Just Another Disney Dad

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.

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Jibaholic
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Just Another Disney Dad

Post by Jibaholic » Mon Apr 28, 2014 5:59 pm

Vanilla No S is Best

Ok, this actually my third time starting a log, but my previous attempts to stick with No S failed because I tried to do No S + (something extra). This time I'm just doing vanilla No S.

Andress
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Post by Andress » Mon Apr 28, 2014 6:13 pm

You can do it this time! Just keep it simple and stay on habit! Great job, DisneyDad! :D

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Mon Apr 28, 2014 6:57 pm

Thanks! I feel good. I think I'm finally on the right track by doing vanilla No S.

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Post by automatedeating » Tue Apr 29, 2014 1:11 am

Welcome back! :)
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Post by eschano » Tue Apr 29, 2014 9:06 am

Welcome back! Vanilla rocks!
eschano - Vanilla rocks!

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lpearlmom
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Post by lpearlmom » Tue Apr 29, 2014 4:27 pm

Welcome back!!
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

Diligence
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Post by Diligence » Tue Apr 29, 2014 4:28 pm

Welcome back! How's it going today?

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Tue Apr 29, 2014 5:26 pm

Monday: Success

One day in and it's going well. I'm also trying to eat healthier (but not making it an official rule or a mod). To me, that means more protein and fiber and less carbs and fat. The downside is that I was farting like a vegetarian yesterday. Hopefully my gut bacteria will adapt. Right now they're demanding bagels and cream cheese!

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Post by eschano » Wed Apr 30, 2014 11:50 am

Jibaholic wrote:The downside is that I was farting like a vegetarian yesterday.


LOL!!! I think we needed another man on these boards. Made me laugh so much. Just to be clear: I'm a woman but still enjoyed this nugget of honesty.
eschano - Vanilla rocks!

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Wed Apr 30, 2014 6:07 pm

I was thinking about leaving the farting part out!

Tuesday = Success

Ok, Tuesday was an S day because my wife wanted to celebrate our dog's 9th birthday. He was our "first child" but when the real kids came along he took a backseat to them. Now that they're older and a bit less work the dog is getting more attention again. So he got a doggie cake and we had cupcakes.

I'd like to do fewer of these impromptu sweets, but my wife picked up the cupcakes ahead of time and - another vegetarian reference - I didn't want to be anti-social and the one person not eating their cupcake. Hopefully over time my No S diet ways will spread and we won't try to find an excuse for sweets quite so often.

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:28 pm

I keep falling off the horse, but I'm getting back on!

aspencer27
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Post by aspencer27 » Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:37 pm

Welcome back! That's the great thing about NoS - you can just jump in again. Success is only trying one more time than you fail, and now you are closer to that goal. Good luck!

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Mon Sep 15, 2014 8:03 pm

Thanks!

I feel like the prodigal son, but if he went back to his dad the next day and said, "actually, can I have some more money?" and then repeated the cycle a half-dozen more times.

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lpearlmom
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Post by lpearlmom » Tue Sep 16, 2014 5:31 am

Wb-- love that metaphor. :D

Lots of Nos folk including myself have to fall off a few times before it sticks so you'll get there!

Linda
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Tue Sep 16, 2014 6:52 pm

I like the quote in your signature! I'm always wary of "this time feels right" because I'm always excited when I start something. But one thing that has changed is that I've got a two to three year plan together in my exercising. Normally I want to get stronger and fitter yesterday. So I think switching to No S is also giving a me a long range viewpoint in my eating as well.

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Tue Sep 16, 2014 11:20 pm

Tuesday: Success!

Breakfast: split pea soup, grilled chicken, vanilla Greek yogurt, a Fiber One bar
Lunch: split pea soup, grilled chicken, honey roasted almonds, apple
Dinner: Eggs with chili and salsa, apple

Now that I'm writing this down, there's a lot of hidden sugar in here. I actually felt like I had a great day. The two big things I track are fiber and protein because I tend to gravitate towards fat and refined carbs, and I got in 43 grams of fiber and 148 grams of protein.

In other news, the chili with eggs and and salsa was amazing. I was dreading dinner because it was leftover chili with chewy odd-tasting grass-fed beef. But this way it was incredible. Why is it that farmers market beef is so chewy but farmers market eggs are so amazing?

Morning exercise: squash practice, shovel glove (first time shugging!)
Evening exercise: minimalist strength training (squats, pull-ups, dips)

Licota
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Post by Licota » Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:56 am

I love apples too! :) Sugar, fiber... A sweet treat. You can even bake them in the oven for a sweeter treat without adding any sugar. Awesome!

