Everyday Systems

About a year ago I finally got back on track with a 21 day challenge and lost 20 pounds in 6 weeks, so here I go again...

2/13 1 Very motivated!
2/14 2 yea! I even made a pie for everyone and am waiting for Saturday!!!
2/15 3 long car ride, shopping, and chinese buffet! (not my idea) I decided to wait to eat, then counted my 2 plates as lunch and supper. I stopped at 2 which is great for me! woohoo!
2/16 4 Sday, and a mild one at that! yea!
2/17 5 Sday, fully taken advantage of
2/18 6 legal but stretching it
2/19 7 great day! Added waiting for hunger to my plan.
2/20 8
2/21 Snacked twice... ranch doritos. Well I got to 8, and I had been having a hard time getting to 1. I'm trying again! If I start tomorrow I can include the weekend days!


- put a big huge X through that -


2/22 1
2/23 2 Sday
2/24 3 great day! Didn't need the S
2/25 4
2/26 in the car for two 4-5 hour car trips in a blizzard to see my daughter cheer at state basketball... I tried, but the return with the full suburban, bad roads, and way too many snacks did it for me.
Grrrr...

I'll join in. Starting back after a 2.5 year hiatus. I've already gone 10 days, so I can surely make it 21 days. Hopefully this time, it sticks.

2/13
2/14 It was very hard not eating my Valentine's chocolate on this day.
2/15
2/16
2/17 Gone wild a bit with the Oreos and Girl Scout Cookies this weekend. Oh well.
2/18 Forgot I had gelato from dinner on 2/14 sitting in the freezer. Now I have to wait 5 more days to eat it.
This is actually day 19 for me! I'm almost to 21 already.
2/19
2/20 ALMOST THERE. Dying for Oreos.
2/21 Today's actually my 21st day. I almost forgot to write it on the HabitCal. Does this mean I'm getting less obsessed?
2/22
2/23
2/24
2/25
2/26 Ate way too little today for breakfast/lunch - not good. Need to make sure meals are fuller. I had three chips while cooking dinner but I had planned to have them with dinner so I still count this as green day. Lesson learned.
2/27 Almost forgot to mark my days again! This is a good sign... Also, today is one month.
2/28
3/1
3/2
3/3 Wild, Wild, Wild!!! Yikes.
3/4 Another difficult Monday, but I made it. One more day and we have met the 21 day challenge.
3/5 MADE IT!!!!!

This month I will be mostly Vanilla flavoured, with sitting and plate mods.
Wed 13th -
Thurs 14th -
Fri 15th -
Sat 16th Capital S day today! Bit overfull when I went to bed oops.
Sun 17th s day with lots of moderation due to the excess of yesterday!
Mon 18th
Tues 19th
Wed 20th
Thurs 21st at work
Fri 22nd
Sat 23rd S DAY and 50th SUCCESSFUL DAY ON NO S!
Sunday 24th Wild S Day.
Mon 25th
Tues 26th
Wed 27th
Thurs 28th
Fri 1st :
Sat 2nd Made a rainbow cake with my daughter and ate a BIG bit plus lots of 'testing' the icing! That was my only S though.
Sun 3rd more rainbow cake, yum!
Mon 4th
Tues 5th That's 21 and my 60th green day! But I'm keeping
on for 90 days so I'll see you all again in the next challenge!
Wed 6th
Thurs 7th
Fri 8th surrounded by cakes and puddings today but I left them alone, waiting for my morning cafe trip with my daughter tomorrow for
churros and chocolate!
Saturday 9th wild wild S day. I forgot my sitting/plate mods and spent the day stuffing food in!
Sunday 10th still too much but better!
Monday 11th back on the horse!
Tuesday 12th
Wednesday 13th

Day 7 - Fail - absent mindedly ate some chips. What was I thinking??

Day 6 - Success

Day 5 - Day 5 was an S day, and it seemed pretty tame, but I realize I did not feel hungry all weekend. That is not a good thing for me because it means I'm eating far more than I realize.

Day 4 - today is an S day, but pretty full from yesterday so it will be tame at least.

Day 3 - Failure - no snacks, no sweets, no seconds...but FOUR meals. Aaargh

Day 2 - Success

Day 1 - Success - Just really a half day since I started in the afternoon. I cooked Valentine's Day dinner for DH and me on Wed. but didn't prepare dessert. Valentine's Day doesn't quite merit being an S day for me - I must not be very romantic!

I'm in. I have been lurking and following No-S very half heartedly since July. I'm still down 15 pounds since then, and am ready to commit full tilt.

Rose

i'm hesitant but i will try. i'm not going to list out the days because whenever i do that i tend to not make it. i've made it a few days so far but when i reach 21 will let you know!

Let's do it.

2/14
2/15
2/16
2/17
2/18
2/19
2/20
2/21
2/22
2/23
2/24
2/25
2/26
2/27
2/28
3/1
3/2
3/3
3/4
3/5
3/6

Good luck! I'm on day 23, Valentine's will be an S Day for me. February is busy, Valentine's, my twin' s birthday and number 49 for me. I'm not a cake eater either.

