Gwen's sporadic check-in

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Thu Aug 28, 2014 1:36 pm

Hi, everyone! I've done NoS at times over the past... gosh, many years, not so much for substantial weight loss as because it makes me feel sane and not obsess over food. I also find that I eat a wider variety of foods when NoSing rather than relying on the same rotation of snacks and small, unsatisfying meals.

My current challenges (not problems, just challenges) are that I'm gluten intolerant and that I'm breastfeeding my 6-month-old daughter. The gluten intolerance really just means I have to plan better. I'm used to grabbing lunch out at work, usually something moderately healthy but not very filling like a salad, and then snacking all afternoon to deal with the resulting hunger. NoS means I have to make sure I bring gluten-free starchy foods from home so I can make sure my lunch is filling enough. And breastfeeding just means I need to make sure my meals are all quite satisfying, because feeding my daughter during the night makes me so hungry that I can't get back to sleep unless I've done really well eating during the day. So, just some extra planning and a lot of glasses of milk between meals (I think one day this week I had three glasses of milk!).

I started last Monday and had an all-green week followed by a very moderate weekend. I got to enjoy our traditional chocolate chip pancakes for Saturday morning breakfast, had lunch at a friend's house on Saturday complete with gluten-free brownies, and Sunday night I had toast with chocolate peanut butter for dinner. This week has been good too -- two green days followed by a NWS day yesterday because my husband and I went to an afternoon baseball game and the ballpark's food options for me are very limited. I ended up only having one snack (a granola bar) and one other thing I wouldn't eat on an N day (a large cup of lemonade). Today it's back to normal with no increased cravings or anything like that.

I've found that I get through the day better when I delay breakfast a little. I used to eat breakfast at 6:15, before feeding my daughter and going to work, but then I was hungry again by 9 or 9:30. Today I had a glass of milk at home and then ate breakfast at work at 8:45 or so. Breakfast today is plain, full-fat yogurt with a handful of blueberries and a packet of McCann's instant maple and brown sugar oatmeal stirred in (not cooked). A few almonds on the side. Lunch will be black beans, rice, salsa, and a banana, unless I find something more interesting at the farmer's market near my office. Dinner will be whatever sounds good to me by the time I get around to cooking (after the baby is in bed), likely pork chops, lima beans, and boiled potatoes with butter.

Imogen Morley · Post by **Imogen Morley** » Thu Aug 28, 2014 6:10 pm

Boiled potatoes with butter - the simplest comfort food I know, but so satisfying. Good luck with NoS!

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Sat Aug 30, 2014 1:12 pm

Another good week in the books. I'm still feeling hungry between meals most days, even though I make a real effort to make sure I'm eating filling foods and putting enough on my plate. I often feel hungry an hour or two after eating, but interestingly enough, the feeling fades after another half hour or hour, and once I get through that tough period I don't have trouble waiting for the next mealtime.

On Thursday afternoon my colleague stopped by my office with a question and brought some high quality dark chocolate to share with me. I just said, "Oh, no chocolate for me right now, thanks," and the moment passed. It was no big deal!

Now that it's Saturday, I'm looking forward to our weekly chocolate chip pancake breakfast.

Feeling good, enjoying my food, not obsessing.

osoniye · Post by **osoniye** » Sat Aug 30, 2014 4:17 pm

Good for you, gwenkkelly. Glad you were able to make it past the co-worker tempting you with chocolate, and can enjoy your chocolate chip pancake breakfast. You deserve it!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 1:19 pm

Welcome back!

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 1:32 pm

Back on the N-day horse after a fairly moderate long S weekend. I could easily have made yesterday an N-day, but I decided to take an S because I only anticipate one other NWS-day this month, if that. I enjoyed a small amount of really excellent coffee ice cream and had pancakes for breakfast again. I was able to resist seconds at the dinner table at my in-laws' house, even though the mashed potatoes and gravy were so good, because I have gotten into the one-plate habit. It was very nice not to feel overly stuffed after dinner.

