Everyday Systems

Fourth day on No-S. As of tonight there will be 4 green squares on my habitcal! I feel so good. My S days over the weekend were a little crazy but not as crazy I expected them to be. This morning I told myself I was predisapproved for any leftover Father's Day goodies and moved on with my day. For so long (years and years and years) I have been alternating being too strict (NO sugar EVER!!!) with bingeing. Never a sane balance. I NEED not to think too much. I need strict vanilla No-S. Today...I am very well

I began No-S on the 6th but my "need" for quick results caused me to combine it with another diet and it was a dismal failure...too much restriction....which led to massive bingeing. No more! Vanilla No-S for me. Four days ago I REALLY began No-S with no other caveats. I must be Vanilla. Thirty years of self-deception and BED have shown me that. I am scared of my ability to self-deceive. I must succeed. For my mental, emotional, and physical health I must succeed. For my children and husband I must succeed. I must just get the habit down right now and trust God for the results in the appropriate time frame. Very hard, but it's something I've never really done....so maybe giving up the loop of insanity will get me somewhere at long last.

Hi Junebug and welcome. No S should have 4 S's. The 4th should be no stress. You had a lot of MUSTS in that last paragraph. LOL. Pitch the musts and do the best you can. Some of us started slow, doing one S at a time, some have crazy weekends until they get going. Some come back again and again (like me). No pressure. (that would be a no P, I guess). Anyway, lots of us having been finding that we are way too hard on ourselves and expect perfection right out of the gate. For most of us, there are successes and setbacks but in general, if you hang in there, you will notice forward progression. Slowly press the accelerator. And good luck.

Thanks Pangelsue2. I think you're right about all my *musts*
I've never started out intending to go slowly but since insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result....I think you're right and it's time I do something slowly!

Welcome! I, like you, want everything NOW and put a lot of pressure on myself...or I should say I used to do that. No-S is just so freeing. I can't say I haven't had struggles. This past three months has been so eye-opening. My number one piece of advice is consistency. Just follow the program one day at a time. It works. Not fast. But it works! And that's all that matters!!!

Tobiasmom, thank you so much! I am happy to know it works and I am telling myself it's ok to go slow. That is much needed advice from you and pangelsue2! More than anything I just want freedom from the insanity of dieting and BED.

Day 5: Success
So happy to say I am sane today with regard to eating. No snacks, no sugar, no seconds today. Plain vanilla No-S

Day 6: SUCCESS!!! No snacks, no seconds, no sugar
I actually had to run a slew of errands with 2 of my kiddos this afternoon and was unable to eat from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm....and I didn't die!!! I was super hungry when I got home but I ate and didn't overdo it. That is HUGE for me
I am amazed at the space in my brain without thinking about when and if and how much and what I am going to eat.

Today, I am sane in regards to my eating. Yay!!!

Congratulations Junebug, that really is something to be proud of. Now the hard part is to remember that achievement next time you're in a similar situation and say to yourself, I did it before and I didn't die, I can do it again.

I think it's negative programming from society and all the food that is so readily available now that leads us to believe that we MUST eat at regular intervals and if we don't this terrible, awful, frightening thing called hunger might happen to us. Well you faced the hunger and you won, and now you know that it isn't the terrifying disaster we've all been led to believe, it's just an uncomfortable feeling which we can get rid of at the appropriate (meal) time.

Day 7: SUCCESS!
No snacks, no sugar, no seconds!
Today I am sane with regard to my eating. What a gift

Day 8: SUCCESS!!

No snacks, no seconds, no sweets
Happy Day! I feel so free! I am scared of it disappearing, of failing...and yet, this isn't hard. I am in such a better mood. I am getting more done in my day. I have thought some today about sweets and I'm glad tomorrow is an S-day, but I feel like I *could* do this forever. I admit I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, but...maybe it won't
I'm sure I'll mess up eventually, but I am being proactive and praying that God will help me get back on track immediately and not spiral out of control for weeks or months as I have on other plans.
But this doesn't seem like a diet.

