oolala53

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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Octavia
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Post by Octavia » Fri Mar 30, 2018 2:24 pm

All the best from me, too. Such a challenging situation for you and your family - I don’t really know what to say, but just want to send sympathy, courage and good wishes. Your presence will definitely be an asset at this time. Keep checking in with us all whenever you can!

3squaremeals
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Post by 3squaremeals » Sat Mar 31, 2018 1:29 am

Sorry to hear you are going through a tough time with your family x

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Sun Apr 01, 2018 6:39 pm

Tx, all. As it turned out, my niece said not to come because things were basically handled as much as they could be. She has been able to talk to him. He of course says he shouldn't be in the facility. He also told the doctor that she was going to let him come live with her; she set the doctor and him straight. He claimed he had never had a hallucinating before' she corrected that, too. The fact that he is denying it is evidence in my opinion that his problem is serious, but he has also been paying his rent and bills, so it's not as if he can't function in the right situation . He was released last night at 9 pm. My niece picked him up, & got him to his truck. He stayed in a motel, an expensive one since it was the night before Easter and will look for something more reasonable today. His says his phone was stolen even before all this. Rectifying that tomorrow. She also let him know that he will have to pay a service to clean out his place and it will cost money to refurbish it; it might not even be possible. He completely agreed. The code officer who saw it said it's much harder with mobile homes. Niece did not tell him that.

If I didn't say it before, I am so glad to be done with my seasonal "diet" and having to figure macros and amounts. I was reminded of Reinhard's saying about counting, "Besides the sheer tedium of compliance, if you come to think of food as fuel, a mere quantity, you'll come to loathe it -- and your number crunching-munching self.) But for my purposes, 20 days a year is fine. I had found a meal program at one point that was a reasonable price. I have to admit that was a lot easier, but the company now offers only three days at a higher price and doesn't follow the protocol as well. I kept the records, so maybe I'll just repeat everything next time for ease.

Had two social eating events yesterday. None today. Just coffee and cantaloupe so far today. Waiting to get hungry.

Back to work for two weeks tomorrow. I'm down to the end of my food supplies. I've never planned much ahead except to have the makings for meals on hand, but today I'm going to allot the rest of the protein and starch out for the next few days. Then I'll plan what to buy. I want to be more careful not to accumulate so much. It may mean I take more time to build variety.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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Post by automatedeating » Mon Apr 02, 2018 5:05 pm

You know, your eating out of your pantry to get down to the last of the food supplies is amazing. It's the ultimate in decluttering. When I see the vast quantities of food in my fridge, pantry and freezer, I feel kind of icky at the inevitable waste. Reading about your journey is inspiring and guilt-triggering at the same time!!
Month/Year-BMI
8/13-26.3
8/14-24.5
5/15-26.2
1/16-26.9; 9/16-25.6
8/17-25.8; 11/17-26.9
3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
3/19-22.1; 10/19-21.8
6/20-22.5; 7/20-23.0; 9/20-23.6
4/21 - 25.2

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:41 pm

I've been limited in variety but nto in amount, of course. I'm NOT trying to make it all last. I've been at this since February! I actually want to be done. But I think I have been eating less just because I don't necessarily eat a lot more of anything. I've really meted things out this week because I have less grain than beans and meat. I purposely added more fat to breakfast, a half a small avocado. I've been hungry about an hour and it's time for lunch at the job I'm at.

I've been out of dairy for about a month, I think, except for creamer for coffee or whatever, and I have been eating meat less frequently, just because that's my plan in the near future. My weight has dropped a bit; I hadn't thought about it, but then I thought it might have something to do with it. I don't plan to keep them out of my diet at this point, though. It's worth a couple of pounds to have my plain yogurt and cottage cheese.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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lpearlmom
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Post by lpearlmom » Tue Apr 03, 2018 4:46 am

I really need to better about just eating what we have instead of going to the store. I think I’m going to at least force myself to not go to the store more than onc a week. We also get a meal delivery service each week so there’s really no excuse for all these trips to the store.
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Tue Apr 03, 2018 5:54 am

OMGosh, I would stop at all the stores I get stuff from two and three times a week! I did often find bargains, and never had to say, "I didn't have anything in the house so I got fast food. I didn't need that excuse to get fast food! But I've gotten more "careful" about what I eat. I'll be 65 in September; less time to make up for losses in the nutrient "investment market." :shock:
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Thu Apr 05, 2018 4:29 am

Well, there are a lot of beans and oats on the menu over the next few days. I actually love them, but don't want to let myself have an excuse to get antsy in these last days of larder eating. I may be using some sauces more liberally that I might be more sparing with usually, such as sesame garlic sauce, which is a little sweet. Also. Annie's Goddess dressing, that I try to mete out.

And I founds some rye flakes I hadn't cooked up yet. I guess this will go through the weekend. I remind myself that this is my choice. I am not holed up hiding from the enemy. I can go buy new food any time. Funnily enough, there is nothing I'm especially wishing was back in the mix,. Except spaghetti sauce. I can't justify it yet, because I have so many sauces. But I will add it back in before I exhaust those stores. When I use only a couple of tablespoons at a time of most of the sauces- they're usually stronger than spaghetti sauce- they can last a looooong time. I might consider opening a big jar of sun dried tomatoes.

