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Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2019 2:21 pm
by automatedeating
LOL - my husband says exactly the same thing about guac on eggs. Which are two things that separately he adores.

Have a great vacation!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2019 4:27 pm
by margot17
OMG eggs and guacamole... :shock: I hate them too!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 12:20 am
by liveitup
Success

B - mini bagel, eggs, sausage, green beans
L - veg burrito, chips
D - chow fun, general chicken, moo shu veg

I am very happy for this week's upcoming N days. :)

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 12:35 am
by liveitup
Success

B - eggs, potatoes, kale, orange scone
L - veg burrito, chips
D - tortellini soup, garlic toast

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:21 am
by liveitup
Success

B - cereal w/ milk
L - leftover Chinese food (at home with pink eye :evil:)
D - burrito, salad, chips

OK, it may look a little crazy this week with all these burritos, and part if me is ashamed by them. To be fair, these are NOT my local taqueria's indulgent burritos this week. The lunch ones from work are pretty healthy (no cheese, fresh veg, whole ingredients), and not enormous. And tonight's is actually homemade Mexican rice, and refried beans from the instant pot, and both are very healthy recipes, and delicious too.

If you have an instant pot and haven't made refried beans in it yet, you're missing out! We like them to be a much more soupy consistency when they're done cooking, because they gel up a lot as they cool. https://www.wellplated.com/instant-pot-refried-beans/

So there, I feel better now. :lol:

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 3:27 am
by automatedeating
(no cheese
:cry: :cry:

Oh, the cheese. Love the cheese.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 12:44 am
by liveitup
Success

B - oatmeal, nuts and dried fruit, soy milk
L - sub sandwich
D - tortilla soup

@Auto Oh I know, I hear ya. :P

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:16 pm
by liveitup
WTH

I've been sick, and despite that, it's been easy this week. Until today. Which I'm just letting you all know well before the day is over that it's a failure, and I've already had a few pieces of candy and a snack. :|

One thing is that these little slip ups add up. Looking at my calendar, last week was all S days, and this week I've got 4 successful N days. With weekends and everything, it's 12 days into April and 4 of them have been successful N days. Not great. :x

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:23 pm
by Soprano
If you're ill don't beat yourself up. Keep moving forward if you manage more nos days in the next 12 days that's progress.

Little by little make the changes.

Jx

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 1:52 pm
by automatedeating
I mean - it's not like you get to go to Hawaii very often! It'll be OK, you'll get back in the saddle soon.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 5:49 am
by liveitup
Just what I needed to hear. Thank you both for the encouragement!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 2:50 am
by liveitup
Success

B - oatmeal, pear, soy milk
L - kale and black bean salad
D - tomato soup with farro, farinata

Healthy and hearty meals today. I feel good. 8)

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 4:52 pm
by liveitup
WTH

B - oatmeal, banana, soy milk
L - veg wrap, potatoes, salad, chips
S - 3 cookies!
D - quesadilla, zucchini, more chips

Up at 4:30 to help my dad. Early breakfast at 7. Work conference all day. Late lunch at 2. Not enough sleep. It was a big departure from my normal routine, but I think I did alright, and I'm back on the wagon today. 😎

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 8:40 pm
by liveitup
We have oatmeal, fresh fruit, and some oatmeal toppers like ground flax, and hemp and chia seeds both at home and at the office now. So by default my oatmeal is: ~1.5c cooked oats, a healthy topper, one serving of fresh fruit, and unsweetened soy milk.

I'll call it oatmeal #1 for brevity from now on.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 12:45 am
by liveitup
Failure

OK, almost a Success

B - oatmeal #1
L - tofu and kale salad
S - handful of almonds and raisins
D - spaghetti squash bowl

I am exhausted still. I was up so late last night, and that's after such a little amount of sleep the night before. I don't know what's up with my sleeping issues this week. I'm still feeling sick, coughing sometimes, and very low energy. It was worst right after lunch, and I found a chair in the office in the corner where I could do light work and rest for an hour. Not fun. :(

While technically a fail, I'm just being overly strict about it. Overall today was good, single portions, just that little healthy snack this afternoon to get me through a terribly low energy afternoon.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 12:58 am
by automatedeating
Hope you feel better soon! Hugs!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 1:37 am
by liveitup
Thanks! I am feeling better today. Although, I was woken up late last night by a phone call and it took me forever to get back to sleep! :x

WTH today, here's what happened. Look at all these S's. I hit all three today! :(

B - oatmeal #1
S - cashews, banana (healthy, but unnecessary)
L - potatoes, cabbage, and greens
S - raisins (healthy, and probably like 1/8c, but again totally unnecessary)
D - tofu alfredo pasta, salad
S - tofu alfredo pasta (seconds gah!)
S - chocolate cupcake!

I was just grazing today. Pretty much every couple of hours. Sadness. But, I feel a lot better overall than yesterday, and I'm looking forward to regular meals tomorrow.

The cupcake was from my adorable little 5 year old, who just "graduated" after a year's worth of speech/short term memory work with a teacher in the neighborhood. Her speech teacher gave her 4 cupcakes to take home to celebrate with the family, and she was so excited to share that I just went for it. Of course, I ate the whole thing, but I didn't have to. Oh well.

Auto, got any good nicknames for a really sweet, energetic 5 year old girl who loves jokes, crashing into things, and making weird noises?

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 4:07 am
by Soprano
Eating the cup cake was a good call, those moments with our kids are too precious.

