Everyday Systems

Day 1 - good breakfast. 2 scrambled eggs and two toast with butter.
Lunch - hmmm - didn't work out - didn't get to eat until 6 p.m. - ate my salad with chicken breast - forgot I had a bun I was going to eat - oh well.
Supper - didn't get home until almost 10 p.m. Too late to eat a real meal. Two pieces of cheese and off to bed I go. Not so great for the first day but at least I didn't overeat.

Start weight - On May 26 I started with no sweets plan at 232.5 lbs. On June 6 I was sorting through paperwork for filing and found the No S Diet print out (from 2008 printing!). Reread it and decided it was worth a try so on June 10/14 I started my official day one at 227.00 lbs.

Hello and welcome!

Your schedule is a bit crazy, isn't it? I hope it calms down!

Day 2 - This is harder than I expected!

Breakfast - started out with two soft boiled eggs, two pieces of toast (I like it dry), a banana and a yogurt. Realized I didn't have time to eat this - already late for work. Ate the eggs, grabbed the toast and ate it in the car driving to work. Kept the banana and yogurt for lunch. I was hungry at 10:30 and really eyeing that banana but I didn't cave. Drank water. Got busy at work.

Lunch - homemade stew, half a bun with butter, banana and yogurt. It all fit on the plate but I disassembled it after placing it on the plate - so I could eat my stew and bun first, and then my banana and yogurt. I didn't like it all on the plate at the same time. Does disassembling defeat the one plate psychological aspect?

Supper - Lasagna, the other half of the bun, and some fresh veggies with a tablespoon of ranch dressing. Yum.

I think success? Seems like I did okay.

Welcome! Sounds like you are incredibly busy - phew - 6pm lunch, 10pm dinner?

I often "plate" for a visual effect and then disassemble to eat (who wants their dish of yoghurt getting warm next to their burrito, right?). I think as long as you take a moment to eyeball the whole lot on the plate at once, you're getting the same effect.

Thanks for the encouragement! Day 1 was a really "off" day for timing of meals but today was much better. I'm not usually that busy! And on to day 3.....

Well done on resisting the am snack!

I think it's fine to take the food off the plate as the important thing is that you saw how much it is so you will have an idea for how normal/abnormal your portion sizes are. I often virtual plate.

Day 3 - I thought I was going to go for a sit down breakfast, take my time and relax over a Denny's special. Instead, I ended up having to throw a bunch of easy grab food into a container so I could get to a meeting on time. So.....two pieces of cheese, blueberries, a banana, cucumbers and a yogurt. Took some carrots too but didn't want to crunch them through the meeting and annoy everyone so they stayed in the bag!

Lunch - lettuce wraps at Original Joe's. They were good but not very substantial . Chewed some gum to feel like I was getting something tasty around 3:30.

Supper - Steak and baked potato and beans at Montana's. You would think eating out twice would have me stuffed but I'm feeling really hungry. But I haven't been drinking a lot of water today so maybe that's why.

Now would be a perfect time for some microwave popcorn but alas, it isn't an "S" day.

Try not to be afraid of S days, though you might find that you go crazy for a bit. It's perfectly normal, but it's also normal to get tired of it and to start liking the feeling of N days enough that you tone down S days either naturally or on purpose. This isn't a diet, which forces you to eat less against your body's will. It's more of a way to get your body want to eat less over time.

Breakfast - made a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs, a piece of toast, banana and blueberries. Alas, once again, no time to eat it all at once - ate my eggs and toast and took the banana and blueberries to eat in the car. Substantial breakfast and wasn't hungry all morning.

Lunch - solid whole meal - no problems. Salad, tuna, celery with cheese whiz, yogurt. Civilized sit down relax eating lunch day. Hurray!

Supper - <sigh> time is not my friend. I packed a supper which I took with me and which I planned to eat before my meeting started. Lasagna, bun with butter, raw carrots, cucumber spears, blueberries. It would have been great had the meeting not started before I had eaten - I was able to finish the lasagna, half the bun, the four cucumber spears and a few carrots, along with a few blueberries. Now I'm hungry and trying not to tell myself I should be able to now eat the rest of my supper! The other half of the bun, the leftover carrots and the bag of blueberries is calling my name. Too bad....no seconds, no snacks. I guess if I don't get it eaten in the meal time, I'm done until tomorrow.