Right now I'm digging into what's becoming an intelligent default breakfast: whole milk yogurt with a packet of instant oatmeal stirred in, fresh berries on top, and a small handful of almonds on the side. It's really tasty, and I find I enjoy the tartness of the berries. Now that I'm getting out of the sweets habit, it's interesting how my palate is interpreting flavors. The pickled beets at dinner yesterday were truly like candy. Lunch today will be a mix of items from the olive bar at the grocery store (little mozzarella balls, marinated tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and stuffed grape leaves), with a side of hummus and whole grain crackers and a banana. I think we might go declasse and have hot dogs and beans for dinner.

osoniye · Post by **osoniye** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 6:09 pm

gwenkkelly wrote:I was able to resist seconds at the dinner table at my in-laws' house, even though the mashed potatoes and gravy were so good, because I have gotten into the one-plate habit. It was very nice not to feel overly stuffed after dinner.

That's great. I haven't managed that on an S day yet, but I remember one Christmas while I was on a different diet system, where I got home from a gathering and felt FINE, satisfied but not overstuffed. I would really like to experience that on an S day on this system. Something to keep in mind!

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 2:21 pm

Another green day in the books. What's made it a lot easier is realizing that I get hungry an hour after I eat, pretty much every time. In the past, that led to permasnacking: each time I'd snack, I'd be hungry an hour later, so I'd just nibble all day. Even if it was just one square of chocolate or a handful of nuts, those add up when you eat them all day long. Now, I can just say, "Oh, it's been an hour since my meal... that means this feeling will pass in 20 minutes or so," and let it go.

It's my day off today and my 6-month-old daughter is at day care, so I got to make myself a fancy-ish breakfast: a mushroom and cheese omelet, with sliced strawberries and gluten-free toast on the side (one slice with just butter, one with a little bitter marmalade). And decaf coffee with half-and-half.

Honestly, I am seeing results from eating this way in my happiness and enjoyment of food. I love that I'm not obsessing, but I am planning ahead a little bit so I make sure to get a filling and satisfying meal. I'm enjoying putting together a variety of flavors for each plate. Losing weight will be a plusâ€”and I imagine it will have to happen, because I am eating so much less sugar than I was before, and my S-days are no more nuts than normal days were beforeâ€”but the real payoff is in my mind.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 8:40 am

What a lovely post!

I recommend making a list with all of your insights. This is so valuable. I know the kind of "hunger" you describe. Enjoy your day off!

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 5:45 pm

Success yesterday. A bit of funny stuff today, although I don't think it's a fail. I went to a restaurant for lunch with some colleagues and ordered a cup of chili and a house salad (totally legit via virtual plating). The house salad that was served didn't resemble the description on the menu, though, and contained no protein or starch, both of which I know I need to make it to the next meal. So when my friend offered me some of her fries, I took a few and put them on my salad plate. Could be construed as seconds, but I think it's more like getting what I ordered in the first place (especially since I didn't come close to finishing my salad).

My current "problem" is that there is more delicious fruit at my house than I can work into N-day meals! We have watermelon, ripe peaches, blackberries, strawberries, and our usual bananas. I have fruit with breakfast every day and have been working it into lunches and dinners sometimes, but if I ate as much of it as I wanted to there wouldn't be room on my plate for the filling stuff. I'm thinking of making some (not very sweet) banana nut muffins this weekend and freezing them to eat as part of my breakfasts. I think this would be kosher, as they're the "bread" kind of muffin rather than the "cake" kind of muffin.

Just wanted to report the small bit of funny stuff.

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:52 pm

Made it through 21 days! I'm seeing some changes, all positive.

1. Work pants are slightly looser. I mean slightly. My belly is a little bit flatter. I'm only about six months postpartum, so I don't really expect my abdomen to return to my pre-pregnancy size for another six months or so, if at all. But it is nice to see a change.

2. I'm feeling less hungry and more able to cope with hunger between meals. Since I'm not generally prone to cheating, the main effect of this is that I spend less of my day thinking about food. It's opening up some brain space for me, which is great.

