Everyday Systems

So this is round... maybe three or four of NoS. Every good habit takes time right?

Anyway my plan is:
- Vanilla NoS
- Manage Christmas/New Year festivities by aiming for 'S meals' on extra special days rather than 'S days'
- No alcohol during the week/on non special occasion days
- Work back up to gym or yoga at least 3 days a week

Funny stuff:
I'm not going for any mods but there are a few things I might do differently from others. I have to keep an eye on my cholesterol so I do have a cholesterol yoghurt drink daily but I'm not counting that as food. I also aim to have 10-15 plain unsalted almonds per day as it supports healthy fats but will try and eat those with lunch so they can be part of my plate.

I don't generally include drinks - I generally drink unsweetened teas, water or sugar free drinks. If I go for a coffee it'll be a sweet if it includes sugary syrups, and any other drinks like milkshakes or full sugar pop etc. would be a sweet.


8/12/17 - S meal
- No breakfast
- Chicken fajita rice box for lunch (didn't finish it) + handful of almonds
- Dinner will be a 5 course meal out for my husband's work Christmas party! I plan to enjoy myself but be mindful of how full I am

Sounds great. Good luck

Thanks gingerpie!

9/12/17 - S day

Breakfast - bacon roll
Lunch - courgette pancakes, cannoli
Snack - strawberry doughnut
Dinner - will be mezze at a lebanese restaurant

Not too bad today, no perma-snacking or gorging, although we'll see how dinner goes!

10/12/17 - S day

Breakfast - porridge
Lunch - chicken tikka wraps, 1/4 salted caramel brownie
Dinner - swedish meatballs
Snacks - crisps, a chocolate bar, orange latte

A little more snacky after dinner than was necessary to be honest, but hey it's an S day, I can worry about those later.

First N day tomorrow, eek!

11/12/17 - Success

Breakfast - porridge
Lunch - couscous & chicken, yoghurt, raspberries
Dinner - chicken burger & fries

A large and early dinner as out with a friend - but all one plate, no dessert and didn't even finish it. Lunch was slightly eyeballed with the fruit and yoghurt on the side.

Not too bad for the first day, I've felt some pangs of hunger but only minor and passing quickly.

Sounds like you're doing really well Millie!

I like your controlled eating of nuts. They can be so tricky when used as a snack, but having a few as part of a meal is a great idea. They are so healthy when we don't overeat them!

Hope your day is going well.

12/12/17 - success

Breakfast - porridge
Lunch - cous cous & mackerel, almonds
Dinner - beef bulgogi and rice

Funny stuff: was in a rush at lunchtime to get to a meeting so ended up eating my nuts in the afternoon. They were a planned part of my meal though so counting it as a form of virtual plating

Yay! Sounds like a good day to me

It was, thanks Merry!

13/12/17 - success

Breakfast - porridge
Lunch - sandwich, crisps and fruit
Dinner, steak pie, chips and salad

Somewhat larger plates than normal today but still 3 plates - went to the cinema in the evening and resisted popcorn or sugary drinks.

14/12/17 - NWS

I've got a work training day with buffet followed by a Christmas meal out. I'm going to stick to one plate for lunch (may have to virtual plate if we get those tiny buffet plates!) but dinner is 3 courses that I've already chosen so going to enjoy that I'm expecting there will be multiple snacks and treats as well, going to take the approach of assessing whether they are really worth it but I may have some if they look extra tasty!

Good luck with your busy day, Milly. Sounds like you've worked out a good strategy! Have fun.

15/12/17 -Success

Quite pleased about this in the context of a slight hangover, working from home and then a work emergency in the evening. Stuck to three plates and no sweets, albeit not the healthiest plates in the world - I think I'll start on that side of things more once I hit a 21 day habit streak!

Breakfast - porridge
Lunch - sausage and apple roll, chicken mayo baguette
Dinner - fish, chips and mushy peas

16/12/17 & 17/12/17 - S days

I didn't snack an awful lot on the weekend but did have some rather large meals (including desserts). I'm finding it almost strange how the snacking habit seems to have been fairly easy to break so far. It makes me think of all those times I reached for a snack and just didn't need to! I can't remember all of Saturday's food but yesterday I had:

Breakfast - amaretti muffin and coffee
Lunch - lamb roast dinner, sticky toffee pudding, 2 glasses of wine
Snack - small bar of chocolate
Dinner - chicken, green beans and potato

18/12/17 - success

Breakfast - porridge
Lunch - soup, a roll, baked crisps and blueberries
Dinner - hoisin chicken and veg stir fry

I think I chose the right desk to work at today, the office next door had a huge spread of mince pies, chocolates and biscuits but I didn't notice until I was leaving for the day and wasn't tempted at all

19/12/17 - success

Breakfast - porridge
Lunch - soup and a roll, almonds
Dinner - chicken jalfrezi

Funny stuff - was too busy in work to eat the almonds so ate them when I got home. I was really hungry in the evening, don't think I ate enough during the day but managed to avoid snacking.