I am sane today in regard to my eating....a miracle

Days 9&10 EXEMPT s days

My S days were "idiotic". I have gained a pound over the weekend. I am a little shaken. But got back on the horse this morning.

SUCCESS!!
No snacks, no sugar, no seconds

Sounds like you are doing great!

Just FYI, I wouldn't worry too much about any gain following S Days. It is very common. In fact, I always see a gain immediately after the weekend. But it is a temporary gain and drops down by the end of the week. Many folks opt not to get on the scale immediately following the weekend or just view the numbers as a normal high fluctuation.

Thanks Sophiasapientia! That encourages me! I think I'll change my weigh in day

SUCCESS!
That's so nice to type!!
I am finding that I am making such healthy meals and I am even interested in cooking again, which I haven't really been since 4th child was born Oct. 2009.
It is amazing to be really hungry for my meals and really taste them.
We joined a CSA this year and I am cooking seasonally for the first time (something I've always wanted to do...felt I should do) and it is wonderful.

As sophiasapientia said that pound I gained over the weekend disappeared by Tuesday and I actually showed a one pound loss. That was a huge relief to me.

Hi junebug,
I have four kids too . I find this plan works well with a family because it doesn't affect anyone else. I can make my usual meals and not have to measure and weigh everything. My kids look forward to a desert on the weekends and enjoy planning it and often making it with me. It also helps me be less preoccupied with food/dieting/weightloss and I am more present.
Good luck with your journey!!!!

SUCCESS

Hard to resist sweets right now, but I am. Very happy tomorrow is an S day

Dealing with anxiety over not losing weight at the speed of light, which I know is crazy but my whole brain and emotions need to be made over too in this process...not just my body. So, here we go....

I want this to be my answer so badly. It is so "normal" so freeing and so enjoyable. I love No-S. I want to lose my weight this way. I hope I can.

SUCCESS

Both days no sweets, no seconds, no snacks

Currently slogging through an S day...might as well call it binge day or all sweets all the time day.
My BED is showing.

I've been reading the boards and it seems like people say not to modify S days the first 21 days. My N days are great and I feel so good about them, but the S days are quite the opposite. I do see if I restrict right now I'll feel like I'm on a diet again. I am trying to trust the wisdom of No-S and the longtimers on this board.

You're doing really well, congrats on all the successful N days!

It does really seem like one of the most important things about NoS is getting out of 'diet head'. NoS isn't really a diet, it's just 'this is how I eat'. When people at work asked me the other day why I said no to a doughnut, I didn't say 'because I'm on a diet', I just said 'I don't eat sweet things during the week'. It's as simple as that

Keep at it, it's tough at first but it does get easier!

SUCCESSES!

3 exempt days in there. 2 No-S days no snacks, no sweets, no seconds.
I did not weigh this week because weighing last week made me a wreck so I am going to wait a little while to weigh again. Today is Day 21 and I think I'm going to have to do some S Day mods. Thinking about that a lot right now. The Sdays were awful. I couldn't stop once I started the sugar and that is my life long pattern. I also felt so tired, weak and sick to my stomach that I was no earthly good for anyone or anything. I had headaches etc. I never made the connection between excessive sweets and my headaches but I did this weekend. It was awful but good too in a way to see some connections. I was so relieved to get back to No-S Tuesday after the holiday. I don't want to leave sweets totally out of my life because I know that is another path to failure and obsession for me. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I know I want NO-S forever at this point. The absolute freedom and space in my head for other things is beyond wonderful. I'm not sure I have ever experienced that.
I like that success is defined so easily and I don't feel like a failure all the time.

I suggest you don't start mods yet. Three weeks is just getting going. Most people who eventually stay with it didn't use mods for a few months at least. You may think of that overeating behavior as a mistake but it is likely part of it. Paradoxical as it may seem, the sooner you drop the guilt over it, the greater likelihood it will seem less gratifying. I really think the guilt is a subconscious way of trying to make it okay. If it really was meaningful, we would all actually stop when we felt it, but we don't.