Jx

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 6:28 am
by nettee
Well done to your daughter. I am sure that counts as an S event :)

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 2:33 pm
by automatedeating
I sure do have a name - Live Wire. :-)

About the alfredo pasta, that was absolutely one of my trigger foods. I gave up pasta last summer and somehow have never looked back. It was the type of food that I could eat FOREVER and never stop, and yet I never ever crave it (lucky). In fact, I still make spaghetti for the family one night a week, but I just make a beef salad bowl from it for myself. Anyway, all that to say that it's pretty easy to go back for seconds on pasta. :lol:

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2019 2:05 am
by liveitup
Success

B - oatmeal #1
L - tomato soup w/ farro, bread
D - black bean and quinoa salad, beer

Today, I made a conscious effort to ensure my portions would satisfy me until the next meal. It seems like it's only just another 2-3 bites of food to prevent me from snacking or whatnot. I feel pretty good, except that this cold just is not staying away. One day/hour/minute it's gone, and the next I've got a sore throat and my energy is zapped. I wish I was either just sick or not sick. :x

OMG LiveWire! Yes! LiveWire! LiveWire is eating a blue lollipop right now, and is no closer to the gum inside of it than she was 30 minutes ago. Amazing patience she has. :D Sometime, maybe we can work on a name for her older sister when she drops an S on me, which shouldn't be too long.

Soprano and Nettee, thank you very much! I agree, and I show no guilt in front of her. So proud of how hard she worked on this!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2019 2:08 am
by liveitup
Re: Alfredo. I know, it's way too good, and way too tempting. I need to put it in the same category as pizza. I've got to set up meals around this with a lot more diligence, like maybe put it on the plates, then pack up the rest, floss, brush teeth, mouthwash, etc., so there's no temptation at all afterwards. :)

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 1:01 am
by liveitup
Failure

B - grape nuts, banana
L - farro and bean salad w/ greens and other veg, and a light dressing.
S - cashews
D - chickpea soup, avocado toast

I could have claimed a success if I put the cashews in my salad today! It was just a bit too small to get me through lunch. Normally they're big, but I went to a different salad bar today, and the tongs and bowls are all different, so I wasn't able to eyeball my salad portions well today, and I *knew* it was too small. Oh well. :)

Despite today's habit fail, I didn't overeat.

Also, my salads are starting to recur. They're always the same variation of beans/tofu/grains, some kind of greens and other veg, and some kind of light dressing. It's a lot of salad, like a big bowl full of it. I'm just going to call this salad #1. So I'll probably have a lot of the same looking meals coming up.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 7:54 am
by nettee
Your salads sound great. Sounds like you are on it with the portion control for next time.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:00 am
by liveitup
Thank you! They are delicious, and I have really been enjoying them. I don't get an afternoon lull in energy, and instead I'm energized and full through the evening. That is, except when I've been sick this week, which still randomly seems to come up for an hour or so for no reason! Ugh. Anyway, these defaults have been working very well for me. Today, my big ol' salad #1 was lots of green lentils and farro, spring mix, romaine, radish, carrot, tomatoes, with a mustard vinaigrette.

Oh, and I had a physical today. Overall, healthy. My blood pressure is up though, and I have a history of high cholesterol. So, in a few days I'm going to get the blood work done to see where I stand now. I talked to my doctor about healthy food choices and moderation. Between my newly found sane defaults (oatmeal #1 and salad #1), and my moderation with NoS, this should improve over time.

My blood pressure is a bit high at 137/90. This always comes down when I measure it at home, and I'll post an update to this after I get a few consistent readings throughout the week. My BMI is 27.72, and I'll follow up with my initial lab results in a couple weeks. My doctor said that lifestyle changes show up in blood work after 3 months, so I'll compare the results I get this week to those I get in 3+ months or so. Anxious to see what happens!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:54 am
by liveitup
Success

B - oatmeal #1
L - salad #1
D - chocolate smoothie, avocado toast

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 11:55 am
by April
Hello! Thank you for your supportive comment in my diary! I thought I would check out your check-in. Looks like we have similar tastes - healthy most of the time with some fun meals mixed in - I too an am Taco Bell fan, and also love almost all veggies prepared well at home.

I love your owl photo - as a child my dad had three of them (he was a falconer) so I got to see them every day. They are amazing animals to see up close!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 1:18 am
by liveitup
Aw, owls are amazing! I would love to see one up close one day. :) I guess I can just research falconers in the area. I didn't even think of it! How lucky of you to have had that experience growing up.

Failure

B - oatmeal #1
L - salad #1
S - nuts and dried fruit
D - veggie potato bowl

Ex - treadmill

Oops, went for the danged snack today. I was full after lunch today too. I've been back to the gym this week, so maybe that's whats making me more hungry. I've also been mildly preoccupied about my blood pressure, even though it's not even all that bad. Also, I heard last night that one of our kids' teachers just lost her (adult) son to a sudden illness, and I talked with her this morning, and just felt horrible for her. It's so sad. I can't even imagine. :( So maybe between the stress and exercise, I turned to snacks today.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 2:19 am
by liveitup
WTH

B - oatmeal #1
L - salad #1
S - all fruit smoothie (coworkers pressure, seriously they said "let's all get the same one" lol)
D - chickpeas, green beans, quinoa
S - chocolate date balls

I did not need either of the S's today. I gave into peer pressure and then justified it by thinking oh it's all fruit, no problem. But, I'm starting to develop bad habits again and I'm starting to justify it by telling myself that it's healthy. Let's try again tomorrow. :)

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 3:10 am
by automatedeating
Tomorrow is always a fresh day.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 3:29 am
by liveitup
Thanks Auto! It's amazing how much a little encouragement helps.

