Naeman's check-in

Counting carbs/calories is a drag. Obsessive scale stepping is a recipe for despair. If you want to count something, "days on habit" is a much better metric. Checking off days on a calendar would do just fine, but if you do it here you get accountability and support. Here's how. Start a new topic in this forum called (say) "Your Name Daily Check In." Then every N day post a "reply" to that topic as to whether you stayed on habit. A simple "<font color="green">SUCCESS</font>" or "<font color="red">FAILURE</font>" (or your preferred euphemism if that's too harsh) is sufficient, but obviously you're welcome to write more if you want. On S-days just register that you're taking an S-day. You don't have to do this forever, just until you're confident you've built the habit. Feel free to check in weekly or monthly or sporadically instead of daily. Feel free also to track other habits besides No-s (I'm keeping this forum under No-s because that's what the vast majority are using it for). See also my <a href="/habitcal/">HabitCal</a> tool for another more formal (and perhaps complementary) way to track habits.

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naeman
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Naeman's check-in

Post by naeman » Tue Nov 08, 2016 8:44 pm

Yesterday was Day 1 - Had a rough day to start. Halloween candy and late night hunger got to me. Started again today, and all is well so far. Will check in again tomorrow.

tobiasmom
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Hey

Post by tobiasmom » Tue Nov 08, 2016 8:53 pm

I just went back to day 1 yesterday too &#128077;&#128077;

I hope you have a good day!
Military wife and homeschool mom of two boys, 15 and 10.
No-S restart 01/08/23
SW: 239

naeman
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Post by naeman » Wed Nov 09, 2016 2:49 pm

Thanks for the encouragement!

Day 2 - also a red day. The sweets got me again. I will say that in the past I've had problems with binging, and whenever I get off of a diet, I tend to binge the worst thinking "it will be okay, the next diet I start will finally work and I can just enjoy myself right now."

I'm thankful that this kind of binge didn't happen last night. I can see No S being a lifestyle that I can stick to for years and years, and it is good that this early failure day didn't make me feel like immediately quitting and trying something new. Also my failure was limited. It wasn't even as bad as the first day, so maybe that's another advantage with No S - with 3 plates as a baseline, I'm not liable to go way overboard when I fail like I used to.

At least I hope so. I hope the third time's the charm.

naeman
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Post by naeman » Thu Nov 10, 2016 4:59 pm

Third time's the charm I guess! Had my first successful N day today. I'm a little nervous about the impending S days, but glad to finally get a win under my belt.

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Merry
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Post by Merry » Fri Nov 11, 2016 3:57 am

naeman wrote:Third time's the charm I guess! Had my first successful N day today. I'm a little nervous about the impending S days, but glad to finally get a win under my belt.
Congratulations! It can be rough sometimes but good for you for sticking with it.
Homeschool Mom and No S returnee as of 11-30-15.
2 years and counting on No-S.
29 lbs. down, 34 to go. Slow and steady wins the race.
Respect Moderation

tobiasmom
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Location: Texas

Thursday

Post by tobiasmom » Fri Nov 11, 2016 5:05 am

Great job on the Green Day &#128077;&#128077;&#128077;
Military wife and homeschool mom of two boys, 15 and 10.
No-S restart 01/08/23
SW: 239

naeman
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Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:45 pm

Post by naeman » Fri Nov 11, 2016 2:05 pm

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. Between the nice replies I've gotten and all of the inspiring stories that I've read on this board, I'm starting to enjoy coming back to post here, even if it wasn't a green day. Luckily, yesterday was a green day!

Thursday SUCCESS

naeman
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Post by naeman » Mon Nov 14, 2016 2:53 pm

I'm not on the computer as much on the weekends, so I didn't post my progress daily. However, I had another green day on Friday, even though we had donuts brought in to work. Then of course there were two S days after that. They were definitely heavy S days; not the kind of eating that would make me feel good if I did it every weekend. But it wasn't outrageous like my binges when I'm not moderating at all, and I hear the S days will get better with time and practice. Excited to start a new week this week, and actually kind of relieved to only be having 3 plates of food today.

I guess this put's me on a 5 day streak, if you count the S-days!

Friday: SUCCESS
Saturday: S DAY
Sunday: S DAY

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Merry
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Post by Merry » Tue Nov 15, 2016 12:48 am

Great start, keep it up! I hope you have an awesome, green week :-)
Homeschool Mom and No S returnee as of 11-30-15.
2 years and counting on No-S.
29 lbs. down, 34 to go. Slow and steady wins the race.
Respect Moderation

naeman
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:45 pm

Post by naeman » Tue Nov 15, 2016 2:42 pm

Thanks for all the encouragement! I hope I do, too.

