Clarinetgal's check in!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:19 am

Hello! I thought I would try starting a check in. I have about 35 pounds left to lose after giving birth to my beautiful baby boy last year (he's now 16 months old), and because of being busy raising kids, the normal stresses of life, and some big changes in my household, I have not made the best eating choices. I have tried counting calories for a long time, but it is obviously not a motivator for me, because I can never stick to my calorie budget. I need to get back to No S, which I think will be a saner, less stressful approach for me. I won't be doing strict vanilla no s, because I often end up having to exercise at night, and I like to have a small post work out snack to replace any vitamins or minerals I lose during my workouts. However, I will try to mostly follow vanilla no s. So that means my meal structure will be 3 slightly smaller meals and one small post workout snack, on the days I exercise. I will probably somewhat count calories, at least mentally, for awhile, until I feel comfortable that I'm eating meals that are large enough to sustain me, but small enough to help me slowly, but surely, lose weight. I just no longer want to spend 10-15 minutes a day (or however long I take) logging my food into a web site.

12/29 S Day
12/30 S Day. As far as S Days go, it wasn't too bad. I did eat some extra treats, but not as much as in times past. I am full, but by no means stuffed. I will take tomorrow as an S day, since it's New Year's Eve, but come New Year's Day, I'm ready for a fresh start. Edited to add: for some reason, I was really hungry for salt at around midnight, and I ended up eating some tortilla chips and some nuts. This ended up being a mistake, because the snack energized me, and I ended up staying awake until after 3 AM.

lesson learned.
12/31S Day. Not too bad of an S Day, if I say so myself. Since it was sort of a special day, I had a fun breakfast of French toast with blueberries, whipped cream, and chocolate chips, along with bacon and some coffee. Lunch was one of my standard lunches, a green smoothie (pumpkin pie!). Dinner was a variety of appetizers, like meatballs, mini crab cakes, etc.... I had egg nog and German fruit cake for dessert. I'm nervous about tomorrow, since it will be my first N day in a long time. I need it, though. My body has not liked all of my holiday eating.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 7:31 am

Jan. 1: Success! I ate 5 smaller meals today, because I was afraid of how my body would react to detoxing from sugar, and eating more frequently seemed to help. I did have a headache and a little irritability, along with major cravings, but this detox was way better than some of the sugar detoxes I've experienced in the past.
Tomorrow will be an interesting test, because DH will be working and my older DS will be back in school. I find it easy to overeat, when it's just me and my toddler.
My exercise for today was The Firm's Super Sculpting.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Thu Jan 03, 2013 8:09 am

Jan. 2: Success! I ate 4 smaller meals, with no seconds or sweets. Exercise was a 25 minute stroller walk with my 1 year old this afternoon, and Leslie Sansone's Walk Away Your Stress this evening.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Fri Jan 04, 2013 8:19 am

1/3: Fail, but also a victory. I worked out at the gym this morning (45 minutes of cardio), and I had to go grocery shipping right after the workout. By the time I left the grocery store, I was starving, and I ended up getting lunch from Panera Bread. While I waited in the drive thru, I saw an ad for their new heart shaped cookies, and I succumbed to temptation. However, I did not let this slip up sabotage my day, like I have on many previous occasions. The rest of my eating was pretty moderate. Yay, me!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sat Jan 05, 2013 6:42 am

Fail. I had a fit of discouragement and frustration over dieting, so I ate some sweets (although it wasn't nearly as bad of a binge as I've done in times past). I got all of the negative feelings out of my system, and I'm ready to get back on track tomorrow. Exercise: 1 hour of cardio and about 35 minutes of upper body, abs, and stretching.

milliem · Post by **milliem** » Sat Jan 05, 2013 10:39 am

That's the great thing about NoS, you can just get straight back on habit the very next day - each new day is a new opportunity to mark a success!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun Jan 06, 2013 8:47 am

Success! I had a much better eating day today! Even though it was technically an S Day, I chose not to have any sweets, because I had eaten sweets the previous two days. I'm also doing a couple of side experiments. I'm 98 percent sure I have a sensitivity or intolerance to dairy, and I'm pretty sure it's for the milk proteins, since cheese gives me problems. During the holiday season, I allowed myself to eat quite a bit more dairy than I'm used to, plus I had a lot of chocolate, which had milk in it, so let's just say my stomach has not been happy with me lately. Today, I tried going completely dairy free, which worked really well for me until after dinner, when something else bothered my stomach.

The only culprits I can think of would be soy or salmon (????). I suppose the other option could be wheat, but I've eaten a lot of things with wheat that don't bother me, so I don't think so. Anyway, in addition to working on eating moderately, I will continue to try to eat dairy free, and I will try to figure out what is causing my other stomach issues.

Millie, Thanks! That's what I like about No S, too!

1/6 S Day

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:34 am

I am reviving my check in! I joined a 100 day summer challenge on Face Book, and while I think I will like it (there have been a fair share of interesting topics), the group is so large, I'm not sure how comfortable I will be with posting.
Since January of 2013, I have lost close to 15 pounds. I have had so many starts and stops, however, and I know it's because I have never fully established the No S habits. I'm generally great about No Seconds, but I have been really bad about No Snacks and No Sweets. I have also drifted away from the one plate rule.
Things just clicked with me today, and I decided to try it again. Just for reference, I will not be doing Vanilla No S. I have been dealing with ongoing reflux, and I have blood sugar issues, so eating 4 times a day will work much better for me. My tentative eating schedule will be 8, 11:30ish, 2, and 6:30ish.
I will also be allowing myself a small amount of sweets each day. Every time I've tried going without sweets, it has been a disaster for me. I know this means I won't get actual S days (except for a few special days like Christmas and my birthday), but I am totally fine with that.
I am tracking my calories for now, but my goal is to wean myself off of calorie counting -- hopefully sooner rather than later. That is where the one plate rule will come in handy. I'm hoping that by seeing how the portions fit on my plate and stay within my calorie limit (about 500 calories per meal, and 250ish calories for my 2 smaller meals), I can get to a point where I can put food on my plate and not think too much about the calories.
Today is day 1 of my challenge, and I would call it a success. I was much closer to my calorie goal (1600 calories), and I ate much less sweets.
Oh! Before I end for today, here's one more piece of background information. I will be eating at least mostly gluten and dairy free, because my older son has to be on that diet, and it's easier if the whole family follows the diet. I had been doing Paleo for awhile, but it was too restrictive for me. I will probably still limit my consumption of grains, but I will allow myself the option to eat some gluten free grains each day.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 6:39 am

Day 2 of mr personal 100 day challenge was mixed. It could have been better. I think my two main problems were: 1) I didn't have enough protein with breakfast. I have found that if I don't eat enough protein early in the day, I am hungry all day, and I overeat. 2) I did NOT sleep well last night, so I was exhausted all day. I found myself snacking on sweets a few times today, just so I'd have enough energy to make it through the next couple of hours.

Tomorrow will be a better day!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 6:30 am

Day 3 was a little better. I'm starting to get back on the right track. Here's where I derailed myself: 1) While my son was at therapy, I had a nice 1 hr. 15 min break. I used part of that time to get a soy chai latte, and a pumpkin loaf. The treats were good, but not that good. Plus, they hurt my stomach (I suspect it was the latte that hurt my stomach). I will have to find non-food ways to enjoy my break. I brought my Kindle with me, but that only entertains me for so long. On nicer days, I can go on a walk (today wasn't very nice). I could always drive to the mall, which is nearby, and walk around the Mall. The only other things I've thought of are to listen to music, or to use the time to read a magazine.
2). The other time I derailed myself was during lunch. My lunch itself was healthy; I had a big salad with chicken. It didn't quite satisfy me, though, and I had some Fritos and Cheetos with the salad. My stomach really hurt after this. I suspect it was the Cheetos, since Cheetos have a lot of dairy, MSG, and other garbage ingredients. I asked my DH to hide the chips from me.
I think I'm going to go back to eating at least 70 percent Paleo. I have some obvious stomach issues, and I felt better when I was following Paleo more closely. I will start my mostly Paleo eating tomorrow. I say mostly Paleo, because I will allow myself to eat rice, and I will use brown rice tortillas or other gluten free wraps or bread, if I want a sandwich. I don't really care for lettuce wraps (too hard to spread condiments on them, they tear easily, etc...).
Anyway, my goal is to have Day 4 be a success.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Thu Jun 27, 2013 2:41 am

Day 4 (yesterday) was my best day yet! There was still a little bit of random snacking, but it was very small, and I kept careful track of it. I felt very good about how I ate yesterday!

