Everyday Systems

Starting this tomorrow! I'm hoping to get some "atta girls" as I go because this is not going to be easy for me!

Atta girl!! Your first one. Welcome. Hope we can help make it easier.

Welcome! Hope your first day is going well

Go you!

I'm pretty new around here myself, but from my experience so far I can tell you 2 things:

1. You're going to love it.

2. The people around here are very supportive. This is the best possible place for encouragement and accountability.

3. (Yes, I know I said '2 things') You're going to love it!

Welcome, and atta girl!

Sarah

It occurs to me as I prepare for this "grueling ordeal", waiting for lunch because I can only eat three meals every single day of virtually anything I want, that a huge percentage of the world would give just about anything to have this privilege. Brings me some much needed perspective.

That is a very wise observation.

Atta girl!

Day 8: First red day. Totally out of control. First 5 days were greens--aMAzing. Then two no S days that I ate way too much but I'm giving myself some grace since it's new. Then Monday came and I just went back to my old ways. And felt miserable. So now i will start again and will call this Day B1. Good idea.

If anyone is reading this, do you know how to get a weight ticker?

Day B1: Yes
Day B2: Yes

Kathleeny....

First of all...welcome! I hope you'll be here often 'cause it's a great place for encouragement & support.

Second...Don't worry about the red day. If you're anything like most of us here, we count the reds & forget to focus on the greens! If you end up with a red day, just stand back up, brush off the crumbs & start over right away. Don't even let yourself dwell on it...it's not worth it. This plan is not a plan that punishes you for reds, but just encourages you to move on....

Third...Have you read the book? I've read it at least 5 times & get something new out of it each time I pick it up. It's definitely a book worth having on your nightstand.

Welcome again...janie

I really don't think you have to "re-set the clock" every time you have a failure. I feel this gives too much negative power to failures, and undermines your many successes.

If you had 99% success, but re-set after 1% failure, you wouldn't be focusing on the 99%, would you? No. The failure would have overpowered the successes.

Just my observation.

Sounds like you are doing really well. 7 out of 8 days were successes. Why dd you report only the failure? As determined said earlier, we all here tend to focus too much on the failures. I am also happy you followed her advise and brushed off the crumbs and moved on. Congratulations on your progress so far.

I agree with the others. Be kinder to yourself. I have lost 40 lbs, and I am not sure that I have ever made the 21 day challenge. I always seem to sneak a red in there. This is a lifetime commitment of better eating for me. There is no starting over and no finish line. I mark it and move on.

Day 7: SUCCESS! That makes 7 in a row. I thank you for the most recent posts offering encouragement. I do have a tendency to be hard on myself and this is the first time in a LOOOOOONG time that I feel like I'm not insane with eating. Feels manageable, workable. My husband said "I thought you were doing WW..." and I started to explain and just didn't even want to get into it. SO happy not to have to be counting anything or measuring or waiting for hunger growls or feeling like I'm going to die when I go to bed because I'm so stuffed. And yesterday and the day before, which were No S days, I even felt free to eat snacks/sweets or not. Didn't really want to just because it was "allowed". I thought of the usual culprits--pastries, candy, cheezits--and it just didn't have the pull. I cannot tell you, whoever is reading, that this is nothing short (I'm serious) of miraculous. I don't expect it to last uninterrupted, but just relieved to have what I've had so far. Hope to build on the sanity. Praying and trying.

You're doing so well! This journey is truly amazing. I've done WW a few times & I'll NEVER go back to that, or any other diet. This way of healthy eating is changing us from the inside out - what a concept!!!

Keep going....you're doing wonderfully!

janie

Once again, I am with determined on this one. You are doing incredible.

10-19 success
10-20 success
Still no red days. Today was really hard. Crabby and tired and I really wanted to eat. I just realized that I prayed at about 3:00 for God to take this craving away. I then struggled for a little while and forgot all about it till dinner at 6. He totally heard me and answered me. Why am I surprised? Seems like if I am really willing to try, I will get help. Like that Oswald Chambers quote, something about God taxing the last grain of sand and the remotest star to help us when we endeavor to obey. Thank you, Jesus.

You were tired & crabby - but you still had a green day! That's a huge success!!! Next time you have the same kind of day you know you can do this. Those tired & crabby days are the days I know I'm making real progress. If I can conquer them, I can make the rest go well.

I like this quote too...

“We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.â€
― Oswald Chambers

Have a wonderful day...janie

I can't remember what day I'm on, and if I stop to go get my calendar some kid will likely derail me and I'll never get this posted! So, I can just say that I have not had a red day yet. Technically. BUT...this weekend was not good. Yellow isn't red, but if I were being my normal self I would log it as red. But I need to cut myself a break, realizing that this is just part of the progress.

So here's my question...it has been SO hard to get back on track after too loose of a weekend. There is a big part of me that truly wonders if I can do this. It's so hard not to eat when I'm mad or frustrated or even just really hungry. I've used food for so long and just wonder....will eating three meals ever become second nature to me? What do you think, those of you who have some history with this?