3. I find that I'm mostly sticking to a 3-meal structure even on S days, although I'm not making an effort to do so. Yesterday I had scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, ate a very late lunch (3:30ish) at a family event, and had an ice cream sundae for dinner around 8:30. I did have a small plate of seconds at lunch, purely for pleasure. But I'm surprised at the relatively moderate way I find myself eating when the rules are gone.

4. I'm eating more interesting food. This is because knowing I only have 3 opportunities to eat each day keeps me from saying, "I'll just grab a quick granola bar/cheese quesadilla/handful of chips/piece of chocolate/bowl of cereal and have something else later." Usually that "something else" ended up being something else boring, so I never got around to the interesting stuff.

5. A lot of the sugary snacks I used to fill my day with are sitting on the shelf, not getting eaten even on S-days. I don't want a lot of sweets on S-days; I want good sweets on S-days. So the not-so-good stuff just doesn't get eaten. I don't see myself buying any more gluten-free toaster pastries, for example.

I think I'll cross-post this in the 21-day club, since it ended up coming out kind of philosophical. Anyway, I'm three weeks in and doing well, with no inclination to stop no-Sing.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 3:22 pm

Well done!!!

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Tue Sep 09, 2014 12:56 am

Just for the fun of it, I'm going to try to record what I ate for a few days.

Breakfast: Greek yogurt (too much, actually, as I couldn't quite finish it) with a teaspoon of honey and fresh blackberries, handful of raw almonds on the side
Lunch: Qdoba "naked burrito" (without tortilla) with brown rice, pinto beans, chicken, "queso diablo," pico de gallo, corn salsa, sour cream, and lettuce, a few gluten-free crackers on the side
Dinner: Gluten-free chicken nuggets, broccoli and potato patties, watermelon
Drinks: 1 cup decaf coffee with half-and-half, 1 cup herbal tea, 20-ounce cup with 80% lemon-lime seltzer and 20% fruit punch, 1 glass wine (note: need more fluids today!)

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 12:56 am

Today's food:

Breakfast: Fage individual cup of 2% Greek yogurt with strawberry preserves; scrambled egg, sausage, and hash brown from McDonalds
Lunch: Indian buffet (one takeout container, which I didn't finish)â€”tiny portions of chicken tikka masala, some other chicken dish with an onion gravy, baingan bharta, vegetable jalfrezi, chana saag, and pakora with a tiny bit of tamarind chutney
Dinner: Gluten-free macaroni and cheese with broccoli; a few slices of hard salami; blackberries
Beverages: Decaf coffee with half-and-half; herbal tea; water; milk with a tiny bit of chocolate syrup; seltzer mixed half-and-half with homemade lemonade

aspencer27 · Post by **aspencer27** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 1:29 pm

I love Indian buffet! Nice job on your portion sizing with it.

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 1:37 am

Today's food:

Breakfast: Grilled cheese on gluten-free bread, cinnamon applesauce
Lunch: Salad from the grocery store salad bar: lettuce, pickled beets, peas, grilled chicken, bacon bits, hard-boiled egg, French dressing; small bit of "taco salad" (mostly overly salty taco meat); fruit salad of grapes, strawberries, and pineapple
Dinner: Chicken, peppers, onions, broccoli, and pineapple with "Asian Spicy Orange" sauce out of a bottle over rice; side of grapes
Drinks: Water, few ounces pineapple juice out of the can, gluten-free beer (desperately need to drink more water)

My appetite must be decreasing, because I'm sitting here staring at half of my dinner with little enthusiasm. This is a time when the "no seconds" rule is kinda hard, because I always want to make sure to serve myself plenty so that I won't run out of food while I'm still hungry. But if my appetite is smaller than expected, I have to save the food for later, which is not optimal with some foods once they've been plated (e.g., with this meal, the meat/veggies and sauce are spooned over the rice already, whereas I would have preferred to store them separately). I guess I'll have to adjust over time.

