~ Reviving Renee ~

[~reneew]

Woohoo! I finally got back to 26 pounds lost!!!!26 down ~ 44 to go
See my first page here to see my record if interested.
I do better when the kids go to school. Sorry kids.
I'm going to keep on it now to go lower. I've been trying to wait until dinner a few days a week. I usually get 2-3 one meal days and that's when I loose big. I'm waiting until I'm hungry, then eating 1 dish of food. I aim for brunch and dinner with an emergency one thrown in that I usually use. Sweets are O.K. if it fits on my plate, but I usually don't crave them. Weekends are free days of course, since that's what gets me through the week. I have been doing a bit better on the weekends. I'm also in a very good Bible study and I just seem to do better with my weight when I'm studying the Bible ~ go figure, huh? It's my soul exercise. Think God's trying to tell me something? I try for heart exercise also, but I've been so busy still with cleaning up this tornado that I usually don't have time for structured exercise.



September

1 success
2 success
3 success
4 success I did well today knowing that Monday will not be good. I succeded on a Saturday!!! Woohoo!
5 S day
6 S day I was starting to over do it, but not way over the top like I can sometimes.
7 success
8 success
9 success
10 success
11 S day
12 S day
13 success
14 cookies... other than that it was great
15 success
16 success I wrote it early to try to ward off eating one of those bars that I had to make for a funeral. I successfully did it without one tiny bite!!!
17 success and I'm down 24. My goal is down 26 at the end of this month. Think I'll make it???
18 S day I took full advantage of this S
19 S day I abused this one
20 success I'm kinda trying to hold off until dinner some days. It seems to work fast and it feels like I'm breaking my food addiction!
21 absolute failure. 2nd Tuesday in a row. Ug. I just snack. Duh!
22 success
23 success
24 success
25 S day
26 S day
27 success
28 success
29 success
30 success
I'm going to finish the month with a good day for sure because I finally finally got back to 26 pounds lost. Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thtrchic]

Yay! Congrats on the many days of success and the great weight loss!

julie

[~reneew]

Thank you! I love your encouragement. It gives me a boost, and I need all the boosts I can get

[ShannahR]

reneew--
Wow! What a great month! I'm very impressed and inspired. You're doing great I'm sure you can keep it up!

[~reneew]

reneew--
I'm sure you can keep it up!

ya sure? I'm not

[ShannahR]

Yes, I am sure. I think you're being too hard on yourself. You have great momentum going and you've proven to yourself that you can do it. Would you ever say to me "you can't keep up all the good habits you've been working on?" NO, you would never want to hurt my feelings and dampen my spirit that way. So why are you saying that to yourself?

[mrsj]

Congratulations!!! I'm sure that you WILL keep up the good work! Have faith in yourself!

[~reneew]

Great support guys! Love ya!

[~reneew]

I've been looking back at my journal here and I've made a graph of my weightloss since I started (taken from page 1 here) and I learned a couple things:

1- I really do seem to stop at 20
2- I derail around Christmas time
3- I did really well right after I calculated and recorded my snitches from April '08. (see below)
4- when I'm doing well, I'm trying really hard to do the 21 straight
5- when I'm doing well I allow absolutely no cheating

So, I'm thinking that what I need to do is to:
1- Try my best to get to 21 without not even the tiniest bite of cheating
2- Try to ignore the traditional holiday treat making or come up with an alternative
3- remind myself of how fast snitches add up

In order to do this I will re-post my snitch post here from April '08:

Monday I issued a challenge to be green for the whole month of April. So yesterday, my last day of March, I thought I'd allow myself a couple innocent bites... Then last night when I stepped on the scale and saw that it actually went up a tad, I was mad! I thought that this diet isn't working even when I resist SO hard and have a 'good' day! Then after a while of slam-talking myself a voice inside said "well...you did snitch a bit!" So I decided to think hard and tally them up...then count the calories for my few bites. I was blown away!!! I thought I'd share. Keep in mind that I actually, honestly thought I had an N day!!!

280 cal. - 4 spoons of frosting while doing a cake for a potluck.
440 cal. - 3 distracted minutes of baked potato chips while packing lunch for my son.
560 cal. - 2 rhubarb oatmeal bars that weren't really that sweet - right?(I was on the run!)
125 cal. - snitched 1/2 C. chili to be sure the seasoning was right. (That would explain all of the spoons in the sink!)
180 cal. - snitched about a cup of coleslaw for the same reason(forks in the sink)
430 cal. - half seconds on supper (only halfs!!!!)
-----------
2015 total snitched calories yesterday! And I thougth it was an N day!!!



WOW! And I am not exagerating one bit! These are the best estimates that I could come up with because when I snitch I am only 1/4th aware that I'm doing it!!!






I will record everything on my habitcal and allow absolutely no cheating snitches!!!