I'm in! Last month's challenge definitely helped me. I'm looking forward to doing it again!

14. S Day
15. Fail
16. S Day
17. Success! I made today an N day, since I had had 3 big eating days.
18. Fail, but minor, which is why it's orange, and not red.
19. Fail However, I am down 1.2 pounds, and I broke through a weight plateau!
20. Fail
21. Fail
22. A resounding Success!
23. S Day
24. S Day
25. Fail I need to come up with better dinners. The salads with protein aren't cutting it for me.
26. Success!
27. Success!
28. Epic Fail
March 1 Success!
2. S Day
3. S Day

Make sure to save your Valentine's chocolate for the weekend. It's only 1.5 more days away!

I'm in. I started back up on Feb. 1st and am still enjoying the honeymoon period.

2/14 - Success!
2/15 - S-Day
2/16 - Success!
2/17 - S-Day
2/18 - S-Day (holiday)
2/19 - Success!
2/20 - Success!
2/21 - Success!
2/22 - S-Day
2/23 - Fail

Sorry, I'm out. But I just got into the 21 Day Club based on my Feb. 1st to Feb. 22nd performance, so it's not all bad.

Maybe next time..

I'm in! I have been at this very half-heartedly. Really want 21 days...to establish these habits!

2.26:

I'm aiming for green N days, and will also work on portion control. The extra accountability of these threads helps. Thank you, Renee.

Fri 15.2.13
Sat 16.2
Sun 17.2
Mon 18.2
Tu 19.2
W 20.2
Th 21.2
F 22.2
Sa 23.2
Su 24.2
M 25.2
Tu 26.2
W 27.2
Th 28.2
F 1.3
Sa 2.3
Su 3.3
M 4.3
Tu 5.3
W 6.3
Th 7.3
F 8.3
Sa 9.3
Su 10.3
M 11.3
Tu 12.3
W 13.3
Th 14.3

I want to do this, but I start forgetting to post each day when I don't get any reminders from new post notices. Not sure how to work with that, but I'll say I'm in.

Wow, after I said that, I had a fail in the afternoon. So, back to N days on Monday.

I'm starting late, but this sounds like a perfect challenge for me. I've tried no s several times, but haven't stuck with it. I weigh almost as much now as I did when 9 months pregnant, so it's time to get serious!

I'm starting on Monday..

2/18
2/19
2/20
2/21
2/22
2/23 s day
2/24 s day
2/25
2/26
2/27
2/28
3/1
3/2 s day
3/3 s day
3/4
3/5
3/6
3/7
3/8
3/9 s day

OK, I want to join up. I need a 21-day in-a-row of on-it eating.

I feel healthier, sleep better, and am more productive, all while being happier, while doing no-s. Why would anyone sane want to live their life around food???

2/19 - great! Yay! Why do I ever stop?
2/20 - great again!
2/21
2/22
2/23s
2/24s
2/25
2/26
2/27
2/28
3/1
3/2s
3/3s
3/4
3/5
3/6
3/7 - going to change this to an s -day - traveling all day, across country, with two young children and invited to a rehearsal dinner at 9 pm body time. Definitely out-of-the-ordinary. Not sure I can go 9 hours with crabby kids while breastfeeding and not eating, and not willing to to go rehearsal dinner and skip it.
3/8
3/9s and a wedding
3/10s
3/11

Emily

I want to do this, but I start forgetting to post each day when I don't get any reminders from new post notices. Not sure how to work with that, but I'll say I'm in.

Wow, after I said that, I had a fail in the afternoon. So, back to N days on Monday.

Day 1 Feb. 16 yellow
Day 2 Feb. 17 yellow
Day 3 Feb. 18 green
Day 4 Feb. 19 green
Day 5 Feb. 20 green
Day 6 Feb. 21 red (but not wild- meaingful to me)

I'm in!

Feb. 19 Day 1: First green in quite a while. Yay! Getting back on track!
Feb. 20 Day 2:
Feb. 21 Day 3: 3 green days in a row...HAPPY!
Feb. 22 Day 4:
Feb. 23 Day 5: S Day
Feb. 24 Day 6: S Day
Feb. 25 Day 7:
Feb. 26 Day 8:
Feb. 27 Day 9:
Feb. 28 Day 10
Mar. 1 Day 11:
Mar. 2 Day 12: S Day
Mar. 3 Day 13: S Day
Mar. 4 Day 14:
Mar. 5 Day 15:
Mar. 6 Day 16:
Mar. 7 Day 17:
Mar. 8 Day 18:
Mar. 9: Day 19 S Day
Mar. 10: Day 20 S Day
Mar. 11: Day 21 DID IT!!!!!

It's. Never too late to start! If you've goofed... push your restart button!

I'm seeing lots of success!

