Sam's Daily Check In!

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Tue May 13, 2014 8:15 pm

Hi all,

Read about the 'No-S diet' this morning as I was having my midmorning snack...decided to put it away and wait until lunch! I want to check in for at least a month or two, until I feel a bit more solid in my willpower

So far I've had breakfast and lunch. It's 4pm now at work, and I am STARVING, but drinking water to stave it off. I go to the gym from 6-10 or so, so I'm debating with myself to have my dinner at 5 before I go, or at 10 on my way home (sounds obsessive, but I train martial arts so I spend a lot of time at the gym training/drilling/sparring/in class).

I think I'll have an early dinner at 5 and see how I feel. I may be starving by the time I leave the gym but it won't kill me, and actually I'm usually not that hungry when I leave.

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Wed May 14, 2014 1:55 am

Welcome samoraus! Remember you can have a glass of milk or maybe a latte to get you from one meal to the next especially in the beginning. Good luck with the early dinner. Definitely tricky!

Linda

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed May 14, 2014 9:26 am

Welcome! I would aim for the 5 o'clock dinner too and you can always have a milky hot drink before going to bed. Or herbal tea, whatever rocks your boat.

Very impressed with the martial arts training.

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Wed May 14, 2014 1:14 pm

Thanks so much guys! That's a great idea Lpearlmom and Eschano - I'll pick up some soymilk for after the gym in case I get too hungry.

Yesterday wasn't bad, I was definitely hungry by the time I went home but it was pretty late so I just went to bed (Tuesdays and Thursdays are my long days at the gym - I don't get home until around 11:30, then it's shower and lights out lol). But I woke up this morning and wasn't terribly hungry, so that was nice! I'm still having my big breakfast (cereal and a GIANT fruit plate! yes!)

I don't have too much weight to lose, but I do have some messed up eating patterns that I want to correct and I can already feel some of the benefits. I can't wait until this becomes habit! Usually I snack all day, feel guilty for snacking, have small meals, feel guilty if I want to eat 'bad' foods - and I've given myself the freedom to eat WHATEVER I want, as long as it's in my three daily meals. I usually get upset about how much I've eaten, then eat more to compensate - it's such a vicious cycle! I'm already pretty restrictive about my diet because I'm vegan (ethical/moral reasons, not weight-related), and so every time I try to restrict further I end up going bananas and eating anything I can put my hands on. So I feel so FREE now!

I did get a bit nervous about giving myself so much freedom yesterday and ended up plugging it all into a calorie counter. It came out under for the day, but I think I just need to learn to trust myself when it comes to this so I don't rely on numbers. If I notice I'm filling out a bit, I can always cut down on portions, but for now I'm just getting used to the structure of the diet and no other restrictions.

And letting myself be hungry between meals is actually really nice, I'm starting to look forward to food instead of it being some huge source of anxiety for me.

Anyway, day 2 is off to a great start.

(also...I should admit that I cheat a little bit on the one plate rule. I don't help myself to extra servings, but I do use a bowl and a plate - like for breakfast, I had cereal in a bowl and a plate of fruit, and lunch yesterday was two burritos and then a big bowl of watermelon. I hate having my food touch, so I'm going to not restrict the amount of dishes I have, but I will restrict myself to only a single serving per meal, so anything I don't start my meal with won't get eaten. Actually, this morning I wasn't able to finish my fruit plate so I had to put the bananas and some of the berries back in the fridge - I'll eat them with my dinner!)

Lunch was smaller than yesterday, didn't feel as hungry as I thought I would so I halved what I was going to eat and put the rest away. If I'm super hungry by 5pm again, I'll eat the rest of lunch and a sandwich, then off to the gym for three hours. Today is boxing circuit and then 2 1/2 hours of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu!

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Thu May 15, 2014 10:31 am

People will often put a bowl on a larger plate and fit other food around it, but it sounds like that may be a smaller issue for you. Not snacking may be the crux of the issue for you.

Have fun eating!

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Thu May 15, 2014 1:47 pm

That's a great idea too, I have some small bowls that I could use to hold watery things like carrots or fruit on the larger plate...I may try that too! That's an excellent solution, thank you!

