Everyday Systems

Great idea, this! Don't like the idea of "food journaling" normally, but this seems different. Tried NOS last year, but wasn't ready for its stark simplicity. My mind wanted more drama. Now I'm ready.

Day 1 SUCCESS

A little hungry tonight, but nothing that can't be let go.

Welcome!
C.

Hey Inge!!!
Welcome...
Life can be dramatic enough! I think a simple diet which *works* and is easy is way better than a dramatic diet which is unmaintainable after the drama fades...
Good luck..
Peace and Love,
Deb

Thank you both for the welcome, I've really enjoyed lurking and reading all of your contributions to this board! Deb, you're a wild woman!

Now for great news -- Day 2 SUCCESS

Funny stuff: Lunch was TWO tuna sandwiches -- four halves -- arranged on a dinner plate with a larger pile of Fritos than I'd normally admit to desiring for lunch. (Normally I'd just eat them out of the bag "who's counting? Not me!") No room for fruit. Truly the "bestial plate" described somewhere on the NOS website; in fact, I was embarassed enough about it that I waited for all other family members to leave the kitchen before I hauled it to the table!!! So encouraging to know this is a common newbie foible, and not a predictor of imminent failure.

As someone else mentioned, I was also very hungry soon after eating dinner but it went away. Good night, all!

Day 3 -- SUCCESS !!!!

And maybe success, too, at getting the font color to work? We'll see..

Yes that was successful, too!

S-Day -- SUCCESS!! Since it's not possible to fail on an S-day, that is! Otherwise, I'd be worried about the excessive pizza and Cosmopolitans

Forgot to say -- that was Day 4. Day 5 should be a breeze too!

Day 5 S-Day = SUCCESS

Inge

Sounds like you're doing fine. Keep it going!

And no: You can't fail on an S Day!!

(Isn't that BRILLIANT?!!)

DaveA

Thanks for the encouragement, DaveA!

Day 6 SUCCESS !!!

Funny stuff: More than the "glass ceiling" of leftover S-Day Pinot Grigio! Should be no problem going forward, however, so I'm regarding the day as a success.

Day 7 SUCCESS !!!

Funny stuff: Pretty huge meals, I was going to note, but I know from reading everyone else's notes that this isn't a problem now. Building the habit is most important, and I can feel that happening already. Refining the habit, and paring down the meals, can wait. Don't think I've gained any weight, anyway.

Tired tonight -- need a "yawning smiley" !!

Inge,
Big congrats on the first sucessful week. Keep it up. As Red Green says "Remember, I'm pulling for ya. We're all in this together!"

Karl

Thank you both for the welcome, I've really enjoyed lurking and reading all of your contributions to this board! Deb, you're a wild woman!

LOL!!!!!
Sorry I missed this! I have been semi-missing in "lack of action" since my comp at home was turned off...
It's getting reactivated this Friday! Yay...
Funny though...
Since I've been semi-away, Reinhard has posted like five times as much as he did during the times I was around!
Ha ha!!!

I will keep trying to be wild just for you Inge!!!
Hope you are having a great day..
Peace and Love,
Deb

Hey Deb! That's great news that you're getting back up online!!

Inge, you're doing really amazing stuff here. Wow! a whole first week filled with smilies and successes.

Great!
C.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone -- it feels great to make it to 7 days. That's huge for me; hate to admit it, but 2-3 days is usually where I throw in the towel!

And Day 8 SUCCESS !!!

Nothing funny, even. However, tomorrow will be an S-Day for me, due to my evening book club which will be four hours of cocktails, appetizers, and dessert. I considered fitting this into a NOS framework, as my third meal, but then figured it would be better to eat a normal dinner and not arrive starving and start drinking wine on an empty stomach. Besides, it IS a special day for me -- I don't see these friends very often!

Thanks again for the encouragement!

Inge

Day 9 -- S-Day

And the S's were confined to my evening event.

Day 10 -- SUCCESS !!

Funny stuff: Again, very large meals, even though on one plate. Today was also the first day I was tempted with a sweet; this happened after my large lunch. It was really this daily check-in, and having to start the counting over that made me talk myself into saving the dessert for tomorrow. For breakfast, even, I told myself. But I might not even want it then, I answered back, and I do want it now. And that's the brilliance of the plan -- delay. Maybe I won't even want it tomorrow, and that would be just great!

Stuffed but happy,
Inge

Day 11 -- S-Day

Return of the Perma-Snacker!

