Everyday Systems

Saturday a bit heavy, Sunday actually ended up the same as a normal N day, not on purpose, just that everything fit into meals and there were no snacks. Lots of painting and weeding and sweeping, oof, Spring is always when I notice our yard is neglected!!

Today, Monday, I have an unusual day off work, so I’m hoping to do some NTC workouts while Squiggle sleeps.

Squiggle (sticking a yoga pose): Mummy, look at me! I’m down with dog.

ironchef wrote: Squiggle (sticking a yoga pose): Mummy, look at me! I’m down with dog.

so cute!

A green week so far (Thursday today). Cycling to work Tuesday and again today. Off for a weekend away with some other families tomorrow, so probably won’t check in for a few days.

I’ve written a 4 week program for a friend from work, with at home exercise and cycling. I’ve promised to do it with him, hoping to motivate us both to get off our tushies!

Crazy weekend with a house full of kids, but fun too!

Did not go nuts eating and snacking, so really proud of that. However there was a fair bit of alcohol - red wine the first night, then the second night, tequila! Still, had a ball and got to know a few work mates a bit better, so totally worth the sleep deprivation!

Now, back to green today. Cycled to work. Starting the 4 week challenge with my friend today, so hopefully that will give me the social motivation to stick with the at home body weight strength stuff more routinely. Great that the site is back - happy Monday to all!

Good luck with your challenge. I always start off great but lose steam half way through. Somehow I imagine you're more self disciplined though.

Thanks ginger. I’ve reached back into the misty past to my PT qualification to write a little program for my work friend. As a motivator I’ve promised that if he follows it, I will too. I’m hoping that this will keep me on track, because not much else has worked and I’d love to get regular strength work into my week. Cycling to work is great, but it’s not weight bearing.

Anyway, I did my first session last night and I’m pleased so far 😉

I’m on track with my workouts for the week - having a friend to hold me accountable is working so far.

Also, after swearing off for 5 years I am *gasp* tracking what I eat for a while. I’m using a very simple and free phone app. I have gained a bit lately, just enough to make my work pants tight, and my reflux was getting worse. My plan is to do it for a month or so, then drop it again.

Things I’ve noticed so far: I almost never reach the daily recommendations for fibre for Australian women, and ouch alcohol has a lot of energy. I mean, I kinda knew this from my calorie counting days, but just seeing it added up!

My idea is to use this month to see where the big hitters in my regular eating are, and see which of them I feel comfortable to wind back in return for fitting my work outfits! If my head gets “dietyâ€, I’ll scrap it. Still vanilla no S (3 plates etc)

Sounds like a reasonable plan. Gosh that reflux is a pain in the butt. I keep hearing from ppl that lost a bit of weight & their reflux disappeared. Let's hope it works for us!

Thanks Linda, I hesitated to post because I don’t want to discourage people from vanilla No S, but I think I’ve just gotten into a few dietary defaults that aren’t serving me well.

Went to a family birthday yesterday. It was fancy wood fired pizza, so I had some slices. When it came to cake time I just didn’t want it - there were some homemade cupcakes and carrot cake, but I was full from the pizza and just honestly didn’t fancy it. I could have taken some home for today, but couldn’t really be bothered. Didn’t feel like me at all, but hey, I’m gonna roll with it!

Sunday today. I baked oat cookies and had one with my lunch.

I spent the morning working with a community group who is restoring a local wetland. Fun, but very sweaty work! This afternoon off for a swim with the cousins.

I’m planning to do a workout from Darebee once kids are in bed tonight.

Did my darebee workout, but woke up today with a nasty tummy bug. Will be leaving lucky to make it to work. S is for sick.

Feel better, Ironchef!

Feel better iron! You do so great with your moving! I've really been slacking off a of late.

Thanks ladies! I am feeling ok, a little fragile but on the mend. If anything I am eating less than usual, as my tum is feeling very odd.

I did still cycle in to work, but very, very slowly!

Feeling better today, but still somewhat odd. Cycled to work though! Planning a body weight workout tonight on my plan I'm doing with my work friend. We are definitely keeping each other honest so far!

Still green despite being sick, if anything I feel less like eating.

Did my body weight routine yesterday and took my daughter swimming today.