Day 2 went well but it's SO hard not to snack. I didn't realize how much mindless snacking I did during the day! I found it somewhat harder to stay positive too yesterday, I was mad because I just wanted to eat and 'couldn't' (even though...I can, I CHOOSE not to. Come on brain, get with it.)

But still, green day yesterday, and set to have a green day today! I'm already looking forward to dinner lol - I'm having surgery tomorrow, so no eating or drinking 8 hours beforehand. Of course, the surgery's at 4 in the afternoon so I have to stop eating/drinking at 8 am...which means I'm getting a huge dinner tonight, staying up late to watch movies with my mom then sleeping in as late as possible tomorrow so I don't feel hungry and weird all day. Between the eating restriction and the anesthesia tomorrow will more than likely be a green day, then it's an S-day and one week down!

What's the best about NoS so far is that I've curbed a lot of my binging habits (I hope - two days in!). I've stopped setting restrictions on good or bad foods - I used to say I can NEVER have bad foods, then have a bad food then go crazy and eat all the bad foods I could since I had already blown my diet. Now I've told myself I can eat as many bad foods as I want, as long as they all fit on a plate and I don't snack between meals - and it's working so well! I don't eat totally unhealthy, but I did have doritos last night with dinner. And they were DELICIOUS. But I didn't worry about 'falling off the wagon' because I told myself I could have doritos with dinner every night if I wanted to - but just not between meals. No going crazy and eating four bags of doritos and ice cream and tater tots and pizza and everything else....if it fits on my plate and I'm hungry for it, I'll eat it.

I've also begun prioritizing food better - since I can't physically eat all the food I manage to pile on my plate, I have to choose. Do I really want the doritos right now, or is the sandwich more appetizing? When I snack all day, I'm always hungry for a bit of food so I can put away an astonishing amount. But when I do three solid meals, even though I can eat a lot at each meal, I could never eat the same amount because it just wouldn't fit in my stomach all at once! So I think...would I rather have the Doritos or watermelon? What would taste better right now? I love french fries, for example, but I'm not willing to sacrifice the plate space they require if I've got something more delicious (watermelon!) to eat. So I'll eat a couple fries and then a lot of watermelon and be more than satisfied with that - rather than eating the watermelon and then grazing on the fries the rest of the afternoon.

(my messages are starting to get really long...I'm just having fun with this, it's a bit like a blog but with a community! Love this group, you all are so kind and lovely)

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Thu May 15, 2014 3:52 pm

You are doing great Sam (hopes it's ok if I shorten your user name). Nos is amazingly effective at helping one achieve a healthy relationship with food. It really puts food in its proper place and for me got rid of all my crazy obsessive food-related thinking which was pretty much 24/7.

I do what oolala suggested when using bowls. I put everything on the plate before I eat to make sure it'll fit. Then I take the bowl(s) off to eat if needed. Also it'll get easier not to eat between meals in time. For me everything got easier after a few weeks of white knuckling it. I was determined to make it to the 21 day club!

Btw, checked you out on Instsgram. Really impressed with your martial arts passion.

Good luck w surgery. Hopefully it's a minor thing.

Linda

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Thu May 15, 2014 6:35 pm

Thank you Linda!!! Oh I am glad I'm not the only one who's having a really tough time with the snacks - I love snacking, I could graze all darn day. But I can really, really tell that the NoS program is a lot better for me - food is starting to become a joy, not a burden, I look forward to meals and I really ENJOY them instead of just putting whatever I can reach in my mouth. This is AWESOME!!!!

I'm such a convert lol but I LOVE this program so far. There's structure but there's also SO much leeway (like S-Days....I can eat everything in sight then if I want to, though I don't think I'll feel like it, but I can!!! if I want!!!!)

And Brazilian jiu jitsu is my passion, I'm so obsessed but I love it so much

I just got back from a lunchtime rolling session at my gym, it's the BEST!

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Fri May 16, 2014 3:17 pm

Day 3 is going well...technically

So yesterday I did my three meals. Then, I waited until the clock ticked to midnight and did 'breakfast' for today. I'm having surgery today, so I can't eat 8 hours before hand, but my surgery's not until 4pm. I figured that I'd stay up late, eat breakfast so I wouldn't be super hungry, then sleep in as late as I could. It's probably splitting hairs, but I'll take it as a win anyway!