20/12/17 - success

Breakfast - porridge & raspberries
Lunch - ham hock baguette, fruit, yoghurt cranberries
Dinner - bbq chicken, plaintain, peas and rice

A large dinner tonight but stuck to one plateful!

21/12/17 - Failure

My first fail of the season Not a huge one, I was just so HUNGRY yesterday, from about 10am I felt starving, and had to try self-talking myself pretty much all day not to stuff my face with cakes and chocolate. I guess I didn't have a large enough lunch to stave it off as I caved in the afternoon.

Breakfast - porridge
Lunch - leftover chicken and rice
Dinner - grilled chicken, veg and mash

Snack - jaffa cakes

Well back on the horse today hopefully, although I'm out for some festive drinks this afternoon so we'll see if I can stick to good choices!

I honestly don't think our hunger follows what we ate at the last meal, though there is some research that shows that replacing some dense foods (protein/starch/fat) with higher volume foods like freggies at a meal leads to greater satiety at the NEXT meal. The body responds to all kinds of conditions with greater or less hunger. I have seen patterns and exceptions to the patterns many times over the years. I can be going without a hitch for days and then suddenly the same meals and situations will be followed by lots of food thoughts. It really takes multiple experiences to see a pattern, and even then, eventually, the adjustments are going to be minor, if at all.

I know in the beginning, it's typical to want to see the big picture in all its glory, but it's rare for that to happen. Just know you're doing very well with getting some of the pieces either in place or close to each other!

Happy 2018 to everyone!

So Friday 22nd December was a success and then the rest of December was either S days or fails I was fairly mindful of what I was eating, at least until 27th December when I started feeling really under the weather and used it as an excuse to eat the world.

Oh well!

1/1/18 - failure

I debated taking this as a NWS but planned not to, however then decided to eat a really delicious dessert I had leftover from the weekend. No regrets, it was worth it, yum! At least the majority of my 'holiday food' is gone now

2/1/18 - success

Breakfast - porridge and blueberries
Lunch - lentil and kale soup, half a chicken and avocado sandwich
Dinner - chicken jalfrezi and 2 satsumas

I'm assuming the "half" you wrote meant half a sandwich and not a sandwich made from half a chicken.

You restarted at a kind of risky time of year, so onwards from the minefield!

oolala53 wrote:I'm assuming the "half" you wrote meant half a sandwich and not a sandwich made from half a chicken.

You restarted at a kind of risky time of year, so onwards from the minefield!

yes a half sandwich, not sure how much chicken ended up in there! I knew starting noS in December was going to be tough, but I was super pleased with the amount of green days I had when in the past I would have already been in festive eating mode!

3/1/18 success

Breakfast - porridge and blueberries
Lunch - salmon and egg sandwich, nuts, yoghurt
Dinner - fish, veggies and sweet potato mash

4/1/18 - success

Breakfast - porridge and blueberries
Lunch - katsu curry, yoghurt
Dinner - spinach and paneer wrap, masala fries, onion bhaji

Not the healthiest dinner but one savoury plateful so I'll take it!

millem! Funny how you thought that dinner wasn't healthy; I had been looking at a couple days of your meals and thinking you are a very healthy eater! I was curious if you've always been like that or if you've made changes?

Hope tomorrow is great!

Oh thanks, when I cook at home, or grab lunches, I am often a fairly healthy eater - I learned a bunch of healthy 'go to' meals when I was calorie counting, and I order home cook boxes where I aim for the healthier meals (they provide nutrition information when you order). I'm not calorie counting while NoS-ing (kind of defeats the point!) but some of the things I know about food, portions and calories are quite ingrained now.

Last night's dinner was takeaway though and more carby/fried than I would often eat. Although I didn't even finish my plateful, I definitely felt over full afterwards and am suffering a bit this morning from bloating and a sore stomach It's definitely a learning point that I need to balance my plate with more veggies and other foods to feel good!