By the way, in the past 13 days I've had 4 WTH days and 3 Failure days. Some of those regular one-S fail days are really not that bad, but some of the WTH days are really pretty gross sounding. There's a big difference between Failing and What-The-Hecking. I'm going to work first on fixing my What-The-Heck problem, which could be a lot more common than my small Failures!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 12:47 am
by liveitup
Failure

B - oatmeal #1
L - salad #1
D - sushi
A - 2
S - 3 chocolate date balls

Ex - 30 mins elliptical

Lunch was a little small, so I was worried about not succeeding today. Glad I wrapped up this week with a success day. 8)

Update: Dang it, now it's a fail day. Never count your chickens before they hatch! We made mint chocolate date balls with the kids and I gave in!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 12:41 am
by liveitup
Success

B - oatmeal #1
L - salad #1, 2 banana oat balls
D - lentils w/ avocado, cashew cream, and pumpkin seeds, naan

Had some WTH days this week as I'm adjusting to my new healthy defaults, but I'm dialing it in. My salad kept me full all through the afternoon, and our hippie version of dal tonight was so delicious. I'm stuffed.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 1:20 am
by automatedeating
I had Indian food tonight too! Very delicious!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 2:37 am
by liveitup
:shock: :shock: :shock: Mind meld!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 3:47 am
by liveitup
Failure

B - oatmeal #1
L - salad #1
S - dried fruit and nuts, 2 chocolate oat balls
D - burrito bowl

Close but no cigar. Dinner was about an hour later than usual, so my S was about when I normally would have been eating. Oh well. Looking forward to the weekend!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 4:57 am
by Soprano
The occasional one small s won't hurt. It's what you do after that has a bigger impact. :)

Jx

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 11:43 pm
by liveitup
Thanks Soprano!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 3:42 am
by liveitup
Success

B - oatmeal #1
L - seitan, sweet potato, salad
D - veg pasta, dried fruit, avocado toast

Ex - jog 35 mins

Today was full of very dumb meetings. :evil:

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 7:11 pm
by oolala53
I'm not sure I've ever said hi, so hi! And is it my misreading of your thread, but was there a 2-year gap in there?

I haven't read all of it, but will comment on this: pizza is considered one of the 10 most addictive foods around. I always have to moderate my intake. I still remember the first time I had commercial pizza. I was probably ten years old. My sister's boyfriend got one for us when she was babysitting and I was there, too. (Back in the 60's. No boyfriends over when babysitting!) I ate piece after piece and still wanted to keep going. I ate it very frequently at lunch or dinner- one BIG slice- in my early No S years. Not so much now, after nearly a decade and becoming a senior citizen.

You are finding your way!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed May 08, 2019 1:36 am
by liveitup
Hi Oolala! Yes, I took a couple years off from posting on the forum. Thanks for dropping by and saying hello.

I've taken a break from pizza for a while for that reason, and I've been eating a whole foods, plant based diet for the last 3 weeks. By the way, I feel fantastic on it. The issue I have struggled with more with this change is keeping my mealtimes. I have this thing in me that says it's healthy, go ahead and have a snack! And I've got this thing in me that says I'm not having enough calories, but I am having more than I need of course. So the struggle continues. :lol:

WTH

B - oatmeal #1
L - salad #2 (huge and satisfying)
D - barley bowl with roasted veg, tofu, peanut sauce

Snack in the morning, snack at night, snack in the afternoon. I am overly full, but since it's all been so healthy, I'm still not in a food coma. Unfortunately, it's less incentive not to snack, so I have to be a bit more vigilant about it.

Yesterday went by smoothly and easily though, so I hope to do that again tomorrow.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 2:19 am
by liveitup
Success

B - oatmeal #1
L - salad #1, fruit
D - brown rice bowl w/ tofu and veg, dried fruit

Ex - cable pulley machine + bodyweight

Food was so dang good today. I ate a lot, and I haven't felt a food coma since I started. I lost a few lbs and will post some (hopefully still good) BMI results tomorrow after the morning weigh in. :)

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 1:10 pm
by Whosonfirst
liveitup wrote: ↑
Wed May 08, 2019 1:36 am
Hi Oolala! Yes, I took a couple years off from posting on the forum. Thanks for dropping by and saying hello.

I've taken a break from pizza for a while for that reason, and I've been eating a whole foods, plant based diet for the last 3 weeks. By the way, I feel fantastic on it. The issue I have struggled with more with this change is keeping my mealtimes. I have this thing in me that says it's healthy, go ahead and have a snack! And I've got this thing in me that says I'm not having enough calories, but I am having more than I need of course. So the struggle continues. :lol:

WTH

B - oatmeal #1
L - salad #2 (huge and satisfying)
D - barley bowl with roasted veg, tofu, peanut sauce

Snack in the morning, snack at night, snack in the afternoon. I am overly full, but since it's all been so healthy, I'm still not in a food coma. Unfortunately, it's less incentive not to snack, so I have to be a bit more vigilant about it.

