Help I've fallen...

ou812 · Post by **ou812** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:41 am

Hi Guys. I have't posted here in a while, but I still read weekly. I had some really good habits in the spring and summer. When I started back to work in the Fall (I'm a teacher.) Stress seemed to knock those good habits right out of me. How do I get back to the good habits? I can't seem to get started again. I haven't really managed to put on much weight at this point because I have been working out regularly and urban rangering, but I don't want to have to drop pounds again. I appreciate any suggestions.

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:48 am

Random ideas...

- Connect back to "what were you doing when you were successful." What were your goals? What inspired you? What habits worked?

- Pare it down until you can be successful. If that means thinking "one day at a time," that's great. If you need to phase in habits one at a time, that's fine.

- Get analytical. Where do you fall off? What can you change there to help you keep your resolve?

Explore what you can keep, chuck, change, and create (the basis of my username, btw) to be more successful.

Best wishes!

mimi · Post by **mimi** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:47 pm

Being a teacher also, I can relate to what you are saying! I too, found great success with NoS last spring and summer and lost almost 20 pounds. Then came vacation, the start of school, and the birth of two new grandchildren - so it was good stress and bad stress! To the point - I stopped Noessing while I was busy with everything else. I tried to come back twice, without success. In the meantime, I gained back all the weight and feel miserable. I was right back to obsessing about everything I ate or didn't eat. On the first of this month I decided to get back with NoS simply because it's the only thing I know of that works for me to lose weight and to stop obsessing about food. I knew I had to take it one day at a time - or I feel overwhelmed (as KCCC says also). I also find it extremely motivating at the end of each day to walk over to the calendar on my refrigerator and mark a huge green X through the day. Those are the two things that have helped me get back on track with NoS. In these two short weeks (although the first few days were VERY hard for me) I have begun to feel more peaceful about food and good about myself. I haven't weighed and probably won't until 21 days. Somewhere in the posts I also remember reading that Reinhard said it takes some people multiple tries before becoming truly successful with NoS. Maybe this is the time for you and me! Hang in there and I'll do the same!!

ou812 · Post by **ou812** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:11 am

I have never really used the habit calendar. I tried using the Habitcal online, but I think I need a "low-tech" calendar just hanging on the fridge. I think that I will also start with one habit at a time. I will just cut out the sweets. Easier said than done at this time of year. My wife just returned from a cookie exchange, lots of good samples. Ok. It looks like I'll need to start tomorrow on this one.

Savita · Post by **Savita** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 6:08 am

Baby steps. That's what will work.

Take it a day at a time and when you've succeeded a full day, celebrate it with a sticker or some such sign on your calendar. Nothing motivates me more in keeping up a good habit than to see a whole lot of my "habit stickers" marching through my calendar day after day.

In my experience it takes approx. 21 days for a habit to stick and then I'm more or less on auto-pilot. And when I fall off the wagon (am human after all!) I try not to beat myself up over it and get back to baby stepping.

All the best!

Savita

Post by **reinhard** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:40 pm

ou812,

If the online habit cal is too scary and technological, a paper calendar will work just fine.

Stress is tough... but unfortunately for most of us stress is a given. Life is stress with a few intermissions of relative calm. We have to figure out how to make our habits works in stressful times.

I've also found that regular habits actually help reduce stress, that stressful times are the MOST important times for regular habits. It might seem like they'd add to your stress level it by adding more things to do and stress about, but if your habits are relatively unobtrusive, and you are good about adhering to them, they become this satisfying and calming metronome in the background, they give you a feeling of stability that makes you better able to deal with the less regular stresses.

Best of luck and keep us posted,

Reinhard

Hunter Gatherer · Post by **Hunter Gatherer** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:59 pm

If you think a paper calender is a good idea you might find a special pen/marker to cross out the days or, as Savita said, stickers. As a teacher I am sure you know just how inspiring stickers can be, and not just for the little ones. Older kids love stickers too, and we're all kids at heart.

I still occasionally have weeks that start off with "Only 5 days till ice-cream!" (or whatever the current craving is). This little mental count-down helps keep me on track. (Even I can wait 5 days, right?) And sometimes by the middle of the week I forget about the craving.

My latest trick is hoarding. I buy whatever I want, then stick it in the cupboard until the time is right. This results in some hilarious pile-ups. Some things I've eaten a couple and now the rest languish untouched. Others wait and wait and then -poof- one weekend they're gone. Bringing them to meetings with friends helps this occur.

Can you plan your lunch and breakfast? This has really helped me. The pounds are falling off! (Hyperbole! but it did get me unstuck from a plateau) I already know what I'm having for breakfast and lunch the night before, sometimes further in advance. Very much in advance for my lunches- they only vary in the type of applesauce I eat with my quesadilla. This also speeds things up (important for teachers!).

Like everybody always says: hydrate! Drink plenty of water. It suppresses appetite and is good for you. I get dehydration headaches if I don't get my fix.

Hope some of these were helpful.