Everyday Systems

Hi all,

I'm almost at the end of my fourth week of No-S and I call "Success" for the whole chunk of time.

Today is probably a good example of how I have changed my habits. One of my coworkers is leaving so we had a lunchtime pizza party. This included a few dozen pizzas, many liters of cola and a dessert table with several home-made goodies. I looked at the pizzas and decided that three slices would fill a normal plate for me and so I ate three slices of veggie pizza. No cola. No sweets. No seconds! And most of all, very little temptation to go beyond my one plate since I was quite satisfied. No-S and I are getting along just fine.

Also, over the four weeks I have dropped about four pounds and I am constantly having to hike up my pants.

So, let's tally my No-S experience so far:

1) Money expenditure=NONE, in fact, I'm sure I saved money by not buying a bunch of junk.

2) Weight lost=1 lb. per week.

3)Mental effort=very little since I don't have to count calories or cook separate meals or any of the other stuff "dieters" do.

4)Discipline needed=a good bit at first, but now it's just "the way I eat"--it's pretty automatic now.

For those of you who read this post and are wondering whether to try No-S, I say go for it. You don't have to pay money or go to meetings--you just eat like your great-grandparents probably ate--sensibly.

I'll update again later and I'll try to keep it shorter next time!

thanks,
David

Yay David!!!!!!!!!!

Yes.. We can live without that soda... Real fool, we want it.. But garbage..
It's totally reasonable to exist without it seven days a week and it makes us so much healthier when we limit it to S days...

Congrats on your great month!
Peace and Love,
Deb

David:

Wow!!! Office parties are a tough temptation. I'm glad you came out on top.

Looks like you are headed for the "Pants Falling Down Club".

Dru

This is day 30.

The weekend was good. Between meal snacking has largely lost its appeal. I had some Oreos Sunday night but didn't over-do it.

I ordered some new khaki pants for work and I purposefully ordered the waist size an inch smaller than the ones in my closet. Also I didn't get the loose fit style (I usually do). To my shock I found that these new pants already fit perfectly! The waist is only one inch bigger than what I wore in high school. It's great motivation to continue the No-S/Shovelglove/Urban Ranger path.

Today was interesting because I had lunch at a Thai buffet restaurant. My typical "haul" at that place two months ago would have been a bowl of soup and about three plates of food washed down with several glasses of Dr. Pepper. Today I had a small bowl of soup, one plate of food and an iced tea. I had pretty much zero desire for anything more.

Lately I've been thinking about my maternal grandparents and what they ate. I can't for the life of me remember ever seeing them eat a between-meal snack. I only remember seeing them eat sweets during the holidays. That, and loads of farm work, probably helps explain why they were both quite slim.

More later...

David

You're doing it, man, keep it up! Best regards, Bob

This is day 32.

So far this week has been a success. I'm still mindful of the No-S rules every day but it feels practically automatic now.

I bought a dark chocolate bar that I'm going to cut up and save for S days. It has 85% cocoa content! The cool thing is that I am not tempted to sample it until Saturday and even then I'll probably stop at a couple of one-inch squares. That chocolate may last me a month! But, even if I inhale the thing in one sitting on Saturday, that's fine too.

Shovelglove is still going well. Today I placed my front grip close to the hammer head and did lots of reps. Tomorrow I'll probably grip about half way and do 21/14/7 and then Friday I'll probably slide the front grip farther away from the head and do fewer, slower reps.

Now the shoulders of my leather jacket are feeling tight. At the same time, there is a big gap between the waistband and my hips because I've lost much fat since my wife bought the jacket for me. Should we start a "my jacket fits me like The Liberty Bell" club?

more later...

David

Yay David and your Liberty Bell Jacket club!!!!

Great news!

Please save me some of that chocolate! LOL...
Peace and Love,
Deb

Hey David,

You are really doing well! I was really impressed to read about how your jacket is fitting you now.

My hubby and daughter bought me some really high quality dark chocolate bars for Christmas. I have one square on Saturday evening and one square on Sunday (8 squares to a bar, I think). I'll be enjoying that chocolate until Easter maybe!

Isn't No-S fun?

Jan and Deb,

Thanks for the support!

Yes, No-S is sort of fun in a self-discovery sort of way.

Also, on the fine chocolate front, I have been learning to eat small amounts of really good stuff then I don't feel like polishing off 1/2 quart of cheap pudding or a bag of store-brand cookies. Now, with No-S I save the small amounts of good stuff for S-days and it's even more enjoyable.

more later...

David

I think this is day 34.

Still no breakdown of habit. I even plan on ordering pizza for dinner tonight and I know for certain that I will have only three slices--if that.

I think that for my S-days I may get a big cinnamon roll....

Enjoy your S-days everyone!

thanks,
David

This is day 45.

It feels weird that this is an S-day during the work week--it being V-day and all. I sort of didn't remember that it's an S-day until lunch time. I think I'll have a square of dark chocolate after dinner tonight.

I had my cholesterol and glucose levels tested yesterday. The numbers came out pretty good. I plan to test again in September and we'll see what 9 months of No-S does.

My weight is fluctuating a lot lately, so I'm not sure how to report weight loss due to No-S. I appear slimmer than I did in December, 2005.

more later...
David

Hey David!
Hope you had a nice day with the fam

I was wondering if the term "Okie" is still used down there???
LOL..
Two of my very favorite musicians are from Oklahoma..
Leon Russell and JJ Cale...
I remember a lyric from Leon Russells song "Ballad of Mad Dogs and Englishmen" where he says something about "Okies and Limeys" LOL..

Peace and Love,
Deb

ps.. Congrats on your looking slim!!!!
Woo hoo!!!!

Deb,

Some people use the term "Okie" to refer to themselves here. Strictly speaking, though, an Okie was a person fleeing Oklahoma because of the depression and the dustbowl situation. My family was too dumb to leave during those times so I don't use the term to apply to myself.

thanks,
David

Hi all,

I've been pretty well on course since my last check-in. I took a break from No-S for a couple of weeks to rehabituate myself to eating a plant-based diet (vegan, for the most part) which I have found I like better than omnivory for various reasons. Even during this "break" I didn't indulge in much funny stuff.

So today is day 1 of /Veg+No-S/ for me. Wish me luck in crossing these two habit streams! I will re-evaluate after 21 days.

Happy Eating!
David

Hi all,

Well, my habit streams haven't been crossing so well! (That reminds me of "Ghostbusters.")

The plant based diet + No-S has been a big silly FAILURE. It seems that I can eat a vegan diet and have little mini-meals every couple of hours. Or eat an omni diet and stick to No-S. Health-wise it seems to be a wash. I eat a good bit of fruit and vegetables either way but I snack and drink soda like crazy when I'm doing the vegan thing!

So, I'm planning to re-omnivorize and re-No-S with today, St. Patrick's Day 2006 as day 1 (an S day--yay!).

I'm aiming for another 21-day cycle. Wish me luck!

thanks,
David