Everyday Systems

Hi guys and gals!
I hope you are all doing well.
I have been quiet these last few days cos I've been a little depressed.
Sorry for not being on here much lately, but I have been tracking HabitCal, tho that's been very sketchy.. Still, it's been very helpful in seeing if there have been certain patterns, even with my failures, so I'm glad I kept up with that at least.
Anyway, I'm just about to give myself a good shake and start 21 days on habit. I'm pretty settled into my new apartment, minus a few things, and I really feel I can commit to this now.
The last few days I've had some really horrible overeating incidents and I'm not at all happy about them.. (Still feel sick from food I ate *last night*!!) and so I am just going to pretend I never found NoS till today and am going in with all the zeal of a newbie NoS fanatic!!!
That's what it's gonna take for me, cos I am a very all or nothing kind of personality.

Here I go!!!!
Gonna just track three things.

1. NoS
2. 14 mins of daily exercise
3. No eating after going to bed.

Peace and Love,


Debs

Good luck, Deb.

I'm having to restart today too . Here's to an easy 21!

You can do it Deb.

You are in control

SR

Thank you guys!!
Debs x

Good luck, Deb.

Thank you Vicki!
Debs x

That's been me too Debs - I'm not sure what number attempt this one is...but remember Reinhard said sometimes it takes 11 or 12 failed attempts before you get it. I'm close, I think! I'm committed this time!
Be easy on yourself with that *all or nothing* thinking - that's a hard one that I struggle with all the time (no pun intended )
Here's to 21 days of GREEN and YELLOW - NO REDS
Talk to you soon!
Mimi

Thanks Mimi!! Good luck to you too..
What I meant by all or nothing, was primarily in regard to getting "psyched up" to succeed, and my commitment level.
I really want to give this my all, as it actually makes it easier to do it then.
It took me a whole frustrating year of attempts (probably about 10 times)my first year on NoS to get 21 days straight.. I wanted to end my first year with a bang
Debs x

mimi wrote: Be easy on yourself with that *all or nothing* thinking - that's a hard one that I struggle with all the time (no pun intended )

Haha

Good to see you're still at 'em. Stay on track and good luck! you can do the 21. Remember that it gets easier as you go if you keep at it.

Thanks Rene!!
Hope you're well
Debs x

gratefuldeb67
It took me a whole frustrating year of attempts (probably about 10 times)my first year on NoS to get 21 days straight.. I wanted to end my first year with a bang

Hi Mimi & Debs:

I guess we just have to keep trying. I'm feeling kinda discouraged today because I feel that I can't stick to it long enough to see the benefits. I feel I've been trying to lose weight forever, especially during the last 10 years, and it's like I keep starting over. I guess what we have to try to do is, when we get off track we have to get back on as quickly as possible, so that the damage is minimal ... and maybe this way we won't feel that we keep starting over, we'll just be continuing what we started, with a little bump along the way.

Good luck to both of you!

Best of luck, Deb.

Sorry you've been down lately...

I do think reducing the number of things you're concentrating on is a good idea. Being settled in the new place should help, too.

Best of luck making it to 21 and beyond! Keep posting here for a quick morale boost if you run into the slightest hint of trouble.

Butterfly wrote:

I feel I've been trying to lose weight forever, especially during the last 10 years, and it's like I keep starting over.

What I find very helpful with all of my self-improvement efforts is to just forget about the results: losing weight, getting fit, whatever, and focus purely on the behavior. No-s is a template for behavior, something you put in place immediately, not a goal you may or may not get to. In a sense, it's slow, because it takes a long time to translate into results. But if you really make yourself care about the behavior itself, not just as a means to an end, that won't seem so bad. It'll help give you the patience you need. And I think you'll to discover that moderate behavior IS a good in itself. That it's profoundly relaxing and pleasure enhancing. "Behave moderately -- see what happens" is my mantra.

Reinhard

Thanks again everyone for your thoughtfulness and support!!

Bright Angel, I'm not worried really.. I *excited* to challenge myself to staying good for 21 days. I do much better with some kind of goal in mind, and clear boundaries.
It's a mini goal which will help me re-establish good habits, which have been slowly being eroded again over the past few years.

And just to clarify, I don't consider myself "restarting", and yes, I know there isn't an end..
I'm just trying to give it all a bit more umph!!

It's more like what Butterfly said.. I got off track in regards to some of my habits, and I'm simply getting back on.
Thanks again!

Debs x

ps... I totally agree with your focus on behaviour and not necessarily results Reinhard!! Who wouldn't be proud of themselves if they knew they did their very best at sticking to their personal goals?
Great advice!!
You are the reason that NoS resonates with me as sensible and I am still "grateful" for your good sense, positive message and unwavering support and inspiration to us all.
Thanks for the pep talk!
Debs

I too agree with Reinhard.

