Everyday Systems

Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie!

Not totally sure how this check in goes but the best way to start is to try!

So far I have done Tuesday-Friday (April 24-27) of this week, all N days, all successful.


I'm not sure what to think about tomorrow's first S day. Slightly trepidatious? On the flip side, I'm going to a Sugarloaf Craft Fair with my DD22, and there will surely be something there that is sweet and delicious, and that I would have felt guilty about eating. No guilt tomorrow!

-Nic

Welcome! You’re doing great! Some people have very little problems with S days & other people take awhile to get in a good groove. Just remember you. cant fail On S days.

GL!

Welcome and well done to date

Jx

Thank you for the kind welcomes! Much appreciated.

I think my first S day went well. My goal was to not be an idiot (I absolutely LOVE that phrase) and at the end of the day, I don't feel like an idiot.

Mission accomplished!

Success!

Second S day has come and gone and it was a SUCCESS!

I also got a 2 mile walk in.

Back to an N day tomorrow and my very first N Monday. Starting on Tuesday I will be a week in.

I am also doing no-weigh-May so today was the first day I chose not to weigh and will hold that until approximately June 7.

Sounds like you are doing really well. I'm trying to cut down to weighing once week at the moment. Not quite managed it yet but I'm not too influenced by the figure so not a huge problem.

Jx

Soprano wrote:Sounds like you are doing really well. I'm trying to cut down to weighing once week at the moment. Not quite managed it yet but I'm not too influenced by the figure so not a huge problem.

Jx

Hi Jx!

Thank you!

And that's great. I sometimes struggle with letting the scale number dictate how I feel about myself so I am trying to separate from that. Also trying to give No-S a chance to settle in without being influenced by scale numbers. I hope to get to where you are as far as how it effects me!

Hi Nicco, us newbies have to hang together!

You are about a week ahead of me. I have done a weekend (ha!) and one Monday. One day at a time, we got this!

Merrygoround wrote:Hi Nicco, us newbies have to hang together!

Hi Merry,

Yes, we sure do! We can do this, one day at a time!

Another N day down, and I am now one full week into the program. I am really liking it so far; I feel settled and really happy.

I am still largely low carb but adding in some carbs here and there. This morning I had 1/4 cup of granola on my plain yogurt and at lunch I had about a half a roasted diced red potato in my lunch leftovers.

Not weighing until June 7. Exercising is going well- I got an Apple Watch for my birthday and I honestly didn't think I would like the health thing on it but I actually love it. It is super motivating!

Wednesday N day a success!

Today was the first day that I felt a little calling for something, a snack or a sweet. Later on I realized my stomach was feeling a little wonky and I had been taking that as a cue that I was 'hungry' or 'needed a little something.'

The rules of No-S really helped me here. I knew I had eaten, and I knew I wasn't going to be eating again until dinner time. I was "pre-disapproved!" That took the wondering what to eat/what to do away and sure enough, it resolved itself. Yay!

Well done Nicco!

I have been low carb in the past (zero carb too) as well as low fat. In fact during the weight loss years I tried just about everything! Everything worked for a bit, nothing for more than 6 months or so. I wonder why that is. And it’s not that I wasn’t doing it right, I’m a bit obsessive......

I swear, Merry, people are so different. I would heartily disagree with the anyone who says the one-size-fits-all approach to food works for everyone. I have not found that to be the case, over and over again!

Low carb has worked for me for several years- helped me lose a good bit of weight and also really straightened out my hormones and such. Regulated my cycle beautifully.

I am definitely experimenting with adding carbs back into my life and seeing how it goes and how I feel. For example this morning I made a serving of oatmeal with two slices of bacon.

Today was a successful N day although I had two interesting things happen. First, my son ordered some cinnastix type things from the pizza place we went to. He had not gotten them before and he was all OMG MOM THESE ARE SO GOOD YOU HAVE TO TRY THEM! and it was easy for me to say No because it was pre-disapproved. It was just a simple no. I love that!

On the flip side, we came home and I fed the dogs and finally grabbed a couple of slices of pizza for my dinner. Well, this is a personal size pizza (small size, 6 slices total) and I only eat the toppings. I realized once I sit down that that pretty much amounted to a plate and I hadn't been thinking! Turns out it was enough though as I had a late lunch anyhow.

You are doing great!

