Everyday Systems

Stepping out of the lurking zone to add some accountability. I've been loosing weight but am trying to reach the "don't have to think about it" stage. I figure the only way to reach that stage is to focus on consistency. Thus the challenge. Today is day 1 and so far so good but the evenings are my nemesis. I'll be back tomorrow to let you know how it turns out.

Day 1: Fail. Goat cheese and pita crackers as an evening snack. So back to the starting line for me.

every day is a new day Ginger! Maybe make sure your dinner is substantial so that you aren't tempted to snack??

Marianne, yes I think you're right. I don't think I ate enough and I ate too early yesterday. . . but . . . I'm confident I'll make my goal tonight.

I agree, it only becomes automatic when you are rather strict on it.

Day 1: success easy-peasy. Eating a more filling dinner later in the evening is definitely Key. Wish me luck on day 2.

Eshano- long before no-s I made a variety of positive changes in my diet starting 10 years ago with (but by no means limited to) "no cream or sugar in my coffee" I think The evening snacking is tied up with lots of positive feelings around my husband so it is a particularly hard habit to break. Recently, he's started talking about getting on board with me so I'm hoping that makes it easier.

That's great changes!

For me it definitely helped me that my boyfriend knows exactly what I'm doing so he won't offer chocolate during the week anymore, nor snacks. He's not doing NoS but by default kind of slipped into the habit.

You're off to a good start, good luck on day 2!

Day 2:success!!

Day 3: success .

So, it turns out the public accountability paid off already. I'm pretty sure yesterday would have been a fail if I didn't know I'd have to 'fess-up. As it is, I have to admit to some funny business. Not exactly one plate (took an extra piece of bread and a very small piece of chipped steak. . . We had homemade steak panini) but I'm not counting it as a fail because it very easily would have fit on my plate and I really was still hungry. As it turned out, I wasn't overfull nor was I tempted to snack in the evening. A clear success in my book.

Well done gingerpie!

gingerpie wrote:So, it turns out the public accountability paid off already. I'm pretty sure yesterday would have been a fail if I didn't know I'd have to 'fess-up.

I'm glad it's helpful to you. I find this as well. Just knowing that I'm going to report here sometimes makes the difference between one cookie and "oh well, I had that cookie, why not finish the pack?"

Day 4: success.

Ironchef, we humans are a funny bunch aren't we? The smallest thing can send us through the roof with glee, or conversely, spiraling down in misery. Positive feedback is so important to our successes in all walks of life. One of the nice things about the Internet is that folks like us can find each other in order to provide that ohh so important feedback. Thanks for taking the time.

So true gingerpie and delighted to see you are doing well!

Day 5: s day I take them Friday and Saturdays.

I had my evening snack of chips but they were not as good as I imagined they would be; should have gone with a fresh plum instead. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Have a good day, cyber-ffriends.

Day 6: s day

Day 7: fail Lazy day and didn't want to cook. Disorganized meals led to an extra slice of pizza pie. *sigh* back to the starting line for me. On the plus side, I'v lost another pound this week.

It's great that you contained the fail and didn't go mental So well done you! And continuing to lose weight is also great!

Day 1: fail chips in the evening. They were on the table. I walked past . . . Well you can guess the rest. Not a lot but a definite fail.

Congrats on your efforts so far, and the weight loss!

I'm not tempted by chips, but I am by other snacky foods. My approach is keep them out of sight (in the cupboards, above eye height) or better out of house.

You mentioned that the evening snacking is tied up with spending time with your husband / good feelings? My husband likes to chat and snack before dinner or while cooking (after bub goes to bed), things like cheese and crackers, olives, dips etc. What fixed this for me is focusing on the moment - that time to sit, listen and share, enjoy the moment and sometimes enjoy a glass of wine or other nice drink. When I do all that, I realise I don't need the food, what makes it special is the time together.

Ironchef, Your right about putting it away!! I've actually had to resort to just not buying it to begin with. But my daughter had a birthday party last weekend and they were left over. To be honest, I'm impressed that they were in the house as long as they were. . .my son predicted they would be gone even before the party. . . but I'm proud to report that he was wrong!!

A big help in the evening snack department is that our TV broke a few months ago and we decided not to replace it (at least not yet) It is amazing what a difference it has made in our nightly snack habit. Unfortunately, I still haven't managed to fill those old TV hours with productive use but at least I'm not munching my way through them anymore. And your right also about hanging out with my husband. It is such a nice way to spend the evening.

