Everyday Systems

Hi, folks!

I just finished my first week of Nosing and Shovelgloving, and I thought I'd introduce myself and report my SUCCESSes. I actually started on Sunday (I was that excited by these ideas), but Thursday was a friend's birthday, so I've had 5 N-days with no problems.

I found out about shovelgloving via a link at the bottom of the wikipedia article on kettlebells and couldn't stop reading this website. I've been getting more and more into exercise the older I get (I was a fat kid, and now at 23 am in the best shape of my life --- which still isn't very good), but my gym is twenty minutes away in the best of traffic and I just don't get there very often. 14 minutes of shovelgloving, though, is convenient, effective (I swear my forearms are thicker already) and, most importantly, fun.

NoS is, if possible, an even more genius idea than the shovelglove. I've lost weight by calorie-counting in the past, but I can't keep that up for more than a couple of weeks before getting bored. Nosing is *easy*! I freaked out a bit on Day 1 and had my 3rd meal an hour after my 2nd, because my mind wouldn't stop insisting "FOOD!!". Since then, though, my relationship with food has been changing quickly. I can enjoy my meals in a way I couldn't before, and I don't get cravings.

Yesterday was my first S-Day, and I may have been a bit of an idiot. Another friend and I spent all cooking for the birthday boy, and then there was pizza, and my brain seemed to think 1 box of pizza = 1 plate. I didn't get full until the pizza was gone. Oh well -- "S Days are S Days so that N Days aren't", right? I'm pretty sure idiocy won't be a consistent problem as my habits change.

I was most worried, actually, about today. Historically, when I've had "binge days" on other diets, I've been unable to get back on the diet afterward. This is why I waited 'til today to start my check-in page and introduce myself. There were no problems, though, and for a very interesting reason: Shovelglove is fun, so I *wanted* to do that, and then Nosing followed naturally when I had breakfast after swinging the hammer. The two systems complement each other well, psychologically as well as physiologically.

I've also noticed that food lasts a lot longer when you don't go back for seconds -- I made a pork roast on monday, and I've been having sandwiches off it since. There's still some left.

Anyway, this system is awesome, and I'll be checking in every day (or most days... I'm lazy) next week. Those posts will be shorter, I promise.

Jan 25 -- SUCCESS

Jan 26 -- SUCCESS, but I think from now on sweetened, condensed milk in my coffee will be an S Day treat. It's just too sweet.

This last weekend was interesting. I have a tendency to revert to perma-snacking on S-Days, it seems, and while I don't want to inflict guilt and self-loathing on myself for it (they were S-Days, after all) I do find that I don't enjoy my food as much as I do on N-days. That can't be right. I'm trying to work out the best way to quantify "don't be an idiot"; if I make the line clear, it should be easier to stay on the right side of it.

I'm thinking about a "Rule of 3"; on most S-Days, I stick with N-Day rules except for 3 exceptions. That's 3 snacks, or a second plate and then a snack that is also sweet, or some other combination of three violations of the N-Day rules. If I go over that, it's not a failure -- you can't fail on S-Days -- but it is kind of idiotic. This does not apply on truly special S-Days, such as Mardi Gras or Christmas, but those should occur at most once per month.

Good work, Baron.

Yes, you have to be careful when you are dealing with food that have high caloric density ... like Pizza ! Lots of calories and the worst part is you feel hungry again just a couple of hours later so what do you do .... eat more pizza of course !

It would be a shame to ruin your whole week just because of one single slip up. You are good all week long and then a lot of hard work can get ruined quickly if you are not careful.

To make it easier on yourself you can try eating food that have low caloric density ... those fill you up and don't have a lot of calories.
Basically all vegetables except a few ... like potatoes ... oatmeal and whatnot ... yeah I know plain oatmeal is not as exciting as pizza but it fills you up for hours and it hardly has any calories when you compare the two items ... helped me a lot recently.

I usually eat plenty of fruits/veggies/oatmeal ... so I don't feel hungry, prevents binge eating too if you struggle with that of course.

Ok, good luck on your journey, Baron. It's a good idea to train at home too, that's what I do ... going to a gym is not very convenient, it costs money as well ... I prefer to kick it old school and train at home or I use the bike path behind the house during the warmer months, it has to be really convenient if you want to stick with a training program. If you have to fight traffic to get to a gym, it's unlikely you will be able to stick it out long term.

Cheers !

Marc

37 Years Old. 5'10" Tall.
Nov. 1st. 2008 : 280 Pounds
Jan. 25th. 2010 : 183 Pounds

(1 Year, 2 Months, 25 Days : - 97 Pounds)

Thanks for the welcome, Bluebunny.

Yeah, is pizza is generally to be viewed with caution. I don't eat too much of it (though I did have some for lunch today, actually).

Oatmeal is awesome. I have been an oatmeal connoisseur since my fencing coach turned me on to it -- she told me to have it for breakfast before tournaments, and that's when I started getting medals in tournaments. I don't need any more convincing than that.

---

I'm happy to report that today is another SUCCESS.

I had my first fast food since beginning to NoS. I wasn't really aware before of big those portions are... I guess I'll have to start making smaller orders! Today's "plate" of Panda Express, while technically one plate and therefore within the rules, was freakin' huge. It also didn't taste very good. Funny how this diet makes me aware of stuff that was right in front of my nose all the time...

I haven't been able to stick to this so far, and I've known about it for a year now... the best I've managed was 20 days on habit in December, but on Day 21 I lost it.

So, now it's time for another go! I'll be starting tomorrow (Martin Luther King day being very important, and all, but probably not worthy of S-Day status) and I'll be posting it all here, as a way to keep myself honest.

Wish me luck!

Good luck!

RedBaron wrote:I haven't been able to stick to this so far, and I've known about it for a year now... the best I've managed was 20 days on habit in December, but on Day 21 I lost it.

So, now it's time for another go! I'll be starting tomorrow (Martin Luther King day being very important, and all, but probably not worthy of S-Day status) and I'll be posting it all here, as a way to keep myself honest.

Wish me luck!