Intro

magicman · Post by **magicman** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:21 am

Hello all.

Short version: I'm going to begin being a NoSer this coming Friday, the 20th.

Long version: I quit smoking January 20th, and can proudly say I haven't had a cigarette since the Bush administration! Quiting smoking was step one of Plan 2009 for me, and step two is changing my eating habits. But until yesterday, I had no real set creed or motto for what my diet would be.

I was talking with some of my friends nearing the end of the last holiday season, and they were talking about diets. One of my friends is an off-again, on-again WW point counter, they other is an on-again, off-again vegetarian low-carb dieter. And with New Years around the corner both of them were planning on being on-again.

Now, I haven't done an official weight in or anything yet, but I'd guess I'm at over 400 pounds. My friends were not the people in the room who needed to be thinking of going on a diet, and I told them so, and railed against system diets a bit, suggesting that we all really know that to lose weight we need to eat less and be more active.

Since then, I've been thinking a lot about how the human mind works, and why eating less and being more active can seem like such an easier thing to say than do, why it has seemed such an impossible thing for me to do. I think I've got some great things figured out, since I managed to quit smoking effortlessly without any cravings or regrets, when it too was one of those things that previously seemed about as possible as swimming the Atlantic.

See, I've always found some noble novelty in fighting the good fight and giving the old college try towards goals that I knew before I started I'd never reach. But things are different now. I've realized that thinking of all this as a fight in which the odds are against me is the wrong way to think.

What I need to do isn't conquering myself, or seeing if my willpower can endure. What I need to do is change, and not change what I do, but change who I am.

See, it's hard for me to explain. My thoughts aren't very organized. But the best way I can explain with smoking was, I woke up on Jan 20th, and I was a non-smoker. And non-smokers don't buy cigarettes, non-smokers don't smoke cigarettes, non-smokers don't crave cigarettes. And I had known Jan 20 was the day since Dec 20.

And Feb 20th, I'm going to wake up as someone who doesn't eat because he's bored, or sad, or happy. On Feb 20th, I'm going to wake up and not feel like there is some empty place inside me that I need to fill to the brim with excessive amounts of food.

I'm not going to change what I eat. I'm not going to try to act like I'm a nutritionist crossbred with an accountant. I'm just going to eat smaller portions.

I'm happy to find this community, and I'm happy to find such a well said statement of principles as the 14 words of No S. I actually was looking at reviews of kneeling chairs, two people mentioned Shovelglove, and Google did the rest.

Speaking of Shovelglove, guess what I'll be starting March 20th?

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to being a part of this community.

magicman

la_loser · Post by **la_loser** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:54 am

Wow--what an awesome start to your new year. Congratulations on pinking up those lungs! And welcome to our growing group. It will be interesting to keep up with your adventure in No S since so many of us have been on every "diet" known to man, including all the "S.A.D." (Substance Accounting Diets-calories/carbs/points, etc.). My uneducated guess will be that you will do well because you haven't got all that "diet" mindset ingrained in your head!

I applaud your clear thinking and desire to have a healthy future!

Good luck.

[And as someone who witnessed in person the transition in power on Jan. 20, I'm getting a mental image of your change in habit! I can see it now--the helicopter takes off FROM the White House, you toss the carton of cigarettes you hadn't finished, pan to the Capitol steps where Aretha and Yo Yo Ma and company do their thing, some significant words are exchanged and voila, you're a non-smoker!]

magicman · Post by **magicman** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:24 am

I do have two tours of duty on the Adkin's diet, myself, both times losing 75 pounds. To no effect of course when I went off the diet, as I went right back to the bad eating habits that I had never really changed, I had just dodged those habits. I realize that really I need to make sustainable changes to my relationship with food.

And actually, my last smoke was just after 1AM, January 20, driving home from Waffle House, flicking it out the window when I was done and watching the sparks explode on the road (I smoked non-filtered, so don't get on me for littering, it's the filters that don't biodegrade for years). Woke up at 11 and watched the inauguration. Although it's my understanding that Obama himself hasn't quit smoking.

Too solid flesh · Post by **Too solid flesh** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:17 am

Welcome to NoS, and congratulations on giving up smoking! That is amazing.

We look forward to seeing you here.

apomerantz · Post by **apomerantz** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:59 pm

I'm so impressed that you quit smoking cold turkey like that. What a wonderful gift to yourself!!

Losing the weight will probably be a lot more fun that that

as it does have some gratification in the long run.

