Everyday Systems

Day 1:

Diet: success
Exercise: success

Breakfast: oatmeal, soymilk and apple

Lunch: homemade cauliflower, bean and chicken curry on jasmine rice

Dinner: same curry on rice, plus side of grape tomatoes and 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese, orange, and almond milk (sweetened with stevia)

Exercise: 30 min elliptical trainer, 10 minutes walking. I was also on my feet a lot of the day walking between my office and my lab.

Hi, and welcome back!

Thanks mrsj!

Day 2:

Diet: success
Exercise: success

Breakfast: oatmeal, soymilk and apple

Lunch: oatmeal, grape tomatoes with half cup cottage cheese, apple

Dinner: Mixed greens salad with almonds, jasmine rice, cabbage and green beans sauteed with onions, garlic and spicy sausage

Exercise: Simply about 20 minutes weight lifting. Didn't have a ton of time today. It's better than what I was doing before though (nothing).

Hi Bunny,

May I ask what your experience was before (starting anew)? I've attempted No S 2X, neither for very long but am reading, studying and contemplating new start day of 1/11. DH & I are on vaca right now and don't want to set myself up for immediate failure. Do you have a lot to lose? I do not although catching glimpse of backside in workout room mirrors today was a bit of a shock, may be more than I think. I'm fairly active but need to get the glass ceiling and chips and dip habit under control. DH & I have already discussed cutting out the nightly wine & limiting to glass ceiling when we do choose to enjoy.

Wishing you SUCCESS!

nlb

Hi nlb,

I tried No-S once and it worked beautifully, and I'm not really sure what got me off track. I think partially it was that my work became a lot more intense. I tried to start again another time, but a lot of things were happening in my life (broke off 10-year relationship, started dating again, job stuff, etc. etc.) and I couldn't really focus.

I've got about 20 pounds to lose. More would be great, but 20 pounds will set me back in my "comfort zone." I guess what's motivating me is that I'm heavier than I've been in a long time, and a lot of my clothes are tight (or not really fitting properly at all)--ugh! Part of the reason I think I put on weight is that I've been dating a wonderful man who is an excellent cook--but has a tendency towards French-style cooking (lots of butter, cream, oil). I finally had to put the brakes on that, and he's been very accommodating.

Anyway, life has somewhat stabilized, and my tight-waisted jeans are definitely telling me to take action. I feel good about getting back on track. My body feels better already eating more home-cooked food, veggies, fruits, and getting exercise.

I wish you success as well!

Best wishes,

Bunny

Day 3:

Diet: success
Exercise: success

Breakfast: oatmeal, nonfat blueberry Greek yogurt (ok I normally eat plain but this is what I had), apple, coffee with skim milk

Lunch: Tasty Bite pre-made Indian food--Spinach dal with basmati rice. Only 370 calories or so and delicious.

Mini-meal: Nonfat Greek yogurt with stevia, navel orange. Yes, I'm allowing myself a mini-meal option, as I eat dinner often around 7 pm and a small lunch won't cut it. Basically in the past I've tried to ignore hunger pangs and then by the time I got home, I ate everything in sight which was no good.

Dinner: Yummy leftovers from last night's cooking--cabbage and green beans sauteed with spicy sausage and seasonings, rice, and a handful of strawberries.

Exercise: 35 minutes on a hamster wheel, I mean elliptical trainer, plus 25 minutes walking outside in the brutal cold. Honestly I'd prefer walking or running outside to the gym, but it's VERY cold and windy right now.

What's cool is that I'm getting back in touch with my hunger. It's good to get hungry before meals. During the holidays I was over-stuffing myself instead of eating according to natural hunger cues.

Have a good evening everybody!

Day 4:

Diet: success
Exercise: success

Breakfast: oatmeal made w/almond milk (unsweetened), two reduced-fat cheesesticks, skim latte

Lunch: cabbage and green beans sauteed with spicy sausage, rice, grape tomatoes with 1/2 c. cottage cheese

Dinner: cabbage and green beans sauteed with spicy sausage, rice, green salad with almonds, few strawberries

Exercise: 30 minutes cardio machine, 40 minutes walking outside in brutal cold

Got on the scale today, says I dropped two pounds. Okay, so that's probably water given that I'm eating less salty stuff, but hey, it was nice to see. 18 more pounds to go...

Day 5:

Diet: success
Exercise: sick day

Breakfast: yogurt, whole wheat English muffin with Smart Balance Light and almonds, orange

Lunch: Tiropita, Falafel sandwich, iced tea

Dinner: pindi channa (Indian chickpea dish), cooked rainbow slaw, small sweet potato, few strawberries, few almonds

Well, exercise went by the wayside today. That's because last night I ended up having to go to the ER for really bad stomach pains. Luckily nothing super serious, and I started to get better after they made me drink a horrible-tasting concoction. I got very little sleep and my torso felt very sore afterwards, so I decided to take it easy. Oddly enough my appetite has remained pretty good. Bleh, I don't like emergency rooms!

Day 6:

Exercise and diet: S-day, stayed moderate

No breakfast

Lunch: Big turkey burger (with chipotles and onions and spices mixed in, yum!), a few sweet potato fries

Dinner: Handful of rice crackers
Homemade butternut squash soup (delicious and virtually non-fat)
Mixed greens salad with vinaigrette
Chicken baked in garlicky wine sauce with spinach (also homemade)
Small slice of chocolate-walnut cake (we got a single slice from a bakery and split it between three people)

Day 7: S-day for diet and exercise

Well, I kind of feel like I messed up a little bit on this S-day. I broke into a bag of Ghiradelli chocolate chips (meant to have them around to bake treats for other people--I enjoy baking). What helped make me stop eating them was knowing that I'd post a food log online. I'm a little bit embarrassed.

Basically on S-days I'm trying to be moderate with treats and eat when I'm hungry--kind of goofed on that. Oh well, it's a learning experience.

Brunch: Well, as a Northerner now living in the southern U.S. I felt obligated to go to a local place known for its country biscuits and ham. Ended up not getting the ham but definitely got a taste of local flavor.

Bacon, 2 eggs, fried apples (never had that at breakfast before), a biscuit (it was a VERY good biscuit), part of a pancake with syrup

Boy was I full! I pretty much eat a so-called classic American breakfast like this about once a year, so I guess I've met my quota. It was good but I won't need to eat like that again for a while.

Snack: Whole wheat english muffin with too much cheese
Too many chocolate chips. Oops.

Dinner: was taken out to Italian restaurant. I made sure not to eat everything, and took some food home but I was still overstuffed.

Piece of bread
Bits of antipasto platter
Mixed salad
Sampler platter of lasagna, eggplant parmesan, and stuffed shells (I only ate about half)

So, I guess for doing my first S-days in a long time, I didn't do so badly, excepting the chocolate chip incident.

Day 8:

Diet: success
Exercise: S-day

Breakfast: oatmeal made with almond milk, nonfat yogurt

Lunch: chicken salad sandwich, pretzels, and green tea

Dinner: (barely fit it all onto one plate): Greek yogurt with apple, leftover lasagna and eggplant parmesan, whole wheat english muffin with smart balance, soymilk

Exercise: well, about 30 minutes walking, that's it. I'll try to work it in, but I'm not going to stress too hard about it because I have a very important job interview coming up on Friday and I have to get ready for that.

Bunny - just wanted to let you know No S is going well, coming up on finishing Day 5 here. Now not to sabotage over weekend. Results are exactly what yours were after Day 4 - lost 2#.

How did the interview go? Was it an interview or test, sorry, mind wandered on me. Just knew Friday was the day you were preparing for. Hope it went well!

nlb