I am kind of the same way, millem. I know exactly what you mean about the wrap and two fried things at one meal. I feel a little sad sometimes when I go to an Indian restaurant because I know I will feel rotten if I eat all the fantastic starches, not to mention the rest of it, AND raita, AND gulab jamon. Those were the days. But I don't want them back, unless I could do it and not feel stuffed. I think those days are over, too.

oolala53 wrote:I am kind of the same way, millem. I know exactly what you mean about the wrap and two fried things at one meal. I feel a little sad sometimes when I go to an Indian restaurant because I know I will feel rotten if I eat all the fantastic starches, not to mention the rest of it, AND raita, AND gulab jamon. Those were the days. But I don't want them back, unless I could do it and not feel stuffed. I think those days are over, too.

I've become slightly obsessed with saag paneer (the spinach and paneer dish) so I love having that as my side dish at an Indian restaurant and then just have either a naan or rice (not both) and a fish or chicken curry main. Feels a bit more balanced if not exactly healthy!

I can't resist a poppadom and mango chutney though

6/1/17 - Success


Phew, I always find Friday's tough as after work relaxing often equals food for me (or it used to). I had a couple of evening alcoholic drinks but stuck to the plan.

Breakfast - english muffin with peanut butter
Lunch - pulled chicken, rice and beans, soya yoghurt
Dinner - ginger soy beef with rice

Are saag paneer and palak paneer the same thing? I know I've had palak paneer many times and LOVE it. I think of it/therm as main dishes, I guess because of the panir. I've never made it, but I've bought some darn good commercial versions that I use lightly as my flavorings/sauce for my plain other food. I make it last! (I sometimes add cottage cheese to it. Less meat these days, but it's an option.) And filling up on the sauce alone leaves me feeling way too full later. I do the same with the leftovers from a restaurant. I wish I could find someone who wanted to go eat Indian more often so we can share and have more variety. I do have a friend coming in a couple of weeks and we will partake!

I take an informal Indian cooking class once a month or so. Our teacher refuses to recommend any restaurants. She says they use way more fat- ghee and cream- than the traditional cooks do. I guess restaurants do the same everywhere. But I'm not giving up Indian restaurants! (BTW, she has lost a lot of weight since we started the classes last spring. I don't know what she was eating before. She makes a few comments in class that make me think she's on a diet, but she doesn't push it. I like the class but some of the other students drive me a little crazy talking about whether foods are healthy or not. I don't wanna hear it! I don't go to an Indian cooking class for that! Let's just eat the food and enjoy it. If THEY can't enjoy it, don't spoil the experience for everyone else.)

I'm sure most restaurants use way more butter, cream, fats and salt than we ever would at home - that's what makes them so tasty!

6/1/18 - S day

Breakfast - beef bulgogi panini
Lunch - frittata, half a brownie
Snack - mint chocolate bar
Dinner - scallops, pork chop, creme brulee

We were out for a special meal and a stay in a hotel last night and I took full advantage - drank a LOT of wine/bubbly/cocktails etc as well so feeling a little delicate today...

7/1/18 - S day

Breakfast - toast, yoghurt, bacon and eggs
Lunch - salmon and veggies, cinnamon bun
Snack - chocolate bar
Dinner - chicken and veggies in broth

It's an S day and I have a hangover so can't promise there won't be more snacks than that, but this is the plan so far!

Sunday turned out to be a bit of a bust, i ended up having some popcorn at the cinema and then my husband managed to slice his thumb half off chopping parsley so we were in A&E for a couple of hours waiting for them to check it out! Given that he had been chopping our lovely healthy dinner we ended up stopping for McDonald's at about 10pm on the way home It was an S day so eh, but not what I planned.

8/1/18 - success

Breakfast - porridge and blueberries
Lunch - soup, a bagel and soy yoghurt
Dinner - Tahini chicken bowl

9/1/18 - success

Breakfast - porridge and blueberries
Lunch - soup, a bagel and soy yoghurt
Dinner - satay chicken and rice

Wow, Milliem, sounds like you had quite a day on Sunday. Not surprised you ended up at MacDonalds. Very forgivable in the circumstances! And it was an S day! Hope your husband is OK. It’s great that you got straight back on track!

I believe you can still eat reasonably at McDonalds. Not that they WANT you to.

Thanks both - he's fine just a super deep cut to his thumb so he's banned from chopping for the time being!

I actually chose fairly well at McDonald's - just a cheeseburger and regular fries. Nothing extravagant!

Realistic N day choice. One meal out of 1,100 a year- give or take a few.

