Everyday Systems

Happy New Year everyone!

I'm back with a new-found commitment to NoS and the resolution to eat more vegetables, which so far has worked well. I started on Sunday so it would have been hard to mess it up already haha.

My fiancé is on board which makes this so much easier. He is cooking our dinners this week (we take turns) and has managed to include lots and lots of vegetables in it. It is very easy for me at the moment because all I have to do is eat it but I'm dreading next week when I have to come up with recipes.

Any foodblogs/ recipe sites you can recommend?

Thanks

eschano,

I don't have any favorite resource but my method is to do an online search for a recipe listing the ingredient(s) I want to learn how to use. I generally include "vegetarian" or sometime "vegan" in the search words to try to avoid the really heavy cheese/cream based recipes. (You can always add meat of some sort if you want to.) You also might want to include "easy" in the search to try to avoid the recipes that take two hours to prepare and require a degree in culinary arts Once, I try a recipe, my family rates it a keeper . . . or not. At which point, I either print it to keep with my stash of go-to ideas or move on to the next search.

So, for example: I happen to have a huge bag of frozen brussel sprouts in my freezer. Never liked brussel sprouts but I'm unwilling to just toss a bag of perfectly good vegetable that someone in my family might like so I'll search: Frozen brussel sprouts recipes vegetarian main dish. I guarantee some yummy looking recipe will show up.

*warning* if you are unfamiliar with cooking, the vegan sites can be a bit intimidating in terms of ingredients, terminology and even attitude.

Good luck. I love vegetables.

Thanks gingerpie! I'll try that

I love your commitment to eating more vegetables! I know when I eat a lot of vegetables and some fruit each day, I feel so much better. That's nice your fiancé is cooking for you this week!
Here are some food blogs I follow: hungryhealthyhappy.com, deliciouslyorganic.net, Against All Grain, and 100 Days of Real Food.

Heather

Happy New Year eschano! I like your resolution on using more veggies.

You've been given some good recipe links, but I wanted to mention shopping and prep. I've found I get lots of veggies and fruits home with good intentions, then don't use them up. It makes it easier if you wash, prepare, even chop, as soon as you get them home from grocery shopping. Then, when you are hungry, it's the easiest thing to grab

Cream and cheese is what gives us life, and bacon.

Hi Eschano. Happy New Year!! Good luck with the veggie quest. When it's cold winter I mainly take my veggies in a soup or stew. I need to eat more of them though. Thanks for reminding me

Thank you for the links and tips Heather, ironchef and tessy!

Lol Over43! It's not like I'm cutting them out

All going well.

Hi eschano, you know how much I love vegetables - don't really have too many exotic recipes however as I either eat them fresh in a salad or something or steam them. I am going to try more roasted veggies this year, I saw a whole head of cauliflower, brushed with olive oil and baked until golden brown. It looked yummy. Also roasted peppers, garlic, onions, squash, broccoli, potatoes of course. Think I will get them a try.

I buy a lot of the Steamable veggie mixes to eat at work. Fun way to try a lot of different veggies all mixed together, and usually without sauces or anything so very low cal and healthy. I just sprinkle balsamic or red wine vinegar on mine if I need something extra.

And let me add to the chorus,

Everything is better with cheese! Have you ever just throw a handful of shredded cheese into a nonstick skillet and crisped it up on both sides - and then eaten the big old greasy thing?

Well, yes I have Many times.

Looking forward to posting with you this year, enjoy you so much.

I ended up roasting the brussel sprouts. I made a balsamic vinegar syrup by reducing 1 cup of balsamic vinegar + 3 tablespoons of brown sugar by about 1/2 and drizzled it over the sprouts after they were roasted. We all gobbled up the sprouts in a minute. I'll definitely make them again. This week I'm going to try the vinegar syrup with asparagus.

Thank you Berry, and haha, no I haven't tried just frying cheese. Sounds delicious though!

Gingerpie, I'm going to copy the dish asap! Yummy.

For this week's menu I have taken a leaf out of the Paleo people's cookbook but will modify it as I think this is way too extreme for me:
1. I like the idea of zucchini spaghetti so I will mix them in with actual spaghetti (I doubt I nor my fiancé would be satisfied otherwise) and serve them with prawns in a white wine cheesy sauce tomorrow.
2. For Wednesday, I will make egg fried rice with "cauliflower rice" mixed in and other vegetables.

