Everyday Systems

After a seven year hiatus, I'm trying this again.

I had four successful N days this past week.



At 45, I am officially no longer hanging out at the top of the "normal, healthy" weight band and have crept up into "overweight" territory. For the first time, my doctor mentioned I might want to lose some weight. My youngest child is now 10 years old, so I guess it's not baby weight anymore! I hope that I can sort this out before "the change" and my hormones start to mess with my metabolism in a big way.

I have tried, on and off, various low-carb diets including a recent experiment with a paleo/primal style of eating. Sweets aren't my problem, but snacking seems to have been the beast I need to slay.

Apparently, eating a cup of cashews (paleo!) whenever I was feeling peckish wasn't helping me lose weight. Likewise, with bacon treats whenever I walked by the fridge. I knew there was trouble when I found some delicious avocado oil-fried cassava chips (paleo!) at the market. Perhaps eating 4/5 of the entire bag in one sitting with (paleo!) a tub of guacamole before dinner wasn't a good idea.



My mods/tweaks:

S days for me are Friday and Saturday since my husband and I enjoy a Friday cocktail and small-plate meal at the end of the work week. Plus, my work often brings in treats on Fridays and I want to plan accordingly.

Alcohol is a sweet and saved for S days.

S day Snacks have to be deliberate and off a plate, if eaten at all. I'm trying to avoid snacking all week.

Due to paleo/atkins training, I'm avoiding white bread and refined carbs as a side dish. I will start to eat some sensible carbs as components of a meal/dish. No more freaking out about the crust on a quiche or the breading on some fish. No more worrying about the tortilla shell on a taco. No more lettuce-wrapped sandwiches or pizza without crust (which had ended up with me eating an entire pound of pepperoni and jar of olives)! Just sensible moderation.

During the week, I am sticking with IF/intermittent fasting schedule. Breakfast at 10, Lunch at 1:00, a deliberate tea time milky drink at 4:00 and Dinner at 6:30 or earlier if possible. This schedule has worked well for me in the past and shortens the problematic snacking windows during the day.

Late night snacking is usually not a problem for me, but mid-morning and mid-afternoon perma-snacking was really bad.

Wish me luck, and so happy to be back.

I just realized I should probably start a daily/weekly periodic check in. See you in that board soon!

mashed wrote:
S day Snacks have to be deliberate and off a plate, if eaten at all. I'm trying to avoid snacking all week.

Welcome back! I hope it goes well for you. (And being just barely on the side of overweight sounds pretty good to me right now! But I'm teetering on the edge between overweight & obese, hoping to finish that transition into "just" overweight in this next month or two!) Anyway, good for you for getting on top of things early though.

Great post and I especially like this mod! Whenever I snack "out of the bag" on weekends, I always regret it!

mashed wrote:Apparently, eating a cup of cashews (paleo!) whenever I was feeling peckish wasn't helping me lose weight. Likewise, with bacon treats whenever I walked by the fridge. I knew there was trouble when I found some delicious avocado oil-fried cassava chips (paleo!) at the market. Perhaps eating 4/5 of the entire bag in one sitting with (paleo!) a tub of guacamole before dinner wasn't a good idea.

A deep, insightful observation.

You are so lucky that sweets are not your thing. Getting the overeating in check is going to pay off in spades later, but I doubt that will really sink in now. I could not have been swayed by what would happen in my senior years at your age, but trust me when I say you will be greatly decreasing your odds of so much of what makes aging a drag if you take this to the mat. Do you have children? See yourself being able to interact with grandchildren in a vibrant way, being able to direct your finances and other life choices for much longer than many (though not all- we have an obese 82-year old teacher still working at my high school and the most adept at using technology to teach on the campus) overeating peers.

Of course, seeing great scenes sooner than that is good motivation, too.

I have lost all my extra weight after menopause, but I think there'd be a lot less sagging if I hadn't gained so much in the first place. I was in the slightly overweight range and rose to low obese in fits and starts during my 40's and 50's.

Welcome home.

It is heartening to hear of success after age 40. When I started 7 years ago I was thinking the same thing (lose weight now, it will get harder later....) but I also just wanted to look cute. Now I'm more conservative with my goal weight and I mostly want to be healthier. Healthier now, and when I have grandkids. My mother is in her early 60s and her weight seriously impacts her life. It is sad. I don't want to be like that.

I have a teen and a pre-teen and they are both strong and fast. I am definitely the slowest and weakest hiker/swimmer/climber in the family now. This summer was a wakeup call.

It was my son's birthday yesterday and I made brownies. Um, er...I certainly did have a sweet tooth yesterday. Yikes.

But this is only my second S weekend and I did feel myself enjoying the second and third sweet over the course of the day knowing that my N day starts tomorrow.

It is a relief to know that the leftover brownies are off limits now. Whew.

Hey it was your son's birthday and a Saturday, so don't beat yourself up over some brownies. I love brownies too.

Who would have thunk a "diet" could be a refuge?

I had one red day since last posting. It was a day when lunch was supposed to be provided at work but by the time I got to the buffet there wasn't much left. So I had a feeding frenzy when I got home (5pm) and then had the nice dinner planned for 6:30 pm.

Husband said it didn't count but I think it did...it wasn't planned and it was definitely not controlled. I wanted to record a red day and be able to recover from it and not just give up on noS entirely.

I weigh in on Mondays and Fridays. S days are Fridays and Saturdays. Weight loss fluctuating a bit but my jeans are no longer tight and I feel calmer about food.

I had brown rice with a meal this week and it was nice not to freak about carbs or paleo.

I officially finished the last of the avocado oil cassava chips yesterday. No more of the healthy paleo junk food junk in the house. That stuff messes with my head, sending mixed messages.

"healthy paleo junk food" Good one.

Enjoy every bite of something else!