Everyday Systems

Has anyone noticed they’re getting too comfortable with this ‘diet’ or smudging the edges on meals??

I’m approaching 90 days on no-S this Friday ! As you know if you read a lot of posts, I’ve had tremendous mental success, and moderate physical success to date. I didn’t have any failures my first month, but that started to decline in the second month, and I had a terrible week around the memorial day holiday. But in the past few days, I’ve noticed that I’ve been blurring my meals somewhat, or eating a bite of lunch right at noon, but holding out for the actual meal until 1pm. Basically, I feel like I’m sliding and while I’m not eating full on snacks or sweets, I’m not as clear cut as I was in my first month.

Anyone deal with this already? And figure out how to re-instate the strictness??

I had a similar problem after I had been on No S for a while. I don't know if I would describe it the same way as you do, but suffice it to say, I wasn't happy with what I was doing, so I deleted all my Habitcals and started over with my 'fresh start'. I created 3 new Habitcals..one for No Scale, one for No S, and one for exercise.
I am now on day 30 of my new start...and am doing wonderful! Only one red No S day, one red exercise day (my goal being to exercise everyday mon to fri for at least 20min...if I did something on the weekends that was just bonus), and all green No Scale squares.
The point, for me, was to start fresh and be strict, honest and fully committed.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Organic Gal, it does! i think i might need a fresh start at the 90 day mark. i don't want to delete my habiticals though, but i wonder it thats what's needed? I wish there was a way to save them or print them? i've tried but it didn't work

Blamey, BTDT. I have a thread titled "Backsliding" somewhere that may be of interest to you.

For me, it was being unflinchingly honest about what was happening. Just acknowledging it was almost (almost!) enough to make a difference.

Good luck!

Oh - and the "strictness" podcast is always worth revisiting.

Blamey, you don't have to delete your old ones, just label your new ones 'new start No S' or something to that effect and 'add' them to your Habitcal (s) list.

I think we have to go back to our original commitment...I mean, there's a lot of things in my life that I go slack on after awhile, homeschooling being a big one. You get into an easy "rut" of being sidetracked, busy, and then all kinds of friendly excuses come up until you look back on the calendar and realize how much time you've wasted.

I always have to go back and tell myself why I made this decision to school my children at home, and if they fail, there's no one to blame but me. I'm not willing to allow that, so I get back on track.

It's the same, I think, with health matters. Asking yourself what you're willing to be responsible for, and what you've already accomplished, and how those two things fit into slacking off. Believe me, it's totally human, and totally reversible.

Going to the heart of the matter, is what's most important in my mind. [/i]

Hey Blamey,

I think that since you are aware of the backsliding at least that means you aren't deluding yourself.

You don't want to mess up 90 days!

Taking a bite of lunch before lunch sounds a little bit like "virtual plating" so me. As long as its part of what you will eat then its probably okay. But, VPlating is something that is best done after good habits are established.

You don't want to be like me and have 10 months under your belt and then screw up for almost 2 years. (My NoS success has been intermittent during that time.)

When you think about it, this diet is so easy compared to others. It could be worse. You could be couting points, or avoiding carbs or only eating 1000 calories a day, etc. etc.

But, again, Good On You for being aware.

I've been tempted to do the "one bite" thing in reverse by saving my fruit for later. "Hey, it fit on the plate, so does it really matter when I eat it?" But I know that the answer is that if I'm already full and don't want to eat the fruit, then I put too much on my plate to begin with. The answer is not to save the fruit for a snack, but to adjust the portions of my meals so that I am satisfied but not stuffed by what's on my plate. Plus, for me, shutting down the whole idea of "what should I have to eat" in the afternoon is helpful.

Whenever I've noticed funny behaviors sneaking in, I just tell myself "next time that's a red on the habitcal." I'll speak it into my recorder or write it on my "big picture" so I can't wriggle out of it. Works wonders.

If anything, I'm more strict now than I was 6 years ago when I started.

Reinhard

Reinhard wrote:

If anything, I'm more strict now than I was 6 years ago when I started.

that is actually comforting to me, I can see how "loosening up" could lead to big problems for me,

I find that being strict with No S rules has been very key, for WITHIN those rules is actually a lot of freedom and latitude,

Blueskighs

thanks for all the feedback! just reading these posts is a great boost to my commitment to the rules. Reinhard - thanks for the post, and i like the idea of threatening myself that next time, it will be red!

Amyliz

blueskighs wrote:I find that being strict with No S rules has been very key, for WITHIN those rules is actually a lot of freedom and latitude,

Couldn't have said it better, Blue!

Amyliz, thanks for starting this thread. It's been a great one for me. Not that I think I've been backsliding yet, but I have wondered about the future. Now I will know what to do if and, probably more appropriately, when...

This thread actually stopped me from "fudging" my lunch a bit... I grabbed a big container of watermelon chunks out of the fridge this morning, and was just going to eat them b/c "it's only watermelon."

Yeah, but it was a lot. I got a plate, put the rest of my lunch on it, filled it with watermelon...and still gave half away.

I REALLY like the "next time, this is a red" approach - thanks, Reinhard. That allows for one gray area while you're deciding, which is so much more forgiving than going straight to red - or worse, not being strict enough b/c red is too hard to face.

[/quote]this thread actually stopped me from "fudging" my lunch a bit... I grabbed a big container of watermelon chunks out of the fridge this morning, and was just going to eat them b/c "it's only watermelon."

That was my issue and refrain! the 'its only' excuse was where i was getting fuzzy. meanwhile, i have to laugh at how powerful that little red square is! its hilarious that the square can motivate me to NOT eat a single piece of a peach between meals!

today is 90 days! woohoo!

Blamey,

90 days is WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blueskighs

This was the perfect post for me. There have been several times that I have stuck something in my mouth rationalizing that I am virtually putting it on my plate. I see how easily fudging can be an excuse for drifting.

Thanks for the encouraging re-direction.

Resting

Hey Resting, yes since making this post, i've realized that it was the 'virtual plating' that was tripping me up. but i had a good week last week! and so far so good today ...

I'm a numbers person, so I try to focus on the idea of 3 meals = 3 decisions a day, and only 15 decisions a week (on N-days)! Which is a significant drop from the countless food decisions i was constantly making. Now, if its not one of the three times, the answer is easy, don't eat it!