Noel'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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Noel's Check In

Post by NoelFigart » Mon Apr 10, 2017 2:27 pm

Honestly, I'd been doing fine and not thinking too much about No-S, just kind of DOING it for a long time when I got slapped out of nowhere by Life.

I became a grandmother (YA!) back at the end of last October then almost four months later, well, she died. I'm not going into details just because I don't really want to focus on it (anyone dealing with a loss can understand that one, I am sure).

I'm back to make sure I keep to my good habits for a bit. In the midst of a crisis, I am often quite good about keeping to my habits, but afterwards? That's when I am at risk of collapsing. It's been close to eight weeks now, and about the time when I may start falling apart. Hence the tracking.

Last week was actually pretty good. No-S was fine, no red days. One day of a plate of junk food that wasn't sweet for lunch. Still, "real" food like veggies and fruit and fresh things I actually need to cook are better.

My S-days were a bit more extreme on the sweets than usual. A slice of cake on Saturday, and French toast for breakfast and a slice of cake on Sunday. Usually I only have one S event on a weekend, though that's not planned. It just... happens that way Because Habit, you know? Unless we're socializing a lot or something.

I'm... not drinking at all. I'm scared to. I went from wondering if I were developing a bad alcohol problem several years ago to a drink or two a week, and well... I don't want to go back there.

I'm not swimming, either. I can't bring myself to spend an hour or so a day face down in the pool with nothing to distract me from my thoughts right now. Instead of Urban Ranger, I'm wearing a fitness tracker and being sure to get in over 10,000 steps a day. It's as much as I am up for.

Anyway, that's where I am at, and I am trying to make sure my habits stay good.
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Post by Losingthediets » Mon Apr 10, 2017 3:28 pm

Good luck to you! :D I'm sure you'll do well.

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Post by Larkspur » Mon Apr 10, 2017 6:56 pm

Looking forward to hearing from you :)

Cool blog.

I was very sorry to read of your loss.

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Post by noni » Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:05 pm

So sorry for your loss, Noel.

We hope you will post - we'd love to hear from you again!
"Never go back for seconds. Get it all the first time." - Garfield

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Post by NoelFigart » Tue Apr 11, 2017 12:03 pm

Thanks guys. I appreciate your kindness.

Monday

No-S

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, 2 slices of bacon, 1/2 apple, coffee
Lunch: salad with chicken, cucumbers, celery, dried cranberries and walnuts with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing.
Dinner: Chicken stir fry with broccoli, red pepper, carrots, onions, garlic, ginger and rice.

Steps: 12,816

My goal for steps had been 10815 yesterday. But it was a nice day, and my husband and I went for a walk after dinner, bumping up my steps way above what I intended.

I bought a treadmill because I haven't wanted to leave the house much and had been pacing around the house to get my steps in. Dorky, but goodness knows I am moving. Mostly what I do is listen to an audiobook and do the treadmill for 30-45 minutes in the mornings, then when I take a break from work, walk a bit and listen to an audiobook or short podcast. It adds up.
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Post by Larkspur » Tue Apr 11, 2017 6:40 pm

Awesome day, awesome step count.

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Post by NoelFigart » Wed Apr 12, 2017 12:45 pm

Tuesday

No-S

Breakfast: Steel cut oats with sunflower seeds, dried blueberries and chopped walnuts
Lunch: Bento with meatballs, cherry tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, grapes and onigiri
Dinner: Pork loin with baked potato and broccoli

Steps: 11,636
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Post by NoelFigart » Thu Apr 13, 2017 3:32 pm

Wednesday

No-S

Breakfast: Bacon, eggs and apple
Lunch: Bento with ham and cheese wraps, orange bell peppers, cherry tomates and an apple.
Dinner: Pasta and spaghetti sauce

Steps: 11,962

Today is an S day. Well, an S event. I don't socialize a lot, so for me Socializing is very much an S. I had coffee with a friend and made coffee cake muffins. I had ONE. I had a nice breakfast, and will have a normal day today with a salad for lunch and soup for dinner.