10/1/18 - success

Breakfast - porridge and raspberries
Lunch - salmon, leftover quinoa salad, crisps
Dinner - cheeseburger and fries

11/1/18 - success

Breakfast - porridge and raspberries
Lunch - korean beef and rice, yoghurt
Dinner - stir fry

Two successes but a bit disappointed with yesterday - was absolutely knackered after work so got a delivery instead of cooking, and not a healthy choice. One plate and no sweets though which is good, usually whenever I get food from that place I order a large (delicious) ice cream milkshake. I resisted the temptation! It's weird to be 'ok' with fast food on an N day but hey, it's part of the process.

Feeling pretty hungry now so I'll probably have a camomile tea before bed.

absolutely fast food was part of my N Day process, for close to 4 years!
So hang in there and let the changes sort themselves out with time.

me, too, until I found a really compelling reason to change. But I wouldn't recommend adopting someone else's reason.

Besides, even now, given the right situation, I'd easily have the equivalent of what you had, though it's more likely to be Mexican.

In a way it's quite freeing to know that actually as long as it's not dessert I can put whatever I like on my plate on an N day and am still maintaining my habits. I like fast food sometimes, it can be satisfying and tasty. But I know that if I eat fast food too often:

a) I won't feel good
b) I won't lose weight

While NoS is about sane, healthy habits ultimately most of us are here either to lose weight or avoid gaining weight right? I know I am! That's what it's for!

So one of my goals is to reduce the amount that fast food (particularly the kind that involves large amounts of fat and carbs) appears on my plate no matter what the day. I'm still building the habits though so sometimes it's whatever helps me make it through an N day

12/1/18 - success

Breakfast - toasted teacake, coffee
Lunch - salmon and cream cheese sandwich, crisps
Dinner - pork, veggies and roast potatoes

I had my Friday 'treat' of two alcoholic drinks in the evening, gives me something to look forward do as I relax after work that doesn't break the habits. I should probably work towards having slightly less sweet drinks but that's a goal for after I've got the main habits down.

Definitely chalking up a win for the accountability of posting here, I was contemplating ordering a curry last night but the thought of writing here that I'd had some kind of takeaway three times within a week made me rethink

Happy S Days!!

Are you afraid WE would judge you for eating take away that often? Did you make some kind of mod for that that I never read?

Green is green!

Green is green indeed! I just know what my body is like, and too many takeaways will limit if not completely stall any weight loss, which can lead to feeling demotivated. That said it's a work in progress, I can start setting goals about what goes on my plate when I have the habits more ingrained.

13/1/18 & 14/1/18 - S days

Despite the above I managed to eat a lot of takeaway food on the weekend - mostly due to accidentally setting my oven on fire and breaking it So fairly hefty S days but I'm aware it's part of the process.

15/1/18 - Success

Breakfast - porridge
Lunch - chicken and stuffing sandwich, boiled egg, edamame beans
Dinner - pork and sage meatballs

16/1/18 - Success

Breakfast - porridge and dried fruit
Lunch - pea and ham soup, roll, fruit
Dinner - paellla, roasted veg crisps

I'm trying to be better at plating rather than virtual plating as I think I've been eating too much at lunch. I'd rather a slightly overstuffed plate than a fail though at this stage!

Set the oven on fire, huh? Some people will do anything to get out of cooking...

oolala53 wrote:Set the oven on fire, huh? Some people will do anything to get out of cooking...

I don't need much of an excuse to order in

17/1/18 - Success

Breakfast - porridge and dried fruit
Lunch - pea and ham soup, roll, fruit
Dinner - sausage, mash and veggies

Determined to make my 21 day stretch - only 3 more N days to go after today!

18/1/18 - Success

Breakfast - porridge and dried fruit
Lunch - thai red curry and rice 'pot', melon
Dinner - 6" subway roll, crisps

I ate really late (for me) last night due to going to the cinema after work. I wasn't actually that hungry when I got home and would probably have been just find with just the sub and not the crisps but I ate them because well, they fit on my plate and I 'could'... and they are tasty I guess? One of my future goals will be focusing more on not filling my plates just because I can, and paying more attention to my hunger.

19/1/18 - Success

Breakfast - porridge with blueberries and dried pear
Lunch - korean chicken
Dinner - special fried rice

Busy day yesterday which I think helped. Roll on Monday and my first 21 day streak!

I'm eating a fair bit on weekends still, the rebound from starting N days afresh I guess but I think it'll be good to account for them here. Next month I may just log the details of any fails and S days.