[~reneew]

Alright ~ that didn't goso well. I ate way way too many sweets lately. Just for an example, in my kitchen right now is... pumpkin pie (son and hubby begged) cherry pie (daughter begged and helped make it) homeade cookies and freshly baked pumpkin seeds. Hmmm... I have a problem!

I'm now going to try to record sucessful days here... in green bold letters. I need to stay on track because this is my difficult time of year!


November:
1 success! (I even had trouble spelling it! ha!)
2
3
4
5
6 S day, but I plan on eating off of 3 plates as I'm thinking that not doing that might be my downfall. Duh
7 S
8
9
10
11
12
13 S
14 S
15
16
17
18
19
20 S
21 S
22
23
24
25
26
27 S
28 S
29
30

[~reneew]

I think I made it to day 3 ~

I'm gaining again. I feel extremely frustrated at myself. When I'm on a roll, life in general is good. When I'm not, life in general is bad. When I'm gaining, I feel like a failure extreme. I turn into a crabby person. So, generally, I've been really crabby lately.

I know that I need to get with it because this time of year is my "gain" time of year. I'm not sure what it is, but I know that the cozy warmth of inside while it's crisp outside may have something to do with it. I just need to get into the habit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go girl!

[mrsj]

I hear ya! GRRR!!!! All I can think to do is bite the bulælet and keep No Sing!

[~reneew]

This is my tougher than tough time of year. I need to track to keep from gaining AGAIN this year. So here's for the rest of the month:


December:
1 success!
2 success!
3 failed bad snack snack snack
4 S day and taken advantage of it.
5 S day and ditto, so here I start to track.
6 success! give me an S.... give me a U......
7 success well earned! Every success this month deserves an award!
8 success ... it will be!
9
10
11 S day
12 S day
13
14
15
16
17
18 S day
19 S day
20
21
22
23
24 S day
25 S day
26
27
28
29
30
31 S day

[mrsj]

Renew, YOU CAN DO IT!!! I have faith in you. There are only 3 real stuff your face holidays in December-Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. There are 28 other days in the month...

Remember, nobody gets fat from December to January. It happens from January to December!

[~reneew]

Remember, nobody gets fat from December to January. It happens from January to December!

Ha! You should read my record of weight since I started here... you can find it on page 1 on my daily "reneew renewing" It's pittyful. I gain it all back year after year. The holidays just seem to trigger it, and it unravels after that.

[kccc]

Remember, nobody gets fat from December to January. It happens from January to December!

Ha! You should rea my record of weight since I started here... you can find it on page 1 on my daily "reneew renewing" It's pittyful. I gain it all back year after year. The holidays just seem to trigger it, and it unravels after that.

But now you know. And knowing is half the battle.

[~reneew]

Thanks KCCC, I needed that reminder right now. I logged on to find incentive to avoid making more cookies today. I think I found it.

[mrsj]

Earth calling renew..... Where are you? GET OUT OF THAT OVEN! GET OUT OF THAT COOKIE JAR!!!

Happy New Year, and may the next year bring NEW HABITS!

[Strawberry Roan]

Renewwwwww, where are you?

Heck, I have gained 7 pounds from my goal weight this summer but this is a New Year, we are rearing' to go,

aren't we?

[~reneew]

Wow, I was missed. Thank you!

I am trying to internalize my habits and make them "normal". I am waiting until my tum grumbles, then having 1 dish. My thinking/doing has been so extreme during the holidays that I've gained. Duh. I need normalcy. I will give this maybe 2 weeks, then start posting here again if I need to. Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need prayers if you are so inclined. They really work!

[mrsj]

I'm praying for you, renew! Hang in there, and remember NO S!

[~reneew]

Week one down and I'm doing good. I'll post when I get back to the 26 I'd lost. I feel too embarassed to gain every darn winter, so I'm determined to loose this time! I wanna join the pants fell down club or whatever that was I just read

[kccc]

Welcome back!

Never feel embarrassed to post here...support forums aren't just for people who are perfect! (In fact, just the opposite, lol!)

It is good to see you.

[mrsj]

Don't feel emabarassed renew. I read somewhere that most people do gain weight during the winter. Something about the hibernation effect or some such thing. Stems all the way back to caveman days when food wasn't as plentiful in winter and metabolisms slowed way down. Our bodies haven't evolved all that much since those days.

Please don't stay away. We miss you!

[mrsj]

DON'T MAKE ME GO TO PAGE 2 TO FIND YOU!!! Stop this silliness immediately! You know that we need you and you need us! Come Back!!!

Pleeeeeeeeeeease?

[~reneew]

I'm in need of a jumpstart right now. The thing that really does it for me is to eat one meal a day for a day.. or a few days if I can.

Lately I've been kind of trying to do a combo of NoS, Diet alternative, and weighdown. I watch Weighdowns free videos online for incentive. And I wait until I'm hungry (Weighdown) then have one plate, no seconds or snacks (nos), then keep it to 2 meals (Diet alternative and tight nos). On Saturdays and Sundays I have an optional 3rd dish (tight nos) which usually ends up being popcorn. No sweets until S days.
So, it's basically a tight No S but wait until I'm hungry. Reinhard says that 2 meals are fine, and breakfast makes me feel yucky.

