Everyday Systems

Posted: **Sun Jan 09, 2011 2:16 am**

Goals
Vanilla No S
Exercise at least 30 minutes daily; one exempt day a week.

12/20/10: Starting date

Posted: **Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:02 am**

I have been doing the No S Diet since 12/20/10. I have had my ups and downs, some red days and some pretty wild S days. Yet, I have been in compliance more than not, and I am excercising most days.

On to the second month and hopefully the rest of my life with these habits!

Posted: **Thu Jan 27, 2011 12:08 pm**

Things are going fine. I find I am naturally starting to make better food choices and feel a little off when I do not. Yesterday I ended up eating carry out food at lunch and stadium food at a game for dinner because I did not plan ahead. I felt a little toxic at the end of the day. I was technically compliant with the S diet because what I ate would not have overfilled my virtual plate, but I do not want to do that again any time soon.

Posted: **Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:57 am**

Sounds like you're doing great, RJRO! I've had my ups and downs with No S since November, too. Lost some in Nov/Dec, but gained some back in January.

You know you're moving in the right direction when you prefer good food choices over bad choices, without "trying" to stick to the diet.

I'm impressed with your continuous exercise. I'm attempting to start that now, too.

Keep up the good work!

Posted: **Sat Jan 29, 2011 12:13 am**

Thanks. It is good to have encouragement! You are right. I can tell that it is becoming an unconscious habit, and reading and writing posts is helping to reinforce the new habits.

Posted: **Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:37 pm**

Things are going okay. I am dreading my physical next week because I just really hate getting on that scale at the doctor's office.

Posted: **Sun Feb 06, 2011 1:27 am**

You sound like you are doing really great.

If you averaged 4 pounds a month, you'd lose 50 pounds in a year... which your doctor would be *very* impressed with.

Posted: **Sun Feb 06, 2011 2:09 pm**

Thanks Kevin for the encouragement. I continuously try to keep in mind that a slow and steady loss is best, and it is certainly better than continuing to gain.

Posted: **Tue Feb 08, 2011 11:54 pm**

"Maintenance is progress; the status quo was gaining weight."

I picked up the No S Diet Book yesterday and just read a few sections that I had only skimmed through before. I came across this sentence, and it is so appropriate for what I am trying to tell myself right now that I had to repeat it and repeat it and repeat it........

Posted: **Wed Feb 09, 2011 3:41 pm**

I really enjoyed the No "S" diet Book. I didn't realize how big the snack industry is. Now, I hear a snack commercial and roll my eyes.

Congratulations on your steady loss. I am wishing you much sucess and want you to know that we are with you!

Posted: **Fri Feb 11, 2011 6:21 pm**

Thanks for the encouragement. I survived my annual physical today. The doc was nice even though my weight is up from last year. What he does not know is that my weight is actually down since 12/20/10 when I started No S.

Posted: **Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:08 pm**

I decided to change my profile name to a name rather than just initials. That may be confusing, but oh well. I am also trying to add a signature and picture but that is a work in progress.

I am struggling with a bad cold but amazingly I am doing okay on exercising and the diet.

My 2 month weigh in is in 5 days. I am determined to have a good weigh in.

Posted: **Thu Feb 17, 2011 11:44 pm**

I struggled with being sick all week, staying off work for 3 days. I continued to want to eat constantly but managed to stick with No S.

Posted: **Sat Feb 19, 2011 10:47 pm**

Yesterday was my youngest daughter's birthday, and we did dinner. I assumed this would be a non-weekend S day, but I ended up marking it a green day. I found a reasonably sized meal that was still delicious. We shared a combination appetizer with 6 of us so I only took a few bits which easily fit on my dinner plate. I think that qualifies for a green day. Wow! It was not even that hard.

There are still days that it is hard to not eat. My biggest cravings are meat and cheese and potatoes and good bread with butter. The funny thing is that I rarely crave chocolate or ice cream or much in the sweets department. I used to eat chocolate like it was my job.

Posted: **Sat Feb 19, 2011 10:58 pm**

r.jean wrote: I used to eat chocolate like it was my job.

I love this quote! Too funny!

