Everyday Systems

so i've been attempting no S since the beginning of september, as i put on ten pounds from the stress of graduating in june.
my first few weeks were fairly easy, as i don't have tons of time during the day to eat, because of classes, and i spend nights studying, and i was really motivated.
lately, though, i've encountered a problem. my 's' days have begun bleeding into my 'n' days and before i know it, i'm on tuesday and i've been eating sweets since thursday and i keep snacking from 5 to 8 every night, instead of just having a plate of food at 6 (like i should) and moving on. i'm having a tough week and i just want to confess and i suppose move forward.
if i actually do succeed in having pure 'n' days the rest of the week, should i still make saturday and sunday 's' days? i've been making them (rather lenient) 'n' days to atone for my indulgences on thursdays and fridays.
i really blew last thursday through this tuesday and i'm feeling pretty low about it.

lexicake wrote: if i actually do succeed in having pure 'n' days the rest of the week, should i still make saturday and sunday 's' days?

Even if you don't succeed in having pure 'n' days the rest of the week, Saturday and Sunday should be 's' days. You cannot fail on those days.

Every day is a new day, so just restart today. I wouldn't use my weekends as punishment no matter what. Just start today. You'll have a few clean days under your belt.

I also think it's important to verbalize weight gain truthfully. Ten pounds from stress of graduating? Isn't graduation a relief? Methinks you put on ten pounds from the calories, not the stress. Call it like it is, then you can move past it.

Best of luck on making this a lifetime switch.

Mickie

wosnes wrote:

lexicake wrote: if i actually do succeed in having pure 'n' days the rest of the week, should i still make saturday and sunday 's' days?

Even if you don't succeed in having pure 'n' days the rest of the week, Saturday and Sunday should be 's' days. You cannot fail on those days.

This.

Keep your S days no matter what. Seriously. It's about developing good habit and structure, not about reward and punishment.

The idea that you just want to get the fact you're screwing up out in the open and move on is good. Especially the moving on part. Don't worry about the past. You can't fix it, anyway, but you've got today, and that's cool.

Things I do to keep myself on track:

1. Remind myself it's not a race and every day is a new day. ON instance of screwing up does not doom me to screw up in the future. It doesn't even doom me to screw up in the next five minutes. I can always put the snack in the trash and walk away if I catch myself taking a few bites and become conscious.

2. When I feel like a snack, make a note to enjoy that snack on an S day if I want. This is a biggie for me. Psychologically, "Wait for it and REALLY enjoy it when it gets here." works a lot better than "You can't." The structure of the N-day and S-day routine increases a sense of savor in life for me.

3. Take the trouble to make good meals. Learn to cook if you can't already. If you can get yourself to look FORWARD to your N-day meals, snacking isn't as exciting. If this means lighting candles on the table and having a nice glass of wine with your meal, so much the better. Even a quick veggie-stuffed omelet can be a savored event, if you're not up to spending much time cooking. It makes the pretzels a lot less attractive. Making a meal a nice event goes triple for when you're stressed. I went through an upsetting breakup a few years ago and candles, nice music and making tasty, quick healthy meals served on the good china did an enormous amount to rebuild my morale.

NoelFigart wrote: It's about developing good habit and structure, not about reward and punishment.

That's a keeper. Thanks Noel.

Besides making meals big enough, you have to make them high quality. If I eat a fast food meal (consuming my daily calorie requirements in a single sitting) I usually feel crappy, then ravenously hungry.

Seriously, do your meals include dark leafy vegetables, other vegetables, fruit, and whole grains? Eating good food keeps your body from craving more food. At least, that's what I've found.

And if you just MUST SNACK (some days it's hard to beat the snack monster back), have some cucumbers, celery, peppers and carrots (and/or other assorted raw vegetables) handy. Trick the snack monster with low calorie, highly nutritious food. Once he knows he can't get a foothold, he'll visit less frequently.

lexicake wrote: i keep snacking from 5 to 8 every night, instead of just having a plate of food at 6 (like i should) and moving on. i'm having a tough week and i just want to confess and i suppose move forward.

yes, i'm actually a very healthy eater.
i've been vegetarian, mostly vegan, for almost two years, and either i make my meals or my mother does.
breakfast is whole grains, nuts and fruit. for lunch, i usually have a thicker soup with vegetables, beans and a fruit, and dinner always includes, at the very least, two or three fruits and vegetables, if not more, and a protein, like beans or nuts.
the biggest issue is around 5, i'll have a handful of grapes or what have you, and then i find myself just kind of meandering about the kitchen for the next four hours, and before i know it grapes becomes sugar and peanut butter and then i pick at dinner and it just becomes a four hour stretch of grazing.

the other thing is, i wasn't really compensating or "punishing" myself on 's' days per se, it's more that i don't feel like snacking or having any extras on those days. i have a harder time saying no during the week. so i wind up with three days of doing well for the whole week, but two of them are technically 's' days. it's kind of flip-flopped.