Franxious1's Daily Check-in

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 1:09 am

I decided to go back on No-S and started off yesterday with an absolutely dreadful S day, preceded by one just as dreadful (related to both Hannukah and Christmas). Even though today is Sunday, I didn't want to have three in a row...so I picked the one day that most of the world probably counts as an S-day without thinking as my first N day (but I am Jewish, so not all that shocking). After one day, I feel so much better, not just physically, but also emotionally. After the trail of latkes and chocolate cake and cookies, I was feeling really gross.

Looking forward to being normal!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 1:53 am

Two N days down. I did eat rather large meals, but not horribly large.
Tonight's dinner was a pan-fried dumpling and part of an order of curried chicken noodle soup. Hard to tell how much soup was a reasonable amount, but I ate half and brought the other half home. I feel like my eating is a little skewed because of the three-day holiday. Tomorrow I'll get back to "normal" -- which means, for example, that I will bring in a big salad to work for lunch (instead of having a plate of random foods that were hanging around the kitchen).

I feel a little guilty about the cup of coffee with three teaspoons of sugar that I have every day. I guess I feel like I'd obsess about coffee and resent giving it up or not having it the way I want it if I made a change, but I do feel it's probably a bit too much sugar. My concession is that on N days, I can only have one coffee. I wish I could enjoy it with less sugar, but it seems unlikely. For example, I went without coffee at all for three weeks very recently. I was so certain that when I went back to the coffee, I'd be able to use less sugar, but no dice!

Because of the demoralizing S days falling on a Friday and Saturday followed by an N day on a Sunday, this week I'll have six N days in a row. I am currently not troubled by this; we'll see how I feel after a few more days!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:46 pm

Today was OK. It's green, at least. But it wasn't a great day.

My usual way of eating is to eat lots of small snacks all day, with none that distinguish themselves as 'breakfast' or 'lunch' (dinner is fairly normal). It's hard to break this habit; I'm afraid of being hungry. At lunchtime, I started eating and stopped halfway through because I had an appointment coming up and I just couldn't help saving half my lunch until after the appointment. I definitely didn't eat any more than I would have; in the morning I planned out breakfast and lunch, literally using a plate to make sure it wasn't too much food.

I wish I could think it was OK to do this without a really good reason, but something tells me it's counterproductive and doesn't help build the habit of eating three meals a day.

I also had a large dinner; it was a little hard to tell what the "right" amount was because some of it was leftover soup -- not enough for dinner by itself.

It's not something that happens overnight!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:55 pm

So far all is well. I've been having large meals, but they're not enormous.

Actually...I would like to try to stick to around 1600 calories a day, and I've been tracking my caloric intake on the MyFitnessPal app for months and months. It certainly hasn't helped me lose any weight, but I am now entrenched in the HABIT of inputting my meals several times a day. I'm figuring, if each meal is around 500 calories, that will get me where I need to be.

I realize that ideally, this shouldn't be needed at all. But it's hard to break the habit, and hopefully it's not really harmful. My plan is more to see whether the meals are in the right range than to try to mess with them if they're not (at least for now). I do believe that eventually they'll naturally be in the right range. The good news is that they've really been OK so far (today is day 5, since I took last Sunday as an N day).

The toughest time for me is between lunch and dinner. Even though I'm trying to space my meals evenly, for some reason the time between breakfast and lunch seem shorter than the time between lunch and dinner. Plus, also, normally when I get home I have a snack, so that's something I've had to fight. I'm trying to just have herbal tea instead.

Yesterday I was really hungry at breakfasttime and I had a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a croissant. That's the type of thing I typically NEVER get. It was so delicious and satisfying. It wasn't even that high calorie (it wasn't a humongous one). Kind of eye-opening, that I can eat the breakfast I crave and be better off than eating way too much disgusting dietetetic (is there any less appetizing word in the English language?) food.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:58 pm

Counting today as a success, though it's slightly borderline. I had an extra cup of coffee, which is heading toward snack territory. I am not dinging myself because:

1. It is truly indeterminate in my mind;
2. It's only the first week and I don't want to discourage myself; and
3. The circumstances under which it happened -- my husband and me both being home really early on a weekday -- are so extremely rare.

I will say, though, that this behavior is not compatible with putting "a fence around the law," and since it does bother me a bit, I resolve to try to avoid it in the future and to count it as a failure if I don't.

I don't think it will be at all helpful if I cut myself too much slack.

Aside from that, the meals are big but there have been only three and there have been no violations.

I am looking forward to this weekend; both because I want something sweet but also because I'm determined to keep it under control!

Also, stats:
SW: 161.2
GW: 140
CW: 159

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Sat Dec 31, 2011 1:58 pm

Finally made it to an S day! Whoo-hoo! Trying to enjoy the day but not freak out.

Yesterday I stuck to the letter of the law, but not the spirit. I packed up my breakfast, which was too large. I had had visions of eating it in a peaceful place while I got some paperwork done. As it turned out, my plans weren't compatible with reality and I ended up scarfing down the breakfast while trying to deal with my kids, who were in very rambunctious moods. So, though I subconsciously realized well before I was done that I was already full, I kept cramming the food in because I was stressed out. And because I still am afraid that I'll be starving before lunch.

Kind of silly! I also, at lunch, finished my share of some very mediocre sweet potato fries just because technically they were allowed, though I didn't need them. So these are the things I have to work on eventually.

For now, I'm pleased. I may have lost a bit of weight -- the scale indicates I have, but it's too soon and too little to get all celebratory about -- but it sure beats a potential weight gain!

Stats:
SW: 161.2
GW: 140
CW: 157.8

Who Me? · Post by **Who Me?** » Sat Dec 31, 2011 7:58 pm

I don't think coffee is evil. Unless you cover it with whipped cream and caramel sauce, of course...

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 12:53 pm

My coffee has three teaspoons of sugar and some cream. I wish I could get by with less sugar, but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen (I'm saying this because I recently went for three weeks without coffee. I thought for sure I'd need less sugar, but no dice.).

I was back to my old ways yesterday, in terms of snacking all day and not eating meals. It's just hard on weekends because my family tends not to eat meals except for dinner anyway. No one is hungry at the same time, blah blah.

My one success was that I avoided sweet food until the very, very end of the day when I had one chocolate chip cookie. If I'd eaten sweet stuff early, there's no doubt in my mind that I'd have been scarfing down sugar all day long. I don't believe it's impossible for N day habits to "carry over" to S days, but I don't think it will happen very soon.