Glad you had a green day yesterday r.jean! You know, after waiting until today for the Valentine's candies my students gave me, when I finally did try a few this morning it didn't really rock my world. In fact, I realized how disappointed I would have been if I had given in and eaten one on an N day. I'm actually putting them all on a plate to share with friends who are coming over tonight to play games!

Posted: **Sun Feb 20, 2011 1:45 pm**

I did my two month weigh in today and was so happy I did a little dance. I have lost 6.7% of my body weight in 2 months. At this point, I am just focused on not gaining anything back. I will get there as long as I keep going the right direction. My goal was determined by choosing the weight that would get me under a 25 BMI which would be no longer overweight. After that I will just let my body settle in to whatever my natural weight is going to be.

I am not sure why this eating plan is so successful, but it is working for me.

Posted: **Sun Feb 20, 2011 1:46 pm**

Awesome. Congratulations.

Posted: **Sun Feb 20, 2011 3:14 pm**

Congratulations on the loss!

Posted: **Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:37 am**

I took a special day on Monday. I had three day weekends off work the last two weekends and had some special events. I had made it through without taking a special day until Monday of this week. I spent a day with my sister and just let go. It was really not that wild of a day, but I just needed it.

I am now settling in for the next month of successes. I know that the weight loss will slow down, and I am okay with that. I would love to lose a pound a week. However, my goal is to just not gain.

Posted: **Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:44 am**

Wow, you are doing great. Happy dance indeed

Posted: **Fri Feb 25, 2011 2:01 am**

FABULOUS news, rj! Well done on your superb loss and success with No S!!!

Posted: **Sat Feb 26, 2011 3:34 am**

Encouragement always feels good. Thanks everyone!!

Posted: **Sun Feb 27, 2011 2:54 pm**

I do not know what happened yesterday, but I had a wild S Day. I had potato chips for lunch and corn chips and salsa for supper. I am not talking single portions either. I ate a lot, expecially the corn chips and salsa. I also ate a full pint of sherbert.

As I am writing this, I am also thinking that this wild S day was not as wild as my way of eating a few months ago. The sherbert would have been ice cream which I rarely eat any more. Also, I probably would have eaten even more of the chips than I did yesterday. I also only ate 3 times yesterday even if I ate a lot at each meal. Also, I did not eat to the point that I felt super overstuffed. I was very full but not uncomfortable like I have been many times in the past.

So....while I do not want to repeat what I did any time soon, I am not going to worry about it either.

Posted: **Tue Mar 01, 2011 2:15 am**

Sunday was still a little wild but not as much as Saturday. Today I woke up late and missed my exercise time. Then I did not get home until late and did not exercise after work either. That means I have already taken the one yellow day I allow each week on my exercise calendar. I ate pretty healthy for breakfast and lunch today but supper was pure comfort food. Nonetheless today is a green day.

Posted: **Wed Mar 02, 2011 5:08 am**

You are doing so awesome! Congrats on the weight loss!

Hope you are feeling back to normal soon. Sounds like you had a pretty bad case of bronchitis if you're still not over it.

You know, I'm looking forward to the time that I can look back and remember how I used to "eat chocolate like it was my job."

Isn't it nice to see our habits change right before our eyes?

Keep up the great work!

Posted: **Fri Mar 04, 2011 10:48 pm**

Thanks for the encouragement gk!
I especially needed it today. I just got back from a training trip. I saw some co-workers that I had not seen for awhile, and we gathered in the evening for drinks and food and food and food. I technically had a green day on Wednesday but eating out 3 meals and having a couple of drinks left me feeling like it was not so good of a day. Thursday was definitely a red day. I did better today and am home looking forward to a healthier supper.

Your comment about watching habits change made me think. There are actually 2 good things I can say about my behavior on this trip. I managed to get my 1/2 hr exercise in each day. I also did not eat any sweets. (It was more about multiple seconds and large meals.) In the past I would have been making a stop for chocolate since I used to think there was always room for chocolate.

Posted: **Sun Mar 06, 2011 12:32 pm**

I decided to do a half month weigh in to jolt myself back into reality. I have really not done very well this month. I was actually pleased to see that my weight is only up by one pound. I only had one red eating day, but as someone once noted, you are not going to lose weight if all 3 of your meals each day are high calorie platefuls. I have also been eating more on weekends.

