It's time...
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:05 pm
Hi! I read the No S book last October after stumbling across it in Barnes & Noble. Since then, I have also been reading the board posts here nearly every day. However, I have never found the courage to either post a message to the board or to even actually do No S. And now I am sad because if I had commited to No S back when I first heard of it, I'd probably be feeling much better and I certainly would be eating much better by now. But I can't change the past. So, it's time to start for real. I don't want next October (2010) to come and find myself saying the same thing (if only I had started last year).
I am definitely the type of person who has to wait for a "good" time to start dieting: the first day of a new week, the first day of a new month, the first day of a new year. Don't get me wrong, I have had many starts on No S. I have chugged lots of Coke on a Sunday in anticipation of a new No S week starting. But by late afternoon of that first Monday, when I am ravenous and tired and cranky and the refrigerator at work is stocked with Coke and I get resentful that I can't have any, that's when I give in. And then of course, once I have "blown it" for that day (or that week), why bother trying to stick with it (not a very smart concept, I know, but a habit I have managed to stick with over the years). By Thursday I am thinking, "Hey the week is almost over already. If I had stayed with No S this week I would have shown myself I can do it and be enjoying my Coke the day after tomorrow. I will start No S again - on Saturday." (an S day - how convenient). And so has been this vicious cycle of mine. (By the way, Coke represents all the sweets, snacks and seconds I love).
So as the start of yet another month looms, it is time for me to commit to No S. I will be keeping track, but I do not think I will be using the HabitCal. Once a day goes red for me, my "I've blown it" mentality kicks in and ruins the rest of the day. So on my calendar, I am going to make a red line for every red incident on a given day and then count up the lines at the end of each day. My goal is to have zero lines on each No S day. This should be as easy for me to see my progress as coloring in the entire day red or green. If a day on my calendar is blank, then I had no red incidents and complied with No S that day (a green day). If a calendar day has an x on it, then it is an S day (a yellow day). If a day has 4 red lines with another diagonal line drawn through them, then that means 5 times that day I had an S when I wasn't supposed to and that's too many (a red day).
I think I have gone on long enough. Thanks for reading. I will be joining the September challenge (although I have to read up on how to edit a post so I can update my progress). My goal for September is to stick with it, even when I am very hungry on a late Monday afternoon; even when I don't have a perfect day (I will mark it and move on); even when I feel like I will never lose weight doing this (I could lose 100 lbs and still be at the high end of a weight chart for my height). But if I don't make the effort now, eating 3 meals a day of food I like in reasonable amounts, then I am never going to do it.
I am definitely the type of person who has to wait for a "good" time to start dieting: the first day of a new week, the first day of a new month, the first day of a new year. Don't get me wrong, I have had many starts on No S. I have chugged lots of Coke on a Sunday in anticipation of a new No S week starting. But by late afternoon of that first Monday, when I am ravenous and tired and cranky and the refrigerator at work is stocked with Coke and I get resentful that I can't have any, that's when I give in. And then of course, once I have "blown it" for that day (or that week), why bother trying to stick with it (not a very smart concept, I know, but a habit I have managed to stick with over the years). By Thursday I am thinking, "Hey the week is almost over already. If I had stayed with No S this week I would have shown myself I can do it and be enjoying my Coke the day after tomorrow. I will start No S again - on Saturday." (an S day - how convenient). And so has been this vicious cycle of mine. (By the way, Coke represents all the sweets, snacks and seconds I love).
So as the start of yet another month looms, it is time for me to commit to No S. I will be keeping track, but I do not think I will be using the HabitCal. Once a day goes red for me, my "I've blown it" mentality kicks in and ruins the rest of the day. So on my calendar, I am going to make a red line for every red incident on a given day and then count up the lines at the end of each day. My goal is to have zero lines on each No S day. This should be as easy for me to see my progress as coloring in the entire day red or green. If a day on my calendar is blank, then I had no red incidents and complied with No S that day (a green day). If a calendar day has an x on it, then it is an S day (a yellow day). If a day has 4 red lines with another diagonal line drawn through them, then that means 5 times that day I had an S when I wasn't supposed to and that's too many (a red day).
I think I have gone on long enough. Thanks for reading. I will be joining the September challenge (although I have to read up on how to edit a post so I can update my progress). My goal for September is to stick with it, even when I am very hungry on a late Monday afternoon; even when I don't have a perfect day (I will mark it and move on); even when I feel like I will never lose weight doing this (I could lose 100 lbs and still be at the high end of a weight chart for my height). But if I don't make the effort now, eating 3 meals a day of food I like in reasonable amounts, then I am never going to do it.