Huge Plates

dockanz · Post by **dockanz** » Mon May 04, 2009 7:15 pm

I just went to a restaurant for lunch and the plate of food they brought me was probably large enough to feed most of my family. I stopped about 1/3 of the way through. Just because you can eat 1 plate of food for each meal, doesn't mean you need to.

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:58 pm

Good idea. You can eat half of the plate and then bring the other half home so you can have it for lunch the next day, that sort of thing ...

I've been splitting meals lately too ... for example I save my small plain yogurt and half banana, apple or pear now ... I used to have it in the morning with my breakfast. Now I have it a couple of hours later instead, this way it keeps my energy up and I don't feel as hungry.

I don't count this as a snack since I would have had it in the morning anyway, it's just delayed to help me out when I need it ... This could probably help others as well who are struggling with the tough 'No Snack' part of the diet.

Tips you learn when you're dieting, with all those tweaks it makes it more easy for me ! Saving food like this for later helps me to avoid 'cheating'.

It's like when I'm working out, learning new things, techniques, tweaking my work outs a lil' bit, etc.

Weigh in tomorrow morning for me, I am not too worried since I have been quite good in the past 4-5 days.

Cheers !

Marc

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:26 pm

I'm glad it works for you, but I wouldn't recommend that in general -- because I think one thing No S does is teach us not to constantly eat, and eating in between breakfast and dinner doesn't help change that snacking/incessant eating habit. I know that for me, dividing up my breakfast, EVEN THOUGH IT'S THE EXACT SAME AMOUNT OF FOOD, would be counter-productive.

I think the fact that it's hard to go from breakfast to lunch without eating in between is a pretty good indication that it's something we need to learn to do.

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Tue May 05, 2009 12:22 am

Yeah, it's all good ... of course.

I just think that something that makes it easier is positive for me in the end, same amount of food, just spread out a lil' bit more in time ...

I'm not sayin' everyone should do it of course. It's just something I have been experiencing with successfully in the past week or two. It prevents me from getting cravings pretty well so I am pleased.

I usually save the plain yogurt and half fruit for the time in between breakfast and lunch or in between lunch and dinner ... sometimes I save something from dinner too and have it in the evening after my SHOVELGLOVIN'/Cardio session ...

I think anything that prevents me from pigging out in between meals is really awesome, especially since no calories have been added to the total amount for the day, I would have had those things anyway, I just have 'em at a different time when I am more likely to need 'em, in between meals or after a work out. Every lil' bit helps and this is a 'tweak' I have been experiencing with lately to prevent me from falling off the wagon.

Side note, today I was doing YARD WORK (that's really a good way to exercise too, digging holes in the ground to plant a couple of small trees ... I think I'd like to dig a hole in the yard, in the corner, then fill it up, dig it up, fill it up ... a daily thing, you know ... digging the hole for 15 minutes and then filling it up, repeat daily. It's a lil' crazy, so I love the idea !!

I find my hands and arms are stronger now that I SHOVELGLOVE, I am shoveling more vigorously than ever, even using a real shovel today felt really good and I was handling it quite well too.

Cheers !

Marc

la_loser · Post by **la_loser** » Tue May 05, 2009 1:42 am

Dockanz,

I've found that the division of food even prior to starting a restaurant meal is very freeing; when I see that the portion size on that huge oval plate is the equivalent of two or maybe three meals, I order a takeout box right away and divide it before I even start. . . otherwise, I might find myself picking at it, moving the "dividing line", etc. Then at work the next day, the others are jealous of my tasty lunch. Sometimes, I'll have to add some veggies to it but it's all good!

I completely agree with Thalia about taking items away from one meal to eat at a later time. Many of us would completely begin to make deals with ourselves and rationalize that something "would" have fit on our earlier plate. . . When we build the no snacks habit and eat at meals, we have enough intake that we WILL be sustained till the next MEAL. Otherwise we're just falling back into that "we need a snack to hold us over" mentality.

From the NO S homepage: "The problem is primarily one of self-discipline, and if you start making all kinds of exceptions, you'll fail."

And also: "Conventional wisdom ("just don't eat too much") is like the boss whose instructions are too vague ("just do it") and refuses further clarification ("isn't it obvious?"). The only thing that's clear is that you aren't doing your job.