Tomorrow is an "S" day. Not sure how to handle that. I'm so ingrained from a multitude of other diets that I will be "cheating" if I don't follow the non S format. Afraid I won't get back on track on Monday if I veer off to an "S" day freedom to eat. Perhaps with a more relaxed day, I will eat full meals in a relaxed manner and not feel the need to eat anything else except my three full plates. However, my kids are taking me somewhere tomorrow for a surprise dinner - no idea what that might be or what the food will be - probably good it's an "S" day and I don't have to worry about it too much. Thanks for the encouragements. I'm going to buy the No S book so I can learn a bit more about this program.

Hi Judy,
Just had a chance to day to read your thread. I immediately wonder:
a) what in the world is your job that has you eating on the run so much?; and b) how much of that eating on the run would be avoidable if you put in place some boundaries to protect "meal time"?

I feel strongly about b). If you want to take care of your body and give it boundaries such as 3 meals a day and no snacks, you need to tell your body it can trust you that you will provide it with those three meals. I'm sure your job is wild and crazy, but how much of that wildness could be "tamed" by you psychologically putting those meals as a non-negotiable "meeting" on your calendar? Just some thoughts.

Hi and thanks for replying. I don't think that my life is generally this crazy or maybe I just never notiiced before! I would nearly always have time to eat a whole meal at lunch and at supper but certainly not this week! Breakfast rush is my own fault as I am a morning person and get busy doing lots of other things and then run out of time to actually sit and eat. If I wasn't trying this new way to eat, I would generally eat at work - having an oatmeal at 9:00 a.m. and maybe a fruit. And then at 10:30-11:00 a.m. I'd have a snack. Now I should be eating my plateful of breakfast at 7:30 a.m. but I've been finding myself starting it at 8:15 a.m. - just taking more time than I'm used to to make my lunch and my breakfast and eat my breakfast Hopefully next week will be more balanced.

I will try to be more focused on making sure I have time to eat properly.

What about combining the oatmeal and fruit with whatever you might have had as a snack and having that at 9 a.m.? If you don't really have time to sit at 7:30 but you do at 9, it sounds okay to wait. (When I first started, I put my afternoon snack in with my lunch. Eventually, I dropped the snack foods.) Then you could have a lunch and dinner, though they might need to be a little later.

First S day. Chose to have no sweets, no snacks and no seconds. Breakfast was bacon and eggs and toast.
Lunch was weiners and beans and bread and blueberries
Supper wasn't a one plate meal as we were at friends and they had stuffed mushroom caps as an appetizer, salad as the next course and then potatoes, ribs and steak as the main course. Fruit for dessert. All of it would have fit on one plate but since its an S day I guess it doesn't really matter!

Tomorrow is Father's Day dinner made by the adult children so we will see what that brings.

Sounds like you got plenty of enjoyable food to eat and didn't miss the S's. That's the most important point. You don't have to have them just to have them! It's when you're feeling like you've been robbed if you can't have them that the freedom of S days comes in handy.

Second "S" day. Slept in and ended up just having lunch and supper. Good meals - no sweets, no seconds, no snacks. It was very good to just eat what was prepared, and to pick what I liked, without worrying about proteins/fats/calories/etc. I have way too much going on in my head from past diets whispering I shouldn't have this, I shouldn't have that....so far - so good. Hope everyone had a joyful Father's Day.

Very nice to just enjoy your food without over-analyzing it, hun? One of many reasons I love NoS.

Day 6 - no issues. No snacks, no sweets, no seconds. One plate x 3 meals. Noticed a few times while I was cooking, I was close to licking my fingers or having a taste. Not drinking enough water. Something I should work on.

Well done! Don't worry about the cooking too much. I don't count this as non NoS. I guess it depends on whether the tasting while cooking is a particular problem for you but if not don't stress.

yeah, I have to taste my spaghetti sauce to see if it's seasoned enough. Although my boys do that for me now.

I'm hungry and I'm tired and I'm grumpy. I want to snack. I've chewed some gum. Drank some water. Am working on coffee now. Good thing I can go home and make my supper. If I wasn't no-sing I would have eaten some almonds and some cheesies or popcorn and/or a chocolate bar. Now I feel deprived. I don't have anything substantial planned for supper - just soup and grilled cheese sandwiches and raspberries for dessert. I'm wondering if I should scrap that and plan something heavier - like chicken and potatoes and vegetables.

