SpiritSong's Check In

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:17 pm

I have five weeks until my birthday and my goal is to do see green and yellow on my two HabitCals (No S Diet and Exercise) and no red! I have had a lot of red lately, so I thought maybe a daily check in would help.

Starting up tomorrow!

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:32 pm

A daily check-in will help. At least, it does for me.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 1:01 pm

3/25/11 - S-Day (for both No S Diet and Exercise)

Yes, I know I should follow Vanilla No S while establishing the habit, but I have given myself one mod from the very beginning. I take my Saturday S-Day on Friday so I can participate in my office floor's Breakfast Day. Surprisingly, my Saturday N-Days have been my most consistent green days, so it has worked out.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 11:05 am

3/26/11 - Success (both No S Diet and Exercise)

DH bought "me" popcorn at the hockey game last night, but I told him I couldn't have any. I wasn't hungry and I didn't want any popcorn, but if I had not been following No S, I probably would have had some anyway. Extra calories for no reason whatsoever. Thanks for the "no," No S!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:40 pm

3/27/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) and Success (Exercise)

S-Days are much more fun when you haven't been cheating on the N-Days.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 12:02 am

3/28/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I just love how I can walk with Leslie even though I am barely awake.

I was hungry between breakfast and lunch (my biggest problem during the week), but I sent my hunger to the Stored Fat Restaurant to eat as much as it wanted.

r.jean · Post by **r.jean** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 1:36 am

SpiritSong wrote:
I just love how I can walk with Leslie even though I am barely awake.

I know what you mean. There is not much excuse not to exercise when you are using WATP.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 11:43 pm

r.jean wrote: I know what you mean. There is not much excuse not to exercise when you are using WATP.

That's what I'm counting on! Just bought another two Leslie's on sale today.

3/29/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I had a dream last night that I popped something into my mouth and ate it, then realized that it wasn't part of a meal!

I tried to think of how I could justify it so that I wouldn't have to put red on my HabitCal. Once I woke up, I was happy that my HabitCal was safe!!

This morning I did not want to get out of my bed and exercise, but once I remembered that I had to keep my HabitCal green, I got up.

When I first saw the HabitCal, I thought it was stupid. I have since learned better.

r.jean · Post by **r.jean** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:08 am

LOL. Your dream is too funny. I think it came true for me today. We all got together at work today for a taco based potluck lunch. I have been doing pretty well at these lunches by just filling my plate once and ignoring the dessert. However, today I was distracted, and I went and got a second helping without even thinking. It was not a huge amount, but enough for a red on the habit cal!!!! I did not even realize I did it until I thought about it later.

I also missed my WATP this morning but walked outside after work. After my lunch goof I did not want to blow off the exercise.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:37 pm

r.jean wrote:We all got together at work today for a taco based potluck lunch.

I would find that hard to resist myself!

3/30/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I am marking a success for No S even though the day isn't over. I almost gave in to the soft pretzels in the freezer, but my hemming and hawing for a few minutes gave my dinner time to tell the brain we were done. I figure if I mark a success now, I won't have any options to eat when I get home from my meeting tonight.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:13 am

3/31/11 - Success (No S Diet) & S-Day (Exercise)

4/1/11 - S-Day (No S Diet & Exercise)

Happy April Fool's Day, everyone!!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:27 am

4/2/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)

I took a Special Day because I had a special church dinner. I actually treated most of the day as an N-Day, avoided the pre-dinner appetizers, had one glass of wine with dinner, and pretty much one plate's worth of food. But then dessert came, and I had some.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 7:27 pm

4/3/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 4:14 pm

4/4/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I am glad today is an N-Day. Yesterday I had cookies at my parents' house, which was fine. But then I had Doritos for a snack, really greasy chicken wings for dinner, and chocolate and peanut butter for a pre-bed snack.

I had wacky dreams all night, and I'm sure my complexion is going to be just B-U-TEE-FUL in a couple of days.

Thank goodness for No S, because I probably ate like this on a regular basis before (and now can see how I gained almost 60 pounds post-college). I was hungry at work this morning (due to cereal breakfast instead of something more high-protein), but no way in Hades was I going to have a snack.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 11:29 pm

4/5/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:55 pm

4/6/11 - Success (No S Diet) & Failure (Exercise)

I got up in the morning and put on my workout clothes, but I just couldn't find a DVD I was willing to do. Too tired and achy, so I decided to skip it.

