Jen's 2017 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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Jen1974
Posts: 648
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2016 6:49 pm
Location: Colorado

Jen's 2017 Check-In

Post by Jen1974 » Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:56 pm

My habits weren't quite strong enough for No S to make the holidays what I hoped they would be. I envisioned a very controlled holiday of enjoying all the great food without overdoing it or having any what the hell moments.

I get sucked into thoughts that no food should be off limits so that I never feel like I need to "eat it while I can" in a moment of weakness but allowing a little sweet with meals on N day didn't keep me from overdoing it on the sugar cookies after a stressful Christmas Eve. If anything, I felt like I needed the dessert because I was so used to having a sweet after meals even though I was full from the big steak dinner I had just finished.

I think the worst of my mods, although I didn't know it at the time was using My Fitness Pal. This was a mod I never even wanted to admit. I don't think calorie counting works because it doesn't teach you how to eat, but I seemed to think it would work combined with No S. I thought it was a great way to virtual plate & control my days. This many calories for a N day, this many for an S day. Exercise a little more & add extra calories. That combined with No S I thought would be magic. And while it worked as long as I was super motivated, it backfired when I wasn't. It was easy to be sloppy about habits with calorie counting. Breakfast & lunch were solid but I started allowing myself to graze a little while I made dinner as long as I included it on MFP, but that habit becomes graze fest from 6-8 during weeks where I'm not as focused.

So for 2017 I'm focusing on vanilla No S. I decided New Year, new goals, new check in (:
Last edited by Jen1974 on Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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osoniye
Posts: 1257
Joined: Sat May 22, 2010 2:19 pm
Location: Horn of Africa

Re: Jen's 2017 Check-In

Post by osoniye » Tue Jan 24, 2017 4:30 pm

Jen1974 wrote:My solid habits of 3 meals a day & no snacking kept it much more tame than in the past, but I didn't like that my old bad habits of overdoing seconds & sweets crept back in so easily again.
You know, that's progress! I hope the next holiday season will be even more moderate for you!
-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".
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