Well, As Pete Seeger would say: "Inch by inch; row by row; I'm going to make this garden grow."

Day 1: success
funny business to report. I had a " second" bowl of soup but I'm not counting it as a fail because you really can't eat soup any other way and it is all I had for dinner. Well that and the slice of French bread. Anyway, clearly not a fail in terms of overeating.

Day 2: fail chips again. This one's all on me. Chips again. I have a clear love-hate relatioship with chips.

Hi, gingerpie- Sorry about the chips. I have a love hate relationship with them, too. I only buy them when I know I can eat all of them that day, because that what ends up happening anyway!

fail again Didn't eat enough dinner and ate too early. A clear recipe for failure.

I've been sad because my Mother can't come back to live with us when she is discharged from rehab. ( broken hip + dementia) She'll need 24 hour supervision And we just can't provide it. It makes it harder to make good choices but I'm working on it.

On the plus side. I'm continuing to run a little 3 Times a week and that has done wonders for my mental health. On Sunday I'll be up to 4 minutes. Might not sound like much but I'm happy with it. Also went horseback riding with my 11 year old. I love being able to do physical things.

Day 1: s day I take s days on Fridays and Saturdays.

Gingerpie really sorry to hear about your mother. I've been involved in a lot of elder care in my family and it can be really gut wrenching. Sometimes there isn't a perfect answer.

Good on you for the running. I started out running 60 sec, walking 60 sec, and ended up training for a marathon. Anything is possible!

Ironchef, thanks for the words of support. There is a book called " The Long Goodbye" which I've never read but I think about the title daily because it so accurately describes what happens when someone you know develops dementia. I've had to say "goodbye" to my Mother so many times already that I think the last one will actually be the least painful.

No s day 2: technically was s day but was also success. oh, the irony.

Day 3: success curious how some days are just easier than othe but with no outward reason why.

Enjoy your day everyone. Good luck with your goals.

Day 4: success

Day 5: success [/green]

funny business to report. I was really hungry in the evening so I made a cup of warm milk and (here comes the funny business) put a teaspoon of sugar in it.

gingerpie wrote:funny business to report. I was really hungry in the evening so I made a cup of warm milk and (here comes the funny business) put a teaspoon of sugar in it.

I sometimes make what I call "blank" tea (boiling water, teaspoon of sugar and top up with milk) and I don't think it is necessarily funny business. If a spoonful of sugar in your tea or coffee is ok, I don't see how a teaspoon in your milk is any different.

HI Gingerpie

Hang in there, I often have milk and boiling water as I cannot drink tea, but it is just like tea to me, and sometimes I have some sugar in it - its not funny business, its wise business, that may have staved of munching something more substantial!!. Sad to read the news about your mum, it is really hard not to eat badly when you feel low and upset. I think you are doing brilliantly - keep up the running, very impressive, I wish I could run for even 1 minute!

ironchef and tessytwinkle,

the problem I have is recognizing the "slippery slope" of bad habits. It seems to me to be a fine line between taking care of yourself and ignoring reality On the one hand, I clearly needed something because I ate too little dinner again. It's a problem I have fairly often but not everyday. I feel full when I stop eating dinner but it isn't enough to get me through the dangerous waters of evening snack time. So, I'm legitimately hungry between 9 and 10 in the evening but I rarely choose wisely at that time on night. On the other hand, If it is really just a bad habit, I don't want to continue to cater to it.

Well, I suppose this too will come out with the wash of time and practice.

Thanks for checking in.

I get where you're coming from gingerpie, in fact, I stopped having any cocoa products on N days (even those without sugar) for the same reason. If sugarless hot choc is allowed, then why not sugary, then why not marshmallows....and dooown that slope I go.

However, in the case of an evening hot milk, my thinking goes like this:
1. It's totally part of vanilla No S to have hot drinks (with milk and/or tspn of sugar). Plenty of people have a coffee with milk and sugar every day.
2. It isn't every day, just those days when you are hungry and feel that you'll end up snacking.
3. If (and this is a big if) you find in a few months time that it has become a daily event AND (big and) you're finding your weight loss (or maintenance) is not what you'd hoped, then you can review.

Thank you for your kind words! So sorry to hear about your mom! My mom broke her ankle a few years ago and was never the same after coming out of rehab. She has Dimentia too, it seems to be progressing slowly. We put her in assisted living at the end of October. It's tough.