The No S Diet is like The Good Boss. You have just enough direction to do your job, but not so much that you resent its imposition. You have a solid framework, but the details are up to you. You have sufficient guidance and sufficient freedom. It's a system without too much system."

It's so great to have No S and its simple, nonrestrictive sustainable guidelines--I CAN live with it!

dockanz · Post by **dockanz** » Tue May 05, 2009 10:21 am

Thanks for the thoughts. FWIW, I also agree that borrowing from one meal as a snack later is a dangerous idea for me. If I wanted to do that, I would have stayed on WW.

guadopt1997 · Post by **guadopt1997** » Tue May 05, 2009 12:11 pm

dockanz wrote:Thanks for the thoughts. FWIW, I also agree that borrowing from one meal as a snack later is a dangerous idea for me. If I wanted to do that, I would have stayed on WW.

I agree. Before you know it, you're making your meals just a little bit bigger than they need to be so you can "save" part of the meal to have later, as a snack, i.e., a no-S failure...

My understanding of the first post, was saving part of a huge restaurant meal for another meal.

TunaFishKid · Post by **TunaFishKid** » Tue May 05, 2009 12:42 pm

dockanz wrote:... borrowing from one meal as a snack later is a dangerous idea for me. If I wanted to do that, I would have stayed on WW.

I agree. For me, "no snacking" seems to be the most important part of No S. Every day since I started No S, I find myself more and more shocked to discover just how often I was eating throughout the day. Self-deception is a very powerful thing.

~reneew · Post by **~reneew** » Tue May 05, 2009 4:51 pm

O.K. Marc...I'll pick on you too. I agree that bending the rules leads to cheating (I'm an expert) Be careful! We'd hate for you to gain back 50

When I'm faced with a huge plate of food at a resteraunt, I try to save half, or ask for a take-out container before I even start eating. One time the waitress refused...and I ate it all. I hated her

Kinda.
I love love love to cook and bake. When I make a favorite and want to eat more and I know that leftovers are up for grabs in our house (6 of us), I put it in a container and label it "Mom's" and they won't touch it!!! They think I've had it on my plate or something.

If they threaten to take it I tell them that I licked it

That stops them! For those of you that think that's wierd... try living with teens!!!

I used to snitch off of their plates when they were little and one time I snitched a small chunk of steak from my son's plate. While chewing I said "you didn't chew on this or anything did you?" He said "yea...it was tough" That was the end of my stealing off of their plates!!!

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Tue May 05, 2009 5:03 pm

the waitress REFUSED? That's crazy! Did she not want your tip?

Marc, the planting sounds great. It's nice to feel like all that work has had a practical result, giving you a stronger more useful body, isn't it?

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Tue May 05, 2009 5:48 pm

Yeah, Renee, I know it's technically against the 'No snacking' rule, but I've been finding this makes it easier for me ...

(People heckling and booing !!) Boooooooo !!
I'm used to being picked on, don't worry !

I am a bit against that rule anyway, it all depends on what item you are snacking ... snacking on celery/carrots/cucumber isn't the same as snacking on Krispy Kreme donuts in my opinion. It prevents you from getting in trouble later on. Anyway this is what *I* do, I'm not forcing anyone else to do the same either.

I don't feel guilty about it since it's the same amount of food in the end, no calories are added ... It prevents me from getting frustrated and binging on bad food as well. It's all really controlled, I am still noting it down on my daily piece of paper, what I'll be having today and when ... I carry it in my pocket.

Also since I work out a lot I need some fuel before and after my work outs ... I could faint if I went out cycling like a mad man on an empty stomach. That's why I started saving my yogurt and 1/2 fruit for later. Energy booster.

I can have those 1/4 hour before working out and I am fine. The I come home an hour later and I have a tbsp of molasses and 5 raw unsalted almonds. Cycling on an empty stomach, I wouldn't be able to perform as I usually do or I'd be fainting ... .... fainting ... hehe ! Funny idea !!!

Yes, Thalia, I have noticed my arms and hands are much stronger now compared to months ago before I started training ... good benefit. Since you spend all day grabbing this and that, lifting grocery bag and whatnot, it's quite useful when you have strong hands and arms ... I'm sure they'll improve even more after months and years of doing this regularly ...

Cheers !

