Everyday Systems

Hi! I started no-s a week ago today, but this is my first daily check-in, thanks to my first failure today.

So to catch up: first five days (9/20-9/25): perfect. Three meals a day, period. A couple of the meals may have been a bit on the large side, but I'm working on the part. However, I did have two beers on both Thursday and Friday. I know that no-s allows for them, which why I allowed myself and don't count those days as an official failure, but I've decided that for me, alcohol is a strictly s-day event. two drinks turns into four and a bag of chips too easily for me. S-days were fine, little much, but I'll adjust, I hope.

So today, Monday, first day of my second week, I did well with no sweets, no snacks, no seconds, but I did have four beers this afternoon. So, Failure. What can I say? It was the peak of a record-breaking heatwave today (116 at my house, just fifteen minutes east of downtown San Diego).

Anyway, barring any other environmental catastrophes, I'm optimistic about the rest of the week.

-Chris
Started 9/20/10 @ 258 lbs.

Success.

Nothing too notable about Tuesday.

Success!

I've noticed that eating is more enjoyable, not only the less often I eat, but the less I have to worry about it. Before this, I was counting calories, which turns every meal and snack into homework and mental math.

Started @ 258 lbs 9/20/10
Now @ 254 lbs 9/29/10

Success!

Success!

I didn't eat enough at lunch. From 2pm on to dinner I was starving, and by 5pm I was getting snappy. But I didn't have any snacks, so there's that.

So I claimed Friday as a Success after dinner. Then I decided to start S Day a bit early, and went on a minor binge that evening. Lovely. So now that day counts as a FAILURE.

In the future, I'll be sure to wait until the next day before checking in.

As for my s days, still eating too much. On Saturday, a friend came in from out of town and we went on a beer binge. Nobody was happy on Sunday.

So I took a look at my HabitCal. My first week on No S was perfect. My second week had two Failures, on Monday and Sunday (although I still maintain that Monday was [i]totally[/i] justified ).

Obviously, I totally suck.

Naw, not really. But seriously, my new goal is two weeks of strict adherence to No S. If I get through two perfect weeks, I'll go for 21-days.

Yay, go me.

You can do it!!!!!! Just take it one day at a time.

Thanks, Meikmeika!

Success!

I started exercising again today. I did some warm up calisthenics, some weight work with dumbells (wood chops, behind the head triceps, and bicep curls), crunches, and pop-ups on an old foam surfboard.

Success!

I helped a friend move a BBQ at 6pm, which stretched my time between lunch and dinner a bit too much, but I stayed strong, no snacks or over eating!

Success!

I noticed that as the week goes by, I'm getting more and more hungry between meals, so I'm trying to increase the amount of heavy carbs and fiber I eat at meals.

Sounds like you're doing really well - keep up the great work!!

Success!

Friday starts my s-days this week, my best friend is in town so we'll probably go grab a beer. I know I said I would do two weeks of strict adherence to the rules, but life happens, right? As it is, I plan to eat as if it were a no s day until after dinner, then try not to go all nuts on Saturday and Sunday.

I thought beer was allowed on N Days..? If it's not then I will have to revise a couple of 'SUCCESS'es I had down for this week!

@Tofuqueen

No S allows for two drinks a day, but I decided that it's a bad idea for myself. The whole "one drink is fine, two is too much, three is never enough" is very true for me. Sometimes I'll buy a single 22 oz bottle of good beer, which prevents me from drinking a six pack, but it can still be enough sometimes to loosen me up enough that I don't mind having a bowl of chips after dinner or something.

So I took a special day on Friday b/c a friend was in town. Overall, the day resembled an n-day. We had a few beers, and after getting home I had a few snacks.

Saturday was decent as well, but Sunday was a bit much, enough that I feel a bit blegh today. I'm still trying to rein myself in on s-days. I feel better (physically) if I just have a few little indulgences, rather than binges.

Success!

I've also decided to do the 21-days starting Monday, through the end of October.

Hi Chris

I know just what you mean, I have to be very careful about not snacking after drinking. Last night I had a beer before eating properly (very unusual, especially for a Monday but it was pub quiz) and it led to no good! I'm usually ok with one or two after eating though.

Congrats on a good day yesterday and good luck with your 21 day challenge. You can do it!!

Success!

Hell, Uber-Success! Yesterday my class went on a field trip, and had a pot luck (latch?) for lunch. There were 70 of us, so there was a ton of food, including lots and lots of brownies, cookies, pies, some sort of chocolate marshmallow thing that looked amazing. Donuts and cookies were passed around freely on the bus, it was insane.

With all of that, I stuck to the no-s rules. Weirdly enough, it wasn't a struggle at all! I just passed the donuts on, didn't serve myself any brownies at lunch. I just had a plate of food, a bit more than usual, but definitely not piled on, and that was it. The one compromise was a can of coke, but even that was unnecessary, I literally felt no cravings for all that food. Fantastic!

Having said that, I was reflecting on all this earlier this morning. I realized that since starting no-s, I haven't had any bad days, emotionally. I'm by no means bi-polar or anything, but I do have periodic times when I'm mildly depressed for a day or two. Those are the times I decide to say 'the hell with it' and make a batch of cookie dough and eat it raw while watching reruns of The Office (we're in the Sharing Tree here, right?)

Anyway, I haven't had one of those days yet, so I'm very interested to see what happens.

Success!

New development. At lunch and dinner, I plated my food, then didn't finish it. I didn't make any decisions about this; I never stopped eating, consciously evaluated how I felt, and decided to save the uneaten food until later; I just stopped eating because I was done. I wasn't full, I could have definitely eaten more. I was just satisfied.

This is exciting for me because this has never happened to me before. Always, I've had to think about portions and how much I was eating. Now it's just happening, all by itself!

Wow, looks like you're doing some great work over here. Congrats!!

Success!

Success!

Treated myself to two beers, well worth it!

Much less overboard this weekend. As usual, Sunday was a bit worse than Saturday; it's as if I suddenly realize around 4 pm Sunday that this is my last chance for five whole days! But better than the last three weekends.

Success!

Success!

Success!

Success!

Success!

Ok, so last week was...less than ideal. I also failed the 21-day challenge, so there's that.

Anyway, Monday and Tuesday were fine. Wednesday and Thursday, though, I went out of town to see a friend. I decided to treat those days as my S-days, and the weekend would be n-days to make up the difference. Other than the beer, Weds and Thurs weren't totally off the charts. On Friday, though, I wasn't able to muster up the motivation to stop, b/c I was used to Saturday being an S-day, and I had already started anyway, right?

So I went ahead and made Weds and Thurs Special Days, keeping Sat and Sun S-days. Might as well stick to my habits as closely as possible, right? Friday? Total Failure.

Here's to the start of a new 21-day Challenge.