I'll join. I've had lots of reds in the last week. I got the flu and found myself comfort eating.

February 21: Day 1
February 22: Day 2 The 21 day challenge has inspired me. Two greens after nearly a week of reds!
February 23: Day 3
February 24: Day 4
February 25: Day 5 Yay!
February 26: Day 6 A family birthday dinner with cheesecake! Just an evening event, not a whole S day.
February 27: Day 7 Borderline green. I had seconds at dinner but I'll call it virtual plating as I didn't overeat. I need to remember to put enough on my plate in the first place.
February 28: Day 8
March 1: Day 9
March 2: Day 10 Yay, the weekend! Just had someone tell me I'm looking 'better than ever'!
March 3: Day 11 Overate and felt bloated.
March 4: Day 12 Good to get back to N day sanity.
March 5: Day 13
March 6: Day 14
March 7: Day 15 Seconds and desert

I'm in!

2/21 Success!
2/22 Success!
2/23 S day
2/24 S day
2/25 Success!
2/26 Success!
2/27
2/28
3/1
3/2
3/3
3/4
3/5
3/6
3/7
3/8
3/9
3/10
3/11
3/12
3/13

Ready to start the 21 Day challenge...

Wednesday April 10th: First Day!! I did it!!
Thursday April 11th: YEAH!!

Well, I'm starting over! I got to 7, which is way better than I had been doing! I'll get there again soon. If not, I am doing better trying!

2/4 - Day 1 - really started yesterday but it was an Sday!
2/5 - 2
2/6 - 3
2/7 - 4
2/8 - 5
2/9 - Day 6 and an Sday!
2/10 - 7 another Sday
2/11 - 8
2/12 - 9
2/13 - 10
2/14 - 11
2/15 - 12
2/16 - 13 - Sday
2/17 - 14 - Sday
2/18 - 15
2/19 - 16
2/20 - 17
2/21 - 18
2/22 - 19
2/23 - 20 will be an Sday so can't fail!
2/24 - 21 another Sday so can't fail

I made it!!! Now I want to concentrate more on "Don't be an Idiot"

emmay wrote:I'll join. I've had lots of reds in the last week. I got the flu and found myself comfort eating.

You do know that Sick days are "S" days, right?

Reinhard wrote:Sick days also start with S. Though I don't imagine you'll be too hungry if you're really sick, you officially have license to do whatever it takes to get better.

I was going to start a new thread, but I see Renee is starting over, so if I start today, I'll just be a couple days behind her! I really want to get the red out of my life! Feb has been much better than Jan was for me, but I've still had a couple reds.
2-24 Day 1 S day
2-25 Day 2 success
2-26 Day 3 success Something about knowing I'm going to be accountable here helps me resist temptation for sweets and snacks.
2-27 day 4 success
2-28 day 5 success with an Oops, I had friends over and when I was cleaning up after dinner, I absentmindedly ate the few bits o chicken and peppers left in the pan... I was talking to my friend.
3-1 day 6 success
3-2 Day 7 S day
3-3 day 8 S day mild
3-4 day 9 SUCCESS
3-5 day 10 success
3-6 day 11 success
3-7 day 12 success
3-8 day 13 Success
3-9 day 14 Sday
3-10 day 15 success
3-11 day 16 success
3-12 day 17 success
3-13 day 18 success
3-14 day 19 success proud of myself that I resisted a homemade dessert, I did take it home and put it in the freezer. Two more days to go!

Sweetness wrote:I was going to start a new thread, but I see Renee is starting over, so if I start today, I'll just be a couple days behind her! I really want to get the red out of my life! Feb has been much better than Jan was for me, but I've still had a couple reds.
2-24 Day 1 S day

you can do it!

I really went wild this weekend but it is the weekend so nothing to beat myself up over. Just finding it really demoralizing to "start fresh" on Monday. Feel like throwing in the towel altogether.

I missed a chance to evangelize No S to a friend. I told her I was following this great diet, and could not explain it other than the dozen word introduction. Rolled her eyes when I said no foods are off limits including chips and fries as long as it's with a meal. She claimed that we "need to have snacks, maybe try healthy snacks if you are having a problem." And I was like "NO, you don't understand!" I stopped before getting in an argument with my friend. Turns out, I had the No S book in my handbag which I could have shown her but forgot about. A missed opportunity... As much as I have read about No S I should really have had an elevator pitch ready (beyond the dozen words), but I was caught off guard.

Sweetness wrote:I was going to start a new thread, but I see Renee is starting over, so if I start today, I'll just be a couple days behind her! I really want to get the red out of my life! Feb has been much better than Jan was for me, but I've still had a couple reds.
2-24 Day 1 S day

Yea! Don't give up! Keep up with me! I want to get the red out of my life too. (I like that)

Woohoo! Lets go!

leafy_greens wrote:I really went wild this weekend but it is the weekend so nothing to beat myself up over. Just finding it really demoralizing to "start fresh" on Monday. Feel like throwing in the towel altogether.