And I'm off to a decent start.

Monday: SUCCESS

naeman
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Post by naeman » Wed Nov 16, 2016 2:46 pm

Tuesday: SUCCESS

Which puts me at 7 days so far. I haven't really lost any weight yet, but at this point I'm glad to have a plan for how I'm going to eat that's sustainable that at least gives me some measure of control. And then hopefully my S days and even my N day choices will start to change over time. Also glad that I'm feeling good enough about this that even if I have an off day, I don't think I'd give up on the whole concept. I've got my eye on that 21 day club!

naeman
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Post by naeman » Thu Nov 17, 2016 2:09 pm

Wednesday: SUCCESS

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Merry
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Post by Merry » Fri Nov 18, 2016 3:06 am

naeman wrote:Tuesday: SUCCESS

Which puts me at 7 days so far.
Woo-hoo! Great start! You can do the 21!
Homeschool Mom and No S returnee as of 11-30-15.
2 years and counting on No-S.
29 lbs. down, 34 to go. Slow and steady wins the race.
Respect Moderation

naeman
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:45 pm

Post by naeman » Fri Nov 18, 2016 2:33 pm

Thanks! I think I'll make it, too. It's really nice to have felt at least partially in control of my eating in the last 7 days.

Thursday: SUCCESS

I even managed to stay away from the birthday celebrations at work. I'll have to do the same for the donuts today! Something I noticed today is that even though my weight hasn't moved much, I'm starting to get an idea of the kinds of things I eat on my 3 plates that have a lot of calories but that I probably won't miss too much.

I think the book mentioned that one of the benefits is that even if you eat too much at first, it becomes really obvious what that "too much" is made up of.

naeman
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Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:45 pm

Post by naeman » Mon Nov 21, 2016 3:00 pm

My Friday was a success! My S days were a little wild, like I had feared. Saturday was worse because I didn't have much food in the house when I woke up, so I had to go grocery shopping to get food. So I went out to eat and then went grocery shopping, which is what I tend to do. Went way overboard that day. Still pretty bad on Sunday too, but at least there was some structure since I had food to plan 3 meals around.

I know that S day mastery will take some time for me. For now I'm thankful to have most of my issues contained to the weekend. My observations from this weekend are:

1. I may want to try shopping for groceries Friday evening, so I can eat a relatively normal meal as soon as I wake up on Saturday.

2. I may want to focus on buying some sweet treats for myself and incorporating them into meals instead of relying on binge snacking. I do want to break the normal N day rules on the weekend, but I don't want to eat a whole box of crackers in one sitting every weekend....

Friday: SUCCESS
Saturday: S DAY
Sunday: S DAY

debventure
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Location: Florida

Post by debventure » Mon Nov 21, 2016 4:24 pm

Congratulations on your SUCCESS! I think the wild "S" days at the beginning have helped me calm down on both "N" and "S" days. I'm just praying that the program continues to allow me to relax around food and to see it as just food. So far, so good even in all my imperfection.
Started No S as written 11/1/2016

naeman
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Post by naeman » Tue Nov 22, 2016 7:31 pm

Thanks!

Monday: SUCCESS

naeman
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Post by naeman » Wed Nov 23, 2016 9:36 pm

Tuesday: SUCCESS

I'm pleased because when I look at only my N days, I'm starting to see a (slight) downward trend in my weight. I'm starting to get an intellectual idea of how much food I need to eat in a day to feel satisfied and still lose weight. I think the important thing in the future will be to improve on my nutritional decisions on N days and to stick in there until the S days begin to level out. I truly feel that if I can get to the point where, including S days, I lose even a few pounds on this diet, it will be sustainable. Everything after those first few is just going to be a matter of perseverance, and I won't have to worry whether it'll work or not anymore.

Happy that I don't have to feel guilty about Thanksgiving tomorrow! And also happy that I'll have an N day between Thanksgiving and weekend leftovers munching!

Bonus: I'm 2/3 of the way to the 21 club, which would be my first time making it that long.

eschano
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Post by eschano » Thu Nov 24, 2016 12:18 pm

brilliant attitude!
Happy thanksgiving
eschano - Vanilla rocks!

July 2012- January 2016
Started again January 2021

naeman
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Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:45 pm

Post by naeman » Tue Nov 29, 2016 2:29 pm

Thanks!