Yesterday went by smoothly and easily though, so I hope to do that again tomorrow.
Hi liveitup. Just curious as to what you call a healthy snack? Not being critical, it's just that I use fruit mods as my healthy snacks when needed.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri May 10, 2019 3:54 am
by oolala53
Here's to a strong, compliant Friday. A great way to end the week. I'm on your side!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue May 14, 2019 12:35 am
by liveitup
Success

B - oatmeal #1
L - salad #1, tomato soup
D - brown rice and veg bowl, banana oat ball

Ex - 40 minutes elliptical

Back on the wagon. Thanks for the encouragement Oolala, but Friday was a WTH day anyway. Maybe if I saw your message I would have been better off! Oh well.

WhosOnFirst, I respect that mod! We've been WFPB for a few weeks now, so the snacks were all WFPB and made at home from scratch. That said, they're not all light on calories, and I need to re-learn the habit of eating during mealtimes only. Part of it is re-learning my portion sizes, now that I have to eat more to get enough calories to make it through the day comfortably. I'm getting closer to dialing it in but I'm hit and miss right now.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue May 14, 2019 12:38 am
by automatedeating
Many years ago, I was vegan for a couple of years, and my biggest memory from that time was that I felt like I had to eat constantly, all day long. I joked about it a lot at the time, but in hindsight, that kind of sucked. (Note - I know that WFPB is not vegan - I was just giving an example of a time when for whatever reasons, what I was eating seemed to require frequent fuelings!)

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue May 14, 2019 1:21 am
by liveitup
Yes, it's either eat all day long or readjust my eyes to deliver the large portions I need during mealtimes. I've adjusted them quite a bit already, and now for example when I eat oatmeal, I can without shame serve a proper 1 1/2 - 2 cups of it, plus another cup of fruit, plus soy milk and toppings, which is great for getting me through to lunch with no problem. It's lunchtime that I've struggled with. The salads just look huge, but when 4:00 comes around I'm starting to raid the mini kitchen. So today, the huge salad and the big bowl of tomato basil soup seemed excessive, but given that so much of it is water, I got over it, and it seemed to work. Likewise with dinner, our bowls seem like huge portions, but I knew I'd be hungry and I added a big oatmeal banana ball on the side, which seems to be doing the trick now.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 4:27 am
by liveitup
B - oatmeal #1
L - salad #1
S - brown rice cake and an almond bar, shoulda' ate more lunch, when am I gonna learn? :o
D - tostadas w/ beans, cashew cheese, and a bunch of veg toppings

LiveWire is sick with the stomach flu today. She's been in bed all day with a fever. She's drinking a bit of water and has had a little bit of food. Poor thing, I hope she feels better tomorrow! It's just so weird to see her like this - she's always full of energy and running around.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 2:22 pm
by automatedeating
Sorry LiveWire is not feeling well! My little Creator had to stay home 3 days from school. Now Challenger is getting it. :(

Can you add something to Salad #1 that makes it more caloric/filling? Maybe guacamole (that's my go-to) or more cheese, some leftover meat, or a hard-boiled egg? The nice thing about default meals (which you know I love too) is that you can easily tweak them as needed to find the perfect "filled up but not overfull" balance. You'll find what works as you experiment.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 4:31 am
by liveitup
Oh no! So today it turned out to be appendicitis. She was up so many times last night complaining, and I was thinking she might be having some kind of stomach cramps, so we took her to the ER, and 8 hours later she was having her appendix removed! She is recovering just fine, and it's a relief to see her pain come down quite a bit. It's been a long day for us to say the least. :(

Yes, you're right. I'm not building them with a satisfying enough base. I will definitely add some more oomph to them and see how that goes.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 2:23 pm
by automatedeating
:shock: Appendicitis?! Poor poor baby! She is only like 6 or 8, yes? Are you able to be home with her during recovery?

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue May 21, 2019 5:08 am
by liveitup
She's about to turn 5, and we had to cancel her party this weekend. :cry: I was over-positive about it. Honestly, it's been difficult. Her appendix was ruptured, and the hospital still told us that the best case scenario was only 3 days, which either we misheard or they misspoke. We're on day 5, and it feels like there's still another 4 at least to go, and the complications and frustrating catch-22s for a speedy recovery abound. Today though, has been the best day since this started, and it's given me a big sense of hope that this is starting to resolve.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue May 21, 2019 10:58 pm
by automatedeating
Oh I'm so sorry for all of you, and especially your poor little one. I'm hopeful with you that she is turning a corner and will begin recovering quickly.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 5:51 am
by liveitup
LiveWire is doing great now! She is basically recovered, just finishing her last couple of days of antibiotics. Phew!

B - cereal and soy milk
L - veggies, grilled asparagus, black beans
D - bean and potato salad, avocado toast
S - brownie and a peanut butter cookie lol

I've been off the wagon. I think I've uncommitted to this, and I feel distant from NoS. I need to spark some motivation.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 10:57 am
by Whosonfirst
Sorry I missed this before. I'm glad your little girl is doing better.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 1:37 pm
by automatedeating
For being "off the wagon" you had a pretty normal-looking day.

For motivation, what is your "why"? Why might you want to commit to a 3 meal a day approach? What originally made you think NoS was your chosen path? What are the advantages in your life? What are your long-term and short-term goals health and weight-wise? Those kind of questions help me refocus....

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 5:05 am
by liveitup
Thanks WhosOnFirst. Sorry to bring the real life to the forums. Free therapy and support. I really, hugely appreciate it!