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

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

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Octavia
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Post by Octavia » Fri Apr 06, 2018 6:31 pm

Really fascinated by your store cupboard eating plan...I find I’m doing a lot more of this, too. Now I’m not calling in at the supermarket all the time to buy chocolate (while pretending to stock up on kitchen roll etc.) I find I’ve developed a slight aversion to the place. This is good - a natural side-effect of No S. So I’m digging into my stores a lot more!

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Sat Apr 07, 2018 3:58 pm

Along those lines, I discovered, or put into use something I guess I gleaned from the internet, that smashing plain cooked beans into a hot cereal mix helps thicken it and responds well to sweetening. I make a thick cereal, add cocoa, and sweeten it liberally with stevia and sometimes a bit of sugar alcohol. It's as close as I can come to recreating the bowls of chocolate frosting I made and ate since I was a kid. I volunteered to make the frosting for cakes since I was ten. I wonder if my mother suspected how much bigger the batches were that I made and ate the extra of? I did the same thing with cereal then, especially with grits. Since I have so many beans and didn't want to keep having a whole cup at a time, I worked a half cup into my coconut cereal and one tablespoon of oat fiber, which is almost fluffy when cooked. It's a habit that has probably preserved my continued sometimes naughty feeling of delight in sweets. I don't cultivate the sense of naughtiness, and have tried to rationally deflate it, but it persists. Maybe it's part of the thrill and enjoyment? I don't like to think so, yet if it gives me the sense that I'm getting away with something, and it's since it's something relatively harmless, maybe it's not so bad. Maybe it's good to have some secrets.

I did have a spectacular fail yesterday. I even went for WTH on purpose. I hate to allow that stress might get to me; I was able to get through tremendous stress in my first years of No S, but maybe it seemed more crucial then, since I had not proven to myself that I could do it. But yesterday the feelings of desire were extremely irritating and more long-lasting than usual. I don't like being reminded that I have so few activities that I find distracting enough. I'm also trying to spend less time online, and almost everything else feels like work. If I had known I would not be able to get an outdoor shed I'd been lusting after, and would have needed to arrange for delivery of, taking up crucial hours, I might have gone to the movies to avoid the witching hour and surviving WTH, but all past alternatives live only in the imagination. A happiness dictum says the let go of the past, and I'm seeing that happy people let of of the immediate past, too. I'm convinced the lucky ba$/2&ds have less brooding brains. Why are their fewer of these people in the world? (And psychologists have found that negative bias IS more prevalent.) Because MY ancestors who were more on the lookout for danger survived ! Just as I posit that MY ancestors who were better at keeping the fat they stored during times of plenty stayed alive to pass on their thrifty genes.

I had some fun this week reading an article on a rather distressing topic written by an astute and smooth writer, one whose literary skills with fiction were so deliciously applied to his topic. His ability to keenly observe the heartbreaking multigenerational problems in the lowest socioeconomic sector and describe them with such poignant imagery and metaphors was both delightful and a little bit painful with envy. But it was worth it.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Wed Apr 18, 2018 6:54 am

I'm out of my valley of failure. Whew.

I spent a lot of time online today including going to a website called Quora. I posted a question about sunsets, but I saw others on weight loss. I was shocked and even disturbed by the plethora of absolutely sadly idiotic questions about dieting. Things like "If I eat 500 calories a day of greens for a month will I lose weight?" It's almost immaterial that this will of course lead to long term failure. It's just imagining how clueless someone would have to be to think s/he wouldn't lose SOME weight on that regime. It's shocking how many are still interested in mostly failed strategies according to the stats. But why am I shocked? new diet books get published every day and just about all of them spell doom for the dieter. Humans are so derailed by their biases! I'm sure I am, too, but I'm not sure I've paid as high a price.

I've got about three more days of food left. Well, that's not actually true because I've kept a few canned fish selections and a turkey breast. I won't go shopping until Friday. I'm actually not thinking about it much because I don't want to get enthused about too many foods. I want to keep the stores less built up. Not going to buy any flesh for awhile. Potatoes, squash, corn tortillas, beans, eggs. cheese, walnuts, avocado. No freggies because I never stopped buying them. I'll go easy because my maid is coming Monday and I like to leave a non-stuffed fridge.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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Octavia
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Post by Octavia » Wed Apr 18, 2018 8:17 am

...those diet questions are really barmy, and you wonder what sort of a person is posting them. Very young, not very educated, maybe. Or perhaps just not very experienced. I did try the Cabbage Soup diet myself once, and lasted one day. I realised it was making me hate both cabbage and soup!

Quora does have some interesting things on it, mixed with weirdness and nonsense, such as ‘what’s the most shameful thing you ever did?’ - cue total gross-out....

Glad to hear you’re back on course, and hope your last three days of food go well!

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Post by Larkspur » Wed Apr 18, 2018 4:38 pm

LOL Oolala-- calling it "flesh" definitely makes you lean towards the plant based foods! (I just ordered chickens to keep for eggs/pets and it's unfortunate to think that is also one of my fave foods.)

I do think we get a pretty thoughtful crew here on NoS and I think it's because if you've really looked at the landscape for fat loss, you realize that it is alas not as simple as burning up the extra fat. Unless you are really good at self-denial, you're going to have to find a way to reset the thermostat.