Farmers market beef is probably chewy because it is fresher than the meat you get in the store. It hasn't been tenderized (which is done by hanging the meat in a cool place for a few weeks).
Live in Oslo, Norway

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Wed Sep 17, 2014 11:51 am

Fall is a great time of year because the apples are so good.

Fall: Apples
Winter: Clementines
Summer: Watermellon

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Thu Sep 18, 2014 1:13 am

Success!
Days on Habit: 2

Breakfast: grilled chicken, vanilla greek yogurt, Fibre One bar
Lunch: Bread and oil, chicken and mozzerella sandwich, fries
Dinner: Turkey and rice soup with bread and jam

Exercise: squash practice, Indian clubs

eschano
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Post by eschano » Thu Sep 18, 2014 11:02 am

Aehm - yummy! Lovely food and well done!
eschano - Vanilla rocks!

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Thu Sep 18, 2014 1:32 pm

Thanks! The lunch was free. I love lunch with the vendors :)

One of the nice things about getting back into No S is that I can enjoy a meal like that. I'm just getting off counting calories and I still do it mentally and I was about 400 over yesterday, but I was about 400 under the day before. I know I'll maintain and probably even lose a little bit of weight if I can just be patient. In the meantime, I like not obsessing about food.

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Thu Sep 18, 2014 11:37 pm

Success!
Days on Habit: 3

Breakfast: grilled chicken, vanilla greek yogurt, Fibre One bar
Lunch: Black bean soup, grilled chicken, Baked Lays
Dinner: Cranberry barbecue chicken and mashed potatoes, apple

Exercise: squash practice, Indian clubs

In other news, I threw out the rest of the Fibre One bars. I love them but they are a little too borderline sweet for me. And I was listening to a podcast that got rather technical on how poor gut health can cause leptin resistance. I know the Fibre One bars have a lot of fiber, but so do apples, and apples also have antioxidants and are more generally a whole food.

What Causes Leptin Resistance?

ironchef
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Post by ironchef » Fri Sep 19, 2014 6:21 am

Nice work - you are putting a good habit together :)

Well done on getting rid of the bars. I don't have anything "bar-like" on N days, because they're like a "gateway drug" for me. If I can have a sweet fruit and nut bar, why not a sweet fruit and nut bar with chocolate chips? Then why not a bar of chocolate with fruit and nuts in it?

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Sat Sep 20, 2014 12:37 am

Success!
Days on Habit: 4

Breakfast: grilled chicken, vanilla greek yogurt, apple
Lunch: Black bean soup, hamburger patty, chili flavored sunflower and pumpkin seeds, banana
Dinner: Turkey and rice soup, bread and jam, apple

Exercise: squash practice, Indian clubs

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Sat Sep 20, 2014 10:43 pm

Success!
Days on Habit: 5

Breakfast: grilled chicken, protein shake, apple
Lunch: cheeseburger
Dinner: Chicken pot pie, apple pie

I had a few snacks here and there, but nothing too crazy.

Exercise: strength training

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Mon Sep 22, 2014 1:40 am

Success!
Days on Habit: 6

Breakfast: grilled chicken, blueberry muffins
Lunch: cranberry barbecue chicken and mashed potatoes
Dinner: Chicken pot pie

I had a few more snacks today and was constantly grazing even though I wasn't really binging. Next weekend I'd like my S days to be more "ordered" than "disordered" even if the total amount of snacking is comparable.

Exercise: squash practice

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:31 pm

Ok, here's a recipe I created that came out really well and is easy to make. It is adapted from this.

Skinny Black Bean and Protein
  • two pounds of dried black beans
  • two pounds of chicken breasts or tenderloins
  • optional: two or three white onions
  • one or two jars of salsa
  • two packets of taco seasoning (or buy the bulk spice)
  • salt to taste
Soak the beans overnight then drain the water. Add the beans to a slow cooker. Chop the onions and add them. Then add the chicken, salsa and taco seasoning and fill with water up to the top layer of ingredients. Salt to taste.

Run the slow cooker for two cycles. The beans will not be soft after just one cycle. That typically means two 6 hour cycles on high or two 8 hour on low. It doesn't matter which setting you choose, or if you leave them on warm for a while in between. Just make sure you get in the two cycles.