I’m still using the app to track my eating. I find it super easy, as I’ve got a bunch of dietary defaults anyway, plus NoS means I only record 3 meals a day. I find I’m eating better on weekend because I’m recording. I’m not trying to eat better, but like Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle the act of observation changes the system being observed!

Things I’ve learned so far:
I need to treat alcohol as a treat. Apart from the impact on heartburn, especially as I only have a drink in the evening after kids are in bed, it just has a bunch of energy I don’t need if I’m eating three square meals a day.

I’ve been routinely over-serving myself at dinner and when my husband cooks he routinely over-serves me as well. I do need the same dinner plate as a very active man.

I app-tracked today as well (and I limited my eating window ala Lpearlmom. I am such a copycat.)

I came up around 1950, though I suspect that's very ballpark, as I didn't measure things. I am going to recommit to eating my biggest meal at lunch, and trying for an earlier/lighter dinner. Pretty sure I would lose weight faster on 2 meals, but I am realizing if you offered me a choice between 30 pounds off and family dinner, I will take family dinner!

Oops, that should have said I do NOT need the same dinner as an active man!

Absolutely Larkspur, dinner is the only meal of the day that my family eats together routinely, so it's very important to me too.

I'm thinking I'll track for one more week and then stop, as it's getting a bit boring. At this point, the changes I'm going to make are:
1. No more than 1 standard drink on N days.
2. Use our smaller white bowls and medium plates to serve my dinners on instead of the big bowls that mr. chef uses.

I'm also toying with the idea of making peanut butter an S for me. I've realised by doing this exercise that I eat it a LOT. I'm not keen on the "no salt / no sugar" kinds, so it's adding a lot to my daily sodium and sugar counts. I'd be better off replacing it more often with something with less salt and more fiber (which I'm consistently low on). But I'm very resistant to adding any further restrictions to vanilla rules.

Perhaps I'll keep up tracking on weekends for a while just because of the moderating effect. We'll see.

Cycled to work today (Thursday). I'm working a half day because mr. chef has a work event, so I might be able to fit in my second body weight exercise set of the week too. Gotta keep up with my buddy!

Sounds reasonable to me! Have you tried the reduced calorie pb? It's actually good!

I haven't tried light PBs, I've only tried the "no sugar and salt" natural kinds. I should try it - I'm a bit irrationally prejudiced against light things, perhaps from all the diets I did in my 20s. I tend to just think I'll have a bit less so I can have the full fat / full sugar kind. Which would be fine, but with peanut butter I'm not having less of it! I've kind of fallen back on peanut butter at lunches as a default, as it is always in the house even when I'm low on fruit / veg / ham etc and it's easy.

For now I'm gonna park the PB issue. I'm going to drop the alcohol though (not completely, but cut back as described). I definitely like the idea of alcohol better than how I actually feel during and after having it, if that makes any sense.

Dinner servings I'll just work on, and mention to mr. chef to give me a little less. Once it's on my plate I tend to finish it, so need to serve less to being with.

Did my Darebee workout last night (called "Stormborn") and it was very tough. I barely made it through Level 1. My core is weaker than I thought!

Green so far today (Friday), so this has been a completely green week! Feels like the first time in ages!!

ironchef wrote:Green so far today (Friday), so this has been a completely green week! Feels like the first time in ages!!

Congrats!!

For now I'm gonna park the PB issue. I'm going to drop the alcohol though (not completely, but cut back as described). I definitely like the idea of alcohol better than how I actually feel during and after having it, if that makes any sense.

Totally makes sense to me. I feel like I've been struggling with this forever!! I have the same issue with eating out. I like the idea of it way better than I like the actual food. And don't even get me started on the monetary cost . . . so, not worth it.

Congrats on the green week. That's awesome!

I agree but this pb is good although the real stuff is probably better for ya! I do use pb2 in my smoothies.

Anyway do what keeps you sane!

Had a great anniversary weekend, and actual ended up with no S’s on Saturday - just wasn’t anything I fancied. Could have had movie snacks at the cinemas but genuinely didn’t fancy anything.

Made pasta with mr chef on Saturday night while kids were at my in laws. Yum - fresh handmade pasta is such a treat.