20/1/18 - S day

breakfast - bacon roll
lunch - leftover special fried rice, caramel cake
snacks - chocolate and cashews
dinner - nachos with bbq chicken, ginger pudding and custard

21/1/18 - S day

breakfast - none
lunch - chicken mayo baguette, doughnut
snacks - cashews, caramel cookies (3!)
dinner - piri piri chicken, veggies & sweet potato mash, rest of the ginger pudding

Could have done without the snacking between lunch and dinner on both days really. I think my 'ideal' S days would be having something sweet for breakfast or a pudding with a meal but not snacking between meals. I've definitely got the old 'I can so I will' mindset on at the moment!

Your food does look so delicious, Milliem! Ginger pudding sounds like something I'd like to try. Snacking was always my downfall on vanilla No S because it would turn into a graze session for me, but it looks like your snacks are discreet. Best of luck for a successful week.

Selcazare wrote:Your food does look so delicious, Milliem! Ginger pudding sounds like something I'd like to try. Snacking was always my downfall on vanilla No S because it would turn into a graze session for me, but it looks like your snacks are discreet. Best of luck for a successful week.

They are relatively discreet but still way more than I need. The ginger pudding was delicious, but I was actually over-full last night after eating it. I need to remind myself that I can stop eating when I'm full and it's not a disaster if I have to wait 5 days for something sweet and sticky! A pair of work trousers that used to fit nicely are now uncomfortably tight, so I don't think I've lost much if any weight yet (not worn them since before Christmas...).

22/1/18 - Success

Breakfast - porridge with blueberries
Lunch - curried chickpea salad, soya yoghurt, mango
Dinner - beef bulgogi and rice with green beans

That's 21 days, next goal is a full month.

23/1/18 - Success

Breakfast - porridge with dried fruit
Lunch - pretzel roll, bbq popped crisps, a satsuma
Dinner - corned beef, baked potatoes, cucumber

My pretzel roll for lunch was yummy but the crisps were quite 'meh'. I was debating them or whether to fill the other half of my plate with some veggies or more fruit... they weren't really worth it to be honest!

Feeling quite hungry today but trucking on with the help of copious amounts of tea and water.

24/1/18 - Success

Breakfast - croissant and coffee
Lunch - lentil and tomato soup, bread roll, soy yoghurt
Dinner - corned beef, baked potato, coleslaw

25/1/18 - NWS day

Breakfast - porridge with raspberries
Lunch - roasted veg with grains, soy yoghurt, almonds
Dinner - burns night supper

I'm taking an S 'event' today as it's Burns night, which involves a traditional haggis supper followed by cranachan, and probably a tot or two of whisky As planned the rest of the day has followed NoS.

Sounds very fair. Doing great.

A few busy days turned into a busy almost week without logging here!

Friday 26th Jan - success

Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th Jan - S days

Still too much snacking in between meals for my liking but still a work in progress.

Monday 29th Jan - failure

My first one since New Year's Day! I'm putting it down to feeling exhausted (not sure why but haven't been sleeping well) and comfort eating. I had two cookies after my dinner.

Tuesday 30th Jan - success

Breakfast - porridge and blueberries
Lunch - sushi salad, mango
Dinner - beef casserole with dumplings

Funny stuff - I was so busy at work I barely had time for lunch so I had to eat my mango a couple of hours after lunchtime.

Wednesday 31st Jan - success

Breakfast - sausage and egg brioche
Lunch - teriyaki salmon salad
Dinner - pizza and salad

Pleased that one red day didn't turn into a series of them. Also glad I had pizza, it was yummy- three small slices that easily fit on half my plate, with the other half made up of salad. Hooray for pizza fitting nicely into an N day!

Right on track!

Thanks oolala!

Thursday 1st Feb - success

Breakfast - cinnamon porridge, grapes
Lunch - cheese and crackers, cold meats and cucumber
Dinner - pasta with tomato sauce and cheese

Went out with friends in the evening and stuck to two drinks. I've started weighing daily to see the trends and hopefully some progress.

Friday 2nd Feb - Success

Breakfast - cheese and ham croissant
Lunch - pasty and salad
Dinner - chicken burger and fries

Saturday 3rd Feb - S day

Breakfast - bacon sandwich, coffee, iced bun
Afternoon - hot cross bun
Dinner - fishcakes and veggies, small chocolate pudding.

Today has been an interesting S day for me. I had a late and large ish breakfast from the local market at about 10.30am, and then didn't really get hungry again until about 3pm. I didn't feel the need to snack and didn't fancy lunch, so I just had a hot cross bun and will have dinner a bit later. Don't plan on eating anything else outside dinner and dessert but we'll see!

