can't stop tallying calories in my head

[aGAgirl1]

Hey everyone! I'm looking for some advice here. I'm pretty new with NoS and here's a problem I've been having. Today I thought about getting pizza for lunch and I know I would have 2 pieces. It's pizza hut meat lovers and I happen to know they're around 500 calories a slice. So, in my mind I'm thinking "no don't have that, it's too high in calories" but I don't really want to think about calories anymore. I've mentioned before that I've done WW for several years so all the nutritional counts of food are pretty much automatic for me. I can't really unlearn calorie values, and should I quit thinking about them? Just not sure how to incorporate my past knowledge with trying to get some new habits in place.

Also, how do I do a daily check in here? Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this matter!!

[wosnes]

I'm not a calorie counter, never have been. But I think the first steps when you're following No-S is to get the habits down. Forget about calories, forget about nutrients -- just eat three plates of food daily with no snacks, seconds or sweets.

After the habits are habit, think about calories and nutrients if you need to do that.

By the way, as long as you're not eating two slices of pizza every day for lunch, don't worry about it. It's not what you do now and then that matters. It's what you do day in and day out. Even if you treat yourself to a pizza meal weekly, it's not a big deal. Also you can do what I've read some "naturally slender" women do. After you indulge, cut back some at the next meal. Not before the indulgent meal, because then you'll be too hungry and eat even more than you would have initially.

[BrightAngel]

I can't really unlearn calorie values,
and should I quit thinking about them?

No. Not if you expect to maintain or lose weight.
Because, in SOME way, you still have to reduce the AMOUNT of food you normally eat...
...either by eating frequency, type of food, portion size, or a combination of all three reductions.

[aGAgirl1]

Bright Angel, thankyou for all your thoughtful posts. I love that you have much sucess counting calories. Actually for me its point values, but a point is roughly 50 calories so I know both. After all these years counting is second nature, habit, no effort. Its all stored in my brain. However, I need to stop my snacking and sweets habit and that is what draws me to NoS. Maybe I am a`NoS/WW duo! lol... Anyway, everyone here is great and I love hearing some really wise advice from all of you.

[DaveMc]

I can't really unlearn calorie values, and should I quit thinking about them?

Well, I'm not sure this is something that anyone else can answer for you. Seems to me that the answer depends on what kinds of problems you've had with other diets/approaches to eating. If the process of counting calories drove you crazy, that may be a good reason not to keep dwelling on it -- especially if it drove you away from sensible eating, or towards yo-yo dieting, or the like. In that case, I think you'd be well advised to focus on getting the N-day habits down pat, then you'll be in a good position to refine what you're eating in your three meals. I'm personally of the opinion that one can learn to eat moderately without needing to explicitly count calories, and that NoS is the best available tool for achieving that transition.

If, on the other hand, being aware of calories is just something you do automatically, without it being a source of stress or something that might drive you away, then why not? It's just another piece of information that you can use to decide what to eat -- no point in ignoring it, if you've already got it on file, mentally.

One way or another, the goal is to reduce the total amount you end up eating ... whether that requires explicit calorie counting is something that is debatable. (I know, because it's been debated fairly often, recently. ) This is one of those things that may need to be specific to each individual.

Also, how do I do a daily check in here?

If you go up one level (to http://everydaysystems.com/bb/), there's a section called "Daily Check In". People usually start a thread for themselves, and post in it whenever they want to check in - formats vary. If you take a look in that section, you'll see plenty of examples.

[idontknow]

I've also done ww on and off for years and know the points values of most foods. In a way I think this is useful because I know what a reasonable portion size looks like (eg pasta). However, I also know that when I have followed points I have constantly traded off points during the day (if I have less bread I can have a biscuit, or if I have tomatoes instead of peas I'll have half a point more to use on chocolate etc). With no S you can't do this and so your portion sizes can be slightly larger, or you can eat food with higher calories and still lose weight. For example I have stopped using reduced fat cream/cheese. My food tastes much better and I am losing weight much more effectively than I did with ww because I don't feel deprived. I also feel like I am able to continue with these habits no matter what is thrown at me - something I always struggled to do with ww.
Just my thoughts

[Nichole]

I wouldn't stop thinking about them.

If you KNOW that something is incredibly high in calories and bad for you and your instinct is to get something else, do it. That's my opinion anyway.

[vmsurbat]

I wouldn't stop thinking about them.

If you KNOW that something is incredibly high in calories and bad for you and your instinct is to get something else, do it. That's my opinion anyway.

Well, I partially agree and partially disagree with Nichole here. You can't and don't need to get away from knowing calories/portion sizes/good nutrition. That is all good info to have tucked away and will help you make wise choices.

But, I think you need to broaden your understanding of what constitutes a "wise choice." I don't think it should boil down to only one thing: how many calories. And I wouldn't equate "high calories=bad". I think you need to ADD to your eating knowledge in order to make good choices: what do I want? what will satisfy me? what will balance out the meal? what will I be doing later?

One of the great things about NoS (and I've been successfully following NoS for 2+ years now) is that you can learn to view food as food--something to nourish body and soul. If one has been a "counter" for a while, food has often gotten reduced to so many calories, points, vitamins, carb grams, fat grams, fiber grams---everything and anything but "an apple", "a piece of fresh pie", "crispy taco", "yummy salad."

I started out NoS by taking small portions of non-sweet foods that I had somehow classified as "forbidden" and made them a part of my N-day meal. For example, potato chips with a sandwich. I had always denied myself chips ("They're fattening!") unless at a gathering in which case I would totally overdo it because it was my "one chance.". It is true that chips are a caloric food, but a small handful can add a delightful crunchy note to a sandwich and fruit lunch... I wanted to learn how to eat to allow for the occasional "just right crunch" of potato chips... That is one reason why I chose to add chips to N day meals--I didn't want to wait until an S day and then feel that I could just gorge myself--not the kind of behaviour I wanted to encourage. But because I added chips to an N-day meal every so often didn't mean chips at every meal because it wasn't so much about "having chips" as about orchestrating an enjoyable meal, and it didn't mean the whole bag when I did (love that plate rule: one=done), but honestly, I've been able to enjoy a handful about once a week when it is just the thing to round out a lunch.... and lose weight.... and enjoy the process.....

So go ahead and enjoy the pizza. And ask yourself: will two pieces be the most satisfying way to fill my plate? Or would I prefer one piece and a salad? And know that at different times, you may answer that question differently....

HTH,