The "Setting Nicole Free" Thread

[Nicole in MD]

My first post after starting No S I finished up my round of HCG at 171 but bumped up to 177.8 last week after a few days at the beach and eating kinda off-plan for the maintenance phase of HCG. I made the decision to ditch the HCG plan and jump right into No S.

I started No S on Saturday and had my two S days on Sat and Sun. I ate WAY more than I felt comfortable for trying to maintain my weight but just figured I would make up for it during the week. I had perfect days on Mon and Tues and I even ate carbs that I haven't eaten in well over a year (rice and beans, low-carb pasta and an english muffin). I decided I needed to have a baseline weight this morning so I reluctantly stepped on the scale--fully expecting to be 180 lbs. I was 173.2! And that was with my two No S days being part of my four days on No S!

I feel so happy and FREE and hopeful for the first time in my life that my weight struggles might be set free with something as simple as the No S plan I don't plan on weighing every day but probably once a week just to see where I am. If I'm feeling good and healthy, I may even wait to weigh until a month in. Stay tuned....

[eschano]

Welcome Nicole! Good going

[Nicole in MD]

8/11- S day
8/12- S day
8/13- Green day
8/14- Green day

Will start my daily food log here at the end of today

[Nicole in MD]

My menu for the past 3 days...all GREEN days Feeling SO free and finally not obsessing about food. I still have to be careful with gluten because my body really doesn't like it but it still feels so fun to have things like rice or a half a baked potato again!


8/14
• Coffee with cream, two eggs with gruyere cheese on top
• Whole Foods salad and a side of red beans and rice
• Bone-in pork chop and low-carb pasta with avocado cream sauce

8/15 (weight- 173.2)
• 2 eggs and 1 slice of millet bread with butter, coffee with cream
• Roast beef with cheddar and coleslaw on a brown rice wrap, sweet potato chips with black bean salsa
• Side ceasar salad, 1 crab cake, ½ baked potato

8/16
• 2 eggs, 1 slice of millet chia bread, coffee with half and half
• 1 slice millet chia bread, chicken salad, ½ avocado, sweet potato chips with some black bean salsa
• chicken enchiladas, brussel sprouts and red beans and rice

[dazygyrl]

hi nicole! you're doing awesome!!

thanks for posting your foods. i like to see what others chose for their 'plates'.

[Nicole in MD]

hi nicole! you're doing awesome!!

thanks for posting your foods. i like to see what others chose for their 'plates'.

I'm keeping track for my own knowledge but I know how much I like seeing other's menus so I thought I'd share Honestly, the no snacking isn't that hard for me since I used to do Leptin which required no snacking. I also had cut out sugar awhile ago so that's not all that hard for me either (not to say I don't have a piece of Hershey's sugar free miniature dark chocolate on my plate with lunch from time to time though

It's funny--even when I'm eating my non-S meals, it feels like I'm cheating because I was doing such strict Paleo before.

[dazygyrl]

where do you get your millet-chia bread? sounds interesting.

i'm thinking of making my s-days friday @ 5pm stopping at 2-3 on sunday. just b/c i'd rather have a bit more freedom on friday evening than sunday evening.

[Nicole in MD]

where do you get your millet-chia bread? sounds interesting.

i'm thinking of making my s-days friday @ 5pm stopping at 2-3 on sunday. just b/c i'd rather have a bit more freedom on friday evening than sunday evening.

I found it yesterday at Whole Foods in the gluten free frozen foods by Udi's and it's really tasty!

[Nicole in MD]

where do you get your millet-chia bread? sounds interesting.

i'm thinking of making my s-days friday @ 5pm stopping at 2-3 on sunday. just b/c i'd rather have a bit more freedom on friday evening than sunday evening.

I totally agree with starting S days on Friday evening! I can easily eat a legal green meal on Sunday evenings but I do enjoy a good S day Sunday brunch I think I'll join you in this mod!

[dazygyrl]

i figure there are way more fun things going on on a friday evening than a sunday evening, so why not shift those 48 hrs of S-days a bit. i'm not adding time to it, just adjusting those 48hrs. and there is that whole donut on sunday morning at church thing that i so love.

[Nicole in MD]

Hi all! Had another green day yesterday and ended it with my S day starting at Friday night dinner (will stop my S day after brunch on Sunday).

Things are going really well and I have to say that I feel like I'm cheating even with my legal meals since I'm eating some things that I wouldn't have eaten on Paleo. The no snacking isn't hard for me and neither is the no sugar. I also almost never have seconds so that's not hard either. For me, this is just a different way of formatting my diet with built in cheats on the weekends--which I love!

Here's what I ate yesterday:


8/17
• 2 slices millet chia bread—one with a slice of provolone and the other with some almond butter and sugar free jelly, coffee with coconut creamer
• 2 fish tacos from California Tortilla
• Started my S day on Friday evening- Veggie power sandwich with sprouts, cucumbers, avocado, tomato, muenster cheese on wheat bread. Salt and vinegar potato chips and ½ a gluten free vanilla cupcake and ½ a gluten free chocolate chip cookie (HUGE) for dessert

[Nicole in MD]

Weekend update Had my first full weekend of S meals and I have to say that I feel HUGE today! I don't feel like I went too crazy but I guess the freedom to eat whatever made me feel guilty Guess that's just part of the letting-go process of all our old engrained diet messages!