Too many rules gives me an excuse to cheat, so I have to be careful. I've just started to write in a book out on my counter at home that I record all of my stuff in. It really helps. I have a little calendar inside where I put a sticker for successful days and I only record feelings and not my intake.

AND... I am definitely one of those overweight people that follow others' instructions. That's one of the reasons that I have a hard time following my own plans. Someone else needs to write it... or maybe I'll print this out and pretend someone else wrote it!!! Ha! I think I'll try it!

[~reneew]

I hereby declare a new year for myself! I need a fresh start and here it is.

Today is my 21st anniversary, next month I will turn 44, and in April my oldest child will turn 18!!! In May she graduates! I would really like to be able to say that I lost all of the "baby weight" by the time she turns 18! To do that I'd have to get down to 55 lost. I gained for the winter as usual and I'm now at 15 lost. Hmmm... I'd have to starve. So, plan B is to get to 35 lost by her birthday or all 55 by her graduation. Since there is no way that my honor student daughter will graduate late, I better get a goin'

[mrsj]

Renew, I'm so glad you're back!

Now you and I both know that there's NO WAY you can shrink 55 lbs in 3 months! Get real!

However it is possible to shrink 15-20 lbs IF YOU PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!

In your earlier post you said that you follow instructions if someone else writes them for you. Here goes:

1. Follow Vanilla No S faithfully. DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF!!! You know what happens when you do.

2. Take a 20 minute walk every morning. I don't want to hear that you don't have time. MAKE THE TIME! If nothing else, get up 20 minutes earlier. Take the dog out with you.

3. Do your daily chores faster. Trot between rooms.

4. Drink your water.

5. Find the time to do some strengthening and toning excersizes. Believe me, it is NOT attractive with loose skin flapping around your overarms, thights and back.

I'm off my soapbox now.

Check out the No shilly-shallying thread. I'll bump it up for you.

God Bless.

[~reneew]

O.K. I'll try to trot I know that I could loose 35 by the end of May if I was really on track. But what I was saying is that I want to get to 35 lost. I'm already down 26.

We'll see...

[~reneew]

Saturday was good, Sunday was pitiful. What's with watching the Superbowl and food anyway???

[mrsj]

Um... Isn't Sunday an S day?

[kccc]

O.K. I'll try to trot I know that I could loose 35 by the end of May if I was really on track. We'll see...

Yes, but don't focus on the weight. Focus on the habit. You can't control the weight loss (it is NOT linear), but you can control the habits (and the loss will - eventually - follow).

For me, focusing on the scale (as in, constantly checking "have I lost a pound yet?") is a recipe for disaster. Setting deadlines by which I must lose weight is even worse.

[~reneew]

Mrsj- it was a pittiful s day. For a big binger like me, I can gain 10 pounds in a weekend.

KCCC-I know... the scale thing honestly gives me incentive. simply put, I gain for sure when I don't weigh. I now only weigh a couple times a week. I try not to focus on the scale, but then I need some goal too. I tried to guage it by jean size, but they vary so much. When I measure, that can vary too as to how I suck it in or don't and where the tape is. Ho hum. I used to weigh on Fridays since it was the lowest time of the week, but I now prefer Mondays since it gives me incentive to get through the weekend without binging. I try not to look day to day, but week to week weights at the same time during the week.

I will try hard to focus more on the habit. I'm going to think habit habit habit, one thing at a time. Thanks!!!

[~reneew]

I was too tight early last week. Doing double greens, but I guess I let loose by thursday and it went all weekend. So, I'm going to do more of a normal green this week. I need to get this all under control. I'll be doing my normal brunch and dinners this week. What I really want is for green to be normal. Remeber the ring of fire we build around the Ses when we do really well.

[~reneew]

Plan: I wait until I'm hungry (Weighdown) then have one plate, no seconds or snacks (nos), then keep it to 2 meals (Diet alternative and tight nos). On Saturdays and Sundays I have an optional 3rd dish which usually ends up being popcorn. So, it's basically a tight No S but wait until I'm hungry. Reinhard says that 2 meals are fine, and breakfast makes me feel yucky.

Copied from my February challenge page:


For February, I'm mainly going to concentrate on just plain DOING IT!