Breakfast - two shredded wheat - no sugar (that was a first - I like my shredded wheat with sugar - but without it was actually quite good). And a banana. 8:00 a.m.

Lunch - huge salad with lots of veggies, feta cheese and separate cottage cheese (not mixed in the salad). I also had planned to eat a yougurt but I forgot. Ate at 1:30 but ate at the computer so it was more a graze as I was reading posts and work information.

It all fit on a plate so two plates, no snacks, no sweets, no seconds. I'm going to take something for my headache and go home and cook chicken I think.

Sounds like you've had very little fat today. No wonder you're hungry.
I hope you eat something yummy tonight.

Hmmm - maybe I should have a dinner bun with butter along with my chicken. I was thinking maybe I was lacking protein - although the cottage cheese is considered protein by some. Thanks for the reply.

Well, honestly your calories for the day are probably low overall. You need a little of everything at dinner! Pile that plate high!

Supper - baked chicken breast. Mashed potatoes. Cooked veggies. Half a bun. Butter in the potatoes and on the bun. Raspberries for dessert. Stuffed. Whew! I have so many voices telling me my calories are too high, my portions are too big, I shouldn't have used so much butter. But it is one plate and there were no sweets and I certainly didn't need to worry about going for seconds! And I didn't snack. Yeah me!!!

You'll sleep well, I'll wager.

Well done! I think the main reason I made it through so many of the harder days is that I made sure I had a dinner planned (and often also lunch) that I really looked forward to. Something super yummy that is still NoS. And auto is right: don't go too low on calories at the beginning. You'll figure out the balance eventually but remember that this isn't a restricting diet.

Day 7 - June 18th. Not a hungry day. No issues. Three plates. No sweets, no snacks, no seconds. Breakfast was scambled eggs, sausgage and a piece of toast. Didn't eat the other piece of toast or the banana - just not hungry.

I made a huge salad with roasted chicken in it for lunch - I tried putting it on a plate from the serving bowl it was in but that didn't work - way too much! I ate about half of it and put the rest in the fridge for my next lunch. I'm finding celery and cheese has been quite satisfying for the crunch factor. Grapes were good too.

Supper time - not hungry and had a meeting to go to for 7:30 so decided not to eat until I got home rather than be rushed. Ate sausage rolls, cucumber spears and leftover mashed potatoes but it was pretty late to be eating. And on to the second week.....

Eschano - thanks for the reminder about calories. I have so many "rules" in my head from a multitude of other diet programs that I do have trouble not thinking "diet" and "restriction". I feel like I've been eating fairly healthy with no snacks or sweets but I'm not seeing anything happening on the scales. I know this is a slow weight loss plan but I do feel like something should be happening. At least I'm not gaining.

My plan is to do the 12 week groupings and see what happens each 12 weeks. I am encouraged by other people's stories and read the discussion board. I've been reading some of the dialogue from the podcasts. I'm going to buy Reinhardt's book. I am finding it freeing to bypass the snacks provided at meetings by knowing there is nothing on that table to eat, healthy or not healthy, because I'm not snacking. That's simple enough.

Love your attitude!

I think not gaining is a win if pre No-S gaining was the norm. Also, you need to give your body time to adjust. I believe once it understands that it gets three square meals a day and also more-food weekends the pounds start to come off (still slowly).

It took me ages to get over the feeling of guilt - of eating three meals per day. I'm so glad I did because I feel so much healthier now!

I completely agree with eschano--not gaining is often a huge first victory. I still remember the rush of euphoria I got when I realized I wasn't gaining anymore!

And I love your 12-week plan. That's what I have done--it's what I decided to do when I was just one week in and freaking out that I wouldn't lose weight.

I'm currently in my 4th set of 12 weeks.

Thank you so much for your encouragement. Really helps keep me on track. Yesterday was successful. No sweets, no seconds, no snacks. One plate x 3. Ate out last night and ordered the full portion instead of the smaller portion to help stack the deck to ensure I wouldn't cave and snack later in the evening. Ate the whole thing and was satisfied throughout the rest of the night.