Updates since last week: Thanksgiving was nice to not feel guilty. Of course I ate way too much, but at least I didn't have to feel horrible because of it. Then I had a good Friday followed by a couple of S days that weren't great. They weren't totally wild S days, though. Maybe 85% of what I normally eat on a bad S day. So things are getting more manageable. I've come out of Thanksgiving a couple of pounds heavier, but with a few more successes under my belt too. Just a few more days to that 21 day club!

WednesdaySUCCESS
Thursday: S Day
Friday: SUCCESS
Saturday: S Day
Sunday: S Day
Monday: SUCCESS

19 days and counting.

Amy3010
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Location: Belgium

Post by Amy3010 » Wed Nov 30, 2016 7:56 am

Well done - hang in there til 21!

naeman
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Post by naeman » Wed Nov 30, 2016 2:55 pm

Still having some heavy N days, so room for improvement there. Just one more day to the club though!

Tuesday: SUCCESS

20 days and counting.

Amy3010
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Location: Belgium

Post by Amy3010 » Thu Dec 01, 2016 7:46 am

And...??? Hoping you made it!

naeman
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Post by naeman » Thu Dec 01, 2016 2:29 pm

Thanks! :D

Wednesday: SUCCESS

21 days and counting!

I'm excited to have it made it longer than I ever did before with No S. I know that I have a lot of work to do within the No S habits, but man it's good to know that the lifestyle is sustainable enough that I don't feel deprived after three weeks of it. If anything, I feel a bit too indulged in some ways!

Thanks everyone for all of your support. I guess my next goal will be the December Challenge!

naeman
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Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:45 pm

Post by naeman » Mon Dec 05, 2016 2:25 pm

Thursday: SUCCESS
Friday: SUCCESS
Saturday: S DAY
Sunday: S DAY

25 days and counting! I can see some signs of S days getting easier. My weekend was not nearly as wild as it usually is.

naeman
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:45 pm

Post by naeman » Tue Dec 06, 2016 2:07 pm

Yesterday was a failure for me. I don't feel too worried about it at the moment. I'm less interested with worrying about why it happened than I am with starting fresh again today.

Monday: FAILURE

naeman
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Post by naeman » Thu Dec 08, 2016 2:18 pm

Woof! Another couple of rough days.

Tuesday: FAILURE
Wednesday: FAILURE

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Merry
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Post by Merry » Fri Dec 09, 2016 2:39 am

Hope you can turn things around and have a green day Friday. Hang in there!
Homeschool Mom and No S returnee as of 11-30-15.
2 years and counting on No-S.
29 lbs. down, 34 to go. Slow and steady wins the race.
Respect Moderation

naeman
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:45 pm

Post by naeman » Tue Jan 03, 2017 2:16 pm

Well I've had a pretty rough holiday season! I fell off the wagon pretty hardcore. But I'm back and ready for another shot. It's more than a bit depressing to come to the end of another year of trying diets heavier than I've ever been in my life. I'm creeping closer to 300 pounds, which just doesn't even sound real to me.\

On a side note, there's a Cadbury chocolate bar in my future that I'm looking forward to eating on Sunday. So this week, I'm doing it for the chocolate!

Here's hoping for a better 2017.

Allisonmeg
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Location: Oak Ridge, North Carolina

Post by Allisonmeg » Tue Jan 03, 2017 2:30 pm

I've really enjoyed reading your blog, you are doing great and I wish you the best this year!! This will be the year for you :D

Bluebell
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Location: Hampshire UK

Post by Bluebell » Tue Jan 03, 2017 3:28 pm

I also fell off the wagon over Christmas, I was a bit dismayed to slip so quickly back into my old habits having made so much progress. However, NoS is the most forgiving diet I know, you just get back on and start again. It feels so much better to be back in control again.
You can do this! All the best for 2017.

naeman
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:45 pm

Post by naeman » Wed Jan 04, 2017 2:54 pm

Thanks for the encouragement everybody! I'm still going strong and still looking forward to that weekend chocolate!

January 1st: S DAY
January 2nd: SUCCESS
January 3rd: SUCCESS

naeman
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:45 pm

Post by naeman » Thu Jan 05, 2017 2:35 pm

January 4: SUCCESS

Another good day! One day closer to chocolate. :D

naeman
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Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:45 pm

Post by naeman » Thu Jan 19, 2017 6:52 pm

Been a bit since I posted! Mostly good days. I've been getting better about not binging on the weekends. I'm going to try to get better about posting here so I can keep track!

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