I missed a chance to evangelize No S to a friend. I told her I was following this great diet, and could not explain it other than the dozen word introduction. Rolled her eyes when I said no foods are off limits including chips and fries as long as it's with a meal. She claimed that we "need to have snacks, maybe try healthy snacks if you are having a problem." And I was like "NO, you don't understand!" I stopped before getting in an argument with my friend. Turns out, I had the No S book in my handbag which I could have shown her but forgot about. A missed opportunity... As much as I have read about No S I should really have had an elevator pitch ready (beyond the dozen words), but I was caught off guard.

you know what, some people are just not ready to lose the diet mentality. they think it helps them, when in fact it owns them. a relative of mine has been a perfect weight for her height for years now and she insists on tracking everything, every day. she keeps and stores wrappers in her purse so she can log them later. i used to be that way too. but it's taken over her life. it doesn' thave to be that way and she won't listen. so sometimes we just want to tell them but they wont' have any of it. they seem to want to be trapped in these horrible calorie counting nightmares and points tracking and forbidden foods. they almost get this martyrdom out of it... "look at me i have been doing x diet and haven't been eating x, y or z ever"... well if they like it they can have it! this is the most free i've felt in the time i've been "dieting" after having a baby 3 years ago. that's enough of an incentive to me. don't worry about convincing them. some people have to reach rock bottom before they want out of their prison. sad but true! "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink"

I know. It does feel as if I've escaped a prison. I can no longer have the mentality that my life will be better if I have a handful of almonds between meals.

I'm in starting today! Let's go!

edit: I keep failing, I just can't seem to get going.
Tomorrow is an S day so I will just enjoy that, but come Monday, I will try again.

My boyfriend knows all about my food issues (too well). I did not tell him I was doing No S again because I thought I would jinx myself. After I made it 3 weeks I showed him my HabitCal and said every green day I did not have sweets. He did not believe me, thought I was lying. Said "Are you SURE you didn't have any sweets? No little pieces of chocolate, no cookie anywhere?" He still does not believe me. I have no reason to lie about my green days. It would only be hurting myself. That's how big of an addict I am, that even my close people don't believe I can make it without sweets for five days.

me too! most people don't believe i could do that either.

But we are doing it...

P.S. Today I almost forgot to log it here and the habit cal. Good news? The first few days I was on pins and needles to make it to morning so I could mark the last day green. Maybe obsession lessening..? A bit soon but hopeful.

Thanks for the encouragement. We can do this!!

Lots of green. Hooray for us all!

3/4 day 1) Today is my first day! I am excited to live this way! so far so good.
I have also never been on a discussion board before. Sorry if I do it wrong.
3/5 day 2) Success!
3/6 day 3) Success!
3/7 day 4) Success!
3/8 day 5) Success!
3/9 day 6) S Day
3/10 day 7) S Day
Not too bad for my first weekend. I was very happy with Saturday and Sunday was a little more wild but nothing like I did the weekend before I started no s!
3/11 day :mrgreen:
3/12 day 9)Success
Only 10 days to go! I'm more than half way there! WooHoo!
3/13 day 10) Success
Hey I just figured out how to get that cute green guy! I know sometimes I'm a little slow!
3/14 day 11)
3/15 day 12)
3/16 day 13) S day
3/17 day 14) S day
3/18 day 15)
3/19 day 16)
3/20 day 17)
3/21 day 18.
3/22 day 19) Planned S day
3/23 day 20) S day
3/24 day 21) S day
YaY! I did it! 21 days not on to 21 more!

childoftheking wrote:1) Today is my first day! I am excited to live this way! so far so good.
I have also never been on a discussion board before. Sorry if I do it wrong.

Dear Child,
Welcome to No S, you'll get used to the boards, and if you stick with it you will love No S.

One more day and the 21 day challenge is complete!

I've still got a week to go. I'm finding the 21 day challenge a good extra incentive to stay strict.

Emmay, I agree with you. I'm grateful for this challenge. I'm struggling tonight because I didn't eat a healthy dinner and boy what a difference it is making. While I don't feel really hungry, I sure don't feel satisfied right now. It's so late right now that I can hold off until morning, but if it weren't so close to bedtime, I'm not sure I'd make it.

Welcome Child! I am new here, too (here for a very short time a long time ago and glad to be back, still considering myself a newbie, too.)

Congrats to those who completed! I'm still here, on day 13. We can do it!

Sweetness, I'm hanging in here with you, with 4 more days left. I think I'm going to try to make the whole month of March green. I am going to have to figure out how to use the habit cal for motivation. Good luck with the rest of your 21!

Liz46 wrote:Sweetness, I'm hanging in here with you, with 4 more days left. I think I'm going to try to make the whole month of March green. I am going to have to figure out how to use the habit cal for motivation. Good luck with the rest of your 21!

Liz, you're lookin good, lots of green! Once you have 21 going, a month is not hard!