I'm so confident I'm posting before I go to bed

Day 6: success

Good thing wine isn't considered an "s"

I'm trying to relax after a rough day. 1/2 Day really. Found out this afternoon that my Mother isn't going to be accepted to my first choice personal care facility because she can't "pivot" on her own and apparently that is a deal breaker. I don't believe it though. I've been very upfront and honest about her abilities and this is the first I've heard of "pivoting" being an issue.

She is scheduled for discharge on Tuesday so now I have to scramble to find a nice assisted living facility in the next 5 days. Thank goodness I'm not back to work yet. (I work in a school and go back next Thursday.) For a country with as much affluence as the US, our health care system totally sucks.

Thank you all for listening to my vent; weird how I feel you are all my friends and yet I've never met you. I guess it is the 21st century version of pen-palls.

Good point of the day . . . I bought awesome New running shoes and paid more for them them I've EVER paid for an item of clothing in my life including my prom dress.
I was married in overalls and they definitely cost less.

Good luck on your goals for today. Be kind to yourselves.

Something to consider..... Many of the good places have a waiting list so if you get her in a so so place keep looking and get her on a list!

Day 7: success

I was too busy to snack. I was able to find a nice assisted living facility for my Mother. At least I think it is nice one. I really hope she feels comfortable there. My only concern is that the available apartment feels pretty far from the center of the action. Not that that is necessarily bad. My mother kind of likes to be able to sneak away to a quiet spot. Well keep your collective fingers crossed for her.

Good stuff today. I have lots. 1) A new place for Mum 2) I squeezed in my walk/run. 3) husband is returning from a business trip tonight 4) my kids are all snuggled in bed with me and 5) I lost 1 more pound. 6) tomorrow I get a new washer and dryer.

Day 7: success

I was too busy to snack. I was able to find a nice assisted living facility for my Mother. At least I think it is nice one. I really hope she feels comfortable there. My only concern is that the available apartment feels pretty far from the center of the action. Not that that is necessarily bad. My mother kind of likes to be able to sneak away to a quiet spot. Well keep your collective fingers crossed for her.

Good stuff today. I have lots. 1) A new place for Mum 2) I squeezed in my walk/run. 3) husband is returning from a business trip tonight 4) my kids are all snuggled in bed with me and 5) I lost 1 more pound. 6) tomorrow I get a new washer and dryer.

Enjoy!
It's hard work looking after children and parents. But the joy of snuggling up to your children is priceless.

And a new washer/drier....heaven.

Well done for getting through the stresses of the last week. Not easy to stay on track with so much going on

Busy days do usually seem easier to me, too. I do a lot of boredom snacking, and it's just out of habit.

I'm sure it's a relief that you got all of that done - great job! And great job on the streak you have going, keep it up!

Day 8 s day has it been a week already?

Another good day for exercise. (It has been unseasonably cool around these parts; feels more like september than August.) My 15 year old walked with me. Such a nice way to spend time together.

Homemade lasagna for dinner. It might not be " low cal" but it sure is yummy

Day 9 s day

Not much to report: good point for yesterday brings mixed emotions. I got my mothers things moved into her new place although she will not move until Wednesday. (her insurance authorized a couple more days)

I hope you all are having a great weekend. Virtual hugs to everyone reading and caring.

Day 10 fail

At least I made it longer this time. Evening snack of olives, crackers and cheese.

I think I made two mistakes. 1) We ran out of fruit so I didn't have any at dinner and never really felt satisfied and 2) I still haven't developed a nice relaxing evening routine that doesn't involve wine and snacks. I think I'll work on that today.

Once upon a time I did needle work or I could develop a nice stretching routine or I could organize multiple boxes of "mementoes" aka junk that we've collected over the years.

How very lucky I am to have such luxury worries.

Good point, gingerpie - fortunately our worries are trivial, right? I feel like lately I've been on the iPad too much, so I'm going to leave myself a sticky note on it to get up and do something. Something fun, something productive, whatever, just do something instead of zoning out or eating!

You're still doing great! More than one week in, yay!

Day 1: fail

It was an accident, honest! I forgot I wasn't supposed to share a piece of chocolate with my Mother. *sigh*

Aspencer27. It is waaay too easy to waste hours on electronic devices. I don't know why though. Is it just because they are easy and I'm too lazy to find something better to do? Well, something else to work on in my copious free time.

