Everyday Systems

Hello everyone. I am in the Maintenance phase of a very popular accounting diet and looking for a lifestyle diet that is more live able. I like what I see in the No-S Diet. I have been on it for two weeks. I am afraid to weigh myself, though. I am using a habit calendar as suggested to try to get out of the weighing/tracking constantly vigilant mentality. I can't believe how hard it is not to track points and weigh myself. I want to trust myself to live without thinking about food so much. I am not even trying to lose weight anymore. I am at a healthy weight. I just want to stay here happily. But my Weekends are scaring me. Eating whatever I want makes me nervous but eating only "on a diet" makes me sigh....Tell me to stick with this plan, please!....
Thanks so much.
Kat

KittyKat, if a dumpy middle aged guy like me can meet the 21 day challenge, then everyone else can stick to it as well. As you said, work the habit, don't stress about it being a diet.

Keep at it.

Sometimes is the key word. Sometimes on days that start with s. It is not a free for all 2 days.

i just started out too. i have 1 week under my belt. i'm doing the best i can 1 day at a time and that's all i can tell you. last time i gave up too quickly but i think i can make it work this time. my plan is sticking to my 3 meals, making them healthy and satisfying. on s days i will just do whatever for now, try to listen to hunger cues as much as possible and try to not be frantic or overeating every second of the day! this weekend was a little wild but i did stop overdoing it when i felt overfull so that is a step in the right direction. just focus on ndays for now and try to not feel guilt! getting away from that stupid guilt feeling is the first step in breaking the diet mentality.

Welcome, Kitty! I also did the diet where you have to count points and it seriously messed up my thinking about food. No-S is very helpful in getting over that. Hang in there - take it slow - this is something you can do for the rest of your life, so you have plenty of time to get it right.

Thank you all for your kind encouragement. I definitely will try to be patient and get rid of my diet mentality. So sick of counting every bite! I am not going to weigh myself this month either. Yikes!
Kat

Welcome Kittykat!

After reading your initial post and thinking about others that express similar sentiments, it's amazing to me that people have so much anxiety about eating normally. Three meals a day with occasional snacks and sweet treats is how everyone ate before we had all these weight problems.

When I was growing up (1950s and 1960s), we all ate three meals daily, kids usually had an after school snack, there might have been dessert after dinner or a small evening snack (a bowl of popcorn that everyone shared) and it was very rare to see anyone who was significantly overweight.

Eating what you want doesn't mean eating everything you want and as much of it as you want.

wosnes wrote:Eating what you want doesn't mean
eating everything you want and as much of it as you want.

So, Very True !!

jellybeans01 wrote:Sometimes is the key word. Sometimes on days that start with s. It is not a free for all 2 days.

But if it ends up being a free for all, there's nothing wrong with that. It still fits within the No S rules. And even if it doesn't fit within someone's interpretation of the rules, it's still miles and miles above snacking, grazing, and stuffing yourself during the week on top of the weekend.

leafy_greens wrote:

jellybeans01 wrote:Sometimes is the key word. Sometimes on days that start with s. It is not a free for all 2 days.

But if it ends up being a free for all, there's nothing wrong with that. It still fits within the No S rules. And even if it doesn't fit within someone's interpretation of the rules, it's still miles and miles above snacking, grazing, and stuffing yourself during the week on top of the weekend.

i agree. initially it may feel like that. but from what i have read from others success stories, it does get better! s days are eventually about doing what you want. usually most people dont' want to overeat once they experience 5 days of good habits on Ndays for a while. Sdays may start being 1-2 treats only. my first real S-weekend was more than I planned but I decided beating myself up was not the answer. i know over time they will get more moderate, based on other people's experiences.

I have had two weekends of S-days so far. And I didn't go crazy. Just ate out a few times. I guess my discomfort is that I am so used to being on a diet all seven days of the week that eating what I choose to eat, not what I have allotted to eat for my daily tallies is unnerving. I did not realize I was so rigid during my weight loss phase until I gave myself some freedom here on Maintenance. I have not binged. I am just not used to eating without judgement. That's the ultimate goal: feeding myself like a normal person, enjoying it and not judging so much.
I'm starting to feel like a freak as I write this. Why have I made something as natural as eating such an angst-filled chore? It's a shame. I'm changing this.
You are all very kind and I thank you.
Kat

Very good insights. And if you can really let real satiety be your guide, which will take some learning to get, and some real time, I think you'll find some of that normalcy you'd like. Pretend you live in a country that loves to admire and savor food, but hates the idea of overdoing it. It's just not done. Revel, yes. Gorge, no.

oolala53 wrote:Pretend you live in a country that loves to admire and savor food, but hates the idea of overdoing it. It's just not done. Revel, yes. Gorge, no.

Love this idea! Exactly what I need to do! I've been trying to do it but my first Sdays usually lead to a free for all. gotta stop it from being like that and actually enjoy myself!