I guess both is a way to sneak in vegetables but I like the idea to mix them in with the normal things rather than replace them. I'm not trying to shift weight. I want to be healthier and trimmer this year. And yes, having my wedding coming up is motivating but I know that this motivation can majorly backfire and suddenly I'm stuffing myself with chocolate so I'm sticking with vanilla NoS with the resolution to eat more vegetables and to do a reasonable amount of sports.

I did Flamenco and Yoga this weekend and a major decluttering/cleaning session in our bedroom so I'm doing very well. However, it's early in the game where motivation is high.

Hi Eschano, I wasn't sure about Brussels Srouts, though I love cabbage, so finally tried this recipe for the first time recently. This turned out pretty good.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunn ... ecipe.html

Like you, I want to eat more veggies, so I am going to enjoy seeing what everyone shares with you.

Enjoy your day!

Thank you LookingforSanity!

It's going well with sneaking vegetables into my meals.

I made Zucchini Spaghetti mixed with real spaghetti and a prawn tomato sauce, a variation of http://www.topwithcinnamon.com/2013/06/ ... pesto.html

Ate vegetable soups for lunch (with bread)

and made cauliflower fried rice mixed in with real rice, prawns, lots of stir fry veg, a variation of http://www.skinnytaste.com/2014/03/caul ... -rice.html

I found my Zucchini spaghetti turned out like a mash but tasted well but the cauliflower fried rice tasted amazing.

Tonight we're going on a date night so I'll eat at my favourite Italian restaurant.

All in all it's going well. I went off the pill due to health concerns and my skin is going mental but I hope with healthier food and given some time for everything to normalise I'll be fine. And hopefully in time for the wedding.

I find there is a lot of pressure by the wedding industry to spend tons and tons of money on treatments and sometimes it gets to me and I wonder if I'm missing out by not doing it. Either way, it's not really in the budget so fingers crossed.

Yum, your food sounds delish. The trick with the zucchini pasta is to only cook it very, very briefly.

eschano wrote:I find there is a lot of pressure by the wedding industry to spend tons and tons of money on treatments and sometimes it gets to me and I wonder if I'm missing out by not doing it. Either way, it's not really in the budget so fingers crossed.

You're missing nothing at all. I had zero special treatments, lotions, tans, etc and our wedding was one of the best experiences ever. Unless that stuff is your thing, I really wouldn't worry.

Other stuff we didn't have and never missed: special diets, hired cars, a theme, wedding "colours", bomboniere ("wedding favours"), bouquet toss, garter anything, cake cutting / feeding. Any time the wedding-industrial-complex / Internet strangers / your great Aunt starts making you feel you "must" have x, y, z to have a good wedding or a happy marriage, turn off the Internet, look at your beloved and laugh.

Hey Eschano! Just popping by and had to say congrats if I haven't yet!!! I am absolutely with you in regard to eating more veggies. Also, I 100% am in accord with what ironchef said about weddings - yes, yes and yes!!! My wedding day was the best day of my life and I did not follow all the "rules" at all. We did what was meaningful to US and let me tell you, it was so worth it. Enjoy this amazing time. You will look back on it so fondly.

Just stopping by to say hi! I love your challenge of incorporating more veggies into your diet! It sounds like you're taking a very reasonable approach towards getting ready for your wedding.

Ironchef and Sinnie - that was exactly what I had to hear!!! I'm much happier again now.

Heather, yes, it is a very moderate approach indeed but I think that's what NoS does to me Plus, I've seen a few crash-dieting brides and they look way too skinny for my liking and not healthy at all. I want to look radiant and I think a moderate diet will do that to me. (well, fingers crossed).


