Everyday Systems

Today was day 4 for me (started No S diet this past Monday), and it was a success. There was one bit of "funny" stuff, namely - do waffles count as a sweet, or not? They were made with fresh blueberries, and I'm used to such things being a "standard" breakfast occasionally, but I really struggled with it today.

Other than that, then, a success.

Hey Josh - it looks like we both started on the same day!

I'd probably not count waffles as a sweet - if I was rational on the amount of butter and syrup used. I'd say it's not much different than the cereal I'm still eating for breakfast. I did cut back on the amount and added a little fruit instead. It too is my norm for breakfast.

Having said that, as I establish new habits, if it looks like I need a little more push to make progress on the scale, you can bet that my cereal choices will be changed to something with less sugar in it. But my first goal is to develop new healthier eating habits, and snacking is by far my worse offense.

Hey Adagia,

Yeah, snacking is my major offense as well. I'd say I'll be able to lose a good bit of weight simply from the "no snacking" bit of the No S diet.

Today was a success. One bit of funny stuff: we went to the county fair today, and I had 2 items of food from there for "dinner", even though it wasn't my usual dinner time. Item 1 was eaten about an hour and a half before item 2. However, I'm confidant that if I'd had a plate, both items would have fit on said plate quite nicely, perhaps even with a bit of room to spare. So, I counted the 2 things as my dinner.

Long story short: today = success. 1 week down, for both No S and shovelgloving. I must say - after this all week, not shugging tomorrow is going to feel *weird*.

An S-day. I noticed that, despite it being an S-day, I didn't rampage through the kitchen, shoveling food into my mouth. I snacked a bit, but it wasn't even close to how I snacked pre-No S.

Another S-Day. Had a few cookies between breakfast and lunch, and a sensibly-sized bowl of ice cream between lunch and dinner. Both were enjoyable, and neither made me feel gluttonous.

Strangely, I'm looking forward to getting back to N days tomorrow. I've also been looking forward to Monday shugging all weekend. I almost shugged today, but Reinhard has stressed to be "extreme with your moderation", so I decided to just wait.

Another S-day. No, I've not lost my mind; today's my birthday (24, for those interested).

I've had a couple pieces of zucchini bread, but otherwise, it's been an N day thus far. Still, just to keep things straight on my calendar, I am marking it as an S-day, as I have snacked.

Happy Birthday!

Thanks.

I forgot to do my check-in yesterday; oops! So: yesterday was a success, both for No S and shovelglove.

Today was a success, both for No S and shovelglove. Lots and lots of appreciation for my meals, especially for dinner.

edit: Not sure what's up with the timestamp, so to clarify: this entry was for Wednesday.

Thursday: Failure. I went out to dinner with my nephew as a late birthday gift from him. While I thought what I ordered would have fit on one plate, after thinking about it some more, I don't think it would have. Maybe, but it's iffy, so in the interest of being brutally honest, I'm going to say: failure.

Friday: Success. Today marks the end of my second week on No S, and I noted that while today was a "success", more than anything, it felt normal. I've found that unless it's a meal time, I don't even really think about food. In fact, even if there is something I'd really like to eat, the idea of eating at a non-meal time strikes me as a bit weird. What, eat when it's not breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Absurd!

Saturday: Exempt. Saturday starts with S!

Sunday: Duh. Exempt.

Monday: Success, both for No S and shovelglove. Monday was the beginning of week 3 for me on both systems.

I was concerned when I first got up that I wouldn't be able to do shovelglove properly, as one of my back muscles was a bit screwed up. I pulled it, ironically, by turning an odd way while eating at my brother's house on Sunday evening. Go figure - I injure myself while eating, not while slinging a sledgehammer around. Anyway, a bit of (required) yardwork seemed to fix my back muscle, so I was able to do shovelglove. (If I had to, I'd planned on just standing / walking around with the shovelglove for 14 minutes, just to keep the habit strong.)

Tuesday and Wednesday: Success. I had a meal from Captain D's tonight, but measured it all out onto a real plate to make sure it'd fit. It did. Obviously, I wouldn't feel comfy in having fast food for every dinner, but when I AM going to have it, I'm still going to stick to the 1 plate thing.

Thursday: Success.

Regarding shovelglove, I'm still rather amazed. I can't believe I've found an exercise program that I *want* to do every day. I genuinely enjoy it, even if my neighbors probably think I'm insane. (The curtains were parted a bit a few times when I've been shugging, so who knows what they think I'm doing inside...)

Of course, the exercise program making my arms look more and more like Popeye's isn't hurting matters...

So much for daily. Anyway, since the last day: success on every day, for both shovelglove and No S.

I skipped shovelglove on last Thursday and Friday, so I would have 4 days to let my wrists / hands rest. I wanted to see if it would help with the tingling / pain I've been having; it did.

I started up shovelglove again yesterday, and am now being very careful to make sure I'm not twisting my wrists in any strange ways. So, success for SG Monday and Tuesday. Also, success for No S since my last update.

Success for shovelglove and No S, for Wednesday and Thursday. Wrists have been irking me a little, but after observing some more, it may simply be too much computer time. Shovelglove might exacerbate the problem, but I'm confident that it's not the cause of my condition.

Success for Friday / Monday.

All success days up to today except for:

1. September 11th, due to poor planning on my part. I didn't take enough lunch with me to the college, and so had to resort to buying a lemon poppy seed muffin to supplement. It wasn't even that *good*, but it still counted as a sweet in my book.

2. September 23rd: exempt. The family went out to dinner, which is a real rarity for us. I decided to count it as an S day for that reason. Ironically, after having dessert, I felt extremely stuffed, and indeed, felt rather miserable. Apparently since starting No S, my stomach has shrank drastically. I suppose that's a good thing, though.

That's for No S. No failures at all for shovelgloving since my last update.

Just wanted to post a note here: I've not abandoned No S or shovelglove. It seems the habits are pretty well planted at this point, so I've stopped updating my daily thread here. I'm still using the HabitCal, though, so if anyone wants to take a looksie:

http://everydaysystems.com/habitcal/vie ... hovelglove