They say weight loss is 90% diet and 10% exercise, so I see this as 90% success and only 10% failure, which is pretty good.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:47 pm

4/7/11 - Success (No S Diet) & S-Day (Exercise)

Wow, am I on a sugar high right now. It is my Friday S-Day and my boss brought in a chocolate moouse cake. I think my sugar tolerance is down from the No S Diet. Totally worth it.

I have a bridal shower tomorrow, so I will take an optional S-Event if need be. Otherwise, I will stick to my regular Saturday N-Day.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:26 pm

4/8/11 - S-Day (No S Diet & Exercise)

4/9/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I didn't need an S-Event for the bridal shower. They served lunch (brunch-type food) and I had one plate and skipped dessert.

It is only about 6:45 pm right now, but I am marking a No S success to make sure I don't get tempted later. I thought I could have a little wine before bed, but then I remembered that I had two mimosas at the brunch, so I've had my two drinks for the day.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:35 pm

4/10/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Failure (Exercise)

I tried to exercise and got through a warm up, but that was it. Just not feeling it. I thought maybe I would try sometime in the afternoon, but ended up watching The Masters instead.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 12:02 am

4/11/11 - Success (No S Diet) & Failure (Exercise)

I blame DH for the exercise failure, without getting into any details.

I am going to get back on the horse tomorrow with some walking with Leslie.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:02 am

4/12/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

As I posted on the extinction burst thread, I almost gave in and had a snack tonight, but knowing it was a burst really helped to say No!! I am still set to join the 21 Day Club on Friday.

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:12 am

Congratulations.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 12:05 pm

Thanks, Noel! Once I get thru today, I am in the Club!

4/13/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

Dinner was a sort-of success, truth be told. I had a chicken salad sandwich with way too much mayo and way too much chicken salad, and because they fit on the plate, the soft pretzels I had wanted the night before but would not allow myself to have as a snack. So, a success in that it fit on one plate. Non-success in that I felt horrible afterwards, especially since I knew better!

My weight was down again today. I try not to weigh too often, but once in a while I get curious. My goal is to lose 2 lbs. a month, and I am down 1.5 lbs. from 3/30. Yippee!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 2:10 pm

4/14/11 - Success (No S Diet) & S-Day (Exercise)

I am now officially a member of the 21 Day Club.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 4:39 pm

4/15/11 - S-Day (No S Diet & Exercise)

I was alone for dinner and had a bit of a wine and junk food binge, but I think I have kept those down to once a month so I won't worry too much about it. Sometimes it is nice to just have whatever your inner child wants, and then of course it is nice to get back to an N-Day so your inner child won't make you feel sick!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:03 pm

4/16/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

Funny stuff to report includes a small bottle of Gatorade first thing this morning. I was dehydrated from my wine and junk evening last night and needed something sweet to get my aspirin down. I would have had juice instead, but we are out. I don't consider this a failure since it helped me get through my morning exercise and I certainly don't plan on making it a habit.

Also had a bit more for dinner than necessary. I was having vegan meatloaf for the first time and decided to have cous cous with it. After preparing the cous cous, I realized that duh, what is vegan meatloaf made out of? Grains! So I am sitting here feeling over full, but it did all fit onto one plate.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 9:37 pm

4/17/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)

I actually exercised twice today, just like yesterday. It is easier to do when DH isn't home.

Who Me? · Post by **Who Me?** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 5:24 am

Care to share the recipe for vegan meatloaf?

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:00 pm

Who Me? wrote:Care to share the recipe for vegan meatloaf?

Oh, I'm sorry if I gave the impression that I cooked.

I purchased a week's worth of frozen vegan meals from Gobble Green when it was half price on one of those coupon sites, and the vegan meat loaf was one of the dinners.

(Actually cooking for myself is going to have to be one of my future mods. I'm sure that will help a lot in taking some weight off.)

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:20 pm

4/18/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I am hungry pretty much every late morning, and I hope this is my peak fat burning time like I tell myself to get through the discomfort. (Seems to also be my peak "goofing off when I should be working" time.

)

The problem is I can't get all that much down for breakfast, and I have a 1:00 pm lunch hour. It sure makes me appreciate my lunch though!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 11:32 pm

4/19/11 - Failure (No S Diet) & Extra S-Day (Exercise)

Had the day off from exercise this morning due to getting home late from a hockey game last night. I think the fatigue had a lot to do with my No S failure. I was hungry all day and I just wanted to fill up. Well, I filled up and now I feel crappy. When do we ever learn?