Posted: **Sun Mar 06, 2011 12:32 pm**

Posted: **Sun Mar 06, 2011 12:34 pm**

Posted: **Mon Mar 07, 2011 12:44 am**

Keep your chin up. You've assessed the problem and can now deal with it.

Tomorrow is another day. You can do this!

Posted: **Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:45 pm**

Hey, we all have bumps in the road or even bumpy stretches. So now that you're aware of the issues, don't beat yourself up over the first part of the month - just focus on the future.

Liquid calories can be really sneaky. Alcohol can apparently be doubly sneaky because in addition to adding calories, if consumed with or right before a meal it tends to increase the amount of food calories consumed at the meal. One trick to guard against the double whammy is to enjoy your alcohol after your meal.

But I think that lent is a fantastic opportunity to experiment with extra restrictions, so good luck if you decide to that.

Posted: **Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:32 pm**

Thanks gk and Sienna for the encouragement. I have had a great couple of days, and I feel like I am back on track. I am still doing Vanilla no S which is what I have done from the beginning, but I am back to making healthy selections for my plates. I also increased my exercise on the weekend when I had the time to do

Posted: **Thu Mar 10, 2011 12:21 am**

As part of my Lenten commitment, I am going to try to journal every day. I want to step up my exercise, stick with the no S program, and give up alcohol as much as possible. I am not going to change my minimum exercise goal or change from Vanilla no S. I am just going to try to step it up with more exercising and healthier food choices whenever I can. The biggest change is trying to give up alcohol as much as possible. I can already think of a couple of special days that I may have to allow, like an upcoming wedding.

Today was a meatless day for Ash Wednesday with good healthy meals all day.

I added exercise by doing Leslie Sansone's 3 mile dvd rather than the 2 mile. It felt good.

I am feeling a bit bloated for some reason so I am adding some lemon to my water and hoping that helps.

Posted: **Fri Mar 11, 2011 2:31 am**

No S: It was a good day. I ate reasonable amounts and had plenty of fruits, vegetables and fiber. The lemon in my water did wonders for the bloat yesterday so I am sipping on it again today.

Exercise: Leslie Sansone 3 mile DVD again. Yeah!

Alcohol: It dawned on me that I am going to miss sipping on a good beer because I like the taste and the habit, not because of the alcohol. Therefore, I bought some non alcoholic beer and had one bottle. It satisfied the flavor craving and was only 58 calories. This could be a good idea. (And yes I do realize that there is a very small bit of alcohol in many of the non alcoholic beers, but that's okay.)

Posted: **Sat Mar 12, 2011 4:50 am**

No S: Success: Potluck lunch at work, and I survived. I was hungry at bedtime due to this being a meatless Friday so I had a small glass of milk.

Exercise: Success: I normally would have taken today as my weekly exempt day, but I just dropped back down to the 2 mile dvd instead.

Alcohol: Success: Two no alcohol beers

Posted: **Sun Mar 13, 2011 4:21 am**

No S diet : Yellow weekend; only had 3 meals but the third one was a whopper. We went out to eat and had an appetizer to share before the main dinner. Oh well that is what weekends are for.

Exercise: 3 mile WATP dvd; great!

Alcohol: Success; One alcohol free beer

Posted: **Sun Mar 13, 2011 7:56 pm**

NO S: Exempt weekend day; Ate 3 reasonable meals and sherbert for dessert after supper.

Exercise: Success. I worked on spring cleaning for several hours, and I am pretty tired. I decided when I started housecleaning that this was going to count as my exercise for the day. It just does not make sense to stop cleaning to exercise. The lifting, climbing, scrubbing, vacuuming, etc. may not be super aerobic, but it is sustained activity and definitly burns calories.

Alchohol: Success: 1 non-alcoholic beer.

Posted: **Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:17 pm**

Alcohol: success; one non alcohol beer
I am getting into the habit of having one no alcohol beer every day which I somewhat wonder about. Once I had two of them, but only once, and it was out with friends. So, I guess that is okay....calories are minimal....I am not drinking any regular alcohol.....and I am drinking less diet soda than I used to... I am not sure what the attraction is, but I just like the taste of beer and now I can have it without worrying about some of the downfalls of regular beer... So I am going to quit tracking this other than to just mark my calendar with green or red (if I have the real stuff). Since this is lent, there are no yellow days. After Lent, I will give myself some exempt days again.