This morning I thought I would try one of those "healthy" cereals but knew they are supposed to be quite filling for a smaller amount. It was something with almonds and vanilla I think. It was delicious and I could easily have talked myself into having another half bowl, telling myself I'd only had the first half and I was entitled to the second half! But I told myself "no seconds!" Tough luck if you didn't fill your bowl. Then I started wondering about the "plate" full. How does that work for bowls. You can get a lot more in a bowl, placed on a plate, than you could if you dumped the food onto a plate (who can eat cereal on a plate? - where would the milk go...LOL) If I put food in a bowl and put the bowl on a plate, there is still room on the plate to put more food - I think I'm driving myself crazy. Hope everyone has a good day.

I agree-you are driving yourself crazy! But seriously, just find what works for you with the bowl. Many people discuss such things on the general board, but I have never worried about it. If I have a bowl of cereal, you can bet I pile it high because those are so carby that they don't stick with me for long. And if it's soup or stew, I eat a huge hunk of sourdough with it. I do tend to end up stuffed after those meals, now that I think of it. But I never worried if I was breaking a rule!

And about the cereal--tomorrow eat a BIG bowl.

Today - three plates. No sweets. No snacks. No seconds. Tomorrow is an s day. I don't anticipate eating any differently but it's nice to know I can if I want to. I've had a hankering for a DQ. Dipped cone. But it's not overwhelming so maybe not.

Saturday, June 21 - Breakfast at 10:30 a.m. and mid day decided to try the s day privilege. Had dragon boat lettuce wraps at Original Joes and then went to DQ for an ice cream dipped in chocolate. When I got home I ate a home made chocolate chip cookie and two home made chocolate marshmallow eggs. No dinner really - just a snack of buttered digestive cookies with hard cheese. Afraid that this would make me go off the rails and get back into the snacking and sweets but Sunday was fine although we didn't have breakfast till noon (bacon and eggs and toast and peanut butter) and then supper (pizza) at 9:30 at night. No lunch. So maybe not so good - this is the way I normally would eat - long time between meals, fast foods, eating out.

And here we are back to no S days. Two weeks in and no weight loss.....disappointing.

Today - cereal and banana for breakfast
Lunch - 2 cups homemade cream of mushroom soup (pureed with cauliflower). 1 cup Salad with roasted chicken and grapes.

last night's dinner was interesting. We were going to a concert and arrived early with the thoughts of eating before the concert. Hard to get in to a restaurant. We decided we didn't really have enough time to eat dinner so thought we would grab some wings, eat fast and get out of there. My husband reminded me if I order wings - I'm done - I will have already had my supper - can't have another supper or snack after the concert. <sigh> Oh right....forgot about that....so we ordered a meal, ate half of it and just got to our seats in time for the show. So success - thanks to my husband's reminder.

Breakfast - took my cereal and milk to work which was great. Also had a yogurt.
Lunch - went to a grade six graduation and they had food afterward which I didn't anticipate. I hadn't eaten lunch and it was so easy to
Have a bun, cold cuts, fruit and veggies without cutting half of it out because of worry about fats/white flour/not enough veggies on my plate, etc. it was very easy to take a plateful of what I wanted and to bypass the celebratory cake.
Supper - I had invited three others for dinner at my home and did well enough with a salad, stew and buttered bun. Talked about the no s diet with them which took away any opportunity to sneak in dessert.

Oh well done for telling your guests about NoS! And your husband seems a great support. My boyfriend is too - it makes life easier

interesting day - 17 days in. Planning on going camping for 10 days so busy getting ready for that. Had breakfast and lunch with no problems. Ended up not having supper for various reasons and now its 11:30 - too late for a meal. Having two slices of buttered toast with hard cheese and a banana. Is that a snack or is that dinner? I'm calling it dinner.

Shopping for camping food was tough with me wanting to buy everything I saw. I've been craving some cheesies so that went in the cart for an S day. Passed up the Doritos. Passed on the red licorice. Cqved on the donuts - I will freeze them until an S day. Is Canada Day an "S" day? Got celery and cheese whiz which I am quite enjoying as a crunch treat.

Lots of potential for me to go completely off the rails while I am away - the food will be plentiful and the pace will be slow - so my mind will drift toward "what can I eat". This will be a test that's for sure. Hope everyone is doing well. I've been trying to read the "stickys" on the site and I am still wanting to listen to the podcasts. Oh right, and buy the book. I'll go do that now.

Hmmm what's cheesies? Doritos are definitely allowed on N days you know, as long as it's part of your meal.