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 3:36 pm

4/20/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:31 am

4/21/11 - Failure (No S Diet) & Extra S-Day (Exercise)

Had a mid-morning snack because I was thinking of adding a mini-meal. But then I changed my mind, which made the snack a failure.

4/22/11 - S-Day (No S Diet & Exercise)

4/23/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

4/24/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:08 pm

4/25/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I am home on vacation this week, so there is more temptation than usual. But I had my husband hide my Easter chocolate until Friday, and I worked out when I was getting hungry to kill time (and hopefully kill my appetite).

Without No S, there would be a lot of snacking going on.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 3:33 pm

4/26/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
4/27/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I weighed in this morning and I am down 3 lbs. this month! Woo hoo!

Guess what? The No S Diet works much better than the Half-S'ed Diet!

Hoeka · Post by **Hoeka** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 5:24 pm

SpiritSong wrote:The No S Diet works much better than the Half-S'ed Diet!

Can you hear the big, rumbling belly laugh I had from this?

And congrats - 3 pounds!!! (BTW: that's the goal I've set for myself - reaching it is a different beast altogether.)

Keep on track.

H

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 11:45 am

4/28/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
4/29/11 - S-Day (No S Diet & Exercise) Birthday!

Thank goodness I take my regular S-Day on Friday. I certainly don't need another S-Day today after the eating I did yesterday!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sun May 01, 2011 12:42 am

4/30/11 - Failure (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)

We went out to dinner and I had chips and salsa, so it's a failure. Only three this month, so I'm okay with it.

Edited - I am changing my No S Diet failure to an S-Event. It was the day after my birthday after all (which was on an S-Day, so I didn't get any special privileges), and I had only one other S-Event for April.

So I am officially down to two failures for April.

milliem · Post by **milliem** » Sun May 01, 2011 8:41 am

Wow only 3 failures that's an awesome month! Well done

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue May 03, 2011 10:00 am

5/1/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)
5/2/11 - S-Event (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)

I get an S-Event for my work birthday because my boss brought me taco dip. Yum!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue May 03, 2011 11:19 pm

5/3/11 - Failure (No S Diet & Exercise)

Blah. Was really tired this morning after a night of dreaming, so did not get up to exercise. Then had chips with dinner (not on my plate) and followed up with a couple of "fun" sized candy bars.

Onward to tomorrow!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri May 06, 2011 11:21 pm

5/4/11 - Success (No S Diet) & Failure (Exercise)
5/5/11 - Failure (No S Diet & Exercise)
5/6/11 - S-Day (No S Diet & Exercise)

Argh, what a bad week! Even my success on Wednesday was more of a failure in reality. I was really hungry at lunch so I had a big meal, which wasn't too much of a problem except then I didn't adjust at dinner. I felt soooo full afterwards and was still full at bedtime, which resulted in indigestion most of the night.

I'm not sure what my problem was with fatigue this week (thus no exercising in the morning). I think my body really liked the 6 am alarm during last week's vacation and was having a hard time adjusting to the 5 am alarm this week. I gave myself a break this week, but next week, I am getting out of bed. Enough lollygagging!!

I have joined the May challenge and am looking forward to much green and yellow for the rest of the month.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sat May 07, 2011 10:36 pm

5/7/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

Yea! Day One down. Twenty to go.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Mon May 09, 2011 11:59 pm

5/8/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)
5/9/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Wed May 11, 2011 12:09 am

5/10/11 - Failure (No S Diet & Exercise)

Sorry to be a bad example, but DH was not home and I drank an entire bottle of wine and ate whatever I wanted. Sort of a stress release, although I had the book's warning that "comfort" food is really "self-punishment" food in my head. Didn't stop me. Sometimes you ask yourself "what is more important? losing weight or having the chips?" And the chips won. Life goes on.

So I start my 21 day journey over.

Jan in Georgia · Post by **Jan in Georgia** » Wed May 11, 2011 12:37 am

SpiritSong, you have a great attitude! Just mark it and move on! Tomorrow will be better. I hope I can do the same. I am horrible to let one slip up slam me down a slippery slope to eating with utter abandon. I think that your honesty is making you a great role model!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Wed May 11, 2011 4:14 pm

Thank you, Jan in Georgia. Sometimes I feel stronger after a binge like that because I realize the junk I ate didn't bring me happiness or anything, so it makes it easier to resist the next time. In fact, last night my inner voice kept telling me to stop before the first chip passed my lips, but my inner child won out.