Exercise: success: 2 mile/half hour WATP dvd: I used 5 lb weights this time.

No S: Success: Reasonable meals; was a little hungrier than usual for supper so ate a little more but not more than a plate.

I was a little tired today. It is Monday and the first week of daylight savings time....

Posted: **Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:27 pm**

Success times 3 (No S, Exercise, Alcohol)

Exercise was the usual WATP 2 mile with 3 lb weights. No extra today.

Food intake was reasonable but a little more than some days. Today was another hungry day.

I am tired again today. I think it is the adjustment to daylight savings time. How can an hour make so much difference?

Posted: **Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:23 pm**

Success times 3 (no alcohol; exercise >30; No S compliance)

Exercise 45 min/3 mile WATP dvd with 3 lb weights (extra!)

Meals: In compliance but went out to lunch with my dad and the tenderloin and fries was probably not the best choice in the world. At least it was unbreaded and grilled rather than breaded and fried. The fries were homemade and worth every bite.

Posted: **Fri Mar 18, 2011 2:49 am**

Same as yesterday; Success times 3

Ate out for lunch again but took a turkey sandwich and apple to the hockey game for supper.

Exercised extra; 45 min/3 mile WATP dvd with 3 lb weights

Posted: **Fri Mar 18, 2011 12:16 pm**

I see you use WATP for exercise.. what do you think of the program? I've read about it a couple places and it looks like a good one, but maybe you have some insights.

How intense is it, is it effective, is it fun?

Posted: **Sat Mar 19, 2011 12:56 am**

Hi Sarah.Grace
I absolutely love Lesley Sansone's WATP. A few years ago my husband gave me a 2 dvd set with 1,2, and 3 mile workouts. The 1 mile is easy, but okay for beginners. The other 2 are brisk workouts and you can increase the intensity on your own. I add a lot of arm movements, and I use heavier weights than they do. They use 2 lb weights, and I use 3-5 lb depending on my energy level. The 2 mile dvd takes 1/2 hour, and there is no excuse for not fitting it in. I take my mini dvd player with me when I travel. Very little floor space is needed.

If you are really hard core, WATP is not for you. It is just a good medium routine that is easy to follow. For some reason I do not get bored with it even though it is pretty mundane. My WATP time is my time to think and plan for the day.

I walk/jog outside in better weather, but these dvd's keep me going in bad weather.

The best thing is they are pretty cheap on Amazon and other places.

Posted: **Sat Mar 19, 2011 8:16 pm**

I just did a long note and lost it. Ughh!!!

Long story short...Today is one of my pre-planned days to exempt myself from my no alcohol promise for lent. I have a dear friend who is marrying for the first time at around 50. Her shower is today at a bar, and I will be seeing a bunch of people that I have not seen for a long time. I expect to have a couple drinks and also expect some extra eating to go on.

Tomorrow is my 3 month weigh in, and I am hoping to just maintain this month. Having the weigh in after the evening I expect to have tonight is not great timing. Oh well.....

Posted: **Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:56 pm**

Today is the day to practice what I preach and not be discouraged with a temporary lull in the weight loss. I need to repeat my mantra (Maintenance is progress; the status quo was gaining weight) over and over today.

I just did my 3 month weigh in and stayed exactly the same. I was expecting this, but there is still something inside that hoped for a least a small loss. Rationally, I know this is a huge success. In the past I would have gained.

Today is a new month, and I remain determined to stay with this for life.

Posted: **Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:15 am**

I have already moved past my weigh in yesterday. I had a bad start to month 3 and then tried to overcompensate and be perfect and that did not work either. When I try to be too perfect, I end up failing and feeling bad and giving up. So, I ended up with zero loss but also zero gain in month 3. The best thing is I am still here & still gung ho for month 4.

This month I am going to go back to just living my life and having fun and not worrying so much about anything but the most basic rules of No S.

Posted: **Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:36 am**

As you say and know, not gaining is definitely success. But you also mentioned the day before being an unusually big day for food and alcohol for your friends party -- so your weigh in probably got you on an unusually high day for the month. You should definitely keep that in mind. You're really doing great and will definitely get there -- you just need to be a little patient.