I don't worry about what I will weigh tomorrow, next month or next year.

I just plan on staying Green today, tomorrow and next year.

(Hey, maybe Al Gore would like this plan.)

I have eaten breakfast and lunch.

I will eat dinner.

I have exercised and drank lots of water.

When my day is done, I will go to bed, get up tomorrow and try to do it all over again.

I am SO loving the structure of this plan. I literally can walk past a bowl with soft peppermints in it and say. No that is a sweet and a snack probably. I used to pop half a dozen a day, easily. I mean = they are just peppermints!

I could not be more pleased with NO S way of life. Today happens to be my one month anniversary and time has surely flown.

SR

I too agree that the main focus should be on changing habits. Even though I haven't seen results on the scale, I keep coming back because I have a feeling this is a system I could live with for the long run. Thanks for your input Reinhard!

Well, it does actually lead to results too... Not to be too discouraged Butterfly! This just goes more slowly, but if you are consistent you will lose weight .

My first years, even with about an average of one failure per week, and sometimes even two, plus exercise about two to three times a week, I lost 17 lbs the first year, and 12 lbs the in the second (then I kinda drifted away for about 8 months)
I was eating fairly unhealthy food too (ie: nachos etc..) lol, so that contributed to the slowness but I was so glad to be able to slowly get weight down and not go insane with food restrictions and calorie counting.

If I hadn't derailed a few years ago, and stuck to it, even with that same slow rate of loss, I'd be very close to being at my goal weight now.

Keep at it and it will pay off.


Debs

Well, aside from failing on my exercise HabitCal, due to procrastination, I had a successful day yesterday, at least on NoS!
Even battled the 100 eyed night time eating monster at 2 am and didn't cave in to really wanting to eat some honeydew.
I can't lie, I had three wheat thins, but I'm not marking the day a failure for that.
Have a great weekend all!
Debs x

Hi guys! I just felt like dropping a quick update as yesterday marked my first "across the board" green day.
Maybe that doesn't sound like much, but to me it's huge!!
I have not been able to master getting success on all three of my habitcals simultaneously, for probably about six or seven months, or possibly more.
Phew!!
Feels good to see that solid green day!!!
Debs

ps.. My three habitcals are for

1. NoS
2. 14 mins of any exercise/and or Urban Ranger
3. No eating after bed.

yesterday marked my first "across the board" green day.
Maybe that doesn't sound like much, but to me it's huge!!

Congratulations, Deb! That is huge.

One think that might help repeat performances is getting the 14 minutes out of the way as soon as possible in the day -- the longer you wait, the more likely an excuse is to present itself.

Reinhard

Thanks so much Reinhard!
Great advice as usual!
Today's going well also, so as long as I just drink water tonight, I should have a few green days in a row!!
Have a great week
Debs

Congrats on the Green, Deb.

Thanks Strawbs!!

It's hard getting back into it, but so worth it Debs! Great day for you - and you can keep it going! It IS huge!

Mimi

Thank you Mimi!!

Hi all!
Quick update..
I had my second "across the board green" day yesterday..
Wow I almost messed up about 3 am and thought of having a peach, and was actually pretty hungry!! But I didn't wanna mess up my being on a roll, so I resisted that urge.. Woke up with a nice hungry belly..
I now can see how come for all these years I would never wake up with any feeling of hunger in the morning.. cos of night time eating.. when I go the whole night through, I actually wake up hungry, like I should.
This is gonna be a really crucial part part of the weight loss equation for me.
I know that when people don't eat breakfast then they end up "paying" for it later by usually overeating by dinner.. I mean, I'd eat breakfast, but for me, typically I wouldn't have it till when I should have been having lunch.
This is really something new for me.. Obviously the added benefit of eating meals a few hours earlier is that I won't have so much food in my belly through the night and will more efficiently burn calories, even with my sluggish metabolism..
Hmmmm.. I am cutting myself a little slack here, and although I said I wanted to do 21 days on habit for exercise and NoS, the first two days were failures for exercise.. but,,, I am gonna still count it towards my 21 days, because I was good on NoS..
Therefore, I have successfully completed 6 days on NoS habit today, and of particular importance to me, I had no night time eating incidents for all those days!!
I'm excited!!! Also it's a big relief that S days are kinda just around the bend. Me and Richie had some big temptations, since the weather has changed and the siren call of frozen desserts has been trying to seduce us!! But, we are managing, somehow, to resist!!
He's lost four pounds by the way, since last month, and pants which were fitting are sliding off him, by adhering to NoS really well during the week, combined with his walking and some after school track practices and meets..
I'm very proud of him and really glad to have a supportive NoS partner at home.
Have a nice day everyone!
Debs

Congratulations to both you and your son! Keep it up!