Cheesies are a snack food made with corn meal and processed aged cheddar cheese seasoning. Crunchy corn snacks. I did figure out I could eat them as part of a meal but it sure felt like snacking. I had cheesies and an egg salad sandwich. Boy did that feel like cheating! I purchased the no s diet book and have been reading that the last four days. Learned some things. Expect to learn more. S days are done and I didn't end up eating anything sweet. I was up for a cinnamon bun but my husband couldn't find any in town. I did have a handful of cherries as a snack - boy I'm wild and crazy!

Whew!! I am exhausted listening to your routines!!!

Well done on getting No S down pat! Enjoy being able to tell the voices in your head to shut up & go away!!!

Don't obsess to much over bowl & plate sizes. Just get into the habit of 1 plate / bowl and you will do great.

So glad your hubby is supporting you - makes it much easier.

I am having a tough time making s days any different than n days. Reading the no s book which points out how important it is to use the s days in order to keep on track. Today is canada day so I'm going to try and use it accordingly as an s day. I've served the donuts and some supposedly fantastic cookies several times and didn't eat any of it. Yesterday afternoon I had two hotdogs on my plate and the last of my cheesies. I wAsnt enjoying the first few cheesies at all but was craving fruit. I put the cheesies back in the bag and replaced it with fruit on my plate instead. Not quite kosher I guess but I didn't have more than a plate full altogether.

Today will be a celebration and we are going into town to watch fireworks tonight so I'm thinking about ice cream and kettle corn. HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!

Happy Canada Day!

Aehm - a good problem to have?? I don't think you should force yourself to use S days as S days. Just don't deny yourself an S day when it happens to be one

I did have my Ice cream but saw those cinnamon buns I was craving a few days ago and wanted them and then looked at other junk food. I think breaking no s days is dangerous for me. I am planning on getting those cinnamon buns for Saturday! Only three no s days until the weekend - interesting to have an s day mid week. I noticed I wasn't interestedin having a salad for the last couple of days. I've been having a salad every lunch time for three or four weeks so I'm thinking I may be headed for some pasta or sandwiches for awhile.

Wow, you are off to a great start

ckay21 wrote:I am having a tough time making s days any different than n days.

If your national day is like our in Australia, the tradition is more about partying at the beach and drinking than it is about eating, so maybe it isn't a big s day for you. You don't HAVE to define your national holiday as an S because Reinhard does.

S days do come along eventually, you don't have to force them - you'll have a midweek birthday for a close family member or something like that. The idea (for me at least) is that this system gives me a way to really enjoy special things like Christmas, birthday parties, dinner parties, an invitation to tapas or my friend baking me an unbelievable teacake without having to go "oh no, not for me, I'm on a diet". I'm always disappointed when I have an S treat that is less than awesome - No S has got me very focussed on quality! There is no need to push yourself to each junky stuff if you don't feel like it, for me that is not the point of No S at all.

There is a fourth S - sometimes!

Started June 10th - still plugging along. Haven't written for a couple of weeks. No difficulties really - other than missing the occasional meal because it didn't work in to my day - generally sticking to three plates a day of healthy food. Camping went just fine except for the one afternoon (an S day) where we ate chips and had candy instead of a real meal - we were going to have a fantastic big bbq supper so I didn't want to eat too much a couple of hours from that meal but I knew I was getting too hungry to last another couple of hours without eating anything. So what I had was "legal" I guess but it still feels bad to eat junk - even if its on one plate and it's a "meal".

Had a peanut buster parfait this past Saturday - really didn't enjoy it (didn't stop me from finishing it though) so I will stick with my chocolate dip cone when I want a DQ treat because I really enjoy those. I'm trying to stay with one treat on an S day and often will only do it on one S day and not the other.

Still eating healthy, have finished reading the No S diet book. Disappointed that my weight remains the same but don't really know what I'd go to instead of following this program. I've done everything else. Herbal Magic (can I say that?) phoned me today with their great offer to come back to them but I told them I wasn't interested. Still committed to my 12 weeks on no S and will see what happens then - only five weeks in at this point. My sister has lost 95 lbs in the last year and I'd like her to transfer that feat over to me but she worked really hard at it because she needs knee replacement surgery. She goes in on Tuesday for her first surgery and I am very proud of her but it doesn't encourage me to go her route because it just seems like a lot of work! I will say I'm not having any headaches or shakes from not having sweets and the program is very easy to follow. I feel the need to post what I'm eating so I will try and start that again now. Sorry if its boring - I'm doing it for my own needs so feel to skip.