Marc

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Tue May 05, 2009 6:34 pm

Marc, any mod that you make for yourself is of course fine - and what you're doing is obviously working quite well for you. It's just a bit confusing (especially for new people) to see advice that's clearly in opposition to the basics of No-S, and (IMHO) not particularly helpful as a result. Perhaps clearly labeling as "Not No-S, but what works for me..." each time??

For me, snacking on carrots or whatever IS as bad as snacking on Krispy Kremes - as counterintuitive as that sounds. That's because once I've eaten "healthy" stuff as a snack, my actual meal quality suffers drastically. I feel that I can put something obviously bad on my plate because I've already had my veggies. Plus, it's hard to keep track of what I've really eaten.

Reinhard says it best...

"No snacks" is the rule that people seem to have the most trouble accepting. But I think it's also the most important rule.

You can read more on the rationale for that on the main No-S page.

Back to the main topic... Restaurants are really an issue for me. If I eat at them a lot, I have to pay attention. Sometimes I think of the plates as "platters" (not plates) and manage accordingly. Other times, I'll actually modify No-S myself

by falling back on "counting" behavior and looking up calories - in part b/c restaurant food is incredibly deceptive. So often I've chosen something I thought was healthy, only to find it's amazingly full of fat/calories!

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Tue May 05, 2009 6:43 pm

First of all, I know what you mean. I got Chinese the other night, one of the dinner selections and as usual, I only ate half. The other half made a great lunch.

Second, I also snack sometimes. Sometimes it's some peanuts, other times it's a handful of Chex. Otherwise, I'm SO GRUMPY, irritable, and void of energy. Not fun.

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Tue May 05, 2009 6:44 pm

Nicer, more expensive restaurants are usually much better about this -- they'll bring you a plate with a reasonably-sized meal on it, while Chili's/Outback/Red Lobster/TGI Friday's and their ilk know that their food isn't very good, so they try to entice you by giving you a LOT of it. See, we're giving you value! Look at that heaped platter o' greasy flash-frozen stuff!

Also, I can't afford to eat at expensive restaurants often, so it's naturally self-limiting. There's no way I'm going to get fat on going to Campanile twice a year.

I also do better at restaurants where the food is served in serving dishes, and you have a separate dinner plate to put it on -- Indian, Chinese, and Thai are all good for this. I can serve myself a plate of rice and curry and salad and naan, and see exactly how much I'm eating, and they never give you attitude about the to-go boxes.

Too solid flesh · Post by **Too solid flesh** » Tue May 05, 2009 6:46 pm

~reneew wrote:When I'm faced with a huge plate of food at a resteraunt, I try to save half, or ask for a take-out container before I even start eating. One time the waitress refused...and I ate it all. I hated her

I often think, when eating out, that I should have brought a plastic tub with me for "leftovers". I've actually managed to remember to do this about once.

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Tue May 05, 2009 7:23 pm

KCCC, yeah ... it's changes I made just for myself, since they seem to help me a lot ... I am more forgiving when it comes to the rules for 2 reasons :

I work out like crazy all the time and also I don't have day offs from the diet on the week ends so I am always 'On' the diet basically ... I can't be 100% strict everywhere all the time or else I'll go nutz .. give up ... or maybe I would have lost 25-30 more pounds already by now !

Anyway I have been experimenting with this lately and I thought it was helping me to control myself and not have a hard time with red days ... avoiding those as much as possible is a key part of getting good results, at least in *MY* case.

I have been toying with different ideas for a lil' while, how to avoid red days and I find it easier to do that now than during the month of march which was particularly difficult for me. I only lost 4.2 pounds and just 1.8 during the first half of that month when I was more strict with the rules, sometimes feeling frustrated and then cheating.

I find that more profitable than worrying about a lil' bowl of plain carrots, celery and cucumbers once in a while if I need it in between meals or a yogurt and half a fruit I saved for later instead of having it with my breakfast or lunch.

No hard feelings anyway, those are just tips I thought could help out others, u see. Take 'em or leave 'em, it's all good.

I started trying those things in april and that was one of my easiest months, lost 8.2 pounds and hardly had any trouble except between april 23 and 27 and during that time I had 2 parties nearly back to back, that explains my brief struggle during that period : pizza, fries, wine and beer, you know ...