NoS
I went down in weight again a bit and I am putting it down to walking to and from work again every day (about 1 hour 15 min of walking everyday). My strive for more vegetables will certainly make a difference in the long run as well but currently I am eating these on top of the other things

Went on a date with my fiancé yesterday to one of my favourite Italian Restaurants and for the first time in, well, I think ever, I fancied a warm salad way more than a pizza or pasta and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had tender stem broccoli (one of my favourites), squash, beetroot, salad, pomegranates, and duck in it. It was delicious. I notice that my eating more vegetables is making me crave vegetables. The veggie-free pizzas and pasta didn't appeal to me. Interesting. I wonder if that lasts. I don't like cold vegetables and much prefer cooked ones (if well cooked and still crispy) but it seems easy enough to make a variety of those.

if you like warm salads, two I can recommend:

a neighborhood Mexican restaurant had a fantastic fajita salad, with sauteed green, red, and yellow peppers and onions served warm over mixed greens, topped with salsa (which is very easy to make), sour cream, and a sprinkle of cheddar. you could also add sauteed chicken.

and I just had one that had roasted brussels sprouts, warm from the oven, with blood oranges, red onion, pecans, and blue cheese over baby spinach with a red wine vinaigrette that was fantastic.

Eschano, I find it to be true for me -- the more veggies I eat, the more I crave them. I can really feel it, on days when I don't eat a lot of veggies. Your salad sounds delicious, and so do the salads that Mitchell shared!

Delicious Mitchell, thanks for sharing!

Heather, it's funny, this weekend I struggled a bit to get my veggies in and I craved them a lot.

Weekends turn out to be harder for me as my days are very spontaneous and unstructured but that's a good thing to notice. I had eggs with tons of spinach in a nut bread on Sat then pasta with tomato sauce (yeah, that does not count!), the next day pizza (again not great) but I finished it off with a delicious vegetable jalafrezi curry my fiancé made. He really missed his meat while I wanted to gobble it down. I might go vegetarian before dinner during the week.

Moving wise it was a great weekend. I did Flamenco, spinning, and yoga over the three days. I have very little time during the week (up at 6am already and back home at 19.30, usually very hungry and tired) so I will try to do one thing a day on the weekends. I have to admit, looking healthy and strong in my wedding dress is a massive motivator. Still, nothing drastic or crazy. It's all very moderate.

Good, sensible plan eschano! And besides, you might set up good habits for fun exercise that carry over AFTER the wedding has been and gone

A sad case from the other side: I went to a hen's party on the weekend, and the bride (a pretty and healthy woman) is on a 2 month "cleanse". Someone gave her a few drinks, and she hadn't eaten anything all day except a smoothie. She threw up, then had to go to bed. The rest of us stayed for a while, but when it was clear the bride-to-be wouldn't be rejoining us, we went home and left her in the care of her mother. I'm really hoping she's feeling better for the wedding next weekend!

With food, I think a lot of it for me is routine and familiarity. If I get used to something (like my porridge in the morning with berries and PB), I feel "weird" without it - like yesterday when we were out of fruit. So, if you can stick with your veggie experiment, eventually it will be habit, and you'll feel strange without it.

great job on all the weekend movement. I find the same problem with vegetables. I, and the DH especially, really like vegetables, but I still struggle with getting as many servings in as I would like. I think it's that vegetables (though worth it), require so much more work than say cheese. I admire your making eating more a priority.

Ah, ironchef, a good reminder that habits stick! The hope is definitely that I carry on after the wedding. In the meantime, it's a great motivator. Well, that and having little money to spend as we're saving as much as possible for the wedding.
The poor bride! Alas, it's not the only story I heard along those lines. My friend also ate "clean" before her wedding. She looked like a famine victim after a while (she started off very thin to begin with). Not a great bridal look I have to say.

Mitchell, I agree, it's so much more work. I hope that becomes a habit too. I think it was ironchef who recommended preparing the veg as soon as I buy it so it becomes a faster food subsequently. I'm working on it.1

Hello eschano. Good to see your 2015 check in thread.
A site I find very good is bbc good food. I find the recipes reliable and it's easy to search different ingredients, serving sizes, etc etc.
Here are their vegetable recipes :

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/category/vegetables

Thank you Skeleton!

I had an event yesterday and planned a special S day but it ended up green instead. I chose to eat more veggies for lunch as usual and didn't feel a craving later in the day.

Yeah, so that's something I never noticed before: for me more veggies = less cravings

Interesting and a great lesson for the future!

Thank you so much for your encouragement. Seeing you here maintaining for so long is super impressive! Is your wedding soon? So happy for you! I will definitely see you around. I WILL be happily maintaining with you here some day......

Thanks for posting all your veggie ideas!! Something we can never really have too much of!

I often make a big salad with whatever I have in the house - this week it was lettuce, tomato, cucumber, celery (including the leafy tops), peppers, apple, mango, feta and smoked chicken for dinner. I add some pasta for my hubby, hungry teenager & tween.

