Everyday Systems

Today is my first day on NoS. So far, so good!

I've tried calorie counting, Intuitive Eating, Atkins and many others over the years, but I feel like The No S Diet might be just the right fit.

I'm going to give this a good try through the month of April and see how it goes. I am going to do an official weigh in tomorrow and if I can lose anything during the month of April with no more gaining (which has been my trend for the past two months), I will definitely be won over!

I ordered the book today, but believe I have the gist of it from all I've read so far. I am still excited to get the book soon, though!

Day 1 - SUCCESS!

My weigh-in is 206.2 this morning. (Will weigh-in again on April 30th.)

My plan today is that I can have popcorn and one sweet treat between meals today, not that I'll necessarily have both but it's nice to know I can if I want to. Just because I can have snacks doesn't mean I have to go crazy about it (reminding myself).

I realize yesterday was only my first day but I'm so excited because the structure of this "diet" seems to be exactly the way I ate growing up; three meals a day and occasional treats. I hate to even call this a diet because it seems to be the way I should have been eating all these years.

I'll update my day this evening or in the morning.

UPDATE: I ate more than I planned today, but it is an "S" day, right? I do hope to eat a little better tomorrow.

Day 2: S-DAY

Today I've enjoyed reading the rest of the reviews on The No S Diet on Amazon. The posts here and the reviews there have me really anxious and excited to receive my book soon! I can't wait to read it and do a review, myself. Hopefully, like others, I can do an updated review after some time on this new lifestyle!

Today has been a very good day so far! It's an S day, but I'm so full from lunch that it's doubtful I'll have the popcorn I had planned for the day. I'll update on the rest of the day sometime tomorrow!

UPDATE: I think I did rather well today, though I did have that popcorn afterall.

Day 3: S-DAY

Welcome, Ann_48 - you're doing great!

Yes, this is an exciting and rewarding lifestyle. Freedom with boundaries. I'm new as well - started March 1 - but am reaping lots of rewards already.

Keep on posting for accountability - it really will help you keep on track. Also, try the HabitCal - very visual.

KL, Thank you so much for the nice welcome.

To hear that you're having success after one month is so inspiring to me!

I'm glad you mentioned HabitCal. I've seen it mentioned several times, but haven't a clue what that means. Could you please help me there? Thank you!

Edited: KL, I did find the HabitCal at the top of the page. I don't know how I didn't see it there before looking for it. But, when I tried it I couldn't get it to work with either IE or FireFox. I kept getting "Ajax Failure" for some reason. I don't know what that is or how to correct it. I would love to be able to use it, but I think I'm going to have to resort to my paper calendars.

Oh good golly, I'm not a techie. But click on Discussion Home and scroll down to the Whatever section and there is a Help topic. You could ask Reinhard there. For some reason, HabitCal won't work on our desktop but does on the laptop - go figure??

Anyway, it's a lot of fun to mark the days each day - either by computer or paper calendar. Good luck!

Also, there is a 21 day challenge and an April challenge for extra added support.

Don't mind at all using the X, less work that way

I want to do something for the whole month of April, I know they say take 1 day off for rest, but the way I work out definitely not killing myself.

See ya on the post....let's go April..we can do it...green all the way!

AND welcome!!!!

Welcome Ann!! Looks like you're off to a great start!

KL, I did find the challenge, thank you! I'm excited to have a place to go for accountability! Yesterday was tough because I've set certain times to eat each to try to "train" my body into getting hungry at those times. Actually, I don't think I've allowed myself TRUE hunger for a long time, even when trying Intuitive Eating (because I'd find myself grazing throughout each day).

I was starving before dinner time yesterday. I usually taste my cooking as I go (no double dipping ), but had my husband be my taste tester yesterday because it was still almost two hours before my time to eat and I didn't want to lose control. I was so proud of me for waiting!