Anyway I make up my own rules in the end, I take the basic NO S and make a little change in that direction in one area and the same in another area, what matters is the result in the end and getting there without feeling too miserable.

Ok, no time to talk anymore, I'm going cycling in a lil' while since it's a beautiful day and cycling is better for my cardio than ... typing. Plus it's gonna rain for a couple of days in a row so I'll have to work out inside wed./thur. probably.

Cheers !

Marc

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Tue May 05, 2009 7:33 pm

marc, I often wonder when I read your posts what you find attractive about No S? You seem to be happiest and feel most in control when you add a lot of restrictions the diet doesn't have, and ignore the ones that it DOES have. I'm not picking on you, I promise! But I am curious why are you doing a diet you seem to philosophically disagree with, instead of a more conventional diet that fits what you want to do?

la_loser · Post by **la_loser** » Tue May 05, 2009 7:33 pm

I've done that too. We have a couple of favorite Indian restaurants in cities an hour or so away. Their take-out containers are foam flip top things that don't really seal. . . and once my four year old granddaughter plopped her little foot right down on one in the back seat floorboard and my car smelled of Chicken Korma for days!

So now, I not only take heavy sealable containers with me but also a small cooler with some freezer thingies to keep it all safe from being crushed but also safe -- no food poisoning too) I'm not about to waste all those awesome leftovers!

I don't get korma often so I don't want to lose one bite!

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Tue May 05, 2009 7:42 pm

lol !! Maybe I like the 'One Plate of food' (No seconds, no sweets) idea a whole lot ... I just have to mess with everything else. I'm taking away so many of the S's there are hardly any one of 'em left, except for the single plate and the no sweets and those are probably next anyway... huh .. no.

I'm usually a rebel, making up my own rules or questioning the rules already in place ...
Oh well .. S-S-S-orry !

I wanted to lose weight faster too, I had 85 pounds to lose and I wanted to do that in one year, not 3-4 years, so I had to speed up the process. I'm on the diet all the time as if every day was a week day basically.

Anyway, whatever I am doing is not for everyone, it's more intense and difficult ... but it's working for me
@ the moment and the couple of things I've changed have helped me too ... especially with the cravings and avoiding red days.

Others are doing even more, just this morning I was reading in the paper about a 31 y/o man from around here who started jogging on a treadmill one day in november 2008 and he lost 95 pounds in the next 6 months, went from 379 to .... 284, even better than I did (Although the weight related to fat is easier to lose). I think you need to be fairly young, really motivated to work out and ready to follow a diet and change your food choices to do what this guy and me are doing anyway. I don't really like jogging, (except to the mailbox) my main sport for cardio at the moment is cycling.

Cheers !

Marc

dockanz · Post by **dockanz** » Tue May 05, 2009 8:32 pm

Marc,
FWIW, try not to get into the mentality of losing so fast. I lost 170 pounds in 1.5 years, dropping from 370 to 200. That was 5 years ago. I have kept most of the weight off, but my weight has fluctuated frequently since then because my lifestyle was unsustainable as yours appears to be.

Losing weight fast is not virtuous; it's dangerous.

Just my 2 cents.

~reneew · Post by **~reneew** » Tue May 05, 2009 8:59 pm

I think that Marc (yea, we're talkin' about ya

) kinda substitutes some S days for a few micro-bites of celery and very low-cal healthy stuff when he feels an emergency coming on. Tell me if I'm wrong Marc, but don't you have very few s days? Like 4 a month? I think that it's a great mod that obviously works for him. I think that he's not far off, just a tad of a mod. I myself cannot allow even an inch of a mod lately.

As far as exercise goes... besides some Leslie Sansone CDs during the week... I too have been planting!!! 2 bushes, grass seed where we dug last year (150 ft. strip), 2 flower beds, 9 big flower pots, and one huge veggie garden. Will 50 tomato plants be enough?

I like to can veggies. Gardening is good exercise, but the hoeing is the tough part. Mid-August I give up and figure if the plants are at least equal size to the weeds... all is good

What was the original topic here? I forgot. ramble ramble.