I did walk both Saturday and Sunday for about 35 minutes. I think for my mental health, it makes sense to walk on my S days so I don't feel too lazy or indulgent. So I'll probably aim for walking on Sat and Sun and two other times during the week.

Here was my food journal for the weekend:


8/18- Green Day
• 3 almond flour pancakes, coffee with coconut creamer
• roast beef, avocado and muenster cheese in a brown rice wrap, potato chips, half of a gluten free vanilla cupcake
• rib eye steak, ½ baked potato with sour cream, cheese and bacon and green beans, rice krispy treat for dessert

8/19- Half a Green Day (other half started Friday evening)
• 1/2 an omelet (it was a 4 egg omelet!) with tomatoes, onion, mushrooms and provolone, 1 piece of scrapple, 1 piece of French toast made with Challah bread, coffee with cream
• chicken salad with sweet potato tortilla chips, ½ gluten free chocolate chip cookie
• grilled chicken breast with avocado, tomato, bacon, pasta salad, glass of white wine

[TerriMM]

Hi Girls Good to see you! Have you found anyone here starting No S right after HCG or another deprevation style plan? Or any results starting close to goal?

[Nicole in MD]

2 more GREEN days under my belt! This seriously seems TOO easy and TOO good to be true Still have avoided the lure of the scale and want to wait until next Friday to get on it. Hope I can hold off until then!

Here's what I ate the last two days:


8/20- GREEN
• buckwheat bake (let me know if you want the recipe!) and some sunflower butter on top
• brown rice wrap with roast beef, avocado and provolone cheese
• spaghetti (corn pasta from Trader Joes) with red sauce and meatballs, cesar salad

8/21- GREEN
• 3 almond flour pancakes, coffee with cream
• veggie sandwich on wheat with avocado, cucumber, tomato, a slice of muenster and a smear of onion cream cheese
• oven baked panko crusted flounder, quinoa with corn and scallions, cesar salad

[Nicole in MD]

Hi Girls Good to see you! Have you found anyone here starting No S right after HCG or another deprevation style plan? Or any results starting close to goal?

No, but honestly I haven't read everyone's story here yet either. I've seen some Weight Watchers and some low carb though and they seem to do well.

[Nicole in MD]

Well, I said I wasn't going to get on the scale until next Friday but....when I woke up this morning, I looked fairly thin in the mirror (I have all kinds of signs I look for like how well I can see my collar bones and my cellulite LOL)--so I figured what the hell--I'll just get on and see where I am. Knowing full well that my biggest cheat was on Sunday which was just 2-3 days ago. Well, I was 175.2...up 2 lbs from early last week.

So you might think I freaked out and got upset--except I didn't--not at all. And I know why. Over the past week and half of doing No S, I have had a sense of calm and happiness about me that was definitely missing before. The last two nights I have made awesome dinners and all three of my boys have commented on how incredible they were. This made me feel beyond good since my boys are the center of my universe. These dinners weren't anything super special, but I did take time with choosing what to make and found real pleasure in eating them WITH the boys as opposed to eating my own food while serving them something else that I couldn't eat. I am finding myself looking forward to making dinner now and savoring my one plate...WITH the rest of my family.

After the past few weeks, I think I am really coming to the realization that I've been chasing some number on a scale that may not be attainable for myself (funny enough, I remember being 175 when I got pregnant with #3 after losing all my baby weight from baby #2). And when I really dig deep and ask myself why it's SO important to be a size 12 (which is pretty thin for my large boned body) instead of a healthy size 14, a lot of the answer has to do with trying to make my ex feel like he made a mistake by leaving me (btw--his fiance that he left me for is maybe 90lbs soaking wet! LOL). This is clearly not a good or healthy reason to make myself live a miserable, food-obsessed life!

So all this to say that I value my happiness WAY more than I value what the scale says or what size jeans I am wearing. This isn't to say that I'm going to let myself go or start eating crappy man-made food--I'm still just going to keep following No S and eat real food, made mostly by me and let my body settle where it's happy. I have also been walking outside every day for 30-40 minutes and I think that has made a difference in my outlook also. If I'm exercising and eating real, whole foods and I settle at 175, then so be it.

I'M OFFICIALLY DONE WITH DIETING!!!!!

[dazygyrl]

love this post, nicole! thank you for sharing!

[Amy3010]

Good for you, Nicole! Sounds like you are in a really good place!

[Nicole in MD]

Green day yesterday And now that I've had my weight revelation, I'm ready to put the scale away! I decided to get on it today because I figured how much worse can it be then 175.2 (up 2 lbs from early last week) that it said yesterday? So I stepped on and it was 174. And THAT'S when I decided I was DONE with it. Someone posted a quote for me yesterday from Reinhard and it just made so much darn sense and clearly was at play here today when I stepped on that scale. I've been eating well and walking and the scale reflected that today.