Thank you Sweetness! We'll make it!

Hello everyone,

I started No S about 3/4 wks ago, started well with a few hiccups and then really fell off the wagon last week. I had many days of 'I don't care' mentality which is never good. The thing is that I do care but I use the thought of 'I don't care' as an excuse to go off plan and overeat/binge.

So I thought I'd join this thread and what better day to start than on an S day! Hoping that publicly declaring the colour of my days will help motivate me to stay on track. I've also agreed with a friend that each time I cheat, I'll have to text her exactly what I've binged on rather than my usual 'had a bad day' because having to write down all the foods is far more embarrassing.

Sorry for the long post... happy eating everyone!

Sleepygirl,
I've only been doing this a week so I can't really offer any guidence, only encouragement. Since you have already done no s for 3ish weeks, you can do it again. Maybe if you think of your slip up as something in the past and stop beating yourself up, you can just go forward from here.

p.s. I am so glad to hear that after "falling off the wagon" you still wanted to get back to no s.

Not a long post at all. I had many stalls my first year. Keep trying to use beverages instead of food when you get the "I don't care" feeling. You care, but the urges are neurochemical and real, and they DON'T care. Their whole purpose is to keep the habit alive. They will come and go for a long time, but usually won't go at all until you start saying NO. Start getting excited about racking up NO's. You can't learn to overcome them until you start doing it. Keep talking back to the thoughts. "I DO care and I just had a meal awhile ago. I'm going to eat a great meal in X hours. I CAN wait!" Then find something else to do! Don't let yourself keep having to have this fight over the course of the time left before the next meal.

What WILL you do between meals when you aren't eating? I often resort to stupid stuff like shopping for clothes that I end up not buying, or just surfing the net or writing here or on Spark, but it's made the habit manageable. I don't try to save the world or become superwoman. Just get through the hours. It won't always be so hard.

Thanks Child and Oolala.

My problem is the sweets more than the snacking (although it sort of becomes the same thing because I end up eating sweets as a snack). I have serious issues when it comes to sweets and once I get a taste of them, it all goes wrong and I can't stop. No I take that back. I am an adult and I CAN stop if I really committed to. That's what I need to remember.

Oolala, I've taken a page out of your book and have coffees in-between meals and it really does work for me. I don't really have any problems getting hungry between meals. It's probably also down to the fact that I'm still overloading my plate too much. I'm going to try to follow suggestions of getting the N days 100% right first and then work on reducing portion sizes and S days after. I'd be interested in your thoughts on tweaking S days to run from 6pm Friday to 6pm Sunday rather than the typical Sat/Sun? It's just that often if I go out for dinner it will be on a Friday night and also it seems like it might be a good idea for me to start reducing the sweets from early Sunday eve rather than trying to get in as many sweets as I can before the day officially ends (which I know is not what you're meant to do but as I said, I'll work on S days next).

My brother arrives tomorrow for a 2 week visit (I moved to the UK 11 yrs ago and can you believe he's only just coming for his 1st visit?!) which I'm hoping might help me control the binges. I only ever binge alone so, fingers crossed, this will give me 2 weeks binge-free which I'm hoping will be enough time to start developing the right habits.

Wish me luck for my first full week of green N days!

Welcome Sleepygirl! It is a good idea to just work on habit for the first few weeks, plenty of time to work on portions and Sday wildness later. You are building a lifelong habit that will help you maintain your weight once you lose it.

3/11 - Day 1 (S day)

Now onto Day 2...

Honestly, I am not doing well at all in getting myself to exercise consistently, even just a little. I feel my food is fine, though not strictly compliant. I'm not sure why I"m posting this as I don't have the feeling that I'm ready to commit, either. Maybe building up to it?

First of all, I think it's better not to regard S days as 48 hours. Although it's never said officially to start on Saturday morning, I think it's because Reinhard never anticipated people starting in at midnight on Friday, as some do. Think of S days as about 36-40 hours, from Sat. morning until Sunday evening. If you did want to start Friday night, I'd recommend ending at lunch time on Sunday.

But I recommend not starting on Fridays. It's a good idea to get used to going out and still sticking to the rules. It's possible have a good time and eat your one-plate meal. Remember, drinks don't count. I've just made it a habit to have all the food I get served with the main meal. If others have chips or an appetizer, I just keep saying to myself that the meal is going to be much better if I wait until I have it all together. To me, it is. Once I have those first bites, and the hunger starts getting satisfied, eating doesn't stay quite as fun, so I'd rather wait.

3/11 - Day 1 (S day)
3/12 - Day 2

Finishing this green N day with a nice cup of coffee. Then onto day 3...

oolala53 wrote:First of all, I think it's better not to regard S days as 48 hours. Although it's never said officially to start on Saturday morning, I think it's because Reinhard never anticipated people starting in at midnight on Friday, as some do. Think of S days as about 36-40 hours, from Sat. morning until Sunday evening. If you did want to start Friday night, I'd recommend ending at lunch time on Sunday.

