Must get the book out again!

Octavia

Thanks, Worth it! Iâ€™m still working on a document with a list of the new habits I need to cultivate. Itâ€™s quite a long list, though many of the habits are related and could be linked together. But I know that I must be absolutely committed to trying each one, and that I will have to overcome maj...

Octavia

Hiya Worth it! So pleased to hear that your personalised No S is working so well. You are worth it! (Sorry, I had to write that at least once. ðŸ˜ŠðŸ˜‰) Hey, did the Trinny and Susannah book arrive? Do tell! Sounds like you managed amazingly well at the shower - only knowing 2 people besides the bri...

Octavia

PS hope your little one is recovering from his hospital trauma.

Octavia

Hi Auto. Thanks for popping by my thread earlier! I donâ€™t have any insights to offer regarding mods...Iâ€™m a bit like you in that Iâ€™m only a few pounds â€˜officiallyâ€™ overweight, and wary of making any changes that will interfere with long-term compliance. But I agree with you, that stress is...

Octavia

Google Keep - must check that out. Thanks, Automated!

Octavia

Hi Larkspur! I slept well, thanks! Anxiety, what a beast it is. I started with it quite suddenly in my teens, after a nasty stomach bug and disruption to my periods, and have limped on and off with it throughout my life. I think mine began as randomly strange brain wiring, in the wake of being weak,...

Octavia

I like the idea of this Beck-inspired list of motivations. I always think I can remember my reasons for abstaining from unhealthy junk, but no! As it turns out, I can rarely remember any useful guidelines for anything...itâ€™s as if they live in a different room in my brain. MaggieMae, it must be so...

Octavia

Thatâ€™s a brilliant summary of No S, Oolala. Hope things work better for you this time, Butterfly. It seems a pretty common thing, to go through a few false starts before you manage to really get going on No S. And thereâ€™s no shame in binge snacking - I think most of us have done it, thatâ€™s why...

Octavia

Thanks for dropping by, MaggieMae and Oolala! Today has been a bit less wild. No chocolate (as yet...itâ€™s freezing cold outside and I ate my supplies yesterday!!). I think my S days will stay wild till I instigate a mod: processed foods are indeed designed to cause gluttonous madness. Only an inte...

Octavia

...the thing is, though, I donâ€™t feel discouraged by this chocolate fest. I actually feel Iâ€™ve learned something important - that instincts, insights and attitudes cannot be relied upon to change behaviour. Well not mine, anyway. I need rules and boundaries, and where these have been broken, the...

Octavia

Iâ€™ve had two big portions of chocolate today. I intended them to last the whole weekend, but couldnâ€™t resist. I find it interesting how in the absence of boundaries, nothing will stop me getting my fix. Pre-No S, I used to think that my boundaries were completely broken - I felt almost like some...

Octavia

Running on fumes - a brilliant phrase! Yes, those â€˜logicalâ€™ arguments we use...they are terrible. My thoughts were definitely similar to yours. I felt I had no access to real fulfilment, and never would, so I had to make do with the addictive cycle, its promises and rewards. I was very good at a...

Octavia

Hi Annanol, good luck with your No S journey. I was a huge chocoholic and could probably put away many more Easter eggs than you...but 3 months in and Iâ€™m craving it much less, which is a miracle, believe me. If you manage to abstain for the 5 N days, youâ€™ll be amazed at how the cravings diminis...

Octavia

Yes. The time has to pass. Iâ€™m very aware of the weeks going by. The sense of long-term commitment is nothing like my old diets. Itâ€™s sort of boring, in a way - Iâ€™m filling in green square after green square at the moment, no drama, nothing to have to grapple with, or have insights about. My j...

Octavia

3000 days! Amazing! Me, Iâ€™ve just done 3 months, and did a little dance of celebration!

Thanks for being here for all of us! ðŸ’

Octavia

...meant to add, Oolala, that I too probably give the impression of never being overwhelmed, and of being a super-high functioning, always-genial career Mum. Hahaha! Only the No Sers know the truth!!!

Octavia

Hi Oolala! It amazes me how some people donâ€™t seem to get overwhelmed. Maybe their lives just fit their personalities very well. Iâ€™m a sort of outgoing introvert and get tired very quickly. I need lots of down time in order to recalibrate, which is hard to explain to people, as I donâ€™t fit the...

Octavia

Hi and welcome back from a relative newbie! Enjoy your S day.

Octavia

Thanks so much, Worth it! I needed that bit of encouragement. ðŸ™‚ No S habits are really becoming second nature to me - I actually feel like it would be quite hard not to do them. And this is despite the lack of weight loss â€˜encouragementâ€™! Iâ€™m still down almost 3 lb from mid Jan (didnâ€™t ac...

Octavia

Thanks Merry! Iâ€™m understanding better now...had been having a mental block before...but yes, itâ€™s got to be all about balance! And moderation of course! Hoping today will be like that. Iâ€™ve woken up with a nice feeling of freedom, but no particular cravings. So perhaps it will be a well balan...

Everyday Systems

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I canâ€™t find my check in thread - Octavia