Catch yourself succeeding

No Snacks, no sweets, no seconds. Except on Days that start with S. Too simple for you? Simple is why it works. Look here for questions, introductions, support, success stories.

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pangelsue
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Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 2:13 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Catch yourself succeeding

Post by pangelsue » Fri Apr 06, 2007 3:54 am

The more I read, the more I feel the pain and frustration we all feel when we fail. We all want this to succeed so bad and yet many of us have problems making it work.
It seems to me that we all spend a lot of time putting ourselves down for being weak, being unable to do this or any other diet, for being out of control. We rant on and on about our weaknesses, failures and lack of courage and stict-to-a-tivity.
Well, you know what???? We all do well sometimes too. We never post about successes unless it is accompanied by a sizable weight loss. We really must start stacking up the positive chatter. There is a load of negativity in our heads that needs to be offset with positive support.

Let's start a post of success stories. Every time someone does something right or beats off a snack or faces a stress or fear, record it here. I don't know about any one else, but I am really tired of feeling like a failure. It is a downer reading post after post about how this isn't working. One day at a time, it can work.We can help each other by showing each other it is possible.

I will start off. I have had a couple of slips ups in the last 10 days but I have had 8 great days where I fought off stress and depression. I told myself all the right things, drank some warm tea a couple of times to tide me over to the next meal and praised myself for my success. I have walked away from the snack machine with my money still in my hand and a curse on my lips because it was so hard. That feels so good, I can't even find the words to express it. Technically, it was not 10 days in perfect habit but it was 10 very successful days and I am proud of them.
Now someone else's turn. Even if you only made it through one bad time, let's hear about it. How did you do it? PLEASE! Let's have some joy and victory stories.
A lot of growing up happens between "it fell" and "I dropped it."

kccc
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Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:12 am

Post by kccc » Fri Apr 06, 2007 6:58 pm

Today is a frantic day, topping off a frantic week and leading into a frantic weekend.

I still went to Yoga at lunch.

The days I most want to tell myself "I don't have time" are the days I need it most. I am gradually learning that.

(Not exactly No-S, but connected.)

Oh, I DO have a No-S one... I was given a whole pizza (leftover from a work function) and ate "dinner" from it while still at work, a couple of hours earlier than normal. Not good...except...I stopped after a "one-plate" serving, and actually let that really BE supper. It was one of those could-have-been-the-start-of-a-binge-but-wasn't moments.

Jaxhil
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Joined: Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:33 pm

Post by Jaxhil » Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:46 pm

Great idea pangelsue!

I know what you mean-I made a promise to myself when I started up No-S again to be gentle with myself and forgiving, as I would a friend who had slip ups. This has worked *WONDERS* for me (that, and especially having my wonderful No-s buddy Tiffani -AKA shamrockmommy-to check in with daily!).

And you know what? I am sticking with it this time!! We are almost up to our second set of the Nos 21 day club membership (third for Tiffani!) and I admit..I have had some (very minor) slips. But they really were minor-so I have given myself permission to not be a perfectionist and beat myself up over it-which I would have in the past, believe me!! I realize that it's the overall behavior that's important-not the occasional slip up-and I am choosing to focus on the 95% compliance to staying on habit rather than the 5% of the time that I screw up. I have beat myself up long enough! That is how I got into this boat in the first place. I refuse to do it anymore. If I manage to stay on habit 95% of the time, then I count my day as a success. I give myself a green sticker and say I'm good, I did well today.

Now, I *am* trying to be honest with myself! If I have a major slip-eat a big piece of cake, or have seconds, or a real snack-y(more than a bite or two) not in conjunction with a meal, I would count that as a failure. But I have found that by being gentle with myself, I have not had the urge to cheat. It's as if by giving myself permission to *not* be perfect, I am making it much easier to succeed. I don't berate myself internally (or outloud, LOL! I've done that in the past!) and by doing so I don't feel the out of proportion guilt and cause myself to *really* binge uncontrollably like I used to. That kind of thing just sets you up for another failure-at least it did me. The (real) guilt I felt would invariably cause me to give up.