Today my goal is to try to go toward meals. I mean, I will try to group my snacks together into discrete time frames so that there are stretches when I'm not eating and the snacks can be loosely grouped together as "meals." Also I bought some New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream and I'd really like to eat a small bowl of it without then going back and eating the whole pint. Though I ate a cookie yesterday, I'm craving ice cream...

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 8:59 pm

Bleah...a horrible, bad S day yesterday. I feel like I've not only undone all the work I did in the 6 N days preceding it, but even gained weight. I shouldn't have weighed myself this morning -- what's the point -- but I couldn't help it.

I'm not having a problem today sticking to the N day. It may be too early to start instituting mods, but maybe not.

snapdragon · Post by **snapdragon** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 2:04 am

Don't worry about crazy s days for now you will see so many of us have had the problem and they got better over time. First get the habits down then the tweaking!
I am with you on the sweet coffee!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 2:10 am

Thanks, Snapdragon. Feeling a little better after sticking to plan today. And it seems that I need to readjust my expectations of how long it will take for the excessive eating to go away. Realistically, why should something ive been doing for decades vanish in a few weeks or even months?
Lisa

r.jean · Post by **r.jean** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 11:34 am

You are so right to adjust those expectations! After a year of successful No S, I have the routine down pretty well. On N days when I am hungry or craving, I just eat bigger meals. HOWEVER, I still struggled with Thanksgiving and Christmas. I ate like crazy for 4 days at Thanksgiving and almost a week at Christmas. Having Christmas on Sunday was hard. We hosted the extended family meal on Sunday and then had all those lucious leftovers going into Monday. I could not seem to leave them alone!

On the other hand, rest assured that it does get easier as time goes on and it is easier to get back on track.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 6:00 pm

Thanks, r.jean! The Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Years stretch is so tough...you could even start it at Halloween. They're all about food! Though I wasn't back on NoS yet until Christmas. I think eating bigger meals on N days makes a lot of sense. If I feel hungry or insecure about making it to the next meal, it's never going to work. And honestly, the big meals just aren't the problem! I lost weight after every N day last week, with some pretty large meals (they were fairly healthy, though).

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 12:56 am

Success. Because I take such interest in what people eat, here are today's meals:
B: oatmeal with walnuts and dried cherries
L: big salad, two hard boiled eggs
D: beef noodle casserole, cottage cheese, broccoli

The casserole was leftover, and there wasn't enough, hence the cottage cheese. I'm hungry now, but late night is not my problem time.

Over43 · Post by **Over43** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 2:20 am

Congratulations!

I need to learn how to make the beef noodle casserole.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 10:27 am

Thanks!

My husband and I bought a Le Crueset dutch oven for Christmas, so I've been trying to use it as much as possible. Honestly, while the casserole was perfectly edible, it was the least exciting thing to come out of there (things that were great were bread pudding, cassoulet, chicken breasts with pesto). But here it is:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/986

I'm realizing I really have a poor diet in terms of fat/protein/carb composition. I usually eat 13-17% protein; that's just not enough. Fat is usually around 20%. I need to find a way to change this that's not uncomfortable.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:34 am

Calling today a success, though I had to do some unplanned virtual plating. I would say I had a large plate of food, and not the ideal food, but I think I did OK (especially since I was starving!)

Actually, I hate it when that happens; when you have to use up one of your meals on stuff you don't like/wouldn't choose if the situation were different.

For the record, I go to a personal trainer twice a week and to a yoga class once a week. I share the trainer sessions with two other women, so it's not expensive. I credit the exercise with helping me look like I'm not as fat as I am!

3-0-7 girl · Post by **3-0-7 girl** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 1:50 am

I think meals being big for a while when getting started or restarted on NoS is good thing. It's sort of a security blanketing behavior to make sure we can make it from meal to meal. The body is going to become reassured of getting fed 3 times a day and then amounts will come into line with the appetite.

I celebrate the Jewish fetivals as well as Christmas. Very good to see someone else posting that celebrates the Jewish holidays.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:07 am

Forgot to keep adding this:

SW: 161.2
GW: 140
CW: 157.6

I'm sure there is a way to do a signature, but I am too lazy to figure out how to do it!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:12 am

Hey 3-0-7 girl,

That's a nice way to think of it (a security blanket). I seem to be eating less on the whole on N days even with big meals, so it should really not worry me! It's just my impatient and obsessive personality.

I agree; it's nice to see someone else out there who celebrates the Jewish holidays.

Lisa

3-0-7 girl · Post by **3-0-7 girl** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:13 pm

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!! for the Jewish holidays!!!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:35 am

Success. Fairly uneventful day.
Breakfast: oatmeal with dried cherries and walnuts
Lunch: salad, 2 hard boiled eggs, english muffin, apple
Dinner: pork loin roast, sweet potato fries, green beans

Yes, a big lunch.
No, I do not keep kosher

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 11:02 pm

Counting as green even though I haven't had dinner yet!

I wanted to mention the idea of plateaus. I haven't been on NoS long enough to have hit one, but when I do, I hope I will not be in the slightest bit upset. Because it's a GOOD sign.

Quoting someone on some other board for some other diet long ago, plateaus are a FEATURE of weight loss, not an impediment to it. I really believe that a plateau is the body adjusting to the new weight, kind of "owning" it. I think, once you get past it, you'd have to work harder to gain the weight back (though, as we all know, you certainly could do it!).

Also, I read about a woman who lost way more than 100 lbs, and she had a plateau that lasted for a YEAR. She stuck with her diet and eventually the plateau ended. That's a long time! Most of us don't have to wait nearly that long.

I am starving right now and waiting for a pizza to be delivered. I'm not worried about seconds or snacks at the moment. My goal for myself tonight is simply to enjoy my pizza and notice eating it.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 11:10 pm

Also, just read this pertinent excerpt from a friend's Facebook post:

Once I received a piece of advice on exercise from a health expert that seemed very wise and I never forgot. He said it takes 21 straight days of exercising 30 minutes or more to create an exercise addiction but only 3 straight days of not exercising to have that addictions go away.