That's great Deb that you are trying to instill healthier lifestyle changes with your son.

I agree, other than the Thanksgiving/Christmas yummies, I find summer to be hard on the healthy eater. All those picnics and ice cream cones..

It's funny how different we all are, because I find summer easier -- I have more energy, all the amazing fruit and vegetables are in season, and it's often hot enough to kill my appetite. I can get through most of the summer half subsisting on cherries, watermelon, peaches, zucchini, and sliced tomatoes, with some cold poached shrimp and hummus thrown in.

Those summer picnics involve walking places, carrying heavy hampers! That's good for you.

Winter KILLS me! All I want to do is hibernate and eat nice, hot, heavy food.

Thanks friends!!

Hmmmm I think I like eating *all* year round!! LOL

Debs :
"I know that when people don't eat breakfast then they end up "paying" for it later by usually overeating by dinner.. I mean, I'd eat breakfast, but for me, typically I wouldn't have it till when I should have been having lunch. "



I knew someone who was like that, actually he was sayin' he was never hungry in the morning ... so he would never have breakfast ... except for maybe an apple and coffee, almost nothing.

His set up :

Lunch at noon,
Dinner at 6:00pm
Breakfast at 11:00pm

No, really, he would have breakfast items like cereals, oatmeal, etc. late at night, he just liked it that way and it was preventing him from eating really late at night too. This was a slim guy too, so it was working out.

Cheers !

Marc

Disclaimer : I am following a more extreme version of the 'No-S' diet.
I made my own personal modifications to the original plan (Diet & Exercise)
What I am doing should not be misinterpreted as being a typical 'No-S' diet experience.
11/01/2008 : 280.0 pounds - - - 06/01/2009 : 215.6 pounds
7 months 1 day / 64.4 pounds

Well an apple and coffee is something.. so he was having four smaller meals per day.. but the thing he *wasn't* doing, which I have now for almost my whole life, is getting up in the dead of night and eating at 2 or 3 am.

Anyway, I'm glad I'm finally getting a morning appetite, and just going to focus *all* my energy on getting down my three main habits now.
Having a shift in not eating at night, I am 100 percent sure, will help me lose weight.

Debs

Well guys, I made it 12 days in and was really doing great with resisting different things along the way, but today I was so drained.. I did a lot of cleaning and organising my new apartment and moving stuff around so I can do some massage here tomorrow. I bought some Pepperidge farm Milano cookies to serve tomorrow after massage with tea, and I felt like I absolutely had to have one tonight.
But,,,,, I actually stopped at one, which is a huge kind of success of it's own!

Still, I am calling today my first failure because of it, so I will just say, I happily made it 12 days, and I am going to pick up tomorrow and restart and see how long I can go.

I've been getting quite a lot of exercise and walking in tho, and started yoga again this week... Basically I've been eating quite well and healthy stuff.
This has been my only deviation in weeks.
Yay me!
Debs

Yes, yay you! One cookie is almost microscopic against 12 good days! And you stopped at one - that's huge in my book! Have a great day tomorrow - and let someone else eat the cookies!

Mimi

Thanks Mimi! Hope you are having a good week
Debs x

Hi guys! Well guess what?? I had more cookies last night since I didn't think to just throw them out after that first (and incidentally, that first one was a precursor to a 3 am raid that made it a total of 4.. Same thing last night.. I ate three cookies at 3 am..)
Sooooooo,,,,,, guess where the remaining six or so cookies ended up this morning???????


The TOILET!!!! (and I mean before they were consumed! LOL... I know I know... very juvenille humour! haha)

Everyone you must try this one day!!! Get some stuff that you normally have a hard time resisting eating and shouldn't be eating on N days, and just toss it in the toilet...
Laugh in an evil way as you stare at them floating helplessly and then going down the drain upon your flush command!!!!
LOL
Very empowering feeling!!! I recommend it to all!!!

Meaaaaaanwhile.... considering I did about 6 hours of exercise yesterday, four hours of cleaning up and 2 solid hours of massage (soooo tired by evening) I'm not surprised I had very little will power and strength to resist a sweet.. But I wouldn't have had it if it wasn't here already, so I will just not bring any cookies into the house on N days anymore.. My massage clients can enjoy some tea and *fresh fruit*!!!

