Preemptive S'ing (S stands for sushi!)

No Snacks, no sweets, no seconds. Except on Days that start with S. Too simple for you? Simple is why it works. Look here for questions, introductions, support, success stories.

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mayo
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Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2005 7:38 pm

Preemptive S'ing (S stands for sushi!)

Post by mayo » Sat Apr 30, 2005 7:20 am

Heh, "preemptive" is just a nice way to say that I fell off the wagon early in the week, and I've decided to make it up on Saturday and Sunday, or as I've decided to call them for this week, Tsaturday and Tsunday.

Note to self: be careful when eating out with friends, esp. when eating family style. We went out for sushi, and I'm pretty sure all that white rice did me in. Now, I'm not a no-carb fanatic by any means; I just seem to be really sensitive to simple, starchy carbs, which means today I ended up eating a bag of peanut m&m's, half a cherry turnover, and a couple of sugar-encrusted butter cookies. I think it's a blood-sugar thing, cuz I was hit unusually strong by cravings.

I'll have to remember to go for sashimi--which I prefer anyway!--instead of sushi because it's very hard to control how much rice you eat when you eat sushi, unless you're willing to pick apart your roll. With that in mind, note #2 to self: lobby for sushi restaurants that feature fresh fish rather than big "more bang for your buck" rolls. I'm used to being laid-back about stuff, so it's good that I have no-S to remind me to be stricter when it comes to diet-related stuff like restaurant choice with friends.

So here's my tale of "whoa, I fell off the wagon," and I got two helpful mini-rules out of it. Score! Talking it out is really helpful, so thanks, guys, esp. Reinhard for a place to wallow. :wink:

mayo

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gratefuldeb67
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Location: Great Neck, NY

Tsaturday LOL...

Post by gratefuldeb67 » Sat Apr 30, 2005 1:30 pm

Hey Mayolita! :wink:
Look, it's fine that you fell off the wagon.. It really happens. Shouldn't happen weekly, daily, or hourly, but once or twice a month, it's just bound to happen... I would like to suggest that you don't, in fact, rename this Saturday, Tsaturday (what did you mess up on Tuesday? LOL)
and in a, "stick to the rules and NoS framework" way of thinking, *STILL* consider this weekend as S days... You don't have to go all hog wild and overdo it, but I think, Reinhard would agree (speak now our dear leader or forever hold your peace ) that if you try to enforce rules on those S days to make up for a bad day off program, it's counter productive.
So here comes a classic long ramble/rant from me.... Take a deep breath!

View your "off the wagon" day, as just that, and just learn from it.
Getting back at yourself by now depriving your S days, okay maybe getting back isn't the right idea, but let's use the word "penalizing" yourself, in an attempt to save the week, is unhelpful psychology (I know you love bedside psychologists so here I go! Just for you! LOL..)

The reason. You continue this guilt/penalty/deprivation model of eating, and it's unnecessary... One day off program can't really hurt you in the long run. It's the mental reaction that does... Just forgive yourself for those few off plan S'es, and continue the weekend as prescribed...
I think if you wanted you could take your S days on Thursday, but in that case it's a *planned* day, and you would make that a weekly habit...
Make up for your (minor!) excess, by 1. Learning from it, and 2. Being to the letter "good" in the future on N days...

Enjoy your S weekend as you should, no penalizing yourself is necessary.
The mindset is also very habit forming.. It's better to be clear in your mind that you "S'ed up", lol, rather than trying to make that day into an impromptu S day... it's more in your face and it keeps things defined in your habit mind... Don't fool yourself, when you mess up, and by "you" I mean "me, everyone else, Reinhard, and all sentient food consuming people" not just our spunky cookie monster Mayo, accept the mistake at face value... Acceptance of our mistakes is very important for self growth.
Denial, we can live without... To paraphrase, Reinhard, "if we know that we are the ones at fault, then we can also fix the problems"...


A while back, someone, I can't remember who, wrote a post where they suggested that if (paraphrase) "You eat a snickers bar at lunchtime on an N day, then don't eat dinner later", or " then that's your dinner too"... :shock:
I didn't write back then, because it just seemed blatantly to be very poor advice, coming from the "deprivation" model of diets... It would have made much better sense to me, for that person to say, have a healthy dinner and try not to go for a snickers next time... Move on!
So, similarly, you shouldn't penalize yourself by eliminating your *Real* S days, just like that person shouldn't penalize themselves by eliminating their *real dinner*... Total craziness can ensue if we think that way.
NoS is for people who (in regard to food!) are trying to stay(relatively :P )sane
PS.. I love Sushi! And I love Mayo! (and her avatar!)
Have a terrific S'weekend everyone!
8) Deb

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mayo
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Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2005 7:38 pm

Post by mayo » Sun May 01, 2005 12:58 am

Hey, Deb!