I agree with all that has been said about weddings and avoiding the commercialism. We had some of the traditional elements because that was what we wanted but left some out and added our own touch and twist. We did not spend a quarter of what our friends were spending and we had the most wonderful time. People still comment that it was one of the most wonderful family weddings they have ever attended! Do what makes you happy!!!

((((((((((Hugs))))))))))

Thank you Merrikat and tobiasmom!

I'm sure you will be maintaining soon too tobiasmom! I think it helps for me that I have very reasonable goals - I'm on the heavier side of the healthy BMI so there's no fighting. I do have very hard days too though and I do go up and down about 5 pounds seasonally (with phases of red).

The wedding is on 1st May so fairly soon Can't wait. Just decided to forgo the wedding cake for $350 and go with a brownie mountain instead for $200. Delighted about that save and ultimately more delicious. We're not serving dessert so it's good to get something sweet and satisfying.
Auto has changed the way I look at spending money so thanks for that! And it sticks during the wedding planning too!

On a NoS note - I realised that if I'm good today I made the 21 Day club as tomorrow and Sunday are day 20 and 21. I'm making it for the 2nd time ever and purely by accident. Anytime I have aimed to get there I failed in the last week and not lightly. Today is looking very good although since I noticed I have a classic self-sabotage craving.

Also, I'm not sure I did amazingly well on getting more veggies into me this week. there were some but my boyfriend made dinners this week and the paella and tacos were no heavier with veggies than usual. Next week it's up to me and I'll make sure we'll get the veg we need.

Hi eschano,
I'm so happy to to read that you're happy I think you are doing great And I think brownies sound way better than cake. You made a good call there.

I love veggies and live with two vegetarians and it is still hard to get all my veggies every week but I'm sure persistance will pay off for you. Good luck on your goal! !

This coming week I'm going to come up with: 2 vegetarian crockpot meals; 2 vegetarian 30 minute or less meals; and 2 vegetarian "something the kids can make for themselves" meals. My hope by planning ahead, I'll reduce stress and improve the quality of the meals.

Have a great day

Wow! Your wedding date is very close! Good job on being close to making the 21 day club!

21 days coming right up. Hooray!!! Well done you. You are a true inspiration and that is a gift to us all. Brownie mountain - Oh my goodness can there be such a thing YUM!!!!! Do you have a tasting session first too

Thanks Tessy! Lovely to see you online too

It's all going very well. I managed to incorporate more veggies again and I am motivated to get healthier this year.

It's funny how paying attention to everything at first is very hard as I noticed my skin problems more, and my body problems but then I got proactive about things and I can already see a positive difference.

Yesterday was weird. I had a massive headache, felt slightly sick, and yet had this intense craving for chocolate. Not any chocolate but the really unhealthy double caramel, triple chocolate kind. My saving grace was that I had none at home and instead I ate a handful of delicious blue grapes with dinner. Now, make no mistake, it didn't fulfil my craving but it did help enough not to make it a red day.

*don't read on if you don't want to read about female mysteries*
So the mystery was solved today: I'm on my period. Now this is massively surprising for me. I had to stop my pill end of December for health reasons (mainly for blood clotting reasons and I decided not to try out other pills so close to my wedding as this could wreck havoc with my system) and everyone I know who did this had months of no period. Not me. A month later I'm straight back at it. So welcome back crazy cravings, breakouts, and PMS. I feel very blessed for all of it as it might help when we do want a baby but it caught me unaware. I will have to find good strategies for these days again.

Aww you poor love. Hope you feel better soon - which given the reason I'm happy to think you will
A good reason for not keeping chocolate at home methinks

arrgh. Hope you are feeling better! You are a huge encouragement to me! Wanted you to know that. You Rock!

a barren cupboard has saved me on many occasions. i rarely want something bad enough to get up, put on outside clothes, and walk to the store to get it!

Well done you for holding out! At least good to have an explanation, although no fun if you'll have to do this every month.

Thanks so much all of you - you rock!

I had a NWS day yesterday as I was unwell and had some disordered eating. Also nerves, as I went to the hospital for something but back on track today!