But I recommend not starting on Fridays. It's a good idea to get used to going out and still sticking to the rules. It's possible have a good time and eat your one-plate meal. Remember, drinks don't count. I've just made it a habit to have all the food I get served with the main meal. If others have chips or an appetizer, I just keep saying to myself that the meal is going to be much better if I wait until I have it all together. To me, it is. Once I have those first bites, and the hunger starts getting satisfied, eating doesn't stay quite as fun, so I'd rather wait.

You know what, I thought about answering your question earlier, but then you did ask Oolala, Sleepygirl! Now that she answered I really agree with her, especially the self talk when she's out to dinner, I'm going to use that next time I of out on a no S day!

I have tried starting my Sdays on Friday evenings, and what happened is that I ended up forgetting on Sunday afternoon a couple times, and having to call Monday a fail, which is a bad way to start a week! It would be better to change your S days to Friday and Saturday, than to break up the days like that. But you are better off sticking with the regular rules for a while before making any modifications, that's what Reinhard recommends. It is a good plan to learn to go out to eat and stick to the rules. It has helped me to wrap something up (sweets or extra food) and say, "Im going to save this for Saturday." On the other hand, if it really is a Special event, you could call it an Non weekend S day or event, and celebrate. Completely within the rules. That said, it's not so good to have more than a couple extra S days in any given month. Treats do taste better when you have to wait for them.

Thanks Oolala and Sweetness for your replies and encouragement. Apologies if it seemed that I only wanted an answer to my question from Oolala - particularly as a newbie, I am ALWAYS grateful for all advice and experiences that this great forum is willing to share!

I will take your suggestions onboard and aim to stick with the original S days and work on forming the habits for the first few weeks. I really want to make this work for me...

I have a little different view of S days. I believe that they should be strictly calendar days and not a 48 hour period. If you take Friday night until Sunday noon, you have essentially given yourself 3 S days each week.

I was strict with Sat and Sun S days for the first year. In the second year, I tried some mods and tried taking Friday and Saturday or tried floating my 2 S days. This did not work well for me. It seemed like once I stepped outside of the fence, I became more tempted to do it at other times as well. I am back to weekend S days. If I want to stray on Fridays, it is either a red day or a NWS day, whichever fits the occasion.

PS. Everyone is different and you have to choose your own way. I also recommend stick as close as possible to the basic No S rules as possible though.

3/11 - Day 1 (S day)
3/12 - Day 2
3/13 - Day 3

Gutted. Only made it 2 days and already a red.

I went out for dinner with my brother and my two kids and the kids' meals come with a small dessert. My little 2 yr old is never interested in the desserts (which makes me wonder how he can possibly be my son!) so I had his. It was a tiny piece of chocolate cake and it didn't even taste nice but yet I still had to finish it. I should have just skipped it but I find it so hard to let a 'free' dessert go to waste. The worst part is that I didn't even have a craving for sweets, I just ate it because it was there.

The only upside is that after this, I went to the shop for a few things and since I had a taste of chocolate I then wanted more. I very nearly bought a Twix bar but then came to my senses and stopped myself.

I suppose there's no point in dwelling on it. I just need to move on and learn that it's ok to say no.

r.jean - Thanks for your post. I agree that it's probably best for me to try to stick to the original S days. Definitely until I'm 100% compliant on N days.

I would have trouble throwing a dessert away too. My new habit is to wrap it up, bring it home and put it in the freezer to save for Saturday. Chances are there will be better things you will want on Saturday, and it will be easier to toss. You're right about moving on. Its also good to have a plan for next time it happens. And good for you for resisting the candy bar!!

Hit day 21 yesterday! I really needed this. This thread kept me accountable.

ONWARD

Zippadee,
Congratualtions! You Did It! Keep up the great work.

Childoftheking - How are you doing on your first week on No S?

Thank you so much for asking. So far really great. It hasn't been as hard as I thought. I still think about food more than I would like. I would like to get to where I am only thinking about food for meal planning and things like that.
I promised myself I would only weigh once a month so I really don’t know how I am doing with in that area, but I know I feel much better. All the junk food I was eating isn’t good for my body and I know that but I was eating it anyway. I’m sure that is part of why I feel better.
My goal is to lose one pound a week so that by this time next year I’ll be at a healthy weight. Hopefully I am losing at least that much. Our son graduates from high school in May and I really don’t want to look so big in the pictures so my mind keeps telling me to do a crash diet thing and lose a lot more quickly. I know that makes me crazy thinking about food all the time and I don’t want to be like that anymore. So I have given myself 2 months to lose eight pounds. I know this won’t be enough to make much of a difference in the pictures but I’ll know and that is enough. If I haven’t lost at least that much, I know I can do one of those “lose 14 pounds in 2 weeks†diets . I really want this to work because I don’t ever want to do that kind of diet again!
How are you doing with no s?

oolala53 wrote:First of all, I think it's better not to regard S days as 48 hours. Although it's never said officially to start on Saturday morning, I think it's because Reinhard never anticipated people starting in at midnight on Friday, as some do.