So does that mean that 2 S days in a row is OK, but 3 is bad news? Actually, I think that's true regardless!

gk · Post by gk » Sat Jan 07, 2012 1:01 am

franxious1 wrote:Also, just read this pertinent excerpt from a friend's Facebook post:

Once I received a piece of advice on exercise from a health expert that seemed very wise and I never forgot. He said it takes 21 straight days of exercising 30 minutes or more to create an exercise addiction but only 3 straight days of not exercising to have that addictions go away.

I just read in a magazine about someone who wanted exercise to become part of their daily life, so they went about it just that way. However, she exercised for 30 consecutive days. She noted that after that amount of time she really enjoyed it and now rarely takes a day off. I believe r.jean is that way as well. Interesting....

And yes, I've found that whenever I have an extended holiday - 3-day weekend - I have a heck of a time getting back on track.

Good job with the successes!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 1:46 am

Thanks! Unfortunately it ended up being red. I realized that the third piece of pizza was really more in the realm of seconds than anything else. As much as I love pizza, it's not a great meal for me; I just want to eat too much of it! Well, I will press on and be more wary next time. I've gotten through two weeks with 9 green days.

r.jean · Post by **r.jean** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:47 pm

I had never heard the theory that 21 days of 30 mins a day of exercise creates an exercise addiction, but gk is right. That is definitely what happened in my case. I did it quite by accident by choosing 30 minutes as a daily goal and using habitcal to track it.

I also wonder if that is why it is hard this month getting my eating habits back on track? I definitely went over 3 days of bad eating habits during the week between Christmas and New Years.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 5:34 pm

More than two S days at a time, even if they are perfectly legit, seems like a bad idea to me! At least for someone who has trouble with S days to begin with.

Mid S-day checkin. So far I have had a yummy bacon egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I am supposed to meet up with my husband and kids in an hour or so, but I don't know where yet, so I don't know if I'll be able to have a real lunch. Just had a snack of half an apple and an ounce of cheese so I won't be so starving when I see them.

I'm realizing that I handle mild hunger pretty well. When it gets past a certain point, though, I lose self control. That's what happened last night. I should have had a glass of milk or something like that to cut down on the hunger once it started getting so late. I'll try it next time.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 12:18 am

After the bacon egg cheese, I've also had:

Two cups of coffee with cream and sugar
an apple
An ounce of cheese
some green beans, sweet potato fries, and 1/8 cup of macadamia nuts (a strange lunch, but lunch all the same)
Some pork casserole...like a cross between shepherd's pie and pot pie, and broccoli
A glass of wine

The apple and cheese was a snack, which I'm very happy with in terms of moderation.

I had a small second serving of the casserole.

Not that I'm trying to hit all three S's each S day, but of course the one thing I'm missing is something sweet! And I'm wrestling with myself, because part of me is thinking that I could end this day with no damage. And the other part of me is thinking that part of No S is to enjoy sweets in moderation on S days, and that I will probably feel deprived if I have nothing, and can't I just serve myself some reasonable amount of, say, chocolate ice cream, enjoy it, and be done with it? And then the first part says, yeah, why don't you just wait until tomorrow? It's a battlefield over here.

A final thought: On the days that I have three meals, or even today when I only had one snack (so far), the list of foods I've eaten seems so short compared to what I used to eat before. All the snacks really add a lot!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:07 pm

I compromised with myself last night by having one spoonful of the ice cream.

After last week's awful S day, my weight initially zoomed up past where it had started. Then as the N days unfolded during the week, it slipped back down to a lower point than the N days of the week before. I can easily imagine zig-zagging like this indefinitely, and never actually getting anywhere.

The problem I had initially (with this diet and with quite a few others) is that I WANTED to find a way to overeat. I jumped onto the S day thing with total abandon. But that is NOT the diet. The point is not to eat sensibly for five days, then be a total pig for two days. In fact, to lose weight the S days (for me at least) probably need to closely resemble N days.

Today has been OK so far. It's been a day of snacks, rather than meals, but not in an overboard way. Actually, I still do track my food intake on the "MyFitnessPal" app, so I can see that it's not too bad.

Here's something funny: I don't mind posting my three meals; somehow, no matter what the content of the meals is, the fact that there are only three of them makes them seem OK. Whereas, the opposite is true w/r/t the snacks. Regardless of the content, the fact that there are so many snacks is embarrassing. And somehow, that makes me feel compelled to do it anyway:

Slice of raisin challah bread, toasted with butter
Pita chips with hummus
Slice of challah with cream cheese
About 12 almonds
13 mini cheddar cheese sandwich crackers
Two cups of coffee with cream and sugar (drunk at separate times)

None of these things was eaten simultaneously, except for one of the coffees with the first slice of challah.

The other thing to notice, besides the fact that I ate seven times, is that it's all carbs.

Dinner will be a real meal; yesterday's casserole turned into a pot pie and a vegetable.

I am not trying to beat myself up here, by the way; only to make observations and learn from them.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 3:48 pm

I had a pretty good weekend. I did have 1/2 cup of ice cream last night as a sweet. I measured it. I have to admit, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. This might be because I wasn't actually craving it at the moment; I was having it more because I was "allowed to," and "time was running out."

Earlier in the weekend, I was at Starbucks, eyeing up a brownie, which I didn't have. But I'm wondering if the real pleasure for an S day would be to give in to an impulse. On the other hand, that might be opening the door to uncontrolled eating. Hard to know. Last night I just was worried that if I didn't indulge, I'd regret it all week. And I felt pretty safe having something at the very end of Sunday, thus leaving little time to go overboard.

Not eating too much on S days is one thing, and finding a way to actually have them be S days is another.

I am also still wondering about the scale issue; if I should try harder not to weigh myself every day. I do tend to let the number unduly influence my mood. But if I set myself a goal of not weighing myself and failed, that would be pretty dumb because I'd be mad at myself for failing and I'm not 100% on board with it being so bad.

This weather makes it SO hard to exercise in the morning. I get up early and feed my cats, have a cup of tea, and meditate for about 12 minutes. Then I goof around on my computer (email, games, facebook, etc.) -- time I could be getting a little activity in. Can't seem to talk myself into it when it's dark and chilly!

gk · Post by gk » Mon Jan 09, 2012 8:37 pm

I can relate to alot of your thoughts you had this past weekend. You know "anything goes" on the weekend, but you don't want to form bad habits on the weekends either. Also, going back and forth about what you can eat without starting a binge......getting nervous because you don't want to miss the chance to have something when you could and then want it ALL week.......it can be exhausting!

