Everyday Systems

Hi all,

It's the middle of a quiet S day, DH took DS and DD skiing! We're not much of football family so they happily take advantage of quiet slopes every year on this day.

I started this new thread because I couldn't get my signature to work and I find I really like reading what everyone puts in their signatures. It's inspirational!

I'm down another 1/2 pound for the week (I guess Sunday is my "official weigh in day"), so I'm feeling good. After the quick loss of January, I'm sure my body is just adjusting to things. I didn't do anything different eating-wise this week. Still having green smoothies and green drinks everyday. It's not completely eliminated cravings but eating healthfully seems to spur more healthful eating so it's a little easier to say no to sweets and junk. I did however have a little glass of Amaretto last night for dessert--and I'll admit, it was heavenly!

I'm looking foward to a great green week. Wishing you all the same!

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all green! One thing I've been doing differently as of this new year is consistently reading everyone's daily check-in. I find it so comforting to hear your ups (and downs) because clearly everyone has both.

Frankly, I'm really glad to to KCCC back because she is like a rock on the No S boards.

Have a great day everyone!

It's Sunday morning here and my Valentine and I went out last night for a wonderful dinner to our favorite restaurant here in Portland. Everything was amazing and the attention to detail surpassed our wildest dinner dreams! I started with a lovely old-fashioned cocktail called a Bouvaldier: rye whiskey, campari, and sweet vermouth. It dates from 1927 and I had never heard of it before. I loved it! So elegant and "grown-up" Then DH and I shared an order of our favorite chickpea fries with house-made squash ketchup. For the "main course," I had two small plate salads. One was celerly root, apple, frissee, goat cheese, and house-made nutty granola; the other was golden beets, pear, feta, hazelnuts, and mint. We shared a meyer lemon semifreddo with huckleberry sauce for dessert. And I had coffee with cream and sugar!

Afterwards, I felt that the wonderful meal was satisfying, but not too filling or heavy. I do think that eating like that triggers old cravings/more! more! more! responses in me. Good self-talk habits were definitely in order. I kept repeating to myself something I had read here recently. Please give credit to whomever it was! She said something like, "all I have to do is not eat anything more tonight." That made my task seem easier.

On Friday I had slipped up a little bit. I was really hungry even after dinner and I had a bunch of dried fruit and fresh fruit and a couple of pieces of chewy ginger candy. Not so bad by most standards but not really "green" either. I struggle hard against dipping into some chocolate too. I really milked that mantra ("all I have to do is not eat anything more tonight") then too and it worked! I'm so glad to be here with all of you!

Happy Sunday everyone!

So far, so good this week. Staying green and continuing to lose, although at a much slowed pace (which is good--I keep telling myself!). And I've been working on my self-talk quite a bit. If I feel discouraged, I've been saying, "Which weight would I rather have--what I weighed on December 31 (142ish) or what I weighed this morning (128.4)?" Every little bit, even a 0.2lb loss, is progress. This time around I'm so much more focused on long term health (rather than just being skinny). My meals are full to the brim with fruit and vegetables. I remember other times when I would restrict fruit to comply with No S and that backfired. So I guess my mod is a very relaxed attitude toward extra fruit in each of my three daily meals.

My cravings have not completely disappeared however. I struggled at the grocery store yesterday. But I really feel that it's key NOT to bring home goodies that I'll only have a "a little of." If I buy something I know full well that the rest of my family will not be particularly interested in, that purchase could easily precipitate a binge. Back in January, I threw out a very large amount of uneaten treats (some were kind of expensive too). That kind of purge felt good. But the guilt after wasting that food/money is a good disincentive; it keeps me from buying MORE of those sweets/junkfood!

No S is not easy: it takes some significant dedication and it asks us to step up to the challenges of delayed gratification and mature choices (even when our inner children are screaming). I have found that if my goals are being very lean and being able to run fast, I must also exercise quite a bit--I don't really see what else would take the weight off.

Keep up the good green work everyone!

As I mentioned to lbb, things have been crummy here since Thursday. After all my hard work and discipline for 71/2 weeks, I have had two major red days and one over the top S day. Today, Sunday, is not over yet. I need to pick up the pieces and get my mojo back! The difference is clear: when I eat poorly, I sleep poorly, and feel poorly! I have just felt overwhelmed by temptation

Just brush yourself off and start over again. Heck, a couple of days is just

well, a couple of days.

You can do this!
Starting Monday, enjoy three meals that are REALLY tasty. Don't deprive at all, though or you'll be punishing yourself from the weekend, even be it subconsciously!
Eat really well, but stick to the 3 meals.
That's what I'll be doing, even though the temptation is to deprive a little bit.
NO!
Report back in at the end of Monday, k?
Go, you, go!

Thanks Berry and lbb for your support. I guess I must have been so strict with myself through Jan and half of Feb that when the cravings hit, I completely lost control. Just trying to be normal today.

And you will succeed!

Thanks Frau Koch for stopping by and offering your good wishes. I love reading your blog BTW, you are so witty and in a second language no less!

I've been thinking a lot about the failures of this past week. (If truth be told, I managed to overdo it on each and every one of the last seven days ). I don't want to dwell on my mistakes or the past. I can only change the future. But I am very tired of looking "outside" of me for a solution (I have read so many books, had so many "gurus" and roll-models over the course of my life). I already know all I need to know to have great health and I know what I need to do if I want to be thin.
I am also very tired of my constant "start-over" mentality. In the middle of the frantic eating of treats and snacks I normally restrict, I can hear myself saying: "This doesn't count because tomorrow I will change; I will be a new, better person; I will turn over a new leaf forever in the morning." But then the morning comes and I am still me. I empathize with Kathleen on these boards, but I'm sure that she and I would be better off if we would stop this self-defeating behavior.

No S makes smart, simple, common sense. I'd like my actions to speak louder than my words. I'd like to be one among us who consistently shows up, day after day, following the easy rules that Reinhard captured for us with his lovely mnemonic. This is no "new leaf" or "new contract with myself." This is just a set of habits I admire and want to make my own for always.

B: Fruit smoothie with blueberries, banana, yogurt, and coconut water
L: Fresh squeezed green juice, rice cakes and almond butter, apple, dried mango, plain goat yogurt
D (planned): Tofu burger with sauteed onions and mushrooms, baked potato, broccoli, white wine

0Saturday: Success
1Sunday: Success