Judy's Journey

[mondurvic]

Starting weight - 250 on the nose. Last time I weighed, I was 241. Imagine my delight as I moved the weight on the scale to the 250 mark.

Doing it not just for myself, but for Reinhard's book, saved me a couple of times when I think I might otherwise have given in to a craving for sweets. It helps to have a larger goal than the desire for a skinny bod.

Meal 1 - Club sandwich

Meal 2 - Chinese buffet. Incredibly, it is possible to eat just one plate.

Meal 3 - Rice crackers and eggplant-tahini dip (baba ganoug)

DAY 1 - SUCCESS!

[Michele]

sounds good, I haven't had the courage to weigh myself yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Keep up the good work, sounds like your eating sensibly.

Michele

[mondurvic]

SUCCESS

Meal 1 - Chinese buffet

Meal 2 - Chinese Buffet

Meal 3 - rice crackers with baba ganoug and veggie pate


First time the restaurants aren't losing on me at a buffet!

[mondurvic]

SUCCESS.

I am writing this before the day is even over, because you can't really fail on an S-day, can you?

[mondurvic]

SUCCESS

Went back to my favourite Chinese buffet and this time had more than one plate, of course.

[mondurvic]

SUCCESS

Meal 1 - open-faced egg sandwich

Meal 2 - Chinese buffet (do you see a pattern here?)

Meal 3 - chicken sandwich

A few glasses of apple juice in between. Is that OK?

[gettnbusy]

According to what Reinhard has said, large quantities of juice are not usually consumed. IMO - if you find yourself drinking more than 2 glasses per day maybe you should try substituting 1 glass for just water or milk or V-8 or another sugar less beverage (iced tea maybe?) Sugar is sugar and most juice is not actually natural sugar, it is high fructose corn syrup which is lethal to your body~ it doesn't know how to process it. So if you love juice, switch to a natural brand. For instance, Tropicana OJ is not from concentrate and has no added water or sugar or anything else either; versus Minute maid which is from concentrate & adds stuff to it. I try to avoid chemicals at all costs. For instance, if I HAVE to have butter - that is exactly what I have; not margarine that is like eating plastic to your body. I just have a small amount of it.

On another note - do you work/live near the Chinese buffet? LOL

Best of luck to you. Look me up anytime you wanna boast, cry or chat. I'm usually around.

Take care!

[mondurvic]

Hi, gb,

Thanks for the personal note and especially for the kind invitation to keep in touch.

Luckily, I am not very partial to fruit juice - I just happened to have it in the house and was thirsty because of the Chinese buffet. On the subject of which, no, I don't live near there or own stock in it, but the manager HAS told me that I'm their best customer, which is an award I would rather not win. I hope I am coming to the end of my infatuation with the place. I tend to get crushes on foods and eat them over and over and over until I lose interest and move on to something else. I never get crushes on carrots or string beans, of course.

Judy

[mondurvic]

SUCCESS

Meal 1 - club sandwich

Meal 2 - Chinese buffet

Meal 3 - hummus and rice crackers

[reinhard]

Judy,

Don't worry about the juice. Much, much better than breaking down and snacking.

Buffets are tricky... nice work!

I'm happy "doing it for the book" is encouraging you!

Reinhard

P.S. I'd love to hear more about your book. I email you.. sorry I haven't yet but things have been nuts.

[gettnbusy]

I read a report from the New England journal of Medicine that sated that 82% of people who weighed themselves DAILY were more successful at losing weight than those that didn't. Interesting report. It further stated that the reason is that you keep tabs on your weight and your conscious & unconscious make adjustments if you notice your weight creeping up. Anyway, it was a response to the fact that you hadn't weighed yourself. Enjoy the rest of your week.
Take care!

[mondurvic]

I weighed myself the day I started, and weighed 250. It was Michelle who wrote that she hadn't weighed herself. I will be weighing myself every 21 days and posting it here.

[mondurvic]

FAILURE.

Almost made it through one full week, but at 3:30 am, still up, I had a fourth plate. The best thing about it? Normally, after "breaking a diet", I would jettison the whole thing and start hunting for the next diet. This time I thought, "I'm in this for the long haul. There will be days I don't succeed. This is one of them". I remain at peace and on plan.

Today's meals:

1 - club sandwich

2 - Chinese buffet

3 - rice crackers and baba ganoug, with a bite of veggie pate

4 - rice crackers and baba ganoug

Re Chinese buffets: This has been an interesting process. I started out with bites of everything on the plate, but soon narrowed it down to four favourites and now eat only two of their dishes, the scallops and the calamari. Sounds like a healthy choice, but they're breaded and deep-fried. Still, I enjoy every mouthful now more than I enjoyed a mixed plate of "anything goes".

I won't say I wouldn't like more than one plate, but I'm so thrilled that I'm on a diet that allows me to go to a buffet altogether that I'm willing to have just one plate - and wait for the weekend!

