Aleria's Check In

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:46 pm

Well, it's just about my 3-month No-S anniversary. I've decided I'm going to stick to it, because it's definitely working! I'm only 5'2", but I've been at 160 since I was physically an adult, and so far I've lost 5 pounds and 3 inches off my waist! Hopefully more will come off once summer hits and I start figuring out an exercise routine, but for now, I'm going to try and get a perfect April.
My only mod is something I call "pmS mod". For these couple days every month, I eat a 4th mini meal. Why? Well, I've learnt that unless I eat more often on these days, I get really horrible stomach aches. Not cramps, but stomach aches. Nothing really helps get rid of them, so prevention is the only thing to do. Other than that, I'm pretty vanilla.
My goal is long-term weight loss, something I had thought about for a few years, but never knew where to turn because everything was all "Crash diets! Magic pills!" and it never made any sense. No S makes sense. That's why I'm here, on my first diet ever. I love baking and cooking, but get away with it by baking one batch of whatever, then giving most of it away to one of my friends and only saving a few for myself.
I don't hate my body - I don't even think I'm that fat, a lot of my weight is muscle. But I would like to lose the extraneous fat that I do have, mainly around my thighs and breasts, with a bit in my stomach and upper arms. Therefore, I am focusing mainly on losing inches, not pounds. I cannot do Shovelglove due to low ceilings and little space in my basement apartment, so I'm searching for an upper body exercise routine. For lower body, I plan to start playing DDR - Dance Dance Revolution. As silly as it looks, it's quite a work out, and it's fun! Plus, there's no one living with me to tell me it looks silly except my cat.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 6:31 am

March 29th

Short on groceries, especially vegetables. Also short on time. Darn philosophy essays!

Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Samosa and crackers. Was supposed to include an apple, but when I cut it open it had white fuzzy things in the core. Ewww...
Dinner: Small shell-shaped pasta with frozen mixed veggies cooked in chicken broth, but not quite enough liquid to count as a soup.

Was very hungry a couple hours after dinner - not enough protein, or not enough veggies? Can't wait until my cheque gets here so I can eat properly again.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 6:19 am

Finally, got some money today. Went out for lunch to treat myself for once.

Breakfast: Three end pieces from a baguette (so quite small) of toast with peanut butter
Lunch: Salad from the salad bar at school, with lots of stuff mixed in. Also a bubble tea.
Dinner: Leftover pasta and some Wheat Thins (crackers).

Also did a lot of urban rangering in the evening whilst looking for a specific library branch.. I couldn't find the particular bus stop, so I just got walking directions from a friend via my blackberry, and walked it.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 3:59 am

Breakfast: Muffin + glass of milk. Breakfast-on-the-go!
Lunch: Multigrain bagel with salmon creamcheese (both freshly made!) and salad.
Dinner: Roasted chicken, potatoes and more salad.

Did a bit of urban rangering today, and bought myself a small reward for doing fairly well throughout March.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 3:08 am

April 1st

Rough day - too much running around, not enough food!

Breakfast: Muffin & Smoothie
Lunch: Two very small wraps filled with salad
Dinner: Club sandwich on foccaccia bread

April 2nd - NWS - Good Friday

Breakfast - piece of pb toast
Lunch - waffle with strawberries
Dinner - Easter dinner! Ham, pineapple, asparagus, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and hollandaise sauce. I only ate one plate, and was totally stuffed. Omnomnom. I'm so glad my family and I can cook.

Snacks/Sweets - Small bun with cheese, one piece of dark chocolate (70% cocoa!), two chocolate cookies (forced. they didn't taste all that good.)

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 5:51 pm

April 2nd - S Day
April 3rd - S Day
April 4th - NWS Day

I didn't keep track, was having too much fun with my family.. I miss them already, back home in my boring lonely little apartment.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 4:25 am

Woke up to remember I was back at my home and had no groceries!

Breakfast: Croissant & Orange juice

Lunch: Pasta, green tea & an apple

Dinner: Sandwich, smoothie & a bran muffin (baked them for breakfasts but they smelled so good I had to have one. )

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 4:14 am

Yay for grocery shopping! I also cleaned out the fridge and freezer (yuck!)

Breakfast: Bran muffin & a bit of Cream of wheat

Midday drink: Steamed milk with hazelnut flavouring

Lunch: Mushroom rice, a samosa and my usual thermos of tea.

Dinner: Pasta with mixed vegetables and edamame (soy beans) + a couple small pieces of toast.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Fri Apr 09, 2010 2:03 am

Today would've been normal except I forgot to turn on my slow cooker full of curry for dinner in the morning :/ Aleria is a sad kitty.

Breakfast: Breakfast wrap (scrambled eggs & rice in a tortilla) and a smoothie.
Lunch: Leftover pasta & an ice coffee - okay, the ice coffee was bad, but I'm very tired due to waking up an hour earlier than usual
Dinner: small bowl of chicken-rice soup, mediterranean salad, a piece of toast and a bit of plain greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey and almonds. The greek yogurt was new, and it's delicious! I also somehow managed to get a no-fat one, though it's not obviously labeled as such.

Also, having major chocolate cravings tonight.. good thing the weekend is soon!