NoSnacker and ZippaDee, Thank you both so much for the nice welcome! I love the X idea. It's working great, thank you! Let's go green in April!!! Woo Hoo!!!

Day 4: SUCCESS

Yes, it's all about training ourselves and developing new behaviors and habits. I tried IE and several other hunger/fullness methods for awhile. I thought they were so brilliant - except when I tried putting it into practice. I had such a challenging time stopping when I was satisfied versus full.

What I love about No S is that there is enough structure - black and white but also some gray. It's very clear when to eat (morning, noonish, evening) and very clear when to stop - plate's empty. No more thought needed.

You're doing great - glad you found the challenges...

KL, Same here. I tried "Thin Within" and also "Intuitive Eating", "Overcoming Overeating", and the gosh awful Calorie Counting. UGH!

With this new lifestyle, I am finally feeling what true hunger is and boy does the food taste great when you wait for it! I also love the structure of this program. No more guessing if I'm hungry or not. I have my set times for meals and getting to true hunger in between meals is turning out to be a real blessing! I'm not saying the waiting is easy. I've only gone through two full N days so far and yesterday was difficult, but it was rewarding to find that I had it in me to wait it out! I woulda never thunk it!

Day 5: SUCCESS

I did drink a little milk. If I hadn't done that I would have eaten us out of house and home, so I'm considering Day 5 a total success!

Yay! Milk's okay. I usually have tea w/almond milk and stevia after meals or between them. Helps when the hunger in my mind hits.

You're doing awesome - keep on posting...

Thanks for your support KL. I am loving this new way!

Good Morning Ann!! So happy you are enjoying this new way of eating! It's so freeing isn't it?!

No more guessing if I'm hungry or not

AMEN to that! I have done both The Weigh Down diet and Thin Within in the past. The problem I had on those was trying to decide if I was hungry enough. My thought process would go something like this..."Well....I AM hungry, but am I hungry enough???..I don't know? Maybe I should wait longer" I HATED it! And then what if I wasn't hungry enough when it was time for my family's evening meal. I sit there and watch them eat? BLECK! Now, if it's mean time I eat one plate of food. It's such common sense! LOVE it!

Have a happy Thursday!

Good Morning Zippadee! BTW, I love your name. It makes me want to sing that old song..Zippadee Doo Dah, Zippadee Ay..my oh my what a wonderful day! I still remember those old lyrics after all these years. haha It's a cheerful little tune!

I know what you mean about not ever being sure of your hunger on those other programs. I love this way. No guessing with No S..If it's time to eat, eat. Plain and simple! Love it!

Day 6: SUCCESS

I'm wondering about the calories I'm stacking on my plate. I need to quit eating so many dense calorie foods and I'm finding myself really filling my plate up because I want to make sure I eat enough before each meal. But, I'm happy to say there have been a few times when I didn't finish my meal.

You're doing great.

I found it took me a little bit of time to figure out exactly what would carry me over comfortably to the next meal. My dinners seem to be the plates that are still overloaded because I want to make sure that I'm satisfied for the night. Nighttime eating was (past tense!) a huge problem for me.

You'll figure it out - all in good time. Keep up the good work

So glad I'm not having to wait until a "0" or until my stomach is growling - and then wait some more.

Amen to no more waiting until "0", KL!!!

Middle of the day seems to be my worst times to want to snack, but I've found that a little milk or a Dr. Pepper 10 (2 gr. sugar only) seem to tide me over.

I have been addicted to chocolate for so long now that I cannot believe I'm able to abstain from it. This has been the biggest surprise of all.

I hear you on eating enough in the evenings to hold you over through the night! Realizing this morning that I've been probably loading my plate too much, I tried to tone it back a little at breakfast. I'll see how it works until lunch today.

Thanks for your input!

Ann...I too am a chocolate lover! Ever had those lindt (I think that's how you spell it) chocolate balls? They melt in your mouth. My hubby gets them for me on special occasions. Love that I can still enjoy them moderately on S Days. LOVE this way of eating!