I'll check in with day 5 tonight.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Thu Jun 27, 2013 7:35 am

Day 5 was not a bad day, but it could have been better. I think my biggest mistake was choosing to stop at Starbucks after my dentist appointment this afternoon (the dentist office is across the street from Starbucks). I had a Valencia orange refresher drink, which tasted decent enough, and was pretty low in calories (according to the posted menu). My mistake was getting coffee cake to go along with it.

I think Starbucks has an addictive power over me (I've noticed that for awhile now), and I'm just going to have to make myself stop going there. My other mistake is I'm still allowing myself to snack on my son's gluten free treats, when I give him his snack. I know I need to just not eat those things, or only allow myself a small portion with a meal. Other than those two things, my eating choices weren't too bad. I also decided to lay down the gauntlet, so to speak, by packing up my size 12 pants. They are getting loose enough on me that I can pull them up and down without unbuttoning them. Moving down to a size 10 will encourage me to eat less. My goal is to get back to my pre-pregnancy size of 4/6.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sat Jun 29, 2013 6:18 am

Day 6 was good, up until yesterday evening. I had a dessert after dinner.

On the positive side, I was very tempted to give in to the 'what the he**' effect, but I resisted.
Day 7 was good. I went over my calories, but I did follow the No S parameters (at least the spirit of them), by sticking to 3 main meals and 1 planned mini meal (the extra meal is because of my reflux). If I continue to at least keep to the No S parameters, I will be on the right track. I know I still need to rein in my sweets. Before I got pregnant about 3 years ago, I had a very good system where I ate 3 meals, and I allowed myself one small dessert with lunch. I did well at sticking to that system for awhile. I would love to get back to eating like that.
I think that starting tomorrow, I will list my meals and snack, along with my total calories for the day. That will up the ante for me, so to speak.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 11:43 pm

Days 8 and 9 ended up going to pot for various reasons.

I am back on track today (Day 10)! I am committed to eating gluten and dairy free for the next few days, because my excessive dairy consumption (like ice cream and nachos) and moderate amount of gluten killed my stomach.

I definitely need to stay away from dairy. I'm not 'as' sure about gluten, but I don't miss it too much when I don't have it.
So far, I have had 2 meals and 1 snack. I will post more, after I have my dinner tonight.
Okay, Day 10 was a success! My eating wasn't perfect, but it was MUCH more moderate than it has been lately, so I'm calling it a success.

B: Raspberry Greek style coconut milk yogurt, Trio bar, 1/4 C unsalted mixed nuts.
S: grande soy 5 pump chai latte from Starbucks
L: Protein shake with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1 medium banana, 1 C Kale, 1/4 C fresh blueberries, 2 scoops of Arbonne vanilla protein powder (ick. I won't be using the protein powder again). 3 gluten free chicken tenders with honey mustard sauce. I also snitched 3 of my son's Skittles-- something I need to break myself of.
D: tuna salad and veggies on a brown rice tortilla. Single serving of Fritos. Some extra pickles.

Total calories: 1925. Net calories: 1588

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:48 pm

Yesterday, Day 11, was a success! Were I only relying on calorie counting, it would have been a failure, because I exceeded my calorie goal by quite a bit. However, I stuck to my No S parameters (4 planned meals, 1 dessert), and the scale was down this morning, so I must have done something right.

Since I'm posting this a day late, I won't post my meals from yesterday.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:04 am

Day 12: FAIL, but not a huge one. I mostly stuck to my No S parameters today. I ate 3 planned meals, plus a planned snack, with no extra snacking. I didn't have seconds on anything, nor did I eat after dinner. However, I ate more than one dessert -- even though my 4th meal was a dessert.

My calorie intake was actually a little less than yesterday, but it wasn't quite as good of an eating day. Note to self: I think it's okay to enjoy potato/macaroni salad dishes in the summer, but I need to limit it to one meal a day, instead of two, like I've done the past couple of days. Also, while I like Reeser's macaroni salad, it doesn't like me. I've had a mild stomach ache after eating it, the last couple of days.

B: scrambled eggs with a variety of veggies and mushrooms. Blueberries. 1 vegan marshmallow.
S: 2 Udi's soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies.
L: Celery with sunflower seed butter. Walmart red skinned potato salad. Plum. Small bowl of dark chocolate coconut milk ice cream.
D: Turkey burger on GF bun, with tomato, pickles, lettuce, mustard, and mayo. Reeser's macaroni salad. Raw veggies dipped in Annie's Organic lite honey mustard dressing.

Total calories: 2410 Net calories: 2081

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Fri Jul 05, 2013 7:38 am

Day 13: S Day. I don't allow too many S Days, with my mods, but I will allow S Days on national holidays, and on my birthday. I will probably do something like S events, on vacations, and on birthdays for family members, or close friends.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:29 am

Day 14: (yesterday) was a success! Day 15: (today. Saturday) was a minor Fail. I had one extra dessert, but the rest of my eating was moderate.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 8:20 am

Day 16: Fail.. Day 17: Fail. Day 18: Fail.. Day 19: Success! Finally! Here's hoping for a success tomorrow! Also, I'm hoping I'll have more time to go back to my more detailed check in tomorrow.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun Jul 14, 2013 6:32 am

I'm suspending this check in for now.

I have too much going on to keep up with it. However, I will keep posting in the July challenge.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 3:45 am

I think it's time for me to restart my check in. I feel like I've really gotten off track, when it comes to habit. I also still feel really out of control, when it comes to sugar. It's time for baby steps. I think I will focus on 2 specific goals for now, and eventually work up to being fully No S compliant.
The first goal is to eat 4 set meals. I say 4, because I have reflux, and if my meals are too big, it causes problems. I think a tentative eating schedule will be breakfast around 8 AM. Lunch at 11:30-12 (depending on the day). Planned snack at 2:30-3, and dinner between 6 or 7, with my eating done as close to 7 as I can.
Goal number 2 will focus on 1 sweet with either my lunch or planned snack, and it needs to be naturally sweetened (with honey, maple syrup, dates, or coconut sugar). I can also have the option of not having that sweet, and having an extra piece of fruit, instead. My goal, for now, is to eventually get away from having to have a sweet each day. But again, baby steps.
Since this weekend was a wonderful weekend at the ocean with my mom, I will start my new plan tomorrow.

LoriLifts · Post by **LoriLifts** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 7:32 pm

Welcome back!
You rock!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 6:34 am

I would call today mostly a success!

I did very well at staying on my eating plan today. Eating the 4 smaller meals definitely helped me with my reflux. I hardly felt it at all. The main drawback was that I felt like I was thinking about food more often than when I just eat 3 meals, but I suppose if eating 4 meals will help my reflux to go away, then it will be worth it.
I'm still thinking about my goal of eating naturally sweetened sweets (like with honey or maple syrup). I do think it's a good goal, but I'm not sure it's realistic right now. I did have some sugar today, and I know I need to keep cutting back, but I felt like my eating as a whole was pretty moderate -- especially compared to how I had been eating lately.

Breakfast: Smoothie with vanilla almond milk, banana, frozen pineapple, and coconut butter.

Snack: Greek yogurt mixed with 1 T almond butter, 1 T raw honey, 1 T pure vanilla extract, and 1 T Enjoy Life chocolate chips.

Lunch: 2 multigrain pancakes with blueberries, whipped cream, and chocolate chips. Nitrate free bacon.

Dinner: Small serving of Udi's ancient grain crisps. Trader Joes shrimp stir fry, with extra carrots and mushrooms. Cashews.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 6:35 am

Thanks, Walkerlori!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 9:03 pm

Yesterday (Oct. 29) was a flat out Fail..

It started off with getting lunch from Panera, and it went downhill from there. Today has been 100 percent better, so far!