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Fri Apr 09, 2010 7:02 pm

As of this morning my waist is down to 34"! At this rate my dressform won't fit by the time I'm done sewing XD
Breakfast: greek yogurt again (this stuff is delicious! So thick and filling and creamy) and a bran muffin
Lunch: chickpea curry and rice, plus steamed milk. The curry was a bit hotter than I expected, hence the milk. Delicious though. I adapted this recipe
Dinner: stomach feeling a bit woozy from the curry. Definitely cutting it down to 1tbs next time. Had a "breakfast quesadilla" because I need to use up that mushroom-rice-egg before it goes bad, plus some mediterannean salad. Thinking about going out to get some gingerale for my stomach.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 5:23 pm

S-Day
I haven't eaten anything yet, but after reading some other check-in threads, I was wondering what my weight was. Since I don't own a scale, I settled for measuring my waist instead. It's down to 34.5" ! Which no, isn't tiny, but it means I'm losing at least.
Breakfast: Rice
Lunch: Curry
Dinner: The last mushroom-egg-stuff.
S's - chocolate.
Another interesting observation: I have two types of easter chocolate. Fancy stuff like 70% Bliss, Mixed Lindt Eggs and the easter version of those Seashell chocolates. I also have a white-chocolate easter bunny. The fancy ones taste delicious. The easter bunny I could barely choke down a piece before having to drink a lot of my tea to get the sugaryness out of my mouth..

sophiasapientia · Post by **sophiasapientia** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 11:42 pm

Way to go on the inch loss! That's awesome! I've read that waist size is often considered more important than weight as an indicator of potential health risks.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 12:11 am

Thanks! It's understandable, as weight can mean many different things... muscle is heavier than fat and I have fairly muscle-y legs and lower arms, whereas my stomach definitely has some fat it could stand to lose. I'm aiming to be able to fit a size 8 comfortably

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 6:20 pm

Breakfast: cinnamon-sugar toast. Was feeling nostalgic and lonely today, and this is something I had for breakfast as a child sometimes.
Lunch: Chicken-rice soup and a grilled cheese.
Dinner: More curry. Wanted to finish the batch I made, make adjustments and then make more to freeze.
S's: a few more chocolates, and a smoothie outside of food time. I really don't have any snacks in the house.
Did some unintentional urban rangering today, but not much. Maybe 2km?

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 3:30 am

Breakfast - Cream of wheat flavoured with a bit of cinnamon-sugar
Lunch - Curry again
Dinner - Ravioli in tomato sauce + a piece of toast. \
Feeling very lonely and down tonight

probably because school's ending soon, and I will miss my classmate/acquaintance, but I don't know how to say that I want to keep in touch. Being socially awkward sucks sometimes >.<

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:15 pm

Breakfast - bran muffin & greek yogurt
Lunch: This was funny. one of my internet friends was like "I'm eating chocolate :p" (he knows I'm on No-S, I tried to recommend it to him...) and I was like "pffft, I've got a tasty bento: onigiri (rice ball), edamame (soy beans), salad, and tamagoyaki (rolled omelet) . No S is finally starting to get to my brain! Also, I couldn't eat my whole bento. Left some edamame and half my rice ball.
Dinner: Pasta, broccoli & the leftover edamame.
Everything was great until a few hours after dinner. Feel like shit, physically and mentally. This end of semester thing is bothering me a lot. I have two essays due, one on thursday and one on friday and I'm not getting enough sleep. I didn't mindlessly start eating though. I decided to fail. In fact, as a type this, I still haven't. But after this, I'm going to eat something. And right now, I don't care.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 5:48 am

So, I had a piece of grilled fish. Some tea. One of the truffles my friend gave me. Another cup of tea.
I now feel much better. Dunno if it was the tea, the chocolate or the protein. I haven't been eating much meat lately due to a combination of expensive+time+forgetting to take it out of the freezer in the morning.
*sigh*

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:11 am

Breakfast: cream of wheat + smoothie
Lunch: bit of leftover pasta & a samosa
Dinner: more pasta, some broccoli and a piece of fish! It's easy -_-
I'm thinking about failing again today, because I'm still uber tired and I have an essay to write, which I can't do if I can't even think.. going to try some tea first.
Edit: Well. The tea did nothing. Here comes another red. I don't care. I need to finish these last couple days of university while finishing all my assignments and not passing out. I really have felt like it a couple times in this last week.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 4:36 pm

Breakfast - toast
In such a hurry this morning! I got too tired last night to finish my essay, so I woke up, rushed around and got out the door in under 20 minutes. Wrote my essay on the bus, printed it off at school and I feel like a huge load has been taken off my shoulders - figuratively only. Unfortunately, the dizzyness has returned. It went away last night with chocolate+tea >.< I'm hoping it is just my back, like it was last semester, and not anything more serious (one of my friends suggested low blood sugar levels.. )
I still have one more essay to finish, but I'm going to not worry about it too much tonight and try and have a green day today.
So much for green. Big mess up with forgetting my bank card = no lunch.
And then a cute boy gave me a chocolate-wafer-cookie-thingy (all the writing was in chinese, I have no idea what it says), and I couldn't resist it. n_n
So a red day, but totally worth it.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 1:03 am

Today will be green, damnit!
Breakfast (eaten late) - Eggs, bacon and toast
Lunch/Dinner - Corn fritters

On issues unrelated to food, but related to health, my back pain is acting up again >.< I couldn't even stand up long enough to do the dishes without being in a lot of pain. I hate this.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 6:27 am

Had a good weekend. Didn't go crazy. Did a lot of exercise - walking one day, lazer tag the next. I might be doing lazer tag more often, which is good. It doesn't sound like it, but it's quite an upper body workout, due to having to keep the gun outstretched with both hands, and wearing the heavy sensor vest. It's a totally nerdy way to get in some exercise! Hehehe. Hoping to get back on track this week after falling off last week!