Is that a Cornish pasty you had yesterday? They kind of did me in when I visited England. Them and the Cadbury's chocolate, since I had lived and travelled overseas for nearly three years before that, where chocolate was "not like home."

I hope it doesn't set you off on some weird habits to let you know that after my first weight drop in my first three months on No S, nearly all of the further bumps downwards happened after some very LIGHT eating on S days, or light eating that followed some delicious heavy meals. Meaning I didn't eat just because I could, not even the three meals. Honestly, I'm actually still navigating that sea at times. I think I'm getting better at determining how light I can go without it feeling later like there's some brain backlash. But even that is worth taming.

milliem wrote:I had a late and large ish breakfast from the local market at about 10.30am, and then didn't really get hungry again until about 3pm. I didn't feel the need to snack and didn't fancy lunch, so I just had a hot cross bun and will have dinner a bit later.

I love the flexibility of S days!!
Hope all is going on well with your thesis! Thanks for your encouragement with mine!!

Thanks Sonya

Oolala it doesn't set me off, it's something I'm already aware of. I wasn't eating massively unhealthily before NoS, just to excess more often than is reasonable, and I calorie counted for quite a long time. So I know that if I eat three nicely balanced meals a day on N days and then gorge on whatever I want on S days, I won't really lose any weight. But, I'm only just over a month in so I figure I need to give myself time to get the N day habits truly solid and see what happens to the S days.

Sunday was rather gluttonous - I ended up snacking on sweets and chocolate in the evening in front of the TV, and definitely because I 'could' not because I was hungry. I'm quite glad it's Monday to be honest! Still fairly full from last night so I may have a late breakfast or none at all, depending how I feel.

Very much on track with the "adjustment." Sounds similar to my eating life before, though I don't know if you ate tons of sweets outside of meals as I did.

oolala53 wrote:Very much on track with the "adjustment." Sounds similar to my eating life before, though I don't know if you ate tons of sweets outside of meals as I did.

Oh yes. I have quite the sweet tooth!

Monday 5th Feb - Success

Breakfast - porridge with blueberries
Lunch - edamame salad, hot smoked salmon, soy yoghurt
Dinner - burger and sweet potato fries

2 beers with dinner with friends, but one plate

Tuesday 6th Feb - Success

Breakfast - porridge with dried fruit
Lunch - lentil and tomato soup, roll, soy yoghurt
Dinner - buffalo chicken, sweet potato, celery

Wednesday 7th Feb - success

Breakfast - porridge and dried fruit
Lunch - soup, toast and mixed nuts
Dinner - poutine and coleslaw

Had dinner out with family plus a beer or two

Thursday 8th Feb - success

Breakfast - malt loaf, dried fruit
Lunch - edamame salad and salmon
Dinner - red pesto chicken and roasted veggies

Today has been a struggle, was at training all day with biscuits and chocolate everywhere, and I didn't really take enough food for a substantial lunch. Feeling tired and grumpy and busy, but powering through.

Friday 9th Feb - success

Breakfast - crisps and jerky
Lunch - rice, edamame and mackerel
Dinner - pizza

Ran out of milk for my normal breakfast porridge! The pizza came on a board not a plate but it was (large) plate sized...

You’re doing brilliantly, Milly!

what is poutine?

automatedeating wrote:what is poutine?

It's a Canadian dish - fries, cheese curds and gravy

Well this weekend was a super light one but mainly as I've had the flu and had zero to no appetite for most of the time. I'm still feeling under the weather but my appetite is returning so I'm taking today as a Sick day and eating what I can. For some reason I'm just craving oranges and rice pudding.

Hope you feel better soon, Milly.

I'm finally feeling better - just about. That was a nasty flu, and I haven't eaten much the last few days. Yesterday was half a bagel, half a tin of rice pudding and a banana. This morning I've managed most of a bowl of porridge so far.

So Monday 12th - Wednesday 14th will be S days

Today was meant to be an S day for a nice valentine's day meal and dessert with my husband, but I'll probably have something light. I'm keeping it as an S day though as I think I'll need to eat smaller things more often than usual as my stomach isn't used to eating a normal sized meal at the moment!

Only two months in. Very much on your way!

Thursday 15th - S day

Back at work after illness, I mostly ate very light but had to eat a banana and some things outside normal mealtimes due to feeling lightheaded/weird. Still not quite over the illness I think.

