Everyday Systems

Ok I am really looking for inspiration here. I have been reading the forum boards here extensively but what I really want to know is if people are making this work after a few false starts.

I got the book a few years ago but never really made it work

After 2 pregnancies, slimming world, low carb, you name it i opened the book again last week.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday were good days
But yesterday and today I have been terrible, back to my bad old days of bingeing and figuring once I have blown it for the day with one mistake I may as well eat everything I crave.

I know the all or nothing thinking is a huge downfall for me.

I am not looking for a quick fix and although I would love to lose about 28lbs I am not fixated on that. What I really want to do is stop dieting forever, set my kids a good example and be healthy.

So has anyone else out there had a few false starts and is now making it work long term?
I would love love to hear from you and get any tips.

I think almost everyone has had a few false starts.

Someone here (Over 43? oolala?) has a great analogy about mistakes. Suppose you dented your car. Would you go out and total the car because it already had a dent?

Expect bad days. They're going to happen. Either you'll have cravings or you'll eat something or at some time you shouldn't.

"It isn't making mistakes that's critical; it's correcting them and getting on with the principle task." Donald Rumsfeld

Get on with the principle task.

for a short time, just to get back on track...
make a paper with 3 lines drawn strait across equally spaced from each other. now the 3 lines represent breakfast, lunch and supper. if you don't snack before breakfast.... there is an easy green. if you screw up between breakfast and lunch... you can still get a green between lunch and supper and another chance after supper/before bed.

Thanks for both of the replies, they have both been really useful

I can't point to them all, but there are MANY people here who tried, faltered, left for years at a time and came back to commit. They didn't all necessarily fall into line right then.

The post on giving yourself a green for each meal gap is quite good!

Though it's not Reinhard's suggestion at all, I have posted many tiems of the value I got and get from Judith Beck's recommendation that even before any "diet," a person get very clear and write down the reasons s/he wants to make a particular change, as in eating habits. Mine are not about weight loss per se, but reasons I want to eat sanely and moderately forever. In the beginning, I read them multiple times a day for a couple fo MONTHS, and still read them periodically. I can't tell you how many times those reasons popped into my head when opportunities to eat came up.

There are two kinds of No S'ers who don't have any red days:
1. Newbies who haven't had their first red day yet
2. Liars
Everybody has red days. Everybody.

I'm not the originator of recommending not crashing the car because I dented it. It was here on No S when I got here years ago, I think. But I spread its wisdom!

I've been here since 2008 and am still trying to complete the 21 day Vanilla No S Challenge!