Sunday made apple and blueberry pancakes, then spent a few hours at our local foreshore community clean up. Went out for lunch with mr. chef, then picked up the kids. Even fitted in an NTC workout. Happy days 😀

It sounds like a wonderful weekend. It's always a special.treat when no-s works its magic and you just no longer fancy certain foods.

Thanks ginger. Yes, there is something very freeing about it. Sometimes it's "I really want that brownie, but I'm choosing not to" and this weekend it was just "Eh, I really am not interested in an icecream". That's quite a feeling for a choc bomb fanatic like me!

Monday - green so far. Cycled to work.

That sounds like a lovely weekend! Happy Anniversary!

Green so far this week. Got up early to exercise before kids woke and no walking around the zoo with Squiggle. Definitely sticking to exercise better with my work mate. And the exercise seems to be motivating me to stay green.

My weight has dropped 3kg in the past month (about 6lb), so the combo of being a bit more strict with greens and dropping alcohol (and a few more NTC workouts) appears to have done the trick. Work pants now back to fitting nicely, not snuggly!

Current weight (moving average calculated by hackers diet) is 59kg.

Woot--you're killing it!! Happy Anniversary!!

Oh well done! Enjoy the zoo with your squiggle. I am proud of my lovely grown-up or nearly grown-up children, but I miss the little kid days.

And the exercise seems to be motivating me to stay green.

This always happens to me as well. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. When I get careless with my exercise, my diet goes to crap.
Zoos and squiggles- the perfect combo. 😄

Thanks all! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Got up early to do NTC workout, then cycled to work. This joint exercise thing with my work mate is really paying off!

Green so far this week. Cycled Tuesday and will cycle today (Thursday). Just about to do my body weight workout before the kids get up.

I’ve agreed to work a 4th day just for the weeks up to Christmas to get us over a hump at work. It is really a challenge to get everything done!

Also my office has some rainbow coloured snacks organised for today to celebrate the gay marriage vote yesterday, so if there are macarons I might have one!

I was so pleased to hear about the vote. Way to go, Australia. Sounds like such a nice place to live.

Thanks Larkspur. It really was an amazing day, and the fact that a non-compulsory survey got 79.5% turn out was really incredible.

A senator from my state, from our conservative party, gave a speech in the Senate introducing legislation into parliament in the wake of this vote. Full speech text is here. But the quote I really liked was:

"Sir Robert Menzies, using the beautiful words of St Paul, said that we are, as Australians, "members of one another". And indeed we are.

The error of our times, Mr President, is that all too often in this chamber we seek to advance the base that elected us rather than the nation that needs us. Where we play to one group rather than advance all."

It's so refreshing to see a bipartisan effort, and have a break from the endless sniping of two-party politics. It would be nice to see more public servants trying to "advance Australia fair" instead of just scoring brownie points with their base.

Anyway, enough politics! Cycled yesterday, but not today as my husband needed our bike!

Will be an ordinary N day, but tonight I'm taking an S event for our annual industry dinner, as it will be a 2 course meal with dessert.

Oh my goodness, we are have a terrible time here with trying to "win" instead of trying to pull in harness for the good of the country. I hope better times are ahead.

Enjoy your S's tonight!

Oof, enjoyed my Ss a bit too much! A glass of wine, fine, lots of wine, 🤕.

Sunday today, so will enjoy one of the banana muffins I baked as part of lunch. Otherwise a normal day. As planned I’m recording on S days still and it is definitely making weekends calmer and more enjoyable. Yesterday my treat was a chocolate milk.

Exercise today will be an NTC workout, probably after kids are in bed.

Oof, enjoyed my Ss a bit too much! A glass of wine, fine, lots of wine, 🤕.

Don't you hate when that happens

Glad the recording is working out for you. It's amazing how just being conscious of your behavior can have such an impact.

Thanks ginger, yes, I waited over 5 years for my S days to just become moderate on their own, but after that length of time I felt that a mod was in order! I've firmly resisted recording up until now, because I spent so much of my 20's miserably sticking to or failing at calorie counting diets. For now I'll keep recording on weekends, unless I get sick of it or find it prompts me to rebel. At the moment I find I'm so much happier at the end of Sunday if I haven't spent my weekend time either unpleasantly stuffed or joylessly snacking "because I can".

Did my 32 minute NTC workout last night - phew, was puffed at the end! Cycled to work today.

