Spleener's Daily Check-in

Counting carbs/calories is a drag. Obsessive scale stepping is a recipe for despair. If you want to count something, "days on habit" is a much better metric. Checking off days on a calendar would do just fine, but if you do it here you get accountability and support. Here's how. Start a new topic in this forum called (say) "Your Name Daily Check In." Then every N day post a "reply" to that topic as to whether you stayed on habit. A simple "<font color="green">SUCCESS</font>" or "<font color="red">FAILURE</font>" (or your preferred euphemism if that's too harsh) is sufficient, but obviously you're welcome to write more if you want. On S-days just register that you're taking an S-day. You don't have to do this forever, just until you're confident you've built the habit. Feel free to check in weekly or monthly or sporadically instead of daily. Feel free also to track other habits besides No-s (I'm keeping this forum under No-s because that's what the vast majority are using it for). See also my <a href="/habitcal/">HabitCal</a> tool for another more formal (and perhaps complementary) way to track habits.

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spleener
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Spleener's Daily Check-in

Post by spleener » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:41 pm

Yesterday was my first day. I found out about the No S Diet a couple days ago (ironically enough, from a low-carb blog); I bought the book yesterday and read the whole thing pretty much in one sitting. It's absolutely amazing.

Day one (yesterday): Sucess! Yippee! It actually wasn't that hard. I ate some satisfying meals and didn't really think about food much in between. We ate out (at a Tex-Mex fast food place), and I did fine. I had a burrito, and there was actually more room on my plate, but the burrito sort of had built-in vertical stackage happening (it was huge). It basically had the side dishes (rice and beans) in the tortilla. I'm glad I didn't try to see what else I could cram on the plate; as it was, I think it was more dinner than I really needed.

I actually overestimated the amount of food I'd want to have to stave off the hunger. I didn't go crazy, but I did have some healthy meals. I can see I'll want to cut back a bit.
Last edited by spleener on Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

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la_loser
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Welcome to No S!

Post by la_loser » Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:51 pm

Welcome to our boards!

You'll find that at the beginning you will tend to overestimate what you will need to "hold' you to the next meal since you won't be having a snack in between. After a few days or weeks, you'll begin to get a better feel for that and fill your plate accordingly. But when you're starting, don't worry about kind of "overwhelming" plates - first, it's important to simply build your habits and not worry about how full your plate is and second, as Reinhard points out, it's also a good way to visually see all at one time how much food you're actually eating. A bit shocking sometimes! :) We're so used to spreading out our eating all day long that it's difficult to comprehend just how much we're actually putting in our mouths!

Post often and ask questions if you need to. Someone will always jump in with a reply.
LA Loser. . . well on my way to becoming an LA Winner. :lol:

spleener
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Post by spleener » Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:43 pm

Thanks for your encouragment...I think the strange thing has been that, having spent literally years counting calories or avoiding carbs, I would have thought I'd have a much better sense of what a reasonable portion looks like. I guess there's a psychological element to the thought that no more food is coming until the next meal, but at least this early in, it seems to be working for rather than against me. I'm going with amounts of food that I think are pretty reasonable, and finding it's more than I really want (or need). So far I can't bring myself to leave anything on the plate, though.

spleener
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Post by spleener » Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:25 am

Day 2: SUCCESS. No funny stuff. Kind of a largish lunch, but dinner was pretty reasonable, I think. I was a little hungry in the evening, but not as much when I got up this morning.

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mimi
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Post by mimi » Thu Jun 25, 2009 5:14 pm

Welcome Spleener! Awakening hungry in the morning is such a good feeling, isn't it? Instead of feeling all bloated and full from eating way too much the night before.
Good luck on your NoS journey!

Mimi :D
Discovered NoS: April 16, 2007
Restarted once again: July 14, 2011
Quitting is not an option...
If you start to slip, tie a knot and hang on!
Remember that good enough is... good enough.
Strive for progress, not perfection!

spleener
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Post by spleener » Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:32 am

Day 3: SUCCESS. No funny stuff. I got really hungry between lunch and dinner--not because I miscalculated my lunch portion, but because dinner was about 90 minutes later than I was expecting it to be. I had a small glass of orange juice and a couple glasses of water to tide me over. I also had a glass of soy milk at about 5:30 in the morning. The way my job works, I either need to eat before I get to work at 6:00 or wait for my first window of opportunity at about 9:00...I think 9:00 is better because I'll end up eating my meals around the same time every day, and because I won't end up with a huge stretch between meals. That's a difficult aspect of dieting for me.

We grilled out, and I started to load up a burger and a brat on my plate. Funny thing, though; I only took half a brat (and got a healthy but fairly reasonable pile of potato salad going) so I'd have room for some vegetables. I had an apple at lunch, and it took up about a third of my plate. I also made some broccoli. I'm finding myself actually wanting the fruit and veggies, and deliberately making room for them.