I love your decision not to weigh yourself until June 7th. I have proposed this month, but it has been four days and the four have been failed. But I do not give up, it's all a matter of habit (that's what No S is about)

All kinds of things can happen to tempt during meal gaps. Pre-disapproved is a great term! Much like Judith Beck's No Choice, but catchier. Wavering is what causes most of the pain!

Dalia negra wrote:You are doing great!

I love your decision not to weigh yourself until June 7th. I have proposed this month, but it has been four days and the four have been failed. But I do not give up, it's all a matter of habit (that's what No S is about)

Thank you so much, Dalia!

I have tried the no-weighing thing before but had to have my husband hide the scale for me because the lure of it was irresistible. I don't know if it is the "no-weigh-May" slogan or just that I really want to give this a good fair try but I've not been overly tempted yet. I have definitely wondered, but then I went and tried on some pants to try to get an idea of how things are going. Ultimately how I look and feel will matter more than the number anyway. So I keep telling myself!

oolala53 wrote:All kinds of things can happen to tempt during meal gaps. Pre-disapproved is a great term! Much like Judith Beck's No Choice, but catchier. Wavering is what causes most of the pain!

Oolala you are so right. Wavering is what causes the pain!

I read the "pre-disapproved" thing somewhere else and it totally struck a nerve with me. It makes clear rules even clearer. And tonight especially I was grateful for that!

Friday N day was a success!

I claim it as an extra special success because my family went out for my DD's bday, which was a few days ago. We had dinner and then six out of seven of us had dessert. I had my husband leave some of his for me to take home so I could try it tomorrow. I felt really fine about it though. First, I was full. Second, I probably had a full plate, but a dinner plate's worth and at home I only eat on salad plates. So I was pretty stuffed. And I also ordered a decaf and that gave me something yummy to enjoy while everyone was having dessert.

So this was the first time I feel like I really winged it food wise, and I am not sure how I did, really. I won't lie- when we first sat down I didn't even REMEMBER the one plate thing and I immediately ate two small pieces of bread. They were small, but still. Then the appetizers came and I ate some calamari rings. Again, not a lot, maybe six or so. And then I ordered gnocchi with meat sauce and I ate half of that. Now, I will say that this was a restaurant that actually gave what I would consider to be more correct portion sizes than other Italian restaurants I have been to. There were no sides with it and the serving size was not huge. So I *think* that would be a dinner size plate and not more, but I'm just guessing.

I definitely ate a lot of carbs today. And I can feel it. I feel bloated!

S day today.

I did fine the first half of the day, felt calm and measured, and then sort of lost it the second half of the day. I didn't go nuts but I also didn't feel calm and had the "eat quickly and eat several things and what else is there" feeling going on.

I need to make sure and eat three good, solid meals tomorrow - I think that was part of it. I didn't eat very satisfying meals because I wanted to make sure and get some of the junky stuff in and not be too full for it, and I think that backfired.

Wow, well done at the restaurant. I am very impressed. I’m not sure I could have done that.

I my dieting years I would be super super SUPER strict all week, then go out having decided to just have ....whatever....then I wouldn’t and off we would go. What’s the point? I’ve blown it now so I might as well carry on? Etc etc

I hadn’t thought of making sure one gets good meals on s days. That would certainly reduce the amount of junk and sweets. Maybe particularly nice meals!

Merry- YES! That black and white thinking has definitely been something that I have gotten stuck in over and over and over again, more times than I can count. My hope is that this will help to alleviate some of that pressure build-up.

There is a quote on a page here on this forum that says "Just because you hit a pothole with your car is no reason to drive it into a tree" and that is exactly what I am hoping to eventually get into my skull!

S day is behind me and now I'm preparing to head into my string of N days. Looking ahead I don't see any problems with that. I *might* do an NWS day on the 19th but that is some distance away.

N day success today!

I am freaking exhausted. Over 12K steps today and a raging headache, I think from allergies from my son's baseball game this evening. I am hitting the hay!

Going overboard after a slip is the NORM. It was studied by Baumeister and puzzled the team of researchers, but it was consistent. It's not a weakness! It's a natural reaction-though mistaken- to even the threat of loss of calories. They were the ones who came up with the name What The Hell syndrome. With what we know now about the brain, it makes perfect sense, though it's an old neuro urge that has to be managed in our modern time of excess food. Thankfully, we know it has nothing at all to needing calories. Most hunger isn't!