Give yourself time to get tired of the overeating from the inside.

Just my opinion.

Something I learned just this weekend was that on S days I need to stick to my usual N day breakfast. On Sunday I had chocolate with breakfast and ended up having a ridiculous binge later in the day.

The longer I can put off having an S, the better overall the day becomes, a good breakfast puts me in a good place.

And remember, you can't fail S days

I had the same problem with having pancakes and syrup for breakfast on Saturdays. Life is just better if I don't do that. I have to think about working in pancakes, though, because I do like them and with syrup, not just fruit. But I'm more likely to have them for dessert after a light meal than as breakfast.

SUCCESS
No snacks, no sweets, no seconds
I made it 21 days Yay!!!

Thank you oolala53. I think you are right. I am going to wait on the mods and see how it goes.
I also thank you and Skykitty for the encouragement and insight about the sugary breakfasts. That is exactly what happened. I had pancakes and syrup one day and donuts the other and forget it....I couldn't stop and felt awful. I am going to experiment with a higher protein breakfast on S days and see if that helps.

I decided to weigh this morning. And in 21 days I have lost 3 pounds. I am thrilled!

Here's to the freedom of No-S!!!

SUCCESSES!

I didn't eat a sweet breakfast on the S days and that did help. I was still a little wilder than I want to be especially Sunday but it was an improvement on last weekend.

FAILURE

I am crying typing this. I didn't think I'd ever fail on this non-diet, but of course I would. That was a little crazy to think.
It was a complete impulse coupled with inability to know how to deal with a stressful situation. Amazingly though, the snack made me sick to my stomach it was so heavy and I have no desire to continue and binge. That has never happened to me before.

From this moment I start another 21 day challenge. Maybe I will just continually do 21 day challenges. That really helps me.
Oh well.

It sounds like you were putting a lot of pressure on yourself to have this all worked out very soon. It takes about two years of implementing and keeping new eating habits to signal that a person is unlikely to regain weight. Give yourself time! You're just learning to play the game. Why should you get the ball over the net every time?

1 sick exempt day
2 S days
2 N days SUCCESSES

I've been out of the loop on here for about 5 days.
I have been super busy with the kiddos and family visiting.
I spent a lot of time over the weekend listening to the podcasts by Reinhard. They were very helpful.
I have not weighed since week 3. I am planning on weighing this Friday at the completion of my 5th week.

I have to really thank oolala for all the wisdom you've been sending my way. It is very helpful to me. I am a very perfectionistic person....one of the reasons I fail diets in general. But I am sticking this out....
I really love it. One way or the other, I want to be sane with regard to food. No-S is unbelievably simple and sane.

I have a very good friend who has always been quite a bit heavier than me. She has been losing weight with intuitive/hunger-fullness for awhile now and is now smaller than me. I am very proud of her and wish her the best. I failed that route so many times, I made myself loopy
But when I realized today she is 2 sizes smaller than me, I almost went back to it....then my brain kicked in WHAT?!! ARE YOU CRAZY?? haha
It's No-S for me.

No S and Intuitive Eating seem quite close to me, except that you don't get to/have to determine yourself when you are hungry enough to eat. The problem for me was that I would eat too soon and my eating was out of whack with the social milieu. Or I had to wait too long and would get impatient. On No S, I sometimes eat before I'm hungry and sometimes have to be hungry for a couple of hours before a meal. I like it better. Less deciding and wavering.

SUCCESS (32)
EXEMPT (NWS day) (33)

I had a family birthday today so had an exempt day. It was wholly unsatisfying though. My MIL had her 76th bday today. She has recently been diagnosed with diabetes and I made her a low carb dinner/dessert. She loved it but I really hated the dessert. It tasted to "chemical-ly" with all the splenda etc. I made a flourless chocolate cake with splenda instead of sugar. Live and learn. Next time I'll make something else for the rest of us, but I really am glad she enjoyed it

Good on you for making her birthday special!