Ruth's daily check in..

[Ruthiebaby]

OK.. So ive been here before a few times. No S is one of those things that seems like a great idea until I start, and then quickly realise I don't want to do it anymore. Ive never lasted more than a day, but all i'm doing this time is an experiment- I predict it will be more fun this way! oh, and i'm doing this daily log to make it less of a lonely experience.

Im starting out at 10.9st (152lb) and would like to reach 10st (140lb).. i will see how i feel from there

Im doing it with a mod inspired by lifeisablessing (this lady is THE BOMB for encouragement.. read some of her posts!). This means I will be eating 3 times per day, including sweets and "snack" items like a bag of crisps (or potato chips or whatever you call them). I am free to have saturdays and special occasions off if I want to.

I'm also going to try and cover my own conscience, which can be a tricky little thing, by making sure I eat thing that I think I should (protein, healthy fats, leafy greens etc) ALONG with my little luxuries.

Official day 1 will be tomorrow.

[Soprano]

Good luck, looking forward to following your journey

Jx

[LifeisaBlessing]

Ruthie!!!!!

Thank you so much for the kind shout out! And glad to see you're giving NoS another try. I'm still going strong, well into my third year of maintenance and loving it. I've made some additional adjustments along the way, but still successfully follow the basic plan (with mods, of course!). Feel free to PM me or ask here if you'd care to--as always, I love to help out if needed. Best wishes as you go forward!

[Ruthiebaby]

Aah thanks! You're honestly such an inspiration and the reason I decided to give it another go! (although with a more "lets just see how it goes" attitude)
And I decided that I would give myself some time each day to post on here too..

[Ruthiebaby]

Day 1 SUCCESS

Breakfast- Fage greek yoghurt with big spoon of posh strawberry jam mixed in, topped with toasted flaked almonds.

Lunch- Sliced pepper and cucumber, Small Boiled egg sarnie (2 slices of small wholemeal loaf, thick spread lurpack spreadable on one side- mustard on the other side, 2 boiled eggs sliced and stuffed in with salt and pepper), Packet of salt and vinegar crisps (potato chips), 1 choc and peanut "eat natural" bar.

Dinner- 1 really nice beefburger (no bun), a few chips (thick cut fries for you americans), Cookies and cream magnum mini.

Food for thought: I bought myself some "nice things" (mini magnums and eat natural bars, which are pretty expensive) so that i know i'm holding out for something special. Delicious!

[Ruthiebaby]

Day 2- FAILURE

Mid morning I got home, felt a bit lost as I didn't have any plans and was hoping to walk to my mums. I didn't feel like id eaten enough- maybe my body was objecting to tucking in to my own fat stores, and in the end I ate 1 pain au choc, 1 eat natural bar, a handful of cashews and a small coffee with sugar.

My initial reaction to the lost/undereating theory was "maybe I should do intuitive eating? this isn't working", but on second thoughts, I think I need to review what was happening and actually figure out how to make it work. After all, I told myself that this whole thing is like an experiment that I have to find my way through, If I lose weight and figure out the knots first, then I can decide whether I want to continue.

Come on RUTH! as the brand famously says JUST DO IT.

What I learned: 1. Don't be a giver upper!.. again 2. Remember this is about so much more than eating/not eating- it's about LIFE, so remember to deal with reoccurring problems that always trip you up (like not having plans and feeling lost) 3. Have some tools in the bag for when things don't feel right. A great idea I had for MOVING FORWARD is this: Go with the PLAN today, but if it didn't feel the way you wanted, make adjustments for tomorrow.. So if i'm a bit too hungry in the morning, make some eggs on the side tomorrow. but STICK TO THE PLAN FOR TODAY. 4. Keep motivating. Funnily enough, I remembered an amazing motivation technique from paul McKenna that gets you imagining your perfect body, wearing your perfect clothes and feeling amazing- I'll bring this up often because I forgot about that this morning and its been so helpful, it prob would have saved me.

ONwards and upwards

And I will now act like nothing happened this morning and stick to the plan..

[automatedeating]

Hi Ruth! I hope the rest of your day went OK, and that you woke up today with fresh energy for your experiment! Experiments are music to my ears! You can never fail at an experiment! They just help you gather information for the next experiment.

[Ruthiebaby]

Well the "whoopsie" actually turned out to be a life saver. I forgot I was supposed to be cleaning at my sisters this morning and ended up working/walking all morning and early afternoon. I didn't get a chance to eat (apart from a few cherries at my mums at around 11). We are going out to eat tonight so I decided to just skip any kind of snack and just go straight after picking up my little one from school. So dinner will be earlier than usual, and lunch can be the "mess up" I had this morning.

Nailed it.. By accident LOL

[Ruthiebaby]

P.S Lifeisablessing.. what tweaks have you made to your plan? x

[LifeisaBlessing]

I've definitely been focusing on more protein--minimum of 60 grams per day, but happier if I've reached 90+. There is just too much research out there indicating the importance of protein as we age for everything from muscle retention to even staving off dementia!

Also, I relax a bit around that time of the month eating-wise--sometimes eating outside of the three meals, depending on how I'm physically and emotionally feeling. That varies month to month, so I just roll with it.

The most important thing for me is daily weighing. It's enabled me to never go above my redline weight, and I catch any upward trend immediately and can adjust my eating the next few days accordingly.

Enjoy your weekend!