Thanks oolala. That is good to know about.

Good N day today although I am struggling a bit with the three meals a day thing. I do not want to eat first thing in the morning. I am a coffee until 10 AM or so kind of person. So then I eat breakfast-ish. I'm not hungry then at traditional lunch time then.

So for example, today I met a friend for breakfast. I had an egg bagel sandwich type thing, ate most of that, no potatoes, bit of fruit. That was at 10.

At 3 I realized I would need to eat again before dinner, but dinner was going to be at 6:30 or so, so I just had a small bowl of Raisin Bran Crunch.

Ate dinner at 6:30 and called it done.

Is the 3:00 bowl of cereal still counted as a meal if I considered it a light meal? If I had had a lunch, then I wouldn't have wanted dinner. Seems like I am leaning more toward two substantial meals and one something-light.

I guess that is probably okay. There's no snacking or anything like that going on.

Victory- I did not order a waffle or pancakes or anything like that. I knew I could get them this weekend if I wanted to. So I sat and enjoyed my food and watched my friend eat her waffles!

The meal timing is your choice. If it keeps working to be sustainable, great. If not, adjust. But at this point, some kind of schedule of eating windows is better than changing it a lot according to circumstances.

The cereal would be a meal. If that's all you need for a bridge between breakfast and dinner, fine. The meals aren't meant to be the same size. In slim cultures, they eat only one major meal a day. The others are simple, delicious, and very modest. That's an aspiration, not a requirement now.

Thank you for the feedback, Oolala! I appreciate the input a lot.

Successful N day today.

Usual coffee,
1 cup oatmeal and bacon
1/2 sub sandwich (didn't finish)
bowl of cereal

Done and done!

Today was waaaay busier than I am normally am and I am so tired I could drop!

Two meals today. I'm going with that being a success. The three meal thing works for me sometimes but sometimes I am genuinely not hungry and I am having trouble with the idea of making myself eat food for no reason. After all, we shouldn't eat when we aren't hungry, right? Doing that is part of the reason we got heavy in the first place. Granted, that was snacking and/or sugary stuff, but still.

My reasoning is, if I am hungry then I will definitely eat, and when I do eat it will be a meal, not a snack, even if that meal is a light one. I am not going to TRY to not eat three meals a day. But this morning I just did not get hungry!

Usual coffee
one piece of toast, 1 soft-boiled egg, 2 pieces of bacon (noon)
sugar free chai
ribeye steak (7PM) --> I was really REALLY hungry at this point but had to pick up DS from a baseball game first.

I didn’t eat after aikido the other night. So that was only 2 meals. I had actually made soup to eat when I got home, but I didn’t want it.

I think it’s fine to skip a meal of one is not hungry. I think the problem comes with starving yourself and then rebounding.

I agree, Merry.

Forgot to stop in yesterday.

Successful N day Friday-

bacon for breakfast
cereal for lunch
small cup of taco meat with cheese and shredded lettuce for dinner.

Basic and easy.

The No-S rules for no snacking and no sweets have saved my hide a few times this week. For example, I went to a movie on Friday and took no snacks, only water. My friend offered me some of her popcorn and I was able to say No easily. Same for buying my son a "Friday treat day" treat but not getting anything for myself. I knew I could have some this weekend if I wanted it, but there was nothing to waver about. I am finding that TREMENDOUSLY helpful.

Pretty good S day today.

Breakfast was plain yogurt, sweetened with vanilla stevia, and some granola, along with 3 pieces of bacon.

Lunch was 1/2 of a pb&j and a bowl of cereal.

Dinner was at Pei Wei- 1.5 lettuce wraps and part of a size small portion of Mongolian beef with noodles.

Dessert was ice cream.

Happy Mother's Day coming up tomorrow!

Hi and so lovely to have you here. You are doing so wonderfully! You are very motivating for me. I absolutely love your No weigh-May. I am implementing this TODAY and will weigh in on June 8th b'day. What a great idea... Happy Mother's day!

Hope you had a lovely mother’s day

Here's to a green week!

Aw, thank you so much for the support, ladies. I really appreciate that. I hope you all had a fine Mother's Day. I was glad it falls on a Sunday!