Friday 16th - failure

I felt mostly better on Friday and ate within N day guidelines most of the day, but I was ravenous in the evening and ended up eating cookies and chocolate all evening. I could put it down to the after effects of illness but honestly I ate more than I needed to.

Saturday 17th - S day

Breakfast - belgian bun, grapes
Snack - cookie
Dinner - nachos, popcorn, sweets (at cinema)

Sunday 18th - S day

Brunch - cheese toastie
Snack - chocolate, cinnamon bun
Dinner - hoisin pork, rice and veggies
Dessert - more chocolate

I feel like I ate more than that over the weekend but can't really remember... I did do a lot of walking each day.

Although I didn't overeat most days last week it was all S days and one red so getting back to regular N days feels quite tough!

Monday 19th Feb - success

Breakfast - porridge with dried fruit
Lunch - chickpea salad, mango
Dinner - chinese takeaway

Tuesday 20th Feb - success

Breakfast - porridge
Lunch - chicken sandwich, grapes
Dinner - fajitas

Wednesday 21st Feb - success

Breakfast - porridge with mixed berries, coffee
Lunch - sushi, salad and crisps
Dinner - leftover chinese takeaway from Monday

The inner toddler is tantruming for chocolate today (I have some delicious stuff left over from the weekend) but determined not to give in. May have a tea and then head to bed!

Good move. I sometimes think I might not have been willing to use No S when I was in my twenties and thirties because I stayed up so much later. Now it's basically just a few hours between dinner and bed. Easy peasy.

I think I need to find something to occupy me more in the evenings because the toddler is strong at the moment even with just a few hours between dinner and bed time! It might be because I had an extended S day period when I was ill, or it might be because I know I have delicious gourmet chocolate in the cupboard. It's certainly one of those 'worth it' S's although not worth marking a red for (I try to convince myself). Yesterday was a struggle again, I'm hoping today will be easier as I am going out for dinner and to watch a film so will be occupied all evening.

Thursday 22nd Feb - Success

Breakfast - porridge with dried fruit
Lunch - chicken and avocado sandwich, mango
Dinner - pizza (a fairly large plateful)

Hope today is easier, Milly.

One thing I’ve started doing in the evenings is my 14’of anything, Reinhard’s alternative to Shovelglove. If you take it really easy, and just do stretches and a few other gentle things, it doesn’t feel too jarring/conflicting with slowing down for bedtime. Even this sort of mild, barely-exercising movement feels surprisingly therapeutic, and for just 14’ I can generally count on not being interrupted/discovered looking silly by DH or DD. Just wondering if this might help to tame the inner toddler! 🙂 Even if you go out, it’s a nice thing to do when you get back.

Anyway...hope you have fun at the cinema and dinner!

I used to keep chocolate in the trunk of my car! Not sure if that would just make another time of day more trying for you. And it didn't always work but enough to make a difference.

A woman I knew years ago who had kicked alcohol said she went to a lot of movies alone for quite awhile in the beginning. Probably not an option for you but planning some busy evenings for awhile might be.

I could rarely do very productive things to keep me from giving in. Keep the toddler occupied with innocuous stuff! Even if you have to do something rather superficial but absorbing FOR YOU, let yourself try it until it gets easy again. I've done things as stupid as trolling Amazon for diet books I could sneer at, playing Freecell or the Jumble-I'll stop at the end of this game!-, browsing real estate sites for properties I won't in the end buy, marveling at gardens or housing makeovers I will never plant and tend or complete, getting obsessed with Tiny Houses because I thought I could use one to escape my job, watching the Boob Tube, etc. and sometimes even getting a little weepy in frustration, the same way I'm sure some moms get weepy behind the toddler's back. All still better than reinforcing the snack habit, in my book. I'm sure you can come up with your own list.

But if you can do some 14-minute productive tasks, not necessarily exercise, that would be great because it would be reinforcing more than one good habit. Pleasurable and/or productive distractors have been shown to change the brain patterns of people with OCD. That research helped me commit to No S to help deal with "obsessive/compulsive" desire to eat all the time. I got the pleasure side of it down.

Thanks for the suggestions both

Friday was better, didn't feel the urge to snack or have sweet treats. Despite the fact that I was being offered sweets all evening at the cinema!

Friday 23rd Feb - success

Breakfast - bagel
Lunch - leftover pizza
Dinner - steak bulgogi

Saturday 24th Feb - S day

Breakfast - bagel
Snack - chocolate
Lunch - salmon, potato salad, foccacia and vegetable crisps
Snack - strawberry doughnut, a beer while watching rugby
Dinner - chicken curry and naan, chocolate and wine after dinner

You resisted at the movies! That would be my ultimate test. Bravo!!