Judy

[mondurvic]

SUCCESS

Meal 1 - French fries, few bites chicken wrap

Meal 2 - Indian buffet

Meal 3 - Rice crackers and hummus

[mondurvic]

SUCCESS

Meal 1 - Club sandwich, home fries

Meal 2 - bread and butter, one meaty short rib, polenta square

Meal 3 - rice crackers, veggie pate

Meals are big, too much food, but they ARE on one plate and I'm not going to drive myself crazy abuot portion size, although it IS a little distressing. Much better than the way I was eating before, however, and I'm guessing'/hoping portions will become more reasonable as I proceed down this path.

Can anyone tell me their experience in portion sizes? Does it change over time? Will also ask this on the forum.

[mondurvic]

SUCCESS and SUCCESS, of course - but then why do I feel so bad? I ate way too much, as if to extract food-value out of every weekend second. My choices got worse and worse as the weekend progressed, culminating in a frenzy of horridness as the clock began to run out.

I have not always done this on S days, and believe I can and will do better.

I've got magical thinking going on right now. Tomorrow I move into a new place, and in my mind, it is the sparkling beginning of a miraculous new life. I'll have no problems with food, I'll be as active as an Olympian, all my problems will be solved. The last time this was supposed to happen was January 1st, which also fell on a Monday. Could the stars possibly line up better than starting a diet on a Monday that is also the very first day of the very first month?

It didn't happen then, and it won't happen now, but I don't feel the usual fear and anxiety, because I have the calming, do-able structure of no-s to give me support.

[gratefuldeb67]

You are doing so great Judy!!!
I'm really proud of you!!
Good luck in your new place and keep it up
Peace and Love,
Deb

[mondurvic]

SUCCESS

Meal 1 - Smoked tofu/cheddar/pesto sandwich

Meal 2 - Club sandwich, small Caesar salad

Meal 3 - Few bites wheat gluten nuggets

Moved today. I'm surrounded by boxes, and tired. Thought perhaps I could eat off-plan by legitimizing a Stressful day, but knew better.

Judy

[mondurvic]

House coming together. Love the Mindful Eating website another no-s'er told us about, and have signed up for their challenge. Am aiming at getting more fruits and vegetables into my diet.

Meal 1 - tempeh and vegetable sandwich

Meal 2 - mixed plate at a vegan buffet restaurant

SNACK - 2 clementines. Yes, a snack, but it's because I want to eat more fruits and vegetables. Asked at the main forum for input about tinkering this way.

Meal 3 - baba ganoug with baby carrots and a tomato

Feel great. Don't know how to define today. It's not a classic no-snack no-s day, but it's a day I'm very pleased with. Is this what they call "funny stuff"? If so, is this a SUCCESS with some funny stuff, or a FAILURE because of the funny stuff?

Judy

[mondurvic]

Today completes two full, albeit imperfect, weeks on no-s. Plan to weigh myself tomorrow and will post here.

Meal 1 - watermelon, 12 pieces of California roll made with brown rice

Snack - 3 clementines

Meal 2 - Chinese buffet. Included some eggplant, to add some veggies, but it was so oil-laden that I think it was worse than nothing.

Meal 3 - baba ganoug with broccoli and cauliflower florets and carrots

[mondurvic]

Had another snack, meaning three meals and two snacks today. This one was a lot of cashews and dried apricots, which I did not eat because I wanted to increase my fruit intake, but because I wanted nuts and fruit, I wanted something sweet, and flat out, I wanted to eat.

Back to just the three meals immediately. If I'm serious about incorporating more fruits and vegetables into my diet, I can eat them at meals.

[mondurvic]

Down three pounds, to 247. Glad to move the big weight to the left on the scale. VERY glad I've lost any weight at all, considering I'm eating plenty - and foods that I love! - and even binged last weekend.

[mondurvic]

FAILURE

"Overburdening oneself with restrictions is the top reason people fail to stick with diets for any length of time. " Reinhard Engels

I've really got to memorize this, as if it was scripture.

I make the same mistake every time. No sooner am I doing well on some plan, then I tighten it up, make it even more pure. If it's vegetarian, it should be vegan. If it's vegan, it should be raw. If it's raw, it should be organic. If it's organic, it should be in season and locally grown.

I make myself crazy, and I push myself to the point where I'm filled with resentment and throw in the towel.

Just so with the latest attempt at no-s. I've been doing fine - sticking with it (though not every day has been perfect), enjoying every mouthful and best of all, feeling at peace.

Enter the Mindless Eating Challenge two days ago, and a determination to start including fruits or vegetables at two meals a day. Of course, this is desirable, and it can be done in tandem with no-s, but it was an additional demand I made on myself, and one I resented. Yesterday I had two snacks in addition to my three meals, and today I went right round the bend, with pizza and lots of chocolate truffle squares in the middle of the day. I was feeling so angry, so put upon, so enraged. Such strong emotions must have an underlying basis, and I think it's built-up resentment from having dieted since the age of 7 - with nothing to show for it but decades of stress.