Good for you Inge, on saying "no" to the S during the week!!!!
You got 10 gold stars from NoS!!!
I am proud of you...
Hope you are having a nice weekend!
Peace and Love,
Deb

Day 12 - Sunday S-Day

Day 13 - Halloween S-Day

Funny stuff: Didn't plan to take Halloween as an S-Day, really wanted to go back to Mon-Fri NOS-ing after a very indulgent weekend. Then saw some Halloween cookies at Super Target, which I'd never tried before, and suddenly it was: "Okay. Gotta have em right now. It's officially an S-Day!"

If anyone reads this, I would appreciate an opinion. Was the "spirit of the law" violated, and should this day count as a failure?

Thanks for the kind words, Deb!!!

It's amazing how much food you can put on an ordinary dinner plate. I did this, too, for quite a while, until I finally realized I wasn't going to die before I got to the next meal. Then meal times started getting erratic, but I discovered that I still wasn't going to die. So here I am...not dead! As amazing as the amount of food that fits on a plate is the amount of control you will gain over yourself. Bravo, for No-S!

As for Halloween, it's your call if it's an s-day for you or not. If all you ate were those cookies, then console yourself and call them an "s-item" instead of a whole s-day.

Hey Inge... You are most welcome
I decided that today would be an S day, especially because yesterday I had absolutely no treats at all..
Today I got some delicious apple cider cinnamon sprinkled fresh donuts!
Richard, my son is already off with a few friends, in his Scream mask and his jackolantern candy basket in hand!
I believe that last year, Reinhard called Halloween the
"S day par excellance!"

You aren't breaking the spirit of anything..
Incidentally, last year, so many people expressed worry over the holiday season... In reality, at least for me, this wasn't a problem... In fact I even found there were some weeks I lost weight during the Winter.. Now what other diet can boast that???
As long as you keep normal N days to the rules, you probably won't gain during these months of celebrations...
Enjoy all of them!
Peace and Love,
Deb

Hey Inge and Karl: you are both in St. Paul. I'm just a little north of you. I wonder if there are any other no-s-ers in/near the Cities.

Hi! Deb, wish I'd read your bracing words before I made today a

FAILURE !!

by having Halloween candy for breakfast!! Enough said about THAT. I am determined to have a good B1 day tomorrow, however (now that I've gotten over pouting about having to start over!!).

Jan, I was also happy to see other MN NOS-ers -- I think three of us is sufficient to comprise a "Minnesota chapter" !! Isn't the Internet wonderful!!!

Inge (bloody but not bowed)

Inge,
Halloween and the following days are probably the hardest days next to Xmas for snacking. It's so atypical, with all the candy around, that a small slip is nothing to be too concerned about. Keep on NoSing - you're doing great so far!!

BTW, I called Halloween an S day (for Spooky ). Our neighborhood is getting old. Our first year we had over 120 kids. We barely had 40 last night.

Karl

Unfortunately, Karl, the candy propelled me into "perma-snacker" mode, and the day was a hopeless failure. However, I'm letting bygones be bygones and reporting a

Day B1 SUCCESS!!!

Funny stuff: An unaccustomed lunch today, pancakes & syrup, made with my 4-year old at a preschool "pajama party" day. It would have been Grinch-like to refuse to participate, so I had one plate, and considered the day a success.

Fighting a cold tonight, my second since school started. Will be an early night tonight!

Inge (drugged and sniffling)

Day B2 SUCCESS!!

No funny stuff!

Inge

Day B3 SUCCESS !!

No funny stuff.

Go Inge,

It's really sounding good here. FANTASTIC EFFORT!

I'll add another --- Go Inge!!---.

How's the cold??

Karl

Thanks, CJ! (We have a gossip columnist in the Minneapolis newspaper called "CJ" -- so when I see CaroleJo, I think of her...sorry....probably not a flattering analogy.. )

Anyway! Day B4 SUCCESS S-Day

Wasn't going to report today, just note the weekend S-Days as others have done, BUT this was my best S-Day ever, so wanted to record it as such. My N-day habits finally carried over! I found I preferred the regular, one-plate meals for breakfast and lunch. Yet I had the delightful additions of Twizzlers red licorice for dessert, a meandering dinner that didn't have to be "plated" (french bread, salad, wine, over the course of several hours), and a handful of Fritos before bedtime. All in all, definitely less food than previous "normal" days!

Thanks Karl! The cold is much better -- only the hacking night time cough remains!

Day B5 SUCCESS!! S-Day

Day B6 SUCCESS!!