Tomorrow is an S-day, I've got some ice cream I've been looking forward to eating so that's on the agenda if I feel up to it after my surgery. I'm pretty happy because I really wanted some when I had my midnight breakfast ("today's an s-day because I'm having surgery!!!") but I waited anyway until I had a proper S-Day. I also feel pretty good because I'm starting to develop a lot more self-control about food and recognize that more is not always better, so I'm not worried about going crazy. And if I do...that's okay too! But I get the feeling I won't really want to.

Also, because I'm a HUGE nerd apparently, I've created a blog sort of related to No-S. I've been having fun with the "1 plate a meal" theme, and I've started taking photos of all my plates...pretty darn unhealthy right now (taco bell and toast...) but I figure once I'm out of surgery week it'll get a lot healthier. http://dirtydishesnosoap.wordpress.com/

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Fri May 16, 2014 5:05 pm

You're doing great Sam! Love your food photos idea. I may copy you if you don't mind!

GL with surgery & thx for stopping by my thread!

Linda

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Fri May 16, 2014 6:07 pm

Haha Sam your food looks like mine! Gotta love Taco Bell!

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Fri May 16, 2014 8:51 pm

We had a member here(blueskies) years ago who posted pictures of her meals for an entire year. Then she felt she was solid in her habits and left. I hope her eating stayed moderate.

Glad you're having such a good time. We do, too.

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Sat May 17, 2014 12:18 pm

Yesterday ended up being an S-Day anyway...when I woke up from the anesthesia, they gave me crackers and ginger ale, then I went home and had some popsicles (the post-anesthesia sore throat is the worst!) and tater tots for dinner...apparently when I'm sick I have the eating habits of a toddler lol.

So today is my first weekend S-day, but I want to try sticking to the three meals a day format. Since it's an S-day if I really want a snack later in the afternoon I'll have one, but that's one habit that I'm starting to realize is really good for me to keep up with. When I don't graze all day, my appetite and digestion are SO much better, food tastes better...so yeah, happy S-day everyone, I'll have a sweet with dinner and maybe a snack but maybe not, we'll see!

I didn't get photos of my food yesterday (again, anesthesia) so I'll make an exception on the photo taking for S-days like yesterday when I just snack all day rather than eating real meals.

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Sat May 17, 2014 4:24 pm

Sounds like you're having a good recovery...hope you have a great S Day!

Simpless · Post by **Simpless** » Sat May 17, 2014 4:39 pm

A belated welcome to No S, samosaurus

I gave it a short try several years ago, but don't think I "got it" until this March. The forum has made a big difference for me too. I wish you the best success. - I'm enjoying your posts.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sun May 18, 2014 6:02 pm

Have a good recovery.

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Sun May 18, 2014 6:24 pm

Thank you!!

So far my S-days have been going a little rougher than I expected, but I'm letting myself have some leeway as they're S-days, no rules! Apparently when i'm bored at home I want to snack all day

But I've got some healthy lunches packed for the week, so that's nice!

My surgery was to repair a broken tailbone, so it's been an interesting weekend; can't really sit down, have to stand or lie down most of the time, though the oxycontin they prescribed is making everything a lot more bearable. The worst thing about pain meds though are that they're making me bloat up - I'm five pounds heavier than I was Thursday, and I'm pretty confident that's not just from my snacking through my S-days! Ah well, hopefully I'll slim down once I'm off the opiates lol...

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sun May 18, 2014 8:55 pm

S days can be rougher than people want for longer than they want. Try not to let that get in the way. If they don't calm down on their own after a few months, there are options.

Sounds like bloat is preferable to the alternative right now. Tailbones are serious business! Hope you heal soon.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon May 19, 2014 10:22 am

Hope you're already feeling better! I like your plates - god I eat waaay more than you haha! Your plates look so nice with the fruit.

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Mon May 19, 2014 1:51 pm

LOL I'll be back to large plates soon...since I have to take so much time off the gym, I'm trying to eat more moderate portions - and there's definitely some samosas and tater tots missing from my S-days photos!

What's been interesting photographing my food is that I notice a lot more now when meals are unbalanced - I went out and bought some veggies last night because I noticed I've been eating mostly fruit recently, and wanted to get some variety going! It's summer though, so all the fruit is in season and delicious....