Oh man, that is my favorite candy of all time. The Lindt Milk Chocolate Truffles are my favorite! They also have a "milk" filled one. It's a light colored cream inside. Oh my word!

There were "Christmas" boxes of them on sale right after Christmas at our grocery store for only .99 a box. I bought them up! lol Needless to say, I ended up sharing them with friends and family because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to get through the door. I was binging at that time and could go through a box in no time flat! lol

That's why I'm so amazed that I'm able to avoid the chocolate, even though we do have chocolate in the house as I type this. I'm not saying there haven't been some cravings, but somehow I'm able to get past them. I love this new way of eating. I'm finding I'm much stronger than I thought I was. Just knowing that the "S" days will soon be here makes all the difference.

Yes the S days make the N days bearable..especially when we can tell ourselves, I really can have that on the weekend!

Like today I have a birthday party, I already know there will be pizza/wings/cake there...I'll eat a later breakfast and then allow for the party foods..so glad on the weekend this way not considered a special day...I would be lieing if I didn't say I'm truly looking forward to it..

Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my page..

You are doing fantastic..keep up the good way...there are truly a lot more positive people here since I left. Really makes it fun to visit others pages and root them on....

Have a great weekend..
deb

Yayyyyyyyyyyy, It's S-DAY!!!

Two warm cinnamon rolls and a cup of coffee for breakfast this morning. Oh my, how I love this way of eating!

Love your new smiley flower..so bright and cheery for the spring!!!

Sounds like breakfast was a hit!!!!!

Thank you, Deb. It was your pretty flower avatar that inspired me to look for a pretty avatar this morning. That one was fitting with my mood this morning.

Yes Ann, that's them Lindt Chocolate Truffles. Guess that sounds better than Chocolate Balls as I referenced them. Whatever ya call them they are YUMMY!

Oh Deb.."The Good Way" "The Granny Way" still thinking....

Glad you enjoyed your cinnamon bun this morning. I enjoyed my milk and cookies.

Have a great weekend!

ZippaDee, Chocolate balls/truffles..it's all yummy! Your milk and cookies sound lip smackin' good, too!

Deb, I missed your first comment from this morning. I was wondering why it said I had two messages, but I only saw the one after my last post. Seems we had posted at the same time! lol

Enjoy your pizza/wings and the cake today. Oh my goodness...that sounds like heaven on earth to me!

I'm making my mom a buffalo wing pizza (daddy won't touch it) today and taking it over. It's so good. I'll probably have a piece or two of it, too.

Woo Hoo! My book arrived today!

Awesome..the book a great...read it twice, think I'll read it again..I have a kindle and a hard copy for my notes

Enjoy!

Yay! Glad you got your book!

Thanks y'all! I'm really excited to have it. I hardly found the time to crack it open yesterday, so flittered around the chapters some, but I hope to find a little more time to actually read today.

Happy Easter!

Ahhhhh Ann thank you so much for your comment...glad it didn't look like too much food...sure felt like it..

Don't know why social gatherings are hard for me for some reason...but it was freeing to have what I wanted in moderation...could have skipped the stuff at home, but oh well an S day and things will change over time like you said.

Thanks again.....appreciate it..

I wonder why your habitcal won't work for you? Mind my asking what does it do? I have used calendars in the past and they work just as great...When I first started on Spark People a few years ago, I had printed out their calendar after each month and it can be truly motivating.. We are children at heart right and what kid doesn't like a gold star!

You are doing great!!

My Monday was back on track..I definitely make myself wait for dinner until 7:00, as going to bed at nine has less temptations to deal with.

Have a great Tuesday!

I finally have the habitcal figured out. I've been clicking the wrong thing all this time. I feel like such a dummy! I've been clicking on "mobile habitcal webapp" instead of "Edit your calendar". Well, no wonder it wasn't working, huh? I got it going just now and made one for NoS and one for Exercise. Thank you for asking about it, or I probably wouldn't have tried it again!