I used to hear myself thinking, I am just not made to diet. I can't stick with anything-I'll never be able to do this-well I did well today, but I always mess up eventually!-and on, and on and ON... I still catch these thoughts trying to sneak in sometimes, and I REFUSE to listen to THAT voice anymore! Instead I look at myself as a friend would and counter the negative banter with postitve words, encouraging words-I never would've believed I could do that-or better yet that it would actually make a *difference*, lol, but you know what? Practice makes it easier! I don't hear the negative stuff nearly as often anymore!

This time around (God willing) I am taking it ONE DAY AT A TIME. I am *not* thinking about the long haul, just today! It is too overwhelming for me to ask myself daily, gee do I think I can keep this up? What if I do well for a while, then screw up?! This is exactly the kind of thinking that has had me quiting over and over in the past. I don't want to quit this time-and taking it slowly is making all the difference. It takes the fear of the future out of it. It makes me only responsible for today. And I know I can do it for ONE DAY 8) For goodness sake, I can handle it today, that I know!

And this has translated into success since February 28, 2007.

Hallelujah! :D Thanks from the bottom of my heart, Reinhard!! Your dedication to keeping this site going (not to mention (un)common sense and wisdom!) is greatly appreciated!
Hilary
_______

"Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity."-St Augustine

"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."-Thomas Jefferson

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MerryKat
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Post by MerryKat » Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:34 am

Pangalsue, thanks for this - it is a great idea and we would all do better if we focused on our successes rather than our failings.

Every Tuesday night we watch Prison Break and for some reason it has become a snack with tea night.

Last night I did not give in!! My DH had some chocolate and I did not even contemplating joining him.

For me this is HUGE and I feel so pleased with me.
Hugs from Sunny South Africa
Vanilla No S with no Sugar due to Health issues - 11 yrs No S - September 2016 (some good, some bad (my own doing) but always the right thing for me!)

Sinnie
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Post by Sinnie » Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:13 pm

Great idea -

Well, this morning I had a good, solid breakfast. Just now at about 10:10am I wanted a snack, and usually I would just give in. But I'm not, and not just because it's a "rule" but because I thought about it and realized I'm not even hungry, just habit.

cvmom
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Location: California

Post by cvmom » Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:39 am

Merry Kat:

My husband does the same thing. (Although we could be watching House or Grey's or 24...) He always wants me to "join in" with his little dessert episodes. But, I have kind of got used to saying "No thanks" in a polite way.

Pangalasue, thanks for reminding me that I need to focus on what I'm doing correctly instead of all of my "off days". (Quite a few up until 10 days ago).

My little coup had to have been on Friday night when I went with my family to the cinema. I had a latte, instead of a bag of M&M's. It really wasn't a big deal, and frankly, I could have blown off my No S week. But since I was posting again I knew that I didn't want to post a failure and have to start all over again.

Dru

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MerryKat
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Post by MerryKat » Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:19 am

I had another success last night. Once a week my in-laws come round for dinner and we always end up having "a little something" after dinner. This can be ice-cream, chocolate or dried fruit bars.

Well last night I organised all their goodies with tea and I refrained! I felt so pleased with me.

Dru well done on the latte instead of M&M's.
Hugs from Sunny South Africa
Vanilla No S with no Sugar due to Health issues - 11 yrs No S - September 2016 (some good, some bad (my own doing) but always the right thing for me!)

zoolina
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Post by zoolina » Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:21 am

This is going to sound like a weird form of success, but I've given up the no snacking rule and I feel great! I call it "Chocolate No S" and there are only two rules: No empty calories and no eating after dinner (except on S days, sometimes). By empty calries I mean sweets, salty snack foods, and alcohol.

This is working really well for me. I was finding it , even after 5 months of attempted habit building, a daily struggle to not eat between meals. Taking the pressure off there has made it a lot easier for me to focus on being strict about the two rules I do have. And the funny thing is, I'm not snacking so much more than I was in the last few months of raggedy success/failure days.

Of course, I don't anticipate losing a whole lot of weight this way (I wasn't losing with No S, anyway, because by trying not to snack I just ate enormous meals to see me through to the next one) But I can hardly imagine that I'll gain weight. And it's so easy!

So I guess my success is in giving up trying to eat by someone else's rules (with all respect to Reinhard, because I love this site and his no nonsense take on forming habit and "extreme moderation") and finding rules of my own I can stick to and live with.

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