If you divide this into 10 portions then each serving is:
Calories: 295
Protein: 40
Carbs: 63
Fat: 2.7
Fiber: 36

Since my intelligent dietary defaults are to get a lot of fiber and protein, this is a perfect meal. It's very hearty and filling.

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Tue Sep 23, 2014 12:07 am

Success!
Days on Habit: 7

Breakfast: black bean casserole, apple
Lunch: black bean casserole, baked lays, apple
Dinner: Spicy Cashew Chicken from the Cheesecake factor. Yum!

I also started a new habit: No surfing (for personal reasons) at work before noon.. It worked great today. It wasn't too hard because I knew I could read about the NFL on my lunch break.

Exercise: squash practice

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Wed Sep 24, 2014 11:51 am

Success!
Days on Habit: 8

Breakfast: black bean casserole with egg on top
Lunch: black bean casserole with two eggs on top, apple
Dinner: Leftover Spicy Cashew Chicken from the Cheesecake factor. Yum!

Exercise: squash practice, strength training

eschano
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Post by eschano » Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:46 pm

Doing well!
eschano - Vanilla rocks!

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Post by oolala53 » Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:19 pm

Well done on getting rid of the bars. I don't have anything "bar-like" on N days, because they're like a "gateway drug" for me. If I can have a sweet fruit and nut bar, why not a sweet fruit and nut bar with chocolate chips? Then why not a bar of chocolate with fruit and nuts in it?[/quote]

Hilarious!

Meal bars is the one food that Reinhard has contempt for, and the guy is so kind in his sweet/dry humor that he doesn't express contempt for much, at least as far as I've read.

I find that they just promote a sense of wanting to be quick with my eating. They don't invite chewing and savoring, at least to me. Eating has to have a measure of pleasure and satisfaction from the mere act of the eating. Personally, I don't get that from bars.

That said, when I do eat cold cereal, it is often Fiber One mixed with some other brand's version that doesn't use aspartame. A crispy fruit like apple or grape plus some walnuts can turn it into a very satisfying experience.

Disneydad, you are rockin' it.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
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1/21-23

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

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Thu Sep 25, 2014 11:50 am

Thanks Eschano and Oolala!

Something weird has been happening this past day - I haven't been hungry. I only ate about 650 calories for dinner last last night and couldn't finish my breakfast this morning. I wonder if my intelligent dietary defaults are kicking in - filling me up with good foods so I'm not hungry.

Success!
Days on Habit: 9

Breakfast: black bean casserole with two eggs on top
Lunch: black bean casserole, Baked Lays chips
Dinner: McDouble cheeseburger, banana, a half of a pork chop that I ate cold with my fingers. (I was eating on the go because I had a 6:15 meeting)

Exercise: squash practice

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Fri Sep 26, 2014 12:27 am

Success!
Days on Habit: 10

Breakfast: small portion of black bean casserole
Lunch: black bean casserole, chile lime mixed nuts
Dinner: I did not eat much dinner the night before, or breakfast, but I was hungry for dinner. Five pieces of pizza.

Exercise: squash practice

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Fri Sep 26, 2014 11:29 pm

Success!
Days on Habit: 11

Breakfast: spicy black beans and chicken with a fried egg on top
Lunch: spicy black beans, a half of a pork chop, and a slice of pizza
Dinner: Three slices of pizza, half pork chop, apple

Exercise: squash practice, strength training

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Mon Sep 29, 2014 12:07 pm

Success!
Days on habit: 13


The big story of the weekend was an engagement party hosted by a man who manages a bunch of restaurants, so you can imagine how good the food was. I ate like crazy.

A lot of calories because of the party but overall an ordered weekend where I did less grazing and more structured eating than last weekend.

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Tue Sep 30, 2014 11:44 am

Success!
Days on Habit: 14


Breakfast: spicy black beans with a fried egg on top
Lunch: burrito from Chipotle
Dinner: Chicken and rice, pumpkin roll

So I made dinner an S event. My mother-in-law was going to make a pumpkin roll (with cream cheese frosting) for desert on Sunday but the day got away from us, so it got pushed back to today. Other than that one item I ate strict N-day style.

Exercise: squash practice

aspencer27
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Post by aspencer27 » Tue Sep 30, 2014 12:57 pm

Great job! The pumpkin roll sounds delicious, and great job with keeping the rest of the day consistent with NoS. I actually like having S events more than S Days, and I'm thinking of switching to that for the weekend. Keep it up!