Reading my post again this morning, I realize I look like an alcoholic, as well as a food addict, so I want to assure people that I have no plans to repeat yesterday evening.

I obviously do need a plan for when DH is traveling as those are my "most likely to fail" nights. Once again, Reinhard was right on with shame being an important force in our lives.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu May 12, 2011 10:10 am

5/11/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

The exercise was less than enthusiastic after my binge night, but I was glad I did it. And I got Day One of Twenty-One under my belt.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri May 13, 2011 3:23 pm

5/12/11 - Success (No S Diet) & Failure (Exercise)
5/13/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)

Exercise hasn't been going well lately, so I am going to try changing up my routine.

I am enjoying not feeling hungry today!!

Came back to edit because I started mowing the lawn, and I am counting that as exercise. I didn't actually get to finish the lawn since a monsoon started (all right, I guess technically it was a "downpour"), but I was sweaty enough for a shower, thus it was exercise!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sat May 14, 2011 11:12 pm

5/14/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I was hungry this morning and this afternoon, but managed to wait for my meals. I am hoping my virtue will lead to weight loss.

I was feeling down about my red days in May (3 for No S Diet, and 5 for Exercise) and thinking the month was ruined (and there was little hope for results).

But then I realized that I had three weeks left in the month (as of May 11). I can reach my goal of re-joining the 21 Day Club and finish the month with only one red day in those three weeks for Exercise. So I am feeling a lot better about May now.

r.jean · Post by **r.jean** » Sat May 14, 2011 11:24 pm

A piece of advice: Do not do what I did one month and try to make up or compensate for that first week by becoming overly restrictive. That is what I did and I started feeling deprived and then started overeating again.

Just move on and stick to Vanilla No S and do not worry about it.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Mon May 16, 2011 12:13 am

5/15/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)

Bleh. Had some cake DH bought and it was not very good. I hate wasting calories on a bad S-Day "treat." (No, I did not finish it. Just enough to get my milk down.

) I suppose it is a good lesson for N Days that sometimes that food you can't eat really isn't much of a loss.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Mon May 16, 2011 11:34 pm

5/16/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

Yea!

A success tomorrow will be Week One under my belt in my quest to re-join the 21 Day Club.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue May 17, 2011 10:57 pm

5/17/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

Woo hoo! One week down and two weeks to go until I re-join the 21 Day Club. DH is not home, but I am not binging.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Wed May 18, 2011 11:44 pm

5/18/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I wanted something before dinner, but I waited. I had my "appetizer" of cheese and crackers on my plate with the rest of my food.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri May 20, 2011 3:59 pm

5/19/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
5/20/11 - S-Day (No S Diet & Exercise)

I had a dream last night that I cheated and ruined my 21 Day run.

It is nice to wake up in the morning and realize it isn't true, and that it was just No S denying me imaginary pleasures.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sun May 22, 2011 10:15 pm

5/21/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
5/22/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Failure (Exercise)

Yes, a failure for exercise today, but for good reason. I did a five mile walk with Leslie yesterday morning and then mowed the lawn late yesterday afternoon, which took two and a half hours because it has been raining for a week. This morning I tried to exercise, but my body just wasn't feeling it.

SkyKitty · Post by **SkyKitty** » Mon May 23, 2011 11:26 am

Am relieved to find out I'm not the only one who dreams about major binge eating. No matter if I'm dieting or not, or what diet I might be on, for years I have often dreamed about eating loads of really sweet/fatty food then been relieved when I wake up.

Of course if it ONLY ever happened in my dreams I wouldn't need any diet, but it has always been worse in dreams than real life.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue May 24, 2011 4:13 pm

5/23/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I had a pretty short workout session in the morning because I just wasn't feeling up to it, but I worked out before bed. And I had no problem getting to sleep afterwards.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Wed May 25, 2011 8:17 pm

5/24/11 - Success (No S Diet) & Failure (Exercise)

Tension is taking up my energy, so another exercise failure. Hopefully tension burns extra calories!

I'm also having smaller dinners. Just had a PB&J sandwich for dinner last night.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu May 26, 2011 4:11 pm

5/25/11 - Success (No S Diet) & Failure (Exercise)

Yep, still not exercising. Hopefully things will be back to normal soon. At least I am still having success with No S. Ate half of my PB&J sandwich last night and I was full. Not sure if that was due to stomach tension or because I haven't been exercising.