One thing I'm finding is that knowing I can put whatever I want to on that plate actually makes me less likely to go crazy. As Reinhard says, binging is a reaction, and No S gives it nothing to react against. We'll see what happens this weekend (a trip to DQ might be on the horizon), but I think I'll be able to keep my S days in check.
Last edited by spleener on Sat Jun 27, 2009 6:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

spleener
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Post by spleener » Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:06 pm

Day 4: SUCCESS. Funny Stuff: minimal. We went to a restaurant where stuff was served on something between plates and platters. I virtually plated my food by kind of arranging it in the middle of my plat(ter)e. They served me four pieces of fish, and I put two on a bread plate until I got a carryout container. I also included a space for the (tiny) roll I ate.

I've been skipping the artificial sweetener...I forgot last night and got some diet Snapple at the mall. I was really bowled over by how sweet it was...I almost couldn't finish it. It's amazing how my perspective on that has changed in just a few days.
Last edited by spleener on Mon Jun 29, 2009 2:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by spleener » Mon Jun 29, 2009 2:17 pm

Day 5: S day
Day 6: S day

S Days: I won't kid you--I ate a lot over the weekend. It was probably in line with what I'd eat on vacation; we ate out several times and I got stuff I liked. I also took home food from one place and got a half order at another, so I wouldn't call it a blowout. I found that I was pretty deliberate about the extras I had, and I didn't really have an urge to eat everything in sight. Oddly enough, knowing I can have whatever I want makes me less likely to sort of indiscriminately grab stuff. I guess that makes sense, since knowing I couldn't have sweets (or carbs, or fruit, or whatever) has always had the effect of encouraging me to scarf everything in sight.

So, My first S days were more indulgent than I think they'll be down the road, but there was no loss of control or feelings of helplessness. That's very, very good. There was no question about continuing into my N days, and I feel great about things. The scale bumped up, but I expected that (and some of it is water, I think). I'll be really interested to see where my weight is by the end of this week.

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~reneew
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Post by ~reneew » Mon Jun 29, 2009 2:46 pm

You're off to a great start! No S is sure an eye opener isn't it. I say that it heals from the inside. It slowly changes our habits to good. Keep it up!!! :wink:
I guess this doesn't work unless you actually do it.
Please pray for me

spleener
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Post by spleener » Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:27 am

Day 7: SUCCESS. No funny stuff. My wife is counting calories, and I told her I'd eat whatever she makes for dinner...don't know if I'll be able to do it, though. The low-fat recipes she's using strip pretty much all the flavor out of the food she's cooking. One of the things I'm really enjoying is that I get to eat real food. That was by far the least satisfying meal I've had since I started doing this. At the very least I think I'll use my own sauces, mayo, etc., instead of the stuff she's making.

spleener
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Post by spleener » Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:38 am

Day 8: SUCCESS. Funny stuff: minimal. I did virtually plate a meal at Subway, but I've put their subs on an actual plate often enough to know that you can cram a footlong and some chips on one. The sub was a veggie (and the chips were baked Lays, which I actually like), so my calories weren't excessive. My overall intake was about 700 calories less than yesterday, due mostly to small changes (less butter, etc.).

spleener
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Post by spleener » Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:21 am

Day 9: SUCCESS. Funny stuff: minimal. I did taste some beans I was making (after dinner) for seasoning purposes, but I'm not going to stress over two spoons full of bean soup. I suppose I could have found a spot on my dinner plate for four or five pinto beans.

I can see that my portions are starting to level out as I'm getting a better idea of how much I need to eat. This morning I made two eggs and two pieces of toast, and only ended up eating one of each. This evening I only ate half the meat I had put on my plate (and it wasn't a ton to begin with).

spleener
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Post by spleener » Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:15 am

Day 10: SUCCESS. No funny stuff.

After 10 days, this is becoming more natural, and I think I can feel it beginning to settle into a habit. I'm definitely eating less I went to McDonald's for breakfast and ate less than I had last week. This evening I put some off my food back after I started eating. I'm hungry now (around 8:15), but I don't regret not having all the food. I had a glass of milk a little while ago, and I'll drink some more water to tamp down the hunger. I'm finding it's just not as big a deal as it always has been.

One hour later:
OK, maybe I am regretting not eating all of my dinner. I'm really hungry--much more than I've been since I started this. I'll chalk it up to experience. I think it's the first time I've actually under-eaten on No S.

spleener
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Post by spleener » Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:53 am

Day 11: SUCCESS. No funny stuff. Overall, a very uneventful day from a No S perspective. I had originally decided that today would be an S day; it was a Friday, and my day off for the fourth of July holiday (which falls on a Saturday this year). I realized there was really no reason to make it an S day unless we did something special, went to see friends, etc. We had a nice family day, but didn't really do anything out of the ordinary. I decided to count it as an N day.

