Everyday Systems

Please post if you've done several consecutive 21 day stretches [or tell me how you measure it now] and give me an idea of your progress and success. I"d like a good idea of what happens when you do this right!

Bobbie

Hmmmmm.... My first set of 21 days was ROUGH. Trying to stop my "grazing" eating style was difficult to say the least. I started over a couple times. I've been doing this for 3 months now and I'd like to say its easier - and in some ways it is. But I am a foodie. I love food. So, for someone like myself it is very difficult compared to someone like my sister who could care less about food and is therefore bone thin. I have had to start my 21 day trip AGAIN this week. I did it for my own peace of mind because I THOUROUGLY THRASHEd my NO S eating plan recently and it takes 21 days to make a habit and I've truly fallen out of the habit.

I don't know if this helps answer your question at all. I do want to tell you that this is a really good way to set your food issues in a straight line for the rest of your life. Re-learning to eat healthy and then have treats now & again instead of gorging on them. Reinhard has a great plan here if you stick to it. I also heard something a couple of weeks ago from Dr Oz (Oprah) that HAS helped me tremendously. He said to have the same foods for 2 of your daily meals. It will help it become autonomic and you don't have to think about it with all those evil choices out there. For instance, have a piece of wheat toast & a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast every other morning and every other morning have a piece of fruit and a yogurt. That type of thing. Keeping it the same & healthy & simple takes so much burden off you. I have been doing the same breakfast for 2 months now. I thought it would get boring but I find myself liking it. I don't even think about it. I put the toast in the toaster and water in my oatmeal every day. I don't even buy cereal anymore because it is so bad for me. Now it doesnt even enter my mind that I want some Lucky Charms! Breakfast has become autonomic for me and it is the only meal that I don't "cheat" on. For lunch it is always a chore to decide what to have. So sometimes I end up eating a garbage burrito or a cheesburger from Islands or In N Out. Not good. It's because I have too many choices and I lose sight of my goal. Because I've had such a hard time with making good food choices my entrie adult life I think this same thing every day (or slight variations thereof) for 1-2 meals keeps me going. I see alot of people on this board who want to be a success really badly but really aren't making any changes. You just have to do i little bit of work to see results. They are not fast results, but they appear to be lasting results - which I think is what we all really want anyway. (I have had my share of MAJOR slip ups - Like the majority of the last 4 weeks!). What some of us have started to change about US is that we are seeing this as a lifetime pattern of choices and that just because we gorge out one day because our kids were pecking us to death like a chicken and our boss yelled at us and we miss our ex husband DOES NOT MEAN FAILURE. It means we do better at our next choice. And I am doing that, despite all my falling down, I am still 18 pounds lighter than I was 3 months ago. (This morning I weighed in at 260, started at 278). So although I did pig out ONCE IN A WHILE. As a whole, I'm still healthier than before Reinhards plan. I excercise more often (though not regularly) and I have a place (HERE) to talk about my food issues and get real feedback either daily or weekly or whenever I need it. It is a safe place where nobody judges you; they just try to give you suggestions to help you in your walk.

I hope this gives you some perspective into my 21 day journeys. I've had to start over a couple times, but that was because I allowed myself to focus on something else instead of my goal so I never GOT to the 21 days in a row. It's not that it is a magical number. The 21 days is how long it has been proven to develop a habit (good or bad). So you have to be strict with yourself for 21 days to develop your habit. Most people who HAVE done that are very successful.

Tricks don't work for me. Clever stuff is easy to sabotage!

People don't like to hear this, but just buckle down and do it. Be strict. Count plates. Count days.

Soon 21 days will feel like nothing because you will have the habit. (Or will the habit have you?)

--david

Wow Christie, I'd have a much harder time if I were still in So Cal with In N Out burgers and 24hour Roberto's taco stands ---- mmmmm I miss carne asada burritos ...

I don't have nearly as much temptation here...