Grammy G · Post by **Grammy G** » Fri May 27, 2011 4:06 pm

Oh..I hate it when those arguments..no speaking..tension happen! I do not do well eating under stress and usually make bad choices.. Oreo cookies seem to be my favorite food during those times! Hope you get things worked out before the wedding!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri May 27, 2011 4:36 pm

Grammy G wrote:Oh..I hate it when those arguments..no speaking..tension happen! I do not do well eating under stress and usually make bad choices.. Oreo cookies seem to be my favorite food during those times! Hope you get things worked out before the wedding!

Thanks, Grammy G. I probably would be eating up a storm, but now that I have been pretty faithful with No S for a couple of months, I have stuck with it. It really does get to be a habit. (It helps that we really don't have a lot of junk in the house anymore.) In fact, I have been eating less and less in the evening without being hungry.

5/26/11 - Success (No S Diet) & Failure (Exercise)
5/27/11 - S-Day (No S Diet & Exercise)

milliem · Post by **milliem** » Fri May 27, 2011 5:08 pm

SpiritSong wrote:although it would be better if we could just have a real argument for once.

You could always start one

I had an ex who refused to argue with me which was very frustrating, I remember at one point he was literally burrowing his head into pillows to avoid having to look at me or talk to me! Not that I love arguing, but I do prefer getting stuff out in the open!

Well done for keeping up with NoS even through stress, it's funny how quickly a lot of it becomes habit. I'm by no means perfect at NoS (I have rather too many failures for that!) but actually when I think how often I would have responded to stress/boredom etc. with sweets and snacks, a lot of things have changed since I started NoS.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri May 27, 2011 6:36 pm

Edited because situation is over and I would like to cover my tracks as much as possible.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Mon May 30, 2011 11:46 am

5/28/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
5/29/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Failure (Exercise)
5/30/11 - S-Day (Memorial Day) & Success (Exercise)

Finally did some exercise on Saturday, although not as much as I had planned. I assume it is because I skipped exercise for a week and I haven't been eating too well. I took a Success for the No S Diet even though I skipped dinner.

No exercise on Sunday since I had skipped dinner on Saturday and was rather dehydrated. I'm glad it was an S-Day because I attended a wedding with a Cocktail Reception (i.e., snacks for dinner).

I am taking an S-Day today since it is within the rules (a national holiday) and because my I haven't been eating well this week so want to enjoy some freedom today. I will probably get a success for exercise since I plan to mow the lawn. Hopefully it will dry out a bit beforehand or it is going to be torture again like last week.

I would wait until tomorrow, but we are supposed to get our new roof, so who knows what will be in our yard when I get home from work.

Edited to add a "Success" for exercise since I did indeed mow the lawn.

Grammy G · Post by **Grammy G** » Mon May 30, 2011 2:13 pm

Seems like today is a good day to regroup and replan ...I'm doing the same thing! I have been thinking that we maybe need to start an "Argue with significant other" modification to no S! After reading your entries, I started thinking about all the times I haven't eaten because hubby and I were doing battle (sometimes with words.. sometimes with silence)! Long ago, I would eat through the incident, even though I was anything but hungry. So I'm thinkin' we are moving in the right direction if we are not eating during these stressful times. I also would rather argue the thing out but hubby tends to clam up. I now take myself out of the situation and write everything I am feeling and put it away to read in a few days. I try to remember (not easy) one of The Four Agreements (a book) not to take anything, good or bad, personally. Happy lawn cutting..i will be weeding!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue May 31, 2011 11:18 pm

Thanks for your support, Grammy G! Situation has resolved, and in the process, I lost 3 lbs. just in time for my end of the month weigh-in this morning.

5/31/11 - Success (No S Diet) & Failure (Exercise)

I took one last exercise failure to end the month (and since I mowed the lawn later in the day yesterday), but my plan is to get back on track for June. Tomorrow morning I walk with Leslie! (Maybe just 2 miles instead of 3 so I can get back into it.)

No S was a success and I am officially back in the 21 Day Club!

Yippee!!!

Grammy G · Post by **Grammy G** » Wed Jun 01, 2011 10:45 pm

I've been noting that you "walk with Leslie" and thought, "how nice, she has a friend that is always ready to walk with her..she must have introduced us to her somewhere that I missed." Today as I was preparing to 'walk with Leslie", I finally made the connection.

double daaahhh for me!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:02 pm

Grammy G wrote:I've been noting that you "walk with Leslie" and thought, "how nice, she has a friend that is always ready to walk with her..she must have introduced us to her somewhere that I missed." Today as I was preparing to 'walk with Leslie", I finally made the connection. double daaahhh for me!