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Wed Oct 01, 2014 1:25 am

Thanks! I'm glad for your support because I've still been feeling a little guilty about it - I didn't cheat - it was an S event!

Success!
Days on habit: 14


Breakfast:black beans with fried eggs, a few prunes
Lunch: split pea soup with chicken, apple, a few prunes
Dinner: baked chicken parmesan, apple

Exercise: squash practice, strength training

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:50 pm

Fail

My wife and I had some bad news. We are planning to adopt an older child, but the girl we are planning to adopt has had some serious trauma and it may be years before it reaches that point. We're going to start with writing letters and then progress to occasional visits. It was depressing because we'd been hoping that she'd be with us for Christmas.

We ended out picking up some gelato and I've been snacking today as well.

aspencer27
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Post by aspencer27 » Thu Oct 02, 2014 8:48 pm

So sorry to hear that. I hope that writing the letters and visiting with her helps her through that serious trauma. I'm sure knowing that someone can care for her so much will be a great first step.

I definitely think sorrow counts as an S Day. Be kind to yourself, you've had a really big loss and it's ok to not worry about an N day. You'll get back to NoS when you're ready. Take care of yourself and of your wife.

Many sympathies.

eschano
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Post by eschano » Mon Oct 06, 2014 9:36 am

I think it is amazing that you are planning to adopt a child. I'm always surprised how hard it is (given the alternative is an orphanage).
eschano - Vanilla rocks!

July 2012- January 2016
Started again January 2021

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Wed Oct 08, 2014 1:24 am

Thanks for the support. The short version is that things are not as bad as we thought. There is a power struggle among the various social workers involved in her case. The ones who currently have her care don't want her to be "triggered" by a hope of a family. But the other social workers basically think that's crazy. The latter group includes the DCYF social workers who are acting as her legal guardians, so I think they'll win. We'll have to go slower than planned though.

Anyways, been back on the saddle for two days, plus the weekend.
Days on habit: 4

eschano
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Post by eschano » Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:33 am

I hope they win! But nice to hear that they care enough to have a struggle in the first place - at least I get the reason of the crazy one a little bit and it's not just some weird policy that makes it hard.

Well done on days on habit!
eschano - Vanilla rocks!

July 2012- January 2016
Started again January 2021

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Jibaholic
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Post by Jibaholic » Thu Oct 09, 2014 4:59 pm

So there were free bagels at work the other day and I had some. I was originally going to make it a fail but I changed my mind. I think S events should not be reserved for birthdays and wedding anniversaries. So with that in mind, here is my fine print for declaring S events.

Easy. I'm making it easy to declare S events. I don't want No S to mean that for the rest of my life, whenever there's free food at work I say, "No thanks, I'm on a diet." I want to be able to enjoy like a normal person.
External. The external world has to be bring you food. It can't be you deciding to get food. Note the difference:
  • Right: Your neighbors bring you cookies.
  • Wrong: You get in a fight with your neighbors and decide to have some cookies as a pick-me-up. Yes, your neighbors are external to you, but they did not bring you the food. One of the good things about No S is that it prohibits emotional eating. It's supposed to break you of the habit of using food as a pick-me-up.
Ending. The S event has an ending. If someone brings donuts to work then you can have a donut or two, but then you eat normally the rest of the day. If you go crazy because you've already deviated from the perfect N day then you've failed.

Note that making easy S events is predicated upon even easy S events being somewhat rare. If you work in sales and are always wining and dining clients then you'll probably need to find a way to navigate all those meals you expense. If your work has tons of free candy around then you need to declare at least some of it off limits (case in point, the office admins at my job have a candy jar, but I never touch it).

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Post by r.jean » Thu Oct 09, 2014 8:19 pm

As long as these S events do not totally derail you, I can see no harm in your plan. Good luck!

PS Beware of the foods that you cannot eat just one! I would be fine if I took a bagel, but certain sweet or salty treats are hard for me to quit eating once I start!
The journey is the reward.
Maintenance is progress.

eschano
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Post by eschano » Fri Oct 10, 2014 8:30 am

I have a similar rule. I call them Fail-Worthy events. For me it's when I can't easily get the S on a weekend or when it's a celebration (like an office bday) IF the S is worth it (I won't do it for the cheap chocolate cake some buy at a supermarket but I'll definitely be in for home-made brownies). So a bit different but similar enough to yours.

Also, the comic you posted on a general thread had me in stitches!
eschano - Vanilla rocks!

July 2012- January 2016
Started again January 2021

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