Also, I did listen to Reinhard's podcast thing about how to handle weekends. I do think that I need to rein it in a bit...for a couple of reasons. First, and most importantly, I don't want to be someone who is controlled by food, and that's what happens to me. If I let it go, it's all I want to do--eat. I want to develop a better relationship with food--be a normal eater, and normal eaters do not go crazy and eat whatever they want till they're in pain. They don't want it that much. So, my new habits need to continue on the weekends, with room for a treat or a snack or two. Second reason, I gained four pounds in two days that I had worked really hard to lose the weeks before! Discouraging.

So, thanks for reading. Would love to hear if this can really help me change and if it will get easier. Struggling to make it through each day!

Kathleen...

If I could hug you I would! I absolutely understand where you're at. If you look at my username start date it looks as if I've been doing this for only 5 months, but in actuality, I've been doing NoS on & off for three years. I can hear the frustration in your words & wish we could sit & talk rather than type back & forth.

I've asked myself a hundred times why this journey is so difficult. And why in the world can't I just eat like a normal person? Sometimes it just seems too hard & it would be so much easier just to give up. BUT, if you hang in there I'm convinced you will see an amazing difference in your life. Why? Because this is not a program that tells you what to eat so you will see pounds come off "easily", but a program that will change you from the inside out. You are struggling to learn the hard parts first - how NOT to eat emotionally....and how to maintain weight loss before you ever even see it fall off...AND...the longer you do this, the less important food seems to become. What a foreign concept! The work you're doing now is critical....not giving up on the plan is giving you the habits of continuing even when times are difficult.

So what is the alternative? Counting points with WW? That just puts more emphasis on food instead of diminishing its importance. Having processed food delivered to your door? No one could convince me there's any valid maintenance skills learned there. Low-carbs? Low cals? Counting fat grams? It's absolutely possible to lose weight with any of those diets...and in many cases weight comes off quicker than with NoS...but it comes back on just as quickly because nothing really, truly changes. Someone recently wrote, "trust the program". That just hit home with me. If you read many of the success stories here, there is a common theme of not giving up. Just trust that this will work. Is it hard? Very hard. Is it a quick weight loss? Nope. BUT, will it change you if you keep going? I'm convinced that answer is a firm, "YES".

Mondays are really difficult. That seems to be my hardest day of the week too. Perhaps you could come up with a plan of attack for Mondays. Can you plan some extra exercise? Can you plan to be out of the house or away from the kitchen more that day? Maybe you could put the NoS book right where you'll see it on Monday morning so you can read a bit of it and help you get back on track. If you are the one who chooses the menu for the household, perhaps you could plan something you really love for dinner...and a non-sweet treat with lunch. I LOVE berries & when I'm struggling, I treat myself to the best ones I can find. I usually have a really good breakfast on Mondays...usually eggs & toast or fruit. Having more to eat on Mondays helps me know it won't be a day when I'm struggling with hunger. Being pro-active on the days you know will be hard can rescue a week before it's even begun. Whatever helps you look at Mondays differently can really make a huge difference.

I hope I haven't rambled on too long. Sometimes I get in cheerleader mode & forget to be quiet. Hang in there Kathleen....this is hard, hard, hard. I promise you that if you trust the plan and keep hanging on you'll be so glad you did.

Hugs to you...janie

Janie--what a helpful post! I really needed to hear what you had to say--not just encouraging words, which are great, but practical stuff too. I don't even have a copy of the book, as I've read it from the library, but I do think it would be helpful to have around. And what you said about planning for Mondays makes total sense.

I know well what the alternatives are and they will only catapult me further into diet hell. Good reminder. Struggling to learn habits and hard stuff...this is the first time I've ever tried to do that, and I am totally willing to wait on big weight loss if it means I can get this in line.

Thanks for caring, Janie! You've been a real encouragement to me!

Kathleen...

I'm so glad my post was helpful. We're on a journey that is so wonderful and so very hard at the same time! It's good to know we're not in this alone...

I hope your day has gone well...

janie

Kathleen...

Yesterday was Monday...how'd you do?

janie

Wow--I honestly have not seen your message until this moment. Monday, Halloween, went perfectly. Didn't call it a yellow day and did fine...didn't even miss the candy.

HOWEVER.....I have been on a 7 day binge ever since. Really discouraged and wondering what to do. I know I should just jump back in, but I cannot get through the stinkin day.

Beginning to wonder again if I should cut out sugar and stuff to make it easier on myself. I actually tried the low-carb thing a couple of days ago and caved at 10 am.

Feeling sick and sad.

Oh Kathleen, I'm sorry! I wish I could just give you a hug. I know the frustration of wanting so much to be back on track, yet not knowing how to get there.

I wish I had the right words to help...something that would make it click for you again. This journey is just plain hard. It sometime seems as if the freedom we long for makes this more difficult. I love being able to choose whatever I want to eat, but since I get to choose, I have to learn how to make the right decisions. I know it would be easier to just follow a bunch of rules about what to eat, but that doesn't do the hard work of teaching me maintenance first. But, this might not be your struggle at all....

Would going back to the basics work? Re-reading the book? Are you eating good breakfasts...or are you trying to cut back on the next day's food to compensate for the binging days?

I'm sorry Kathleen...I really do wish I knew how to help. I'd be happy to listen if you want to chat....I might not have the answers, but I'm here...

Hugs to you...janie