Thank you for the laugh, Grammy G! Leslie is our friend who is always ready to walk with us.

6/1/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

Yes, I exercised! I woke up about 15 minutes late because my alarms (sunrise clock and television news) didn't wake me up right away. Usually when that happens, I think to myself, "Oh, I must be tired. I better skip my workout and just snooze a bit." But yesterday morning I thought, "It is June 1st. I'm not starting off my month with a red failure on my HabitCal!!" Luckily I had scheduled a shorter workout than usual because I am starting up again, so the late start didn't matter. And yes, Grammy G, I walked with Leslie! (I think she's the only friend I have that would walk with me at 5:20 am.)

thtrchic · Post by **thtrchic** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 8:25 pm

That's the beauty of Leslie -- she'll walk with all of us anytime we want!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 3:18 pm

thtrchic wrote:That's the beauty of Leslie -- she'll walk with all of us anytime we want!

And during the cooldown, whether you've done 1 mile or 5, she always makes you feel like you've really accomplished something.

6/2/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
6/3/11 - S-day (No S Diet & Exercise)

I have signed up for the June challenge and will be working toward a red-free month. Now that I have a couple of 21-Day sessions under my belt, the failure-free No S Diet shouldn't be too hard. Sticking to my six days per week of Exercise will be more of a challenge. (Of course, doing something--exercise--is harder than not doing something--eating snacks, sweets, or seconds.)

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:36 pm

6/4/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
6/5/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 2:12 pm

6/6/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:53 pm

6/7/11 - Success (No S Diet) & S-Day (Exercise)

Success yesterday after I fought off my co-worker's cracker.

She couldn't believe I wasn't allowed to try one of her low calorie Special K crackers. Giving her an explanation about how habit is more important on my diet than calories would have been over her head, so I stuck with, "I'm not allowed." That way she can blame Reinhard.

Took an S-Day for exercise because I was up late on 6/6 completing a family project. Sleep comes first when something cuts into my 8 hours.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:47 pm

6/8/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

The exercise was not as much as I had planned, but I wasn't feeling it. The important thing was that I did something!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 2:32 pm

6/9/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
6/10/11 - S-Day (No S Diet & Exercise)

Yesterday I wanted sugar.

Give me sugar!!!! But I told myself, "Self, it is Thursday. Do you really want a red mark on your HabitCal because you couldn't hold out for a few hours?" Self was not too happy but admitted that would be silly.

Then when I got home I was all jacked up for various reasons, DH wasn't home, and I wanted a nice little binge evening. Once again, I didn't want to mess up just hours away from my Friday S-Day and told myself, "Self, you can have two beers and binge on whatever you can fit on one plate, as long as it doesn't include any sweets." So I had some nachos and swiss cheese on fiber crackers for dinner. And yes, I was satisfied.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 4:21 pm

6/11/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
6/12/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)
6/13/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

Like I mentioned on the monthly check in, I have been somewhat slacking in the Exercise department. I start my workouts, but don't always finish them. I give myself a "Success" since I am keeping up the habit, but I know that short, uninspired workouts aren't going to help me lose weight. I need to figure out how to up my mental/physical energy in the morning. I may have to have some coffee, but I am having a hard time figuring out when I could add the time it would take to make/drink it.

Or maybe I should just work on hydrating myself on a regular basis and maybe I will find it to be a "miracle" cure. The problem is that I don't like to drink when I'm not eating, and now I'm only allowed to eat three times a day.

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 5:23 pm

SpiritSong wrote: I may have to have some coffee, but I am having a hard time figuring out when I could add the time it would take to make/drink it.

I have a coffeemaker that I can set up the night before and program to be ready when I get up.

Can't help you on the "drinking" part... my routine is that I drive to the gym near where I work, workout and dress there, and then have breakfast at my desk. So the coffee (actually a homemade cafe au lait) is what I drink on the way in.

Good luck figuring out your routine! And you do deserve "successes" even for short uninspired workouts - they ARE setting habit.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:32 pm

KCCC wrote:I have a coffeemaker that I can set up the night before and program to be ready when I get up.

The last time DH bought me a coffeemaker, I told him not to bother with the clock since I never programmed the last one. So now it's not an option. Oh, well. I don't think I want to quickly down a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Today I tried positive thinking and I did make it all the way through my workout (although it was one of my easier ones).