Haha! Yeah.. I don't think he anticipated as many deep-seated food issues as some of us have.. Round 1 had me starting at midnight on Friday... Round 2 I just wait until Saturday. If I can make it to bed on Friday then I can make it 8 hours until sweets. Yes I do have sweets for breakfast (on S days) and don't feel guilty about it (although I anticipate that this will wane back to normal foods).

I agree, I would not start S days on Friday. I have noticed by the time I get to Friday night, I am really excited to wake up on Saturday and the anticipation builds. I can still have all the "fun" of Fridays by going out to eat. I just don't have dessert.

Even if you shift the time to earlier on Sunday, it may just have the effect of shifting the Last Supper binge, not getting rid of it. Leave S days as they are and ride out the wild S days until your appetite is relaxed.

Vanilla, vanilla, vanilla No S!

3/11 - Day 1 (S day)
3/12 - Day 2
3/13 - Day 3
3/14 - Day 4

Borderline green day today because I did have a few homemade fries after I finished my dinner. I would have had them with my dinner but I got my timing all wrong and they weren't ready until after I finished my dinner. And technically they would have fit on my plate...I'm counting it as a green day. Partly because if I have another red day then I know I'll start to lose hope and may give up.

But I understand the idea of staying within the fence (or whatever the phrase is) so will be strict with myself from now. No more bending of the rules!

Leafygreen - It's funny because on my 2nd Friday No S I was absolutely desperate to have sweets. I fell asleep really early but then woke up at 11pm. I asked my husband if he thought it would be ok to wait until midnight and then have my sweets. I thought I was the only one who was silly enough to be waiting for the clock to strike midnight so happy to hear that I'm not completely crazy! (Btw - I did end up going back to bed without sweets but then woke again at 3am and then gave in and had some).

Very nearly a red day but have saved myself by logging onto here now and chewing on a piece of gum instead.

Did well today. My brother is here visiting from the US and I took him to my favourite outdoor food market that have gigantic brownies that I love and always always buy. But I didn't and didn't even feel that tempted.

But then just now, I felt a sudden craving for some junk food and mentioned it to my husband in the hopes that he'd offer to go out to get some. But he thankfully, he didn't. Then I very nearly went to the kitchen to bake some homemade wheat thins but stopped myself. More out of laziness rather than strong willpower but at least I stopped.

So onto day 6 and then finally the weekend!!

3/10- Day 1 (S day)
3/11 - Day 2
3/12 - Day 3
3/13 - Day 4
3/14 - Day 5

This challenge saved me from a red today. I didn't eat the homemade lemon bars my friend made... I did bring a couple home to share with my DH on Saturday! I didn't want to start over with just 3 days left! Now 2, and one is an S day!

Hooray for the weekend! REALLY looking forward to the upcoming S days.

I should be safe to declare today a green day as long as I don't eat anything else tonight. Have made myself a nice cup of decaf coffee to end my day.

3/10 - Day 1 (S day)
3/11 - Day 2
3/12 - Day 3
3/13 - Day 4
3/14 - Day 5
3/15 - Day 6

Sweetness, really well done on making a sensible decision on the lemon bars. I struggle with bringing home things to save for the weekend. If I know that something is in the house then I can't stop thinking about it and generally, my willpower loses out and I give in.

Saying that, I know that there is a bag of delicious cookies that my brother bought today just waiting to be eaten (tomorrow). He's visiting from out-of-town and while I have told him about being on No S, I haven't told him that it's because of binge eating issues. But knowing that my brother bought the cookies and that he would clearly know if I ate them (and I would be embarrassed), they are pretty safe from my greedy hands. At least until my S day starts

I would have brought the lemon bars home, too.

You will feel your way with this issue of having sweets in the house. I used to have a bunch of stuff in the freezer. Sometimes I overate them and sometimes not. Now I just rarely have them because I live alone and I eat those things so seldom and in such small amounts that I just don't buy in the amounts I used to. I'd rather leave room for foods I eat more often and in more volume. And there's never a shortage of sweets available a short drive away...

Sweets are a fact of life in my home with a slim husband who loves his sweets. In the long run it is a good thing to learn to resist rather than just avoid, but that said I think avoiding would have been easier at the beginning.

I'm starting this week, too!


1. March 25: SUCCESS
2. March 26: SUCCESS
3. March 27: NWS Day (N day + seconds and dessert at Chinese buffet)
4. March 28: NWS Day (N day + piece of cake)
5. March 29: SUCCESS
6. March 30: S Day
7. March 31: S Day
8. April 1: SUCCESS
9. April 2: SUCCESS
10. April 3: SUCCESS
11. April 4: SUCCESS
12. April 5: SUCCESS
13. April 6: S Day
14. April 7: S Day
15. April 8: SUCCESS
16. April 9: SUCCESS
17. April 10: NWS Day (N day + crêpes at a friend's house)
18. April 11: SUCCESS
19. April 12: SUCCESS
20. April 13: S Day
21. April 14: S Day

Welcome Anoulie!