My wonderful cleaner just came and I could just kiss her. She does such a nice job, has similar taste, and arranges my pretties in a new way so that I can enjoy the novelty. Times will have to get very lean before I give up that twice a month luxury.

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Thu Apr 19, 2018 12:05 am

There are so many ways to get terrible advice about changing eating habits for the better. I wrote a comment on another site (Guyenet)where I actually like the discussion, but the author reported on being invited to a panel with the MacDougal plan guy. Rabid vegan. G. is a starch-plus-a -little-animal food guy. He was willing to admit: look, people lose weight and improve their health markers on all of them. I added that it's almost ridiculous to debate which ultra restrictive plan is best when, as Reinhard points out, it ignores basic human psychology to think the masses will adhere to any of them! We could save billions of dollars if we could just help 80% of overweight and obese people lose 10% of their weight. Yes, they'd still be overweight and obese, but guess what? It wouldn't matter! We'd still have people off meds and living longer without intense medical support. We'd get the most health bang for our buck and their effort. Even that loss, though, if you look at the stats, is ambitious, but not as ambitious as thinking you're going to get even 20% of them to get into the normal BMI range. The advantages are incremental after the first 10%.

Okay, have I lost my sponsors here with my dark cloud message? Just exasperated sometimes.

And once again, it's making me think I've spent way too much time on all this. Why do I know all these things when people are wondering if they'll lose weight on 500 calories a day? This must be what it's like for astrophysicists. How can people be so clueless about the investigation of reality? they must be thinking. I guess it's a bit big-headed of me to compare myself to astute scientists. :shock:

I could really talk myself into a guilt trip here if I thought hard about how unfair it is that it's been sunny and a delightful 70 out while I sit inside and others are still facing snow and freezing temps, willing to go walking in a bikini if it gets to 50 deg. with the sun out. And yet...
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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

Post by oolala53 » Thu Apr 19, 2018 12:42 am

And the obsession continues. I was commenting on another member's thread and looked up something, discovering this that I just had to record. I thought aboutputting it on the big board, but it's a little too much like minutiae.

Dr. Eduardo Grunvald with the UC San Diego Weight Management Program: Weight loss is really a behavioral issue, not a nutrition issue,†Grunvald said.

And this rather chilling average:
“For every 2.2 pounds you lose, your metabolic rate lowers by 30 calories. Your appetite will also increase by about 100 calories for every 2.2 pounds of weight you lose,†Fujioka [Dr. Ken Fujioka, director of the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic], said. “People think that weight loss is purely a willpower issue, but it’s more complicated than that.â€

That's an average. It can't be true for me or I'd be ready to eat wallpaper. By that calculation, I should be yearning for another 2,000 calories a day. I might like a little more sometimes but that would be sickening.

Yet it means if it's lower for me, it's probably higher and stronger for someone else. So it sounds like it IS about willpower. And it's likely asking too much of a great number of people to contend with that combo of appetite and reduced burn for them to get thin.

But see above. A 10% drop is going to cause milder reactions, if the info is right.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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

Post by oolala53 » Mon Apr 23, 2018 5:21 am

browsing on Quora, comment from Italian woman about eating habits who also said she eats pasta pretty much every day

"A regular portion of pasta is usually about 60-80 grams, depending on the sauce. Pasta is never eaten with bread and it is usually followed by a second light dish with vegetables and sometimes a protein (meat, fish, eggs). In Italy we do not usually eat dessert at the end of the meals (desserts are for festive occasions). More commonly a meal ends with a fruit and a cup of espresso coffee."

Anyone else surprised by her saying they don't eat pasta with bread? It makes sense, but shows how much Italian restaurants in America have been shaped by the consumers.

I've also read that Italians believe it's very bad to have milk in coffee after the morning cup. Not sure if the French think of it as a health issue, but I know cafe au lait is also only at breakfast.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

Crystal
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Location: Singapore

Post by Crystal » Mon Apr 23, 2018 6:35 am

That’s very interesting about the bread and pasta thing. I’ve never been to Europe, and it would be silly of me to point out how they serve Italian food in Singapore, lol. But here goes: 😂 At “Italian†restaurants here, you do not get bread with your pasta. You get the pasta. That’s it. I had to get used to that. I did get used to it. I don’t think it matters how Singaporeans eat their pasta, other than to say that I do think eating pasta with bread is totally American. Deliciously American. I could be wrong.

I have a question about your post a couple posts up. You mention that losing 10 percent of weight has health benefits. I’ve heard this for years. Not to be obtuse, but I’ve always wondered this: how can that be true when people are all different weights? Like, if I start out at 300 pounds and someone else starts out at 150, or even 180, how can we both benefit equally (assuming there’s less benefit to losing more??) by both losing 10 percent? I’ve always wondered this. Am I missing something?

I’m glad you research all this and then post for the rest of us. I don’t have the patience for that kind of reading. Give me a mystery novel or a true crime podcast any day. 😂
44 years old. Long time vegetarian.
Vanilla No S.
Starting Weight: 269 (17 July 2017)
Last year: 228 (14 August 2018)
Current Weight: 232 (6 November 2019)
Goal Weight: Wherever my weight eventually settles on No S.

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Mon Apr 23, 2018 7:35 am

As far as I know, it's just something learned from interpreting data. I've always assumed it applied to people who were at least overweight. I'm not sure anyone knows why it seems to work. (BTW, it can be as little as 5%, depending on the individual.)