I will add to this check in tonight, after I have eaten my other 2 meals.
Edited to add: Well, I would call this day a minor fail. It was still 100 percent better than yesterday. My failure came this evening. I was still a little hungry after dinner, and I was having a caffeine withdrawal headache (I'm trying to cut back on coffee), so I had a spoonful of my homemade non-dairy chocolate frosting that I had made for my son's birthday last week (it's really good!). Once I finished my grocery shopping tonight, I put orange frosting and some sprinkles on a couple of homemade sugar cookies I am including in my son's lunch tomorrow (since it's Halloween), and I ate one sugar cookie with frosting, plus one more spoonful of frosting. Still way too much sugar, so I will definitely keep on working on reducing my sugar intake.
WIDR today (I'm copying Walkerlori, since I think it's a great idea): I stuck to smaller meals, and I had much less reflux today. 2) I lifted weights and did some core work. 3) Aside from too much sugar, my eating was fairly healthy.

Breakfast: Smoothie with vanilla almond milk, banana, mango chunks, and coconut butter. (Also had 2 small samples when I did my grocery shopping this morning)

Lunch: baked potato with plain Greek yogurt, salsa, and broccoli.

Snack: KIND bar, mandarin orange, cashews

Dinner: Pork chop, unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon, broccoli slaw.

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 11:11 pm

Hi Clarinetgal..... mark it and move on-- good attitude!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Thu Oct 31, 2013 5:35 am

Thanks, automated eating!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 7:07 am

Oct. 31: I decided to make it an S Day. Since I'm not doing Vanilla No S, I don't exactly do S Days, but I do like the idea of allowing special eating days throughout the year. I want to try to not make them free for alls (except for on very special days, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and my birthday), but I do want to relax the rules. I didn't do the best on Halloween. I ate way too many pieces of chocolate, and I had the worst sugar hangover on Friday morning.

I think next year, I will try to come up with a plan, as to how many pieces of chocolate I will allow myself.
Nov. 1: I did better, up until the evening. I went to a social event at my church, and I ate way too many sweets.

I always struggle with controlling my eating at social events. I guess that is another area where I need to plan ahead of time.
Nov. 2: Much better! While my eating wasn't perfect, I would still call the day a success!

Breakfast: Omelette, with kale, mushrooms, kumato tomato, mozzarella cheese, and various herbs and seasonings. Mandarin orange. 1 cup coffee. 1 cup hot cocoa, with a small amount of whipped cream and sprinkles.

Lunch: Costco samples.

I ate just enough to make a meal, though, so at least I didn't pig out on them.

Dinner: 2 flavored K cups with a small amount of whipped cream. GF battered cod, French fries, tartar sauce, broccoli slaw

WIDR: 1) Didn't pig out on Costco samples. 2) Didn't eat anything after dinner.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 7:11 am

Today was a fail. I was going to call it an exempt day, because it was my older son's 6th birthday party today, but I ate too many of certain foods to call it an exempt day. My downfall was the individual bags of chips. I find them very addictive, and I ended up eating 4 or 5 bags of chips.

For some reason, I ended up with a headache afterwards.

I think I will ask my DH to hide the rest of the chips. I also will not eat Doritos or Cheetos anymore, since those were the chips I pigged out on. If memory serves me, I think they both contain MSG. I'm pretty sure I'm at least a little sensitive to MSG.
Anyway, tomorrow will definitely be a better day!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Tue Nov 05, 2013 6:49 am

Just a quick check in, because I have to get up early for work tomorrow, but today was a success!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Fri May 09, 2014 7:09 am

I'm restarting my check in. I am at a point in my weight loss and eating journeys, where I feel like I'm at a turning point. In terms of weight, I am currently hovering at 150 pounds (I'm 5'1). I have been stuck at 150-152 for months. I don't want to settle at that weight, because I am not yet at a healthy BMI, or Waist to Hip Ratio. While I know I shouldn't base my goal weight 'just' on those numbers, I do want to get my weight a little bit lower. I am currently wearing US size 10 and some 8s, and I'd love to be a size 6. Anyway, this is my long way of saying I need to get my eating more structured, if I want to break my plateau.
I have been debating on whether to try Vanilla No S again, or to do 3 meals and I dessert. I know that I would need to eat smaller meals, because I have reflux, so I may need to do Vanilla with 4 meals, or do 4 meals and 1 small dessert (I guess). My hesitation with Vanilla was when I've tried it in the past, I would obsess about sweets all week, and binge on weekends. I'm afraid that would happen this time around, too.
I know there was a time in the past where I did what I called No S Lite. I would eat 3 meals, and just have my dessert with lunch. I was pretty happy with that option, but then I allowed the sugar to get the best of me, and I went back to eating sugar multiple times a day.
As I'm writing this, I think I might try to reinstate No S Lite. I think I could have 4 meals, and just have dessert with 1 of the meals. I will have to play around with this. Over these next couple of weeks, I will work on coming up with a more structured eating schedule, and limiting my dessert to one of those meals. It could be a challenge, because I actually prefer eating 3 meals a day, but my reflux acts up, when my meals are too big.

Now for today. I would call it a minor Fail. I did pretty well with just eating 3 meals today, but I made the mistake of going grocery shopping after band, and I brought home 2 candy bars (DH and I split them).

Breakfast: Green smoothie and Lara Bar Alt. Coffee with coconut milk and 3 drops of liquid stevia.
Lunch : Chicken patty on one slice of sourdough with mayo, mustard, herb salad mix, fresh basil, and pickles (pretty good!). Chips. Dried apple chips. One Enjoy Life chocolate chip cookie.
Dinner: Bowl of oatmeal with hemp hearts, raisins, and cinnamon. Sausage patty. Piece of sourdough bread with DF butter and marmalade.
Fail: Half a bag of peanut M and Ms. Half of an Almond Joy bar.

Edited to add: Walkerlori has something in her check in called What I Did Right, where she mentions something she did right for the day. I love this, because I can be hard on myself, so I will do it, too.

WIDR: Other than the candy tonight, my eating wasn't too bad. I also exercised today, and I played decently at band tonight.

Imogen Morley · Post by **Imogen Morley** » Fri May 09, 2014 8:04 am

For several months I lived with a pretty doable mod - three desserts a week, after Wed, Fri, Sun dinner. I felt like small dessert every day was provoking more cravings. Whatever you decide, good luck!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri May 09, 2014 8:53 am

Yeah, welcome back to the daily check ins!

As for WIDR: how about being even more positive - after all you did something right. So: Other than the candy tonight, I rocked it!

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Fri May 09, 2014 2:37 pm

Hi Clarinetgal. Welcome back to the check-in thread.

Dandelion · Post by **Dandelion** » Fri May 09, 2014 10:58 pm

Your 'style' sounds very like mine. I haven't mentioned it because it's not strictly, 'NoS' but it works for me. My style is more like my siggy line, no snacks or seconds, and 'small amounts of everything' or whatever it says (I can't see it right now, of course

) , so a few bites of a dessert is fine. My desserts during the week are nothing to write home about anyway. I also put in a small fourth meal. It means I do a bit less on a daily basis, but the consistency and compliance pays off in the long run for me.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun May 11, 2014 4:26 am

Thanks, everybody!

Yesterday started off well, but ended in a fail. I ate a decent breakfast and lunch, and one thing I did right yesterday was going home to eat lunch right after my gym workout, instead of doing another activity, delaying my lunch, and getting a junk food item like a Starbucks latte later, because I was so hungry. My downfall came with the afternoon dessert and dinner. The dessert was fine. I just had a dairy free chocolate bar and a cup of coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia. The problem arose when dinner was delayed by about 1.5 hours. I was too tired to cook anything, so I asked DH to bring home some Arby's. By the time he came home, I was super tired, super hungry (no doubt a blood sugar dip from the candy bar), and cranky. After dinner, I ate 5 English Tea Biscuit cookies, and a piece of peppermint bark. I think I just gave in to the WTH effect.

Oh well.
I decided since Sunday is Mother's Day, and I was busy with family today, I'm just going to make it an S weekend. I didn't do too badly today, and I plan on just enjoying tomorrow.

