Everyday Systems

I don't know rather to call it a failure or no? Last night was my niece's B/F birthday , I had a piece of cake and a extra hot dog that wouldn't fit on my plate! I call it a success because i usually pig out in this kind of situation! And also at work a lady offered us some fresh made Swedish scones. How could I turn that down. Again followed the rest of the rules all day and plan on finishing the day good!

Neice's B/F Birthday: is this boyfriend or best friend? That wouldn't even be close to an S day for me, and cake wouldn't be close to an N Day for me, so *I* would mark it Fail for *me*. I think we all need to decide the ground rules for ourselves, though.

But what you did isn't Vanilla No S.

Mickie

Brent_Corkins wrote:I don't know rather to call it a failure or no? Last night was my niece's B/F birthday , I had a piece of cake and a extra hot dog that wouldn't fit on my plate! I call it a success because i usually pig out in this kind of situation! And also at work a lady offered us some fresh made Swedish scones. How could I turn that down. Again followed the rest of the rules all day and plan on finishing the day good!

It depends on what you're working on at the moment. If you're trying to do Vanilla NoS, then it probably would be considered a failure.
If you're looking at changing former bad behaviors - the *I dented the car, so I might as well drive it over the cliff* type of thinking (I ate a piece of cake and an extra hotdog, so I might as well continue eating since I've blown it) - then it would be a success.
Little by little each success becomes a huge victory over time. For some of us (speaking for myself) following NoS and developing good habits is a little more of a struggle than it is for others. I have to keep plugging away. I try to look at what I've done each day, not get too analytical, and move on to improve with the next day...sometimes with the next meal. For a lifetime yo-yo dieter who had all kinds of *diet-head, mental-chattering-type issues* this has been huge. Following NoS has helped me to develop a peaceful existence with food and eating situations that I've not had since I was a teenager.
As we've been seeing quite a lot of lately on the boards...do what works for you and keep going!

Mimi

I tend to agree with Mimi, though I'd see it as a failure for myself. Shucks, I wouldn't even be at my niece's B/F birthday! The scones would be a failure, too.

I'd take a failure and not freak about it.

That would not qualify as an S-day for me. I try to think carefully about these things. An S-day for me would be a close family member's birthday, my birthday, my anniversary, weekends, and national holidays.

I use the HabitCal and tick them off as S-days in advance.

I'd call that a failure (though hardly epic), unless you decided in advance that it was going to be an S-day.

I think it's important to be honest in your appraisal of success/failure; letting the odd thing by and still calling it a success won't help to reinforce good habits. As mentioned above, though, if what you're trying to do is vanilla No-S, it's a fail; if you're just trying to curb behaviour then it isn't, so well done there.

I'd have marked it a failure too and then moved on. It's great that you didn't go whole hog.

If I have an event happening like that, for example the ice cream social at my daughter's school, I plan it as an S event rather than an S day. Then the scone would not have made it past the fence.

Here's my take:

- You can have an official failure that is still a personal triumph.

- You can have an official success that still has room for improvement.

I would classify eating one sweet but not going whole hog as the former, myself. But I'm a big believer in "early strictness to build habit."

The beauty of No-S is that you get to decide for yourself. The hard part of No-S is that you have to decide for yourself. It makes you the accountable one, not the diet.

For failures at any level, mark it and move on. For triumphs/successes at any level - celebrate!

Best wishes.

Well you either count it as one of your 2 extra S says for the month or it's a failure, but like ThomsonsPier said, not epic.

Only you can determine if a particular day is worthy of being called a special occasion. I would totally count my niece's current boyfriend's b-day as a special occasion, as for some of her exes - not so much.

I just know when it comes to weight loss I can't take the attitude of "well, I did so much better than I used too". I just won't lose weight that way.

As for Swedish Scones on N days, yes you can say no - it's not easy, but in time it will get easier- never easy, but easier. This plan isn't always easy, but it is easier than the rest - I know, I have officially tried them all!!!