Williac's check in

Counting carbs/calories is a drag. Obsessive scale stepping is a recipe for despair. If you want to count something, "days on habit" is a much better metric. Checking off days on a calendar would do just fine, but if you do it here you get accountability and support. Here's how. Start a new topic in this forum called (say) "Your Name Daily Check In." Then every N day post a "reply" to that topic as to whether you stayed on habit. A simple "<font color="green">SUCCESS</font>" or "<font color="red">FAILURE</font>" (or your preferred euphemism if that's too harsh) is sufficient, but obviously you're welcome to write more if you want. On S-days just register that you're taking an S-day. You don't have to do this forever, just until you're confident you've built the habit. Feel free to check in weekly or monthly or sporadically instead of daily. Feel free also to track other habits besides No-s (I'm keeping this forum under No-s because that's what the vast majority are using it for). See also my <a href="/habitcal/">HabitCal</a> tool for another more formal (and perhaps complementary) way to track habits.

Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating

Post Reply
Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Williac's check in

Post by Williac » Tue Oct 09, 2012 12:15 am

Today was my first N day. It was so crazy! It was as if every thing that could go wrong after I got home from work did. I just kept thinking "Green box, Green box, Green box" I wanted that success more than comfort food. But It was harder than I thought it was going to be. Hard but doable. Anyway SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:38 am

Today the 3 meals I had were so good It made not snacking easy! I made chilli with mixed vegetables added in that I had for breakfast and lunch. For supper I had baked sliced potatoes, carrots and onions served over baked deer roast harvested 2 days ago by my generous bow hunting coworker. I have enough fresh venison to keep my wife, 4 children and myself eating like kings for a week.!!!


SUCCESS

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:42 am

Today was not too bad. I forgot my lunch and had to run to the gas station with a coworker and I ended up getting a couple of cans of soup. I had a feast planed for supper but my oven is acting up so I ended up having to just add some veggies and broth to the lunch I forgot to take to work today. It was good. Everyone got full and I still had enough to take for lunch tomorrow.

I made a couple of observations today. The lunch I had forgotten to take didn't take that much "stretching out" to feed My wife kids and myself. And we had leftovers. My former portion sizes were WAY out of control. Leftovers are starting to pile up in the fridge. That was never a problem when I ate like a trash compactor.

Another thing I have noticed is that in the past even though I was going no where I invested HUGE amounts of time worrying, planning and researching exercise and fitness strategies. I have scoured the internet looking at everything I could get my eyes on.

I am like some other people I imagine. My life has its share of issues that are unpleasant enough to think about much less deal with. So distractions are welcome sometimes. I would agonize over a weight lifting routine vs. some calisthenics plan. Should I try to eat 6 small meals throughout the day or should I eat as normal and then fast some other day(s)? That mixed with periods of binge eating myself sick/numb kept me too busy to worry about If I was making progress in any of the many areas of my life that I was dissatisfied with and drove me to want distractions in the first place. Now that I am nosing/shovel gloving, the food, exercise thing feels like its slowly going on auto pilot. Nothing to worry or get anxious about. I am not getting hungry between my meals, and my favorite bad foods will still be there when the weekend comes around.

So, since my fitness/diet obsession is slowly going away and I don't get the "food highs" from the binge snacking I am going to have to find a different way to deal with stress. The exercise in the morning revs me up and makes me feel physically good, but I haven't found it to be a stress reliever/mood enhancer, at least not yet. I sure I figure something out.

Anyway today was a SUCCESS

Strawberry Roan
Posts: 1208
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2010 10:51 pm

Post by Strawberry Roan » Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:52 am

You are doing great. I will tell you something else you will notice, besides the amount of food that you will accumulate in your fridge :D - the money you will save by not snacking, eating seconds, etc. It is amazing!

My son is a big hunter and loves venison, he has a very good federal job and could buy anything I suppose - but deer meat beats sirloin beef steaks in his book any day of the week. He is a very good steward of the land and appreciates its bounty.

Welcome to the forum and I will be interested in reading your posts. Journaling is a wonderful way to keep oneself honest.

To your health,
Berry

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:41 am

thank you for the encouragement Strawberry Roan!! I often look at other peoples posts and want to say something but I really cant think of anything, and i think saying something for the sake of saying something would be silly.

Anyway Today was good. I had to set at a computer all day and take a course for continuing education credits to satisfy the requirements of my waste water license. It felt like it could have been a good time to graze on popcorn and sip diet soda but I didn't really want any that bad. Not that I think that Diet Pepsi (Nectar of the Gods!!!!) and popcorn would have been bad but I am still so new in my no snacking on weekdays habit I hate to set myself up for problems later.