Tomorrow I'm going to the flower market. I'm so excited. I'm staying at a friend's house tomorrow so I won't have to get up earlier than 5.30am and can't wait. I've heard it's one of London's great secret attractions. It's a wholesale market - basically a massive warehouse with flower stalls as far as one can see. Can't wait!

I hope you're feeling better. Also, the flower market sounds like so much fun! Was it for your wedding?

I'd have a hard time going to the flower market without pretending to be Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle. I would be walking around singing "Wouldn't It Be Loverly"

Lol Mitchell!

Yes, Heather I went for my wedding and it was fabulous! Found so many amazing things for a fraction of the cost elsewhere. And the flowers worked out lovely.

Also, I made it through last week so feeling well again!

I had a heavy eating weekend but am happy to at least say that I made it through an intense spinning class and some yoga and weights. At least that's something!

Flower market sounds amazing!! I didn't know you lived in England? We were stationed in England for three years with the Air Force back in the 90's. So, when is the wedding? I have missed the date (if you shared it?) Have a good day!

Spinning has got to be one of the most sweat-inducing workouts! I did it once and was drenched (and I don't really sweat much)!! Good job!

I'm glad you found some flowers for your wedding! Good job on making it through the tough workouts!

I enjoyed reading your post. Congratulations on maintaining your weight and on your wedding! The flower mart sounds magical. My mom loves England! I promised her I would make it there one day to see all those lovely English gardens!!

Oh, I love flower markets. We went to an incredible one in Holland when we were there - just amazing.

Glad you are feeling better.

Hi ZippaDee, yes, England. Where exactly were you based? Did you like it? I always liked it here, even as a kid on language-exchange, and now I'm happily settled here. The wedding is 1st May

I agree Tobiasmom - one of the hardest workouts I'm doing but there's something about it that I love.

Thanks Heather and Lovedby2! You should definitely visit Lovedby2 and if you are over here already you might as well take a trip to Rome/Paris too

Ironchef, funny you say that as lots of the flowers are imported from Holland. Especially the Tulips.

Yesterday was hard won again. After a month of breezing through NoS I am now in a bit of a less-motivated stage but from experience I know if I white knuckle it now I'll get to the breezy bit much faster again.

We were stationed at RAF Upper Heyford, which is no longer there. It was north of Oxford. So, you are not a British native then? Have a great day!

Edit to say we loved it there!

Oh lovely, Oxford! No, I'm Austrian originally, then I lived in Ireland, Italy, the US, Haiti, and now here. I landed in London as it was not only an exciting city, it is also extremely international, which I love. Now I live in Essex with my fiancé but still work in London, which is nice. The best of both worlds - country and metropolis.

I'm sorry to be creepy but here it goes...you are soooo cool !

If I can ever overcome my fear of flying I am soooooooo coming your way. Sounds so romantic, (probably from the movies) and relaxed. Thanks for all your posts. Their great. I hope you are No Sing with breeze.

Thank you nbh76 and Lovedby2! I understand fear of flying. Statistically speaking though - you're pretty safe.

Actually, NoS is back to being a bit easier this week. So far. It's early days as well so I don't want to jinx it but I don't feel that stuffed feeling that makes me want to eat more that I have after some weekends.

My maid of honour came to mine this weekend and we got lots of wedding things done, which is lovely. This meant no structured exercise but being on my feet a lot and running around like crazy. It was a good weekend eating wise, although I had lots of chocolate. IKEA sells this lovely chocolate and I always come back with loads.

So I'm back to NoS and look forward to exercising this weekend.

Hi, eschano,
Sounds like your wedding planning and NoS are both going great for you! That's great!

Hi Sonya, yes, thank you!

This week is much easier than last week so hopefully I'll make it through.

One non-NoS related thing I've noticed: I stopped drinking coffee in early January and today my fiancé said that he's so tired he needs a coffee. Turns out that I just looked at him thinking I'm actually wide awake compared to how I used to feel when I was on a coffee-sleepy cycle. So that's a really nice thing.

Also, I haven't drunk much alcohol these 1 1/2 months. Only on 3 occasions and never too much. I think that must be part of the new energy I have found as well. My mood has much improved too.

Just thought I'd note it here, although I'm not sure this is useful for anyone else.

Eschano, I understand what you are experiencing with no coffee. I wasn't drinking coffee for a year and a half, and it is so freeing! I was less tired and sleepy than when I was drinking it. I also noticed that I did not have any headaches during that time. I was reading about coffee and caffeine - it is an illusion that it gives us energy and keeps us awake. It just makes us dependant on it.