The quote was: "I don't think there is much point in having an ideal weight. Have ideal behavior--habits of moderate eating and exertion. Whatever you weigh then is ideal.†- Reinhard

Luckily I didn't let that 2 lb gain ruin my day yesterday like it would have in the past because it clearly wasn't an accurate weight. That or it was just inflated from my splurge day on Sunday at brunch and is now correcting itself.

So that's why I'm putting the scale away today---way far back in my closet. It just doesn't matter what it says if I am taking good care of my body--fueling it well and moving it in healthy ways!

Here was my menu from yesterday:

8/22- GREEN
• 2 eggs, 1 slice of soaked and sprouted wheat toast, coffee with cream
• roast beef with avocado and tomato in a brown rice wrap, oven-baked kale chips
• leftover spaghetti (corn pasta from Trader Joes) with meatballs and more kale chips ☺

[Nicole in MD]

Hi all! I went away for the weekend with my boyfriend to Shepherdstown, WV and it was SO nice to not have to obsess about food all weekend! I definitely feel heavier today but I know it'll come down once I get back to my green days this week. Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

8/24-8/26 S Days (some of my “treatsâ€):

• Slice of French toast & syrup with my omelet Saturday
• Potato chips for an afternoon snack on Saturday
• 2 margaritas
• 1/2 a biscuit with breakfast and a couple bites of a homemade chocolate doughnut and a couple bites of a Linzer cookie after breakfast Sunday

[dazygyrl]

your idea of treats make me feel when i think of my s-day treats....

guess i still have some work to do....

sounds liek you had a great weekend tho!!

[Nicole in MD]

It's been SUPER crazy around here this week because my oldest (15) and youngest (10) sons just went to school for the first time EVER in their lives on Monday (they've been homeschooled) and then I had my first Anatomy and Physiology class yesterday (super tough class!). It's been so nice not having to also stress over food choices with all this going on and just following No S!!!

I didn't walk this past weekend since we were away (and it rained almost the whole time...BF and I have the WORST luck when we go away!) but I have walked the past 3 days--just 30-35 minutes but I figure it's better than just sitting on my butt those days and I feel like it helps to take off the S day weight I may put on on Sat and Sun.

Here's what I ate the past two Green days:

8/27
• 2 eggs fried with one slice of provolone on them, ½ avocado, coffee w/cream
• ½ leftover steak with ½ avocado
• chicken ceasar salad with a side of homemade sweet potato fries

8/28
• 1 fried egg on 1 slice of homemade whole wheat toast, coffee w/cream
• chicken schwarma sandwich from Lebanese Taverna with a side of hummus
• chicken ceasar salad wrap on a brown rice tortilla and a side of sweet potato chips
__________________

[Nicole in MD]

All GREEN DAYS so far this week Can't say I'm feeling very "thin" but I am happy and content so that counts for a lot. Won't weight for at least another week or so. I usually start my S days on Friday evening and end them after brunch on Sunday but I think I'm going to do full S days on Saturday and Sunday since we're having a pool party at my parents on Sunday for Labor Day. And I don't think I'll take a special day on Labor Day--just not feeling like I need it if I had S days on Saturday and Sunday.

8/29
• oatmeal with ½ banana, coffee with cream
• power sandwich from Whole Foods, small bag of chips
• millet buckwheat pizza with mushrooms and onions

8/30
• 2 scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese in a brown rice wrap, coffee with cream
• millet buckwheat pizza
• 3 baked chicken drumsticks, rice and oven-roasted greenbeans

[Nicole in MD]

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been MIA lately--my boyfriend and I went away last weekend and my boys and I are still getting used to heading back to school (elementary and highschool for them and Anatomy and Physiology for me). I had a VERY splurgy (is that a word??) weekend at the beach. One day we basically ate our way down the Ocean City, MD boardwalk! LOL Thrashers french fries, the BEST pizza I've ever had (numerous slices!) and some caramel popcorn from Fishers.

Monday I hopped right back on to No S and have been doing great. I haven't weighed myself in weeks and don't want to either. It's like I'm either weighing obsessively or I don't want to weigh at all LOL. I can tell I'm not "thin" right now but I'm also still in my 12's (albeit a bit snug). But that's ok--I'm enjoying the freedom and social aspect of eating SO much that it's worth it to me!

I haven't had any red days since I've started this about a month ago so No S is working great for me. It wasn't a painful transition for me since I had already cut out sugar and wasn't snacking since I was following the Leptin Reset program. If anything, I feel like I went from something MORE strict (Paleo with no snacking or sugar) to something more "loose" (sugar on the weekends and more freedom with my everyday meals). Guess that's why this feels relatively easy

[Nicole in MD]

Just checking in after the weekend. I still haven't weighed myself but I feel a bit "bigger" right now. I haven't been going crazy with my S days but my green days are a bit more lenient than they were before No S since I was doing strict Paleo (no dairy, no sugar, no grains). Now I do eat some dairy and some grains (buckwheat, millet, quinoa) etc...

I just keep telling myself that my "vanity weight" may not be where my body wants to be and that as long as I am eating healthy and exercising (trying to walk 30 min, 5 days a week), my weight will settle where it needs to be.