I am stopping trying to integrate Mindless Eating into no-s, and I'm sticking with plain vanilla no-s for one simple reason: it's something I am able to do. Anything more gets my hackles up, and that's not a pretty sight.

Today's intake (I can hardly call them meals):

1 - vegetable sandwich. Feh. Couldn't compare to my beloved club sandwiches, but I was trying to do the "right" thing and eat more vegetables.

2 - pizza and chocolate truffle squares

3 - more chocolate truffle squares - but at least they're finished now

[mondurvic]

FAILURE

Things were fine till just before midnight, when I read in the paper about a local 57-year-old woman who was diagnosed with cancer during the summer and died last week. Fine one minute, dead five months later.

It really got to me, and I began questioning the choices I'm making, and what I would do if I only had five months to live - which ended up in grabbing my coat and rushing out to get a big piece of cake before the store closed.

Guess that's a metaphor for the whole thing.


Judy

[florafloraflora]

I began questioning the choices I'm making, and what I would do if I only had five months to live - which ended up in grabbing my coat and rushing out to get a big piece of cake before the store closed.

Judy, I had a wry little chuckle because I SO know the feeling of being torn between committing to the path that's good for me in the long term and just seizing the day (and the brownie).

What's starting to make the difference for me is that I realize how good I feel when I eat more moderately. I have a long way to go before I get to my goal weight or even within the ballpark, but I'm hoping that the way I feel lighter and more agile when I'm not weighed down by too much of the wrong foods will get me through.

PS Was last night not an S-day for you?

[mondurvic]

Yes, last night was an s-day, but the write-up pertained to Friday. I just hadn't gotten around to entering it before.

[mondurvic]

I have been reading the thread on the Forum about what other people eat on S days. Some I can relate to - those who really throw themselves into it - but others - those who have a tiny brownie or a square or two of chocolate - well, I'm just not in that category. How much of a weight problem can someone capable of that have?

I am more than 100 pounds overweight. I've gone on enough quick-weight-loss diets to know that's not the way, but I have to wonder about my prognosis on no-s, too. Maybe this is a diet better suited to those without much weight to lose. I am struck by how many post that they started out not far from their ultimate goal.

I am not giving up - largely because there's nowhere else to go - and in truth, I will settle for the greater peace of mind no-s brings, even if I never lose a pound. But at this moment, bloated and stuffed after two days of gorging, I am feeling pretty discouraged.

Judy

[mondurvic]

My gosh, has it only been three days since I last posted? I feel like I've been in diet hell for a month. Bad N days, vile S days, big weight gain, a brief fling with the South Beach Diet (didn't last a day) - all to arrive back here bloated and feeling sick.

Only one thing to do, I know - get back on the horse.

I like starting N days on Thursdays - only two days to go till you hit an S, but first a couple of days of sanity that immediately shift me to a better place.

Effective now, I am going to start not just noting SUCCESSes and FAILUREs, I'm going to keep an on-going ratio, so that if I hit a bad patch, I'll (hopefully) be able to see that by and large, I am doing fine. This will look something like
25/2
meaning 25 SUCCESSful days and two FAILURE days. I'll only be including N days, as S-days would skew the results.

I need your prayers, guys. Thanks for the help.

Judy

[gratefuldeb67]

Hey Judy
Please stay positive!
You *will* lose pounds with NoS, so long as you do it at least 75% successfully and learn how to tame the gorgefests..
Start by taming the N days.
I think that over time, if you stick with this, you will start to naturally stop the gorgefests simply because your body doesn't enjoy that overstuffed gorged feeling.
Take a lesson from each time you do that, and without beating yourself up, just set your goal for the week to *try again*...
I promise you that you will lose weight.
You are treading on dangerous ground when you say things like
"even if I never lose any weight", because you are simply creating a self fulfilling prophecy..
And that's just so defeatist..
Focus, rather, on your developing willpower and self respect, as well as respect for this brilliant plan!
This plan has something that *no* other diet could ever offer...
I call it the "Lightbulb factor"...
That feeling that the lightbulb turned on when you first read NoS..
You know it will work, but it's not easy to overcome the negative programming and poor eating habits..
I have a sneaking feeling that I was close to 240 lbs when I started NoS in 2004.. The lowest I got down to was 199.5 (haha)
and now I'm something like 208...
I would adore to be anywhere in the ballpark of 170 by the time I'm done..
So.. You aren't alone in needing to lose a lot..
There have been others too..
I'll also reiterate that you must incorporate at least 5 days a week of some kind of activity to be really successful with this.. Unless you are under 20 years old or have hyperthyroidism, I'm assuming the old metabolism needs some extra help
Look at Reinhard.
He walks every N day and does Shovelglove.
It's no surprise that he has done so well losing his initial 40 lbs and *keeping* all of it off!
Anyway, there are other people here who had substantial weight to lose and for whom NoS was the answer..

Let's see.. Silverfish, Freakwitch, and myself have all started with plus 40 lbs to lose..Anyway.. Have a lovely weekend and start fresh Monday!
I am
Peace and Love,
Debs