Friday
Breakfast: Green smoothie, Lara Bar Alt, coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia
Lunch: turkey sandwich in a wrap with mayo, mustard, herb salad mix, spinach, basil, and black pepper. Chips. Enjoy Life trail mix with 1 T of Enjoy Life mega chunks added to it.
Afternoon dessert: Enjoy Life candy bar, coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia.
Dinner: Arby's Turkey, bacon ranch wrap, small curly fry, 5 English Tea Biscuits, Trader Joes peppermint bark.

WIDR: Exercised, went home to eat lunch right after my gym workout, so I wouldn't pig out later. It almost worked! I will try something like this again, the next time I go to the gym.

Saturday S Day

Breakfast : I played in a band concert this morning, and there was breakfast! I had eggs, fruit, 1/2 of a sausage link (too spicy), 2 strips of bacon, 1 square of French toast casserole, and orange juice.
Lunch: A vegan cupcake, and a white chocolate raspberry mocha with almond milk.

Dinner: Mexican food, with my mom, sister, and BIL! Shrimp quesadillas, rice, beans, chips and salsa (I saved about half of it for lunch tomorrow).
PM trip with my mom: Coffee drink from Costco

WIDR: Played well in my band concert, enjoyed my day with my family, saved 1/2 of my restaurant food for tomorrow.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun May 11, 2014 4:30 am

Imogen: I may end up doing a mod like that. I'd like to get away from feeling like I 'have' to have dessert each day.

Auto, Thanks!

Eschano, Thank you!

Dandelion, I can see myself following this type of plan long term. I think it will work, as long as I keep my eating structured, and my dessert intake very moderate. Thanks!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Mon May 12, 2014 5:58 am

Today was, of course, an S Day, since it was Mother's Day. DH gave me beautiful flowers, and he let me sleep in, and get a little break from the kids. There was a little too much food, but it wasn't over the top. It was a great day!

Breakfast: Green smoothie, coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia.

Snack: 2 delicious cupcakes from my church! My church offered them to all of the women.

Lunch: leftovers from yesterday's Mexican restaurant outing.

PM snack: the other vegan cupcake I bought yesterday. I am now cupcaked out.

Dinner: Chinese food!

WIDR: I haven't eaten anything after dinner for two nights now! I've had a great weekend with my family.

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Tue May 13, 2014 4:41 am

Glad you had a great Mother's Day & weekend! Aren't all Sundays S days though?

Linda

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Tue May 13, 2014 6:55 am

Linda, Thanks!

Since I'm not doing Vanilla No S (but I may get there, at some point), I'm not exactly sure how to define my weekends. I call them S Days, but I basically treat them the same as weekdays, except my eating isn't as structured on weekends (more snacks, etc....)

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Tue May 13, 2014 6:57 am

Linda, Thanks!

Since I don't do Vanilla No S, I don't have S Days per se (except for on special days), but I do let my eating become more relaxed on weekends.

Dandelion · Post by **Dandelion** » Thu May 15, 2014 12:16 am

I know what you mean CG. I don't do vanilla, so no N or S days for me, either. I'm not even sure I'd call what I do 'No S', but it's the closest thing out there.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Fri May 16, 2014 6:47 am

Hello! Sorry I've been MIA the past few days. I've been dealing with some unexpected MRI results for my hamstring, which has made things stressful, the past few days. It sounds like the doctor doesn't think it's too bad, but he wants to rule out some things, so

. My eating has been really off and on, the past few days.

5/13 NWS day, because my DH and I had out first date in 3 months.

That part of the day was nice! That night, however, I was really stressed out about my upcoming thigh MRI, and I binged. I realized later on that bingeing is pointless, so since then, I've tried to keep myself busy at night.

5/14 Success!

5/15 Fail. Not too huge, but I ate 2 bags of veggie chips after dinner tonight, and I had an extra Starbucks treat this afternoon.

I will get back to posting my food tomorrow. I think it helps.

Dandelion, I hear you! I'm not quite doing No S either, but No S is closest to my WOE. I want to get back to being more structured in my eating, because I think that would help me.

Dandelion · Post by **Dandelion** » Fri May 16, 2014 11:54 pm

'Bingeing is pointless.' I think I said words to that effect to myself at some point today. It wasn't really a binge - just a mid-morning snack, which I never eat, even though it's scheduled into my day and everyone else around me eats. Today I wanted it even though I wasn't even hungry. And I told myself it was pointless, unnecessary and wouldn't help.

And then I ate it anyway.

Hope your hamstring isn't too bad after all.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sat May 17, 2014 12:07 am

Dandelion, I've done that a number of times. Thanks! They still haven't called to schedule this MRI. I'm trying not to worry too much about it.

I will finish my check in later on tonight.

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Sat May 17, 2014 4:15 am

Sorry about your hamstring. I'm sure it'll be fine!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sat May 17, 2014 11:24 am

I'm calling today a success. While it was not a perfect No S Day, it was still a far better eating day than I've had for most of this week. One observation I made today, though: I have got to do better about working around some of my food sensitivities. I know I'm sensitive to dairy, and it seems to be several of the components of dairy (both high and low lactose dairy foods bother me). I think I'm sensitive to soy, and I have issues with garlic, onions, and possibly potatoes. I'm not as sure about gluten. I think I may have to bite the bullet, so to speak, and do an elimination diet for awhile. I'm sharing all of this, because I spent most of yesterday with my stomach feeling off.

Breakfast: A great sugar free cinnamon muffin. I got the recipe from a blog called Sugar Free Mom. I also had fruit, cashews, and coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia.

Lunch: Baked potato with Greek yogurt, mango peach salsa, and broccoli. This meal was really yummy and filling, but this was also the meal that triggered my stomach issues for today.

PM: Single serving of SO Delicious mocha almond fudge coconut milk ice cream. Coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia.

Dinner: Chicken patty on a whole wheat bun, with spinach, mayo, BBQ sauce, and dried dill. Veggie chips. Carrots with Annie's Lite Honey Mustard dressing for dip.

After dinner: Single serving of York minis.

So while not a perfect No S Day, I decided to cut myself some slack and still call this day a success, since my eating was far better than for most of this week. I will definitely work on getting back to not eating anything after dinner, though.

Linda, Thanks!

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Sat May 17, 2014 4:46 pm

Hi Clarinetgal,
sorry you are having food issues. I hope you can get to the bottom of them!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sat May 17, 2014 10:12 pm

Thanks, auto!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun May 18, 2014 5:33 am

Today was an S Day, but a pretty tame one.

I basically had brunch and dinner, and a couple of extra sweets. Plus, I didn't eat anything tonight.

Brunch: Coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia. Pancakes with blueberries, whipped cream, and chocolate chips. Sausage patty. Glass of OJ. Half a serving of Mother's circus animal cookies. 3 York minis.

Dinner: Grilled salmon burger spread with tartar sauce on a salad with tomatoes, pineapple, almonds, pine nuts, fresh dill, fresh chives, dried dill, and black pepper. Not bad! Piece of homemade apple angel food cake, with whipped cream and cinnamon (yum!). 3 surf sweets jelly beans.

Dandelion · Post by **Dandelion** » Mon May 19, 2014 2:24 am

Sounds good. I've been thinking of grilled salmon - and I don't even like fish. Maybe next weekend.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Mon May 19, 2014 7:58 am

Dandelion, I just get the salmon burgers from Costco. They're very easy to prepare, and they taste good.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon May 19, 2014 12:42 pm

Your food sounds delicious! Yummy.

Dandelion · Post by **Dandelion** » Mon May 19, 2014 11:23 pm

Thanks for the tip. I may do that - my husband would love it

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Mon May 19, 2014 11:40 pm

We had the Costco salmon burgers last week.

They are a staple around here.

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Tue May 20, 2014 8:12 pm

Gotta love costco! I picked up some Belgian Boys crepes yesterday and we had them for breakfast filled with fresh fruit and topped w/ whipped cream. SO good!!!

Looks like you're doing great!

Linda

Dandelion · Post by **Dandelion** » Wed May 21, 2014 3:22 am

In that Baader-Meinhof way things go, someone had Costco salmon for lunch at work today

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Wed May 21, 2014 5:00 am

So here is how my past few days have gone. Both of my S Days were pretty tame!

I had some treats, but I stayed pretty moderate. Woo hoo! Monday was a fail.

