Everyday Systems

I'm feeling so discouraged right now! I've done a week of No-S so far, and had one red day, and was excited to start this week and have a perfect week, but all of a sudden I just went on a snacking binge that was out of control!!! :

I came home from work decently hungry and scarfed down a bowl of chili for dinner. But after dinner I was "still hungry" so I had peanut butter on a piece of bread. Then I convinced myself that my bowl of chili was small so I could have some popcorn that would count towards my dinner. So I made extra butter popcorn and ate all of that. When that wasn't enough I went back to the peanut butter but didn't even take the time to get out the bread, I just ate a bunch of spoonfuls. THEN I tried to find something else to eat in the house that wasn't healthy (which is hard because my mom doesn't really buy anything unhealthy at all) so the only thing I could find was cheerios and decided to just have a bowl because I had already failed, and then I ate 2 pieces of cheese!

Now I'm still not disgustingly full (which I usually end up being after one of these binge episodes) and it took everything in my willpower (which isn't saying much apparently) to not eat anything else.

I know No-S will work if I could just stick to it, but I'm finding it so hard to stick to!! My logical mind says to just drink water when I'm hungry or do something to get my mind of eating, but I keep failing at that! It seems like when I feel the slightest twinge of hunger I just go crazy! And if I make my meals bigger to compensate for getting hungry, then the scale does not budge at all.

This is just so frustrating! I have about 25 pounds to lose, but I feel like I'm gaining weight right now instead of losing! Part if it is due to the fact that I've stopped exercising as much as I used to. I used to exercise about an hour a day, but ever since I started working long hours with a long commute, I'm just so tired when I come home that I can't even think about working out for 15 minutes.

Ughh I'm just at a loss of what to do. I know I can't give up because I really want to lose weight, but every time I get the urge to stuff my face, the fact that I desperately want to lose weight doesn't enter into my mind. I just ignore all of the voices in my head saying, "you don't need that.. you're not hungry.., you're just bored..if you want to lose those pounds you can't eat right now" instead I just end up eating a ton and feeling like this afterwards. This has been going on for years now and I really don't know what is going to make it stop and what is going to make me really lose the weight. :(

Sorry for the super long message, but I really needed to vent! :(

You made a mistake. No big deal. Mark it and move on. Don't dwell on it. You're not the first to do this and you won't be the last.

Exercise would help your mood if you can fit it in. Have you tried shovel glove? 14 minutes? Or 14 minutes of walking on your lunch hour?

Give yourself more time on No S for your stomach and head to adjust. If not being able to exercise is causing you stress, then agree to put it aside for now and pick it up when your ready.

jld141 wrote: It seems like when I feel the slightest twinge of hunger I just go crazy! And if I make my meals bigger to compensate for getting hungry, then the scale does not budge at all.

This is your problem. You aren't eating enough at meal times. Don't worry about the scale going down just yet. That will come. You've only been doing this, what, a week?

In your example above, I would have had the chili (w/ cheese shreds or a dollop of sour cream), a large salad w/ homemade dressing, and some crackers or a piece of good bread, and maybe even a piece of fruit to close out the meal.

Make meal times - especially your main meal - an event. No eating dinner standing at the kitchen counter because this sets up the cue that you are going to binge. External cues really do help you manage your eating.

jld141 wrote:This is just so frustrating! I have about 25 pounds to lose, but I feel like I'm gaining weight right now instead of losing!

Right now, your goal is to keep the scale from moving up. As hunger starts being less of a trigger you can start slowly reducing the amount of food you eat or at the very least swapping out calorie dense for less calorie dense.

jld141 wrote:Part if it is due to the fact that I've stopped exercising as much as I used to. I used to exercise about an hour a day, but ever since I started working long hours with a long commute, I'm just so tired when I come home that I can't even think about working out for 15 minutes.

Then try to squeeze in a workout before work. Or walking during break times or lunch break. You probably won't be able to get an hour a day of working out but really, you don't necessarily need that all the time. I would throw in some weight training - pushups and squats if shovel glove isn't your thing - in lieu of cardio for a couple of those workouts.

I was looking at the training schedule for a half marathon for another post. To train for a half marathon, you only run long distances once a week. The rest of the week are shorter runs. You can take the same principle and do a long, exhaustive workout on a day off and then do shorter workouts during the week.

You might not be able to do everything but you can do something.

jld141 wrote: Ughh I'm just at a loss of what to do. I know I can't give up because I really want to lose weight, but every time I get the urge to stuff my face, the fact that I desperately want to lose weight doesn't enter into my mind. I just ignore all of the voices in my head saying, "you don't need that.. you're not hungry.., you're just bored..if you want to lose those pounds you can't eat right now" instead I just end up eating a ton and feeling like this afterwards. This has been going on for years now and I really don't know what is going to make it stop and what is going to make me really lose the weight.

Then stop trying to lose weight. Especially quickly. It took me about 8 months to lose 10 lbs. This isn't a fast weight loss program. In fact, it's one of the few where some people lstart off in the maintenance phase and THEN move on to actually losing the weight.

jld141 wrote:Sorry for the super long message, but I really needed to vent!

We've all been there. Hope you are doing better today.

Hey jld, don't be discouraged.

It's happened to all of us.

Fudgetabout it! You are always a meal away (the next one) to get back on track!

Thank you so much everyone for your responses! I wish I would've read this before I just had another failure and snacked after dinner. But I really appreciate everyone giving me some pep talks. They definitely helped! I think I just need to be more mindful until No S becomes a habit. In my logical mind, I know this is the way to go, it's when I stop thinking that I begin to spiral out of control...I'm just going to have to be firm in my thoughts after work and force myself to workout instead of snacking and hopefully in time it won't be so much of a force anymore

Thanks again everyone for the support! Good luck to all of you as well!

I also want to say you are making a classic mistake in all attempts to lose weight: PREMATURE DEJECTION= thinking you're going to have it all get easy in a few weeks, or that if it starts easy, it's going to stay that way. No S is NOT EASY; it's just EASIER in the long run than almost any other way out there. You can have a honeymoon with it and then have it get hard and still be a success eventually. In fact, that is typical for almost all weight loss maintainers, period.

The way you (and most others, at first) get all freaked out and think it's all over with a binge or even small fail IS ALSO A HABIT. Learning not to get swayed by fails is going to be as valuable as not having them, and not just in eating habits.

If you can, try to stop thinking about the 25 lbs. It is likely getting in the way. You need to be looking for a way to eat moderately consistently, not lose 25 lbs. If you want to lose 25 lbs., eat 500 calories a day until you lose it all, and then 1000 calories a day until you maintain, and then increase your calories.... See? Unsustainable! Give up (for awhile) looking for a way to lose weight and look for a way to live rarely overeating. Doing that, if you're meant to lose 25 lbs., you will.

Well said, Oolala.