Between chapters I got up ran out into the shop a work and jumped around like an idiot for a few minutes Just as I was starting to sweat I would quit, go outside and walk around the parking lot drinking water until I cooled down and then get back to studying.

I thought a lot of what I could do to amuse myself with the free time/money I now have available that I used to spend hunting,buying,hiding,eating junk and then thinking of ways to make up for it. I am now strolling down memory lane, mentally checking in on all the hobbies I had and quit because I couldn't afford the time. I may pick one and try it for a while. Maybe I will find a new one. The list is pretty long I have been quite the dabbler.
Oh and today was a .............................................
SUCCESS

milliem
Posts: 1178
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2011 2:30 pm

Post by milliem » Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:02 pm

Just wanted to pop in and say well done for a great first few days! After doing NoS for a while, it's feels strange to think back on how frequently I grazed, nibbled and snacked at work! :)

Strawberry Roan
Posts: 1208
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2010 10:51 pm

Post by Strawberry Roan » Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:20 pm

milliem wrote:Just wanted to pop in and say well done for a great first few days! After doing NoS for a while, it's feels strange to think back on how frequently I grazed, nibbled and snacked at work! :)
Isn't that the truth? We have a full kitchen at work and I walk in there multiple times a day to make green tea or get ice water. I can remember the times that I would just open the cabinets or the fridge to see what was there (we all keep it very well stocked
8) ) Mindless eating, no hunger, just habit. One doesn't realize how often they did it until they stop. Probably like smokers or alcoholics or something like that I would guess.
Berry

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:13 pm

Thanks for the encouragement Milliem. I can't tell you how many times I have been half way through a bag of something when I realized "I don't even really like this stuff!!" Habits are hard to break when you don't recognize them for what are. I made it through this week! It went pretty fast. I think next week I'll pay a bit more attention to portion size. I found myself not being hungry at mealtimes and having to make myself eat. I have been intentionaly been making my one plate big to help stop snacking but I haven't been enjoying my meals as much as I could be if I were a little hungrier. Today was a success

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Sat Oct 13, 2012 10:27 pm

Today has been a great S day. A nice pancake breakfast. A Diet Pepsi and a couple of small pieces of chocolate covered raisins for a snack. Leftover spaghetti for lunch, and my wife is cooking deer roast with all the veggies right now.

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Sun Oct 14, 2012 7:21 pm

Another S day today. Coffee and a couple of chocolate covered raisins for a morning snack. Birthday cake with Ice cream for lunch. I am craving some real food for supper.

My church pants fit a little better this morning than last week. I am sure some of it has to do with the fact that last weekends S days were before my first N days so I pigged out in fear of the coming snack drought!! Also at my height and size swinging up or down 7-12 pounds Isn't that hard to do. Knowing all that I still felt pleased with myself and my successful week of NoS'ing and Shugging.

I was going to weigh myself weekly but now I am not looking forward to doing that tomorrow. I think maybe a monthly weight in would be better. Any difference from my 295 lb starting weight only a week ago wouldn't be very impressive and could even be misleading. I think I am going to keep only keeping track of my Successes and put off weighting myself until I have am a month into NoS'ing.

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Tue Oct 16, 2012 1:36 am

SUCCESS

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Tue Oct 16, 2012 11:43 pm

SUCCESS

I decided last weekend to allow myself the occasional Diet Pepsi. I have been having unavoidable things robbing me of sleep this week and I am falling asleep at work. So the caffeine is essential to me right now.

I have found that drinking it seems to trigger my appetite. It doesn't present a problem since I am not snacking and recognize the "fake hunger" for what it is I don't have this problem when I drink water. The ironic thing is after about 20 min the cravings pass and I feel like I have ate a 7 course meal. I am guessing the carbonation is responsible for that.

eschano
Posts: 2642
Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:20 pm

Post by eschano » Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:37 am

Well done so far and welcome to the forum!

I personally find that diet soda is a slippery slope but good for you if you have a handle on it.
eschano - Vanilla rocks!

July 2012- January 2016
Started again January 2021

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Mon Oct 22, 2012 11:31 pm

Thanks for the encouragement eschano. Yeah Diet Pepsi is something I see myself enjoying and using it for the caffeine from time to time. But I will keep an eye on how it is affecting(effecting?) me.

I had my first FAILURE today. It was minor and I don't feel bad about it. I made nachos and grabbed more chips to eat up the leftover beans, meat and cheese that was still on my plate. I'm not worried but rules are rules.