Feb:
3- successful and I didn't even take an S day for our anniversary!
4- It will be a success because tomorrow is an S! (in other words, hang on you can do it!)
5- S day fairly good
6- S day pitiful. superbowl snacks snacks snacks
7- Yea, yea, yea!
8- success again, and it was very good!
9- I'm on a roll. Only 13 N days left for the month!! Wow!
10- not quite
11- bad binge
12- S day
13- S day I had the most green that I've had in a long time, so not giving up. It's hard to remember when I thought all green was getting boring! HA!!! Wish I was there now.
14- Valentines day. I think I ate my share of candy this weekend. Ug. I'm going to shoot for a normal green and steady this week. No great losses, just sanity.
15-
16-
17- I can be so weak! Then when I "fail" the flood gates open! Ug!
18-
19- S day
20- S day and I took full advantage of it.
21- I am getting a grip today. I see a red trend here... better lock the kitchen come Thursdays!
22-
23- I feel sane again following this. Why do I ever lag on it?
24- yea! I did a green Thursday!!! I really succeeded because I saw my track record. There is no special thing going on on Thursdays.
25- nope, just had to snitch (a lot) making supper. And then clean up after was another meal in itself.
26- S day
27- S day
28-



Well... way better than last month... and the month or 2 before!

[~reneew]

Sanity is back!

[kccc]

[kccc]

[~reneew]

I've issued a March challenge and I will do better in March than I did in February!

[mrsj]

So, did you trot on down to the store and get yourself a little something GREEN? Like a little houseplant or a little plant for the garden?

I'm seriously considering making a small flower bed that's No S themed.
Lot's of GREEN plants in different shades, a few YELLOW flowers and one single RED rose to scare the socks off me!

[~reneew]

Today I bought seeds and potting soil. I love to dig and plant in spring!

[mrsj]

Good for you! Now, what can we think of for you as a reward WHEN you join the 21 Day Club?

[~reneew]

Boy, you're really keeping me on my toes. Ummm... a hanging flower basket! I will really look forward to it. Pink and green of course. Something that will get big.


How about you mrsj?

[~reneew]

Uh, oh. Company is coming for the weekend. When I see food ~ I eat food. I will be cooking for the 10 of us for 3 days.
I really need to focus!

[mrsj]

Focus, dear and remember that it is after all S days. Just remember your 3 meals a day. Look at it this way-with company you won't really have time to graze and gobble like a turkey and eat like a hog! Enjoy their company and talk a lot at the dinner table. Enjoy their conversation and remember that the only thing you should have in your mouth while speaking is your tongue!

My reward for joining the 21 day club will be 2 green plants for my No S flower bed.

[mrsj]

Renew, you've been quiet lately. Don't be embarrased, just take it on the chin. You can still make the 21 Day Club!

[~reneew]

Day 5 with sick kids. My youngest daughter has had a fever since Friday probably and now my youngest son has it too. This week is getting long!

More snow... forced drinks... nothing looking good to eat (in their eyes)... hanging out in the livingroom (next to the open kitchen)... coughing... stuffy noses... one barf... and tons of hugs

I'm sure glad that I can be here for them, but yuck!!

[Strawberry Roan]

Aww, poor things. I am so sorry that you have sick kiddos. I know that the desire to just snack the day away is strong

Hang tough!

[~reneew]

Kids are well and back to school... and better for my diet, that's for sure!

[mrsj]

Renew, why aren't you renewing? Too busy gardening perhaps?

[~reneew]

March
Last month I started to record on the 3rd and I then had 5 fails. That leaves me with 7 fails. I better be able to do better than that! Good thing February was short![/color]


March
1
2 You've got to be kidding me! It's only day 2 and I ate doritos packing my daughters lunch! (and not just a few) UGGGG
3
4 barely kinda sorta... I'm going with green. Company.
5 S day company. Daughter getting sick?
6 S day company still here. Sick daughter.
7 no comment
8
9 now I have 2 sick kids! Ug. Ash Wednesday and I am giving up somthing that is very difficult, so this may help me here...
10
11 Day 8 sick for my daughter and day 3 for my son. Ug.
12 S day
13 S day
14 and it was tough! Starting double green... that's strict
15
16
17 birthday and day 10 for the 21 day club. almost half way!
18
19 S day
20 S day
21
22
23 ug ... there goes the 21
24
25 S day on a mini vacation. bad bad bad girl. So I swapped Sunday for today.
26 S day
27 Good day too! I usually don't bank a day after the fact, but if I didn't, I would have blown today too. Oh, how my mind works.
28
29 fail fail fail. I "forgot" and ate, then used it as an excuse all day. duh.
30 Good grief!!! What's with that??? I bought jelly beans and it was not good. I blame it all on the jelly beans!
31 It will be green because it has to be or I did no better than last month.


But honestly, this is the best that I've done in quite a while. I will do better next month.

[~reneew]

April

I will do better this month than last month! My goal is to renew my membership in the 21 days straight club. Pure vanilla with double green days, wait for grumble and heart and soul exercises.


I will update April here when I finish the month.

[mrsj]

Renew, you should be proud of yourself! You harp on your 6 reds, but ignore your 25 greens! Shame on you! (See me shaking my finger in your face!)

March has been one of your best months ever! Now, you trot on down, yes, trot, to the store and get yourself a little GREEN reward! NOW! Don't make me come after you and kick you every step that we trot!