ShannahR · Post by **ShannahR** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 2:42 pm

Hi Aleria--
I was reading your thread and I noticed you are having issues with dizziness. I had this problem too a few years ago. It turned out it was a lack of protein problem--even though most "experts" say that's almost impossible. Anyways, what worked for me was eating two eggs for breakfast (I'm sure any meal would work) that fixed it in 1-2 days permanately. Also, eggs are cheap, have other vitamins, and would also help if the problem is low blood sugar--almost the perfect food. I noticed you eat eggs sometimes, maybe if you made it a daily thing that would help.
Just a thought.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 6:50 pm

Thanks for the advice! It wouldn't surprise me, I haven't been eating very much meat lately ( a mixture of laziness and poorness). I will try eating more eggs and see how that works out.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 4:38 am

Breakfast - Egg, the end slice of a baguette (think 2" by 1" XD) and a smoothie.
Lunch - 2 smallish pieces of pizza and spinach salad.
Dinner - Instant ramen with veggies, an egg and edamame
I know instant ramen is all sorts of bad for you, but well, I'm a university student. I'm writing essays and I'm poor. It'll be over soon.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 6:44 pm

It doesn't get any greener than this:

(please ignore the ugly plate, they're my parents' christmas plates and all I have until I get a job XD)

Breakfast: Two-egg spinach and cheese omelette with a piece of toast
Lunch: 2 smallish pieces of pizza & a smoothie
Dinner: Quesadilla (Small tortillas) and spinach salad. Can you tell I'm trying to use up my spinach before it goes bad? Unfortunately, living alone, I often find stuff going bad on me T_T. Just this morning I discovered my Greek Yogurt had expired.. I think I'm going to start writing expiry dates on my calendar along with everything else.

Grr.. 10:14 pm and I'm really hungry. Guess I shoulda' ate more food! *Sigh* time to have a glass of milk.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 9:13 pm

I had a dream last night that I had a red day -_-. I went to my grandpa's house, and there was something tasty, and I didn't even think about it. Then I went "oh no, a red day!"
Breakfast - fried egg, cheese & toast. Just a note - why do people fry their eggs in oil? It's so gross. One of my friends puts so much oil in hers, I swear it's more deep fried than anything.
Lunch - pizza and salad again. That was the last of the pizza, thank goodness. I like a bit every now and then but I don't know how people can eat it all the time.
Dinner - pasta with broccoli and chicken and a piece of toast.

Elspeth · Post by **Elspeth** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 12:40 pm

Hi Aleria. It's funny that you wrote about frying eggs in oil because I was just wondering whether I should start using olive oil instead of butter for my eggs. So I guess your recommendation would be no.

You're making great progress! Keep it up!

Elspeth

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 3:08 pm

I don't see why you need to fry them in anything! Although olive oil is better for you than butter (because it's liquid at room temperature, it has unsaturated rather than saturated fats), with a nonstick pan, eggs don't really need any lubrication.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 8:26 pm

Started that-you-know-what thing today -_-' horrible timing, right in time for my first exam. And that means.. PMS mod!
Breakfast: hastily made scrambled eggs + toast
Lunch: Chicken panini.. omg needed that so much
Snack: crustless mini quiche with cheese and spinach(okay basically eggs baked in the oven XD I had no more tart shells)
Dinner: leftover pasta

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 8:50 pm

Breakfast: egg, cheese, toast. boring but good.
Lunch: slice of watermelon & cream of potato soup
Dinner: fish & rice.. too lazy for veggies

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:13 pm

Breakfast: Cream of wheat+ handful of hazelnuts. Really didn't feel like cooking, haha. The hazelnuts were really bitter.. I hope they haven't gone bad.
Lunch: leftover soup
Haha, I didn't even realize it was saturday until about 6pm XD this is what not being in class does to my sense of time
Dinner: tortilla chips & hummus
S's - a piece of chocolate. seriously, that's it.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:06 pm

Sunday, April 25th
To be honest.. my memory is very hazy T_T spent literally all day studying. I know the least healthy thing I ate was low sodium tortilla chips and hummus, and I know for lunch I had leftover soup, but other than that, I so wasn't paying attention.

Monday, April 26th
Breakfast: scramble-fried egg (scrambled in the pan, but not ahead of time. Gives it an interesting texture) and toast.
Lunch: Samosa + Apple
[strike]PMS snack: Potato Salad[/strike] I ended up eating about two tablespoons of it. It had too many onions in it >.<
Dinner: Instant ramen with edamame, veggies and egg. I had an exam from 7:00 PM-9:30 PM, and I have one tomorrow at 8:30 AM T_T

One thing I have to say is that I may finally have switched over into "habit" rather than "struggle" mode - No S doesn't seem hard anymore. I didn't gorge over the weekend, and I don't really think about it during the week.
This is more of an accomplishment than any weight/inch loss, because I know that will come later, probably in May once I start exercising as part of my daily routine.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 4:53 am

UGH FINALS HELL.
So I woke up at 6am this morning.
Breakfast: Croissant
Then wrote my exam, went home and fell asleep for two hours. Woke up at 1 pm, ate
Lunch: broccoli-cheese rice,
worked on an essay until my internet decided it was going to be lame, and since the router is in my landlord's section of the house and he wasn't home, I couldn't do anything, so I went to a cafe and had
Dinner: Panini
While working on my essay, went home, landlord got back, paid my rent, got the internet back.. and now I want to sleep again. But I can't, because this essay has to be done tonight so I can spend all day tomorrow studying for this damned exam.
Gah.
I can't wait till tomorrow at 6pm. No more freaking school for FOUR MONTHS!
</end rant>

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:35 pm

Breakfast: Samosa
Lunch: Turkey panini and salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
Dinner: Chicken club burger & Mango smoothie
I have a job interview tomorrow! a $16/h job interview!

What to wear, what to wear..

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 8:15 am

So, weird day today. Didn't eat until like 11 pm, and all I ate were tortilla chips and hummus, and some edamame..