Funny stuff: Hard getting back after an excessive S-Day Sunday. Felt cold and hungry after dinner. Hope tomorrow will be more comfortable.

Gossip collumnist, eh..? *chuckles*.

How do you folks get to know me so quickly, huh?!



C.

Day 7 FAILURE !

Darn it. Haven't seen anyone ELSE start over twice on this board, but I intend to. Really think this goes to show how VERY ingrained some of these "S" habits are. Oh well. I'll be here tomorrow; I'm convinced that I'm fighting the real enemies, anyway.

Inge
(bloody but not bowed)

Darn it. Haven't seen anyone ELSE start over twice on this board, but I intend to.

Are you kidding me? Most of us would be lucky to only have to start over twice. Most of us here have started over several times! You're doing fine.

Really? That's a relief. I'm off to read your check-in log now!
Thanks!
Inge

Start over TWICE...?

Inge, I've started over about 20 times by now!!! I don't think of it as starting over though. You've not undone all the good work you did so far, so you're not starting over in that sense.

It takes about 12 attempts to get a habit down-pat. Cut yourself some slack!! You're only on attempt number threee!!!!!

C.

Thank you for the encouragement, Navin and CJ. I do tend to think if something is difficult, that somehow it's not "right", that I'm trying to force a square peg into a round hole. In this case, though, I know that No-S is addressing the correct issues, and it's worth the struggle to force my habits in a different direction.

So I will persist, in spite of a FAILURE today. Sweets.

Tomorrow will be a good Day C1, however! See you then.

Inge

Day C1 SUCCESS

Whoops. Successes are supposed to beGREEN!

Yeah, Inge!! good to see some more RED here, but for the wrong reasons!!!

C.

Inge,
I've failed and restarted many, many more times than twice. You gotta long way to go if you want to catch my failure rate. You are also way more meticulous about following the NoS program than I am (I'm one of the slackers in the back of the bus ).

Keep at it and remember that you have an awesome 20 success days and a measly 3 failure days (Tice and the overpaid, overpartied Vikings would kill for that record).

K

Fri., Sat., Sun. -- S-Days

Thanks for the encouragement CJ and Karl! I think Tice earned his pay today in NY after getting tackled on the sidelines! Yikes -- he may not be urban rangering any time soon! Finally, a Vikings game that we didn't have to switch off in disgust after the first quarter!!

Inge

Of course I missed it today. I want to see a replay of that tackle!

I really wonder if there is something to the "change of season so I must eat, eat, eat". I know I've been way more hungry lately.

K

Have had 3 days of mixed success I've gotten through 2 meals OK, but give in to sweets/snacking in the late afternoon. Nothing to do with hunger, just bad habits rearing their ugly heads.

Still, it's two-thirds better than I was doing previously!

Inge (hanging in there!)

2/3rds better is awesome!!!!

Go Inge!
Peace and Love,
Deb

Another day with the same 2/3 success pattern. Maybe it is the change of season, as Karl mentioned. Makes me feel like curling up on the couch and eat, while I watch Oprah and watch the snow skidding across the frozen lake.

Tomorrow's another day. And the day after that -- is an S-Day!

For what it's worth, Inge, I have a difficult enough time with the notion of "failure", and even more of one with "starting over" after a "failure."

I've had countless failures in the 5-6 months I've been no-Sing. But overall, there's been a tremendous amount of progress; what I call a failure these days would have been a very, very good day a year ago.

One must keep this in perspective. Do the best you can each day, and the slate is clean the next day when you'll have a new opportunity to do well.

I've written before about "big choices" and "little choices." You've made the "big choice" to go on No-S; now back it up with as many "little choices" (ie, not gonna have that snickers bar today) as you can.

You're doing well! Keep it up!

Very wise words, Freakwich. What brought me to NOS was a strong desire to rid myself of the "dieting mentality", and all its time-wasting little dramas and struggles.

So today, I'll note that NOS went great, no funny stuff -- even managed to have no snacks during tonight's Vikings/Packers game on Monday Night Football!

Inge

Successful day today, not so good yesterday. The big S-Day tomorrow; we'll be at relatives' house.

Going good here, no weight loss yet -- but a definite shift in habit.

I've stopped the Success/Failure check-in, realizing I'm not the kind who benefits from this. It just made me overly exhilerated by success, and overly depressed about failure, and too much focused on both.

The simplicity of No-s, and the seemingly infinite variations of every day "micro decisions" continues to interest and challenge me.

Inge