[~reneew]

Well, April will be better! I did get a lime green sweater on clearance today.

[mrsj]

Good for you! Did you trot?

I got myself a few charms on sale for my bracelet.

What reward can we dream up for April?

[~reneew]

I keep buying my rewards before I earn them. I don't think I'm good at that lately.


I've been not exercising (at all) for a quite a while thinking that the Leslie Sansone DVD miles weren't really doing anything and that they were too easy. They seemed way easy a few months ago when I had been doing them every day. So, today I go do one supposedly measly mile and my muscles were seriously aching, I was short of breath, and tired when done!

Well, duh. I guess they were dong something. I should have just been glad that it felt easy because I was way more in shape!


I am starting my heart and soul exercises as of today. EVERY DAY!

[mrsj]

Hopefully you're too busy doing DVD miles to post...

[~reneew]

funny. I have been exercising most days. And yesterday I work long and hard cleaning up our acreage for my daughter's upcoming graduatin party. We still have huge trees down all over from the tornado, but it's looking way better and the house is fixed at least. Tons to do before may 21st!

[~reneew]

I'm frustrated with my lack of caring to do the plan. I think I need a slight switch up. I am going to do my grumble=dish paln. Grumble=Dish is just that I wait for my tum to grumble, then I get one dish. If I'm craving jelly beans all blessed day, I think I blow it more by denying myself. So, on my plan I can have sweets for dinner desert if they fit on my plate. I end up having way less then. Besides, the 3 dishes keeps me gaining weight. Even 3 smaller dishes of food keeps me from loosing. I need to listen to the hunger signals that God gave me. When I doubt the plan I follow, I have a very hard time doing it and I know for sure that when I wait for my tum to grumble, I actually need food, not just want it or it's "time". I have been gaining slowly since Nov. so we'll see how this goes.

[~reneew]

I've been really binging and fallen off the wagon so far that I can hardly see the trail! I've pretty much gained most of my weight back slowly since about Thanksgiving. That was a huge confession. When I let loose, I gain FAST! At a rate of probably 10 pounds a month! Now that's a food addiction. I need vanilla. I need to post, so here I am, ready to post a May challenge and commit. here it goes... Pure vanilla!

[Grammy G]

Reneew, I am in the same boat as you! Why doesn't this weight come off as quickly as it goes back on?? I really need to go back and read everything I wrote and people wrote to me so I can get a grip on this again! I could kick myself for getting complacent! I know...and you do too..we just gotta bite the bullet and do it! Good luck and thanks for getting the May challenge up there!

[r.jean]

Every time I read posts about people gaining back weight, I start my mantra all over again. Maintenance is progress.

In 2010, I gained 20 lbs. I started No S at the heaviest I have ever been. Prior to that I spent years losing a little and gaining a little. The problem is that the top number just kept increasing a little each time.

Good luck to both of you as you try to get back on track. Keep your goals small, and you will succeed!!

[Grammy G]

seems like the last three entries could have been written by the so many of us who struggle.. whew...guess this is just the way it is going to be! We will stick together through "thick" and "thin" and anything in between and make the journey easier for all of us! Reneew your encouragement has meant so much to so many!! Keep going !

[~reneew]

I was trying vanilla for the month, but I honestly gain when I eat 3 plates of food a day and since I was at my max, I got scared. I'm following my own plan right now that I call grumble = Dish. I've been trying combinations of different diets for a long time to see what works for me. I wait until my tummy grumbles for sure (if I'm not sure I'm hungry, I'm NOT) and then I have 1 dish of any food. Sometimes I get hungry 2 hours before a meal and I have a tiny ramkin dish of a snack, but since May 1st I've been successful (mirracle!) and I've almost always had 2 dishes of food. I don't keep track of how many dishes, as I'm trying really hard to listen to my body not a number or rules set by someone. God made my body, so I'm trying to listen to it. I had gained all 26 pounds back since November, but I'm loosing again. Since I've been doing this grumble = dish I've lost 12. I put whatever I want on/in my dish and I get a dish the size that I think will tide me over keeping Dinner in mind, because that's my biggy meal. I'm thinking that this might be my way to go, since I'm thinking about food way less when I try to listen to when I'm hungry not the clock. I've been hungry at dinner too which makes the food taste way better.

[~reneew]

Thinking about coming back... I keep trying my own plans and if I even do try no S again I always end up adding my own twist of toppings on the vanilla. Ug. I'm thinking about doing good old vanilla once and for all. The thought of those wonderful S days is the lure. I always had problems with those... But if I'm not doing any diet I have absolutely NO control. I am a de-railed train going in high speed! I'll think about this again.... I have gained it all back. I was down 26 pounds. Twice! page 1 here explains the whloe dreaded story.

I think I need accountability. PERIOD.

[Strawberry Roan]

Have missed you reneew.

I didn't do well with the S part of this plan, decided I need to just eat right everyday, with perhaps an S event now and then. So, my weekends and my weekdays are all just focused on staying on the path of eating right and exercise. It is actually working.