Thanks! I certainly made up for it at the weekend

Sunday 25th Feb - S day

Breakfast - duck burger and apricot loaf (late brekkie at a market)
Lunch - leftover curry
Snacks - doughnut, chocolate
Dinner - roast chicken, veg and sweet potato, more chocolate

Where do you get duck meat? Is apricot loaf a bread or an official dessert? That reminds me, I have some semi-dried apricots in the freezer. Going to put a few in yogurt to have tomorrow.

The burger and cake were from a local farmers market so all produce was by whoever sold them to me!

Not been a great week really. Monday 26th was a success but Tuesday and Wednesday were not. Think I'm going to switch to reporting by exception this month and see how that goes.

Tuesday 27th Feb - failure

Had a very bad nights sleep, a smaller breakfast than usual and feeling quite meh all day, so didn't manage to resist the lure of Timbits that my husband brought home. I then had a proper 'what the hell' evening and ate another bar of chocolate and some jerky.

Wednesday 28th Feb - failure

Another stressy day combined with husband passing an exam led to eating more Timbits in the afternoon and a giant ice cream milkshake with dinner. I think my day was otherwise compliant.

Today is green so far, hoping it stays that way!

I like that notion of a proper WTH evening. Could you have also said "right proper"? or would that have been being more along the lines of wild?

oolala53 wrote:I like that notion of a proper WTH evening. Could you have also said "right proper"? or would that have been being more along the lines of wild?

Hah, proper in my UK terminology means something like... good/correct/done well. So I did failure very well last week

1st March - success

2nd March - NWS 'event'
The day was No S compliant, but had a celebratory meal with my husband in the evening that involved dessert (and quite a lot of very nice wine)

3rd March - S day
S's so far - a maple doughnut (for breakfast), a creme egg. May have another chocolate bar later.

I know that term (worked for the British Council in Iran in the late '70's.) Couldn't remember if there was a difference between "proper" and "right proper."

Have a nice Sweekend!

oolala53 wrote:I know that term (worked for the British Council in Iran in the late '70's.) Couldn't remember if there was a difference between "proper" and "right proper."

Have a nice Sweekend!

Well I don't know exactly but right proper sounds more like something a Northener would say...

Yesterday's S day went as expected - I did have that extra chocolate bar Fairly light day today so far, I had a late morning brunch and haven't eaten since, not intending anything too crazy S wise but we'll see!

4th March - S day
S's were a brownie with brunch, a couple of small cannoli after dinner, and a few chocolate covered pretzels in the evening.

5th March - fail
I had the rest of the chocolate covered pretzel's after dinner, rough day :/

6th March - success

7th March - success

Funny stuff: went out for dinner and shared some dough balls with my husband to start, but managed to successfully virtual plate them by leaving about 1/4 of my main uneaten. They were delicious and I was full at that point anyway so happy with that!

8th March - success

9th March - fail

Had a maple doughnut for breakfast A massive trigger for me is tiredness and I am exhausted today after looking after a sick kitty. It always makes me crave sugar and unfortunately I'm out of my regular oatmeal that I could have just added some dried fruit and a bit of honey to. Fairly pleased I haven't turned it into a free for all day, as I had a plate of lunch and haven't snacked at all. Off to a friend's for dinner tonight though and she's making cake so... I'm not gonna lie, I'll probably have some

I did indeed have cake on Friday - ginger chocolate cupcakes. No regrets, they were delicious!

Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th - S days

Monday 12th - failure
Ate some lindt chocolate in the evening, I think out of boredom more than anything else.

Tuesday 13th - success

I think it is a real feat that you didn't fill the time between the doughnut and the impending cake with more S's.

oolala53 wrote:I think it is a real feat that you didn't fill the time between the doughnut and the impending cake with more S's.

I didn't! And while most of my friends had two helpings of fajitas for dinner I had one plateful and stuck at that

Wednesday 14th March - success

Had mezze for dinner so virtual plated - had two side plates worth so I guess around one proper dinner plate.

Thursday 15th March - success

Friday 16th March - success

Inner toddler was around on Thursday evening, having a bit of 'but I WANT dessert why can't I have one' thinking but luckily not for long. I ate out last night and shared food with friends, so had to do a bit more virtual plating but I think I judged it OK! I may not have judged the amount of beers that I drank as well though...

I guess you weren't paying for them, or you would have known... I'm too cheap to drink booze on the town often! But I probably don't have as much fun as other people.