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Tue May 20, 2014 11:32 am

Went out for Japanese food lay night! Technically multiple plates, but it all would have fit on one plate so I'm calling it a green day. Had some avocado sushi, salad, tempura and rice, and could only get through half the tempura and rice so I'll have the leftovers for dinner! I'm getting more and more aware of the balance of my plays now that I'm photographing it all - I really notice when I don't have enough colors or too few veggies it to much carbs or whatever, it makes me more aware of what I eat - and since I only have limited opportunities for eating since I can't snack all day, I'm really starting to understand the importance of balancing my meals. I LOVE no-s!!!!!!

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Tue May 20, 2014 12:57 pm

Ta-da! Cool.

Imogen Morley · Post by **Imogen Morley** » Tue May 20, 2014 1:19 pm

Yay! I'm glad you enjoy this very sane way of eating.

Strawberry Roan · Post by **Strawberry Roan** » Tue May 20, 2014 2:09 pm

First let me welcome you to the boards. I echo your sentiments that this forum is the most supportive, friendliest place I have ever posted.

I LOVE the photos of your meals. I am a fruit and veggie junkie - known around here for my monster salads.

When somebody I run into says they don't like fruits or vegetables, I am just

.

Best wishes for a complete recovery, I am so looking forward to following your thread.

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Wed May 21, 2014 11:30 am

Thank you so much everyone!

Unfortunately, yesterday was my first red day

went out for drinks with a coworker, and it turned into a bit of a binge....ah well, mark it and move on!

In other news, I got promoted in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu last night! I'm now a blue belt, which involved a year of hard work and 8 competitions. I am so thrilled, and this means when I finally get back on the mats I'll be wearing a new belt around my waist. It's such a big deal to me. I got promoted at work last week as well; just such a whirlwind!

In jiu jitsu, there's five belts - white, blue, purple, brown, black. On average it takes 10 years to get a black belt; most people spend two years at white, four at blue, five or six at purple, another four at brown to get there. I feel so honored to have been promoted in only one. And now the hard work begins!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed May 21, 2014 1:25 pm

Well done Sam! And also congrats to your job promotion.

I once did taekwondo and it was hard to get promoted. All the hard work paid off!

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Thu May 22, 2014 6:02 am

Congrats Sam!!

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Thu May 22, 2014 1:40 pm

Wow, you must be working so hard! Congratulations on your hard-earned accomplishment!

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Thu May 22, 2014 5:16 pm

thank you guys so much!!

yesterday was a green day...a hard green day, but I made it anyway. all I want to do is comfort eat or celebratory eat or boredom eat right now. but I need those green days! I really enjoy seeing my chart turn green:

five green days now!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri May 23, 2014 9:31 am

Well done Sam! The trick is not "not to have Red days", the trick is "to catch yourself" the next day or the next. And you seem to have done that brilliantly! Only one more green day before the weekend. Plan one great treat and you'll be fine

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Fri May 23, 2014 5:10 pm

bummer

yesterday ended up as a red day and today as well...augh I've really got to sort out this whole "I'm feeling upset/uncomfortable so I'm going to eat to soothe myself". I feel gross.

mark and move on, mark and move on, mark and move on, mark and move on....

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Fri May 23, 2014 7:48 pm

It's okay Sam even one green day a week is probably an improvement on how you were eating before right? You will gradually see how much better you feel on green days and start to be motivated to have more & more green days.

Progress not perfection--you can do this!

Linda

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Fri May 23, 2014 10:36 pm

You're not alone in that one, but it can be overcome. Learning to separate feeling down with eating is one of the great benefits of putting great effort into savoring wonderful meals. When the urges come, remember how much you enjoyed the last meal and how much more you will enjoy the next one if you hang on through a few uncomfortable hours. Make it an experiment to see just how irritating, uncomfortable, or anxious the feelings get. Urges grow until they reach a peak and subside. People usually give in far before that point (and end up reinforcing the behavior). Surpassing that point is one of THE most powerful antidotes to the urges.

OR do you best to do anything else to distract you, even if it seems frivolous. AND ideally, have some little reward activity if you make it. That's actually what being able to fill habitcal in with a green mark is supposed to be, but it may take something else, too. One friend had a lot of success with allowing herself to add a cute icon she liked to posts or emails, or popping bubble wrap for 3 minutes, or just remembering to burn a candle after dinner.