Sunday/ Mother's Day was my rockiest S day thus far. It started out with sugar and that sets the stage for things to go sideways. DH had bought me two pastries from another town on the Tuesday before Mother's Day and vac-sealed them, plus Cap'n Crunch (it is so ridiculous, I LOVE Cap'n Crunch so I can't keep it around) and a few slices of bacon. Well, it was undeniably super super sweet (kind) that he bought and saved those pastries, but they were stale. I don't know if you can't really vac-seal them or if he just didn't do it right. I made an attempt to eat them because it was so sweet of him (and I *wanted* them to be good! But then I think I was just frustrated by that in the end and then I sort of "chased the taste" the remainder of the day.

We ate at Maggianos with family and then went to see Melissa McCarthy's new movie. I did have candy but not an outrageous amount, and some of Dh's popcorn but again, not much. I do think my stomach has shrunk.

Later on that night I had more dry cereal (there was definitely an element of "eat it or lose it" going on with it being Sunday and a little bit of ice cream- maybe a cup total of ice cream, tops. But I was full and knew it, and had it anyway. Same reason as above.

So, I think I would be defined as a "Mother's Day idiot" for that S day.

Moving on, today has been a good N day. I didn't get to eat until late, at noon, because I was keeping a 10 month old for a friend and he was over early. I had bacon at noon and then steak and a bowl of cereal at around 4:30 and then called it quits. And the cereal was NOT Captain Crunch, but Oatmeal Squares, and a small bowl at that. I was really dragging around with just the bacon and steak- too much of a sudden no-carb from the idiot-feasting of yesterday. lol

I'm on an 18 day streak of "closing my rings" on my Apple Watch, and I am darn proud of that. When I first got it mid April, I realized I was getting about 5-6K steps in during a day. Now I routinely get 10-12K a day, through knowing I need to walk or move or exercise in some way. That has been a very good thing!

Man, I just talked my face off!! Hopefully I didn't bore everyone to tears!

Allisonmeg-

It was strange not to weigh at first but now I don't even think about doing it. I am glad about that. I have no idea what the scale would tell me, but if I got on and it showed a gain, I feel like I might think this "isn't working" and mentally and emotionally, I do believe it is.

Thanks for joining me on No-weigh May! We got this!!

niccofive wrote:Allisonmeg-

It was strange not to weigh at first but now I don't even think about doing it. I am glad about that. I have no idea what the scale would tell me, but if I got on and it showed a gain, I feel like I might think this "isn't working" and mentally and emotionally, I do believe it is.

Thanks for joining me on No-weigh May! We got this!!

Allisonmeg wrote:Hi and so lovely to have you here. You are doing so wonderfully! You are very motivating for me. I absolutely love your No weigh-May. I am implementing this TODAY and will weigh in on June 8th b'day. What a great idea... Happy Mother's day!

Yesterday I did not weigh myself and the experience was not as bad as I expected, so I join you until June 1st


My motto is "just for today".

Niccofive, I am aware that mentally and emotionally it works. I feel much better than in a long time, the only thing that ruins my thoughts is the scale.

Oh Nic, I know that ‘chasing the taste’ feeling so well. You plan and promise yourself a treat and it all goes wrong. And instead of just shrugging and moving on, one eats all sorts of other stuff one don’t actually want just because one was disappointed in what one did want! You don’t want to know how many times I have done just that!

Well done in battening it down on Monday. Getting straight back on the wagon if definitely the way.

Merrygoround wrote:Oh Nic, I know that ‘chasing the taste’ feeling so well. You plan and promise yourself a treat and it all goes wrong. And instead of just shrugging and moving on, one eats all sorts of other stuff one don’t actually want just because one was disappointed in what one did want! You don’t want to know how many times I have done just that!

YUP!! That is EXACTLY what I meant by that. Exactly!!

Dalia negra wrote:
Yesterday I did not weigh myself and the experience was not as bad as I expected, so I join you until June 1st


My motto is "just for today".

Niccofive, I am aware that mentally and emotionally it works. I feel much better than in a long time, the only thing that ruins my thoughts is the scale.

Great! So glad to have you join in! We are liberated in May!!

Today was a good, solid N day. I enjoy the comfort of coming back to an N day and its structure. But too much structure, and I flail about like Kermit, so this program seems to be a good fit thus far. It has felt pretty painless, and I like painless.