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sat May 01, 2010 6:10 am

My best friend came out to visit me today. 'nough said, it was fun and worth it, but I'm not declaring it as an S day because it's not really a special occasion (although I haven't seen her in a while)

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sat May 01, 2010 9:25 pm

So.. I'm very broke. I have money for rent, but until I get a job, I have very little money for food.
I've pretty much eaten at least two meals a day for as long as I can remember, and I don't know if I'd be able to adjust to it, but if I could eat only one meal a day, I'd probably make it with the groceries I have until I can get a job.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue May 04, 2010 5:05 am

Yesterday and today I was with my mom, so we ate out.

Breakfast: Cream of wheat
Lunch: Sushi, tempura, salad & rice
Dinner: Yam fries

After cleaning up my kitchen and taking stock of what I have, I decided to go with two meals a day - breakfast and dinner. I'm also thinking of taking a break from No-S, just because I'm kind of stressed right now and I don't want to be worrying about it, but I haven't decided yet.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 7:55 pm

So... I'm back after a very long stay at my parents' house. With a green day! Yesterday was green too, I just felt so blah I didn't feel like posting.
Breakfast: Cream of wheat with soy milk. I really need to buy honey so I can eat that Greek yogurt I bought when I did my first shopping trip.
Lunch: Shrimp Yakisoba (Koya Japan), yay for mall food. Went to a movie with a friend, and hence,
Dinner: Popcorn.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 12:15 am

Breakfast: grilled cheese and chicken sandwich w/home made bread.
This was at about 3pm... but I got up at 10am. Weird.
Dinner: Tomato soup with pasta & broccoli. Don't ask. I needed to go grocery shopping, but my doorknob is broken? So I could leave, but since I don't have a key to the back door, I couldn't come back. Argh. And tomorrow I really do need to leave, since I have a job interview!

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 1:07 am

Breakfast: Cream of Wheat. Tomorrow, I swear, I'm going shopping! I'm sick of Cream of Wheat for breakfast and my bread is all gone.
Lunch: Leftover dinner from last night
Dinner: Curried cauliflower and chickpeas with rice.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 1:20 am

W00T! 100th post~
Breakfast: tamagoyaki with rice
Didn't eat lunch because I was out and didn't want to spend the money. Might eat something later as a third meal but I don't think so as I don't have any snack food (and the weekend's almost here!)
Dinner: leftover from last night.
Third meal: Stomach was hurting terribly around 9pm, so I ate some raisin toast.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 4:55 am

Well, I applied the rules rather loosely this past week, to see when I should be eating and how much. Thinking of doing two smaller lunches on Mon/Wed/Fri because I'm always really hungry after Aikido and my first class of the day, but if I eat my full lunch then, I'll feel icky because it's too early in the morning.
Also, I discovered something interesting today - I see a lot of talk about emotional eating on here - Ie, you're stressed and you want to eat eat eat.
Apparently I'm the opposite. I had not a falling out persÃ©, but a definite loss of my best friend, who I've known for 10 years.
I haven't eaten all day. I didn't even realize this until one of my other friends, who I've only known about 6 months and we mutually don't know much about each other, asked my what my favourite food is. Then I went "hey wait a minute, I didn't eat today.. and it's an S Day!" So now I am going to have some Chrysanthemum tea and a few squares of a Burnt Almond (dark chocolate w/ almonds) bar and go to sleep.
May the morning look better in the light of day.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Oct 06, 2010 1:22 am

No, I haven't been keeping track. However I have been following No S with no problems.
But that's not why I'm posting today. Today I want to note down some things I've been thinking about, namely, body type.

I recently started sewing on commission for people in my area and cosplay community (Wikipedia has a good article on cosplay if you don't know what it is). My first client wanted a medieval/renaissance influenced costume for Halloween, with an underbust over dress type thing. Obviously this requires measurements. The areas that vary according to muscle or fat are not important here, however there is one thing that is: underbust measurement. I don't know about everyone else, but on both her and I, there is maybe a couple mm of fat there, so it is an interesting way to see body frame.
Hers was 30"
Mine is 36"

She's a few inches taller than me, and yes, much skinnier. However, it was this difference in rib size that really drove home this: Everyone is different. A while ago I got into a discussion about BMI, as I personally do not think it is an appropriate gauge of health, though others do.
When I'm talking about body type, I don't just mean the fat and muscle ratio - though I am fairly muscled, especially my legs.

I also mean your basic body frame, which you cannot change, no matter how much diet and exercise you do. Short of surgery or tight lacing with corsets, my rib circumference isn't changing any time soon. I will always be a short and stocky woman, even if I become anorexic and lose all my muscle and fat.

And you know what? I'm okay with that. I like being muscled and stocky, and being able to lift 50 pounds of potatoes or move my furniture by myself. Or hurl a guy over my shoulder. (Aikido FTW)

I do want to lose inches off my waist, since I know there is fat there, and 'tone up' my thighs, butt, and arms, but I'm not at war with my own body anymore. Seeing the skinny model type girls doesn't bug me because I know I'll never look like them, and it doesn't make me think that no one will ever find me beautiful because I know there are people who do.

Just some rambling for me to keep in mind when things get tough

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 3:11 am

People's definitions of attractiveness confuse me.
That's all for today.