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Fri Nov 02, 2012 12:56 am

I took an Exempt day today. My wife got her first paycheck with her new job and bought beer and pizza. It was awesome!! My only thought is whether or not I should make this coming Saturday an N day. Not out of some kind of Make up for a bad thing guilt but rather a Keep the balance for the sake of my health and happiness. Does anyone have any experience and or advice on this kind of course correcting system mod?

eschano
Posts: 2642
Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:20 pm

Post by eschano » Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:24 am

Hi Williac,

Personally I make sure that my S day weekends are very sane but I don't make one of the days an N day. I think it's good to keep the habit of having weekend S days but by making them very sane it allows you to build a habit of sane S days as well.

Hope that makes sense. It's early here :wink:
eschano - Vanilla rocks!

July 2012- January 2016
Started again January 2021

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Thu Dec 06, 2012 12:12 am

How are you doing?

Regarding your last question, you are never actually required to have S's on an S day. Thus, as time goes on, you may have many official S days that look exactly like N days. The difference is that they are not required to. The option is there. Many, many long term No S-ers do not exercise the option but they still regard weekends as S days.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Tue Dec 18, 2012 3:21 am

Well its been a while. My wife bought a new laptop for my Christmas gift so I am back. While I was gone my NoS and shugging habits fell apart. I picked my adjustable weighted "hammer" yesterday it felt like it weighted a ton!!! I removed some of the weight and tried to start again this morning. It didn't go as planned. More tomorrow.

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Tue Dec 18, 2012 4:33 am

Hey, welcome back!
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

eschano
Posts: 2642
Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:20 pm

Post by eschano » Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:24 am

Welcome back :)
eschano - Vanilla rocks!

July 2012- January 2016
Started again January 2021

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Tue Dec 18, 2012 12:01 pm

I just completed my shovel gloving. No specific routine I just made it up as I went along. Think really bad Kung-Fu moves! 14 minutes went by I woke myself up and my entire upper body is slightly burning in a good way. I decided to leave my legs for walking and jumping so I kept it simple. Now on to NoSing!!

(later that day)
Nosed well today!!! I was pretty tired since I am trying to wean myself down from my excessive caffeine intake. Its getting bad enough in the evenings that when I wake up I swear I am hung over and really aren't worth a crap until I have had several large cups of coffee. I am beginning to crash during the day at work because I can't keep up enough caffeine intake to keep me going because of this "super hero" scale tolerance I have worked myself up to. I am allowing myself whatever in the morning but after lunch I am drinking only water. Today I let myself have one glass of coffee after super to get me thru the 45 min crash that eating normally gives me. I will see how I do tomorrow but hopefully I wont need it. More later

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Wed Dec 19, 2012 10:57 pm

todays caffeine struggle was pretty intense!! Nosing was a little harder too. My Shugging was bad! My shoulders are hurting pretty bad from yesterday. I am going to have to find that sweet spot of enough intensity to do some good but not so much I cant recover by the next day. I am thinking of ways to make walking more engaging for me. I might go for a total monthly distance, but I haven't decided yet. I am having a hard time getting excited about pursuing fitness right now. I would really rather not think about diet and exercise, but my body really needs some improvement. I think I am trying to fight too many battles at one time. I am going to reevaluate a few things and make a new plan. Nosing definitely going to be a part of it. More later.

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:28 am

Hope it's okay that I'm popping in. Some people like to write just for themselves. If that's what you prefer, it's okay to tell me. I'll bow out.

Just wanted to mention that there was a testimonial, I think it was last winter, of a guy who said he eased into No S and just 4 minutes a day of exercise, I think it was, and in a few months had lost about 40 lbs. He emphasized that he didn't have a lot of time because he was married with 4 children. Just means going whole hog soon isn't necessary.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:45 pm

I don't mind the input. That's why I am here. I think shorter exercise sessions sound good. Thanks fot yhe suggestions.

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Sat Dec 22, 2012 1:37 pm

Yesterdays Nosing went ok. I had a epic size plate of fried duck for supper. I am feeling a lot better about the subject of diet and exercise today. I have stopped beating myself up about my lack of desire to shovelglove or really my lack of desire to strength train, and that is what has been bothering me mostly. I talked to a friend who is pretty good shape and he asked if a lack of muscle or strength was my main concern. I had to say no it was my excess body fat that was negatively effecting my quality of life. He asked what I liked to do that would help that. I told him I like to walk. It was a short conversation that left me thinking "why didn't I think of this before?" I have 2 walking routes that I enjoy going on. 1 is 3 miles long, and the other is 2 miles long. My friend suggested I try to complete 60 miles a month. That would be an average of 2 miles a day. If I make it good if not try again next month. It would at least give me a doable yet solid goal. We had that conversation on the 19th and since then I have walked 8.6 miles putting me .6 miles ahead of schedule!!