How do you deal with hunger, anxiety, and stress? I think these are all the reasons why I medicate with food (and booze to a lesser extent). I'm not sure I'm looking for "meditate for 15 minutes a day". Maybe it's like, do you get overly short tempered and anxious when you're hungry? Do you notice it? What do you do if you do notice it?

Auto, these are such excellent questions. I've had a very fulfilling, introspective evening thinking about them.

For motivation, what is your "why"? Why might you want to commit to a 3 meal a day approach?

1. I want to be in control of it. My desire to eat in order to make myself feel better is extremely strong, and it makes me mad that it's so difficult to do such a simple sounding thing.
2. I want to be that old guy in his 100s who's one secret to a long life was eat three meals a day and don't mess with nonsense like Snackwell's for snacks.
3. I want my kids to have a good baseline, now before it's no longer possible, to be able to do this with no effort if we're able to teach them well early on.
4. I want to confront being hangry, and I want to turn it back into plain old hungry.
5. I could lose 30 pounds, I've got glucose levels to bring down, and LDLs to bring up.
6. I can work this into my schedule without shoveling food down between meetings.
7. It's the most rational way to keep my calories in check, and I want to be rational. 8)
8. I'm tired of heartburn.
9. This is some kind of personal challenge to do something so ridiculously reasonable and obvious. But at the same time, I have had less success with this than quitting smoking, which only took a few tries. I'm constantly trying and retrying here, but I have this vision of being able to do this effortlessly at some point.

What originally made you think NoS was your chosen path? What are the advantages in your life?

1. I like how straightforward it is.
2. I like how low profile it is.
3. I like that I don't have to build my life around it nor obsess about it.
4. I get a sense of superiority over snackers when I see them at the office ;)
5. We have more leftovers for dinners and lunches and can spend less time cooking.
6. I get to post more happy success stories on this forum.
7. I know I can do it, because I've done it before.

What are your long-term and short-term goals health and weight-wise?

1. All clear blood/lab work.
2. Short term goal is under 170. I'm at 183 right now and I'm 5'10. It's only 13 pounds. 129-174 gets me in the normal BMI range. I like the way I feel at 160, but it's been 16 years since I've been that weight. So I'll consider a first success anything that starts with one-six. It's close.
3. Long term goal is to get right in the middle of normal BMI, so low 150s, but it's arbitrary. More importantly, it's to build a long lasting habit.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 2:25 pm
by automatedeating
Wow, liveitup! Those are some awesome reflections! I laughed especially at the "rational" one - you are definitely an engineer! :-)
You should totally print out that list, or at least refer back to it when you are wobbly.

Your first paragraph about the triggers for using food for medication is so similar to the HALTS mnemonic we use over on my coach.me No Alcohol forum: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired, and Stressed. Pretty much the same list. We try to build a "toolbox" with replacement activities for those feelings. For me, those replacement activities that work best are - breathing into the feeling and sitting it with it (I can do this even in a car or in my office or walking down a hall - it's not obvious to those around me); journaling about the feeling; cleaning; walk/jog; reading a book in the sun or in the tub (weather dependent). More emergency efforts are things like running errands just to get out of the house and away from the temptation. Extreme replacement activity is a fail and to eat ice cream or candy. I suppose one could use this same approach with food cravings (sans the eating ice cream replacement behavior), although it seems so much harder because we all still need to eat three times a day!

Additionally, as I've removed alcohol as my main go-to crutch for numbing emotions, I've been overeating more and definitely eating more sweets. I'm trying to deal gently with this, but my weekends have gotten wilder and I have even had a few fails on weekdays. Self-compassion has got to be in my toolbox so that I can forgive myself and move on. Interestingly, I do OK with the "food forgiving" thing and I suspect that has been a key to my long-term success with NoS. I like that I can compare that with areas where my "self-forgiveness" level .... well sucks basically - such as teaching, parenting, and social errors.

Sorry, that paragraph above feels kind of rambly but each of those points came from your post and I hope helps you on your own path too.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 5:49 pm
by Whosonfirst
liveitup wrote: ↑
Wed Jun 12, 2019 5:05 am
Thanks WhosOnFirst. Sorry to bring the real life to the forums. Free therapy and support. I really, hugely appreciate it!

How do you deal with hunger, anxiety, and stress? I think these are all the reasons why I medicate with food (and booze to a lesser extent). I'm not sure I'm looking for "meditate for 15 minutes a day". Maybe it's like, do you get overly short tempered and anxious when you're hungry? Do you notice it? What do you do if you do notice it?

Auto, these are such excellent questions. I've had a very fulfilling, introspective evening thinking about them.

For motivation, what is your "why"? Why might you want to commit to a 3 meal a day approach?

1. I want to be in control of it. My desire to eat in order to make myself feel better is extremely strong, and it makes me mad that it's so difficult to do such a simple sounding thing.
2. I want to be that old guy in his 100s who's one secret to a long life was eat three meals a day and don't mess with nonsense like Snackwell's for snacks.
3. I want my kids to have a good baseline, now before it's no longer possible, to be able to do this with no effort if we're able to teach them well early on.
4. I want to confront being hangry, and I want to turn it back into plain old hungry.
5. I could lose 30 pounds, I've got glucose levels to bring down, and LDLs to bring up.
6. I can work this into my schedule without shoveling food down between meetings.
7. It's the most rational way to keep my calories in check, and I want to be rational. 8)
8. I'm tired of heartburn.
9. This is some kind of personal challenge to do something so ridiculously reasonable and obvious. But at the same time, I have had less success with this than quitting smoking, which only took a few tries. I'm constantly trying and retrying here, but I have this vision of being able to do this effortlessly at some point.