I SO agree that this board's accountability is what has kept me honest. I post on my Daily thread every single day - what I eat, when I exercise, etc. I plan to update the weight once a month. Everything I write is the honest truth so that really makes me think,

I am going to have to post this - keeps me from eating certain things, from not exercising and watching my weight.

Works for me and I hope you find your pathway as well. I think it would be good for you to be a part of the board again for the support, encouragement and friendship.

Good to "see" you.

[milliem]

Hi renew, welcome back

Have you thought about vanilla noS but just with 2 meals per day? Or 2 normal plate sized meals and one smaller (side dish sized?) meal? Or some variation thereof.... As far as I see it, within reason the number of plates per day can be adapted to suit your own purposes, so if you're finding 3 plates is too much, it doesn't mean NoS won't work for you!

Good luck figuring out what works for you

[r.jean]

I am a true believer in Vanilla No S; yet, I agree with Strawberry Roan that going too wild on weekends can sabotage an otherwise good plan. So..I also pretty much stick to the same routine every day, but on Saturday and Sunday, I do allow myself small indulgences. I do not purposefully look to indulge, but if I am tempted by something, I am more likely to go ahead and have it.

Exercise is also a key thing for me. Without it I would surely gain. Thanks to you and your monthly challenges, I got into the habit of logging my exercise. Since there was no monthly challenge in July, I started logging my exercise on my daily check in. This really helps me to push myself.

On the other hand, I hate keeping a food diary, and I am very content to just do the Habit Cal.

I am glad to see you back. I hope that you find success in whatever you decide is best for you. I read your page one and our ultimate loss goal is the same...

[mimi]

Thinking about coming back... I keep trying my own plans and if I even do try no S again I always end up adding my own twist of toppings on the vanilla. Ug. I'm thinking about dong good old vanilla once and for all. The thought of those wonderful S days is the lure. I alsays had problems with those... But if I'm not doing any diet I have absolutely NO control. I am a de-railed train going in high speed! I'll think about this again.... I have gained it all back. I was down 26 pounds. Twice! page 1 here explains the whloe dreaded story.

I think I need accountability. PERIOD.

Think no more - come on back!
I had a 6-month absence from the boards and NoS. You can read my story on my thread, but the point is I realized that NoS is the ONLY plan that works for me long term. It's the way I need to live, and eat, and deal with food and eating situations. The weight loss is slow, but there are so many other benefits from practicing NoS that far outweigh that...for me, anyway. I got my head "back on straight" on July 14!
And in addition to all that, there is SOOOOOOO much love and support and encouragement on these boards. I really missed that while I was gone.

So...come on back Renee!

Mimi

[NoSRocks]

Welcome back, renee! I agree with the others! Vanilla No S is the way to go!

I, too, have had more than my fair share of slip ups with No S /experimenting with other plans. I also gained 13 plus pounds previous to making my second attempt at No S (on top of weight I already had to lose). I can't say for sure I will reach my goal or how long it will take to get there but hey, I'm in no hurry! I also might moan and groan a bit about my ups and downs, weight -wise etc, but when it comes down the wire, If I never lose another lb, at least I can be content in the knowledge that I now have a degree of structure and organization behind my eating habits. It has undoubtedly lifted a mountain of stress from my shoulders since I had and am working on - a habit of binge-diet-binge. Imho, No S has been the best remedy for breaking this awful cycle I have been dealing with for most of my adult life!

Anyway - enough about me, I figure you made a great decision to return to No S. Its great to have you back, hon!!

[~reneew]

Alright, I'm back!
After much thought and frustration, I've decided that I obviously gain when I don't follow NO S. No matter how much I think I can and will follow some other plan I come up with, this plan is the only thing that has worked. It's how my skinny ancestors ate. It's how I ate when I was thin... so, why do I fight it? I think I want a miracle. Faster, easier, basically one that I can still continue to pig out on. Well, duh! So, here I am starting over at gound ZERO pounds lost. What a rollercoaster I am on!

My plan: Vanilla... yep, I changed my mind. Breakfast is usually only a tiny glass of juice or a splash of cran juice in ice water, but I need to count it. Besides... no sprinkles this time!!!

Starting over August 8th 2011

August
8- yea! My son gave me a look of "trying to fit it on 1 plate again?" but I ignored him and balanced it over to the table.
9- could I be off to a grand start??? I about licked my dinner plate, but still doing good. They say the first 3 days are the toughest... I'm dreaming of a rootbeer float on Saturday!
10- ... and still dreaming of that float, but now it has cool whip on top.
11- I feel on track. I am going on the theme of "no excuses" this time. I've done my soul exercises daily and heart (physical) exercises for the week . I'm doing 1 hour a week minimum.

I think I am going to just write a new post for each day as it's hard to find and edit this one.Go me!

[~reneew]

Thank you to all of you for your support and good wishes. It really is most of the reason I came back and plan to stay!