I think you are going to do awesome on No S. It's a really easy follow philosophy because the rules are simple and black and white. Do them and it works.

Someone like you doesn't need luck; so I'll just say that I'm looking forward to watching your journey and reading your posts.

LoriLifts · Post by **LoriLifts** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 5:28 pm

Sounds like you've got a plan Stan!
Welcome and I'm looking forward to reading your posts.

magicman · Post by **magicman** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:59 pm

Thanks for making me feel welcome, everyone.

mama-g · Post by **mama-g** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 7:28 pm

good for you!

you'll have lots of support here.

All the best to you!

Post by **reinhard** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:18 pm

magicman,

Congratulations on your resolve and welcome to the group!

I think you're absolutely right in comparing you're waking up as "non-smoker" (congratulations, by the way!) to how you have to change your relationship with food. You're going to be a "non-snacker" a "non-seconder" etc.

On one level, this is a slow process, because moderate behavior is slow to yield results, because habits can only be built over time. But on another level it's instantaneous. You don't have to wait to hit some goal. In some immediate way, by simply deciding to change this pattern of behavior, by "converting" to moderation, you've already succeeded.

I did a podcast on "extreme moderation" a while ago that might resonate with you:

http://www.everydaysystems.com/podcast/ ... .php?id=21

Best of luck, and looking forward to seeing you on the shovelglove forum as well,

Reinhard

magicman · Post by **magicman** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:40 pm

reinhard wrote:On one level, this is a slow process, because moderate behavior is slow to yield results, because habits can only be built over time. But on another level it's instantaneous. You don't have to wait to hit some goal. In some immediate way, by simply deciding to change this pattern of behavior, by "converting" to moderation, you've already succeeded.

Exactly.

The way I'm looking at it is that my weight is not the problem. My weight is the symptom. My problem is my eating habits, and I'm finally sensibly confronting that problem instead of the symptom. It will take some time for the symptom to resolve itself, but it also took quite some time for the symptom to reach this level.

As long as the actual problem is addressed, time will do the rest. And over time I will be eating a significant percentage lower calories.

la_loser · Post by **la_loser** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 4:37 am

Magic Man,

Wow--what a direct and accurate analysis of what most of us are really experiencing. . . I love the way you put this:

My weight is not the problem. My weight is the symptom. My problem is my eating habits, and I'm finally sensibly confronting that problem instead of the symptom. It will take some time for the symptom to resolve itself, but it also took quite some time for the symptom to reach this level.

I'm going to add this to the No S Glossary thread that I started last summer--it's full of little bits of wisdom and quotes and encouraging comments that many people have contributed.

Please be assured how much we are all going to pulling for you as you begin this exciting journey.

magicman · Post by **magicman** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 9:26 pm

LA_Loser wrote:Wow--what a direct and accurate analysis of what most of us are really experiencing.

I'm glad to hear that. It can be hard to set proper expectations when setting out on any endeavor, and hearing from experienced hands that the way I'm looking at this is right on is encouraging.

My copy of the No S Diet book arrived from Amazon yesterday, along with a couple of other books. I read it in it's entirety before going to bed last night.

My new lifestyle begins tonight at midnight. I feel ready.

vmsurbat · Post by **vmsurbat** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 2:41 pm

magicman wrote: My new lifestyle begins tonight at midnight. I feel ready.

Welcome to NoS! If you haven't already, I highly recommend the reading through the NoS Glossary sticky at the top of this forum. It is a collection of the most pithy insights into what NoS is/can be for many people. I have picked up a few healthy mottoes (and contributed one!) from there. The one I currently use the most: "I'm NOT a snacker" when at group events on non-S days. To just tell myself that helps TREMENDOUSLY as it ends "the mental debate"--should I have just a small helping? virtual plate my dinner later ? call it an NWS day?

HTH,

la_loser · Post by **la_loser** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:45 pm

Happy First No S Day! Here's to hoping this will truly be the first day of the rest of your life in your journey toward a healthy lifestyle.

And--how cool is that--tomorrow will be an S day! (And don't go rationalizing that you've just started so maybe you should take a couple of S days. Nonsense--it will be a great little segue' into the plan--especially if you heed Reinhard's admonition about S days . . . "Sometimes" and "Don't Be an Idiot!"

Hang in there!

magicman · Post by **magicman** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:09 pm

Thanks! I'm moving over to my daily check-in thread now. I feel I'm properly introduced.

Everyday Systems

Intro

Intro

I can see it now!

Intro

What a great analysis!

Re: What a great analysis!

Here's to your first day!