My First "RED" Day

Bibliolater · Post by **Bibliolater** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 2:37 am

OK, OK, OK, so it is an outright failure. I can accept that. (Hopefully you have listened to In Defense of "Failure" - http://everydaysystems.com/podcast/episode.php?id=22. )

But I have realized that I need to pay more attention to what actually counts as a sweet! I went about having a bowl of cereal for breakfast, but then also had a piece of cinnamon/raisin toast. NOT thinking until afterwards that that probably had lots of sugar in it. And sure enough....HFCS was like the third ingredient!!! ARGH!

I should have read the label first, but didn't even think about it. So I am restarting my 21 days!

HOWEVER, I didn't beat myself up about it. I forgave myself and I didn't let the rest of the day go to waste. I didn't say, "well, I screwed up breakfast, might as well have what I really want the rest of the day." But I came to acknowledge that what I really, truly wanted was to be on No S and treat it as if I hadn't failed.

So if you fall off the horse, just dust yourself off (that's the forgiving part) and get back on immediately. You may have a red day on the calendar, but you still can have a GREEN mindset!

"Success is going from failure to failure with out loss of enthusiasm" - WC

I'm very enthusiastic. I one down of my 12 failures.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 5:08 am

It sounds like you have a great attitude, and that's the most important part.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:05 am

I wouldn't call that a failure because I don't consider cinnamon raisin toast to be a treat or dessert. It's NOT no sugar. Frankly, it wouldn't have crossed my mind that cinnamon toast might be a sweet.

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:17 am

I have to agree with Wosnes that cinnamon toast is a bit fuzzy, and might be an individual call.

janieb · Post by **janieb** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 11:31 am

I wouldn't call it a failure. You might decide that now that you know what's in the toast not to eat it on S days, but since it's so borderline and since you only checked the sugar after you ate it, I'd just let it go. I'd still count the day as a "green" one.

Jane

Bibliolater · Post by **Bibliolater** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:28 pm

Really? Do you think that is okay? It TASTED sweet and had lots of HFCS in it. I suppose that it is not a treat or dessert, but it is a sweet.

I guess I'm going to have to bring up "fence around the law"

To me, this means that if you're not sure, play it safe so you can't be accused of anything. No one would suspect. - That's kind of why I took a red day, because if it's not blatantly obvious and you have to ask, then it's better to be safe than sorry.

It was only day 5 for me. If I allow little bit, then who knows what I might "allow" later.

Thank you for the responses! I am encouraged to not be so hard on myself and just to be more careful.

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:33 pm

Oh, I get the value of being a bit strict part! And I agree. As long as you don't beat yourself up or turn this into an excuse to fail more, you're all good.

I took a failure yesterday for a piece of bread the size of your thumb. I did it because I AM concerned with the habit-building that strictness can create.

Bibliolater · Post by **Bibliolater** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:49 pm

The strict part I think is so important in No S. If you allow yourself a little, who knows what our "professional dieter" minds can do and let us justify more and more.

In your bread case, it's soooo easy to just pop something in our mouths without thinking. I remember going to an OA meeting and a lady said that in OA many years ago, new members were'n't allowed to speak unless they had been abstinent (no binging or overeatting) for 21 days. She absently licked her jello-laden finger while making the stuff and had to start her 21 all over.

We obsessive eaters don't think anything of BLTs (bites, licks and tastes). But if we can CUT the habit, just not curb it, we could do so much better.

I have had to force myself not to snitch any food while I'm making it. To me, that is a snack, no matter how small.

"habit-building that strictness can create" I love it! But that to most dieters sounds too harsh. They don't understand that. They want more freedom in a diet and that is what causes their downfall.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:52 pm

I think there's a difference between something that tastes sweet and "sweets."

Elspeth · Post by **Elspeth** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:58 pm

I think it's awesome that you kept a "green mindset" and didn't let one slip ruin the rest of the day.

The first time I failed on No S, I thought to myself "Well, it's already a red day.... I may as well indulge." So I did and went to bed feeling bloated and horrible. Then I blew it the following day as well! But I got back on the horse, so to speak, and the next time I failed, I confined it to that one slip-up but stayed on program the rest of the day.

"Mark it and move on," as they say around here. Sounds like you're already there. Good job!

marygrace · Post by **marygrace** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 1:00 pm

wosnes wrote:I think there's a difference between something that tastes sweet and "sweets."

Agreed. I just had honey on my toast this morning and it was definitely sweet, but it wasn't a sweet. I think generally a lot of NoS'ers think of sweets as dessert-type things or sugary snacks, not something that would make sense as part of a meal (like cinnamon toast).

Starla · Post by **Starla** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 1:05 pm

I agree with wosnes, I wouldn't have counted toast as a failure. No S isn't about no sugar or no HFCS. I think it works precisely because it's limited to a few very simple rules. You don't have to examine labels for sugar content. Is cinnamon raisin toast a sweet? If not, it's OK on N days. If YOU had decided that it was a sweet and chosen to eat it anyway - THAT I would have counted as a failure.

However, I applaud your attitude toward strictness; that will definitely pay off in the long run.

oliviamanda · Post by **oliviamanda** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 1:58 pm

This thread reminds me of what Rheinhard says about sweets:

I wouldn't worry too much about borderline foods like yoghurt and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. If these are a problem for you, i.e., you eat them every day and lay it on thick, then make them esses. If not, don't. Just by targeting the really egregious offenders you'll be cutting out a lot of calories. And you'll be that much more likely to stick with the plan.

---

I wouldn't mark your cereal and toast as a red day. But if you find yourself frequently having food that mimics desserts to you, then I'd cut them down.

This morning someone at work gave me a greek yogurt with strawberry flavor. I love greek yogurt, but I usually buy plain and add my own. It has about 18 grams of sugar. Now I've seen candy bars with less. I know that eating this yogurt is not going to make my N day red, but I would rather not get my sugar through a yogurt. Sorry to go on a yogurt tangent, but many yogurts are full of aspartame (the lite ones) and sugars as they mimic desserts (key the commerical for the company that shows a woman on the phone talking about all the desserts she just ate, and her starved-for-a-sweets husband looking in the fridge for them and all he sees are yogurts.) I just want my active cultures for my digestive health and be done with it, not extra inches on my waistline.

Bibliolater · Post by **Bibliolater** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 2:12 pm

Thanks everyone. I will change the day to GREEN because I do NOT eat it often and I didnt' think of it as a sweet. It was part of my meal. I only thought about it afterwards.

But still, I'm glad I kept my attitude right.

I had an epiphany while I was thinking about all this.....

No S is the first diet where I didn't go into it wondering how long it will last and when I will quit.

When I walked into my first WW meeting, I wondered, when I started Atkins way back when, I wondered, when I started working out on the Wii everyday, I wondered. LOL But No S is actually something I know will work for me.

Thanks again everyone. I'm changing my red to a green and I'm on day 7! Yay!