Good going on being back on track! I love it!

I did well until dinner yesterday evening. I am still considering yesterday a "success" because I didn't snack between meals, but after I started feeling full, I just kept going because it tasted so good. I am going to try to be more careful about how much food I put on my plate, or if I do start to feel full, try to think it over before I keep going, hopefully remembering how miserable it feels to overdo it! I don't ever want to do that again!

Look at you - doing awesome.

Yes, remember that feeling of being overfull - perhaps it will register next time. Although for me (pre No S) - it wouldn't necessarily stop me. But now that the habit is ingrained again, it is a lot easier.

One day at a time - make that one plate at a time.

Oh so glad you were able to figure it out..I have the same 1 for No S and one for Exercise. I prefill all my S days with yellow ahead of time

Yes it sure was success, you had one plate..I know when things taste good they are so darn hard to put down.. I think learning to eat like we are on maintenance takes practice.

And of course not beating ourselves up for it...feel it and move on.

Enjoy the habitcal, love it!

Hip Hip HOORAY! You figured out the habitcal!! Enjoy filling in all those GREENS!

Thanks Y'all. Yes, I love the habitcal. I still need to fill mine out for yesterday. Thanks for all the support! You're the best!

I filled in the monthly challenge as a "failure", then went back and changed it to S-day (sick day) because it's TOM and I was fatigued yesterday and having out of control cravings. Since it wasn't a planned S-day, I was considering it a failure, but it was a "sick" day, so to speak, and I'm going to treat it as such. I won't beat myself up for it. I am going to try to remain in control over the next couple of days, but this is a tough time for me. So far today, I'm staying strong!

After going for two more days with fatigue and cravings and getting past it, I decided to go back and again change my "sick" day back to "failure". If I could withstand the past two days, then I should have been able to get past Wednesday also. I'm going to have to quit giving in and using TOM as an excuse to go crazy. The urges to eat are real, but I need to be stronger than that. So from now on I'm going to be honest and consider those days failures if I don't make it through.

I'm so so glad that today is an "S" day! I won't go crazy, but I am glad I can have some popcorn and some kind of chocolate today. I'm going to plan very very carefully and make sure to pick something that will hit the spot. Oh, those new peanut butter M&M's. But then again, a chocolate cupcake, a brownie, a chocolate covered/custard filled donut, a chocolate shake, a milk chocolate truffle, etc....the choices and possibilities are endless. Thank you Lord for chocolate and S Days!!!

It is funny but I read somewhere that during the TOM women's bodies burned an extra 500 calories on average...hence might be why most of us have those crazy cravings.

You were right to change to a yellow...an unplanned S event , well you knew it was coming, but you know what I mean

Keep up the good work.

What I have been saying to myself this time in the evenings when I had the URGE or if it tries to creep in "IT IS SO NOT WORTH IT and DOES NOTHING FOR ME ANYMORE". I remember watching Dr Phil, not sure if you remember him...when people do something and they say they don't want to, he would say it must be doing something for you or you wouldn't be doing it...how true that is...the binge was trying to fill my emotional needs and couldn't..didn't fix anything in my life...only made this worse, me getting fatter and not happier....

So be it, my soap box message for the day! Think I'll copy on to my thread so I don't forget it

Have a great weekend...have something worth your time and energy.

Thank you for your perspective on the binging. That's interesting about the 500 calories, first I've heard of it.

Yes, I sure do remember Dr. Phil. I still watch from time to time. He kinda lost me with the Dr. Phil Family, though. lol I do agree with that quote from him, though. So I appreciate the input.

I am an emotional eater, and also crave everything when I'm feeling tired all over, that's why TOM is so hard. But like I said, if I could get through the past two days without going crazy, I should have been able to get through on my "failure" day, as well.