PS: Thanksgiving's this weekend! (Canada FTW)

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sat Oct 09, 2010 5:20 pm

I'm at my parents' and grandparents' house and this morning my Grandma said I looked a lot slimmer, though according to her scale I'm still 160 XD My stomach does feel a bit more muscle, bit less fat, and I know my thighs are slowly getting there. Just need to do more exercise on my non-Aikido days and cut down on caloric drinks.
I think I'm going to make all drinks S's except tea (with a bit of honey usually), water with a bit of orange juice in it (this is for hydration after Aikido, I down 500ml in ten minutes easily) and milk if I'm hungry between meals.
This should hopefully save money as well as calories, matcha lattes are too expensive, but so tasty.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:37 am

What a lame Thanksgiving XD I had a bowl of salad and about a cup of rice for dinner.
My S was a dark chocolate ritter sport bar, and breakfast was a scrambled egg on a bagel. I didn't eat lunch.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:38 pm

I just realized that today's my 10th month since starting No-S, though I *did* take a break in the summer.

Meikmeika · Post by **Meikmeika** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:56 pm

WOW!!! I just read all your posts and you are AWESOME!!!!

The fact that NoS is habit, an S day is just another day, and you can easily survive off 2 meals a day makes you my SHERO... Not to mention you're one of so few women who accept themselves the way they are.

I've been a member at many gyms of which they usually give one free personal training session. 6 out of 7 of them said they could shrink my boobs, increase my butt size, and shrink my waste....hehe! The last female told me that we lose weight from our entire body. If you have large boobs and lose 20lbs, you're boobs will definitely be smaller compared to when you were 20lbs heavier but I would still be proportioned the same way!!!! I loved her for her honesty.

Thanks for sharing your NoS Journey!!!

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Oct 14, 2010 5:40 pm

Meikmeika wrote:WOW!!! I just read all your posts and you are AWESOME!!!!

The fact that NoS is habit, an S day is just another day, and you can easily survive off 2 meals a day makes you my SHERO... Not to mention you're one of so few women who accept themselves the way they are.

I've been a member at many gyms of which they usually give one free personal training session. 6 out of 7 of them said they could shrink my boobs, increase my butt size, and shrink my waste....hehe! The last female told me that we lose weight from our entire body. If you have large boobs and lose 20lbs, you're boobs will definitely be smaller compared to when you were 20lbs heavier but I would still be proportioned the same way!!!! I loved her for her honesty.

Thanks for sharing your NoS Journey!!!

Haha I don't always survive off two meals a day. Just when I'm poor (right now, in fact). I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not because yes, less calories, but I worry about my body going into *starvation mode* since I've pretty much always eaten three meals a day.

Thank you for the compliments

I don't feel worthy as I haven't lost any weight on No-S, though since adding in exercise I've been definitely losing fat. I will be starting a routine on my non-Aikido days soon, just waiting to get the DVD's from a friend of mine who is also trying to lose weight. I need to have some muscle definition in my arms and stomach by next summer. Legs are not a problem XD

Your proportions will probably stay the same, yes. If you have a top-heavy figure you will still have it when you lose weight, just not as much. I have an hourglass figure, and it doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon. Even when I had more stomach fat, I still had a very defined waist.

I would not worry so much about weight, and more about how you *feel*. When I'm on No-S and going to Aikido regularly I feel better, and I've been getting a lot of compliments lately, something I never had before. Yet I'm still the same 160 pounds. But I am more comfortable with my body, and I wear short skirts or lower cut blouses (not at the same time!), and I think it is the confidence as much as the exercise that is making me more attractive to others.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Fri Oct 15, 2010 4:47 pm

Oh geeze, my shorts kept falling down in Aikido today. Going to have to take in the waistband, these ones don't have a drawstring like my others. Really I should just buy the proper uniform but I don't have the money at the moment. *sigh*
I'm totally cheating on my "no caloric drinks" right now because I felt very weak and came close to fainting in Aikido, NOT GOOD. I'll have to remember that one piece of toast is not sufficient breakfast on Aikido days.
ETA: Oh my gosh, I've hit the second page! Somehow that's exciting

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Fri Oct 15, 2010 10:17 pm

Omgosh! I was starting to draft a pattern for a new skirt I'm making, and I went, "Hmm I wonder if I'm still at 35" - what my waist was last time I checked.
I'm not.
I'm at 33" !

Aikido must be paying off because my eating hasn't really changed that much. This would explain why my skirts are only staying on because of my hips XD
ETA: And oh gosh I just remembered all I've eaten today was a piece of peanut butter toast at 5:45am... and I'm still not hungry. Funny what stress/nerves does to you! *continues disjointedly cleaning the house*

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:43 pm

Ugh. Been sick for a little while, had trouble eating all last week, and this week I'm hungry but my stomach hurts >< I skipped Aikido today, don't want to get them sick too.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 6:24 am

Today I'm struggling with body image again. I'm okay with who I am, and the fact that I have a stocky body. But this doesn't mean I think I'm beautiful, or pretty, or sexy. And I don't understand how anyone can! I dislike my muscular thighs more than my less-than-flat stomach, am extremely annoyed by my slightly flabby arms, and absolutely hate my large breasts.
This is all my opinion of course. I recently started a relationship with a wonderful guy, and he thinks I'm beautiful and all that. And it bothers him that I don't see it. And it bothers me that he doesn't get why I don't see it. XD
It's a vicious cycle and I think the only way for me to break out of it is for me to accept that I am beautiful. Not just that other people think I am, but for me to actually honestly believe, from the recesses of my heart, that I am.
Problem is, I haven't the faintest clue how.

sophiasapientia · Post by **sophiasapientia** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 3:18 pm

Aleria -- I've struggled with this over the years as well and my rule of thumb is "fake it until you make it." If somebody says something nice about how I look, I just smile and say "Thank you!" (There was a time when I couldn't accept a compliment and it drove my sweet DH crazy.) Affirmations can help as can doing small things that make you feel beautiful. Over time, it becomes easier to believe. I finally decided that I would be horrified by my inner dialogue if it was directed toward anyone else and that I deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect, kindness and care as anyone else. You do too.

Congratulations, btw, on your inch loss! That's awesome!