For taking pressure off joints and other movement issues, more weight off can be a big help.

And the data seems to show that just eating fewer calories than one would need to maintain any particular weight is easier on the inner organs. That will result in different amounts of weight lost, but in those cases, the benefit seems to have less to do with the actual weight lost, meaning there's no real advantage to getting thinner from the reduction.

And there will always be cases where obese people live as long as thinner people and with as few or fewer problems. It's just the odds are different.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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

Post by oolala53 » Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:32 am

To follow up on the claim that for every kilo lost a person will experience a rebound urge to eat 100 calories more and have a 30 calorie drop in caloric need. (average, of course)

Saw that Stephan Guyenet pondered if the effect would extrapolate and doubted it for the reason I saw that it has not, in my case.

I guess I didn't mention other news that has had me topsy turvy. The team that was supposed to come clean out vestiges of a rat infestation (in insulation) and replace the insulation arrived nearly 2 hours late and forgot the trash bags, taking more than another hour to go get them (when there is Home Depot 12 minutes from my house- none of the guys live in San Diego but they didn't even ask me). Thus I actually left them at my house to finish the job (which should have been done by 3 or 4) at 5pm so that I could get to an event out of town.

On the way back, I hit another car going around a roundabout (which are extremely unusual in my area). The other drive and I were both fine, but she was scared about the incident and insisted on calling the police. I assured her it was unnecessary, but said go ahead. He of course said no report was necessary. She was walking around taking pictures of everything; old lady that I am, a didn't even get a picture of the damage to her car. The smashed metal from my front driver's side cut right through the tire, so I had to have my car towed 25 miles. Amazingly, my insurance covered that. BUT the tow truck company didn't come in the 60 minutes promised (from 9 until 10 p.m) and had to order another one.

The next day I went to pick up my eligible loaner. The compact I had requested was not available, so I had to take a bigger car- I didn't want this as I'm used to my short Scion and hate parking a big car). I didn't even remember the make the agent said he would get for me. He said it was ready outside with keys. The car looked incredibly long but what do I know? I honestly don't notice sedan brands. After some errands I was on my way home when I noticed a thwup thwup sound coming from the tire on my side. Called and the office was closed. Called the 800 number and was told my name did not match that of the car identity number. I"m pretty much yelling on the phone (the phone communication problems the night before had worn me down) so the agent went to find out what she could. It dawned on me then that I must have taken the wrong car. We got cut off, so I went to another branch of the rental agency. They had no records available at their site because the branches are franchises. I finally got a compact; amazingly it was a model I had wanted to test drive about a month ago, but had decided to keep my car. (The reason I wanted a new car was just because the ride is terrible now and my neighborhood has lots of bumpy streets.) Well, I found out the ride in this model is just as bad, and it's 10 years NEWER than mine. I went to the office at 11 am and didn't get home until nearly 3 pm with only about an hour on the errands in between.

I feel terrible about the accident and even a little worried about my ability to drive safely. I did not even see the other car, though it was bright red! I know it could have been so much worse, but my fear is that I will make a worse mistake later.

Despite my writing about it now, I haven't actually been moping about it. But it bubbles up, as you can imagine.

Eating has been okay.
Last edited by oolala53 on Tue Apr 24, 2018 5:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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Octavia
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Post by Octavia » Tue Apr 24, 2018 4:58 pm

Total nightmare!!! Sounds like you have recovered amazingly well. ðŸ’ðŸ’ðŸ’

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Tue Apr 24, 2018 5:35 pm

Thanks!

Now I'm up to my ears in shopping online for other cars, though I may just not claim it and pay for the fix myself.

BTW, that wrong car I took had terrible vision out the back window. All the sedan models I've considere- those damn Toyotas are reliable, which I love. And the ride is better, but they don't fit my image of myself. Even the Accent which is a hatchback and SHOULD have big window, doesn't, though it's a little easier because you know it's pretty much the end of the car. The hatchbacks with the best visiiblity are out of my price range and not as reliable.

I spent the first 25 years of my car-owning history spending a fair amount of time taking buses to repair shops because old cars were all I could afford. I really want to avoid that even though we now have Uber!
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Wed Apr 25, 2018 1:31 am

Don't have time to comment now, but here's a relevant quote to all this effort.


When people are asked to envision their perfect size, many cite a dream weight loss up to three times as great as what a doctor might recommend. Given how difficult that can be to pull off, it’s no surprise so many people give up trying to lose weight altogether. It’s telling, if a bit of a downer, that in 2017, when Americans have never been heavier, fewer people than ever say they’re trying to lose weight.

But most people do not need to lose quite so much weight to improve their health. Research shows that with just a 10% loss of weight, people will experience noticeable changes in their blood pressure and blood sugar control, lowering their risk for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes–two of the costliest diseases in terms of health care dollars and human life.

For Ottawa’s Jody Jeans, recalibrating her expectations is what helped her finally lose weight in a healthy–and sustainable–way. People may look at her and see someone who could still afford to lose a few pounds, she says, but she’s proud of her current weight, and she is well within the range of what a good doctor would call healthy.