I did okay up through dinner time, but then I binged after my band rehearsal. I figured out my downfall for Monday. My dinner was good (breakfast for dinner), but if I don't eat nutrient-dense food for dinner (lots of protein and veggies), I get pretty hungry in the evening. Also, my band rehearsals are pretty good workouts. I play first clarinet in both bands, and a lot of the parts are pretty rigorous. I'm pretty much always hungry after band. After yesterday's fail, I have decided to try having a small, healthy snack, to see if that will help (something like a Lara bar, or some nuts and dried fruit). Today was good. It was a very busy day, because I went with my son's class on their field trip to our local zoo. It was fun!

Monday's Meals

Breakfast: coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia. Green smoothie. Simple Square.

Lunch: Strawberry poppyseed salad from Panera Bread. Part of a baguette. Half of a baseball cookie. GF chicken tenders with BBQ sauce (Panera didn't include the chicken in the salad.

).

Dinner: Pancakes with blueberries, whipped cream, and chocolate chips. Sausage patty. Lara bar alt, for extra protein.

PM binge: Arby's chicken tenders, 4 piece mozzarella sticks, orange creamsicle shake (this was good, and I might get it again sometime, on a weekend).

Tuesday's Meals

Breakfast : Coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia before I left for the zoo. Lara Bar Alt and Simple Square at the zoo.

Lunch: Peanut butter and marmalade sandwich. About 3/4 of a small bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos (these were way too hot, and I won't eat them again).

PM snack: Grande soy espresso frappucino on the way home from the zoo (I was tired!)

Dinner: 2 sweet apple chicken sausages with spicy brown mustard; quinoa salad with asparagus, peas, and avocado with a homemade lemon basil dressing (pretty good!); fruit with a small amount of whipped cream.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Wed May 21, 2014 5:08 am

Dandelion, I'm glad you had the Costco salmon.

Auto, the Costco salmon burgers are a staple in my house, too.

Linda, I will have to look for those crepes! Thanks!

Eschano, Thanks!

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Thu May 22, 2014 1:09 am

What, Belgian crepes at Costco? Are they near the muffins and things? That's it, I'm getting some.

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Thu May 22, 2014 5:20 am

Hehe auto, no they're in the frig section. You just pop them in the microwave for 1 minute and they're ready to go. I've been sticking with fruit filling but my girls had theirs with Nutella & bananas this morning and were very happy. They're SO good!!

http://belgianboys.com/tag/all-natural-crepes/

Linda

Dandelion · Post by **Dandelion** » Thu May 22, 2014 11:56 pm

Wait...wait...wait. They have leige waffles????

I was just looking up recipes the other day thinking about trying to make them.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Fri May 23, 2014 6:30 am

Well, yesterday was a flat out fail. I have known for several days that I have to have an MRI for my right thigh, but when I called to schedule that test, I found out I also have to have an angiogram for that thigh. Apparently, my doctor thinks the issue with my right hamstring is vascular. I'm guessing he is also being cautious, since I'm only 39. Anyway, I was stressed out for most of the evening. I binged on junk food, which I know is pointless. Oh well. I'm feeling somewhat better today. I'm just ready to get these tests over with.
Today was a MUCH better eating day.

It wasn't a perfect No S day, but I'm still calling it a success.

Wednesday's Meals

Breakfast: Coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia, green smoothie, Lara bar alt

Lunch: Go Picnic black bean and plantain chips kit, allergy friendly chocolate cupcake (it was surprisingly good), kettle chips. Note to self: not the best lunch. It was not satisfying, it bothered my stomach, and I missed my fruits and veggies.

Dinner: homemade quinoa salad, 2 Trader Joes sweet apple chicken sausages, piece of apple angel food cake with whipped cream, SO Delicious mocha almond fudge coconut milk ice cream with whipped cream.

Evening: Sour cream and onion chips. Several GF cookies.

Thursday's Meals

Breakfast: coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia. GF muesli. Cashews. Strawberries with 1 t coconut sugar.

Lunch: green smoothie and Lara bar alt

Afternoon snack: 1 serving of sugar free chocolate mug cake with a small amount of whipped cream, and 1/2 T dairy free chocolate chips. Note: When/ if I make this again, use either coconut sugar or honey for the sweetener instead of chocolate liquid stevia.

Dinner: homemade chicken avocado salad on top of a regular salad with mushrooms, carrots, radishes, cauliflower, pepitas, and honey mustard dressing. Pretty good!

After band: Small piece of chocolate cake right after rehearsal. One of the members brought in a large cake for his birthday. He does this every year. This is pretty much the only time we ever have treats at rehearsal, so I took a piece without feeling guilty about it.

Linda, I am going to Costco soon, so I will keep my eye out for those crepes.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri May 23, 2014 9:41 am

It's so understandable to be stressed in that situation. I hope all goes well!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Fri May 23, 2014 12:37 pm

Thanks, Eschano!

Ursula · Post by **Ursula** » Sat May 24, 2014 1:16 am

Hi, Clarinet! (I'm guessing that's what you play in your band. ðŸ’¡)

Hope your leg issue turns out to be something easy to correct. Aging is not for sissies I am finding out. ðŸ˜’

I have to say that what you eat on a daily basis is like a dream menu for me: so healthy yet so delicious! Glad I have a smoothie sister in the bunch! I love LaraBars too, but the chocolate chip kind, which I am saving for my S-morning coffee. Oh! And the crepes!!! Going to have to make an unscheduled visit to Cosco tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Sat May 24, 2014 4:53 am

Oh yay--it's a crepe party! Hope you guys enjoy them as much as me.

So sorry about the leg issue. It's the not knowing that's always so hard for me in these situations. I'm sure it'll be okay but your slip up was understandable.

Have a great weekend!

Linda

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sat May 24, 2014 10:33 am

Ursula, Yes, I do play the clarinet.

I've been playing for 28.5 years now. Thanks! I've come a long way in my eating, over the past two years. I really like the chocolate chip Lara bars, too.

Linda, Thanks! That's exactly what it is, the not knowing, that is driving me crazy. I hope you have a good weekend, too!

I will update my checkin later on today.

Heather

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sat May 24, 2014 7:36 pm

I'm just sharing a few random thoughts, and I'll do my actual update tonight. First, I had another binge night yesterday night. Part of it was because of my dinner. I had battered fish, oven baked fries, and tartar sauce. It was good, but it wasn't satisfying. The other reason was because of the medical tests. I'm stressed out by the MRI (my knee MRI was awful!), and I think the stress over the angiogram is just a fear of the unknown. Also, my dad and one of my younger sisters have serious illnesses (MS and cancer for my dad, and cancer for my sister), and I think a part of me is afraid I'll have something serious, too. My gut feeling says I don't think so, but I don't know. I know the next couple of nights, I can distract myself by practicing my clarinet for my upcoming band concerts on Monday, and I'll just have to figure out ways to keep myself busy these next few nights, even if it means going to bed super early ( which wouldn't be a bad thing!). I just know that my size 10 pants have gotten tighter on me, so I've got to crack down on this nighttime eating.
Second, I'm thinking more and more about trying Vanilla No S -- or a slightly modified version with 4 meals, since I have reflux that comes and goes. Part of it is to help me finally lose my last 20ish pounds, but part of it is because sugar really does have too much power over me. I may take the plunge on Tuesday.
Finally, my tastes really have changed. I love fruits and veggies now, and I really miss them when I don't have them with a meal. I'm also not enjoying processed meats, anymore. I'm to the point where I could eat animal protein once, or at most, twice a day, and be completely fine. If I weren't sensitive to dairy, I could almost become a vegetarian.
That's it, for now! I will do my update tonight.

Heather

Ursula · Post by **Ursula** » Sat May 24, 2014 8:22 pm

Hi, Heather! (love knowing your real name!)
I am SO sorry you are suffering the anxiety of medical testing. I didn't realize you had more than your leg to deal with. I will say a little prayer for you (if that's ok). But DO be comforted by your gut feeling that there is nothing seriously wrong because your gut is usually correct.