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 4:03 pm

sophiasapientia wrote:Aleria -- I've struggled with this over the years as well and my rule of thumb is "fake it until you make it." If somebody says something nice about how I look, I just smile and say "Thank you!" (There was a time when I couldn't accept a compliment and it drove my sweet DH crazy.) Affirmations can help as can doing small things that make you feel beautiful. Over time, it becomes easier to believe. I finally decided that I would be horrified by my inner dialogue if it was directed toward anyone else and that I deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect, kindness and care as anyone else. You do too.

Congratulations, btw, on your inch loss! That's awesome!

Thank you for your whole post, but especially the part in bold! I am someone not easily influenced by other people's opinions, so it really is my own that needs to change. I have a sticky note on my mirror that says "You are beautiful, smile!". I'm hoping that slowly I can come to accept it.
The fact that none of my skirts fit in the waist anymore, even one that I custom made to my size only two months ago helps too, haha.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 11:42 pm

Lol. Having a total ice cream craving today, so I said ehh what the hell, I'm willing to have a red day for a blizzard XD. Omnomnom!

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 9:21 pm

Argh. I really want this stress to stop so I can focus and enjoy making and eating food again. I've been skipping dinner a lot lately, and eating small, nutritionally one-dimensional food for lunch, simply because my mind can't focus on anything except this problem. I don't like it. I want to eat tasty food again, especially protein. I'm having a craving for teriyaki-marinated chicken right now. *sigh* You know you're protein deprived when...
ETA: this made me laugh so much.
"You cannot get rid of all the fat in your body. The brain is mainly fat, and without a brain the only thing you are fit for is running for public office." (George Bernard Shaw)

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 4:41 am

omgosh what a day.
At least life will be back to normal... a new normal, but normal nonetheless. And... I get to learn how to cook indian food? Lol.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:03 am

Haha, this was definitely one of those "stupid" weekends that are okay once every now and then but make you really glad you aren't like that all the time.
Regardless, it's Sunday and I'm getting my week's cooking done. I started doing this a couple weeks ago and I really like just having to take a delicious, homemade meal out of the freezer, pop it in a pot or the microwave (I swear they take the same amount of time...) and *poof*, dinner - or lunch! This week is Red Thai Curry over vermicelli and Squash & Bean Soup.
I'm trying to eat more fruit - not a smart thing to start in the fall/winter but oh well. I bought a pomegranate, one of my favourite fruits as a kid, and I'm currently getting all the seeds out. Going to take about 100ml (the size of the container) each day. After this I may try and figure out something to do with the ton of frozen fruit I have. Since I don't like it mushy I'll have to find some way to make it, well, crispy or solid. Hmm, we shall see. It was destined for smoothies but those aren't No-S friendly, except as breakfast and I leave the house too early to use my blender (landlord has noise rules).

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:24 pm

I have decided I either I'm doing something wrong when I cook Thai curry (I've done fine with a Japanese one before ><) or I just don't like it.
Hmmm now what to do with the three servings of it I have left, not to mention the curry paste in the fridge. Ah well.
Cream of wheat with peanut butter for breakfast,
Pasta with squash and sausage for lunch today
ETA: since it's cold I wore a pair of fingerless, non stretchy long gloves I have. They've fit me for like 6 years... and today they kept slipping down. It's just occurred to me why - my arms are losing fat too! My watch has also been sliding around, but that's bad since my wrists are already ridiculously skinny and my watch can't go any smaller.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 12:11 am

Hm. Kind of frustrated with myself. I've been "bending" the rules - caloric drinks, splitting my lunch in two (and buying it instead of bringing it, which is bad for my change purse) so for the entire month of November, I'm going to post everything I eat and drink.
Milk and juice are still allowed, but no pop, matcha, ice caps, etc on N days - if I drink some, it's a fail. I need to get this to be as much of a habit as not eating chocolate or snacks on N days, and the best way to do that is to make myself accountable!

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 4:48 pm

Alright, day one of accountability month!
Breakfast - rye toast and greek yogurt with honey, green tea no sweetener.
Lunch - squash, sweet potato, corn and mixed legume soup, green tea no sweetener. Still slightly hungry, kind of wish I had a scone or something.
ended up walking home with a rather heavy bag of groceries. Had a mug of hot milk because I was hungry but it wasn't dinner yet.
Dinner - chicken, tomato, spinach & mozzarella panini & small handful of chips. yes this all went on a plate, a lunch size one. The panini is something I plan to start taking for lunches but had to make sure it tasted good first.
Drank a mug of herbal tea before bed, no sweetener.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 4:36 pm

Day 2 of accountability month!
Breakfast - cream of wheat with tbsp of peanut butter, glass of milk
Lunch - panini & small amount of chips (the container holds 100ml), thermos of green tea with a touch of honey, I oversteeped it and it lost the natural sweetness

Dinner - omelette with tomato, spinach, rice, cheese
I have a mild but irritating headache that hasn't gone away for three days. Painkillers, caffeine, food, sleep, nothing's helped. It's starting to quite annoy me.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 4:10 pm

Day 3.. contemplating failure for an ice cap. My head is still killing me and I'm wondering if it would help any.
Breakfast: nothing breakfast-y so I just ate my sandwich that was supposed to be for lunch, haha.
Yep, gave in and had an ice cap. I also drank a bottle of orange juice after aikido, but that's allowed. The orange juice helped a little but the ice cap killed the headache! I wonder why.
Lunch: apple & fresh bun from the grocery store, green tea, no sweetener.
Dinner: soup & piece of bread

Argh, the headache's back! What the heck, this is ridiculous. I'm supposed to be writing a paper and I can't concentrate at all. I know this has nothing to do with food but it's really annoying me. I'm actually thinking about going to the doctor at this point, I've had it almost continuously since Sunday and it's interfering with my studies now.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Nov 04, 2010 3:02 pm

Day 4, good start to the day and headed for success (in No-S if not in my essay writing)
Breakfast - one egg omelette with spinach and tomato on toast. Steamed milk.
Lunch - panini, green tea no sweetener.
Dinner - head feels horrible, don't feel like cooking. Ichiban noodles with baby corn. I hate eating this sort of typical student food but I don't feel good if I'm standing up for longer than a few minutes right now

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sun Nov 07, 2010 6:01 am

Friday - total failure. I don't even remember it much because I was in so much pain. Better now though.