Gingerpie - isn't it weird when something is actually in your mouth before you think "oops, N day!". just shows how much we're used to having treats always "on call".

I love you point about "luxury worries". My husband and I are always joking about our "first world problems".

fail

I ate a smallish lunch but felt as though I had enough. An hour or so later I went for my walk/run came home had a glass of milk as usual then 1 hour-ish later was ravenous. So, I decided to make a 4th small meal today. It consisted of pita crackers, hummus, olives, and a peach on a plate sitting at the table. I'm not sure if I should count it as a success or fail as it was definitely an unplanned meal yet in my heart I'm thinking that if I can't be flexible then I'm not really learning something that I can use in real life as I find that flexibility is a necessity in my life.

So there you have it. Back to day 1.

Gingerpie - I would count it as a fail, but really, who cares?!?!?! So what it wasn't a vanilla N Day - sounds like you handled it perfectly, and it was a worthy fail. For me, getting to a point where the fails don't derail me was a huge help. You'll be back on track - the thing I love about NoS is that you don't have to be perfect to still get that habit ingrained.

A clear and distinct fail

It was the kind of evening snacking that got me fat in the first place: wine, pita crackers (I don't keep chips in the house any more) hummus and olives. Today I feel 1/2 sick to my stomach. You'd think I would know better but apparently I don't.

Really, I have to figure out evening activities that keep my hands busy but that also allow for hangin' with my family.

My plan for tonight is to 1st stretch then knit. I don't know how to knit but I have the supplies and periodically I make squares in the hopes of improving.

Other news: Mum is moving into assisted living today. I go back to work today but only 1/2 day. We are planning a BBQ For 35 people on Saturday.

I have definitely had those days, where you eat and eat until your stomach kills - I get so frustrated with myself. But, in NoS fashion, you just have to get over it. You can't change it, and don't punish yourself for it today. Keeping busy definitely helps me with not grazing or binging from boredom. I like the stretching idea, I've been focused on stretching this summer. What kind of stretches are you doing? I got a stretching video - which I really enjoy but it is really long, so I rarely do it... But, the instructor has a class here, so I've been taking it about every other week.

I hope your mom likes the new assisted living place.

And, get back on track right now!

I am a real newbie but the way I have avoided snacking is to make my plates heavier. That might help break the cycle. The other tip I picked up was to have liquid refreshment instead of solid. Milky drinks or 100% fruit juice. But I only use this one if I think I will snack if I don't.

I might be playing this completely wrong. I am only on day16. And can't say I have lost weight either....

Good luck with tomorrow

failagain

*sigh* I guess I've entered a phase. How very irritating. Well, it turns out just saying you are going to do something doesn't work. You actually have to do it as well

Aspencer27, I found a nice routine on utube. There are a lot to choose from at any lenght you need to fit your schedule. My favorite is a 1/2 hour whole body routine just because it feels good. When I don't do whole body, I do a few minutes for my feet (I have planter fasciitis) or my shoulders (I had frozen shoulder a few years ago.)

Amara, Thanks for the words of encouragement and for stopping by. It sounds like you must be doing well usually I feel like I've eaten plenty of dinner, I think I just have a deeply ingrained habit that I have to wrestle myself out of. I think the milky drink substitute idea might work. I do like warm milk and I need more calcium.

No, you haven't entered a phase. What's done is done, move on. Be kind to yourself. Focus on right now, all you need to do is make it to the next meal. You can do it!

s day not a bad day. I'm lucky it is an s day though because I forgot and had a cookie at work today. So weird how that can happen.

Day 2: s day

Seriously failed

Very weird week for me in terms of eating. Also a weird week in terms of cooking so maybe they are related. Well, noting, marking and moving on.

I'm up to 6 minutes of running. I've discovered I love trail running. OMG am I ever slow. my method is to walk for 5-10 minutes then run my minutes then finish my distance at a walk. So far it is working perfectly. No foot pain and making my weekly goals.

fail again.

Didn't even try to resist the siren's song. I'm hoping the daily check in will bring my wayward mind back to where it needs to be.

Good point. School full on started.( I'm a paraeducator in an elementery school.) I have a crazy, not-a-minute-to-myself schedule. I love my kiddos.

No worries, a new day today

fail

Failed on a technicality (a piece of fruit when I got home)but overall much better than the last day or so.

fail I've always had a weakness for stale pastries. These were cheese filed croissants. Not real cheese and not real croissants but real stale.