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Tue May 27, 2014 4:43 pm

Linda, Oolala, you are both wonderful. I've been reading and re-reading your messages all weekend, though I couldn't face coming back to the board and posting much.

S-days went fine, and I made Monday a NWS-day as well. Binge ate a little bit, but I think once I've gotten a better record I'll work on bringing the binge down then (having regular mealtimes instead of snacking all day, etc).

Today's been fine so far, though I'm feeling the aftereffects of too much sugar and too many calories yesterday! Hopefully a day or two on No-S will help sort out my digestion, I noticed it last week that it helped a lot.

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Tue May 27, 2014 9:20 pm

Well today ended up as a red day - but it's not as bad of a red day as the ones last week! Small victory!

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Tue May 27, 2014 10:04 pm

yes, shades of red!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed May 28, 2014 9:14 am

Hmm, sam, may I suggest that you binge because you don't actually eat enough food on a plate considering your activity? When I looked at the photos of your food I thought it was very little, especially given that you train hours every day. I think get more food on your regular scheduled plates and take it from there.

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Wed May 28, 2014 5:00 pm

I'll try, it's hard to eat so much at once - especially since I tend to have a lot of veggies and fruit, and they're low-cal but so filling! Right now I'm pretty sedentary since I'm still healing from surgery, but I'll be back to training next week (as soon as I get the staples out

)

that's a really good point though, that could be why...I'll try loading up the plates more, as embarrassing as it is to look at all that food sitting in front of me!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu May 29, 2014 8:17 am

Or, if this really doesn't fit your eating style then try a 4th meal. As your meals are quite moderate a fourth meal at the same time each day might work. It's all about the routine in the end

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Thu May 29, 2014 2:56 pm

That's a good idea too!

I actually bought the book - had a gift card for Amazon and thought that maybe reading it would put me back on the right track - and it's super informative. I like the idea of a fourth meal. I'm tired of bingeing as soon as I start to feel hunger, I love being able to enjoy my meals and look forward to them (which doesn't happen when I binge). I think falling off the wagon and managing to pull through it (instead of quitting) is helping me want to stay on the wagon now...I can acknowledge that I messed up, and keep going, which is quite liberating for a perfectionist like me.

And my staples are coming out today - which means I can start training again soon! YIPPEE!!!!

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Thu May 29, 2014 3:49 pm

New motivator - reading everyone else's daily check ins. If they can do it, so can I! I love reading other's success stories, it's lovely.

So far for this week:

Monday: NWS-Day
Tuesday: red day
Wedneday: red day
Thursday: green day so far!
Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday:

May might be a wash...looking forward to June though. Gonna get those habits INGRAINED lol.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Thu May 29, 2014 8:56 pm

I do think failing can actually lead to success. Most longterm weight maintainers say that when they figured out that they just had to NOT keep quitting or giving up, things turned around. I think my repeated failure over the years finally got me to see that nothing was going to make it easy; nothing was likely to take the urges away before I had established a pattern of resisting them even when they were strong. Ironically, once I really got that, it did get easier, though not a breeze.

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:36 am

You can do it Sam! A lot of us had to work through a series of failures before finding our ways. So no worries just keep on trekking!

Linda

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:53 am

Good attitude, Sam!

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Fri May 30, 2014 6:56 pm

Green day yesterday...red day today.

(they brought in these wee little cupcakes to work - so tiny and so tantalizing!)

But if I fail, I keep on going! I'll have a whole slew of red days if I have to, I'm going to keep on going anyway!

Next week: all green. I'll make it happen!

You all are so wonderful and so supportive. I'm going to succeed, I'm going to, all thanks to you!!!!

worth it · Post by **worth it** » Fri May 30, 2014 7:02 pm

Dear Samosaurus,

You are motivation for me! What a great gift to forgive yourself when things don't go exactly as you planned. I will be sure to remember your positive posts during this time when things go that way for me (which they inevitably will). Have a great day- and enjoy the upcoming S days!

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Fri May 30, 2014 10:20 pm

Oh my goodness, Wirth7, you have no idea how much that means to me!!!!