6/14/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

Yesterday was pretty stressful, but luckily I was so busy that I barely had time for dinner, much less any cheating.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 4:04 pm

6/15/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I actually made it through an entire workout! Woo hoo! Granted, it was an easy one, but hey, I did it. I think I will start back with a few of my one mile Leslie workouts and see if I can get back into the groove. Hopefully catching up on sleep and hydration will get me out of this rut I have been in.

The No S Diet part has been going rather smoothly (knock on wood). After my yogurt and fruit this morning, I realized I had time (and tummy room) for something else and had a piece of microwave pizza. Now it is about 40 min. before lunch and I am just starting to get hungry, instead of my usual 3 hours before lunch.

I am really going to have to work on big breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner. If I could convince DH to have breakfast for dinner every night, I'd be all set!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 3:44 pm

6/16/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
6/17/11 - S-Day (No S Diet & Exercise)

Enjoying today's S-Day thoroughly. I take a Friday S-Day instead of Saturday because we have breakfast at work, and this morning's breakfast was wonderful!

In fact, I think all I will have for lunch will be the small bag of strawberries I brought in.

I love the No S Diet, because the freedom of S-Days is fun to enjoy after the structure of the N-Days. It's not so much fun to indulge when you've been doing it the entire week. Then you just feel gluttonous.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 3:04 pm

6/18/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
6/19/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)

Life is good. If I can get through June all yellow & green, I think I will start only tracking Red Days (as suggested in one of Reinhard's podcasts). No S has really become the new normal for me.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:24 pm

6/20/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
6/21/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I had trouble sleeping Monday night and thought about skipping my workout on Tuesday morning. But then I remembered I was having a "perfect" June and there was no way I was getting a red mark on my calendar!!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 4:04 pm

6/22/11 - Success (No S Diet) & S-Day (Exercise)

I somewhat cheated by adding some Chex Mix to my lunch, but the salad I had was not going to get me through the afternoon, so I considered it a virtual plating.

I will have a couple extra exercise "S-Days" this week due to a concert and a rehearsal that kept me from getting to bed on time (and thus necessitating a later start to my mornings). I did climb up the stairs to the 8th floor today, so I'm not being a total lazy bum.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 12:46 pm

6/23/11 - Success (No S Diet) & S-Day (Exercise)
6/24/11 - S-Day (No S Diet & Exercise)

I am very excited today. If you saw the "My Pants Fell Down" thread, you know why. I am in my old jeans today.

Now I have extra motivation for my "be extra good" week before my month end weigh in.

We have breakfast at work every Friday (which is why I take my Saturday S-Day on Friday), and this morning there is an assortment of muffins, donuts, etc. in the pantry, none of which looked particularly appealing. So I had some cheese and crackers. Enjoyed them, and now I am done.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 4:10 pm

6/25/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
6/26/11 - S-Day (No S Diet) & Success (Exercise)
6/27/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

6/26 was my last "Waaaaah, I don't feel like finishing my workout" day. I had a talk with Miss Inner Child and told her we are completing our workouts from now on. I have reached a plateau and I bet part of the reason was my underachieving exercise record in June.

I am also going to work on my first "mod" which will be eating less at dinner. I'm not going to enact any truly restricting legislation for myself, just try to keep in mind that I don't need to eat a bunch of calories when I'll be heading to bed in an hour or two.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:19 pm

6/28/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)
6/29/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

I had my monthly weigh in today and am up 2.5 lbs.

Oh, well. I think I have lost all of my "free" weight and will now need to look more closely at the amount of food I am eating at my meals, especially dinner. It may be a bit early to start Phase IV, but I do have the habit down, so I don't think I am in any danger of over-restricting myself.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 2:47 pm

6/30/11 - Success (No S Diet & Exercise)

Well, there you go. I had a "perfect" month. Gained 2.5 lbs.

Ha, ha. Although it was all green and yellow, it was far from perfect, so I do have things to work on. For No S Diet, I am going to work on eating less for dinner and drinking beer less often. For Exercise, I am going to work on finishing my workouts and trying harder in general, plus being more active during the rest of the day.

I figure I have now got the lifestyle down for my current weight. If I want to lose more, I need to work on changing to the "my current weight minus ten" lifestyle.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu Jul 07, 2011 2:12 pm

I was doing so well that I stopped checking in daily. Now I have two failures in a row. Oh, well. I chose them, as opposed to feeling like I had no control over myself.

7/5/11 - Had ice cream with hot fudge after dinner. We bought it over the weekend and perhaps I should have thrown it out, but I didn't think it would be a problem. And after I ate it, I felt good. It was just what I wanted and I didn't want anything else afterwards.