[Kathleen]

I'm starting over too -- today! No S approach of meal timing is terrific.
Kathleen

[~reneew]

I'm doing pure vanilla
Oh, and absolutely no buffets!!!

And... go Kathleen!

[NoSnacker]

Hi I'm about 2 months new into No S, and have had issues with my S days, but as I keep reading they will tame down. I'm just grateful for the sanity I feel from NOT dieting.. heck I have been on enough diets to know what is good to eat, etc.

I feel this is my last stop on the trying to lose weight train, if I do fine, if I don't fine too....at least that is what I think and feel today.

Didn't have to pleasure to know you, but welcome back!

[~reneew]

When I start on a plan again after being "off" for quite a while I prefer to do it without the "help" of my family. My husband and 4 kids turn into either way-too-observant-food-police or "oh-that's-right-you-can't-HAVE-this"-jokers or both. So, yesterday my teen son looks at my plate and gives me this look that said "trying to fit it on one plate again?" I ignored him and ballanced it on over to the table.

I have 3 teens and a tween and if I even leave the no s book out someone will comment. I don't ever go on about it. I learned my lesson once when I thought I wanted them to "police" me. I actually told them the rules and told them to make sure I followed them. Duh. They thought it was a new game and wow was this going to be fun. After about a week, my oldest son started waving deserts in front of my face saying "want some?... oh that's right, you can't..ha ha ha". My younger kids helped a bit longer, but I started to regret the fact that I told them. I wanted to slack and they kept reminding me. So, this time I'm not mentioning it at all and I think that even if they ask, I might deny it just so they don't watch me.

[~reneew]

Just an observation:

Short-term "diet" (way of eating) mentality would probably lead me to...

give up and eat whatever-whenever if I "failed" before the end of the day, week, or even occasionally the month, as in the Christmas season.

give up and eat whatever-whenever if it started to look like I wasn't going to meet my weight goal by the pre-set date.

hop on the scale morning, noon, and night.

feel depressed, give up and eat whatever-whenever if the scale wasn't kind to me that day, week, or month.



So, to think long-term, I plan on lengthening my way-of-eating mentality to the rest of my life, not just this day, week, or month.
My plan?

use a 2 year calendar to record my success.

have a smaller goal (1/4 of the excess weight) with no date, but a reward.

weigh myself once a week only, at the same time.

record my wieght once a month only at the same time and day of the week.

[~reneew]

I'm feeling on track and have high hopes for a great week, but now my Mom called and I'm meeting her half way to her house to get my kids back and she wants to meet at DQ. Ug! I think I'll show up late and wait ing the car. Think I can? I'll let you know... Maybe if I slam ice water the whole way there...?


90 minutes later... I drank icey sun tea the whole way there and got there before them. Uhoh. I actually had to say "no" 6 times. Gulp. But I did it and am stronger for it! Woohoo!

[SkyKitty]

Thats fantastic, I would be jumping round the room, you must feel great having stayed strong when you really wanted to.

A triumph to remember every time you're in a similar situation, if you did it then you can do it again.

[~reneew]

Thanks, I did feel like jumping

[~reneew]

August 12th. Friday all week so far. Wowza

It's pizza night. If I skip lunch can I use a platter? Just sayin'. actually thinking about it

What I decided to do is to count S events instead of having whole S days since every single Friday has always seemed to set the tone for the entire weekend. Pizza is my thing and I look forward to it all week and almost always end up having seconds. (If my Hubby would let me have it more often I might not have to do that but that's another story.) Also, S days tend to be a free-for-all with me and I need to find a solution. I think I've tried just about every advice that I've gotten here except this and so here I go... 3 S events a week. I was thinking 4, but one of those was popcorn and I plan to just substitute a meal for that, so I'm sticking with the 3. I will be having the rootbeer float that I dreamed about all week, so that will be my second. I need to stay on track with the plates. I have a problem with just grabbing food on the weekend.

[~reneew]

August
12 pizza thirds
13 it's a good thing it was an S day
14
15 moved my oldest child away to college. A piece of my heart went with her.
16 comfort food and I'm pretty derailed.
17
18 get on track girl, you were doing soooooo good! It even showed on the scale!

[~reneew]

19- Even though it's Friday and I "blew" most of the week, I really tried hard today. I was a bad girl all week and the scale shows it. I'm trying to think long term. Go me

[Anoulie]

Renée, you Give Me Hope. Over a week of Fails and you stuck to Vanilla No S! So impressive. I could never do that.

[~reneew]

Thanks! Maybe I'll make up for my bad week and go green tomorrow.

I'm also thinking that I might try (and I did say try) to move pizza night to Saturdays, and when I must have it on Fridays, make pizza calzones or individual small ones instead of the big ones that I eat seconds and thirds on. Something must change this Friday pizza fest of mine. It sends my weekends into a spiral out of control. Once I get on track, that's the first thing to work on.