~reneew · Post by **~reneew** » Tue May 05, 2009 9:09 pm

Oh... plates! That's what we're talking about! My great grandma's china plates are the smallest...my grandma's are a bit bigger... then my Mom's ... and the last plates I bought were the hugest! No kiding ya! I have a thing with plates, and I'm from a small family so I get them all passed to me

I find it obvious that the trend is to eat more!!! 50 years from now we'll all have platters. The movie Wall-e comes to mind. Everyone will be in electric chairs and be eating all day... unable to stand up. Not Me! I'll be 92 then, thin, doing no S... and walking 2 miles a day like my Gram.

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Tue May 05, 2009 9:14 pm

Well, the other thing about the plate sizes isn't just that we eat more, but that we're less formal -- people used to have a series of things on separate plates more than they do now, a bread plate, a salad plate, a soup bowl, especially at fancy dinners calling for nice china. We're more likely to put it all on the same plate!

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Tue May 05, 2009 9:24 pm

Yeah, you are correct Renee, as few S-Days as possible ... of course '0' is hard to achieve ... I had 4 during the month of april I'd be happy to have only 2 or 3 in may ... especially with those new tweaks I have that prevent me from misbehavin'

Doc, I am already almost done anyway ... with the weight loss I mean ... I have lost 60 pounds in the past 6 months and one week and I only have 25 pounds left to go in the next 5 months and 3 weeks, ending up at 195, something like that ... so it's not as if I'm stressing or anything, I lose one pound a week and I make it, that doesn't sound like Mt. Everest ... I even eased up on the training just recently ...

I used to do 2 sessions a day, 30-35 minutes of shovelglove mixed with jumping jacks in the early morning and then 40 minutes of cycling in the early evening, that was pretty standard ... total for the day, about 70-75 minutes. Now I only do one session usually in the early evening : 20 minutes shovelglove, I rest for 10 minutes and prepare my gear for the cycling ... helmet, stopwatch, bottle of water and then I get on my bike and I cycle for 40 minutes in the path behind the house ... and that's it for the day. 60 minutes total. I try to do that at least 5 times in a week and then I have a couple of days where I only do half the regular time, something like that. The off days are quite rare, none in the past 30 days in a row ...

It's intense though, not sight seeing on the bike but I get the job done in 60 minutes and then I can rest until the next day, splitting the work outs in two sessions was too tough, although I did it for a while, you just don't have a lot of time to rest and you feel more tired as well ... I'd rather do one slightly longer session 55-60 minutes (I still have 10-12 minutes between the two parts anyway !) instead of 2 average ones lasting, 70-75 minutes.

Oh, it's not hell on earth either, but to make progress, you have to work hard too of course, just sight seeing on the bike wouldn't cut it ... this is supposed to be cardio training, not sight seeing.

It's all planned quite well, and even when I am done with this insanity in november, I plan on staying on track ... I'll just cut back by half, so it'll seem like a breeze, 30 minute sessions 3-4 times a week, watching what I eat and weighing myself once a week to make sure I am not going over 200 ever again, something like that should be enough to maintain ... never say never of course, but that's the idea at the moment.

Renee, yard work is a really great work out too, I planted a couple of small trees yesterday, sweatin' a bit in the sun brandishing a shovel ! I'd like to have a vegetable garden too, been thinking about it but there are creatures that come out at night ... like raccoons and skunks, might cause damages in there. Those creatures are naughty !!

Cheers !

Marc

StrawberryRoan · Post by **StrawberryRoan** » Tue May 05, 2009 9:32 pm

The No Snacking part is the main reason this program is working.

I put my lunch plate in the sink while ago and said,

Okay, no more food to dinner,

That simple, not well - just a few pretzels, they're healthy, maybe a yogurt, maybe some grapes, maybe a boiled egg.

Etc, etc, etc.

And, yes, yardwork is wonderful exercise. I have been mowing and weed-eating every evening and am so exhausted, every muscle is sore.

Love it,

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Wed May 06, 2009 12:32 am

marcdesbiens wrote:KCCC, yeah ... it's changes I made just for myself, since they seem to help me a lot ...

No hard feelings anyway, those are just tips I thought could help out others, u see. Take 'em or leave 'em, it's all good.

I'm glad the modifications are helping you. Anyone can certainly modify No-S in any way that works for them, and many of us do. You've identified your reasons for your choices numerous times, and that part is quite "all good," as you say.

However, when it come to giving advice to others, it's really not "all good" - which is why I spoke up in the first place. Since this IS the "No-S board," it would be nice if the tips were either compatible with No-S or clearly identified as being a mod. Otherwise, it confuses people who are actually trying to do regular No-S, which is NOT helpful.