Confession time...after posting a green N for Friday, I need to change that to a red. I couldn't resist those cookies that my brother brought home and gave in and then that led to more snacking. I was sooo close to making it to the weekend. Very disappointing.

I had FAR too much to eat this weekend but on the up side, I didn't binge. Several times over the weekend I caught myself thinking and feeling 'I've had enough sweets now. I feel satisfied and don't actually want any more'. But unfortunately, I found myself overriding those sane thoughts and eating more sweets anyways. I think I was particularly bad because with my brother here visiting, we have been eating out a lot and exploring amazing food markets (I know, seems a bit crazy for a person with a binge and sweet problem to go to food markets...). Anyways, I rarely ever have sensible thoughts and feelings of 'I've had enough' so even though I didn't act on those thoughts, at least it's a little bit of progress.

I've decided that rather than go straight into a 21 day streak, I think I'll aim for a more gradual approach and start with a 5 green N day streak. 21 days seems too far and out of reach for me at the moment so it helps me for me to have a short term goal. And I think I'll join in and start a daily check-in for accountability.

Good luck to all and happy No S-ing!

I am starting No S today, so I want to kick-off with doing it the right way. It's only 10 a.m. EST, but so far, so good. I am currently about 35 lbs lower than my highest recorded weight, which was 239 lbs (the same weight as Homer Simpson is often recorded having!). I am sure I was heavier than that, and I'm just over 5' tall, hence, my user name. I've been losing weight the same way I gained it, slowly. The hardest part of No S for me will be the weekdays - I already eat less on days that start with S because I have so much more time to be active on the weekend, and I generally have so much activity packed in the weekend that I've already been observing no seconds, no snacks, no sweets, before I even heard of No S.

Mon-Fri, I'm chained to my desk at work, and there is always food in the kitchen, and chocolates at the front desk, and it feels like it's easier to work when there is a snack in front of me.

3/21 -
3/22 -
3/23 -
3/24 -

Welcome Shortformyweight. Go for it! I once heard someone say they it is better to" waste it than waist it". Don't think of all the goodies you are not going to eat at work as going to waste but improving you waist. Often if I am hungry, I just think "that is great, I'm losing weight right now!"
I know you can do no s. I am not very far into it but already I can say it is the most sane I have felt in a long time.

It won't likely happen in a few weeks, but you really will get to the point at which the food around you is meaningless. Just keep thinking that you don't want to ruin your appetite. And you are way ahead of the game on S days.

I used to think I worked better with food, only it wasn't a small amount. It was nearly a package of cookies at a time! It was always a myth, and mostly just a habit, after awhile. Unpair them! That's all it is.

And I'm realizing how much I rely on a snack to get me through the afternoon. I decided to eat breakfast and lunch a little bit later. I am at work by 7:10 a.m. most days, and I usually eat breakfast around 7:30 at my desk, but today, I just drank water until I felt really hungry, around 9am-ish, and instead of having my lunch around 11:15, I'll push it back to 12:30-1pm ish. Then I can make it until dinner without feeling a strong urge to snack. I am already very good about not eating after dinner, so I'm less worried about that time.

Good plan. I feel lucky that my school has a lunch break starting at 12:35 p.m. Some schools eat earlier and I know I would have a hard time getting to dinner under those circumstances.

I am doing well so far. I didn't eat enough calories at all this weekend, I came in at 970-ish on Saturday, mostly because it was just a really busy day, and yesterday I came in at just over 1000. According to My Fitness Pal, I should be eating around 1515 calories right now to lose weight, so I did a lot of meal planning this week to make sure that I'm eating enough good stuff to keep me from being hungry and also keep me on track nutritionally and weight-loss wise.

Pushing my breakfast and lunch back helped a lot - I wasn't hungry when I came home so I was able to avoid snacking.

I'm going to finish up a 21 day challenge after being in diet head mode for several months - need a peaceful head instead - here it goes...

1. 3/11 - Success
2. 3/12 - Success
3. 3/13 - Success
4. 3/14 - Success
5. 3/15 - Success
6. 3/16 - S Day
7. 3/17 - S Day
8. 3/18 - Success
9. 3/19 - Success
10. 3/20 - Success
11. 3/21 - Success
12. 3/22 - Success
13. 3/ 23 - S Day - Wild! 1st day of vacay
14. 3/24 - S Day
15. 3/25 - Success
16. 3/26 - Success - Wanted popcorn at movies - said NO!
17. 3/27 - Success
18. 3/28 - Success
19. 3/29 - Success
20. 3/30 - S Day
21. 3/31 - S Day

Peer pressure seems to help so I'll participate too. I'll start tomorrow since I already messed up today.