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Fri May 30, 2014 10:29 pm

Eschano - you were absolutely right! I put my food into cron-o-meter (https://cronometer.com/) and on the food I was eating minus the binges, I managed to get in about....1200 calories a day. When I calculated the BMR for my ideal weight (115 - gotta get into competition shape lol) at my current activity level, I found out I was supposed to be eating about 2300 calories a day.

No wonder I've been bingeing!

I'm putting together my meal plan for next week, and I've had to add in a lot of extra food. My usual meals for the week look like:
- oatmeal
- pasta dish with salad (no meat, cheese, cream...)
- sandwich and fruit

In order to cram in all the calories I'm supposed to be eating in a day, a daily meal might look more like:
- oatmeal with berries, bagel with cream cheese
- pasta dish with salad, apple, vegan quesadilla
- sandwich, banana, chips

I mean, it's not the healthiest and it's pretty carb-heavy, but....well, I've gotta cram in a lot of calories or I'll go off the rails again and snack and snack and snack! This only takes me to 2200 calories anyway, but I don't actually know if I can physically eat that much...we'll see!

Hopefully this solves the binge issue...and if I put on a few, I'm not competing until August anyway, and I'd rather be a little heavier and stick to the plan than binge and get heavier because I'm out of control. But if I've done the math right, this will put me at least on the path to maintenance!

But no more math from here on out. I just gotta get out of 'diet mode' and refocus on how to feed myself properly - if I'm hungry enough between meals to binge, I need to eat more at meals so that I'm not tempted to binge. A little hunger is okay, going crazy and raiding a cookie jar isn't.

I do hate having massive plates of food though

I order food for the office when we have meetings. Earlier this week, I ordered a sushi platter for a lunch meeting (mmm veggie sushi!), and when it arrived I was like "oh man, I hope this is enough for everyone, there's only like two rolls per person..." and my boss said "no, it'll be fine, not everyone eats as much as you. 2 rolls is enough for normal people". I mean, I think she was trying to be funny especially since I'm skinny (though I do tend to binge a lot, I've been able to stay around 125 at 5'3" because of my training - I'm 128 now, thanks surgery lol), but still....felt a little embarrassed to be 'that girl who eats a lot' in the office.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Fri May 30, 2014 10:47 pm

Such a problem to have!

I doubt you need to stuff yourself, though. If you're a few hundred calories short, I don't think it will send you bingeing. And don't forget it doesn't take much volume of fat to up the calories. The Greeks and Italians swear by the loveliness of olive oil drizzled on just about anything savory!

Enjoy those extra bites.

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Fri May 30, 2014 11:04 pm

Thank you Oolala - I'll add a bit more oil in, that should definitely help! I wish avocados were cheaper here in New York - if they weren't $1.50 or more apiece, I'd just eat one of those every day and be set

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Fri May 30, 2014 11:18 pm

Yeah, we're pretty spoiled in SoCal.

One diet book I remember reading suggested that a person could just have an avocado for lunch. The author was trying to say people shouldn't be so afraid of fat. I just thought, if I could be happy with just eating an avocado for lunch, I wouldn't have had a weight problem. It doesn't matter that it would satisfy my hunger. It would NOT satisfy my desire to have pleasant eating experiences, and I need more variety of foods for that.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Fri May 30, 2014 11:19 pm

accidental double post.

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Sat May 31, 2014 4:47 am

I don't know if $1.50 is really that awful for a nutritious part of a meal. I mean, how much should we spend on lunches? 2-3? Or is that way over the top? Just think, you could have a big salad with an avocado on it and lots of olive oil. I wonder how much that would cost..... hmmmm. Anyway, I'm just musing here.

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Sat May 31, 2014 9:17 pm

mmmmm...I've got my heart set on pasta this week, but next week I am making that a thing Automated! You've convinced me! ooh with some fresh pepper and chickpeas...maybe a little hummus too SO GOOD.

Today's been an awesome s-day so far! Had a nice and large breakfast (bowl of shredded wheat with a sliced banana and half a cup of blueberries), then met my friend Olga to do some window shopping. Got a bit hungry later in the morning so had some amazing spicy hot chips that they sell in Chinatown, then went and got lunch with Olga - veggie orange chicken and split a piece of cake! Just got home, brewed a pot of thai iced tea, planning on a quinoa salad for dinner.