“You have to accept that you’re never going to be a willowy model,†she says. “But I am at a very good weight that I can manage.â€

http://time.com/magazine/us/4793878/jun ... no-21-u-s/
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

Crystal
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Post by Crystal » Wed Apr 25, 2018 3:19 am

Hi Oolala. I’m so sorry all that happened with the car, rat infestation, etc. Sounds truly awful.

Thank you for explaining more about the benefits of a 10 percent or less loss. And thank you for that link to that Time article! Looks like a good read. I’ll read it later today with my afternoon cup of tea. Have a good night!
44 years old. Long time vegetarian.
Vanilla No S.
Starting Weight: 269 (17 July 2017)
Last year: 228 (14 August 2018)
Current Weight: 232 (6 November 2019)
Goal Weight: Wherever my weight eventually settles on No S.

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Wed Apr 25, 2018 5:28 pm

My pleasure! (or obsession, but it's still a pleasure to share it. )

Is there anyone reading this who asked on her thread what I thought about an anti-binge strategy she was considering? I didn't have time to answer then and I follow so many people, it's a little daunting to go hunting through them. If it's you or you know who it is, please let me know. As you can imagine, I definitely have an opinion.

This getting the car fixed has been almost as confusing. Got referred to 4 different places for body work on car. Two were far away. One wouldn't even give me a ball park estimate without having the car towed there. I guess I shouldn't have been worried about the cost. But one place did ball park it at $2,000. Then I went down to a little place south of me that gets into edgy economic territory- you see a lot of old cars not only driving but crammed into yards- to a place I had work done at a couple of times in order not to make an insurance claim. That place had moved several miles away, but a second shop quoted me $800. There's no way an insurance company will use a shop like that, but I will. If I wanted to, I could ask the company NOT to pay for it and just fix it myself. OR I let the company call it totaled and give me the money less the amount they would get for taking the car and selling it, which would leave me with possibly enough money to have it towed and fixed at the low-baller. Considering doing this is predicated on the idea that I could easily get two more years of driving out of this car while not making any payments or putting miles on a newer car I am making payments on.

I still love the look of my car and the back window! But Toyota Matrixes (I guess they don't call them Matrices) and Golfs are a little interesting. They both have good reliability reputations and the Golf has zip! I saw examples of both of them online for under $10,000.

Who can ever know until afterwards what the right decision is?
Last edited by oolala53 on Wed Apr 25, 2018 10:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

idontknow
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Post by idontknow » Wed Apr 25, 2018 10:11 pm

Oh, the hassle of getting cars fixed! I too am thinking about a new car, but I know that once I start looking it will take over my life for a while and I just don't have the time at the moment.
Good luck with your decisions!

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Post by oolala53 » Thu Apr 26, 2018 4:08 am

Yeah, it's consuming.

I sometimes toy with the idea of having no sweets for three months, but since I have them so seldom, it seems almost silly. But I can't say that I can eat sweets moderately with complete peace, even after all this time. I honestly almost always want more. I don't know if that will ever go away. I just can't see any other way of dealing with the issue for now. I keep seeing members suffer over this, though. I wish I knew the right answer. I know I've heard of people who've given up sweets completely say they don't miss them anymore, but I always wonder how long they've been abstinent. In this society with the exposure? People do it with booze, and it's pretty pervasive. But it seem so much more logical to cut booze. Yet, should it be? A lot fewer people die just from alcohol-related diseases than from overeating. But would abstaining from sugar solve that? And also, it just sounds incomprehensible to me to do it. Never have a sweet again? Never taste that taste or feel that feel? It makes me feel a little afraid inside. Is that a sign that I should quit them? Shudder. And yet I know I would still have plenty to eat even if I never ate a sugar=sweetened food again. But no stevia in my coffee?

I wonder if there is any other food I would feel that torn over giving up? I don't mean whole categories; that's not on the table.

What I think I REALLY need is another focus in life, but it is not appearing.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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Post by ladybird30 » Thu Apr 26, 2018 8:04 am

OOlala, I rarely eat sugary treats now, and mostly I don't miss them. But I haven't shut the door on them totally - I just think perhaps I will have some later. Today I found myself momentarily attracted to someones sweet bar while I was out walking, but I didn't feel any desire to buy something similar to eat as soon as I could. Once I would have, and acted on it. You have come so far with your approach, which has worked for you.
Three meals a day - not too little not too much, but just right

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Post by Dalia negra » Fri Apr 27, 2018 5:20 am

I have not cut the sweets completely. If I could never have them, I would feel anxious and would probably binge, I do not think it's good for anyone then. I think the approach of having them moderately and enjoying them on S days is very good. Obviously, the key is moderation. If you start eating them becomes a real orgy then it would be a problem. But I imagine that this only happens when you restrict yourself too much.

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Sat Apr 28, 2018 4:30 pm

I don't believe overdoing on sweets is only from restricting. It can become a habit of its own. But even if it is from that, humans usually need SOME kind of restriction on their eating. It can come from outside scarcity (lack of food in the environment or cultural limits) or self-imposed scarcity. In most Western countries, people have to impose the scarcity themselves. They need to figure out what self-imposed scarcity is enjoyable enough to live with. That can change over time. Sometimes part of that figuring out involved some stuffing along the way. I certainly stuffed myself on S days. But I did that a lot of the days of the week before No S.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Fri May 04, 2018 6:43 pm

Boy, do I love my beans and whole grains. I've adopted the habit of soaking my grains for at least 24 hours in a slightly acidic medium. I'm lucky I have a big thermos from years ago. It gives the grains a hint of sourness I really like. They still do well mixed with a fruit and cinnamon, too, IMHO. Kind of like fruit and plain yogurt.

