Everyday Systems

Day 1: Monday
SUCCESS

1st day went well - no funny business. (Although is a hamburger a case of vertical stacking?)

Reizen

You can't argue with SUCCESS. Good start.

Thanks!

Day 2: Tuesday

SUCCESS

No funny business.

Enjoyed my meals, but felt kind of ravenous the hour before them.

Still deciding on how I feel about alcohol on N days.

Day 3 Wednesday: success
In lower case because borderline - but I will take it. 3 meals, no seconds, no sweets, no snacks while on business travel is a victory - even if some of those portions were a bit big.

Day 4 Thursday: SUCCESS no funny business - while traveling - definitely a victory. I'll let slide the chai at the airport I had instead of any alcohol.

Day5: Friday Failure

I thought Friday nights might pose a problem and they did. We typically have a multicourse meal Friday nights and it's one of two "dessert nights" in my house. So I went crazy (lots and lots of bread, lots and lots of pasta, icecream, alcohol, half a bag of chocolates) I did promise myself vanilla no-s - but in a few weeks I will have to work out a way to deal with Friday nights, where we have a family meal and my willpower is at the lowest. Rest of the day was ok. I am cautious about restricting too much this weekend because it will mess with my willpower next week. But I will make Sunday night an N-night to compensate. I think eventually I will need to adjust to the Friday night to Sunday afternoon S-plan.

(although I think even on S-days where I am cautious, I will eat a sweet of some variety to make sure it is registered as an s-day.)

You've had a good first week. The chai was fine by the way.

I know there are other people who move their S days to Friday and Saturday, instead of Saturday and Sunday - for similar reasons. As long as you make a rule and stick to it, it should be possible to establish a robust habit.

thanks raw cookie. What are the beverage rules? Chais and lattes are sweet and 200 plus calories - which makes me wary of them as a hidden snack.

Day 6: Saturday s-day
ate quite a lot....

reizen wrote:thanks raw cookie. What are the beverage rules? Chais and lattes are sweet and 200 plus calories - which makes me wary of them as a hidden snack.

Day 6: Saturday s-day
ate quite a lot....

Congrats on your first week! don't worry about S-day eating...that's normal, especially to start. It will even out after awhile (though you'll still have off days now and then).

For me, I consider lattes, mochas etc... a dessert. They have way too much sugar in them to be just a "coffee." Coffee with a spoon or two of sugar is okay though.

Thanks Merry!

Day 7: Sunday s-day
Almost exactly like an N day for me - with a small sweet to make sure I didn't try to negotiate another s-day later in the week.

As for the lattes - it seems to me like in the original diet, a small daily treat (drug) was left in the program - even on n-days. In the author's case it was alcohol. For me, I may just decide to have a soy latte or alcohol - feels like a very similar rationale and about the same number of calories. We'll see. Cutting down on lattes (not the giant, sweetened kind - mind you) is probably good for the wallet though.

Day 8: Monday success

Pretty good N-day - some funny business at dinner with soup and bread, (soup is always a tough one). But it all theoretically could have fitted on a plate. I will aim for a little more strictness in these first 21 days.

Weigh-in was a little disappointing I had gone down a lot of pounds during the week only to gain most of it back on the s days. As I am packing some vacation weight I want to get that off fast before I settle into the slow and steady habit. I know, I know.

Hopefully you'll see the scale go down again on Tuesday and Wednesday. My weight always goes up 2-3lbs after a weekend, but over time, the highest weight, on Monday morning, is now lower than the lowest weight was before - so the overall trend is downwards. Try not to panic.

Thanks rawcookie,

I definitely get it - and I am in for the long haul. But I have a habit of gaining rapidly while traveling (15lbs in 3 weeks!) but then being able to lose it just as fast again to get to my usual weight. I am in that phase at the moment - I kind of want to get speedily to my usual weight - and then I would be more than happy with a long half pound a week run to get to my goal. (I just don't want to add an extra 30 weeks to that to take off that holiday weight.)

Day 9 Tuesday: Success

A couple of plates on the large side.

Day 10: Wednesday Success

Despite not being able to eat dinner until 9:30pm and being tempted by pizza in between.

reizen wrote:Day 10: Wednesday Success

Despite not being able to eat dinner until 9:30pm and being tempted by pizza in between.

WAHOOO! Good for you!

Thanks Merry

Day 11: Thursday Success

Ate a few tiny, tiny breath mints while stuck in a 90 minute traffic jam - but I will let that pass.

Friday coming up...

Day 11: success
A big dinner - but victory for a Friday.
Day 12: Saturday: S day
Day 13: Sunday S day

Day 14: Monday: S-Day
Was sick - so took an S day.

Day 15 Tuesday Success

Day 16: Wednesday: Success

Really wanted a chocolate binge last night - but resisted.

reizen wrote:Day 16: Wednesday: Success

Really wanted a chocolate binge last night - but resisted.

Good for you! Enjoy some chocolate this weekend

Day 17: Thursday FailSuccess

Have to give this a fail - because of the giant green tea latte that I had in the afternoon that at 300+ calories I could just not justify as not a snack and not a sweet.

However, I have to give myself a success - because I resisted my typical urge to "what the hell" it and have a binge-fest after failing. That is progress!

Day 18 Friday: Fail
Day 19, 20, 21: Saturday-Monday S-days
Day 22: Tuesday Success

reizen wrote:Day 17: Thursday FailSuccess

Have to give this a fail - because of the giant green tea latte that I had in the afternoon that at 300+ calories I could just not justify as not a snack and not a sweet.

However, I have to give myself a success - because I resisted my typical urge to "what the hell" it and have a binge-fest after failing. That is progress!

I like your accounting system - good work!

Thanks Rawcookie!

Day 23: Wednesday Success
Day 24: Thursday Fail

Early evening work function when at my hungriest - didn't stand a chance - had a bunch of snacks and cake prior to dinner.

Andrew

Ok - fell off the wagon.

Let's start again. This time I will give myself little goals to help not feel overwhelmed with the bigger goal.

Overall goal is -35, interim goal is -2.

Method is, day in day out concentrate on habit. N days.

Don't give up! I had a fail day yesterday which started as a single portion of brownie and turned into a bit of a 'what the hell' spiral. But it's about keeping on making gains over time. We'll get there! You can do it.