What originally made you think NoS was your chosen path? What are the advantages in your life?

1. I like how straightforward it is.
2. I like how low profile it is.
3. I like that I don't have to build my life around it nor obsess about it.
4. I get a sense of superiority over snackers when I see them at the office ;)
5. We have more leftovers for dinners and lunches and can spend less time cooking.
6. I get to post more happy success stories on this forum.
7. I know I can do it, because I've done it before.

What are your long-term and short-term goals health and weight-wise?

1. All clear blood/lab work.
2. Short term goal is under 170. I'm at 183 right now and I'm 5'10. It's only 13 pounds. 129-174 gets me in the normal BMI range. I like the way I feel at 160, but it's been 16 years since I've been that weight. So I'll consider a first success anything that starts with one-six. It's close.
3. Long term goal is to get right in the middle of normal BMI, so low 150s, but it's arbitrary. More importantly, it's to build a long lasting habit.
Liveitup-Don't worry about posting your real life stressors. I post as much personal/family stuff on here as anyone. Since I don't have another social media account, my NoS log is pretty much it. As a fellow engineer, I too was attracted by Reinhard's direct NoBS approach. What could be simpler? The habitcal that Reinhard created is also a nice thing to use.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 1:54 am
by liveitup
WhosOnFirst, OK I'm just going to go for it then. :) I'm impressed this is your only social network! I'm off Facebook, Instagram, and the big ones, but I keep NextDoor around for selling stuff, which is so much more reliable than CraigsList.

Auto, thanks for sharing HALTS and the replacement technique. I succeeded today! This afternoon I wanted a snack so bad, but instead I dug into it and just embraced wanting it so much, and it helps to mute it actually. Then I grabbed a cold green tea from the fridge, and the hunger passed.

B - oatmeal
L - pasta and tacos (this sounds so funny to me)
D - tofu, soup, fruit and veg

Guess what? We're packing up to head up for a short Alaskan cruise tomorrow! I am so happy we didn't cancel it. LiveWire feels great and doctors gave it a thumbs up, so we're doing it! After this, that wraps up our big vacations for the year.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2019 3:48 am
by liveitup
OK, back to NoS now.

Today: Nuts.
Tomorrow: It's a new day.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2019 4:43 am
by lpearlmom
Great news! Enjoy your cruise!!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2019 2:02 am
by liveitup
Failure

B - oatmeal
L - white beans, ratatouille, green beans
D - whole wheat spaghetti w/ tofu and broccoli

S1 - a lot of crackers w/ nuts
S2 - seconds at dinner

Our cruise started off great. Have you been to Juneau? It is beautiful, and the wildlife there is spectacular. LiveWire had some stomach pains about an hour after we left port in Juneau. At around 10:00PM, we took her to the cruise ship urgent care, who suggested we stop the cruise and get the coast guard out there to pick us up, (that's FIVE THOUSAND people on board, and we stopped the ship!). Got to ride on a coast guard rescue boat back to Juneau, at which point her stomach pain started getting better. The ER doctor recommended we stayed the night in a hotel, so we did. The next morning, got a final check in at the ER from the amazing staff there at the local hospital, who told us that everything seems OK, but we should go home and not rendezvous with the cruise ship in Skagway. So we went home, and got her checked out back at the hospital here, and yup, she's just fine. It's part of the healing process. Who knew 5+ hours of bad stomach pain was normal? Not us! So we cruised for 3 days and missed out on the last 4. :( By the way, her doctors absolutely gave us the thumbs up to go on the cruise, as she was completely in the clear by the time we were approaching the vacation date. So, I think we probably overreacted, but it was scary, and I still think we made the right decision.

But now we're back, everyone is just fine, and we're going to make up a couple days of vacation this weekend by taking a short drive down the coast and hanging out on the beach with the kiddos. :)

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2019 1:40 pm
by automatedeating
Oh, liveitup! I'm so sorry that LiveWire was so sick PLUS that you had to cut your cruise short. You sound like you are handling it with aplomb, but it seems there could be some complex emotions to process after all that upheaval and stress of worrying about LiveWire and then the disappointment of going home early. (BTW, my oldest sister lives in Alaska and yes I agree about the beauty).

But very glad that your family is going to the beach for a few days. The beach always soothes my soul.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2019 2:58 pm
by lpearlmom
Your food always looks so good to me. I’m guessing you’re a vegetarian too?

Omg, Hawaiiβ€”yay!! Have a blast!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2019 10:03 pm
by Octavia
Hi Liveitup! So sorry to hear about your cruise stress - but glad that your little LiveWire is OK. I think we would all have done what you did - play it safe, get her checked out, even if it meant losing some days of the cruise. I hope she continues to recover well...and life gets a little less stressful for you!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 3:39 am
by liveitup
Aw, thanks everyone. That gives me a good positive boost!

Auto, you're right. It is a lot to process. At times, while running around the cruise ship, I thought I might pass out from anxiety about what might happen. Without the help of my family, I don't know what I would have done. We have definitely grown closer because of it.

Linda, yep. 13 years now. High five!

