Everyday Systems

Hi everyone! Just popped in to catch up and see how everyone is doing with the challenge.
I haven't been active a lot lately on here or100% faithful to NO S but not giving up! plugging on. Haha.

Update below.

I've been crazy busy with work lately but am still keeping on and will check in from time to time!

I just looked at four months of habit cal and noted:

--I accomplished a 21-day compliant streak at the end of December/Early January.
--February was about half green, half red. I got sick and everything fell apart. This is not an excuse, just an explanation.
--In March I decided to be way more honest about marking days red. Sometimes I'll have a great day, but eat a few bites of something after dinner. I used to mark that green, so I don't know about the validity of the 21-day streak mentioned above.
--Due to the new honesty in record-keeping policy, March has splashes of red in it, but for some reason, they have helped me get back on track much faster.Something about lying to myself made it easier to start over-eating.
--My goal is to get a 21-day streak for real. I have 3 days so far.

Bumping this up in this first week of the second quarter of 2018.

Update below.

Good or bad, let's check in. If you've been posting regularly to you thread, feel free to copy and past the link here.

I've been experimenting with changing what's on my plate for only the first three days of the week. I am doing it for other purposes than weight loss. It's a change that would be painful if I thought I had to do it every day. I'm committed to it until the summer solstice. If I don't feel it's worth the result, I'll stop then. Given that it's only 3 days at a time, and that I want to see if it will really do what I'd like, it's been pretty easy to stick to. It makes going back to my regular routine seem like a party! It's been only a few weeks so it might feel easier and routine as time goes on.

Hello all!

Would it be weird if i were to join this challenge now, in MAY?

Not at all just join in.

I only started in March but am pleased so far with how it is going


Jx

I thought that I had aimed for this challenge. Maybe I saw it too far for me and I did not know if I would be able to stay that long in No S.
Now I am sure that I am capable and I ask the same as Marina. Can I join now?

Welcome! I think it's a perfect time to join. We still have half the year to go. And to "train" for the holidays Never too early to get ready for them.

You can participate any way you like, but most people have started an individual thread and check in here only periodically. Or they track on the monthly challenge. But you don't have to do that, either. You can just keep track on your own and catch us up once in awhile.

Finish May as green as possible!

I have committed to check in here at least once a month for the year.
If I have not posted again by July 15, then someone please PM me & ask what's up.

Jan - post-holiday mania, solid red
Feb - first half still red, but then solid green
Mar - Solid green except for 1 NWS - made 21 Day Club
Apr - A real slog, but I survived with only 4 reds.
May - Still a struggle, 6 reds, but last half of month was solid green.

Dat's a lot of green for the year, it seems to me.

Checking in! I keep saying I'm going to get back into the monthly challenges but never do. Been doing too mch emotional eating! Boooo! Not giving up. I'm trying to stop watching and reading about diets but it is truly an addiction! The past week I've been doing better though.

MM, go on a "diet book" diet. And a media one, too. It IS a kind of addiction. It feeds this fantasy of the perfect body and all the admiration and approval we believe will come with it. This makes our brain feel good! But then, we need more and more, and the discrepancy between what is and what we think we should have gets stronger and we feel worse and worse!

You can do it!

June - still plugging away. Down 7 lbs. since Jan 1.

Almost half done. Good going!

July - Yikes! 7 days of funny stuff. Not sure whether to count as red or NWS since we had out of state guests. NoS is definitely easier for me when it is just a normal routine day with no social temptations. Oh well, there were still 15 days of green, so I made a good effort.

I have not been commenting here, but I'm still in. I mostly do my daily check-in thread instead. My one-year No S anniversary will be in late September.

I've been using the HabitCal to track my success and failure days.

Aug - Only 2 Fails.
When I follow NoS rules, I see & feel results. It's still hard, but the commitment to check in here publicly makes it more doable for me to comply.

A little over 25% of the year left, and probably the most important two months: last chance to "train" for the holidays.

Sep - off to a bad start but finished the month solid green

jenji & oolala, thanks for commenting.
I was starting to feel like the Lone Ranger.
Maggie Mae, I hope you are still on board.

I am still on board, EP! Haven't been faithful the whole time, but trying to get strict now so I don't go completely off the rails during the holidays!

I started in March and have pretty much stuck to the plan so far

Jx

I've logged a fair number of red days, but many greens as well. I have finished a year on No S, and I am all-around happier with my eating as a result, despite still working on solidifying the habits.

I seem to have one fail per week. Maybe I should do a 21-day challenge to shoot for all green weekdays...

Oct - 5 red days, some worth it, most far from it. Still struggling but still losing when I do keep with the plan.

I'd bed compared to where you were a year ago with your eating you are way ahead of the game.

oolala53 wrote:I'd bed compared to where you were a year ago with your eating you are way ahead of the game.

This is absolutely true for me. I could have continued the pattern of gaining one or more pounds last year, and saying the words "I am trying to lose weight" as though they were a magic spell. Instead, I have a plan to follow, habits that are starting to solidify, and I am down 17 pounds, which is not everything I need, but not nothing. It is a visible difference.

Way to go on losing17 pounds jenji! That's awesome! I have been missing from the forum, trying to escape diet mentality. I realized my disordered eating and thoughts were deeper than I thought and even the sane rules of no S were causing me some issues so I have been working on just trying to love myself, and eating more fruits and vegetables and walking the dog a little more, etc. I am also thinking about weighing myself on new year's day and then having my hubby hide the scales. I actually stared at my section of diet and nutrition books today....they have they're own giant section on my book shelf. And I actually thought the someday I might be able to get rid of them. Not yet, but maybe someday. I want no s to be my habit, but I'm trying to get there without it becoming just another " diet" that my brain feels like it needs to rebel against. I'm tired of eating a snack or having a sweet and having that Last supper mentality..... I'll get back on the wagon tomorrow so might as well live it up this evening!!! And I've also been working on trying to want these habits, even if it means I never lose weight. That's sooo hard for me. But I need to get sanity around food more than I need to wear a smaller size. Whew, sorry I unloaded all of that on you guys but guess that's my update.

I am glad to see the end of this challenge.
The accountability helped me to keep plugging along, but it was a real chore.
The yearlong commitment was a good exercise, though, and I am glad I stuck with it.
I much prefer the monthly time frame and will continue those as long as I feel the need...