Congratulations on losing more than 15 pounds in 3 months!
Julie

Posted: **Wed Mar 23, 2011 1:33 am**

Thanks Thtrchic for the encouragement! You are probably right that I may have actually lost a couple of poinds even though it did not show on the scale. Maybe that will help me next month when I come to my weigh in.

Posted: **Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:00 am**

Well done, r.jean, you are doing GREAT!!! I'm also very impressed that you are able to weigh yourself once a month and stick to it. I often get tempted to weigh myself the day after just to see if I lose a few lbs. It often backfires on me since weight can fluctuate throughout days/weeks. Far better to weigh once a month or so if gains (however temporary) are apt to derail you (talking from my own personal pov, here.)

Posted: **Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:58 am**

Thanks Roxy! I am so determined to stick with this no matter what! I think that giving up the daily scale habit was a must for me. I just get too discouraged when I see those fluctuations.

I marked my calendar red today, but in many ways it was a very successful day compared to what I would have done a few months ago.

Today was a family birthday. We met at our house for before dinner drinks and then went out to eat and to a sporting event. I broke my lenten promise by having one (large) beer and ate a large meal with appetizers.

Posted: **Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:24 am**

Today was a good day. I could not get going in the morning to exercise, but I did a brisk walk with a little jogging outside after work. (2 miles at 26:52 plus a few minutes of cool down walking)

Succes at No S and No alcohol.

I have been fitting some chips and salsa into my meals during the week rather than saving them for the weekend and eating too much. They have to fit on my plate during the week and this makes me practice control.

Posted: **Sun Mar 27, 2011 12:48 am**

Everything continues to go well with month 4 after one week.
Friday was success times 3 (No Alcohol; No S success; Exercise done)

Today was a moderate S day. Looking back, it really would qualify as an N day. I ate a little more than usual, but it was still 3 meals with no snacks, no sweets, no seconds. Also no alcohol and did exercise with extra (3 mile dvd).

I am feeling more relaxed and back in the groove again.

Posted: **Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:28 am**

Today went okay. I was on call and ended up working much of the day. Breakfast was normal. Later, my (slender) daughter came over to watch some basketball on TV. She brought fun foods like mini corn dogs, jalapeno poppers, and chips and salsa. That along with a frozen fruit bar was my lunch and supper was not much better.

I did manage to exercise and even though the eating was crazy, I really did not eat that much of anything (except maybe the fruit bars which are only 80 calories apiece.) So this is a wild S days on food choice but not necessarily on quantity.

Posted: **Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:51 am**

I know I said that I was going to check in daily during lent, but I found it tedious. I mark the habit cal every day, but sometimes there is nothing more to say. Yesterday was green times 3 but today I slipped. I have been incredibly busy at work and at home, and I am distracted. At a potluck lunch today at work, I got seconds. I did not even realize I did it until later when I was thinking about how good it was. My supper tonight was a little more than usual too. I wonder if I am stress eating or just extra hungry because I am burning more calories with being so busy. The fact that I cannot answer this question shows that I am not in touch with my needs versus my wants yet.

I did manage to squeeze in my exercise and did not have any alcohol so I was able to put two greens on those calendars.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2011 11:14 am**

Hang in there. I find that it's always harder to stick to a diet progam when I'm out of my usual routine or extra busy.

Extra points for sticking to exercise when you're so busy. Keep it up!!

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2011 10:44 pm**

Thanks gk! It always helps to have a little encouragement!

March was a pretty good month. There are 3 reds on my diet calendar, but two of them were very minor slips.

My exercise calendar looks great. I exercised every day except one. That is a yellow/exempt day because I allow myself to miss one day a week. The fact that I only had one exempt day the whole month is awesome. I have also started to exercise more than 30 minutes some days, and intensity has increased. I am leaving the goal at 30 minutes though.

I am ready for April. My next weigh in is April 20. My dream is to lose at least 5 lbs. My goal is to maintain.

Posted: **Sun Apr 03, 2011 3:41 am**

Tonight was a fundraiser dinner with people from work. The dinner was pretty healthy with a salad, chicken, rice, and vegetables. The dessert was small but good. The amazing thing is that I did not have any alcohol and did not really care. I am sipping a no alcohol beer now that I am home. I am getting pretty good at this no alcohol thing; I am not even drinking the no alcohol beer that often any more. I have no intention of giving up alcohol forever but giving it up as much as possible during lent will hopefully help me moderate it because it is a barrier to losing weight.