I've sometimes tried "fishy" vegetarian keto (just don't want to eat a lot of flesh) and what I miss most is chewing. There's just no reason to chew fatty things that much and nuts have carbs that add up. I mean if I'm really doing keto. Some people eat quite a few veggies and I think they go over the best carb limits the ones that don't keep the glucose stores being replenished. Oh how the body loves to store them up! I've been able to give it the minimum it needs to keep me in my set point range.

Besides, one of my "what's on my plate" gurus, neuroscientist Stephan Guyenet doesn't believe the insulin connection that so many keto fans claim. It doesn't mean there aren't other weight loss factors to keto. These are pretty long, so some of you will do well just to take my word for it. But, if you really like research, this guy is really fun to read. And for an English teacher, it's also fun to see his rhetorical style.

But I suggest newbies NOT read these; they are rather far from the simplicity ethic of No S. I"ve put them in chronological order.

(You can definitely skip the voluminous comments, though it's impressive how many are from individuals who seem much more informed than they yay-sayers I've seen on the more common fan sites. I'm probably biased. :shock: ?


http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2 ... il-in.html

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2 ... il-in.html

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2 ... to-dr.html

And the guy eats a lot of starches! A case of one is not proof of disease-free longevity, but given that he's studied so much about agricultural societies and opts for it has meaning for me.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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Post by Larkspur » Fri May 04, 2018 7:57 pm

Dang, I had this whole response and lost it!

Thanks for the links. I haven't read much of this scientist and it will be fun to read more. I'm still persuaded of a link between insulin regulation and obesity-- not, I suspect, in a calorie controlled environment, but very few of us are calorie controlled. I think irregular meals, processed foods, lack of walking/physical work affect insulin regulation (though maybe it's something else occurring with insulin regulation) and that results in obesity for susceptible people. I think surges of insulin drive you to look for food to go with it --> higher intake --> weight gain. Be interesting to read more.

I'm wondering about why you are concerned about newbies reading scientific analysis?

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Post by oolala53 » Fri May 04, 2018 8:54 pm

Well, take a look at the evidence Guyenet presents. And no matter what drives the urge to eat outside of a reasonable plan- researchers pretty much say the evidence is that it's multi-pronged-, it's likely that a limited meal structure is an adequate remedy, although he would add that less palatable foods- the opposite of modern manufactured foods- will aid in satiety and lowering the set point. But that fits with Reinhard's saying he does like Michael Pollan's recommendations and having pretty much black bread with accompaniments for breakfast and optimzed oatmeal for lunch. And that's without any research besides rational observation!

Which is part of why I recommend against newbies reading much more about the whole topic than they already have and many have spent years reading about dieting, etc. As he says, moderate eating is not rocket science. Though I didn't do it, I'm now on the side of giving Vanilla a good long run with nothing but Habitcal, some participation here for kudos or hugs, and increasing whatever pleasurable or produoctive pursuits can occupy the time between meals. I actually believe now that the less the person thinks about the whole process at first, the better. No S is somewhat about getting supportive habits down and moving on to life between meals, the way I interpret it. Isn't that the point of habit? Make it automatic so it doesn't take up valuable thinking space/time. Yeah, I don't follow my own advice, but I still think it's the best strategy for newbies. It fits with habit theory, which No S is based on. It doesn't matter what diet is the healthiest; it matters how people will eat year after year and how they'll spend the rest of their life. Find alternatives to the offending behavior and reinforce the heck out of doing it!

Now, if many months in, there's very little change, it might be time to get more down and dirty. I do think a fair number of obese people aren't going to get thin without some specialized help, especially since they've probably established a higher set point than they would have if they had been raised 70 or so years go. The body will fight losing fat with more appetite and less calorie burning; it might be a lot to expect that they live with lifestyle they'd have to to get and stay thin. Most thin people wouldn't do it. Ask any of them how long they'd be willing to go eating 500 calories less a day. That's analogous to what a person who's lost a lot of weight has to live with. And heavy people would probably have been on the heavier side anyway, just in the greater minority than now. Body type would affect whether they looked stocky or soft, but I'd bet it would still happen.

Like I said, I'm a terrible example of my advice, but I heartily wish I found it easier to follow than I do. In fact, I'd gain back some weight to get that down and consider it a fair trade.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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Post by ladybird30 » Sat May 05, 2018 4:16 am

I have found Stephan Guyenet worth reading over the years, if only to learn that it's leptin, not insulin that is the master hormone controlling body fatness. As this is outside my area of expertise, I will have to take his word as a former scientist working in that field for this.

No matter how much I learned though, it didn't stop me overeating. Only practising No S has done that.

One thing I did find interesting is that he has said a couple of times that he didn't get as hungry when he was on a low carb diet, and he found it easier to fast. Not that I am going to go low carb - low carb makes me weepy.
Three meals a day - not too little not too much, but just right

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Post by lpearlmom » Sat May 05, 2018 4:24 am

I agree with a lot of this. I purposely did not over analyze NoS in the beginning. I didn’t read the book or listen to the podcasts. I just kept it very simple and didn’t worry too much about defining sweets or whatever. I just tried to use common sense and get the habit down.