Coffee cs (cream, stevia)
B- 2 slices bacon and serving of dry Oatmeal squares cereal (while doing my MoW route)
L- half a of a club sandwich, taste of Cole slaw, taste of homemade potato chips (liked neither) and taste of cornbread (son's, and really good!)

Lunch was on the late side and again, I'm not hungry this evening so just going with that cue.

Lunch was with my 19 year old son, home from college for a few days. Yay!

Tomorrow is my NWS day. My current plan is to use it only for the wedding tasting stuff but I reserve the right to change my mind!

NWS day for food and cake tasting for my daughter's wedding.

I did well today- kept the NWS part for the tasting and resisted the strong urge to eat sweets when I got home "because it was an NWS day and soon it would be over and an N day."

The things that helped prevent this:
1) I was really full from doing the tasting
and
2) I am trying to make an effort to keep the snacking down even on S/NWS days, and since I had already eaten dinner and dessert by doing the tasting, I was finished.

No lie though, the being really full was probably the overriding factor here bc otherwise the "voice" was strong.

Eats:

ccs
• 1 soft boiled egg on toast, 2 bacon
• half of chicken teriyaki on lo main, brought the rest home to DS19 (home from college!)
• wedding tastings: samples of 4 appetizers, 4 mains, 6 types of cake, and a raspberry lemonade. So full!

niccofive wrote: 2) I am trying to make an effort to keep the snacking down even on S/NWS days, and since I had already eaten dinner and dessert by doing the tasting, I was finished.

I like it!!!! I probably incorporate it into my S days

Enjoy the time with your son.

And well done to keeping with the plan with the food tasting I am impressed.

Dalia negra wrote:

niccofive wrote: 2) I am trying to make an effort to keep the snacking down even on S/NWS days, and since I had already eaten dinner and dessert by doing the tasting, I was finished.

I like it!!!! I probably incorporate it into my S days

I'm finding it helpful so far for S days, because otherwise I will just sit around eating things like popcorn or whatever. But honestly I'm not doing great at it yet. Work in progress!!

•••••••••••••

Thursday was back to an N day and it went well. I felt heavy and full from the tasting day (it was a LOT of food) and so I didn't want to eat until at least ten. I had bacon, yogurt and granola. Late lunch was a bowl of cereal and dinner was meatloaf and roasted potatoes on a lunch sized plate. I only use a lunch size plate and have since before NoS.

Are you guys getting crazy amounts of rain? It is raining here EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I am so over it.

Have a good one!

Yes-- crazy amounts of rain! Bleah! My garden would be lovely if I could get out there.

Larkspur wrote:Yes-- crazy amounts of rain! Bleah! My garden would be lovely if I could get out there.

Right? I just need to mow my lawn before it turns into a jungle out there!

Friday- Successful N day.

Saturday- is an S day but there has been plenty of junk being eaten today. I seem to actually do better on N days than on S days the last two weeks.

Guess I'm working through getting it out of my system.

So very grateful to be walking in to an N day today.

I have three kids, my youngest is 16. The S hit the fan last night and there was a lot of conversation, some tears, and a full scale grounding. Going in to today, I feel emotionally drained and just sort of crappy. Knowing the boundaries of an N day actually feels really, really good because otherwise I can guarantee there would be emotional eating today to "make myself feel better."

I'll be back later on to report how it went.

There's something to be said for structure amidst chaos and stress. Raising teenagers is HARD. Good luck today!

Thank you Sharon. I really appreciate that. All three of my kids are great but the first two were remarkably compliant. This last one seems determined to give us a run for our money!

It actually has been a good day. I went for a nice long walk in the park (thank goodness for a sunny day after all the rain!) and kept the eating limited to the N day rules.

Definitely finding that in some ways I am liking N days more than S days!

Good N day. On track! Got DS a milkshake and didn't even blink. I did get hungry between my small lunch and dinner, so I had a diet chai (from here at home) and that helped to fill my tum a bit.

Yay!

Thanks Larkspur!

Still very gratefully holding on to the N day rules. I swear they are getting me through this very emotionally charged week with my 16 year old, plus TOM is due any day, likely tomorrow. That is a lethal combination! I really think I would probably have had some ice cream or something by now if I didn't have the N day rules to hold fast to. No snacking or anything! I have allowed myself a comfort breakfast (oatmeal and bacon) and then I tried a taco salad for lunch, but what I really wanted was a bowl of raisin bran so I had that. Didn't finish it, but it hit the spot. Dinner was a bit of pasta (about 8 rotini noodles) with three homemade 1" meatballs and a bit of sauce.