Since I am pretty new, I am always interested to hear about everyone else's NoS experiences and what I can glean from them. I perked right up when I read about your acid reflux since I have suffered in the last couple of years from the exact same thing. And I can totally relate to your night binging as that is the one thing that beats down my otherwise cheery disposition, murders my self-esteem. I KNOW the reflux I have is my reward for all those years of binging at night. Even this last week of compliant No S'ing, I took my acid blockers after dinner for fear of the middle-of-the-night throat-on-fire hell. Mainly, I was shocked that I didn't want to binge at night this last week. Seriously, I don't think I have, as long as I can remember, gone five nights in a row without at least overeating at night.

After reading what you posted, I was curious about what non-vanilla S path you are on now and if you are saying that plain vanilla may help against the binging....? I am desperate to keep the urge to binge at night from returning....I think that even though I actually gained weight this week, I would stay this course if it changed just that part of my life permanently. Not having wanted to binge even through menstrual madness has been such a boost to my self-esteem and I want to learn from others here how to keep that going.

Thanks in advance for letting me pick your brain and I hope you can find soothing ways to distract your worries this weekend (besides answering all my baby questions .

)

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Sun May 25, 2014 6:14 am

Big *hugs* heather! Just cut yourself some slack till you get your tests back. I'd be pretty happy to fit into a size 10 pants tight or not but I know it's all relative!

I'm right there w you with the meat thing. Even I didn't have kids I'd probably be a vegetarian again!

Hang in there!

Linda

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun May 25, 2014 6:28 am

Well, today ended up being a pretty tame S Day, and I did not eat after dinner. Woo hoo!

One new trick I tried, which I might make part of my nightly routine, was doing most of my tooth brushing before I practiced my clarinet. I should ideally do that before I practice anyway, to keep icky food particles out, but I usually don't have time to do more than rinse and floss. Anyway, getting my toothbrushing done ahead of time gave me a huge incentive to not eat tonight, because I don't want to do it again.
Here are my meals for today:

Breakfast: 2 sunny side up eggs on top of 2 hash brown patties. Peaches with whipped cream and cinnamon. Coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia.

Lunch: Green smoothie (this smoothie had 2 T of almond butter in it, so I didn't need anything else).

Snack: Grande soy cinnamon dolce latte and marshmallow dream bar from Starbucks. Note: I think I am seriously losing my taste for Starbucks drinks. The latte tasted almost icky sweet to me. I will definitely be cutting way back on Starbucks drinks. The marshmallow dream bar (which is just a big rice crispie treat) was good, though!

Dinner: Turkey burger, potato salad, cut up veggies with homemade honey mustard dressing.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun May 25, 2014 6:44 am

Ursula, Thanks!

I appreciate it. I'm sorry you suffer from acid reflux, too. It is definitely not fun. As for my No S path, I will admit I am still struggling with this. I think what I envisioned was either eating 3 meals and allowing a sweet with one of the meals, or eating 3 main meals plus 1 smaller meal, if my reflux is acting up. My problems with this are wanting to eat at night ( I really do want to break myself from this), or wanting to eat a sweet in the 3 PM hour when my 2 year old is napping. I suppose I 'could' eat a small sweet plus drink a cup of coffee in the 3 PM hour and still stick to the structure of 3 meals and no snacks or seconds, but I'm not sure. As other No S pros have pointed out, that approach is almost harder than Vanilla, because it would be hard to just stick with one treat. I think by doing Vanilla, it would help break sugar's hold on me, and it would definitely prevent against bingeing (as long as I follow the rules). I'll still have to think about this. I don't mind answering your questions at all.

Linda, thanks!

I appreciate it. As for eating more vegetarian, I am definitely interested in trying vegetarian recipes, when I get the chance.

Heather

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Mon May 26, 2014 6:05 am

Today was another good S Day!

It was also my second day in a row of NOT eating after dinner.

Breakfast: Single serve peanut butter flax muffin with whipped cream and cinnamon. Peaches with whipped cream and cinnamon. Coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia. Note: I glanced at the ingredients in liquid stevia today, and I was horrified to discover it has 20 percent alcohol.

I'm sure it's fine for baking, but I will not be using it in my coffee again. Tomorrow, I'll try coconut milk and 1 t coconut sugar.

Lunch: McDonalds Southwest grilled chicken salad, 2 chicken nuggets, small handful of fries.

Dinner: BLT with mayo and mustard in a Paleo wrap, potato salad, 1 minute chocolate mug cake for dessert.

Other note: my eating was pretty high fat today, and it seemed to aggravate my reflux. I've noticed when I keep my eating more moderate fat (like 35 percent of my calories) that I don't have as many problems with reflux. This is just something for me to keep in mind.

Heather

Ursula · Post by **Ursula** » Mon May 26, 2014 1:31 pm

Hi, Heather!

Congrats on not eating at night!!! And thanks for answering my questions.

I think I get what you are (were?) trying to accomplish: four smaller meals instead of three big ones to avoid the reflux...? Sugar is my weakness too, and I am so pathetic that if I had a daily sweet treat it wouldn't necessarily make me want more but it would leave me completely unsatisfied not having sugar in binge quantities. In other words, if I can't have a truckload of sugar, I would rather have none.

As far as the acid reflux, I tried out eating dinner (a huge plate of lasagna, only to test my theory of course

) by 6 pm last night. Guess what? No acid reflux and no acid blockers needed!!!! That made me SO happy!

I loved reading your S-day whipped cream entries: I could sit down with just a spoon and can of reddi wip any time (and often have). Hey, the fat-free version is less than 200 calories total (I would justify). Seriously, I must add that to my weekend shopping list. Yay for S days and the return of favorites!

Have a great week!

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Tue May 27, 2014 12:05 am

I don't know, Clarinetgal, maybe I should try that liquid stevia tomorrow morning with my coffee. My students would probably find me much nicer!

Oh, and one other thing--more like a question--what part of your food that day was high fat? I didn't think it looked high fat all.... muffin? BLT? french fries? sounds pretty carby to me.......

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Tue May 27, 2014 4:11 am

Bring on the stevia!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue May 27, 2014 1:28 pm

Hi Clarinetgal, just catching up with your thread. The annoying thing is to experiment but the best thing in the world is if you find what works for you and can stick to it.

May I gently suggest that it wasn't the fat but the highly-processed nature of the food you were eating that gave you reflux?

Ursula · Post by **Ursula** » Tue May 27, 2014 9:45 pm

What brand of stevia was that...? He, he: that reminds me of the classic I Love Lucy Vitameatavegamin episode. Priceless.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Z264w9_2Q

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Wed May 28, 2014 11:48 am

Well, Monday ended up being an NWS day, because it was super busy. I played in two band concerts, at two different Memorial Day ceremonies. The concerts went well, and I even had a solo in one of them.

My eating was a little over the top, but not awful.
Tuesday was better up until the evening, when I ate at night again. I think I'm just going to have to be really proactive, to make sure I don't succumb to temptation. I know my main problems, on the days I eat at night, are I'm tired, or I'm bored (I took yesterday night off from practicing my clarinet, since I had played so much on Monday).

Monday's Meals

Breakfast: Waffles with blueberries, whipped cream, and chocolate chips. Sausage patty. A small bowl of Festival Fruit Blend. Coffee with coconut milk, coconut sugar, and vanilla extract (pretty good!). Lara Bar alt, before I left for my band concerts.

Dinner: 5 Guys bacon burger and fries!

PM: Arby's orange cream shake, 4 piece mozzarella stick.

Tuesday

Breakfast: Green smoothie, almonds, coffee with coconut milk and coconut sugar (I didn't like this combo as much. It definitely needs another flavor in it).

Lunch: Single serving of potato salad, 3 GF chicken tenders with a small amount of BBQ sauce, 1/2 single serve package of M and Ms. 1/2 of a large cucumber (yum! I'll have to eat cucumbers more often!).

PM snack: Chips, some Crunch and Munch popcorn. For some reason, the urge to snack was really strong today.

Dinner: Homemade chicken, veggie, mushroom soup. Cornbread with butter and raw honey.