No evening snack though and that is usually my problem time so in my heart I'm counting it a success. Boy, it is really hard to rationalize away that pastry buy I'm trying my best.

You did well to keep the fail to that one item, and not keep going with evening snacks, so that is a step in the right direction.

You don't need to rationalise, just mark it and move on. Tomorrow is a new day!

Ironchef, I seem to be having trouble keeping my goal up front and center in my mind. It seems strange because I know I feel better when I eat a certain way and I feel worse when I don't. In rational moments, like now, the choice seems obvious.

I think I missed a day in recording my challenge but I'm back tos days again. Seriously can't believe how fast these days slip by.

s day a nice quiet day.

s day Labour Day

Day 1: success

Starting at a new school tomorrow.

Good luck with your new school, and keep up the great work on NoS! I have my first N Day today after a looooong vacation, but so far so good.

Day 2: success

So, I dumped my stuff, including my lunch, in a super secret hidden closet at the new school. But, come lunch time there was a class in the room so I couldn't get my lunch. I didn't panic. I just ate lunch after I got home. Boy did it taste good!

Lol gingerpie! This made me laugh. Can you not keep it on you?

Eschano, I travel from room to room and I have to have my hands free to help the kids. So no, I pretty much have to put it somewhere. There is a teachers lounge I can use. I just normally avoid it to give myself a few minutes alone. I'll figure it out. No way will I go hungry everyday.

Ah, I see. Tricky! Maybe some of the other teachers on the board can jump in

Dismal

Don't even know what happened. One minute I was sitting on the couch talking with the family. The next I was devouring a box of nuts and swilling a bottle is wine like a hyena at the kill.

Lol gingerpie! I know those days. Hang in there. The next success is just one meal away.

Dismal

Don't even know what happened. One minute I was sitting on the couch talking with the family. The next I was devouring a box of nuts and swilling a bottle is wine like a hyena at the kill.

No worries - we've all been there! Just get back on track - you're off to a great start for September, even with a single fail, so just keep it up!

s day I take them Fridays and Saturdays.

s day

I'm feeling confident again. I listened to a couple of the podcasts and they served to reaffirm what I already have learned so now I'm ready to proceed with a better mix of structure, flexibility and accountability. (I hope)

Too bad Someone else can't do this for me. if I had a cook, personal trainer, shopper and chauffeur my life would be a lot easier. . . Albeit, perhaps a bit more boring as well.

Have a nice day unseen cyber friends.

Lol gingerpie, you crack me up!

fail

not a disaster but a clear fail. I'm thinking of investing in a face mask to help prevent thoughtless munching.

I'm taking an s day for yesterday.

My mother is back in the hospital with a low blood count and last night was spent in the emergency room. I hate that this is the way she is spending the last of her life. I feel like I should be writing about it as a stress management tool but I can't find the time without cutting into my sleep time, which I refuse to do. Well, I guess this too will work out with time.

In terms of no s. I'm counting it as a win that I at least managed to eat nice healthy cooked- at-home food even if it was a bit haphazard and I didn't have to resort to hospital swill.

I think we are running parallel lives here. My mom is back on the hospital too.
Oddly coincidental I went back to school and am taking an Ethics class. The first lectures were about happiness what it means, reading Aristotle, and about existentialism, living a good life as a means to happiness and he had someone from psyc come and talk about the psychology of happiness. She talked about writing what we are grateful for, which I am sure we all have heard and tried. It's been a good reminder for me in this tough time.
Really thinking about these subjects has helped me out a lot. We start the first ten minutes of class writing, the first was "what is happiness" then "what it means to live a good life and be a good person" just passing along some things that have been helping me. Do you have much support like siblings to help work through this?

Hugs to you both.

fail

I'm annoyed with myself for this one. It was totally unnecessary and I ended up feeling blah and icky. . . Those are medical terms for bloated and somewhat nauseous.

Snapdragon,
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. I don't have time to go too deeply into it but thinking Along the lines of happiness; I've decided to use two basic questions in regards to medical decisions for my Mother. 1) Is what we are doing going to help get feel safe and secure out 2) is it just going to add to her confusion Without giving a clear benefit. It isn't a perfect method but it is helping me to sort out just how far is far enough in terms of any sort of treatment.

I hope you are well and learning a lot. I love to take classes.