Somehow I started drinking coffee again, now I drink just one cup with my breakfast. I'll probably quit it again, I just want to stabilize my 'no sugar' habit first.

Hello Eschano, I too find that when I drink very little ( or not at all which I usually do once a uear for a month or so ) that within days I feel so much more energetic...I also notice my moods are better or let's just say OTHER people notice this LOL. I think it is good to put these things out there for other people who may be struggling with these same issues. I silently stalked this site for years and have gleaned some really helpful info when I've needed some inspiration. I feel this is the year I am going to really be proactive. Oh and your posts have been very helpful too btw!

i admire your success with the coffee. in the past couple of years, I've managed to drastically cut back on diet soda, but I don't think I have the moral fiber necessary to face the world without coffee. And I agree with you about the drinking. Since cutting my drinking drastically in January, I see a direct relationship between my mood and energy level in the morning and if I drank the night before. After as little as week without alcohol, even having a single drink in the evening can be felt by me the next day (and I'm not talking about a gigantic, incredibly strong cocktail.)

Hi Eschano!
When is the wedding?

And "hear-hear": no diets for brides! There is way too much going on to add that to the mix. And my goodness, no expensive treatments. Save the $$ for a honeymoon, LOL!

Just party it up that day, that's my vote.

It was a little hard to read through your thread, because you are such a healthy eater now. I definitely face my "health rebellion" still, although I like to think it's not as severe as it was a year ago. Reading your veggie stuff makes me crave a cheeseburger. Issues. I've got 'em.

Thanks for your message! All is well with me, but I just haven't been on the boards. fun to check in today, though, and see how everybody has been.

Awesome job on cutting back on coffee & booze! I love my vices too much to give up but I still admire your self-discipline!

Very interesting, about the coffee! I will be starting an elimination diet tomorrow, and I'm only allowed one cup of coffee a day. I can still have tea, but it's not the same as coffee. I hope I do find more energy, by cutting back on caffeine.

Thanks freegirl, I think nosugar is a big one to tackle. No reason to overload your willpower for now. I'm following your nosugar project closely.

Nbh76 and Mitchell, I'm glad that you have similar experiences. It means I'm not just imagining it. I think I sleep better too.

Auto!! Glad to see you again. The wedding is on 1st May. So not too much longer. As for my healthy eating: I just have the wildest weekend behind me. My tummy is still all stuck together from all the chocolate. I believe that's my rebel coming out. I do think more about eating more vegetables but interestingly more for my skin (I've become a bit vain with my skin since every make-up-counter professional is telling me what's wrong with it) rather than loosing weight. For now though, I'm just recovering from the weekend.

Thanks Linda for stopping by, your reply made me laugh out loud I never would have given them up but I kind of lost my taste for them. No doubt I'll acquire other vices.

Good luck with your elimination diet heather!

As for this week: I've been contemplating giving something up for lent but find it very difficult. I usually like doing lent but I find I have already given up a lot (coffee and alcohol) and have sweets only on S days. I think it would be too extreme for me to give up dairy or sugar.

Maybe I can do a yoga challenge instead, where I do yoga every N day. Hmmm. Sounds intense too.

I'll see.

eschano wrote:As for this week: I've been contemplating giving something up for lent but find it very difficult. I usually like doing lent but I find I have already given up a lot (coffee and alcohol) and have sweets only on S days. I think it would be too extreme for me to give up dairy or sugar.

I have a friend who is very devout, and for Lent she always takes something on, rather than giving something up. Usually something about giving to others, whether personally with friends and family or more globally with a charity. I really like this idea.

Brilliant advice ironchef! I've taken on doing yoga 5x/week. So far so good. I do yoga twice, then rest. I'm already feeling better.

Otherwise: I tried giving up sweets for lent and decided that it's not worth it. I'm doing so well on NoS and already, have limited time to eat sweets so why change something that's good?

I'm not doing too well on the vegetables this week but I'll plan better meals next week.

Hi all, doing well but the wedding stress is taking over so I'm going to post a lot less here. I'll stick to the March challenge and will monitor my own check-in from time to time but otherwise, I'm off until May.

I know you can all do this and am still with you supporting you, albeit silently!

xx

Enjoy, relax and have fun!