Exercise is also going well, but I need to push myself just a little. I joined the april challenge on the general discussion, and I hope to get running again. I am pushing myself to do small amounts of running 4 times a week.

Posted: **Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:42 pm**

r.jean wrote:My exercise calendar looks great. I exercised every day except one. That is a yellow/exempt day because I allow myself to miss one day a week. The fact that I only had one exempt day the whole month is awesome. I have also started to exercise more than 30 minutes some days, and intensity has increased. I am leaving the goal at 30 minutes though.

You are an inspiration. No matter how busy you are you make the time to exercise. In April, I will strive to match that persistence.

Way to go!

Posted: **Sun Apr 03, 2011 9:35 pm**

Thanks gk! This is probably the longest that I have ever sustained a diet and exercise program. I always set my expectations too high and set myself up for failure. I always give up within a couple of months. Sometimes I give up before the first day is over.

How can something so simple be so effective?

Good luck on your exercise goal!

Posted: **Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:38 am**

You're doing so awesome. I think I'm gonna take one yellow day a week for the no exercise like you. I've been feeling guilty having a red day each week....but I think 6 days a week of exercise is awesome! Way better than I used to do!

I don't know why people react so crazy about this lifestyle. It seems easy peasy and so freeing to me. But I think no snacks and no sweets really get people riled up! Anyway, I'm glad to be on this journey with you!!

Have a wonderful week!

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2011 9:36 pm**

Thanks Tobiasmom! I look forward to seeing your posts for months to come. I rely on this discussion board to keep me going at times.

One of the main reasons that this plan is so successful for me is because I do not have to be perfect. The rules are few, and there are days off from the rules. As I set new goals, I have to remind myself to never expect 100%. If 100% is the goal, there will eventually be failure.

That is why I have one floating exempt day a week for exercise and two days a week to allow alcohol in my diet plan. Right now I am being more restrictive than that with alcohol because of Lent, but I still have a couple of special occasions that I am allowing myself to have alcohol.

Posted: **Sat Apr 09, 2011 1:36 pm**

Thank goodness for S Days! Boy am I ready this week. Today is going to be a true S Day and my first day for allowing alcohol in a couple of weeks. I have a wedding to go to today, and I plan on indulging.

It has been a rough week. I fought through a cold; had a busy week at work and some overtime; and had a busy personal week as well. I had all green on the No S and No alcohol calendars but I skipped one day of exercise and gave myself a yellow. Not bad!! I feel kind of sluggish right now and just want to veg out. I did manage to get my minimum exercise done this morning, and I am doing a charity 5k tomorrow. We will see how that goes at 830 am after tonight at the wedding......

Posted: **Sun Apr 10, 2011 4:30 pm**

It is a beautiful day today and it was actually a little warm for the 5k this morning. I did a walk/jog combo and finished in 41:55 (13:31 per mile pace). I was okay with this considering that a few months ago I had fallen into a funk of not exercising hardly at all. Yet, I cannot help but look at the fact that a couple of years ago, I was doing these races at an 11 to 12 minute mile pace wth a combo walk/jog. My favorite 5k is in September so my goal is to be back at this pace by then.

As planned, I did indulge yesterday with both acohol and food, but the indulgence is not anything like my wild days before No S.

I also ate more than usual today but nothing outrageous. I made some potato salad which is a danger food for me and had at least 3-4 servings throughout the day. However, I ate a normal breakfast, and a normal lunch. Then I just ate leftover potato salad the rest of the day along with a half pint of sherbert.

Posted: **Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:02 am**

Now that better weather is here, I am changing the way I count my exercise. During the winter, I pretty much do 20 minutes a day of brisk walking outside with the dog. I was not counting dog walking in my daily 30 minute exercise goal.

Now that the weather is nice, I am outside walking (or occasionally jogging) a lot, and I sometimes take the dog. The dog did 3 miles with me today. So....I have decided to just try to get 45 minutes in a day counting the dog walking.

I will see how this goes...and will revise again if needed.