With IF I’m doing the opposite but I think that’s because these last 20 lbs are much tougher to lose. I do think it’s helping to lower my set point but it’s taking a lot of tweaking. I do believe I’ll get there with persistence though.

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

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Post by oolala53 » Sat May 05, 2018 5:39 am

No S was the structure I needed, too, even though it was before reading all this new stuff. Actually, what I had read in the years before No S helped me see that it would be a life raft and then a ship for me, and it gave me some facts or metaphors that bolstered my resolve along the way.

I have no doubt that LCHF can be an effective weight loss tool and even a healing remedy for some. It does have appetite-suppressing qualities and allows for greater calorie limits at lower weights. But hunger was never the reason I binged, and it's not really attractive to me just to be able to eat more fat. It's possible that a good long stint of it would dull appetite so far that the binge urge would go away completely, similar to some meds I took for ADHD one time. I didn't like the effect, though. Real hunger was elusive and eating wasn't as pleasurable. It just doesn't provide other satisfactions I want from eating- even most low carbers admit to missing carbs after awhile, and eventually add a fair number of carbs back in. There are benefits from IF that do not require such strict macronutrient limitations- Brad Pilon is almost vegan, except for the protein powders he uses-, so I don't rule out more systematic IF in the future. For now, the quarterly unofficial version of the fast-mimicking diet of Longo is something I'm willing to commit to. It's not a weight loss tool for me, though. The weight loss is nearly all water and very temporary. But in my mind it also mimics what some traditional societies probably had to endure at times or chose to implement, though some research doubts how much real adherence there was/is. I have a bias for routines that are close to what millions of people in recent times- the last 1,000 years- have done, rather than guesses about what early humans did. Besides, it's possible that evolution in humans does move faster than it did eons ago because genes change faster in higher forms when their population is larger. And G. thinks it makes more sense for humans to have evolved even early on to exploit both fats and starches. It's just more efficient to be able to use two.

Boy, are we far from three one-plate meals a day!
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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Post by lpearlmom » Sat May 05, 2018 5:54 am

Oh yeah I do not do lchf! I try to do a couple of low carbish days a week but keto is not sustainable for me so not willing to commit to it either. If seems to help with psychological as well as real hunger for me. I think it’s just about firm boundaries similar to NoS. I don’t do great with fuzzy lines.
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

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Post by oolala53 » Sat May 05, 2018 6:10 am

Linda, the purported emotional smoothing out effects are something I'm intrigued by. As I've told other people, there's no way to find out what the effect of most non-lethal things is without actually doing it . It sounds like for the real effect, I'd have to do it for more than a few days; like ladybird, it makes me weepy to think about it . (But it used to make me weepy to think about curtailing my sweets on S days, too. Who knows?) I guess I'm more willing to put up with my pathology than tough it out on a gamble. 8)

Whenever I start to feel bad about my reticence, I'm reminded of a report of a group of patients in England who were told truthfully that if they did not put some drops in an affected eye a few times a day, they would go blind. The drops were not painful. A shocking number just didn't use the drops and went blind in that eye. And some of them had already gone blind in the other eye! So, if some people are willing to go blind rather than put some drops in their eyes, I feel my refusal is pretty tame. :wink:
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Sat May 05, 2018 6:11 am

P. S. We have to go to bed! Isn't it an hour later there? Wait, you aren't old enough to feel like going to bed at 9 is perfectly normal. :lol:
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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Post by lpearlmom » Sat May 05, 2018 4:32 pm

Hehe getting there! Sorry I meant intermittent fasting seems to help with the emotional eating. Low-carb days is just an experiment in carb cycling to get my insulin lower and hopefully get the scale moving. I’m constantly tweaking though. It’s a bad habit of mine. I really admire these ppl who just stick to one thing, weigh once a month and just patiently wait for things to happen. Yup, not me!
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

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Post by oolala53 » Sat May 05, 2018 5:37 pm

Not sure if getting your insulin lower is going to make a difference in the scale. That's what the Guyenet blogs were about. But it could get your leptin/ghrelin ratios changed. As he said, it's a combination of things that gets the body to let go of fat. I wish I could find the source I read in the last few months that said that we are able to control only about 30% of our calorie use in our bodies; the rest of it are mechanisms out of our control. They busily adjust according to their own schemes. But no matter what the reasons are for that 30%, if a person finds the magic, she finds the magic! Fast or slow. Though it does take concerted effort, a lot of luck is involved. I don't know what brought me to No S, but it was definitely serendipitous. I'm doubtful anything else could have won me over enough for me to follow through.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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Post by lpearlmom » Sun May 06, 2018 1:56 pm

Oh possibly obesity is largely a hormonal problem. Not sure.
Last edited by lpearlmom on Sat Jul 20, 2019 2:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

Merrygoround
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Post by Merrygoround » Sun May 06, 2018 6:30 pm

I am interested in the hormonal aspects of weight loss. At my heaviest weight I was also pre diabetic. There is no sign of that now (after a 90lb weight loss) and I am also interested in exercise. Certainly I know that burning calories is not as effective as simple maths would lead one to assume. It has other benefits though.