I'm definitely am going to make sure today's treat is worth it. If you choose to treat yourself, enjoy it to the hilt! Have a fantastic S day weekend!

Hi Ann, Just stoping by to wish you a happy weekend. Keep on keepin' on!

Okay so I googled the question and found a few different answers, but the overall it is true

for you

http://yourhealthista.com/post/11789806 ... eir-period

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Do_women_burn ... eir_period

Zippadee, Thanks for stopping by! It's been a fabulous weekend so far. I'm hoping yours is the same!

Deb, Thank you for the article. Very interesting. I just figured I was craving the food for energy because of the fatigue that comes with TOM. I do believe the info about the increase in metabolism. About two days before I start, I get a complete burst of energy. I wish I could have that every day. I think I could conquer the world, if so!

I had popcorn for supper last night. I took the advice of someone here who mentioned using chopsticks to eat popcorn with. I've never been able to use chop sticks, so had to look up a video on how-to...So easy! Even though I feel like an old pro on the chopsticks already, it helped slow down the popcorn eating until I was able to stretch it out for quite a while. I love it and plan to eat my popcorn this way from now on. Usually the popcorn is gone before I know it. So fun learning to use the chopsticks, too.

Dr. Phil lost me with that family, too! Glad you had a good weekend - eating popcorn with chopsticks is definitely a good way to slow down mindless eating!
Good luck for the week ahead

Amy, I think he lost a lot of his viewers on them. When it turns out that Alex wanted to go into rehab finally, he made a comment that went something like this, "Everyone kept telling me to give up on this family, that I was wasting my time. But here is the reason I stuck with them..." and so on.. Didn't Dr. Phil himself realize that it was only when he did give up on her and quit with his own enabling of her (letting her finally hit bottom) that that's what did make the turnaround? All those times he was giving her gifts left and right, I just wanted to ask, "How's that workin' for ya, Dr. Phil?"

Amy I am lovin' using the chopsticks. And what fun. I feel like a kid learning a new trick! lol

Have a great GREEN week!

I went just a tad crazy this weekend. I'm going to try to do better on my future "S" days. Also, I've been thinking about improving on my "N" days, as well. I've been eating some quite calorie dense foods (no more counting, but don't need to count to know that I'm not eating too much of certain foods). After finishing the book, I've decided that I'm going to add at least 1 fruit to each plate every day. That's three fruits per day. I would do well to get in three fruits per week in the past, so this is going to be a huge plus.

I had a bad Saturday and a more tame Sunday...last time I was doing this my whole weekends were crazy, but I'm so enjoying getting hungry before my next meal and eating a later dinner...

I cannot believe ALL the food I can eat in the course of a day...like no bottom..

But I stayed off the scale! I think it makes sense to stay off as the progress is so slow it can really tear one down!!

You have a great night..

Keep up the green!

Ann_48 wrote: I just wanted to ask, "How's that workin' for ya, Dr. Phil?"

Exactly! - LOL!

I had a wild weekend too, but am feeling more positive now that I am back in N days - I am looking forward to the time when my S days calm down, as it seems they do eventually...

have a great green week!

Ann_48 wrote: I would do well to get in three fruits per week in the past, so this is going to be a huge plus.

Great strategy and insight

I try to get a least one fruit on every plate as well. Hope that is going well for you!! Keep on keepin' on!

How are you doing, I know you were struggling this weekend..were you able to pull it together for the week? Sometimes it is hard to do, I know for me in the past it was terrible trying to get back on track on Monday's.

Anyhow, stopping by to say hi!!

Hi Ann! Have missed you here this week. Hope everything is ok with you! Have a happy Saturday!!

Everything ok, Ann? I hope you have a good week!

Hi there, just stopping by to see how you are doing? I just went over to your last post, and I do eat fruit with almost every meal..it kind of signals that the meal is over and sweet enough to ward off the URGE.