My work had a celebratory morning tea and Lego building session today (engineers, what can I say), so today is a red day - small sliver of homemade red velvet sponge. Totally worth it!

Avoided the cake at work on Tuesday (cake two days in a row! Cmon people!) and cycled to work. Today (Wednesday) green, but no exercise (lots of walking with my kids.

My heartburn is very much improved lately, so my new rules seem to be working. The main things are minimal tea and coffee, no caffeine after midday, smaller dinners and no eating after about 6pm. It’s actually easy to do the early dinner, I just eat with my kids, instead of waiting for a late meal with my husband.

Work continues insanely busy, but that helps me stay green - no bored sitting around waiting for lunch.

Yay so glad heartburn is better. Those early dinners are key!

Had a great weekend away in Moore River, with a few small treats and glasses of wine. By keeping it reasonable I avoided any heartburn - yay!

Still working a 4th day up to Christmas, so not checking in as often due to being crazy busy!

Managing to stay green, cycling 3 - 4 times a week to work and home again. This week will start the next cycle of workouts with my work mate, so really keen to keep that going up to the holidays.

Another very busy week and great weekend. A cocktail party work Christmas party on Friday night - so that was an S event. Had a much more sensible amount of wine and felt fine the next day! Then Sunday afternoon I had a caramel tart out at coffee with some friends, yum. Otherwise, just regular life.

Still cycling to work, but now 4 days a week work and the build up to Christmas means I am super busy so not making much time for other exercise. Oh well!

My weight seems to be holding steady at about 58kg (128 pounds), which is good and means I fit all my work clothes nicely again. The culprits were definitely alcohol and "creeping" plate sizes. Good side effect of this (and smaller dinners) - almost 2 weeks without any significant heartburn and have not taken any antacids in that time either. Yay!

Fantastic! Glad things are going so smoothly!

Great update, happy for you!

The culprits were definitely alcohol and "creeping" plate sizes. Good side effect of this (and smaller dinners) - almost 2 weeks without any significant heartburn and have not taken any antacids in that time either. Yay!

Amazing how little things make such a big difference. Glad to hear all is well with you.

Aww, thanks you guys.

Things are so busy lately I'm not here as much as usual, but it is so, so nice to log in and see such support. You're all lovely.

Another green week followed by a crazy busy weekend of Christmas stuff and my nephew's 1st birthday party.

Still just tracking S days (not all the time) and it makes a really positive difference. I think noting what I'm eating just gives that little bit of attention to my food, especially treats. By being intentional I'm actually enjoying my treats a lot more, but eating fewer of them, which is interesting. I had the most amazing donut for lunch yesterday (Sunday), but really didn't want anything else the rest of the day.

I wonder if, because I'm giving my full attention to treats, I am "experiencing" them more? Rather than mindlessly snacking and then kind of "waking up" and feeling like I need something else to try to chase actual noticing? Thich Nhat Hanh talks about being "missing" from our experiences or being ghosts in our own lives when we are not able to be present and encounter life as it unfolds.

Still cycling to work 3 - 4 days a week. Holding steady still at 57.5 - 58 kg (~127/128 pounds). This is a BMI of 19.5 for me, so don't want to go any lower.

Our beloved dog died suddenly yesterday, with no warning at 10 years old. He just went to sleep on the lawn and never got up. I will admit I self-medicated with wine and rocky road last night.

I'm just gutted today, but I'm determined to get back to No S to avoid adding sugar headaches and feelings of failure to my already heavy load of sadness.

Hope everyone else is having a peaceful and happy holiday season.

ironchef wrote:Our beloved dog died suddenly yesterday, with no warning at 10 years old. He just went to sleep on the lawn and never got up. I will admit I self-medicated with wine and rocky road last night.

I'm just gutted today, but I'm determined to get back to No S to avoid adding sugar headaches and feelings of failure to my already heavy load of sadness.

Hope everyone else is having a peaceful and happy holiday season.

I am so sorry for your loss. It is so hard to lose a dog, especially one that you have 10 years of routines and memories with.

Sorry for your loss Ironchef, losing a beloved pet can be really rough. Be kind to yourself, hopefully the routine of NoS can be a comfort rather than a burden.