Saturday, had a lovely date with my boyfriend today.
Breakfast - whole wheat bagel w/cream cheese
Matcha bubble tea
Dinner - Salmon with bannock and spaghetti squash
Lime sorbet

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 7:25 am

Sunday, a grazing sort of day. Very sour-oriented.
Breakfast - bannock with peanut butter
sour candies
Lunch - pasta with beschamel sauce and mozzarella. ate very late, 3-4ish
Lime sorbet
green tea
Dinner - about a handful of rice XD
milk chocolate with hazelnuts and herbal tea.
I will have a green week this week! I have no stress - no essays, my back is much better, I have a short day on tuesday and no school on thursday. plus an excellent dinner meet up to look forward to on saturday.
It will be green. It will.

Also, found on a blog but attributed to Michael Pollan - â€œDonâ€™t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldnâ€™t recognize as food.â€

My first thought was 'But my great-great-grandmother would've eaten a traditional native diet... meaning fish, oolichan, seafood, seaweed, wild vegetables, etc'

Not a bad way to live, but I love my rice, tea, pasta and all the cuisines of the world (except possibly Thai. I must find a good Thai restaurant in the city and go there to see if I just don't know how to cook it XD).

Of course I know that's not what he means. He means eat fresh food you've prepared yourself, not prepackaged processed crap. Which is a good thing to follow.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 1:17 pm

Yawn. Gosh it's early. Made slow cooker oatmeal today. I'm not a fan of the texture but it's nice to wake up to find a hot, healthy breakfast. I just wish it was more creamy and less...spongy

Breakfast - oatmeal w/ cranberries, cinnamon, flax seed & milk
post-aikido drink - grapefruit juice
Lunch - rice, salmon and squash. 100 ml pomegranate seeds. Green tea, unsweetened.
It occurs to me I should note that I drink 2% milk. I grew up drinking 3.5% but at some point my stepdad started to feel sick from it so we dropped down, and I can't stand 1% or, heaven's forbid - Skim milk. 3.5% now feels too thick to me, so I'm happy at 2%.
Dinner - fried rice with fresh, diced carrots, red pepper, snow peas, daikon onions, garlic and ginger. There's about a 50/50 ratio of rice to vegetables. I have a whole wokful, will stick it in bags (I'm out of containers!) and freeze it.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 3:51 pm

Last night I was having a horrible craving for hot chocolate - like the coffee shops make it, rich and sweet with whipped cream. But I resisted and said 'you can make your own tomorrow morning!' I use 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and half water, half milk. Not quite like a coffee shop, but good enough for now.
Breakfast - two mini-quiche & squash. Hot chocolate.
White tea with drizzle of honey. It's cold and rainy out, I needed it.
Decided in advance to having 'junk food' for lunch.
Lunch - chicken burger and mozzarella sticks. Tasty but I don't understand how people think eating at fast food places is cheaper than cooking healthy meals at home! 1 serving of my quiche or fried rice probably cost about one-fifth of my fast-food meal. Ah well, it satisfied my salty-not-good-for-me craving.
Dinner - fried rice + squash. I couldn't finish my usual amount, must be due to the heavy lunch. Blah. Not doing that again for a while.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 3:33 pm

Blah. Didn't go to aikido today after my accident on monday. I'm hoping my neck feels well enough after my chiropractor's appointment tonight that I can go on friday.
Breakfast - 3 mini quiche. Chai tea with some milk and sugar. The 3 quiche were too much without doing aikido, I feel a tad uncomfortably full.
Lunch - fried rice & 100 ml pomegranate. Probably buy some fruit juice, I'm quite thirsty for something cold and can't stand tap water.
Didn't buy the fruit juice. Drank some milk and tea instead.
Dinner - roast potatoes and corn + handful of almonds. I considered cooking chicken or fish (the only two types of meat I have on hand) but decided I didn't really feel like it and just threw the almonds in there to have some protein.

Even though I still have a few inches of fat on my stomach to lose (and plenty more in my bust! Please, shrink!!), I've been noticing it on my extremeties lately. I wear the same jewellry everyday and the same boots from fall-spring. My rings and watch are a bit loose, and my boots gave me blisters today! That's never happened before and I've had them for 2 or 3 years. They're very loose on my feet. I don't like it, I don't have the money to buy new ones. As my mom said, weight loss is an expensive venture! Even if you still 'weigh' the same. It will be interesting to see if I do still weigh 160, come December and my visit to my parents.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 5:41 pm

I haven't eaten anything yet today, but I have the day off and I feel like grazing rather than meals. Maybe a couple sweets, too. So it's a fail.
An interesting article. I'm contemplating posting it in the main forum but a bit frightened of starting a huge argument... Top 10 Reasons Why the BMI is Bogus
Had a nice day, snacked on quiche, homemade muffins and almonds. Had bit of sour candy and sorbet but that was it.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 1:40 pm

Yawn. Here I am again, early in the morning.
Breakfast - cornmeal muffin, quiche, green tea.
Lunch - instant ramen

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 8:03 pm

Saturday
Lunch - shrimp yakisoba
dinner - gnocchi in rose sauce
Lots of tea and bubble tea were had

Sunday
Breakfast - bbq pork bun from the local bakery
Dinner - leftover gnocchi
Made a chocolate ginger cheesecake with my friend and boyfriend. It's a bit too chocolatey for my taste.