7/6/11 - Had dinner (little chicken tacos with salsa, so borderline junk food) and then DH had extra fries from his dinner, so I had those too (with blue cheese dip). Then DH had watermelon later (so it wouldn't go bad) and I had some too. So again, a failure, but not a binge or anything.

I know this is not the ideal way to do No S, but maybe a few days off is just what I needed. If I can control myself tonight, then I'll have a Success under my belt before my S Day tomorrow (I take Saturday's on Friday).

SkyKitty · Post by **SkyKitty** » Thu Jul 07, 2011 7:59 pm

Good luck with your N day before S days, fingers crossed for you xxx

Have to say I love your thought of a 'current weight minus 10lbs lifestyle'

I plan to steal that and repeat it to myself frequently and loudly.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:30 pm

Okay, it has been a while since I updated this check in. After my "perfect" June, I really didn't see the need to keep this up.

But I have fallen off the wagon for various reasons and it is time to get back on. Luckily I have only re-gained about 5 lbs. or so.

I was getting discouraged due to a long plateau and began to focus on how I needed to eat smaller portions in order to make any further progress. Instantly the "deprivation, deprivation!" part of my brain lit up and it was downhill from there.

I think I will take the advice I saw somewhere to focus on what you SHOULD eat rather than focusing on taking food away. I need to add more protein and vegetables to my diet (which now mainly consists of refined carbs and fat), so that will be my focus once I have the No S habit reestablished.

For a while I was weighing every day, which was nice when it was going down due to a new exercise rotation. But then my knee started bothering me so I had to give the rotation up, I had a new stress in my life which led to a depressive episode (and overeating), and the weigh-ins were no longer fun. I think this time around I will not allow myself to weigh in until I can fit into the "5 lbs. smaller" jeans again.

So, in sum, my plan is:
1. Reestablish No S habit
2. Focus exercise on rehabbing knee(s)
3. No weighing in until "skinny" jeans fit again (comfortably enough to actually wear them for the day -- not just enough to zip up)

herbsgirl · Post by **herbsgirl** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:58 pm

SpiritSong wrote: I was getting discouraged due to a long plateau and began to focus on how I needed to eat smaller portions in order to make any further progress.

So, in sum, my plan is:
1. Reestablish No S habit
2. Focus exercise on rehabbing knee(s)
3. No weighing in until "skinny" jeans fit again (comfortably enough to actually wear them for the day -- not just enough to zip up)

Yep, thats what happened to me yesterday! I was realizing Im going to have to eat less food to make furthur progress! I didnt eat enough food, and exercised hard, then my blood sugar felt wierd. I felt like I needed food! Lesson learned for me: to drink some milk or 100% juice if my blood sugar drops, and eat a good breakfast!

You have good goals!!! The part about not weighing until your skinny jeans fit is a good idea!

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 3:33 pm

herbsgirl wrote: Yep, thats what happened to me yesterday! I was realizing Im going to have to eat less food to make furthur progress! I didnt eat enough food, and exercised hard, then my blood sugar felt wierd. I felt like I needed food!

See, the problem seems to be "eat less" without slipping into "not enough." No S carves out the obvious stuff, and then how do we figure out the next step?

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:16 pm

9/16 - S Day (No S and Exercise) (reminder - I take my Saturday S Day on Friday)

Tomorrow I start back with an N Day and exercise, so today is really sort of a fake (easy?) Day One.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:16 pm

9/16 - S Day (No S and Exercise) (reminder - I take my Saturday S Day on Friday)

Tomorrow I start back with an N Day and exercise, so today is really sort of a fake (easy?) Day One.

SpiritSong · Post by **SpiritSong** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 2:43 pm

Okay, back AGAIN. For some reason, I just couldn't convince myself this summer that No S was the right thing to do. Now a new month is starting, and I want to stop backsliding and start making progress again!

Today is an S-Day for me, so I get back on the No S wagon tomorrow. Again, I am not allowed to weigh in until I can fit back into my "skinny" jeans comfortably enough to wear all day (and not just be zipped up). After I celebrate that goal, I will have to wait until I fit into my "skinnier" jeans (at which point I won't really care how much I weigh because I'll be soooo happy*).

* of course, to be followed by a "lose another 10 pounds" goal.

Everyday Systems

SpiritSong's Check In

SpiritSong's Check In

Leslie

Re: Leslie

Dream come true