After dinner: Chips, more popcorn, more potato salad.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Wed May 28, 2014 12:01 pm

Ursula, Thanks! I just need to keep it up. I will confess, I love whipped cream, and it is one of the few kinds of dairy that doesn't bother my stomach. I love it on frozen fruit, since frozen fruit is usually more tart. I'm glad eating a big dinner didn't bother your reflux! I still haven't quite figured out what works for me, in terms of preventing reflux. Some days are better than others. The brand of stevia I use is Nu Naturals. I LOVE that Lucy clip you posted! Some of her clips are hilarious. She was really talented.

Auto, LOL, on the Stevia.

You may be right, on carbs being the culprit. Something to think about.

Linda, LOL!

Eschano, You are right that experimenting is both annoying, but valuable. I would love to figure out what works for me, in terms of preventing reflux. I've tried several of the pills (Zantac, Omeprazole, etc...) and they all gave me unpleasant side effects, so I'd prefer not to take them, if possible. Maybe it's the carbs? I know when I was eating a more Paleo diet, my reflux pretty much went away. However, it was a little too low carb for me (I was tired, felt mildly depressed, etc...). I definitely need to work on finding balance.

Edited to add: I will catch up on your ladies check ins a little later. Something woke me up a little after 4 AM, and I need to try to get some more sleep, before my kids wake up.

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Thu May 29, 2014 6:39 am

I'm glad your concerts went well. I'm so impressed that ypur so musically inclined. I seem to be missing that gene.

For DH he gets reflux when he eats late at night esp if it's a big meal.

Good luck getting to the bottom of it!

Linda

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Thu May 29, 2014 6:52 am

Today was a much better eating day!

I would classify it as a minor fail, only because I ate a small bag of veggie chips between lunch and dinner. Otherwise, my eating was pretty good! I also didn't eat at night.
I've decided I'm going to go ahead and transition to more Vanilla No S (or a slightly modified version with 4 meals), so today at Trader Joes, I stocked up on a lot of fresh fruit, and healthier sweets. Trader Joes has chocolate covered bananas that are literally just bananas covered with chocolate. The chocolate didn't have any questionable ingredients, from what I recall. They are REALLY good, and I'm normally not a huge fan of bananas. I also plan on trying chocolate avocado pudding soon.
Tomorrow will be an NWS day, since I'm having my thigh MRI plus thigh MRA (ugh!). I'll be getting some sort of treat after these tests, but I'll make sure my eating isn't over the top.

Breakfast: Green smoothie, cashews, coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia (I decided since I only use 2-3 drops, the little bit of alcohol in there shouldn't hurt me).
Lunch: Trader Joes Gone Bananas (chocolate covered banana bites!), salmon salad ( yum!), a tomato, some fresh blueberries, 1 T of Enjoy Life chocolate chunks.
Afternoon snack: Small bag of veggie chips, coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia.
Dinner: Oatmeal with hemp hearts, raisins, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Leftover corn bread with butter and honey. Part of a KIND bar. (An odd dinner, but my stomach has been off all day, so I wanted something safe. This dinner worked okay for me).

Linda, Thanks! Yes, eating late at night causes reflux for me, too (yet another reason why I'm trying to break myself of that habit).

Heather

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu May 29, 2014 8:28 am

Hi Heather,

I hope all goes well with the tests today! A NWS day sounds like a good idea in that case. Otherwise, welcome to vanilla

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Thu May 29, 2014 9:58 am

Hi Clarinetgal,
From reading your check-in thread, 4 meals a day sounds like it could be a good fit for you. My one suggestion would be that you'll have to be prepared to plan ahead for meals even more with 4 to plan a day (rather than 3). For me, that is more challenging than avoiding the urge to snack, LOL!

And re: the reflux--I didn't mean to imply that the carbs are causing reflux, just that it probably wasn't too much fat that day (based just on that one day I read the foods that gave you reflux).

I've only had reflux a few times in my whole life, and it usually was linked with eating too late at night, especially foods like pizza, or a burger and fries. So a substantial amount of food within an hour or two of bedtime seems to be a real trigger--I think it's as simple as lying down while there is still food in our stomach.

My other "thought" on how acid production works in the stomach really has made me come to appreciate regularity of meals. If our brain and stomach begin to "expect" food at certain times of the day (and if they even have a decent expectation of the carb/protein/fat composition), then we will begin producing acid in timing with the meal, in an estimate of what will be needed. So irregular meals with irregular nutrient composition have our stomach producing acid inappropriately, possibly whenever we begin to crave something.

When I first started NoS, I actually had a little more acid reflux than I had pre-NoS. This only last a week or two (and it did freak me out), and since then I can't remember having it! Even if I am hungry between meals, it's like my stomach knows it's not "time" to make acid.

But I'm thankful I don't suffer much from that problem, so my thoughts are just some general ideas that may or may not be helpful.

I do hope you find a good solution for that; I admire your desire to get to the bottom of the problem without having to keep up with the anti-acids. There's a time and place for all medications, but it seems like it's worth the good try you're giving it if there's a possibility of a cure.

Oh, and one last thing! I SO know that feeling of having a bit of insomnia and thinking--I've got to get some sleep before these little angel-energizer bunnies are up and going full-speed!!!!!!! So I hope you did get some more sleep.

Ursula · Post by **Ursula** » Thu May 29, 2014 5:43 pm

Hi, Heather! I too wish you all the best testing and results!!! I also think making tomorrow a S(ick) day makes perfect sense.

Auto: I agree with you 100% with the late dinner/acid reflux connection. I already told Heather a few posts back that I did a little experiment last Sunday: I ate a huge plate of lasagna for dinner, but was finished by 6 pm and skipped my nightly acid blocker. Amazingly, I had zero acid reflux. For me anyway, it has turned out to be the perfect easy solution (though, admittedly, I don't have a sit-down-to-dinner kind of family situation, so this may not be such a feasible solution for those with children).

Again, major hugs to you for tomorrow!!!

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Fri May 30, 2014 4:51 am

Good luck tomorrow--I know you'll be so glad to have this over with. Hope it goes well!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Fri May 30, 2014 8:06 am

Well, my tests went okay. I ended up having an MRI, MRA, and MRV.

At least my doctor is being thorough. I should find out the results next Friday. My eating was over the top, but I will get back on track tomorrow.

Breakfast: 3 egg omelette with some veggies, mushrooms, and Daiya mozzarella shreds. Toast with butter and marmalade, fruit, 3 Trader Joes banana bites, coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia. I ate a big breakfast, because the tests were going to cut into my lunch time.

Post test treats: Mocha cookie crumble frappucino and chocolate chunk cookie. I really do think I'm losing my taste for Starbucks drinks. The cookie tasted a lot better to me than the coffee drink.

Dinner: Soup and a large piece of baguette bread with butter.

Post band rehearsal meal: I stopped at Applebee's, mainly because my dinner had been really rushed (I was trying to feed my 2 year old, also), and I don't find dinner really pleasant, when it's rushed like that. In the future, I will try to eat my dinner at around 5, when my 2 year old is napping (my older son is usually in therapy at 5), and just eat a small snack when I get home from band. Something like nuts and dried fruit. Anyway, I ate a little less than half of the appetizer sampler plate, and I brought the rest home to eat tomorrow.

Eschano, Thanks!

Auto, Thanks! I think what you said about planned meals does make sense. I'll have to play around with that.

Ursula, Thanks!

Linda, Thanks!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri May 30, 2014 8:55 am

Glad the tests went ok! Hope it's all going to work out

One last day before S Days.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sat May 31, 2014 7:50 am

Today was a mixed day, in terms of eating. It wasn't a really bad or overly unhealthy eating day, but I still ended up eating at night.

Also, I was feeling pretty low today about my eating and lack of weight loss. I strongly suspect it had to do with the fact that AF should be coming in the next few days. I always get really hormonal around this time.
Part of the problem is that I am also still tracking my calories on My Fitness Pal. I rarely ever get under my calorie goal, and that discourages me. I feel like I am reasonably intelligent, and I am talented in certain things (like playing the clarinet), so why can't I stick to a simple calorie budget? I really want to ditch My Fitness Pal, because I certainly don't see myself tracking calories for the rest of my life. However, I am afraid to give it up.
That is what brings me to No S, and has kept bringing me back off and on, since 2009. I really believe that if the habits of No S became well established for me, then maybe I could lose weight, or at least not gain any more weight. Just to clarify, I have 20-30 pounds to go, to reach my final goal. I will disclose that I currently hover between 150-152, and I want to get down to
125-130.
The other issues that were on my mind today had to do with my reflux, and with my sensitive gut. I know I'm going to have to give up coffee, but I'm going to have to sleep better, before I can do that. I also need to go back to not consuming certain kinds of citrus, like orange juice, because that really aggravates my reflux. In addition, I can't stop thinking about what Eschano, auto, Ursula, and Linda pointed out, about how highly processed carbs and eating late at night can aggravate it. I will certainly keep experimenting with that.
Moreover, I'm going to have to get better about not consuming dairy.