Day 12: S day
Day 13: S day

spleener
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Post by spleener » Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:22 am

Day 14: SUCCESS. My appetite was just not there today. I've been eating a fair amount of fruits and veggies, and maybe that's the reason why. Whatever it is, I'm just not that hungry. I'm on a medication that can have a dampening effect on the appetite, but after a few weeks on it, I managed to overcome my lack of hunger through sheer willpower (and eat like I had before). Maybe I'm just feeling the side effect from the medication, but whatever it is, I've kind of lost interest in food. No, that's not quite right; I think I've lost my inappropriate interest in food. I still like it just fine, but it doesn't have all my attention anymore.

Because of my work schedule I wasn't able to have breakfast until almost 11:00. I didn't get hungry again until around 4:00. Lunch was a bowl of Grape Nuts and fruit (fresh blueberries, baby bananas and frozen strawberries with a couple teaspoons of sugar on top...yum), and that held me just fine until dinner (stir-fry, rice, and more fruit). I figured out my Calories in Fit Day, and it came to around 1900. That's down from 2300 or so last week, and my fat content is also way down (40% last week, 28% today). Things seem to be moving in the right direction.

My weekend S days were a lot more moderate than the first weekend. Yesterday I had a club sandwich at Applebee's; I didn't finish the sandwich and barely touched the fries at all. Next time I think I'll ask for broccoli or something. About the only place for me where fries are a must-have is Red Robin, so I think I'll get them there, but get more sensible sides elsewhere.

spleener
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Post by spleener » Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:01 pm

Day 15: SUCCESS. No funny stuff. Today I had my first instance of really wanting to eat in the afternoon. I had my breakfast at 5:30 AM instead of around 10:00, as I've been doing on weekdays. The weird thing was that I wasn't really hungry after lunch; I just wanted to eat something. I think it's that 4:00 snack monster raising its ugly head. I didn't eat anything, but I did have kind of a biggish pile O' food on my dinner plate.

spleener
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Post by spleener » Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:55 am

Day 16: SUCCESS. No funny stuff. We went to an Italian place where the dishes were actually normal size, but they piled the pasta on them pretty generously. I should have asked for a box right away. I ended up eating it all--not a disaster, and it wasn't an insane amount of food--but it was more than I really needed. Next time I'll get a box or move the plate to the other side of the table when I know I'm done.

Afternoons have been a challenge this week. I've eaten breakfast early both days, and I'm wondering if that's the reason. I'll try going back to a glass of milk in the early morning, breakfast mid-morning, lunch mid-afternoon, and dinner whenever the family gets around to it. That seems to work better.

spleener
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Post by spleener » Thu Jul 09, 2009 11:40 pm

Day 17: SUCCESS. No funny stuff. I had kind of a big lunch (I made Phad Thai at home) and a fruit smoothie for dinner. I went about eight hours between breakfast and lunch; I was really only hungry for about the last hour in between.

spleener
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Post by spleener » Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:34 am

Day 18: SUCCESS. No funny stuff. Today was completely uneventful from an eating perspective. That's a really nice part of the No S Diet; it's becoming part of the fabric of my day, and not something I have to give a lot of thought to.

Day 19: S day
Day 20: S day

Looking at the scale, this is the first S weekend when I haven't gained; my weight was the same Friday to Monday. Woohoo!

spleener
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Post by spleener » Mon Jul 13, 2009 12:15 pm

I've been keeping a No S blog since I began the diet three weeks ago; if you're interested (and I mean, why wouldn't you be?), you can check it out here.

spleener
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Post by spleener » Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:10 am

Day 21: SUCCESS. No funny stuff.

Well, here I am...I've stayed on track for the whole three weeks since I started. There were challenges the first couple weeks, but as Reinhard says, this starts hard (or hard-ish, maybe) and gets easier; every other diet goes the other way. This does have the feel of habit at this point. I don't think about snacking, because I know I'm not going to have snacks. I don't stand in front of the fridge or the cupboard for the same reason. I'm actually kind of stunned at how easy this has turned out to be.

Now that I've hit 21 days, I don't think I'll check in here anymore. I know there might be unexpected S days or failure days down the road, but nothing has come up so far that the diet couldn't accomodate. We're going on vacation later in the week, and I'm not worried about Noessing on the road. I just can't say enough how amazingly effective and non-diety the No S Diet has been so far.

I have a No S blog: seanslimsdown.blogspot.com.

Happy Noessing!

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Post by Bushranger » Tue Jul 14, 2009 4:20 am

I see your latest blog post references the idiotic "caveman power diet". I made reference to it myself on this forum not too long ago.

Here: http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic ... ght=#62979

He's a fool that guy for sure and he's serious so that's ultra scary. The Warrior Diet is where he gets his inspiration I suspect. It's essentially the same diet by some other crazy guy and has been a fairly successful book as well.

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Post by sophiasapientia » Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:01 pm

Congrats on your 21 days and have a fantastic vacation! :D
Restarted No S (3rd times a charm!) January 2010 at 145 lbs

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