A little more sensitivity to the fact that this board is primarily for No-S would be appreciated, if you can manage it. It's not hard - just preface with an acknowledgement that "this isn't really No-S, but what I do is ..." or the like. If you'll notice, other people say that kind of thing all the time, and I'm sure you can catch on with just a little practice.

Again, I'm not criticizing the choices you make for yourself - that's your call, and you've clarified your reasons quite thoroughly.

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Wed May 06, 2009 12:47 am

Hey, that's good, I'm not gonna write a 'disclaimer' every time I post something though, *I* write the message, so this is what *I* do ... wink- wink...

I assume people know what's going on, using common sense is not against the rules either ... Anyway, I've explained this a few times already, so it's like beating a dead horse by now.

I'll just keep my alternate methods/tips out of here from now on if it offends the purists ... so I'm like a secret agent man, u know ... just like in the Johnny Rivers song ... "There's a man who leads a life of danger ..."

I see this more as a recipe, you can follow the basic recipe but then you do your own twist on it and the result could be as good or even better than the original, depending on your taste ... no big deal though ... there are many variations out there, one for everybody. You adapt the recipe so it suits you .. the best.

Cheers !

Marc

navi · Post by **navi** » Thu May 07, 2009 1:34 am

marcdesbiens, for the record, i, for one like hearing about your "alternate methods"....

BrightAngel · Post by **BrightAngel** » Thu May 07, 2009 1:39 pm

Something that works very well for me in all restaruants is...

I divide my food as soon as it's served
and place the portion that I'm not going to eat in a "to-go" box
BEFORE I start eating.

When I give the waitress/waiter my order,
I also tell them to bring a "to go" box at the same time as my food.
I say this with emphasis so they understand their tip is on the line.

If they remember, I increase their tip to above 20% of my order.
If they forget, when they bring the food,
I tell them I MUST have my "to-go" box before I can eat,
then I start reducing their tip.
The amount of the reduction
depends on how long it takes for them to bring the "to-go" box.

~reneew · Post by **~reneew** » Thu May 07, 2009 2:35 pm

Marc's mods aren't far off. Most of us have some sort of a mod and it's good to discuss it. It's obviously working for him. We like to hear about it. Reinhard himself encourages it. Read page 167 of his book.

As far as the waitress bringing the container WITH the food, that's a good idea. I honestly had a waitress refuse... I asked twice and she didn't, saying "you just GOT your food!" I didn't tip. I ate it all. I was mad. I should give them 'the look' when I say it so they know that their tip is on the line. Thanks for the advice. Brightangel is bright.

It's tough for me to do that, I guess I'll have to go out to eat to practice.

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Thu May 07, 2009 3:05 pm

BrightAngel wrote:Something that works very well for me in all restaruants is...

I divide my food as soon as it's served
and place the portion that I'm not going to eat in a "to-go" box
BEFORE I start eating.

That sounds similar to what I do on Chinese night. I take what I want, then put the rest immediately in the fridge so it's not sitting out during clean up time.

StrawberryRoan · Post by **StrawberryRoan** » Thu May 07, 2009 3:38 pm

gionta wrote:marcdesbiens, for the record, i, for one like hearing about your "alternate methods"....

Same here, being new and not having a lot to lose - I am curious about every thing that has proven successful. My biggest problem has always been maintaining. I lose weight very easily but when I start getting too thin, I eat too much and gain it back.

I am thinking this plan might work as I will still be eating normally and should I lose a little too much (it ages me in the face and neck). My jeans like to be ten pounds thinner than my face does.... SHOULD I get there again, err I mean WHEN I get there again - I can add the extra calories on the weekend and special days.

12 pounds to go...

noni · Post by **noni** » Thu May 07, 2009 4:20 pm

To reneew,

I hear you when you talk about teenagers in the house eating your leftovers. Saying you licked your food is hilarious, altho' I'm not so sure it would work at my house! It seems I have had teenagers in the house for many years as I've had six kids widely spaced at times.