'letting' myself eat large portions has really made my whole day...like, I probably didn't *need* to have the chips, but it is an S-day so I enjoyed getting to have them as my weekend treat. And I was full enough from lunch that I still have some of the veggie chicken leftover, maybe as a part of breakfast tomorrow. And I don't usually let myself have cake, but it's one of my favorite vegan restaurants and I figured - why the hell not, it's an S-day. I only had a couple bites, but SO WORTH IT. I'm really glad I 'let' myself indulge on my S-day - I think the indulgences and the large portions are going to really make the difference in ending all this horrible bingeing I've been doing.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 12:34 am

Sounds fantastic!

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 1:02 am

Thank you Oolala!

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 2:21 am

sounds like a great S Day!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 5:54 am

Yes, that sounds like a great S day!

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Tue Jun 03, 2014 2:03 pm

Yesterday went AWESOME, had three big meals, wasn't super hungry all day like usual, was a little hungry when I got home after training but had some tea and just went to bed.

GREEN!!!!!

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 2:18 pm

Tuesday - Green!
Wednesday - Green!!!

SO hard, but really satisfying to have those green days.

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Mon Jun 09, 2014 6:40 pm

End of the week - all green!

Binged this weekend, and felt it ugh, ate a whole bag of kettle corn along with some beers+bbq+regular food and sweets on Saturday and spent most of Sunday in my apartment feeling like I was gonna die lol. Baby steps.

ONE GREEN WEEK!!

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Mon Jun 09, 2014 8:59 pm

Good luck this week, Sam!

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Wed Jun 11, 2014 8:52 pm

I had many cruddy Sundays due to bingeing on Saturdays. Eventually, I got tired of it, instituted a mod, and rarely have the problem now. I actually look back at some of the eating fondly!

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 7:26 pm

Back from vacation (hence the radio silence)! Had a wonderful time - we were in China for two weeks, it was amazing. And we had structured, 3-a-day meals for that entire time (though I did snack a bit, it wasn't often), and, well, I feel so much calmer about my food now. I even lost some weight, though that could have been because I didn't listen to the rule about not drinking tap water and spent a day or two on the potty

but for real, I ate healthily and structured for two weeks, got through that hurdle without worrying about it since i was too busy living my life and having an AMAZING time and now I'm back in the states and food is just so less important than it used to be. It's nice, I like it, but I don't get stressed out and anxious if I'm not eating right at this moment.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 10:52 pm

Wonderful!

Where in China did you visit?

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 4:24 am

Wow China--so cool! My mom says the food there is amazing & very different than the Americanized version were used to in the states.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 8:57 am

Oh that sounds amazing sam! And I had to laugh about your tap water comment.

Good on you for having found a new relaxedness with food

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 12:48 pm

We went all over! Started in Beijing (Tianamen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall), then flew to Xian to see the terracotta warriors, then took a cruise along the Yangtze and ended in Shanghai! It was an incredible, amazing trip.

But seriously, don't drink the tap water.

MerryKat · Post by **MerryKat** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 11:23 am

Hey Sam

I am loving reading your posts.

I am like you - Snacks & Mods are my downfall. I have been doing this for a LONG time and I keep coming back because it is the only thing that works that does not drive me mad doing it!!

Your holiday sounds super.

Keep on keeping on

samosaurus · Post by **samosaurus** » Mon Jul 07, 2014 2:02 pm

Thank you so much Merry!!!

Today, just breakfast so far - a green smoothie (kale, spinach, coconut milk, avocado, banana, apple, lime, hemp protein). I've planned cereal for lunch because it's way too hot to cook, and a pb&j sandwich for dinner before I head off to the gym.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 7:42 pm

Isn't it something how little food can matter when we are engaged in our life? I'm always paraphrasing a therapist who said the question is not why we do something but what would we do instead if we didn't do that something? How will we fill our time when we're not overeating, drinking too much, etc.? But it can be a little hard to have daily life compete with the richness of new experiences while on trips and with the lack of obligation we usually have when we travel.

So glad to hear the feeling of having food in its more proper place is carrying over.

I wish I thought I could be happy with simple meals! I guess that's next on my agenda.