FWIW, I love The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook. You can make single or double-serving treats and you're never really tempted to over-indulge and still get to have fresh-baked treats.
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Post by RAWCOOKIE » Thu Apr 13, 2017 7:23 pm

Well done, Noel, for taking care of yourself like this.
hugs xxx
I love Everyday Systems :3

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Post by Larkspur » Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:08 pm

Sounds like a lovely food day. Kudos on those steps.

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Post by NoelFigart » Fri Apr 14, 2017 10:56 am

Thursday:

No-S

Breakfast: Steel cut oats, dried blueberries, sunflower seeds and walnuts
Morning coffee: Coffee and a coffee cake muffin
Lunch: Chef's Salad
Dinner: White chili


Steps: 11307
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Post by NoelFigart » Sat Apr 15, 2017 11:45 am

Friday:

No-S

Breakfast: Bacon and eggs, coffee
Lunch: Bento with pork loin, sliced apples, sliced red peppers and onigiri
Dinner: Pizza

Steps: 11,237
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Post by NoelFigart » Sun Apr 16, 2017 12:50 pm

Saturday:

No-S

Breakfast: 2 coffee cake muffins, coffee
Lunch: Omelette
Dinner: Spaghetti
Snacks: Tortilla, handful of sunflower seeds, ham wrap


Steps: 12,633

Memo to me: The muffins were great, but sweets and a lot of coffee and no protein is bad if you're going to take a long walk several hours later right BEFORE your lunch. You'll get dizzy. You know that.
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Post by Whosonfirst » Sun Apr 16, 2017 1:45 pm

NoelFigart wrote:Saturday:

No-S

Breakfast: 2 coffee cake muffins, coffee
Lunch: Omelette
Dinner: Spaghetti
Snacks: Tortilla, handful of sunflower seeds, ham wrap


Steps: 12,633

Memo to me: The muffins were great, but sweets and a lot of coffee and no protein is bad if you're going to take a long walk several hours later right BEFORE your lunch. You'll get dizzy. You know that.
Noel, Your step counts are impressive. May I ask what device your using to track them? btw, we grew up in Lebanon, Pa and see your home is Lebanon, N.H. Thanks, Trace
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Current weight(9/2020)-212 lbs.
Goal Weight- 205 lbs.
NoS Goal: >= 80% Success days

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Post by NoelFigart » Sun Apr 16, 2017 1:53 pm

Garmin Vivofit. I have a Garmin swim watch, so it's a way to track swimming and other things, so I am in the Garmin ecosystem pretty heavily. It's really a basic thing, tracking steps and sleep, but not much else. If you want a fitness device that tracks heart rate and things like that, there are other fitness trackers on the market that do that.

I do know step counters worn on the waistband are more accurate than those worn on the wrist, but I often do not wear clothing that has a waistband. Hence the wrist model. I figure that's good enough, ya know?
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Post by NoelFigart » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:57 am

Sunday

No-S

It was a holiday. I paid utterly no attention to when where or how I was eating. And yeah, totally had a lot of chocolate.

Steps: 11,737
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Post by NoelFigart » Tue Apr 18, 2017 11:52 am

Monday:

No-S

Breakfast: Bacon, Eggs, grapes
Lunch: Ham, left-over macaroni and cheese, strawberries, broccoli and cucumbers.
Dinner: Beef Stew, Salad

Snack after dinner: Bread and butter.

This is where I must avoid the "What the hell" effect. (Link is to Reinhard's podcast about it).


Steps: 13,191
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Post by Larkspur » Wed Apr 19, 2017 5:10 pm

Great steps, nice meals. How did the rest of the day go?

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Post by NoelFigart » Wed Apr 19, 2017 7:54 pm

The snack was it. I was more worried about the next day.

Oh yesterday?

Tuesday
NO-S

I don't remember what I ate yesterday, but I did have three meals, I didn't snack or have seconds. I think I had porridge for breakfast, some sort of chicken and onigiri bento and steak for dinner... Yeah, that's about right.


Steps: 11,499


I had dental work today, and I'm quite scared of the dentist. On top of that, I've been having some on-going work, so he's been seeing me at regular intervals and asked about my granddaughter. I was able to tell him what happened, but then when we got to the part where I had to have a shot, I burst into tears. *snarl* I hate that shit. I feel terrible, he feels terrible about prompting it. It's a damn downer all around, and the man specializes in people with dental phobia and is really gentle, so I know he prides himself in giving as comfortable an experience as possible. It's one of those things where everyone feels terrible, and no-one did anything wrong, ya know?