Aaaaaaaaand,,,,,,, Guess what?????
I went to my moms house and weighed myself after being completely back on track, with only a handful of failure days, and virtually no night time eating at all (except these two cookie raid incidents recently) and much more active since we moved into our new apartment ,,,,after 6 weeks, I am now down a solid SIX POUNDS!!!!

WOOT WOOT!!!!


Have a great day guys!!!
Debs x

That's simply something to holler about - Wow! Six pounds! Keep going at it Debs!

Mimi

Good going!!!! Keep at it!

Thank you very much Mimi and Rene!!!
Debs x

I like the anecdote about the cookies in the toilet, funny stuff !

I was a 'Cookie monster' last night as well but today I am being 100% green to make up, it shouldn't hurt me too much especially since my next weigh in is in several days so I have time to recover. I just went cycling and I was sweating bullets for 50 minutes straight.

Glad you are doing well and are pleased with your good result, Debs. Maybe you should weigh a bit more often if that motivates you to 'be good' ...

Maybe you should put a padlock and chain on the fridge at night ... or make the entire kitchen area a 'Forbidden zone' at night ?? You declare that place a Forbidden zone from 10pm to 7am for example, this means you are not entering that room at all in between those hours, no exceptions. Maybe it's only a 'mental' thing but it might help you to avoid those 3am snacks if you know you are not *allowed* to go in there. Good idea ? Of course then you don't put cookies or anything else in other rooms instead !

Cheers !

Marc

Disclaimer : I am following a more extreme version of the 'No-S' diet.
I made my own personal modifications to the original plan (Diet & Exercise)
What I am doing should not be misinterpreted as being a typical 'No-S' diet experience.
11/01/2008 : 280.0 pounds - - - 06/10/2009 : 212.8 pounds
7 months 10 days / 67.2 pounds

Thanks Marc!
No thanks about weighing *more* to motivate me to be good..
I find this arrangement perfect!
I love not having a scale here and I don't plan on changing it.
I'm weighing about once a week, and sometimes less.
I'm focusing my energy more on simply my behaviour these days.
I also have a tape measure, which I use about same as the scale, and I'm writing my measurements on my monthly calendar.
Today I'm down a whole inch from the beginning of the month!!
Only ten more to go.
The move here has made a big impact on my success.. I do much more activity now, and that then also influences me to want to be good on my NoS habits.
Before living here, I drove *everywhere* and now I try very much to do all my little trips by walking, and I do *a lot* of stair climbing now because the parking garage which I have to use here in town, is a 5 level garage, and I often will park on the third or fourth level, and make myself *not* take the elevator. Then also, our apartment is a walk up with 19 stairs up.. With approximately three trips in and out the garage to get the car to drive my Son where he needs to go and do different chores, like bringing out our laundry to my moms house, I'm really doing quite a lot of stairs at the end of the week.
First week we lived here, I was literally pulling myself up the stairs by the railing, because my legs were just buckling in agony!
I'm used to them now and it's *ALL GOOD*!!!
Have a nice evening friends!
Debs x

marcdesbiens wrote:it might help you to avoid those 3am snacks if you know you are not *allowed* to go in there. Good idea ? Of course then you don't put cookies or anything else in other rooms instead !

Cheers !

Haha!!! *SEE*!!!!
The mind is a sneaaaaky sneaaaky evil thing sometimes isn't it?????

Best just to not bring em in until S days!

You're doing great Deb. You are so much fun to post with

Thanks Strawb!!! Hee hee
Debs x

gratefuldeb67:

No thanks about weighing *more* to motivate me to be good..
I find this arrangement perfect!
I love not having a scale here and I don't plan on changing it.


Right on Deb!

NO Scale for me Please! I agree with you Deb about not having a scale in the house. I had to toss my scale because reading those numbers going up and down use to drive me crazy! I work at a hospital, so I will weigh myself every month just to be sure I'm on track but I will mostly rely on how I feel and how my clothes fit.

Also, I use to live in NY and boy do I miss those days of all that walking because I had to. I lost a lot of weight in those days. Now I have to force myself to walk for 20 mins

Thanks Lee!!
Nice to meet you.
Debs

I am going to join you.

Deb, congratulations on your success so far!

Sounds like it's really going well, on multiple levels.

Looking forward eagerly to the next update,

Reinhard

Thanks Reinhard!
I'll be updating in July..
Got my dreaded pms round the corner which totally wreaks havoc with me, and makes me gain water weight, so I am not even gonna check again on my weight till I'm past all that.

Bought a bathing suit the other day and next week it should be really nice and warming up, so will be getting out to the pool as much as possible.

Have a great week and rest of the month guys!
I'll still be using Habit Cal, but I'm gonna just lurk for a little while and take a posting break till next update.


Debs x