Sounds like you did very well! You controlled your ice cream amount and paid close attention to your snacks. Good job!

I've read so many times about people who have done this alot longer than I have (not to mention Reinhard mentioned it in his book) that S Days WILL calm down (or at least won't be such a source of anxiety about whether to "let go" or not). Whether it's a month or a year or more, it will happen eventually!

If I remember correctly, it was Deb who said she started vanilla No S with her son and they used to plan big "S parties" on the weekends....tons of goodies that they had been craving all week. She said it was fun at first, but after a while (sorry, can't remember how long) they no longer wanted that much on the weekend and eventually, her S days were barely anything more than her N Days without any effort at all. Won't that be nice!! I can't wait!

Keep up the great work!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:38 am

Thanks, GK! Boy, now that sounds like a bad idea for me (an S party)! Ha!

Everything is fine. You certainly do need to cultivate patience with this diet! There's a lot of "one step forward and two steps back" at first. Hopefully not forever.

I had a huge dinner last night (the last of the pot pie, and some of the kids' "cheeseburger macaroni" and roast asparagus. While I was eating, it seemed like too much food, though it did fit on the plate. I didn't eat less of it. I am still scared of being hungry.

It's funny; I am hungry right now. It's not really so awful. In fact, I am going to work later than usual and thus will either eat my breakfast at work later than usual, or of course I could have something here. In a way, I'd rather wait until I get to work, which means being hungry for hours. But it's hard to remember how not-horrible hunger is when I'm worrying about it.

I tried Lori's strategy of marking the day green yesterday, and I'm trying again today.

This would be the third week of NoS, so technically I could join the 21 day club at the end of it, except for last Friday was red. I think I'd rather wait until I have three solid green weeks.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Wed Jan 11, 2012 2:02 am

Success.
My meals are too carb-heavy, though, I think. I'm only eating 12-17% protein a day; surely that's not enough, particularly since I do strenuous exercise twice a week. It's so hard to fit the protein in for me. It's not that I dislike meat, but I really prefer to eat humanely raised animals, and that's hard to maintain. I ordered a bunch of grass-fed beef a few months ago, now it's all gone, and I've been too busy to track down the same ranch again and re-order. Whole Foods is not that close to me and Wegman's doesn't have that great a selection. I figure two eggs a day is plenty. Etc. I manage to cook a decent dinner for my family, but aside from that I have very little time to cook, so I just eat a hodgepodge of stuff. Anyway, I'm not giving up, I just need to find The Solution.

gk · Post by gk » Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:01 pm

franxious1 wrote: Anyway, I'm not giving up, I just need to find The Solution.

Good attitude!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:19 pm

Success.
I seem to have injured a disk in my back. I'm having a weird symptom in my leg. My doctor thought it sounded like a problem with L5, and I have to get an MRI. In the mean time, I am avoiding yoga class. I don't want to take up everyone's time with the instructor having to come up with alternate poses. Also, I'm pretty sure the injury happened in yoga class to begin with. So today instead of yoga I took a walk with a friend.

Because I had company, it was fine. I was expecting to go alone and to be a little bored.

One nice thing was that we walked by a felafel restaurant (Maoz) and on the spur of the moment decided to grab lunch there. I had brought lunch, but it can wait! Boy, it makes a big difference to eat a really good-tasting lunch as opposed to the acceptable but somewhat bland and blah lunches I've been bringing. It just reconfirms my suspicion that my lunch isn't working for me. It may be also that it's not filling because it just isn't that enjoyable. Still need to figure out what I can bring myself, since I can't buy lunch every day.

Also on the walk I stopped into a nice chocolate shop and got some treats for this weekend.

Actually, looking back, I bought breakfast this morning also! I had a gift card that I wanted to use up, so I bought myself and the same friend breakfast wraps. And that also was a more satisfying breakfast than the oatmeal, though I feel a little sad to admit it.

B: chorizo and egg breakfast burrito
L: Felafel and hummus in pita with lots of yummy veggie fillings
D: 1 lamb chop, 5 mini pierogies, broccoli, apple, small amount of "cheeseburger macaroni"'

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:21 pm

Success
B: Bacon, egg, & cheese on a croissant, apple
L: shake with unsweetened almond milk, whey, flax meal;
small salad; 1 egg; slice of raisin challah
D: Stuffed manicotti, brocolli rabe, small piece of breaded chicken, small piece of chicken parm sandwich

I added the shake because I did my workout and I wanted to eat more protein. I think I should probably have one any day I lift weights.

My weight was up this morning, but my fat percentage (on my scale) was down. Plus my jeans seemed a bit looser. So I'm trying to just be neutral about the whole thing.

I've been using an app called Weight Tracker. The nice thing about it is the "trend line" and "goal line." You input your weight (and body fat %, if you wish), every day. There's a data line that shows each day's actual values. The trend line shows which way you're heading, in general, and how quickly. So for example, though my weight for today was up, the trend line still is heading downward. Which is reassuring. Finally the goal line shows how long it will take to reach your goal weight, assuming you continue on the same path. The lines change according to what's going on, of course.

I've been tracking my weight on and off on this thing for years. I created a new profile for myself to get a fresh start and not confuse the lines with years-old data. Also it's silly to have it tell me that I lost however many pounds in 800+ days.

Anyway, I recommend this as a tool that gives you an objective, long-term view of where your weight is heading. It doesn't freak out over the blips!

I have started a new goal, which is to exercise somehow five days a week. I go to the trainer two days a week, so that leaves three other days. I was going to yoga once a week, but now I'm going to skip the class due to my back. On non-trainer days, I'll either walk, use the elliptical, do non-back-threatening yoga poses at home, or do weights/kettlebells at home. My rule for myself is that I don't have to do it for very long at all -- not even 14 minutes. The truth is that as soon as I get started, I always want to keep going for more time than I actually have. But if I tell myself at the outset that I have to work out for a particular length of time, I start to dread it. So in this goal, even 5 minutes is OK, as long as I do it. If it turns out that day after day start doing brief workouts all the time, I'll revisit the plan.

It's that funny time of the week when I've finished the N days and am dreading/anticipating the S days. It occurs to me that things will be better when it doesn't seem like a big deal either way that the S days are coming.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 1:14 am

I have had a good S day. I had one treat, which was two small pieces of chocolate. Aside from that, I had seconds and snacks, but none of it was excessive. I ate when I was hungry.