Caring for an aging parent and making decisions is so difficult. My heart is with both of you as well. I do not think anyone realizes how hard it is until you go through it. Try to take care of yourself too.

Don't be annoyed with yourself - you are going through a very challenging time, and some things are going to slip from time to time. No big deal.

I sympathize with the blah and icky feeling - it's no fun. I don't understand why I do it to myself sometimes, too. I am trying to just focus on now, and not dwell in the past (like get annoyed with my fails).

Good luck with taking care of your mother - and take care of yourself, too - even if it's giving yourself a break!

r.jean and aspencer, thanks for the encouraging words. I admit It has been difficult to do what I need to do in order to take care of myself. There really aren't enough hours in the day. The last day or so I've been trying to do a better job of it but it challenging. Right now, for example, it is 4:45 am and I'm awake typing this post. definitely not high on my list of "ten best ways to care for myself".

So, here is what IS on the list: (not in any particular order)
1) sleep when necessary. I hate being tired.
2) exercise daily . . . Even if only for 15 minutes.
3) create a daily "after school chore list" for the kids so that more of the household burden is delegated to others.
4) spend more time with the kiddos both as a group and individually.
5) eat/drink what makes me feel good and, conversely,
6) don't eat/drink what makes me feel bad.
7) stretch
sort and organize random boxes of reputedly priceless, sentimental "stuff" . . . Where in the world did all that stuff come from? And, how did it get into my house?
9) learn something new. (I'm thinking about Dutch but I'm also going to check out "the big history project")
10) act like a newly-wed.

Thanks for reading. I hope you all are successful in achieving your goal today.

I'm on my s days already.

Sorry you've had such a tough week, and well done on the small wins.

Your list is great. Ask for help when you need it; your number (3) idea is a good start. Anyway, I hope you get some sleep.

PS Definitely learn Dutch (my Dad is Dutch)!

I like your list ginger pie! I've been catching up on your thread and it sounds like you have a lot on your plate at the moment (not literally ). I admire that you're still able to keep your sense of humor--you definitely made me laugh a few times!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Linda

s day I chose the color "cyan" today because I don't know what it is.

Thanks Ironchef and Linda for checking in. I do appreciate it. My mom is back at her assisted living facility but she will have to have blood work every 2 weeks to monitor her blood levels. I'm so glad I was able to find a nice place for her,there is no way I'd be able to manage her daily needs as well as my family's.

Had a great day with the family yesterday. A trip to Pittsburgh's strip district (for those who know it) to look for a homecoming dress. Everybody was very relaxed and even my husband didn't look at his phone a single time!! A good time was had by all.

Keep your goals where you can see them today and remember to enjoy the process. . . Whatever it may be.

I'm pretty confident so I'm posting an early success

It was really a beautiful day in these parts. I hate to see the day end. But alas. . . "All good things must come to an end".

I love your inspiring quotes. Also, glad you found a good place for your mum. I think it's great how you are handling everything.

Ummm, something must be wrong. Two successes in one week. I'm not running a fever . . . What could be the explanation? Perhaps i'v been abducted by aliens and I just don't know it.

Another beautiful day. I love this time of year.

Lol enjoy the ride!

gingerpie wrote:It was really a beautiful day in these parts. I hate to see the day end. But alas. . . "All good things must come to an end".

"Nothing gold can stay"

We're having an absolutely gorgeous Spring week here too!

Good going gingerpie!

I think I'm going to make it a success 3 days in a row. They were pretty easy days but I have no clear idea why. What a mystery this whole process is. I guess I'll just enjoy it for now.

Yay! Well done and ride that wave

Great job! The easy days are the best. It is so weird that some days are easier than others, but I'll take them whenever I can get it. Keep up the great work!

Hiya Ginger,

I'm impressed that you keep posting after a failed N day. I'm the type that disappears from the forum when things go bad, and then I rationalize it away by saying that actually [insert trendy diet here] is the way to go so there's no point checking in anyways! So good job, I think you're doing great!

Hi Jibaholic,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me. I love knowing a bit more about you.

I find that posting both success and failure is what provides the accountability that I need to prevent rationalizing away my own behavior. Sometimes, what makes sense in my head at 10:00 at night doesn't sound as sensible when written down in black and white for the word to see.

I hope you are finding what you need here and that you feel safe sharing with us whatever and whenever helps you in your journey through life.

As for me.

fail again. Clear stress eating in response to a fight with my daughter. I never fight with my kids so it was very upsetting for both of us.