And coffee!

There's a pool party on Friday- Trying to decide if I want to make that an NWS day or not. I had one last week. I know we can do two a month. But we have a ton of company coming at the end of month and that could get dicey. I don't know what to do yet!

So TOM showed up over night.. explains the over emotional day yesterday and the carb-heavier day. But NO sugar and NO snacking and that is such a big fat win!! I tell you, the clarity and simplicity of N rules really works well for me.

I have decided to keep pool-party-day Friday night as an N day. I am going to make a dessert I really like, and cut them up on to a plate, cut myself one and baggie it up and put it in the fridge. I will KNOW it is there waiting for me on Saturday. Honestly, I doubt there will be anything else there that I am dying to have, maybe a brownie at most and I can bring one home if I really want to. You know? Most people bring store bought stuff and most of it isn't that good.

So, tomorrow will be an N day, and I will do my very best to hold fast to that. I can bring something home and I will just keep telling myself that. Not denying, just delaying to the appropriate day.

I think it's very smart to keep the NWS day for company.

You are doing great, learning so many things and sticking to adjustments even when they are uncomfortable. The body often puts up a fight against losing those calories. One reason I think traditional diets fail is because the promoters are too scared to tell people they will have times they really want extra food and they will just have to put up with sleeping on the mattress with the pea under it.

Hi Nicco, enjoying reading your thread! You are doing brilliantly!

I like your term ‘big fat win’, when an N day can still be successful even if you’ve been a little carb-heavy. Like for me this week, I had a tough day on Thursday and had two small glasses of strawberry milkshake between meals. I know it’s calorific, but because it fits in with the N day rules (being a drink), it didn’t lead to the dreaded WTH effect. And my day ended up so much better than if I’d tried to be more ‘good’ and ended up bingeing.

Have a great weekend!

Oolala I agree with you. This plan IMO is very workable, especially in its clarity. It is what it is. I am doing well with that!

Even with WW, which works well for so many, I would try to "game" the system. My goal was to get as much as I could for the points allotted and that led to eating all kinds of processed crap that isn't good for me, not to mention some obsession with food in general.

One thing I have really really enjoyed about NoS is that there is no panic about going out to eat. I still look over the menu to see what they offer, how much things cost etc but I am not focusing so much on carbs and what I "can" and "can't" have, and instead I order what looks and sounds good to me and then just enjoy it. Lord, is that nice!

Octavia, that is great that you avoided a binge! Sometimes that is so very hard to do. I would know. Keep it up!

Happy S day everyone!

I am over a month with No-S now, I think my one-month was on Tuesday of this past week. I am very happy doing this and in a nice groove.

The N days are really really working for me. I have not had such an easy time "not" having things and also not feeling badly or deprived about it. I DO think that it has helped that I am having things that I ordinarily would consider off limits, like a piece of toast, or oatmeal, or a bowl of Raisin Bran, so those things feel like treats even when they are not. KWIM?

I have definitely added carbs back in to my diet and I do wonder what effect that is having on my weight. But I knew going in that it might, at least for a while, which is why I am doing No-Weigh May. What I am doing is working on a more normalized relationship with food, and also working to end the restriction-binge cycle that I had developed with food.

Pool party last night went really well. Successfully resisted all treats, knowing I had something here at home for an S day that I could enjoy. Worked like a dream!

As I had said earlier in the week, this week has been VERY emotional with some stuff going on with my youngest teen, and then TOM on top of that. The structure of N days has been a saving grace and not having to worry about self recrimination and blame from emotional eating has been a godsend.

Oh, and last thing! I am on either day 30 or 31 for closing my rings on my Apple Watch. I am very proud of that! WHOOP!

Have a great Saturday today!:)

So great that you are improving your relationship with food. I think that needs to be your number one priority. I basically spent the first year of NoS healing my relationship with food. After that I was able to tweak things where needed and focus on getting the weight off. Having no foods off limits is so freeing and really seems to help with the binge cycle.

Good luck with your teen. I’ve got two at home and some days I just want to pack my bags and move overseas!