Failure

B - chickpea and squash eggless quiche
L - salad, apple, quinoa
D - leftovers, lemon poppyseed balls

S1 - seconds at dinner
S2 - graham crackers

Almost called this a success. I visualized my second helping on top of my first and sort of agreed with myself that I should have served that up to begin with. :) Then I had some graham crackers, so I had to stop kidding myself. Next N day is Monday.

Have a wonderful Fourth for those that are in the US!

πŸŽ‡πŸŽ‡πŸŽ‡πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡²πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡²πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡²

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 1:55 pm
by automatedeating
Happy 4th of July to you too! Are you taking today as an S Day? I actually still haven't decided.... I think last year I tried to keep it an N Day and sort of failed, but only middling fail.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2019 4:42 pm
by liveitup
Sorry Auto. Yes, I took Thurs through Sunday as S days since we were on vacation.

Today I'm sticking to it and am determined to succeed. Wish me luck!

B - cereal
L - buckwheat noodle salad
D - chow mein

Update: Success

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2019 2:29 am
by liveitup
Today - fail.

I think it's too easy for me to forget to be mindful about how I'm eating. Instead, I sometimes focus solely on the 3 meals aspect of NoS. Most of the time, I think of NoS as a restriction, and while I'm eating, I think something like "this is it until dinner!". Then, I power through lunch in 10 minutes, and I'm wishing there was more.

Tomorrow, when mealtimes come, I'm going to remind myself:

* The next meal is just a few hours away
* Take time and enjoy this meal, and spend at least 20-30 minutes eating it
* Be grateful for it, and take time to appreciate it
* Thoroughly taste every bite until I'm done with the flavors

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2019 3:10 am
by automatedeating
Do you think it's possible that your metabolism just needs 4 meals a day? Maybe a planned mid-morning or mid-afternoon meal? It's not like you're brand-new to NoS and the ideas of no snacks, so maybe you just really do need more frequent fuelings. I think we are all different like that.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2019 3:27 am
by liveitup
I could try it. I don't think so though. Have you heard of Naturally Slim? I did this with my wife for 6 months, and it's like NoS in a lot of ways. That's where I got a lot of these ideas from, and Naturally Slim had us down to 2 meals a day, and I lost a lot of weight and felt satisfied, but only as long as I was paying attention. Paying attention to feelings of fullness and satisfaction takes a lot of energy though, for me at least, as I'm constantly evaluating where I'm at.

I'm a very emotional water, so I really don't think it's my metabolism. It's an emotional strategy that I'm sorting out.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2019 1:33 pm
by automatedeating
No, I haven't heard of Naturally Slim, but it sounds like intermittent fasting! I kind of do 2 meals a day on N Days, although I generally think of my coffee w/milk as breakfast.

Paying attention to avoid emotional eating - Ah. Always tricky! Some of the alcohol-free posters on coach.me remind us all of "HALTSS" - which stands for hungry/angry/lonely/tired/stressed/sad - trying to figure out what is going on when we want to drink. I suppose a similar thing happens with food. The most common thing I'll find when I am craving something junky is that I am hungry! Truly hungry. In the past, I'm sure I ate candy and chips because I was hungry. Simple as that. Now I remind myself that if I feel like that I should probably fix dinner. :-)

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2019 9:22 pm
by liveitup
OK, on the HALTSS scale I'm definitely in the stress category.

Success

B - peanut butter toast w/ banana
L - big salad w/ quinoa and impossible burger crumbled in
D - marinated seitan, brown rice, and broccoli

Ignored a desire to eat a snack successfully today. Beefed up the meals a bit too.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2019 1:08 am
by liveitup
Success

B - baked beans, roasted tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and hash browns
L - lentil soup, chickpeas, farro, sauteed veg
D - Beyond famous star and fries

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2019 4:38 am
by liveitup
Been on the struggle bus. Ugh. :cry:

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 1:05 am
by automatedeating
Well, the struggle bus is real. But only temporary - it stops and starts. :-) Hang in there!

How are your daughters doing, btw? They always sound so sweet.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 2:47 am
by liveitup
Thanks Auto. They're doing great. LiveWire is 100% better after the appendectomy a few months back, and has been actually been doing great for a while now. It's weird that it doesn't seem that long ago, but it's been over 4 months already. So happy that's behind us. We're all getting over colds, so they're both sniffly, but doing fine nonetheless. How is everything on your end? Hope all is well.

On the bright side, our travel insurance that's included with our credit card covered the parts of the trip we missed, which is amazing. I am so thankful for that. Also, my dad who is 77, let me borrow his souped up Camaro, so the commute this week has been... bitchin'! 8)

I had a couple of success days Thursday and Friday. Monday and today were misses.

Tomorrow will be:
B - late AM cereal and fruit
L - whatever the cafe downstairs has, or I'll go across the street and get a giant salad
D - pasta, or leftover veg sausage peppers and polenta

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 1:49 am
by liveitup
Stuck to it today!

B - Cereal, soy milk, banana
L - Rice, sauteed gai lan, tofu
D - Spaghetti w/ marinara, meatless meatballs, broccoli

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 1:22 am
by liveitup
Success

B - cereal, soy milk, banana
L - succotash, seitan and peppers, quinoa
D - pumpkin soup, bread and butter

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 3:28 am
by liveitup
I've been eating breakfast later this week. I'm still eating the same amount for lunch as I normally would, but my hunger's in check until around 5, unlike other days when 3 rolls around and I'm craving a snack. Ideally I'd eat dinner at 5, but it's not really possible to work a full day and have dinner that early without being in the office super early, so I'll take this over being at work at 7.

