Brand New!

[kittymom]

Okay so- Usually every year I give up something bad for me for Lent. Typically, much like new years resolutions, I fail by day 3. So this year I decided to start a new good habit.
I am 36 and was placed on my first crash diet when I was in first grade. That means I've been dieting for 30 years!!! Ugh. Early in March I said, "No more diets. EVER!" And determined that for Lent I would simply eat 3 healthy meals a day with no snacks. I did some searching online to see if anyone else was doing such a thing. That's how I found "NO S."
I started on March 9. The first two weeks were so easy, almost fun, because I was internally relieved to be free to eat foods I had banned throughout my lifetime.
Then our anniversary vacation hit. We went away for the weekend of the 18 -20th. They were technically S days so I let myself buy chocolate when we went to a chocolate shop. I was surprised to find that after 10 days of no sweets everything tasted way too sweet. Privately I was glad. Perhaps my sweet tooth was broken. But later, because I could, I at more chocolate. Less sweet! Now my cravings are back!
Has anyone else experienced this? Is it easier to just not have the sweets than to sample them from time to time? Did I indulge too soon into the program? I really want to make this work. Any experienced folks out there who could advise??

[NoelFigart]

Some people do need to abstain from substances, it seems.

I used to think I was one of them, but I've found that for me trusting that there will alway be chocolate available if I want it on an S day is enough. It wasn't always. My internal talk goes like this:

Tummy Toddler: Chocolate!
Me: Today's Tuesday, so not now. Think about what you'd like on Saturday.
Tummy Toddler: No! CHOCOLATE NOW.
Me: Chocolate SATURDAY. What sounds good?
Tummy Toddler: Dark Chocolate Lindt truffle?
Me: You're on.

Like making promises to a child, though, this method really only works if you follow through. Then you learn to trust yourself, instead of trying to fool yourself all the time.

I do not know how other people are, but I have to wonder if at least part of my bad eating habits stemmed from being scared there'd NEVER BE CHOCOLATE AGAIN because I did lie to myself and try to fool myself dieting, often.

(I am also a chronic dieter, so I get where you're coming from).

[BrightAngel]

I've been dieting for 30 years!!!

I started on March 9. The first two weeks were so easy, almost fun,
because I was internally relieved to be free to eat foods I had banned throughout my lifetime.

I was surprised to find that after 10 days of no sweets everything tasted way too sweet.
Privately I was glad. Perhaps my sweet tooth was broken.
But later, because I could, I at more chocolate. Less sweet! Now my cravings are back!

Has anyone else experienced this?
Any experienced folks out there who could advise??

Hi Kittymom.
You could be describing me. This is something I experience frequently.
Each of us has to find their own way to deal with this issue.
But if I can be of any help, let me know.

[Nicest of the Damned]

They were technically S days so I let myself buy chocolate when we went to a chocolate shop. I was surprised to find that after 10 days of no sweets everything tasted way too sweet. Privately I was glad. Perhaps my sweet tooth was broken. But later, because I could, I at more chocolate. Less sweet! Now my cravings are back!
Has anyone else experienced this? Is it easier to just not have the sweets than to sample them from time to time? Did I indulge too soon into the program? I really want to make this work. Any experienced folks out there who could advise??

No, I think you're worrying about your S days too early. Right now, you should be trying to get down your N day habits. Don't worry about what you're doing on S days. Those will get more under control later.

Also, you shouldn't worry about having cravings. Cravings are just thoughts. It's not bad or a failure to have a craving. Cravings will eventually go away, just like all mental states, even if you don't do anything about them. Nothing bad will happen to you if you have a craving but don't eat anything to satisfy it. You'll maybe be a little uncomfortable for a little while, but that's all that will happen, really. You've undoubtedly put up with worse discomfort at some point in your life.

Of course, food manufacturers would like us to think that a craving is something that has to be satisfied right now or else, especially if it's a craving for their product. But it really doesn't have to be that way. And if you do get to the point where you can live with a craving and not eat something, you've gained something. Now you are in control of when and what you eat, and your cravings are not.

One thing I do when I get a craving for something is mentally step back from it. I say to myself, "I notice that my mind is craving <whatever>". Then I just leave the craving alone, and think about or do something else. The craving will eventually go away on its own, even if you don't eat anything.

[NoelFigart]

Also, you shouldn't worry about having cravings. Cravings are just thoughts. It's not bad or a failure to have a craving. Cravings will eventually go away, just like all mental states, even if you don't do anything about them. Nothing bad will happen to you if you have a craving but don't eat anything to satisfy it. You'll maybe be a little uncomfortable for a little while, but that's all that will happen, really. You've undoubtedly put up with worse discomfort at some point in your life.

I love the way you put this. We give our impulses way too much power, and our brains to little credit.

Of course the GOAL is to have habit so strong that this decision-making about food in front of us at the "wrong" time is a rarity, but that ain't happenin' early on! That's some months or years in the future.

[Nicest of the Damned]

If you're having cravings, it is a good idea to make the foods you crave inconvenient to get to at the wrong times. Don't keep snacks on your desk, or in your purse. Don't have change for the vending machine handy. Don't hang out in the kitchen, except at meal times or when you're cleaning up. You want to make it so that, if a chocolate craving hits on an N day, it will take time and effort to satisfy it.

If it takes more time to satisfy a craving, that means you have more time to think, "do I really want to do this?" If it takes more effort to satisfy a craving, you can enlist your laziness to fight against your desire to eat too much for you. There's nothing that says you can't set vices against each other.