Oh yeah, this normalisation of food, is such a biggie. It’s also quite an endictment on our society that so many of us have such a poor relationship with food. We literally cannot live without the stuff, and it should be a joyful experience to eat together with friends, and even the family supper should be a highlight of the day.

But us dieters have so many rules, and we feel guilty every single time we eat.

So if no s does nothing else for us than heal our relationship with food then that is enough on its own.

Of course if we lose some weight too, then that would be nice

Thank you lpearlmom and Merry! I appreciate both of you very much.

The good:

• Did Memorial Day as an N day, by choice. I actually wanted the structure of it and it was fine and didn't miss anything. We didn't do anything to 'celebrate' it though, if we had I might have treated it differently.

• Staying well on track.

• Today will be Day 34 of closing the rings on my watch every day. I am so proud of that!

The not-so-good:

• This has been a stressful week and to top it off, our downtown severely flooded and is essentially wiped off the map. Second severe flood in two years' time. My heart breaks for the many small business owners there, some of whom are my friends, not to mention it is the place of a great number of childhood memories for my kids.

• My Mom canceled coming to my DD's bridal shower last night. My DD is sad and upset about it.

BUT! Hanging in there. The school year will be over soon. We are well and healthy, we had no flooding in our basement and our house is fine.

Keep on keeping on, everyone!

I think I'm five weeks along now with NoS and it is going really well.
Good N Day today.

Another good N day. Got my walk in and I think I might take one more short one with the dogs before the rain comes. My Apple Watch isn't measuring my walks correctly and it is highly irritating. lol

I like N days. I like NoS. It's a good fit. I haven't thought of myself as a snacker in a while but I can see that I put things in my mouth from time to time without giving it a second thought now that I literally do not snack at all during the week.

Once we have a way to quantify our activity, we want credit for every twitch! At least I do.

oolala53 wrote:Once we have a way to quantify our activity, we want credit for every twitch! At least I do.

Yup, me too!!

Good solid N day today, no problems.
Did my line dancing class and mowed the lawn.

Heading into a very busy weekend with company in town and some degree of stress. Will be holding on tightly!

Still here!

Busy weekend with my daughter's bridal shower and lots of company in town. Had my S days over the weekend and back on track with an N day today.

You were on track with your S days, too. I assume it Was nice to feel that you could be part of the party if you chose to have anything there that would really please you. And no obligation to have any extras.

oolala53 wrote:You were on track with your S days, too. I assume it Was nice to feel that you could be part of the party if you chose to have anything there that would really please you. And no obligation to have any extras.

Yes, you are exactly right! I had cake, guilt free!

And then on Monday I baked a banana cake for our family and guests- they all loved it, I had none and I was just fine with it. For whatever reason, the "rules" of N days are working so well for me. They are just CLEAR.

Successful N day!

Still hanging in there. Successful N days all week.

Yesterday we went to my Niece's 8th grade graduation- I bypassed the cake and cookies and punch. I firmly had to say the rule to myself a couple of times but that did the trick.

My whole week has been wonky- exam week for DS16 so he had school from 8-10:15 on Monday, no school on Tuesday, 8-12 Wednesday and 8-10:30 Thursday. Not having a routine tends to be challenging for me but I've held strong.

Today was my hardest N day- I am restless and stressed because my DS16 had his wisdom teeth out this morning. I can't get him to eat or drink yet (which is fine, in the whole scheme of things, really) and it is causing me to feel anxious which is a big eating trigger for me. Not to mention I keep offering/carrying up pudding, ice cream, etc. 'I will eat it for you!' is what I am thinking, which of course fixes nothing at all. But I have held fast and not caved in. My DH came home and I told him I would really like something yummy for dinner, and so he is going to pick up my favorite Mediterranean food- lamb and filet kabob with basmati rice. I will eat half and save half for tomorrow and it will really hit the spot.

So anyway, TL;DR- Challenging week, having 3 simple rules to follow made all the difference.

I know "they say" that you can't fail on S days but man, I had two pretty ugly S days. I guess I can say that at least I held it to S days but ugh. I definitely ate to the point past full several times and just ate a bunch of sweet stuff.

That being said, this was the weekend of DS's wisdom tooth recovery (surgery was Friday morning at 10AM) and I am fatigued from giving pain medicine around the clock and general care taking. Still, one has to question the logic of eating to the point of feeling overfull and slightly ill as a means of coping. Ah well, what is done is done and moving on. Ready to embrace the N days again.