Thank you both. It's just so strange- he wasn’t sick at all. Just suddenly gone. We’ve got some doggie treats and a new lead wrapped for him under our tree. My husband has still gone walking around the dog park this morning because he just does it every day 😢

So sorry for your loss Ironchef

What a shock, IC! Dogs are so loving and lovable. Warmest wishes.

Oh I'm so sorry to read this, IC.

ironchef wrote:Thank you both. It's just so strange- he wasn’t sick at all. Just suddenly gone. We’ve got some doggie treats and a new lead wrapped for him under our tree. My husband has still gone walking around the dog park this morning because he just does it every day 😢

My parents' dog died a year ago, and my dad still frequently does their loop. He carries dog biscuits for the pup friends that they would see along the way.

Just a note to say how sorry I am to hear your sad news, Ironchef. Thinking of you. All the best.

So very sorry to hear about your dog. ((()))

Ironchef, my deepest condolences on the loss of your dog. Very terrible to go through. In Jan 2007 our 7-year old dog died suddenly in the arms of my husband. Words cannot express the pain we went through.

Please take care.

Thank you all so, so much. I haven't been here for a week while I've been down south with no reception, and it really warms my heart to log in and see all your kind messages. We are slowly getting used to the new normal, but there will definitely never be another one like him.

Apart from that tender spot, I am having a good start to January in other ways. I've returned to exercising, meditation and No S with a twist (recording on S days) and I feel really content. I'm even Spring (summer?) cleaning my house out!

I'm now pretty stable at a BMI of about 19.5, so I feel very comfortable with the status quo. I'll probably be back now and again to touch base with all the lovely posters here, but unlikely to post regularly at the moment. If I ever need a "tune up", I'll be back more often!

One of my resolutions is to spend less time online, as I want to make more room for some of my more active hobbies, and now that my kids are bigger I'm not so tied to the house while they nap. But I'll always make some time for checking in here to see how the posters are travelling.

Good luck and Happy New Year all!

Congrats on the great achievement!

I look forward to your check-ins and hearing about your active hobbies!

Oh, and I saw your post on another thread about "dry January"! Good luck with that! I am halfway through 40-days of no alcohol. And guess what? No heartburn! Yippee! And I also, as you said, just wanted to prove I could do it.

A question - can you do a pull-up? I bet you can. I cannot, but it is a goal.

Thanks auto! Yes, my heartburn has been heaps better. I guess I just don't want to admit that coffee and alcohol are my triggers...*sigh*

I cannot do a complete hanging pull up at present. I used to be able to do them, but then had two babies and abdominal strength not so much. However, I am back to doing "boy" push ups (i.e. not on the knees), and I'm also working on getting back to unassisted pull ups. It's been a long road back, but as my youngest is now 2.5 years old, I feel like my excuse well is running dry Body weight exercises are a great goal because you can do them anywhere and they don't cost anything.

So far for the past week I've been successful with:
Cycling and home work outs - yay!
Decluttering and deep cleaning - laundry and spare toilet / shower done, this week kitchen! I've also cleaned up a bunch of kid stuff from the garage (strollers etc) that my kids have recently outgrown. Feels so great!
Mindfulness - have done a sitting meditation every morning except Saturday, and really pleased.

Oh and No S of course!

The new habit I'm developing is starting my work day with a cup of coffee and a notebook and pen. I find sitting with these "low tech" tools and planning my work day actually is much more effective and I'm definitely getting more done and I'm less sidetracked by the computer. This is one I hope to keep up long term, so I'm giving myself big back-pats even though it is a brand new habit.

Just want to say I’m also so sorry to hear about the loss of your dog. Such a heartbreaking thing to go through.

Big hugs & happy to see other things in your life going well.

â¤ï¸

Thanks Linda. It's weird how even a few months later, I still expect him to be there. I hear our friends arrive at the gate and wait for his "welcome guest" bark. I go out on a hot day and before I leave I make a trip out the back to check on his water dish, before remembering that neither he nor the water dish are there.

Still ticking along here:
Mindfulness - not every day, but getting more consistent with sitting and walking meditations.
Cycling - still cycling every work day
Declutter and clean - been less consistent the past two weeks, but still slowly chipping away.
No S - all good. Still BMI 19.5 ish.

My new habit of starting the work day with a coffee and my to-do list in writing is really helping, I'm very pleased with the improvement in my "first thing" productivity.