The scale indicates a small weight loss, but more importantly, my jeans feel a tiny bit looser.

B: Piece of cinnamon toast (I didn't want this, but my son made it for me and brought it to me in bed & I didn't want to hurt his feelings! But I scraped most of the butter and sugar off, and he didn't notice)
Scrambled eggs (about 1 1/2)
Slice of cheese
Small handful of cereal

Snacks:
6 walnuts
Two slices of raisin challah with cream cheese
Apple
Two small coconut chocolate candies

Dinner: Spinach and bacon quiche
Sauteed broccoli rabe
White wine

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 2:42 pm

Sigh. A bad S day yesterday. It started off OK and then I got stressed out about dumb stuff. I couldn't seem to find the motivation to curb the out-of-control eating. I just kept thinking that the next day was an N day and that I'd get it together then. I'm not even sure I would have been able to accurately list what I ate and I didn't even try; on my calorie tracker I just added an extra 2000 calories and assumed that would take care of it. Depressing, though.

Today has been fine so far. I did the elliptical for 30 minutes and ate a big but normal breakfast (bacon egg and cheese on a croissant, apple).

So I'm not counting myself part of the 21-day-club because of the red day the week before last, but technically, I've been on No S for three weeks. Weight is down 2 lbs from when I started, so I can't complain. Especially considering that my weight is lower even after several bad S days.

Sometimes I am tempted to ditch S days altogether, I admit it.

milliem · Post by **milliem** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 4:12 pm

Congratulations on your three weeks of NoS!

It IS tempting to ditch the S days when the N days are going well. I suppose the rationale for having S days is that without them, there is no 'release valve' on your constant monitoring of what you eat. I can easily say to myself 'I don't need to eat this slice of cake, there's only 3 days til an S day' whereas I'd find it much harder to say 'I can't ever eat this piece of cake'.

People have had some success with adjusting S days to ensure structure is in place - and remember, it is no sweets, snacks or seconds except SOMETIMES on days that begin with S in the original version of things! Keep your eye on the sometimes if it helps

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 6:56 pm

Aaagh! Typed all kinds of stuff, including a thank-you to Milliem, and my system crashed.

The bottom line is that I may make tomorrow an S day, due to 2 events. And if I do, I will make Saturday an N day. I just don't want to have three S days in a row.

N days have all been fine (big meals, but otherwise compliant).

Also, does anyone know how I can share my Habitcal with others? I don't have a blog. Do I need to have one?

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:42 pm

Today is the day of the office party and the restaurant reservations. It's kind of depressing how anxious I am about these things.

I still haven't made up my mind yet whether this is an S day. I know that this isn't the best policy, but it seems safer to start with "it's probably an S day" and then switch it to N if there's no real reason to stray. I just found out the lunch menu for the party, and I must say it sounds very dull.

I understand that this system doesn't promise quick weight loss and that that is not the reason to go on it at all. Rather, it's sanity, normalcy, repairing the relationship with food, learning good habits, etc. However, I have to admit I'm a little bummed about how slow things have been. It's 3.5 weeks and I've lost 3 lbs. I know, this is a victory, I didn't gain, it will add up, blah blah. It's just a little depressing because one bad S day could wipe it out. I need to readjust my expectations -- I've said this before -- but it's not easy to do.

r.jean · Post by **r.jean** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:09 pm

Here is more of the blah blah! I felt like you did a year ago. After one year of plugging away, I lost 45 lbs. More importantly, I am maintaining my losses. I have never gone backwards at a monthly weigh in.

I never thought I would get to this point, but here I am. Losses are even smaller now, but I don't care any more how slow the rest comes off.

You too will get to this point.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:37 pm

Thanks, r.jean! "monthly weigh-in," in and of itself, is such a good way to enforce the long-term view. I am terrified of giving up the daily weigh-in, though I see it doesn't add much. Maybe in time!

milliem · Post by **milliem** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:50 pm

I don't think one bad S day will wipe out all your progress! If nothing else, once the habit is formed it'll be hard to go back to unhealthy eating patterns. Almost a pound a week is a healthy rate to lose weight, especially while you are still building the habits.

Some people take 'S events' on non-weekend S days rather than turning the whole day into an excuse to eat. I know myself when I've taken an S day because of a special event, I tend to eat normally for the day and have the treats/dessert/extra portions etc. for just that one meal.

r.jean · Post by **r.jean** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:15 pm

At first I stuck strictly with getting on the scale once a month. Now I step on whenever I feel like it, but I only write down the monthly weigh in. There is nothing wrong with daily weigh ins as long as you take it in perspective.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:49 pm

An S-event is a great idea.

I am in a crappy mood, and wondering why I am so self-destructive.

Yesterday I bombed the S day. Even though my work luncheon was pretty blah in terms of the food, nonetheless I ate two desserts plus more other food than was necessary. Then when I got back to my desk I polished off all the dried cherries and walnuts that I have for adding to oatmeal. It was a lot and my stomach felt awful. My husband and I had reservations at a good restaurant last night. I ate an entire dinner, though I wasn't hungry, just because the food was good and we don't go out that often.

That's not it, though. At dinner my husband told me that his ex-girlfriend recently emailed him and wants to come to town and see her old buddies. He went to law school with her. She's always hated me. I'm not too eager to see her, but I feel I want to be around if she sees him. Not that I don't trust him, but I don't trust her. Obviously I'm feeling pressure to look my best at this fabulous event. She's going to come in spring, so I have a little time, I guess.

Finally, unrelated to food but making me feel terrible: someone has been stealing my son's ritalin. It's one of the babysitters, but we're not sure which. A few months ago we had a new bottle and an old bottle, and there were still some pills left in the old. So when we discovered that the new bottle was missing, we couldn't pin down who'd been in the house since we'd filled the prescription.