Posted: **Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:30 pm**

Exercise continues to go great, and I am posting on the April Challenge which seems to have provided some extra incentive. Eating is about the same, doing Vanilla No S. I have not had a red day yet in April.

My monthly weigh in is a week from today. I try to tell myself that it does not matter, but I would like to have a loss after a maintenance only month the previous month.

Posted: **Fri Apr 15, 2011 10:47 am**

My birthday is this weekend and celebrating it starts today with work giving me a potluck and my favorite cake and going out with friends tonight. S-Day!

I am facing my one month weigh in next Wednesday so maybe this will help me enjoy but be moderate over the next couple of days.

Posted: **Sat Apr 16, 2011 12:39 pm**

Yesterday was a pretty wild NWS day so I am going to try to be more moderate today and tomorrow. I had it all...snacks...sweets...seconds....and alcohol. Gotta let go and have it all every once in awhile!

It is a good thing Lent is almost over. I have slipped on the attempts at no alcohol during Lent on 4 occasions. There were 2 that I had planned and consciously allowed but 2 that were just slips. Yesterday was one of those. In spite of the failures, this period of partial abstinance has gotten me out of the alcohol habit. I think I started substituting a drink for the snack that I might have had in the past, and that is rather counter productive don't you think?

I have relegated my alcohol use back to occasional special occasions which is a good thing.

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2011 2:03 am**

Today was my 4 month weight in.
I lost 8.2 lbs this month.
Total in 4 months = 23.4 lbs

I AM ECSTATIC!!

PS: Last month I did not lose anything, but my weigh in date fell on a Sunday in the middle of a fun but wild S weekend. This time the weigh in day fell on a Wednesday. I think I actually lost 2-3 lbs last month and 5-6 lbs this month. It just goes to show that the fluctuations are a factor even in monthly weigh ins.

I feel like I am truly in a maintenance mode now. I feel like I can do this the rest of my life. I know the losses will slow down, and I do not even care. My minimum goal is to maintain each month. If I can keep from going backwards, I know I will eventually get there.

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2011 2:38 am**

Congratulations, Jean! That's definitely something to be ecstatic about.

Julie

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2011 3:00 am**

whooooo hooooo!

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2011 1:24 am**

r.jean wrote:Today was my 4 month weight in.
I lost 8.2 lbs this month.
Total in 4 months = 23.4 lbs

I AM ECSTATIC!!

PS: Last month I did not lose anything, but my weigh in date fell on a Sunday in the middle of a fun but wild S weekend. This time the weigh in day fell on a Wednesday. I think I actually lost 2-3 lbs last month and 5-6 lbs this month. It just goes to show that the fluctuations are a factor even in monthly weigh ins.

I feel like I am truly in a maintenance mode now. I feel like I can do this the rest of my life. I know the losses will slow down, and I do not even care. My minimum goal is to maintain each month. If I can keep from going backwards, I know I will eventually get there.[/quote)

Congratulations rjean! I'm so proud of you!! I got off plan, but I'm back for good now. I can't get over how well you're doing and how far you've come! Awesome!
Good to be back!
Naomi

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:22 pm**

THANKS EVERYONE!

The encouragement always feels good.

Good to see you back Naomi!! As long as you keep coming back, you will eventually make it.

Everyday Systems

RJ's check in

RJ's check in

Progress!!!

Checking in

Thanks

Checking in

Slow and steady

My new mantra

more success

changes

The challenges of being sick

Even a special day can sometimes still be an N day.

Re: Even a special day can sometimes still be an N day.

Two months today

My week

THANKS

Wild Saturday

Still wild

The good and the bad

Half month point

Half month point

Half month point

Thanks

LENT DAY 1

Lent Day 2

Lent day 3

Lent Day 4

Lent Day 5

Lent day 7

LENT DAY 7

Lent Day 8

Lent day 9

WATP

Lent day 11

Lent day 12 and 3 month weigh in

Lent Day 13/New month day 2

Month 4

Month 4

Month 4

Month 4

Month 4

Month 4

THE MONTH OF MARCH IN REVIEW

MONTH 4

Re: THE MONTH OF MARCH IN REVIEW

MONTH 4

hey

Month 4

TGIS

Month 4

Month 4

Month 4

Birthday challenge

wild day

WEIGH IN DAY

Re: WEIGH IN DAY

THANKS!