Everyday Systems

Fed up with how wishy-washy I've been the past few weeks, I feel like I need to up the ante and commit to an accountability check-in thread. With the holiday season in full swing it would just be too easy to slack off even more.

My first goal is making the last three days of November canonical green. Today I have a coffee date with ladies I volunteer with, and book club this evening, which will mean turning down things to eat at both events, and something I struggle with, not because I'm hungry, but because I have a hard time saying no.

I'm hoping that knowing I'll need to check in here tomorrow will help me be strong. Wish me luck!':D'

Yesterday was green! Successfully dodged food offered at afternoon coffee as well as book club in the evening. Finally! Why is it so hard to simply tell people "no thank you"?

Actually the book club ladies were perfectly okay with me declining. In the afternoon, when I didn't take a cookie, someone wanted to know if I was "doing something". Ugh.

Great job! Here's to another Green Day!

Thanks, Tracey!

Tuesday was green, too. Phew! One more green day finish out the month on a roll. Today will be more challenging. But I know I can do it.

Yay! 2 down.... how was Wednesday?

Thanks for stopping by Nettee - Wednesday was green! So glad to have ended the month on a green streak. Now onwards and upwards to a green December!

My first goal is just the next two days, of course. Who knows, maybe I can string together 21? But for now, I'm taking it in small chunks. Seems to work better for me that way.

That's a great goal- I think I'll try for 21 days. I will still plan for the December challenge as well:)

Congratulations on finishing November strong! That's a great foundation to build on. I love that you are giving yourself small goals. Small successes lead to more!

Thank you, Merry and Tracey!

Yesterday was green, which means I have only to focus on getting green today. I am determined. It will mean my first fully green week in a long while.

Stay the course! It's fun to have started this whole thing at the same time!

I'm considering taking today as an extra S day for an event I have tonight, because the desserts are amazing. Maybe I can manage to sneak one out and save it for tomorrow instead!

Friday was green! It's been a long time since I had a fully green week - Fridays are pizza night here at our house and I've always found it hard to not go along with the TGIF feeling and overindulge. But I proved to myself I can do it.

Now it's TGIS...

Congrats on your green week!

Yay! Great job on a green week

Doing great--we're stronger than we realize sometimes!

Linda

Thank you kccc, Merry and Linda!

It was such a relief to have the weekend. It wasn't terribly wild but I definitely enjoyed things I wouldn't normally eat during the week.

I had a night shift Sunday to Monday, and had breakfast there before I came home and then successfully managed to have a green Monday the rest of the day, despite having to do some unforeseen floor stripping in the afternoon. In past days this would have probably prompted me to comfort eat as a "reward" for my hard work, but yesterday I just didn't feel like it. Maybe because I had enough treats on the weekend and was ready to be back to normal? Whatever it was, it did make me happy.

I hope everyone had a good Monday. Onwards and upwards to another green week!

Tuesday = green!

Go, Amy!

I do think "I deserve" eating is one of the hardest to deal with. What worked for me was enlarging my definition of a "treat" to include a lot of non-food things. Flowers. A new book. Indulgent craft supplies. Making time for something just for me. But that's hard to remember in the moment, so give yourself a gold star!

Thank you, kccc!

Yesterday, Wednesday, I took a NWS day... I have yoga class on Wednesday evenings from 7 to 8, and I've been trying different approaches the past few weeks to fit my eating around it. I ate something very light at about 5 so as not to have a full stomach while at yoga, and then I ate something very light again at 8:30 when I got home, which I wasn't really planning on doing, and I didn't really feel like I can count it as green. Any suggestions?

Amy3010 wrote:Thank you, kccc!

Yesterday, Wednesday, I took a NWS day... I have yoga class on Wednesday evenings from 7 to 8, and I've been trying different approaches the past few weeks to fit my eating around it. I ate something very light at about 5 so as not to have a full stomach while at yoga, and then I ate something very light again at 8:30 when I got home, which I wasn't really planning on doing, and I didn't really feel like I can count it as green. Any suggestions?

I think I'd make a dinner plate and eat part before class and part after, if you want to eat before class but don't want to be "full." Sometimes we have to get creative to make things work.

Thanks for that idea, Merry. I think I'll try that next week.

Yesterday was green. I was at loose ends in the evening and felt like "something" but for once successfully ignored the feeling.

Amy3010 wrote: Yesterday was green. I was at loose ends in the evening and felt like "something" but for once successfully ignored the feeling.

Awesome! Have to celebrate these types of successes. Good for you!

Thanks Merry!

Friday = green. Phew!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Great job!
Enjoy your S days!

I like Merry's idea a lot. Let us know how it goes.

I really want to start taking yoga classes. Are you enjoying them?

Linda

Monday = green

I am definitely going to try Merry's suggestion for yoga class tomorrow, I'll let you know how it goes.

Linda, I really am enjoying my yoga class. Even though I can (and do) practice yoga at home - I love the Yoga With Adriene channel on Youtube - the thing I love the most about going and taking a class is that it means for that one hour, you can do nothing else but your yoga. You cannot be interrupted by a phone or a doorbell or a kid. For that one hour it's time for me. And it feels so good after running around all day to lie down on my yoga mat. Ahhhhhh!

Tuesday = red. Boo!