Tomorrow will be:
B - around 10: cereal, soy milk, banana
L - around 12: taco salad
D - around 5:30: chinese?

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 1:27 pm
by automatedeating
I have found the same thing about moving breakfast later! I still have coffee earlier, but I hold off on eating my walnuts until I'm actually hungry, which is somewhere between 9 and 10 for me. Then lunch and dinner at normal times.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2019 4:43 pm
by liveitup
Yeah, it definitely has a noticeable impact, and it make so much sense.

Today will be:
B - Cereal, soy milk, banana
L - Bollybowl salad
D - Soy curls in tomato sauce over rice

1 week of no booze.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 12:22 am
by liveitup
Success

I had a bit of a bender on Saturday night with some old friends. The night started out good, but then a couple got into an argument and one of them ended up leaving, and that left the rest of the night feeling awkward. We tried to make the most out of it. I realized that this wouldn't have happened if it wasn't so boozey. We're too old for that now. So, I want to cut back again.

Tomorrow will be:
B - Cereal, soy milk, banana
L - Veg burger panini, side of whatever veg is at the cafe downstairs
D - Veg tacos. The filling tastes exactly like taco filling but it's made with cauliflower, walnuts and mushrooms!

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2019 1:18 am
by liveitup
Success

Today ended up being:
B - Same
L - Green beans, home style tofu, rice
D - Pumpkin soup, veg tacos

Tomorrow will be:
B - Cereal, soy milk, banana
L - Whatever is downstairs
D - Lentils and pesto pasta

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2019 2:18 am
by liveitup
Success

Today:
B - Grape nuts and soy milk
L - Veg burger and salad
D - Lentil pasta, bread and earth balance spread

Tomorrow:
B - Banana and soy milk
L - ?
D - Acorn squash and carrot curry

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2019 1:15 am
by automatedeating
"whatever is downstairs" made me laugh.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2019 3:33 am
by liveitup
Yeah, I hope my enthusiasm for the cafe food isn't too much. :lol:

Fail

Today:
B - Grape nuts, banana
L - Sandwich, tomato soup
S - Crackers, chocolate
D - Lentil pasta with pique sauce (yum)

Tomorrow:
B - Cereal, banana
L - Salad
D - Beyond burger and fries hopefully

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 1:15 am
by liveitup
I had a fantastic week. Work was great, I accomplished what I set out to do, and we ended with a walk down the street for Chinese food and ice cream. The kids were behaved, there were lots of people out, and it just reminds me how much I appreciate our little 'hood.

Today:
B - Corn flakes, banana
L - Salad
D - Chinese food
S - Ice cream

Tomorrow:
B - Bagel
L - Leftovers
D - ?

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 5:56 am
by BackToThin
That sounds awesome. I love the idea of walking to Chinese food and walking home.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 2:00 pm
by automatedeating
Raising kids in a neighborhood you like and appreciate is a marvelous thing. Sounds like a great week and wrap-up to it, as well.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2019 1:33 am
by liveitup
Do either of you have a go-to cuisine or dish for celebration or reward?

Today:
B - Toast, fruit
L - Bagel w/ vegan cheese, hummus, fritos
D - Taco salad
S - Ice cream, Twix

Tomorrow:
B - Pancakes
L - Spicy tofu, rice
D - Artichokes, polenta, vegan chicken

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2019 2:49 am
by automatedeating
Yes, liveitup! I LOVE Indian food or Mexican food for celebrating. :-)

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:57 am
by liveitup
We've been missing out on Indian. I'll pitch this for next Friday's dinner out.

Today:
B - Pancakes, fruit
L - Thai tofu and veggies, brown rice
D - Burrito, chips

Tomorrow:
B - Cereal, banana
L - ?
D - Artichoke, polenta, veggie patty

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2019 2:33 am
by liveitup
Today:
B - Cereal, banana
L - Thai
D - Polenta, artichoke, veggie patty

Tomorrow:
B - Cereal, banana
L - ?
D - Lentils, veggies, bread

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2019 1:47 am
by liveitup
Today:
B - Cereal, banana
L - Veggie burger, crackers
S - Dried fruit and nuts
D - Lentils, roasted veg, bread

Tomorrow:
B - Cereal, banana
L - Salad
D - Acorn squash Japanese curry

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2019 1:24 am
by liveitup
Tomorrow:
B - Cereal, banana
L - ?
D - Potato bowl

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2019 1:00 am
by liveitup
Today:
B - Oatmeal, fruit, veg
L - Salad, soup, bread
D - Potato bowl

Tomorrow:
B - Oatmeal, fruit
L - ?
D - Leftovers

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2019 1:01 am
by automatedeating
Those lunches are cracking me up. I imagine you thinking, hmmm what have they got downstairs? And sort of waffling about whether it sounds good.

Re: liveitup's check-in

Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 4:59 am
by liveitup
I mean, that's exactly what happens. Especially the waffling about part. It's probably even more waffling than you'd imagine as I scour the lines for something both relatively healthy and not gross. It's the intersection of uncertainty, ennui, and mild surprise. Am I going through something? Maybe it's a sign.

Today:
B - Scone, fruit
L - Beans, rice, chard
S - πŸͺ
D - Tofu noodle soup, rolls

Tomorrow:
B - Cereal, fruit
L - Whatever gruel is produced downstairs (???)
D - Pizza