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 6:58 pm

Yesterday's food:

Breakfast: Two packets of McCann's instant maple and brown sugar oatmeal
Lunch: One large piece of kielbasa with sauerkraut and brown mustard; small handful of gluten-free multigrain crackers with sharp cheddar (wanted a banana, but was virtual plating and was iffy about whether it really would have fit on the plate; by the time I got through the rest of my food I wasn't hungry for the banana anyway)
Dinner: Three slices homemade gluten-free pizza (wanted a fourth, but I couldn't fit it on the plate without stacking, and three ended up being enough)
Drinks: Honest Tea lightly sweetened iced tea with lemon, water, herbal tea, hard cider

I think I'll try to keep recording meals here through this week, including S-days if I can remember what I eat those days. N-days are easy to remember because there are no snacks and no seconds, so I just have to visualize the three plates of food that I ate!

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 1:50 am

Yesterday's food:

Breakfast: Two pieces of leftover homemade gluten-free pizza; banana
Lunch: Two homemade banana nut muffins (not too sweet) with butter; sharp cheddar cheese; few slices hard salami
Dinner: Burger with provolone, sauteed onions, ketchup, and mayo on gluten-free toast; grapes; potato chips (didn't finish grapes or chips)
Drinks: Glass of half unsweetened berry iced tea and half lemonade; half glass of plain lemonade; water; beer

Today's food (S-Day):

Breakfast: Gluten-free chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup
Lunch: Last of the homemade gluten-free pizza (three pieces)
Snacks: Small apple; one round Babybel cheese; small handful mixed nuts; two small gluten-free chocolate chip cookies
Dinner: Gluten-free chicken nuggets; potato and broccoli patties; ice cream sundae made with a banana, strawberry ice cream, and chocolate syrup
Drinks: Decaf coffee with half-and-half; water; half can Hansen's mandarin lime soda mixed with plain seltzer and lemon juice

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:09 pm

Yesterday's food (S-Day):

Breakfast: Apple cinnamon gluten-free toaster pastry, eaten almost at noon (for some reason I was not hungry in the morning!)
Lunch: Broccoli cheddar pasta
Dinner: Breaded pork chops, rice with butter, salad with balsamic vinaigrette, chunky applesauce, homemade gluten-free peach apple pie
Snack: Second slice of pie with small scoop of strawberry ice cream
Drinks: Decaf coffee (black), water, big glass chocolate milk, half can strawberry pop, one glass white wine

Today my schedule has been completely insane. I thought about committing some funny stuff (eating my banana before going and picking up lunch, because I didn't think I could wait the extra half hour until I could get away) but the inclination passed as soon as I gave myself permission to do it.

I'm not going to keep reporting my food here daily, although it was fun to do for a week (and kinda scary to see that I have at least one day when I ate no vegetables!). I'll just check in re success or failure.

aspencer27 · Post by **aspencer27** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:35 pm

That's great that the urge went away when you gave yourself permission. I think you're doing great with NoS! I struggle with moderate eating usually on one S Day. I'm trying to be more mindful when I eat, which helps. Do you have any other recommendations?

Good luck!

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:58 pm

You mean tips for moderate S-days? Gosh, not really. The only thing I can think of is to keep thinking "every bite needs to count," the same way you do on N-days, but focusing on pleasure rather than nutritious, balanced, filling meals. So on an S-day, I probably still won't eat any pretzels, because I don't really care about pretzels and I need that stomach space to eat frozen custard, which I do love. If you think of your stomach space as a limited resource, it might help you think more about what you want to put in there on S-days.

To put it another way: you already have this N-day habit of saying no to foods when it's not mealtime. So put that ability to work on S-days too, to say no to foods when you don't really want them. And if you do want them, go to town! Just be mindful of how full your stomach is. Nobody wants to be uncomfortable, least of all on an S-day.

Licota · Post by **Licota** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 7:59 am

Hi Gwen, you are doing a great job. I enjoy Reading your "blog" here. Big hugs, Kari

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 11:21 am

I love your S day philosophy!

aspencer27 · Post by **aspencer27** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 12:46 pm

That is definitely a great way to think about S Days! I'm going to have to come back here on Friday to remind myself what to think about for the weekend. Thanks!