One shameful incident that happened to me was with my oldest daughter:
I had some leftover Chinese food in fridge and she knew about it because we all ate it the night before. I hid it in an opaque container but she sniffed it out and I saw her eating it at the table. I got angry and told her it was mine and the argument commensed down the hallway with her, leading into other arguments (you know how that plays out). By the time we got back to the table, my OTHER daughter, who was unaware of our initial food argument, sat there fininshing up the Chinese food. We had to laugh then. It was at that time I know I needed to do something about my food obession and greed.

Although the opaque containers normally work with this group left at home, especially in empty large yogurt or ricotta cheese containers. The girls were more cunning and savvy then the boys in my house!

~reneew · Post by **~reneew** » Fri May 08, 2009 2:37 pm

Oh gosh that's funny!

Well... when you carefully bring home excellent resteraunt food that you sacrificed by not eating in the wonderful atmosphere of the dining establishment and balanced on your lap the whole way home in the car to not spill, then bring home the huge white stirofoam container that shouts "yum!" and you're sure that all eyes

are on it because they thought it was unfair in the first place that you go to go out alone instead if with them in the first place... is it greed or delayed and earned sacrifice?

Mismatched butter tub and lid labeled "artichoke and spinach dip" should do it...maybe

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Fri May 08, 2009 3:48 pm

Hey, thanks ! Yeah, I'll be a lil' more quiet about my personal methods since they are not Pure No S. I'm not doing it by the book, not because I don't think it works by the book, just because I want quicker results of course.

The toughest part for me is usually to get started in a direction, once I have chosen a path, I do what is required to achieve my goals, I try to set realistic ones but when I think about it now, 85 pounds in a year seems a lil' *crazy*, lol ! (Some people do a lot more than that though) It sounded good at the time ...

Still a lot of hard work required of course, but I am not quitting, especially now that I am getting closer to the end than the beginning ... 5 months and 22 days to go before the ultimate deadline. Maintaining will really feel like a breeze compared to what I'm doing now, at least I think so at the moment, might change my mind later ...

Anyway, everyone does a variation and experiments and then finds what works best for them .... I guess that's good ! This is all about changing your old habits in any case, and I have done that quite well, haven't been to a fast food place since I started and I used to love going there at least once or even twice a week in the past, also I was making huge plates of food for dinner ... pasta for example.

Right now for a typical dinner I would eat about half as much pasta as I used to .. maybe even less than half ... and my plate has a lot more variety too, 1/2 plate of spaghetti, with some raw celery, cucumbers and carrots, piled up on the other side of the plate, some chickpeas as well, a small portion of plain yogurt and 1/2 fruit for dessert (sometimes saved for later in the evening) ...

I used to have a giant plate of spaghetti alone with nothing else on the plate (there wasn't any space left anyway !) adding a lot of parmesan cheese on top, using the salt shaker extensively and having 2-3 slices of white bread at the same time.

As for the exercise, I never exercised before, except for walking and going up the stairs I was out of breath in no time ... now I train almost everyday, usually for an hour at a time. You start slowly and then you crank it up, My first exercise session was only 15 minutes total.
The combination of those 2 things, diet and exercise, lead me to where I am now a bit over 6 months in.

*DISCLAIMER*
Of course I'm not a typical No S'er, but this is what I've been doing, I'm not sayin' anyone should do the same of course, being a young man probably helps ... Personally, I like reading stories of other people who are working hard, persevering, etc. Makes you think, Hey, maybe I can do that as well ... even if it's not as extreme, still really good too, or if you are already working hard it encourages you to keep going. Anyway when you see good results, it makes you want to go on ...

Cheers !

Marc

guadopt1997 · Post by **guadopt1997** » Fri May 08, 2009 6:23 pm

Thalia wrote:We're more likely to put it all on the same plate!

Especially if we're no-Sing!

Who Me? · Post by **Who Me?** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:59 pm

I'm home, sick with a cold, and I've been trailing through older messages. It's interesting to learn from past (and some still active) participants.

This has been, and continues to be a great resources for inspiration.

joasia · Post by **joasia** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 1:58 pm

I have had restaurant meals, that could literally keep me full all day and maybe part of the next day. Huge portions is part of it, but also they are trying to make money, not look out for your health. So they load the food with fats, not always the good kind. I am trying to eat at home more often, it is a challenge.

Everyday Systems

Huge Plates

Huge Plates

The Good Boss. . .

Huge Plates

Trunk treasures!