Everyday Systems

Hi all,
I've lurked here on and off for years, even participated very briefly under another name. My weight's been out of control the last several months, though, so I want to try to get it in check. I know starting AROUND the holidays is a tricky thing, but putting it off till the new year would just be silly!
I also realized that this time around, I can't really do it on my own. So I had my live-in boyfriend read the site, and he's on board.

I'm also going to be tracking my yoga practice. I'm working on building my strength and stability back up after a biking accident.
I'm also biking (as transportation) and hoping to start barefoot running and re-start belly dancing after the holidays.

((note- I will not be tracking my weight regularly here as I track it through Libra, but wanted to list it here as a baseline.))

current weight "Trend"- 142.5

Thursday, Day 0
I wanted to start this day, but was reluctant as my guy's holiday party for work was that evening. I did okay during the day but the party included dinner at a TAPAS place, making plating nearly impossible. My guy also gave me a taste of flan for dessert (I hadn't discussed this diet with him yet, and then the spoon was in my face!). I ate it, but then I didn't touch dessert after that. This day would be somewhat in between a success, S, and fail day. I'm kind of proud of my progress, but can't count it!

Friday, Day 1
Counting this as a green, although I did fudge a little bit. I waited too long to have a real breakfast so I just started with an early lunch (11:30, when I usually eat lunch around 1) and planned a "small plate" snack for the afternoon time since I knew it would be a looooong time till dinner. Three plate-sized, planned meals.
I'm going to have to deal with the "afternoon snack" issue if I am going to follow this diet long-term. I am a grad student and psychotherapy trainee, and I know from experience that I really need this snack to keep my brain power going throughout the day! I'm on break till mid-January, though, so I am going to try to implement No-S as vanilla-ey as possible.

Saturday, Day 2
Do I count this as day 2? Do I talk about it?
Needed a lot of (healthy) snacks during the day. I don't know what that's about. At night I went to a party, drank way too much, and snacked a lot.
In the evening when I made us a pretty healthy dinner, Mr. A pointed out that we tend to eat out of very small bowls (ok for a small soup, but not enough for our main meal) that we always have seconds from. I havent decided how I am going to address this.

Sunday, Day 3 (?)
Hungover. Had a holiday brunch with some family where we got a big plate full of delicious sweets. I gorged on them throughout the day, I think because I knew I couldn't have them for the rest of the week (and since I am leaving town tomorrow, I couldn't have them at all).


ONWARD!
I am flying cross-country tomorrow,
staying with family (who will not be my No-S cheerleaders like my partner is),
and like everyone, entering the holidays (planning Friday as an "S" day, due to family's Hanukkah celebration that day. We also celebrate Christmas, but luckily that's a Sunday!).

...each of which will pose challenges! How does one manage three meals while crossing time zones? How does one discreetly keep one's diet amongst nosy family? Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion (continuation!) of Aberrant's No-S progress!

Monday, Day 4: SUCCESS
With some funny business: the Mr. and I went to Japanese BBQ for a nice farewell dinner; I failed to consider until the small platters of raw meat were before me that such a meal would be impossible to plate. I know I didn't overeat, though, despite being ravenous when we sat down, and I tried so hard all day, so I am calling this one a success.

Well, it's been a mess ever since I flew home for the holidays. A combination of other people serving me (a piece of their homemade cake in front of me before I can think of something tactful to say in refusal), weird meal times and food availability, and other reasons. Some days I do really well all day until something trips me up around dinner.

How DO you tell someone to give you a slightly larger portion? food is often served in tiny portions intended to get seconds, and I'd rather have my portion a little bit bigger (smaller than having two pieces) and then see it on my plate. Ugh.

Okay, for the next three days I am scaling back my expectations, because I am too new to this diet with far too much out of my control until I finish traveling! So today, tomorrow, and Thursday, I am counting each "No" separately. I'll get back ion the vanilla rules, with a fresh day count, on Friday

Retroactively, yesterday, was 1/3. I managed to avoid snacking all day, which was a feat considering I had MSG-laden Chinese food for a very early lunch and was ravenous two hours later. Then, I was cooking dinner for everyone and was tasting it for quality control. I don't count this as snacking generally, but I found myself eating more of the meal than was necessary for that purpose. So bam, snacking. Then the small-portion dilemma I mentioned above- I ended up having seconds and losing control and overeating everything else.

So here goes, my mini-no-s-diet!