Monday
Sick, taking a day off. Having lentils and rice for lunch, didn't eat breakfast.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 5:06 pm

Sick again. More gingerale and toast is in order. ><

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:27 pm

Feeling better. Yesterday I sent my boyfriend an old picture of me, to show him the type of necklace I used to wear (long story) and he pointed out to me how much thinner my face looks! I didn't even notice how much it'd changed. Also, I swear my thighs are thinner - probably lost the excess fat off them. I'm getting really curious if my weight is still 160, but alas, I have no way of knowing and no desire to buy a scale.

Breakfast - Peanut butter toast + glass of milk.

Deciding to go back to vanilla for the rest of the year (barring the time I'm at my parent's). This is because I'm too stressed with exams and essays and that is not the right time to be establishing new habits. I will try the no caloric drinks again in the new year.
Lunch - Matcha latte, leftover vietnamese food from last night. Nomnomnom.
Dinner - pasta with tomato sauce + bit of cheese

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Nov 18, 2010 5:30 pm

Still feeling a bit off but trying to muddle through.

Breakfast - peanut butter toast

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:17 pm

Ugh, I hate this time of year. So much work!

breakfast: scrambled egg on cornmeal muffin
lunch: bento box of leftovers from Aikido potluck dinner on Saturday. It was delicious!
dinner: instant ramen with peas, edamame and nuts. Bad, I know, but I'm writing a ten page paper.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 3:47 pm

Didn't manage to finish my paper last night. Argh!

Breakfast - egg with rice, peas, edamame (there were a lot of vegetables left floating in my ramen)
Lunch - rice and fish. Yeah I know, where's the veggies? I forgot to make them T_T.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Nov 25, 2010 7:23 am

Gods, I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm not usually a stress-eater. Actually, stress usually makes me forget to eat entirely. But right now, I'm very stressed out, and I can't keep a day green or go to aikido to save my life. I don't like it and I would like it to be December already. At least the exams allow a lot of prep time, not all these essays crammed in around regular classes.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 4:46 am

Well, I've been trudging along. Sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but far too busy to care for the most part. Today I had a brief respite, and I was checking out my schedule for next semester.
I have a food dilemma..
On Tuesdays, I have an evening class that is three hours long. So I can either eat dinner before it, during my break from 4-5:30 (earlier than my normal supper) or after when I get home at 9:30pm.. and I go to bed at 10:30-ish on Tuesdays because of Aikido the next day. Blargh.
My schedule in general is a bit messed up but very lax other than monday/tuesday.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Sun Dec 19, 2010 8:03 pm

So, I'm at my parents and I got to weigh myself.
152! I was shocked, I haven't seen the scale below 155 since I started weighing myself (I didn't for a very long time) I know weight fluctuates a lot, but it's nice to see that all of my clothing and jewellry and boots not fitting is being reflected, however slightly, in my weight.
My waist is still 33" which probably has something to do with me missing aikido for the last three weeks of school (due to being busy). Can't wait to go back and get started again. I'm not strictly following No-S because my mom is too awesome of a baker to resist, but I'm being moderate. I don't come home very often and I don't bake for myself much, so it's nice.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:39 pm

I was having a conversation with my boyfriend about our weak qualities, and we made a pact to stop being so negative about ourselves. This includes weight problems (his as well as mine). I have a very hard time thinking of myself as anything other than fat and ugly, even though I suspect I'm really not as recently I've been hearing praise a lot, from various sources. But changing the way my mind conceptualizes who I am, is a lot harder than changing my eating or exercising habits. Hopefully this will help.
I also really wish I could buy new clothing, a lot of mine just doesn't fit anymore and is quite old, but as I am poor I will have to settle for fixing it myself.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 5:51 am

Back at home, back to No-S. Got Christmas chocolates, but they're not half as tempting as my mother's delicious baking. And I really want to prove to my boyfriend that you can lose weight while still eating normally - he thinks the only way to do it is to eat fruits and veggies almost exclusively and avoid solid food most of the time. I think this is dangerous and bad for his health, but he's so desperate to lose weight he's not listening to me.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 12:53 am

I've somewhat fallen off, but am determined to get back on No-S now that I've figured out what the problem is.
BrightAngel says: we are all an experiment of one.
I read a lot of food blogs and such, and started trying to cook in bulk and eat it throughout the week.
I liked the food I made, but I didn't want to eat it after the first couple days. Then I'd turn to buying lunch or eating snacks, etc. (eating out is an S for me - it's only supposed to be for special occasions)
So I'm going to go back to how I cooked in first year: almost nightly. Why? I enjoy cooking. I enjoy variety. I enjoy having something to look forward to at lunch time. If this will allow me to keep on the plan, then that's what I'll do.
What am I sacrificing? Convenience, time, and a bit of money. All worth it, in my opinion.

BrightAngel · Post by **BrightAngel** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 2:19 am

Sounds like a good plan.
One tip.
I often cook on the weekend and then put leftovers into small individual serving baggies.
I then put those small baggies into a larger freezer bag and freeze it.

During the week, I pull out a small baggie that contains one serving and pop it into the microwave for a meal.
I don't eat all the small baggies, and then I do the same thing with the new meals I make,
so after a short time, I have a variety of home-made frozen meals in my freezer.

That way, I have the choice of cooking in the evening if I want to,
or taking a pre-made homemade meal from the variety in my freezer