Everyday Systems

Just wondering how much monitoring you do on S days. Do you try to limit your indulgences to one dessert? (I made a carrot cake the other day and shared some with a neighbor because I didn't want it hanging around all week.)

I personally haven't been all that successful with my N-days lately to even worry about the S days yet. This week I am plunging into the plan with my wife. I will hopefully be looking forward to an S treat this week.

I was successful with this plan last year and have just not been good at it lately. Wish us luck.

No monitoring. I give myself "unconditional permission to eat." I started to think that S meant stomach ache.

The result? A loss of about 10 pounds since September.

I follow N Day rules every time. I had one midweek exception day which was fairly tame. I think that following the N Day rules perfectly eventually leads to calm S Days.
Kathleen

I don't limit anything! I think as time goes by you will find that you will go from eating everything on S days to choosing a few special things -- be they sweets, seconds, or snacks.

I've just started so have only had two S days so far! Which makes me unworthy to comment - - just mostly wanted to wish you luck with what you are doing. I will say my strategy for the S day was basically to follow the N day plan when I was at home, and eat what I felt like eating out - - plus one sweet. If I felt like I needed more though, I would have eaten it - - because that's what S days are for. But I really didn't feel the need this weekend. As I get further along I'm sure I'll feel the need . . .

Blueskighs comment that "That's what S Days are for" says it all. If you restrict on S Days, sooner or later you'll end up messing up N Days.

Kathleen

I don't have any explicit limits for my S-days. Some of them are still pretty over the top. But it's certainly no worse than I used to eat all the time.

I think once the initial panic subsides ("must cram myself full of treats before Monday!") S days get much less excessive.

Keep your focus on the N-days, and my bet is the S-days will just fall into place without further systematic intervention.

Have you seen/heard this podcast yet?

http://everydaysystems.com/podcast/episode.php?id=34

Reinhard

When I'm really on habit, typically I will go grocery shopping on saturday morning, maybe pick up doughnuts, and then have a normal lunch and dinner followed by a treat purchased at the store--usually a king sized candy bar or maybe a pint of ice cream. I could eat half on saturday night and the other half on sunday. That was typical for a weekend at home. If we go to family or friends homes, then anything goes.

I have been back on habit pretty well for the last 3 weeks. I have felt physically crappy by the end of the S days, so I'm going to back to having one special S. unless I decide not to

I personally let my feelings of enjoyment guide my S days.
Truly, I don't really enjoy stuffing myself to the gills anymore..
Generally, I tend to have about two moderate S's per S day, but sometimes three..
They aren't all Sweets.
Have a good weekend!
Debs

After a totally yellow and red december i've refocused in January, which has made N-days a little tricky again. I'm really into numbers and lists, So i like to think of my week as having only 15 meals = only 15 decisions to make. outside of the meals, the answer is NO. the decisions process is already made. It's the best way i've come up with to deal with the friday night temptation to start my S-day at midnight

To deal with cravings I started making my S-day wish list. When something shows up at the office that I want to eat, i put it on the list.

last weekend, i only had one of the treats on the list and lots of other random extras, but it was just nice to have it during N-days to remind myself that saturday is just around the corner!

I also like to make brownies or cupcakes over the weekend, and bring in the leftovers to work on monday. they're gone in no time, its great.

best of luck!

Amyliz,
My S Days start at midnight. I am up waiting for this one to begin in 9 minutes! I lasted through five N Days, and I'm eager for the weekend to be here.
Kathleen

They vary considerably... and I don't worry about them. I pay attention to my N-days and let the S-days take care of themselves.

S-days that feel best to me look like N-days plus something really special. I still eat regular meals and drink enough (key points for me!), and then I bake something wonderful for desserts. I may snack a little if truly hungry, but only a little. The desserts are delicious, and I enjoy every bite. (It's amazing how good food tastes without the side order of guilt I used to always have with it.)

But some S-days are still out of control. I inhale food without tasting it, and perma-snack with a defiant "I'm allowed!" internal justification. I don't like those days as much, and they're growing rarer as I RECOGNIZE that I really do NOT like them. I consider them "learning days," and accept that sometimes I'm a slow learner.

Either way, I don't worry about the S-days. Come Monday, I'm back on N-days. (And if the S-days have been wild, Monday is a welcome relief!)

Well, by now, my body regulates what I have on S days, so, I just don't worry about it much any longer.
Last night I made this spanish meatball dinner that we liked very much, so I went ahead and had a tiny bit more as seconds, but, see, by now the sensation of stuffiness is a big no-no for me and my body; I can't stand the sensation any longer, so the seconds really were tiny.

I also baked a blueberry-lemon tea cake for the day, but I had only two portions, because to me the only the oportunities to have them are: breakfast, lunch and dinner; if I eat in between meals, then I'm not hungry when I should be and that throws me away and makes me cranky.
So, in the end: tiny seconds and two portions of cake.

I can't help to notice the huge change in my eating habits and limitations from years past, where I would have had second seconds and half of the tea cake and then go to bed with terrible stomach troubles and worrying sick that this might cancer of the stomach or something, I mean, it happens all the time now...
How silly I was, hahaha!.

It gets easier and easier for everyone, the key is to keep at it.