Last night, the most likely suspect babysat. I hid the ritalin, just to be safe. Well, I am a total idiot because I'm not 100% sure where I hid it. I can't find it, and it's not in the most likely place, but I can't say for sure that I didn't hide it somewhere really bizarre. So now I don't know whether this babysitter is guilty, and I also don't have any Ritalin for my son. Luckily, I can fill the next scrip tomorrow, and we'll just make it through today, but I am so mad at myself. I feel like the hiding place will come to me eventually; I'm just too upset now to think straight.

~~~~~~~~~~

Later in the day....

I feel a little better now. My son has been a little wild, but at this point the ritalin would have worn off anyway, so we've gotten through whatever there was to get through. Of course I still didn't resolve anything either way about whether this particular babysitter was the thief or not. Nothing else is missing, such as jewelry or electronics. So if we ever use her again, I will have my husband hide the ritalin...he won't be as scatterbrained!

And, I'm realizing I need to eat smaller meals on N days. I have been having platefuls of rich food; my meals are just too big, so no wonder I haven't lost weight (especially in combination with the over-the-top S days). So I'm resolving to eat more reasonable meals -- if it's calorie-dense food, I don't need to eat a ton of it. And I think I will do as Milliem suggested: S events rather than S days. The suggestion pertained to days that ordinarily would have been N days, but there's just one event for that day that makes you want to change it to an S day. But I think that might help me for all regular S days. Maybe adding some formality around the S's rather than lazily snacking, scarfing down sweets, and sampling seconds all day long would be of use.

thtrchic · Post by **thtrchic** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 4:20 pm

Thanks for your words of encouragement on my thread. I'm sorry to hear you had such a hard day on Friday. You're doing great overall, though!

I think specific events or portions of the day that are "S allowed" on NWS days is a good idea that works much better. I've mostly been doing that when I have NWS days and I feel much better for it. I've also gotten generally better about maintaining structure with some added S's on regular S Days. I'm sure you'll get there with time. My big problem is the spattering of failures on N days. But we both just need to stick with it and I bet we'll get there.

gk · Post by gk » Sun Jan 22, 2012 5:04 pm

Thanks for stopping by my thread with your encouraging words.

Sorry to hear you were having a rough patch, but it sounds like you're back on track now. That's what's so frustrating about all of this. It seems like I've been trying to get a handle on this for YEARS and I'm still here, dieting...trying over and over again to finally get it right.

I did read an encouraging thought though....even if you're constantly trying and not succeeding, you only truly fail if you give up trying. At least when we're trying we're doing better than if we would give up completely. Imagine the damage I would do if I did that! Oh - that's right...I don't have to imagine. I did that once and I was a non-stop muncher, ate crappy foods, felt miserable ALL the time, and gained weight.

So even if we're not meeting all of our goals all the time, we can focus on the fact that we're meeting some of them some of the time. And those times will increase eventually! We'll get this!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:16 pm

Thtrchic & Gk, thanks for stopping by!

Yesterday's S day was not so bad. I did eat a number of treats (a big chocolate chip cookie, an extra croissant) and some big meals, but there was none of the methodical shoveling that makes me feel horrible in every way.

Today, back to the relatively easy N day.

But I've been thinking that I at some point, I will need to stop eating such large, high-fat meals if I'm ever going to lose weight. And that means I need to both get over my fear of being hungry in between meals, and to get over the fear of deprivation. Just because something is fattening and forbidden on many diets doesn't mean that it makes a better meal or even tastes better than foods that are lower calorie. I'm in no way against eating fat or nutrient-dense foods, but I am (theoretically anyway) against eating them exclusively. It's just not healthy to avoid those salads and piles of crudites just because they would take up a lot of space on a plate and crowd out all the greasy stuff. This is what I have to keep in mind. I just feel kind of greedy, since I can eat [censored list of high-fat foods that it will do no one any good to enumerate]! Maybe the novelty will wear off, but who knows? This is the fourth week of No S. I know, patience, patience!

Wishing all a great week!

Anoulie · Post by **Anoulie** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 7:45 am

Hey Franxious,

don't beat yourself up about the coffee. I tihnk you can get used to liking it with less sugar. I know because I used to drink pure orange juice for some time with all meals, and now that seems way to sweet for me, and I always drink a glass with 1/4 OJ, 3/4 water. I just got used to it, same as I got used to having three meals a day and nothing in between.
This is what I would try: From now on, only put two spoons of sugar in your coffee. Keep the cream. Other than that, do everything as usual. Then, when/if you think the coffee tastes just as sweet as it always did, or that the two-spoon-coffee seems normal and like the standard to you, start using only one spoon. If you want, repeat this with half a spoon or no sugar at all. I can't guarantee you that it would work, but I'd say give it a try. Giving up coffee completely will make you get used to drink no coffee, not less-sweet coffee

so I think this method may work better than going without coffee for a few weeks.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:01 pm

Hey Anoulie,

You're right; I just need to drink less sweet coffee to get used to it! But I think I need to do it very gradually. If I don't like the taste of the coffee, I will just go back to my old ways. This morning I put two teaspoons of sugar in my coffee, dumped the 3rd packet into my palm, removed a pinch, then added that. The coffee tasted OK, so maybe tomorrow I will remove two pinches. Eventually I should be down to two teaspoons, etc.

Actually, my problem right now is that I have been gaining weight. As I said previously, I think it's just going overboard and not making sensible food choices. I think I will try a combination of calorie counting and NoS. I know I said I'd do this before, but I didn't really do it. But now I feel more motivated. So this morning I packed a 500 calorie breakfast and a 500 calorie lunch. Dinner will follow suit!

B: 1 slice of 3 seed currant bread, 1 tablespoon of almond butter, 1 ounce of cheese, 1 small apple.
L: 1 salad with greens, red bell pepper, 19 macadamia nuts, 1/2 avocado, 1 1/2 tablespoons of vinaigrette
D: Baked ziti and some steamed vegetable

I measured and counted the food. I realize that this is all counter to the NoS way, but I need to institute some kind of controls. Eating two croissants with cream cheese or what have you, plus other food, just because it fits on a plate, is not cutting it for me.

snapdragon · Post by **snapdragon** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:12 pm

It is hard to get out of those habits!!!! I only measure the more fatty things like salad dressing or nut butters and sometimes cheese too. Over time I just started making healthier choices and am learning I don't need as much on my plate as I thought. This is a process!
I have to agree about the coffee. I do use splenda in my coffee still, and 2percent milk. I think I would just rather not drink coffee otherwise. Not an easy one.