Totally understandable. I hope you can have some time to relax.

Heather

Good luck w everything! Looking forward to hearing an update once things calm down a bit!

Have a HAPPY WEDDING !!!

I know you will have a happy, beautiful wedding day, and I hope you enjoy the lead up as fun, anticipation and excitement, rather than pre-wedding stress. The people who love you will be there because they love you, not to judge your "event".

Thank you so much everyone! You're the best community!

It's two weeks now and I am more relaxed since the hen do (bachelorette party in the US I believe) as everyone got on so well. Now I'm just looking forward to it.

My eating is a bit more disordered than pre-wedding planning but I'm ok with that. My weight is stable +/- 1 pound. I'm really happy with my decision not to do a wedding diet.

I look forward to getting back her and back to vanilla NoS but most habits stick and even if I do eat sweets more often at the moment it is no comparison to pre-NoS whatsoever. Now a square of chocolate on N days feels like a massive thing. S days can be wild but I'm also toning my butt off ha! It is wonderful to feel the habits mostly stick and to allow myself not to think about it at all.

Hope you're all doing well!!

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

All the best to you!

Lovely to hear from you, glad you are doing so well. Yes, the habits are pretty "sticky" as I found when I had several months lapse around my sister's wedding.

Very best wishes for May 1st, hope you have a wonderful day!!

So exciting that your wedding is just around the corner. So happy for you and you've even managed to keep your weight stable. Yay for NoS!

Btw I never did a wedding diet either. I was happy with my weight back then although my sister did try to starve me for a couple days at a spa (kid you not!).

Can't wait to hear about your wonderful day!!

Linda

Lol Linda, your sister trying to starve you made me laugh so much. Things people do and come out with when a wedding is involved are quite incredible and hilarious after some time too.

So, I'm back! After a honeymoon in Crete a bit heavier but even there with all the seconds, thirds, and forth, we habitually stuck to no-snacking.

Still, after a wonderful time pre-wedding and a brilliant wedding day, all off-NoS I am very motivated to get back. It was the right decision not to think too much about it but I also know that even if it's sometimes hard I still feel best when I stick to NoS. So here I am - back again, motivated and delighted.

I will start with basic NoS before adding any other habits like exercise or writing.

Can't wait to catch up with all of your threads, although it will take time, no doubt.

Day one is going ok so far

Yay, eschano, welcome back!
I was thinkin of ya! Glad you had a brilliant wedding day and honeymoon and are back with us. I'm sure things will fall right back into place for you!

Thank you Sonya!

There seems to be no May challenge going so I'll do mine here starting today with a bit more detail:

11th - Very hungry as just back from stuffing myself with delicious Greek food. My stomach will have to adjust back. So far so good.

Yay so glad to see you back and jumping right back in ! Honeymoons are for stuffing yourself but you'll get right back where you were with a little NoS. of course you already know that.

How exciting is it that you're married now! I remember when you were just in the beginning stages of your relationship. So happy for you!

Linda 😀

Thank you Linda! Yes, it is so exciting. I'm thrilled. He is the kindest, loveliest man who teaches me so much every day.

I never thought this was going to happen for me and I do credit NoS with being able to have this relationship in the first place. I was such a perfectionist self-confidence basher before. Must better to be moderate in everything

Yesterday went well thankfully. Aided by the fact that I got very tired in the early evening so we went to bed early.

Today is good so far.

Good luck getting back in the routine of No S and congratulations on the marriage. As far as I am concerned you did the right thing by focusing on enjoying this special time in your life and not worrying about food.

Getting back to daily or almost daily visits to this forum has always helped me when I am off track after a vacation or just because I am struggling.

Thank you Jean! I will try to post daily for a while until I find it easier again

Yesterday went well. I was very tempted to have chocolate in the evening but had recruited my husband to support me when I say I want some so it helped to talk it through with him and I had no chocolate. He is a disinterested supporter in that he doesn't care if I do have the chocolate in the end and doesn't need me to lose weight so it feels supportive if he asks "Do you really want chocolate or are you going to regret it?". The same from anyone with an agenda (looking at you mum) would make me want to stuff my face

So all went well.

Congratulations and welcome back! I'm looking forward to see more of your posts in the future. You've always been such an inspiration for me. And isn't it great that so many folks get back to the message board (and to NoS in general) after some major life changes?