[~reneew]

19- regular S day for me today. Ordered pizza because we worked long and ran out of time to make it. Still cleaning up trees from our tornado a year ago. sigh. needless to say...
Godfather's combo = seconds. I will have a perfect week next week!

I'm actually thinking about starting a challenge to have a perfect week. I think I need a easier to reach goal right now. Maybe I will...

[sugarmama4Him]

Reneew,

I will be praying for you. I see that you're from Iowa. My husband is from Iowa!

It sounds as if you're in a good mindset right now and I'm noticing a real pattern among us no-sers. The pattern seems to be that we're really sick and tired of short-term diets that no one can stick to long term.

I've only been here for three weeks, but what I've noticed is that although you lose weight slowly, you are loosing weight and you are changing your complete lifestyle. And instead of everyone having to notice that you're on a diet, you can eat regular foods but just smaller quantities with the no snacks and no sugar rules.

I also agree when you say that you're weighing yourself once a month. I'm going to weigh myself on the first day of every month first thing in the morning. If I weigh myself everyday, I get so discouraged.

I also like the accountability here. There seems to be a lot of encouragement. So, I'm glad that you're here, ReneeW.

Blessings, and I'll try to read your daily check-in when I can. I'll be praying for you to have a good week.

[~reneew]

Thanks sugarmama4him! I do wiegh daily but only record once a week now and onlmy first page here I record once a month to think long term. If I don't weigh daily I start to ignore any diet that I may be on. Duh.


Aug. 22 - yea!
Aug. 23 - it will be!

[~reneew]

Well, my "perfect" week challenge worked for me. I did perfectly all week. I discovered that if I need a small sweet, I put it on my plate and call it good. If I didn't I'd de-rail. I eat 2 dishes a day. Period. I am allowing 3 a day 7 days a week, but choose to only have 2 during the week because I don't get hungry until around 11 anyway. I like brunch and supper. I don't feel deprived that way and I loose. My plan for the weekend is to have 3 each day. Brunch and supper with one treat. Probably popcorn and a drink. I feel on track. when I look at my calendar I see a direct corolation between successful days and my weight. duh.

[tobiasmom]

I'm going to do the "perfect" week challenge with you this week. I commit to give it 100 percent this week!

[~reneew]

Yea! The more the merrier. I think the short week challenges are great. One week at a time.

[~reneew]

I will have a totally perfect vanilla No S week. With absolutely no cheating!

8/21- S day
8/22- yea!
8/23- it will be because I'm writing it here!
8/24-
8/25- yea!!!
8/26- I did it!! Woo hoo!
8/27- S day, but I plan on it staying very close to green.


I had a perfect week!!!!








A "perfect" week for me will be 3 dishes every day Monday through Friday. Period.

8/28- WOW! It was an S day and I forgot to eat supper (yes, I said forgot to eat supper!) and wasn't even hungry. I don't remember that even ever happening! So it was a good ol' green day! Woohoo! I have to say that I'm off to a great start! The better I do, the easier it gets.
8/29- I'm off to such a great start! I've even exercised for the day.
8/30-
8/31- not even tempted! Wow
9/1 - classic case of over confidence. It was feeling "normal" to just eat my 2-3 meals and so when my homeade eggrolls were sitting there, I caved and had seconds thinking that it would have fit on my plate it I'd have put it on in the first place... ...then that lead to another and 2 doughnuts. Good grief!
9/2 Fairly confident that it will be a good day. busy.
9/3 S Day


My kids (4 of them) started school Monday so I have the house to myself during the day. This is my best eat-right time of year. I'm going for it this year!!!

[NoSnacker]

You are doing fantastic! Thanks for starting the weekly tread!

[~reneew]

I hate long weekends. I go off track and stay there for part of the next week.
When I derail, I baha cross country!

[~reneew]

well, I finally recovered from the long weekend (green Wed.) and another looms on the horizon.

[NoSnacker]

Awesomeeeee...I hope you found the rest of your week green!

God Bless!

p.s. will you be starting a new week tread post for us?

[herbsgirl]

well, I finally recovered from the long weekend (green Wed.) and another looms on the horizon.

Yay!!!

[~reneew]

Really cruddy lately...

I'm starting a new week and it will be good!

[NoSnacker]

Have a great week..think green!!

[~reneew]

Having a hard time staying on track. I feel guilty when I fail my own challenges. Ha! I started thinking about counting calories again last night. I even got out my calorie couting book. I keep it so I don't just go out and buy a new on every whim. Anyway, as I was adding up my alotment for today, I again realized how counting sucks. When I actually follow the 2-3 dishes rule I loose! It's making myself do that that is the problem. I thought of taking a picture of my full plate to make it more official so I don't cheat later, but then that sounds a bit rediculous. but then counting every number of every bite sounds even worse. Maybe I'll try it! I will not keep track of any exercise, I will just concentrate on the dishes. I need that to become a habit first and foremost.