Have a great day!!!!

gk · Post by gk » Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:18 pm

franxious1 wrote:Eating two croissants with cream cheese or what have you, plus other food, just because it fits on a plate, is not cutting it for me.

I fell into the same trap. I was following the rules but started to gain, because my plates were either heavy/fattening foods all the time, or I had low-cal foods but my famous "Jenga" styling plating counteracted it - not gonna work either way.

Good luck with tweaking your No S'ing. I think I'll join you, but instead of counting calories, I'll just lean toward low-fat and make sure some protein is thrown in there at each meal to avoid hunger - we'll see if it helps. As for gauging how much, I always just try to get the "food magazine look" - you never see mounds of food displayed on those plates!

You can do it!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 6:53 pm

gk, I like the idea of the food magazine plate! It's true that the only time you'd see a heaping plate in print would be in an article about obesity!

I've been seeing a naturopath for several issues (sinus, fatigue), including weight loss. She liked the idea of NoS (I just saw her yesterday, hadn't seen her since before I restarted), and she immediately wanted to start tweaking.

She feels that the pressure of waiting all week for the "reward," even though I've successfully been doing that, is too much and that's why when S day comes along I go crazy. She tried to convince me that my end goal isn't to follow this or that program, but to find something that works for me. Very true, but I'm extremely reluctant to start tweaking by breaking, rather than bending, the rules. She's suggesting that I allow myself to have an optional, small reward on daily basis if I otherwise follow the eating guidelines of 3 meals a day, and the meals are healthy. In other words, it's an entirely different plan.

It's true that my S days are wild, but it's also true that many claim that time and patience and adhering to the N days will solve the problem. Of course there's no way to know whether that would be true for me, or whether her system would be even better...I just hate to throw away any "progress" that I may have made, even if it's invisible to me now.

One mod I'm fine with is to move the S day in advance for a specific reason. Again I'm moving my Saturday N day to Friday, since this week is Restaurant Week in Philadelphia and I have lunch reservations at a great restaurant with a friend. But I think an S event, as someone else suggested (my memory is horrible; sorry!), is a great idea. Hopefully the structure of the day will enable that.

Today's meals:
B: 1 slice of 3 seed currant bread, 1 tablespoon of almond butter, 1.5 ounce of cheese, coffee with cream and sugar
L: 1 salad with greens, red bell pepper, 2 hard boiled eggs, 1/2 avocado, 1 1/2 tablespoons of vinaigrette
D: Spinach bacon quiche and steamed vegetable

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:16 pm

Haven't quite managed to improve the quality of the food. One issue is that a big plate of salad is healthy, especially if it's not loaded with croutons or whatever, but takes up a lot of space. Yes, it makes you feel full initially, but doesn't have staying power. I feel like it's a delicate balance that I don't quite have down yet. Either that or I haven't made any progress in shrinking my stomach...

I decided to make Friday an N day again this week, as I may have said. I may make that into a permanent mod, since I think it's helpful to slow down the snacking/seconds/sweets momentum.

Went for a walk today at lunch instead of the yoga class. I will get an MRI next week to see what the heck is going on.

B: Coffee with cream and sugar, slice of currant 3-seed bread, almond butter
L: small unsweetened almond milk, flax seed, and whey powder shake, 2 hard boiled eggs, small apple, piece of cheese, cup of coffee
D: (planned) Baked ziti, brocolli

gk · Post by gk » Fri Jan 27, 2012 12:17 pm

franxious1 wrote:One issue is that a big plate of salad is healthy, especially if it's not loaded with croutons or whatever, but takes up a lot of space. Yes, it makes you feel full initially, but doesn't have staying power.

Went for a walk today at lunch instead of the yoga class. I will get an MRI next week to see what the heck is going on.

I have found that, too....I like salads and know they're healthy but I'm always hungry 2 hours later. They just don't stay with me. I've decided to have something different at lunch and save my salad for dinner.....I'm going to try having my dinner plate be half salad and half a small portion of what everyone else is having, as that is the meal that is usually the highest in fat/calories.

Good luck with the MRI.

r.jean · Post by **r.jean** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:25 am

Put more protein and less lettuce in your salads, and you will be more satisfied. I make my salads on big plates. I start with a layer of lettuce. I prefer romaine. Meat comes next. Stir fried or grilled steak or chicken are my usuals. The next layer varies on what I have on hand. I usually add some avocado or nuts or seeds. Next I add some more veggies, like diced green peppers, onions and tomatoes. I do not use croutons, but I sometimes put some grated cheese or crushed wheat cracker crumbs on top. I use light but not fat free dressing.

I am never hungry after my salads!

thtrchic · Post by **thtrchic** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 1:56 am

I second Jean. If a salad is going to be your meal it needs some sort of protein and fat. Nuts and beans work well if you'd rather avoid meat too.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 3:15 pm

Thanks, everyone, for the salad suggestions. That seems reasonable, to make the salad the main dish instead of trying to have it be a side that I'm resenting.

I have to confess, I've been doing absolutely horribly lately. I just kept gaining weight sticking to NoS, and it's so depressing. If my weight stayed the same, that would be one thing, but gaining is intolerable. I think I am going to try some tweaks before I give up, though. I know that some people manage to get over the hump of delaying gratification until S days and then freaking out. I just don't feel like it's working for me. There's only so much weight I'm willing to gain to see whether this will happen for me, when I don't know for sure that it will.

So I am still working on the mods, but I think I am going to allow some S's, that are optional but very limited in number and quantity. S days will allow a bit more. I am disappointed, but having a bunch of green on the calendar is not my ultimate goal; it's fitting into my clothes!

I've made a new Habitcal for the new plan, which is still under construction. The basic rules are that it has to be easy to follow, it has to be engineered so that following it will reasonably result in weight loss, it has to work with my no-extra-time lifestyle, it has to be clear-cut (so that it's not ambiguous whether I'm following it or not). NoS has all these things, so I'm going to keep it as a basic framework.

Thanks for all of your support. I will keep hanging around!

gk · Post by gk » Sun Jan 29, 2012 4:44 pm

Hang in there! Trying to figure out what works best on this diet can be so frustrating!

You know, I found from time to time that I'm most relaxed about it when I'm basically just using No S as a guide and just leaning towards it. Cutting back on what I eat and watching what kinds of foods I eat may just be enough. Having no rigid rules to follow relaxes me, but leaning towards the basic concept of No S keeps me in line. It also cuts down on the whole anticipation of waiting for a certain time I can eat sweets or feeling like a failure if I have a snack at a certain time of day, which by the way almost always results in bingeing (for me anyway). Actually, I just had a thought that maybe having no set number or time for sweets may be the answer. Just keep none in the house and have it when the occasion arises when I'm out and about, which wouldn't be that often. Food for thought.

