Everyday Systems

Getting set up for tomorrow - first day. Going for green...and a little nervous.

no need for nervousness It's just a process of learning about yourself. Try to think of each new nugget of information as a treasure and you'll do fine. Best of luck today.

Hi Heather, it's my first 'N day' today as well (this time round anyway), good luck!

I hope you're having a good week so far

Hello, and thank you for your encouragements. Monday and today were green, but Tuesday was a Failure. The good bit was that that failure remained as one day only and I am back on track.

Another green day.

Wahoo!

Thanks for your support Merry. I've been reading some of the online discussions and find your 'story' very encouraging, esp. to see how sustainable you have found this.

Good luck Heather. I've just started my third (or so) go at NoS!

I reckon the gentle art of recovering from a fail is actually one of the most important skills of moderation! Now you have that under your belt, you are even stronger.

Hope you have a good day.

Thanks Octavia, yes, I reckon that saying 'to be hung for a sheep as for a lamb' is not good when applied to eating...so learning to draw a line under a fail and move on is important. Hope your re-start is going well. Heather

HeatherG wrote:Thanks for your support Merry. I've been reading some of the online discussions and find your 'story' very encouraging, esp. to see how sustainable you have found this.

You're welcome; I'm so glad!

A red day - the one good thing to say is that it is not due to my most 'normal' dietary slip ups - No S seems to be addressing them quite well.

Hello and Happy New Year. The schools are back, the guests have gone (15 days of house guests) and the festive food has almost left the house, and I'm back for a good run at No S.

Hmmm, what was today a green or a red? I think I need to log it as a red, which I am disappointed about. I made a banana and yogurt shake for my kids at 3.15 and made too much - so I ate the extra - just plain, natural yogurt and about half a banana. But it was still food - therefore a snack. Grrr, I had been hoping for a green streak this week. However, this is about learning how to do this - so I feel I must make it red so that I learn not to eat between meals as this is fundamental to No S isn't it?? I read the podcast - no 41 I think about 'confessing' what made the day a failure. So there you go...banana and plain yogurt.

Not the worst fail ever but yes I think making sure you 'count' any times you snack etc. is important when building the habit. My husband offered me some jerky yesterday and I explained that I'm not eating snacks right now, but initially he didn't understand as it's 'healthy' and 'full of protein'. Which is right I guess but for me the habits are important, as a small healthy snack can so easily lead to reaching for multiple snacks or unhealthy ones...

Yes! yesterday I was more strict because I had had to 'fess up the day before...and so the habits build I hope. Anyway a green for yesterday and I've got a tasty soup made already for lunch today. It always helps to have something nice to look forward to.

Well, I've just had the first weekend (S days) and I was surprised at how I ate quite a lot just because I could, and almost felt as if I should. I didn't think I'd do that, and I'm quite glad to get back to a N day today with constraint built in. Just got the No S book and am reading it. Seems that doing S days like this is usual and perhaps even desirable, especially at the start. I'll go with this as hope that my experience is as positive as so many - just need to ge the routines established. About to choose my plate of breakfast - left it till after the school run so I could savour it, (and because I wasn't so hungry - due to yesterday....!) I know what I'm eating all day - so that helps a lot.

Two green days - and enjoying three meals a day. Find it still a challenge at points - show how much I must have nibbled. No S much needed therefore!

Three green days - best yet! Drank milk today - as suggested in the book - because I really was hungry and about to go sledging with the kids.

It seems as though as the week goes on I find the no snacking in the afternoon harder. Maybe I need to eat a little more for lunch as I have found myself ratty with the children and tired before the evening meal. But I have one more meal to go and I will have a week long green streak!!

Sounds like a good week! Nothing wrong with experimenting with the size of your N day plates to ensure that they are enough to satisfy you until the next meal

Monday again! Here we go - week three. Still a bit more eating 'because I can' on S days, but ready for another green week. Nearly finished the No S Diet book.

Have a great Monday, Heather! I need to get back into reading the No S book for all the tiny details that help spur me along on tough days.

Yes, the book is worth reading for sure. And because of all those little details I think I have to log today as red - which I am sad about. However, I think logging it as red is important to keen me truthful and strict. Two things happened today to make it red. Firstly lunch happened in three parts - circumstantially rather than snacking, but with pre-planning I could have managed it better. And then my daughter shared a bite of a snack with me after dinner - and I ate it.
One learning point was that I found myself beginning to compensate for yesterday - and according to the book that is a bad plan. So perhaps today started off on a wrong footing. Must make a plan for tomorrow. It helps a lot to know what I will eat at each of the three meals.

Green again!

Oh well - three days green, two red. 1 was a minor deviation. 1 was a planned deviation that then went slightly haywire - but still eating fewer snacks than before, and finding the 3-6pm window a bit easier. Taking myself out of the kitchen then - even doing a jigsaw!

Back to green again. And less hunger in the afternoon.