I was so good all day, despite a lot of running around and stress, and not even sharing a cinnamon bun at Ikea with my oldest son...and then after dinner time I started picking at food leftover from dinner... I often fail on evenings when my husband is out of town, and this was no exception. I need to break that habit, because he travels regularly.

Anyway, it's marked and I'm moving on, and determined not to let it color today.

I was just checking in on you! Looks like you are doing pretty great (only one little slip). Keep it up. I'm trying get back on track!!!!

So, I'm taking a NWS day for yesterday again, because of yoga class. I found it very difficult to split up my meal, partly because of what the meal was (veggie burgers on buns with baked beans and potato salad - I couldn't get my mind around eating any of the things separately and I didn't want to eat half a cold burger after class...) so I had a cup of soup before (which in Belgium is considered a beverage - people say "drink soup" instead of "eat soup" here!) but still just was floundering around, picking things from what I was cooking for the kids before I left, and then when I came back, I was quite hungry and had more than just one plate.

I think it would have worked better had I had something that was easier to split up and if needed, reheat (like a salad or a plate of pasta). So when yoga resumes in January, I intend to plan better for this situation.

I think what might work would be to have a light meal at about 5, and include some fruit on my plate, and save the fruit for after yoga class. I really don't like eating a full meal at 8:30 pm.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Boo - red Thursday.

Hi, Amy! Just discovered your check in thread and wanted to say hello! I love Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube.

Yesterday was another red day. I've really been stumbling this week, for various reasons, none of them good ones. I looked at my Habitcal and I am determined to finish out the year with two solid green weeks. There is no reason why I can't do that.

No-S for me, someone who fails regularly, is very much about not throwing in the towel when things aren't going perfectly.

Let's do this and finish December green! I haven't had any huge fails but no perfect days either.

You're doing great Amy but I wouldn't really call Thursday an NWS day. It's more like a mod. There's no way I'd be able to wait till 8:30 to eat either so sounds like a necessary one at that.

So glad you're enjoying your yoga class though. I can't wait to start mine once my gym re-opens! 😊

Have a great weekend!

Linda

Bah humbug - Monday was red. Okay, determined to have the last 9 N days this month green. That will still make it my greenest month in 2016!

You can do it!

Amy3010 wrote:Bah humbug - Monday was red. Okay, determined to have the last 9 N days this month green. That will still make it my greenest month in 2016!

Go for it!

Having a rough week No-S wise, lots of holiday craziness. I don't do well when everything is out of normal routine. I have one small goal for today and that is to have today be green, so I can finish out the week on a positive note.

Thanks for your encouragement along the way!

Hi, Amy. You're not alone in any of your problems, so if there's any nagging thought in there that you are especially weak, banish it! You just haven't practiced the skills yet. It's a skill to either ignore or talk back to reasons to eat between meals. We can't depend on their not cropping up.

I did a ton of things in the beginning but one that stood out in helping was first accepting Judith Beck's idea that every time I gave in to those thoughts, I was making that habit stronger, and that was what had messed me up in times past. I hadn't realized I had always depended on the honeymoon phase when it barely occurred to me to deviate from whatever plan I was using. I knew I had to say not when it was HARD, not just when it was easy. No S is an advantage because there's so much leeway in meals that there's not much you're saying NO to, just when to eat. I often had one really good thing to look forward to in that next meal to want to wait for, that it would taste so much better. AND I wanted to build the habit of saying NO. How could I build it if I didn't have chances?

BTW, were you taking the yoga class before No S? What did you do then?

oolala53 wrote:It's a skill to either ignore or talk back to reasons to eat between meals. We can't depend on their not cropping up.

This is so true!

Oolala, thank you for your thoughts. You're right - every tough moment is a chance to re-route the brain and build a different default response, and so we actually need these experiences to crop up to make it possible to do that. It does help to reframe it that way, I will try to keep it in mind, because next week is going to be just as busy as this one was. Yesterday, thankfully, was green. Phew!

I have been tracking my No-S habits again since June this year, so when I started yoga this fall, I wanted to figure out how to work around it in the framework of the habits, and tried a few different things. I think what worked best for me so far was to have a small meal a few hours before yoga and then a small snack (like an apple and yogurt), that could have fit on my plate earlier, when I get home at 8:30.

Thank you to everyone here on the No-S boards, you are all so wonderfully supportive and generous with your advice! I want to wish everyone a happy Christmas - may we all enjoy the holiday weekend with peace around food!

See you on Monday!

Amy3010 wrote: I think what worked best for me so far was to have a small meal a few hours before yoga and then a small snack (like an apple and yogurt), that could have fit on my plate earlier, when I get home at 8:30.

Sounds like a good solution, I'm glad you found something to work for you on those days!

Sounds like a good plan. I'm starting yoga (finally) next week. Can't wait!

Thanks, Linda and Merry...yoga class starts back up next week so I'll be able to test it out!

I hope everyone had a good Christmas weekend and is now back on track for the week. Yesterday was still a holiday here - my son and I ran the annual Corrida in our town together, which was great fun, and then I relaxed the rest of the day. Now it's time to get back to normal!

Having a good Christmas weekend was PART of being on track...

Well at least I finished the last N day of the year with green. Phew!

Wishing you all a healthy and happy New Year in 2017!

Good job--happy new year!