Welcome back, so glad to read you had a beautiful wedding and honeymoon! And what a lovely, supportive husband you have chosen You two are clearly a great match.

Thank you Imogen, that makes me blush!

Thank you iron, yes, he is amazing - hopefully what every newlywed would say about her husband!

Yesterday went well. Took a bit of strength as I met a friend at our usual "hot-chocolate" haunt before walking together to my train station 40 minutes but I ordered earl grey instead. I went home quite late so after a little craving after dinner it was already bed time so easy to avoid at this point, although I did notice that staying strong earlier made it harder not to give in later.

Hopefully today will work out too and then it's nearly the weekend!

It's always hard to get back into the groove after vacation but you're really doing great!

Keep it up!

Linda

Thank you Linda!

Yesterday was a real struggle. The only thing that saved me in the end was that I found out my DH has eaten my favourite cookies so there were none left. Not good for him but brilliant for me. I then went straight to brush my teeth. Otherwise, I would have definitely failed.

Today is nearly the weekend! As many of you might know my S days are Friday after dinner to Sunday night so yeah, tough tough week but nearly done!

Enjoy your S-days!

Congratulations, Eschano! It sounds like you're doing very well at getting back to No S, and at avoiding temptations.

Glad you got through it and yay for S days! I'm sure the white knuckling will end soon and you'll be back in your groove soon enough!

PS how's married life?

Well done. I know it doesn't feel like it at the time, but I really think tough days are the best days for training your habit muscle. Enjoy your S days!

Wooweeeee! That was close but to misquote Shakespeare: A success by any other name still smells as sweetly as a rose.

Great job!

Thank you everyone!

Ironchef, that's a great way of looking at it and this way gingerpie's Shakespeare quote should say - it smells even sweeter when hard won ha!

Linda, I never thought it would make much of a difference to our relationship as we've already been living together but it does! I absolutely love married life. However, I also understand that some people say the first year is the hardest so we'll see if this bliss continues

The weekend was heavy-ish but ok. I was pretty tired but feel much better now. I also managed to declutter a lot! More on that on the general discussions board.

Two fails to report:

Yesterday: I had two fresh apricots, two spoons of greek yoghurt, and some honey (hence the fail) after my dinner. Delicious but a fail.

A much worse fail: today I got a chai latte and a banana nut muffin for breakfast. Don't ask why. Unnecessary. It was, however, delicious.

Ah well. I didn't really expect my renewed NoS effort to go without fail but one can always hope

Marked and moved on.

Ah--sorry eschano but yeah I'm sure it'll take a few days to get back in the groove. Btw why is the muffin considered a fail? Too sweet?

All in all not too bad--at least it wasn't exactly a binge or anything! I know you'll be back on track in no time!

Linda

I admire your ability to "mark it and move on". To me, not failing in the first place is way easier than failing just a little. Have you ever struggled with WTH effect?

Hi Linda, yes, I think I'm very strict with what I consider a sweet. I realised that other people seem more relaxed. I consider anything sweetened that is not raw fruit a fail. As soon as sugar or honey is in it. I do not, however, count bread with sugar in it and stuff like that, so I don't go through the ingredients list of otherwise savoury foods.

Yes, Imogen, I massively struggled pre-NoS with the WTH effect but a few of the posts I read really drove the point home for me that it's ok to fail sometimes but it doesn't mean you "drive your car into a wall just because you scratched it a little first". I think that is very powerful to me as I always wondered how "naturally skinny people" did it and I can see that this is a big part of their secret.

A new day today so we'll see how it goes

Another fail yesterday - after dinner chocolate.

But today was a success!!! YAY!!! Better already

It looks like you're doing well, especially with not giving in to the WTH effect after your fails. Good job!

Thank you Heather!

So a new week. Last week was a bit of a write off really. Yesterday was a bank holiday and today is my first N day this week.

It's funny but I purged the house of stuff yesterday. Each weekend since being back from honeymoon I decluttered quite a bit and the funny thing about this is: it gives me real motivation to stick to NoS again. And to give up coffee again as I felt better without caffeine and I want to honour my body in that sense.

So it's weird how a clean house leads to an urge to have a clean body but it does. That and the fact that a 3 day S weekend has left me a bit fed up, literally.

There's still some way to go - with the house and the diet