Everyday Systems

Hey everyone, I'm new here. I did Weight Watchers for the past several years, got to goal (about 45 pounds from where I am right now) and gained it back because I just got tired of counting points. A friend got me hooked on No-S and I spent this whole past week on solid green days. I was so excited and proud of myself for giving it a great start. Then today happened: My first S day and I think I blew all the great work I did. The day started ok, but then we went out with friends and had drinks, pizza and icecream. I'm stuffed and not feeling very well. Funny how one week of eating right can make such a quick difference.

Anyone have any words of advice. I don't want to feel discouraged. Especially because S days are supposed to be 'guilt-free' days. How can I do better?

Welcome aboard. First step would be to listen to Reinhard's podcasts. Reading the book would be next.

Hi wendykay!

I had the same experience as you did my first two weekends of S-days. I felt like I had to eat so much and squeeze everything in on the weekend. I usually ended up physically ill. You are right in that you have to get rid of the guilt somehow. Technically, you did not goof up your S-day so there is nothing to feel bad about. I treat my S-day "disasters" as a learning experience, and sincerely hope that I remember how I felt the next week so I won't do it again.

For me, I not only had to get rid of the guilt, I had to get rid of the expectations of what an S-day was. I went from planning out everything that I wanted to have that weekend to not planning and just letting it happen if it was meant to happen. That has worked much better for me.

Also, it took me a while to let go of my expectations of weight loss (I'm still working on that one actually). I am really working hard to trust that eating this way will work in the long run and not worry that a crazy weekend with slow down my results. In my opinion, the worry is what slows down the results (guilt makes me want to eat more ). Hope this helps.

Welcome.

You are doing fine, a week of green days is excellent.

Odds are you have not undone all your hard work. A pound is 3500 calories regardless when you eat (or don't eat) them. You would have to have REALLY stuffed to undo an entire week of good eating.

The idea is to ENJOY the weekends, you will moderate. Yesterday I went to Olive Garden, had the soup, salad and breadsticks with sweet ice tea. Did I worry about the calories in the house dressing, the butter baked into the breaksticks, the sugar in the tea? No - I just enjoyed a wonderful meal, eating like a normal person.

Just stay the course,your weight may fluctuate as your body tries to hold onto a perceived setpoint. But, you cannot do right and go wrong (to quote my grammy).

I speak from experience, I have had excellent success on the board. Please post often if you have time, it helps to stay motivated if you interact with the like-minded.

Again, welcome,

Sr

wendykay wrote: How can I do better?

Well, don't feel guilty and realize that we all have days like that from time to time. Don't beat yourself up over "normal" behavior!

If it's any consolation, over-the-top S-days are kind of normal at first. They get better. Once you convince the emotional part of yourself that is not very amenable to reason that it CAN have stuff on a regular basis, the desperation will drop.

Just the fact that you didn't like it already tells you something. Your body likes moderation. That will become more pronounced the longer you're on No-S. This weekend, I thought I had an over-the-top S day. But when I wrote down what I'd eaten, I realized that it wouldn't even have REGISTERED when I started No-S.

So... let go of the guilt. You can NOT do an S-day wrong! Focus on keeping your green days green, and the S-days will come. Give it several months, and if you're still unhappy about what you're eating on S-days, read the "S-days gone wild" sticky... but don't bother until you are keeping your N days consistently green. That's the first, most important step.

I second Bushranger: if you haven't had a chance to check out the book yet, doing so might help you gain some insights and raise your morale a bit. You'll find several answers to your question of "how to do better" in the book, or even what "doing better" actually means when it comes to no S. But in the meantime, know that you are doing fine! Because you really, truly are.