Sorry to go on and on about my thoughts on your thread ----I have yet to find something that works long-term for me, but whenever I have something that helps me somewhat I like to share, as I've been so grateful to others who have done the same for me.

Keep with it! You'll eventually settle into something that works best for you.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 6:56 pm

I think you have expressed what I am thinking;

no rigid rules to follow relaxes me, but leaning towards the basic concept of No S keeps me in line. It also cuts down on the whole anticipation of waiting for a certain time I can eat sweets or feeling like a failure if I have a snack at a certain time of day, which by the way almost always results in bingeing (for me anyway).

I get too worked up about waiting for the time when I can have sweets or whatever. And I guess I really do take it to heart when I don't follow the rules. It's hard to believe, sometimes, that I can be so childish and black-and-white about things, but there you have it. Anyway, that is my plan, to use NoS general rules as a guideline and then bend them so that there won't be too much pressure building up. That might also prevent me from perversely eating greasy fatty crap just because it's not a sweet. I'd like to try to eat foods that are nourishing, which means that they are healthy, or they are what I really want at the moment, or they are something I won't regret eating for one reason or another.

I woke up this morning recallying yesterday's binge and felt so down in the dumps. I realized I had better get up and meditate or I'd have to mark that as a failure, so I did. I don't know how, but I managed to pull myself out of the hole a little bit, and now I'm feeling more hopeful. Yes, I have gained some weight. So what: my family still loves me and I'm not going to get fired. It doesn't feel good, but I don't have to make it into a bigger deal than it is. I just have to try something different.[/quote]

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 2:33 am

Day 2 of my modified-beyond-recognition plan. Success; I didn't do anything crazy. I actually didn't manage to eat three meals mostly because I had to leave work in the middle of the day to get my son from school (he was sick), so I did more snacking than I'd planned. Here's what I had:

B: Coffee, bowl of lentil soup, slice of bread with almond butter
S: flax meal, unsweetened almond milk, and whey shake
S: apple
S: 1/2 sugar cookie
S: 10 peanut butter pretzel nuggets (1 serving), cup of coffee
D: roast chicken, brocolli, brussels sprouts

I woke up yesterday morning craving chicken with rice soup for breakfast, but it didn't happen. The lentil soup was the inexact and tardy substitute. I liked having soup and bread for breakfast, though. I will do it again.

r.jean · Post by **r.jean** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:28 pm

I hesitate to post because I do not want this to sound like I am telling you what to do, but I am a strong advocate of Vanilla No S. After a year of doing No S, I am experimenting with one small mod starting this month of flexing my weekend S days to be either Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday to accommodate special events without taking an extra S day. I feel that "building a fence around the rules" is important or you may never change the basic thinking errors that are causing you to overeat. This diet is easy but hard.

That said, if this is really the only way for you to stick with it, then do it. Strict Vanilla No S helped me in conquering my eating issues but may not work for you.

Good luck!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 6:58 pm

r.jean,

Thanks for your thoughts. I donâ€™t mind at all anyone commenting on my posts or giving their opinionâ€¦as long as theyâ€™re not abusive! I agree with you, I think vanilla NoS is great and makes a lot of sense and has all kinds of good qualities. Â I followed it for a month with one red day, I believe. Â I gained weight, and I just donâ€™t feel like I can tolerate any more weight gain.Â
Â
What Iâ€™m doing now is still sane enough. Â Itâ€™s just less rigid.Â Three meals a day is the goal, with some straying from that depending on circumstances such as being hungry or not wanting to turn down a particular food.Â Even if I go off the three meals, Iâ€™m still trying to stick to around 1500 calories a day.Â So I realize that Iâ€™m not following NoS, since I am allowing all these things and counting calories to boot. Â Yet I am actually still keeping NoS as an ideal, which should be followed if possible.
Â
I struggled with changing NoS for a few days, but I have to realize that 1. If I am actually gaining, itâ€™s not working for me. Â Maintaining would be OK, but thatâ€™s not whatâ€™s happening.Â 2. Again, my ultimate goal is not lose weight, not to follow NoS. Â I think itâ€™s a great system and I wish Iâ€™d had better success with it.
Â

gk · Post by gk » Sat Feb 04, 2012 4:23 pm

Just popping in to say hi and see how you are doing on the modified plan. Hope all is well!

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 2:08 pm

gk, that was so nice of you to stop by and check up on me.

I know many here will have a negative reaction to this statement, but here it is: I've started Weight Watchers (again).

One reason is that my best friend and I did it a few years ago and we both lost a lot of weight. Then we both fell off the wagon and gained it back. She's back on, and honestly, though it's sometimes a drag, it's fun to be working on a project with a close friend. At the moment I really want some relief from the fat.

Some people do stay on WW for decades, so it can be done. I stopped doing it when they switched to the new plan and I was having trouble with that. One can easily get into the habit of tracking all foods eaten. Of course, unless you memorize the points of all the foods, you'll have to look things up, so that part isn't necessarily automatic.

I have a lot of respect for NoS. At the moment, I just don't feel willing to wait for months to stop the excessive S days (and I don't know for sure that that will really happen). As reasonable and clever as NoS is, as effective as it is for so many, I can't say it was working for me, and I suppose that's why I stopped doing it before, too.

Who knows, I may be back some day. In the mean time, I wish everyone green as far as the eye can see!

Lisa

r.jean · Post by **r.jean** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 3:30 pm

Good luck to you! Maybe you can use some of the No S principles when you get to maintenance.

gk · Post by gk » Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:06 pm

Lisa-

I'm sure there will be no negative reaction here to you switching to WW, as what is great about this place is how everyone is supportive in whatever works for you. And that is ultimately what we all have to do - do what works best for us as an individual.

I wish you the best of luck with your new program. Stop back in regardless, so we can hear about all your wonderful progress and success.

Good luck!!

snapdragon · Post by **snapdragon** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:41 pm

My neighbor lost over a hundred pounds seven years ago and has kept it off. It works. Good luck with it and know you are always welcome back.

franxious1 · Post by **franxious1** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 1:26 am

Thanks, Everyone! This certainly is a supportive and nice group of people. I will pop by once in awhile, since I plan to keep using my Habitcals!