I've eaten dairy over the past couple of days and, let's just say my gut is VERY off right now. I'm pretty sure I'm sensitive to the casein, since cheese (low lactose, more casein) gives me problems. I think lactose bothers me, too. Anyway, I will definitely try to be better about avoiding it.
This is the end of my long post, but I had a lot on my mind today. I guess my goals will be to keep working on finding ways to eliminate the reflux; find dairy free foods I enjoy, and that will help me to get enough calcium; and to figure out how to construct my meals in a way that will leave me feeling reasonably full, but help me to (hopefully) lose weight.

Here are my meals for today

Breakfast: Green smoothie, cashews, coffee with coconut milk and liquid Stevia (I may end up ditching green smoothies for awhile. I had terrible reflux after breakfast today, and this is not the first time that has happened. I'm sure the culprits were the OJ in the smoothie, and my coffee).

Lunch: Applebee's leftovers (there was a LOT of cheese, in this meal)

PM snack: Healthy ice cream made in my Ninja with a ripe frozen banana, 1 T cocoa powder, and 1 T peanut butter. Yum! I also had 4 Trader Joes banana bites ( I may have to ditch these, except for on weekends. They're a little too good).

Dinner: leftover soup, large piece of bread with DF butter, a kiwi

Late night eating: 2 small bags of veggie crisps, 1/4 C of chocolate chips ( I honestly think part of my problem tonight was that dinner didn't fill me up enough).

Eschano, Thanks!

Yes, one last day.

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 2:18 am

hi clarinetgal! My heart really goes out to you, it's clear that you have a lot going on! I may be a little off on this, but I kind of wonder if you are just at that absolute crazy crazy time with your boys' ages.... I know that I could just NOT keep with any new habits during those years! Mine are now 8 and 5 (they were 7 and 4 when I started NoS), and I really think things are SO much easier than when they were 5 and 2!

So please be gentle with yourself. Sounds like you are so busy you are running around like crazy all day, not sleeping well at night, not having the time to really care for your own body, and so on. Motherhood. Super-motherhood.

Oh, and BTW, I'm all for ditching your calorie-counting. If you are going to make some new habits, they've got to be ultra-ultra simple and sustaninable. Find the barest, tiniest, smallest change you can make and stick to. Start there. And weight loss? Baby steps, baby goals. Like top of your BMI, not middle!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 5:27 am

Hi, Auto! Thanks! I would say that yes, I am very much at a crazy time with my boys' ages and stages. I haven't mentioned this yet, because it hasn't really come up, but my 6 year old is autistic. He's a GREAT kid, but he can be a real challenge to take care of, at times. My 2 year old is neurotypical, but he is super active, and super busy. A lot of my eating at night, or eating 'naughty' foods like Starbucks drinks or fast food, has come from the desire to relax and unwind after a busy day. Yes, I can imagine it will become easier to focus on my eating, as my boys get older. My eating has already improved over the past two years, as my younger son has become a little less needy.
I appreciate what you had to say about being gentle with myself, and about finding simple, sustainable habits. I will definitely keep that in mind.
Thank you!

Heather

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 5:36 am

Today was an S Day, and it wasn't too bad! I did have a couple of extra treats, but my eating wasn't over the top, by any means. One experiment I tried with dinner was really focusing on keeping it to one plate. I had to do a little vertical stacking, but it was a success!

I think, as I am working more on developing sustainable habits, I will continue to focus on the one plate rule.
Here are today's meals:

Breakfast: single serve chocolate mint flax muffin with whipped cream and chocolate chips. Strawberries with whipped cream and chocolate chips. Cashews. Coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia. If anybody is interested, I get the recipes for these single serve flax muffins from a great blog called Sugar Free Mom.

'Lunch': A surprisingly good allergy free chocolate cupcake, an Enjoy Life rice milk chocolate bar ( the cupcake was better).

Dinner: Part of a turkey bacon ranch wrap from Walmart, tortilla chips with homemade guacamole ( yum!!), small serving of Walmart cole slaw, cut up veggies, small cup of cantaloupe, Costco chocolate chunk cookie.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Tue Jun 03, 2014 6:39 am

Yesterday's S Day was over the top. My older son was really crabby all day, and it rubbed off on everybody else, so it made for not a great day. Once the kids were in bed, I ate a bunch of sweets. Oh well.
Today was a success! I'm going to focus more on habits, as opposed to doing strict vanilla right now, but it was a good day!

Today's meals

Breakfast: I tried making 2 different green smoothies, and neither of them tasted good. I think my body needs a break from them, for now. I ended up eating two homemade mango blueberry muffins, a Lara bar alt, and some peaches with a small amount of whipped cream and cinnamon. I also had my usual coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia.

Lunch: Applebee's cedar salmon meal, dessert shooter, diet Coke. This was the perfect amount of food. I left feeling just full enough, but not stuffed.

Dinner: Soup, bread with butter, allergy friendly trail mix, cantaloupe

I'm still going back and forth, as to whether to do 3 meals or 4. Three meals is way simpler, but my reflux has been really acting up the past few days.

Heather

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Wed Jun 04, 2014 7:20 am

I had a pretty decent eating day today! I joined the June challenge, and I decided to focus on two goals for this month: 1) Eat 3-4 meals a day (depending on my reflux) with no snacking and 2) No eating after dinner. I eventually want to become more vanilla, but I think this is a good start for now.

Breakfast: Coffee with coconut milk and liquid stevia, 3 egg omelette (2 eggs, 1 egg white) with mushrooms, asparagus, and Daiya cheese shreds; toast with butter and marmalade; tropical fruit with a small amount of whipped cream

Lunch: Coffee crisp bar, a peanut butter bar, 1/2 a bag of veggie crisps

PM fail: Some York minis before dinner

Dinner: Spaghetti, French bread with butter, peas

Heather

lpearlmom · Post by **lpearlmom** » Wed Jun 04, 2014 7:28 am

Sounds like a very realistic approach. Glad your day went well!

Linda

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Wed Jun 04, 2014 8:25 am

Thanks, Linda!

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Wed Jun 04, 2014 12:46 pm

Sounds like a plan!
BTW, good ole' spaghet for dinner! That's a regular at my house. Everybody likes it, everybody fills up.

worth it · Post by **worth it** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 1:25 am

Dear Clarinetgal,

I'm totally impressed with your positive attitude surrounding your tracking. I really think that splitting your days up into sections was the right move for you. I believe this will help you on your journey to a healthy relationship with food.

Cheers!

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 6:28 am

Today was another good eating day! I was very tempted to eat after dinner tonight, but I resisted.

The other experiment I tried tonight was putting my spaghetti and peas on an 8 inch plate, instead of my normal 10 inch dinner plate. For a long time, I have measured my portions for dinner (as in using measuring cups, etc...), but tonight, I felt like I didn't have to do that. I was still a tiny bit hungry after dinner, but not enough that I felt like I had to eat something. I will try this experiment again tomorrow.

Breakfast: 2 homemade blueberry mango muffins, a Lara bar alt, black coffee.

Lunch: Panera You Pick 2. Turkey, bacon, avocado BLT (this is 1/2 a sandwich), and a cup of garden vegetable pesto soup. Part of a cookie (I shared the rest with my son). Green power smoothie. A very small portion of the bread that comes with their meals.

Afternoon: I tried a recipe for a sugar free mocha frappe. It wasn't bad! I added a tiny bit of whipped cream on top. This definitely helped tide me over until dinner.

Dinner: Spaghetti and peas on an 8 inch plate.

Auto, Thanks!

Spaghetti is a winner in my house, too!

Worth it (I love your screen name), Thanks!