I came home and took a nap then got up and listened to an audiobook and walked on the treadmill. I woulda knit, but I didn't have anything on the needles and I was too stressed to cast on what I wanted to make.

I suppose Terry Pratchett and a walk is hardly the worst way to react to feeling bad, huh?
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Post by Larkspur » Thu Apr 20, 2017 12:37 am

Dental work is upsetting. I know as a grown up I always feel it shouldn't worry me so much, but it does. So I think you get a huge atta girl for going and doing that difficult thing and, as you say, it's nothing you or he could have anticipated. Sounds like Terry Pratchett and walking was a great response to a rough day.

I've been getting big giggles out of the Mystery Science Theater reboot. I also get a kick out of The Onion.

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Post by NoelFigart » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:57 pm

Wednesday:

No-S

Breakfast: Porridge, dried blueberries, walnuts, sunflower seeds
Lunch: Bento with two minibagels and mini cheeseburgers, broccoli florets, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and sliced strawberries
Dinner: One bowl of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish. Yes, yes, I see you making a face and asking, "How can this not be cheating?" Wasn't a sweet. Wasn't a snack. (Had it at dinnertime for dinner) Wasn't a second. I had one bowl. Do I do this often? No. Do I think it is a great idea to do often? I do not. It's not in the least healthy to do often. But what it did do was keep me from binging on a bunch of junk food because I was stressed out.

Steps: 11,347
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Post by NoelFigart » Fri Apr 21, 2017 12:33 pm

Thursday:

No-S
Breakfast: Bacon, eggs, apple, and coffee
Lunch: Cranberry, apples, celery and walnuts on a greens bed with chicken and raspberry vinaigrette dressing.
Dinner: Ham, Macaroni, broccoli

Steps: 11,375
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Post by Larkspur » Fri Apr 21, 2017 12:58 pm

Your meals sound so nice :)

Wishing you a good spring Friday.

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Post by NoelFigart » Mon Apr 24, 2017 1:32 pm

Friday:

No-S I don't remember what I ate.

Steps: 11,453

Saturday:

No-S

Steps: 11,417

Sunday:

No-S

Steps: 11,704
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Post by Larkspur » Mon Apr 24, 2017 3:32 pm

Awesome steps.

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Post by osoniye » Mon Oct 30, 2017 4:42 am

Hi Noel- I know you sometimes pop back in for the holidays. Hope to see you around here soon!
-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

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Post by NoelFigart » Mon Oct 30, 2017 10:52 am

Hey.

As a matter of fact, I am not doing at all well on the No-S thing and I am taking this as a Sign to get my stuff together. (THanks!)

I am a computer applications instructor, among other things, and have taken a contract to teach an electronic medical records system to a bunch of people who don't seem too happy about the change.

I am living in a hotel, working a lot of hours and for go-lives like this, there is always a lot of food around all the damn time. It is mind-bendingly stressful (as anyone in the software industry knows, big hospital go-lives are intense) and so there's a lot of stress eating going on.

However, I have an electric griddle in my room, so I can cook decent meals.

So, as I've had a proper breakfast this morning, perhaps it would be useful to be back on No-S.
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Post by NoelFigart » Tue Oct 31, 2017 1:14 pm

Monday

No-S
Breakfast: Two sausage links and two eggs
Lunch: Roast beef sandwich with lettuce and tomato, yogurt, chips
Dinner: Pasta with meat sauce

Steps
5313 Damn Pathetic

Glass Ceiling

One G&T
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Post by Larkspur » Thu Nov 02, 2017 12:20 am

Love your blog. It inspired me to attempt a bullet journal :)

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Post by osoniye » Fri Nov 03, 2017 11:02 am

NoelFigart wrote:However, I have an electric griddle in my room, so I can cook decent meals.
Good to see you. Great that you can fend for yourself. I'm sure with your long history of successful no-S-ing, you'll slip right back in.
-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

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Post by Merry » Sat Nov 04, 2017 7:02 am

Good to see you here again!
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.
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