When my daughter had her wisdom teeth out she ate mash potatoes and gravy, and ice cream for a week. It’s no fun though, so I shall send sympathy in his direction.

Yes, those overdone s days when you end up feeling stuffed and can’t sleep....
I hope that as time passes and one realises one can have a treat each and every s day, we don’t feel like we have to eat them all every time (and before 10am in my case!)

Onto the week. N days all the way!

niccofive wrote: I definitely ate to the point past full several times and just ate a bunch of sweet stuff.

Still, one has to question the logic of eating to the point of feeling overfull and slightly ill as a means of coping. Ah well, what is done is done and moving on. Ready to embrace the N days again.

Just about everybody has done it. (Reinhard refers to some beastly plates and that might have been N day fare.) Some people have it kind of fade away. Some have to let it run a course, but still be purposeful about the limitation , making them more their choice. (That would be me.) Some people leave and come back later, saying nothing else has worked and they are ready to tame S days.

Stuffing yourself isn't always about coping. I heard on a video series on diabetes that there is a "cram factor" in eating that sometimes drives the person to get it all in while s/he has the chance. But it responds to logic.

oolala53 wrote: Some have to let it run a course, but still be purposeful about the limitation , making them more their choice. (That would be me.)

Oolala can you elaborate more on this please? I am curious as to what you did/do during this phase.

Otherwise, all is going well on this end. I sometimes make three meals, sometimes two. Definitely no snacking, definitely no sweets and 9 times out of 10 easily doing the one plate thing. Eating out, particularly at a Mexican place where there are tortilla chips at the beginning, is the most challenging because I forget to even think of them as part of the meal. Of course they are!

Back to exercising again. I had a long streak, like 39 days, of "closing all the rings" but then DS16 had his wisdom teeth out and I lost track for three days. This week I have been back in it again!

I gave today my first RED on my Habitcal.

While I don't think it was a bad eating day at all, it just doesn't fall into the No-S limits and I don't want to call it a yellow because I have some travel days coming up toward the end of the month.

Today I went to an Indian Buffet, with the purpose of exploring Indian food for the first time and learning what I do and do not like.
I used salad plates, took a bite of everything and then got more once I had tasted all of a couple of things that I particularly liked. In total it was two one-level salad plates but that does not include some naan in the basket.

I also tasted one dessert, the Indian rice pudding, about 1/4 cup.

That was my sole meal of the day, at 1:30 PM.

So, not a fail but not a follow of the rules either, thus my first red.

I'm okay with that, I think, although it stinks to have my first red!

Some people just have the overages of S days fade away without any effort.

Others eventually decide that it's not happening on their own, so they choose the limitations themselves. I did the second one, but not until I gave the process a good long time. I liked my freedom to overeat more than I wanted to feel lighter on S days.

You haven't been at it for two months, right? You are right on track.

oolala53 wrote:Some people just have the overages of S days fade away without any effort.

Others eventually decide that it's not happening on their own, so they choose the limitations themselves. I did the second one, but not until I gave the process a good long time. I liked my freedom to overeat more than I wanted to feel lighter on S days.

You haven't been at it for two months, right? You are right on track.

Thank you so much for your explanation, oolala. It actually made sense to me and eased my mind quite a bit.

I think I am right around the two month mark or close to it, and you are right, in the whole scheme of things I am still a newbie. I appreciate you!

N Days continue to go smoothly and well. Like a security blanket. It is amazing to me how easy it is to just not even consider having stuff I shouldn't on an N day, particularly up to late Thursday or Friday. I am loving that. Also most eating out/parties etc seem to fall on weekends. How convenient is that?!

Green days up until today. Today (Friday) I am going to call a red day. I took two sweet bread samples at the Great Harvest Bread Co. But doing my best to not make it a WTH day. Sticking with just those two samples with no other sweets, even though I'm marking it red.

It's really good that it was just those two tastes and that you're honest about it. It would be so easy to think of the samples as too little to be a big deal and that does not usually end well. Right back on the horse!

Well the horse left the stable for the end of June!!

Travel for Chicago 6/25-28 and once we got back I did not get back on track the Thursday and Friday before the weekend. But coming in to July is a fresh start, so I plan to be back on plan for Monday and ready to rumble!

Out of curiosity, what horse will you be riding on the 4th?