Bother - another red day....I can really see why I need this system. today was knocked sideways by a disorganised dinner at which I ate standing up. Just soup and bread - so not too much, but not a 'plate' either. And then I ate three cookies - because I knew I was getting a red anyway....daft.
But still holding out on snacking in the afternoon...wayhey.

Another green - and it was 'easy'

The first of Feb and a green. Into the second month and I feel as if some good new habits are forming. Now, want a month of sensible 's' days, as well and lots of green days.

Good work on getting back to greens!

Did you want to mark yourself a red because soup and bread don't 'count' as one plate? I know Reinhard says to put everything on your plate if you possibly can but I think there's something to be said for leaving soup in the bowl and having bread on the side! In fact he explicitly says something about having soup and a chunk of bread and calling it a meal...

Hi Milliem, I eat soup a lot so have decided a reasonable bowl of soup and a small side plate of bread or crackers still counts as a no -S green day meal. No... that day I ate standing up and serving the rest of the family, and ate more bread than I would have done had I sat down and had a bowl of soup and a plate of bread. Thanks for asking though, there is much adjusting to do and it is useful to think things through.

How quickly the Mondays roll round. A more restrained weekend which feels good. Still lots (too many) treats - but more moderate, and again a reminder of the importance of the green days to rein it all in again.

H! Your soup "plan" sounds fine. It's likely very similar to putting the bowl on a dinner plate and then fitting the accompanying food around it. I also have those large, shallow soup bowls with a wide rim, so I balance the other stuff on the rim. I will still eat a piece of fruit if I want.

I haven't read your whole thread. Were you eating "regular"-sized meals before and lots of snacks, or more like snack-sized amounts all day?

From my years here and on Sparkpeople, it seems the late afternoon hours are weak spots for a great majority of people. You are not alone! Don't get discouraged, but I could feel that tug for years. It was after the students left for the day, but there was still so much to do, plus I found myself ruminating over the difficult interactions I had. Those problems remained, and I think they were very closely tied to the food urges. But the default shifted to just ignoring them. Those times didn't get more pleasant, but not regretting giving in and ruining my appetite for dinner did!


Anyway, I think you sound very much on track.

That's fair enough Heather I think we all set our boundaries, and may need to adjust depending on how they work for us.

For me S days are about treats - getting back to seeing cakes or sweets or chocolate as a 'treat' and not something I eat every day is actually refreshing!

Thanks. Oolala, I think I ate/eat large meals and ate much more than I ever realised in snacks. Healthy snacks mostly - like peanut butter and oatcakes - but still snacks. I am tall and pretty active so I kind of can get away with it - but any weight loss was always regained when I slacked off the regime. I also used to then 'play' with meal size to compensate - which is no good. So, I would love to loose a bit of weight but also crave the simplicity of three meals. One of my daughters baked today - and I just tasted a crumb and popped several into the freezer for the weekend. Usually I would have eaten....maybe four!

two more green days.

Hump day over.

A mid week S day - but not too excessive.

Thanks for your well wishes.

A more moderate weekend - and with house guests. Now the challenge of three plates a day, still with house guests. Think I'm going to buy some more nice cheeses rather than bake - so that no Sugar is easier for me.

Smart move. A beverage with the guests if they're not used to saving their appetite? I hope you enjoy their company.

4 greens and one red this week. Thinking of all the snacks that I didn't consume..pleased.

I often feel like that if I have a fail. Like, "if you only knew how bad it COULD have been!"

Even with guests! a real win

This week I have begun to moderate my plate sizes. I am just weighing every month - but using 'jean tightness' there didn't seem to be much looseness developing. So decided I needed to have a look at what goes onto my plate. Mostly been a more moderate week. Green all the way.

Excellent progress.

Oh dear. 1st of March turned red at the end of the day! Need to get my head in the game again - feel a drift at work. Think I am a bit discouraged because I am not really loosing weight. Want to make March count. On reflection this week has had a good few curve balls to throw normality off - kids at home with snow closures, work plans up in the air etc etc. Guess my two reds are an emotional reaction to frustration...perhaps. Think I need to plan!

I'm seeing a theme on the boards -- this winter weather has disrupted MANY routines, eating and otherwise. We all just need to hang on with white knuckles until spring!

Heather, if you feel you have done the protocol really well, could you imagine being happy with tweaking anything to decrease your intake? If it sounds like too much of a burden right now, it can help soften the disappointment of low or no weight loss. You are doing your best to establish a doable routine and gaining resistance muscle, too. It's only when you've done that for a good period that you can reasonably choose options to experiment with. In the meantime, I hope you feel some sense of accomplishment anyway. You are bucking an entire culture and its supporting food and advertising industries! You're just practicing using your sling shot on the local succulents now. Do that before you pick up the stones for the giant!

I'm back after about 6 weeks absence. Due to many things - too busy, too many failures, away with family and no internet, etc etc. Not all failures though - the afternoon snacking seems to much less of a problem.
Plan for the week made, head back in the game - a few more pounds to loose (sigh) but I'm back.

Glad to see you.

2 pretty good days - feels so much better to have energy for being careful again.