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:37 pm

When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

And the plan can always be altered when priorities change.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Post by Williac » Sat May 04, 2013 2:30 pm

O.k. I am back at it again, made it through the last week solidly. My energy felt like it was starting to fade Thursday and Friday. The rainy weather was not helping me. Last night I was going a little nuts. I had a diet soda and some cereal bars I had accumulated during the week and was saving for today (an S day). I was restless and a little grumpy so I kept busy and went to bed early. I had some sugary creamer filled coffee at breakfast and my diet soda and cereal bars for a snack later. I was laughing with my wife last night who struggles with smoking how when your trying to quit something you get done with all the "have to's" you normally do and then are like "what the hell do I do now when I would normally be doing (whatever your quitting)"? I know that planning a really nice indulgence on your S days is helpful to making the N days seem less like work. I don't know if cereal bars, diet soda and coffee creamer(with sugar) is a really nice indulgence but It felt good to have the soda in the fridge for a couple of days and then drinking it later. I see from my last attempt last year I made it about 25 N days with several Fail days. My first goal is to beat that. I will check back in after I do.

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Re: Williac's check in

Post by Williac » Wed Apr 17, 2019 3:34 am

Man it feels weird to bring this thread back from the dead. Anyway Im back at it after my 6 year "lets try every crazy diet plan under the sun" world tour. Today was a Failure. My kids fried chicken meals at the diner were huge!!!! And I ended up "batting cleanup"

ChandaLikePanda
Posts: 99
Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2017 6:37 am
Location: WA

Re: Williac's check in

Post by ChandaLikePanda » Wed Apr 17, 2019 5:52 am

Welcome back! Whenever I feel like finishing my kid's plate, I have to remind myself that my body is not the garbage can. Most of the time that stops me. :)
Gender: Female
Age: 43
Height: 5'4"

automatedeating
Posts: 5305
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2013 2:16 pm

Re: Williac's check in

Post by automatedeating » Thu Apr 18, 2019 3:26 am

My goodness, that is pretty awesome that you managed to find your old thread and start using it again! So neat! Glad to see you posting. :-)
Month/Year-BMI
8/13-26.3
8/14-24.5
5/15-26.2
1/16-26.9; 9/16-25.6
8/17-25.8; 11/17-26.9
3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
3/19-22.1; 10/19-21.8
6/20-22.5; 7/20-23.0; 9/20-23.6
4/21 - 25.2

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Re: Williac's check in

Post by Williac » Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:06 am

ChandaLikePanda: I hear you on the "Im not a trash can".
automatedeating : Yeah I considered creating a new account and sneaking back on here but I that would be too much work. I figured Id just start were I left off.

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Re: Williac's check in

Post by Williac » Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:24 pm

Another red day today. My boss took us to eat Mexican today for lunch. Ate ate chips and salsa while waiting for my huge meal. I didn't even think about it till afterwards. That puts me about 78% success. I don't think more than a reasonable single plate meal will a tempation tonight.

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Re: Williac's check in

Post by Williac » Fri Apr 26, 2019 11:28 am

I've had a couple of good days that have brought me up to 82% compliance.

automatedeating
Posts: 5305
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2013 2:16 pm

Re: Williac's check in

Post by automatedeating » Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:18 pm

Nice going!
Month/Year-BMI
8/13-26.3
8/14-24.5
5/15-26.2
1/16-26.9; 9/16-25.6
8/17-25.8; 11/17-26.9
3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
3/19-22.1; 10/19-21.8
6/20-22.5; 7/20-23.0; 9/20-23.6
4/21 - 25.2

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Re: Williac's check in

Post by Williac » Fri Apr 26, 2019 9:26 pm

Thanks.

Williac
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:52 pm

Re: Williac's check in

Post by Williac » Sat Apr 27, 2019 3:29 am

Well I can add another food to the list of my NoS kryptonite foods, pan fried pork steaks. My habitcal is showing red, I'm bloated, gassy and going to bed. I did however rock my 12th consecutive N day green for my sandbag 14 minute workout.

automatedeating
Posts: 5305
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2013 2:16 pm

Re: Williac's check in

Post by automatedeating » Sat Apr 27, 2019 5:01 am

Ha! Pan fried pork steaks. Gas bomb! Noted to beward. :-)
Month/Year-BMI
8/13-26.3
8/14-24.5
5/15-26.2
1/16-26.9; 9/16-25.6
8/17-25.8; 11/17-26.9
3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
3/19-22.1; 10/19-21.8
6/20-22.5; 7/20-23.0; 9/20-23.6
4/21 - 25.2

Post Reply