Breakfast - rolled oats with cream. I brought it to work and then got busy so I forgot to eat my yougurt and my blueberries - sigh - I really would have liked those around 10:30!

Lunch - met my daughter for lunch and had a toasted BLT and split pea and bacon soup at the corner restaurant. Yummy....but I was hungry around 3:00 - those blueberries and yougurt are calling my name.

Supper - Its 5:30 and I should be heading home for supper. Hubby is working late and I'm still hungry so I'd rather he be home so we can eat together - afraid I might get home and eat inappropriately - don't think I can wait much longer. In my old life, I would have had a chocolate bar or red licorice or both.

Nice to read the latest posts. Always an encouragement to hear people doing well and to learn of people's struggles so I can apply their experience to make mine more successful. Okay, I'm out of here for now and headed home! Hope everyone is doing well.

Last night went fine. I went home and made dinner and hubby never did arrive until almost 10 p.m. so glad I went ahead and ate. Supper consisted of leftovers - baked potatoes fried up with onions and leftover pork chops sliced thin and mixed in - cooked carrots added in and bread and butter. I realize since I've started no S I've been eating bread at almost every supper but I never used to - so I think I am going to drop that now - no need to have bread when I'm eating potatoes! After dinner I was still hungry. Made some coffee, cleaned up the kitchen and then sat down to drink the coffee. Was able to wait out the "hunger" and be successful at no snacking.

Breakfast - rolled oats, half and half cream (leftover from having guests over - trying to use it up), yougurt and banana.

Lunch - planning on having the leftovers from the leftovers that hubby didn't eat last night. And hopefully will remember to have those blueberries!

Hope everyone has a joyful day.

Last nights supper - toasted BLT and fruit from Denny's

S-day - Today's breakfast - bacon and eggs, hash browns, toast with marmalade and black coffee
9:00-10:00 am

Lunch - 4:00-5:00 - wor wonton soup and green onion cake. Long time between meals. Working and coordinating meal time with hubby who was also working today.

Supper likely to be salt and pepper wings, milk, fruit.

Tired.

I love your leftover meal - frying up bits of leftover meat, potatoes and vegetables is one of my favorite things to eat

Never heard of the green onion cake before, though

Hoping that no news is good news.

Thanks for getting in touch. Not particularly good news. I was hit with a lot of stuff over a two month period. Was diagnosed with diabetes, sleep apnea and put on pills for high colesterol. We've got a very sick 16 year old grandson who is going through multiple tests to see why he is wasting away. They keep giving him diagnosis and then taking them back.

I'm trying to adjust to the diabetes - really set me back. I haven't got the blood sugars under control and have been doing the snack in the middle of the meals to try and balance the sugars. I see the dietician and nurse next week so hope to learn more. I am still trying the half a plate of veggies, one quarter protein and one quarter starch as my meals and I was off sugar for a long time. And once again I've proven to myself if I have a taste of sugar, there is never enough to satisfy. I just can't do the treat on the weekend plan. Then my weekend never ends. So I'm back to trying no sugar again this morning. I had a bad week for eating sweets which is bad on all fronts.

I was told when you are diagnosed with diabetes and go on metformin, the weight falls off you initially. Ha ha - I'm still waiting. I was diagnosed Sept 13, started metformin about the 21st so its been 8 weeks on the pills. Your gentle hello has encouraged me to be more diligent at one plate and no "snacks" meaning junk food. When my blood sugar level is in the 5's I have to eat something but I've been going toward fruit for the most part. All pretty new to me so lots more information swirling around in my head.

Hope you are doing well. Thanks again for the hello.

You have a perfect reason to eliminate sugar. Diabetes trumps No S any day. (There are some diabetics here who have evolved into 3 meals a day, but that is a personal choice. I imagine most of them don't eat much sugar even on S days. It's not a requirement!)

Moderation at eating events and consistency, without random decisions to deviate, are the real foundation. I'd bet that this foundation will actually support your through illnesses of self and others. There are whole cultures that it doesn't even occur to to eat in response to stress. That desire to comfort is just the old patterns, personal and cultural, talking, and they are rarely right. We can create our own little culture here on the boards. But you'll have to be the final judge, and we're on your side.

I wish I could make things easier! Take care.