Thanks for the encouraging words, but I don't think I work the same way. I wouldn't recommend trying to replace the days for most people at all, for all the reasons you've so clearly stated. :D I'm perhaps weird in that I *never* feel guilty for falling off the wagon--there's no point so I decide I won't and I don't. It would have been better if I hadn't done it because I felt all binge-groggy, so I'm trying to minimize my exposure to foods that make me feel that way. Mainly, I think if I don't observe Tsunday and Tsaturday, my blood-sugar may go all out of whack, so basically, this is a way for me reel myself in before my physiology goes fubar, and then I'd have to wrestle myself back into a state of equilibrium, having gone further off balance.

Of course this method very YMMV, which is kinda the point. Certainly, I'm not doing this in some misguided attempt to penalize myself. I'm doing this cuz I know it'll work best for me. (Disclaimer: Don't do it if it won't work for you! And if fencing around the rules works best for you, then don't use this post as an excuse to cheat.) This is my way of optimizing no-S for myself, since I am after all, a self-proclaimed half-esser anyway. You're right that if I'm were observing Tsaturday and Tsunday because I couldn't let go of my mistake, it'd be a big mistake to do it. That's not really what's going on, though. As evidenced by the scales post, it seems I tend to value meaningful accuracy over (arbitrary) binary win-lose models. And like Reinhard said, my way probably won't work for most people since it relies on being able to not feeling guilty. For most people getting rid of guilt seems to be far harder than following the rules of no-S, so there you go; work with what you have. :D

I'm pretty sure I'll never "graduate" from half-S to no-S, come to think of it. I'm really a half-esser at heart. I think it's great that following no-S in its entirety works so well for most people. There's a lot to be said for simplicity, after all, but I enjoy tweaking no-S so that it's more efficient for me.

Part of the reason I joined was because the rules of no-s are very simple, and while it had an implied psychology of basic will-power and no-guilt, the diet didn't have wacky psychologically driven mechanisms that never applied to me, particularly cuz I have a wacky psychology all my own. LOL. I didn't avoid the punish-reward system because it made me feel bad, I avoided it because it was so alien to me as it just didn't apply. I still like arm-chair psychology (especially as a way of understanding other people who are *weird* or as the case may be, un-weird to my weird) and I don't mind being analysed as a hypothetical, but a lot of generalized psychology simply doesn't apply to me, and I really do know myself and my limits better than anyone else.

I honestly do appreciate your well-meant words, Deb, but no offense, they kinda missed the mark, though hopefully they'll help someone else. :oops:

On a semi-related note, hmm, I wonder.... I think it's not that I regret desserts or simple carbs, I regret desserts or simple carbs when they're not exquisitely delicious because then they're not worth it weighed against my general health. The sushi was decent, but it certainly wasn't exquisite or even "very good," and if I'm going to sin, I want to sin thoroughly. I think next time I'll have to hold out for some white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. Mmmm, my tastebuds are falling into nostalgic reverie (and are now crying heart-felt tears of drool). Heh, ew.

mayo (who really must stop rambling like this)

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gratefuldeb67
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Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:26 pm
Location: Great Neck, NY

Be true to thyself..

Post by gratefuldeb67 » Sun May 01, 2005 1:29 am

Mayo! I am so glad you are not one of the many of us who can fall into the sneaky guilt trap... I, of course, am not at all offended by that "off the mark" thing.... Just because I get all on my soapbox and fervent and all, doesn't mean I am speaking the truth for all.. I appreciate you letting me know where you stand and how you look at it... Your way is good too!
Actually, I wrote that whole post, just spurred on by what you said, but not necessarily as something *you* in particular really needed to hear, but thought it was in keeping with the NoS mindset, and modus operandi, yadda yadda, blah blee blooo :P .... I also forgot, due to impending senility, that you are a "Half esser" LOL :lol:

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy drooling over that cheesecake!
I split a king size Hershey bar with Richard tonight, and we had some good lemonade, but cheesecake sounds wayyyy better!
By the way, what's YMMV? Sorry my IM vocab is fairly lame!
Love,
8) Deb

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