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 1:39 pm

Things are still going well here. No red days, although I have had some sweet beverages (orange juice and one glass of watered-down sweet tea). I don't consider that cheating, but I do try not to be excessive.

I have some results to report! I don't weigh myself, but I do measure from time to time. I've seen some big changes since starting No S.

Change in Measurements from 7/31/14 to 9/17/14

Bust: 43.75" - 42" = -1.75"
Waist: 37" - 34" = -3"
Low waist (at "belly pooch" level): 44.5" - 42" = -2.5"
Wrist: 6.75" - 6" = -0.75"

I am now 7 months postpartum and am breastfeeding, so some of that may be natural fat loss, but I'm sure No S has played a big role as well. Certainly some motivation to keep on keepin' on!

aspencer27 · Post by **aspencer27** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 1:48 pm

Those are amazing results! Keep up the great work!

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:56 pm

Congrats on getting to 21 days awhile back. And congrats on losing THREE inches on your waist! That measurement is the real health marker. The other reductions are nice for vanity's sake, but the waist is where longevity is made or broken. Yay for you!

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 9:12 pm

Thanks! Yes, the waist measurement has me super happy. That and the belly are what's been keeping most of my pre-pregnancy pants from fitting, so from both a health and a financial perspective, it's a big win.

I'm still on track. Camping was a fun break from No S. I took a NWS-day on Friday so I could have s'mores around the campfire and kind of abused it with TWO candy bars during the day in addition to the s'mores in the evening, but on the other hand, my meals all weekend were very moderate with reasonable treats. I noticed I was extra hungry yesterday morning, which is not surprising given the weekend's excesses. On the other hand, this morning I didn't get around to eating until 11:30, and after portioning out my two small muffins and pieces of cheese, I completely forgot to eat one of the muffins. So I think my appetite has adjusted again.

Anyway, not much to report, just still trucking along.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 11:41 pm

When I first started, on S days I could easily eat more sweet before noon than it sounds like you did with your chocolate AND s'mores. You are doing great!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:42 am

Well done on the inch-loss! And your camping trip sounds amazing!

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 3:35 pm

Still NoSing my heart out. Enjoyed a weekend visit from my mom and brother, and I made a key lime pie using a gluten-free graham cracker pie crust that I found at Fresh Market. The pie came out delicious, but very very sweetâ€”I had to drink two big glasses of water afterwards. And my mom and brother took my daughter for a walk yesterday while my husband and I went out for frozen yogurt. It was wonderful to get some time alone out of the house with him, even just an hour.

Also this weekend I discovered that I can make killer gluten-free chicken parmesan! I'm delighted because that's my husband's favorite food, and I used to make him a very good version with wheat bread crumbs, but now I only make it gluten-free because it's no fun if I can't eat any. I dredged my chicken breast filets in seasoned gluten-free flour, then in beaten egg, then in a mixture of 3/4 gluten-free breadcrumbs and 1/4 Parmesan cheese. Fried up the chicken in a cast iron skillet in canola oil, then transferred it to a foil-lined baking pan, topped with provolone, and put it in the oven at 400F for a few minutes to melt the cheese. When the cheese was bubbly, I pulled the chicken out of the oven and spooned sauce over the top to serve. It was so savory and delicious, and very crispy. I think this will be a frequent feature of our dinners in the months to come.

What does this have to do with NoS? I guess the fact that, though my mom offered to take us all out to eat, I have gotten so much more into the habit of cooking from scratch that I decided to make us a nice Sunday lunch at home instead. Thanks, NoS!

gwenkkelly · Post by **gwenkkelly** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 3:54 pm

Still chugging. No funny stuff. Indulged this weekend with some lemonade (Target brand! So good!) and gluten-free double chocolate cookies. Very moderate weekend overall, though. I think about half of what I enjoy about S-days is the break from planning my meals.

I've noticed that my stomach is looking flatter. Gosh, that's nice. And I love knowing that I'm not on a diet, where the fat will come back when I stop.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 8:14 am

Well done! And hopefully you'll keep NoSing forever