As a 56 year old woman still in the wild hormonal dance of menopause, the way our homrmones , or lack of them affect everything in our lives is interesting. I certainly think getting out of that pre diabetic area has made weight loss easier. And another interesting thing is set points. I have thought about those a lot on my weight loss journey. I seem to have had a number of those on the way down. At the time I called them plateaus, but now I think of them as set point resets.

It is all very interesting, and real people’s experience is very different to what the science says should happen......as in its all thermodynamics.....calories in calories out. Well, not in my body it’s not! I can lose weight, but the ‘in’ part of the equation is much greater than the ‘out’ part.
Merry

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Post by oolala53 » Fri May 11, 2018 1:34 am

IN the interest of not bogarting another member's thread, I'll express an opinion about eating exercises that practice being mindful. I attended a workshop where that was an exercise and it was so bogus, in my jaded opinion. About 3/4 of the crowd was obese. They were walking around eating bites of healthy stuff and some junkier stuff, and saying how the raisin was just too sweet, and how salty and unpleasant the crunchy Cheese Puff was as if a two-day workshop was going to completely change everything . It was the I-depserately-wanna-get-this/gotta-look-good syndrome, I would bet. I felt it was misleading and even disturbing to have these women think they would go home and actually practice this from then on out, or that they didn't actually enjoy the junky stuff. Yeah, yeah, there's always the exception, but the body has been getting high reward food for a long time, and it's not going to give it up just like that. Heck, I'd been doing No S for a few years, and I still thought the chocolate was delicious, and the raisin was just right. And I said so. Why pretend? Especially when what the leader was trying to sell depends a LOT on the person being extremely honest with herself. (I've written about this before. I was just curious what actually went on at these workshops conducted by a woman who has made a lot of dough selling this. She lost all her money to Madoff, but I'm pretty sure she's building the nest egg back up. She does make women feel a lot better about themselves, probably for longer than they'll daintily eat their meals; I'll give her that. And I probably could learn a bit about how to be kind to myself on other fronts, but that takes a $5,000 week to get. She gets all these glowing testimonials right after they've finished. I want to talk to them 6 months or a year later. )

I agree that "plateaus" are dropping set points, and the body will resist those, too. They are perfectly natural, not a sign of something wrong! I think it's a shame that this isn't emphasized more in diet land, since there is so much sturm und drang about it on Sparkpeople and other places. Women end up feeling terrible about themselves and the plan they're on. (Those I think they should often be resentful of) and give up. But some diet gurus imply that you can just keep losing weight steadily, especially if you quickly adjust your eating. It's cruel! And I gots more to say on using planned overages, but it's time to make dinner!
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

Dalia negra
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Post by Dalia negra » Fri May 11, 2018 4:45 am

oolala53 wrote: I agree that "plateaus" are dropping set points, and the body will resist those, too. They are perfectly natural, not a sign of something wrong! I think it's a shame that this isn't emphasized more in diet land, since there is so much sturm und drang about it on Sparkpeople and other places. Women end up feeling terrible about themselves and the plan they're on. (Those I think they should often be resentful of) and give up. But some diet gurus imply that you can just keep losing weight steadily, especially if you quickly adjust your eating. It's cruel! And I gots more to say on using planned overages, but it's time to make dinner!
I love you Oolala.

It's just what I needed to hear :)

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Post by ladybird30 » Fri May 11, 2018 6:57 am

oolala53 wrote:

I agree that "plateaus" are dropping set points, and the body will resist those, too. They are perfectly natural, not a sign of something wrong!
That's how I regard my current plateau. It means I am quite content to be patient, especially as my eating is still moderating.
Three meals a day - not too little not too much, but just right

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Post by oolala53 » Sat May 12, 2018 3:53 pm

Della negria, anytime!

Ladybird30, I very often checked in with myself about whether I was eating moderately. I did this all along the way and do to some extent now. It really takes being honest, in my opinion. I felt as long as I'm being reasonably moderate, and not getting freaked out at myself when I went over that sometimes, I was doing all I could at the time. I have NOT been able to make it unconscious, but as things stand now, I'm okay with it. That's different from being happy with it, but I recognize that some of the things it would take to possibly make it less purposeful are out of my control a lot more than eating is.

Just as an example, I was making breakfast this morning. I had been thinking about going out for pancakes. (I never eat them in the house anymore. Too many late night sessions making them and eating them standing at the stove while I made more. This after telling myself over and over that I wouldn't do it just because I had the mix in the house. It just became a battle I didn't want to fight anymore. I'll have them out, where there's a beginning, middle, and end.) But I have a lot of good starches on hand and am trying not to let my stores of dense foods build up, so I also wanted to use some of them. I also know I have a social event I'm going to where there are snack items I like to have in the social setting. At some point, I'd like to play with not having any there because they are what I think of as silly foods- a lot of cracker-y, dried cereal-ish foods (those are common in India, where some of the group is from). Also some cookies, nuts, and sometimes straight up chocolate candy. I wouldn't buy most fo the offerings myself, but it's fun in the atmosphere. However, the snacks are served around 2:30 pm, and believe it or not, I am usually not hungry for dinner, so I often skip it Saturday night. Which means I won't use any of my stores tonight.

Then, I have an Indian (coincidence) cooking class tomorrow at lunch time. I know from experience that the meal we cook and eat will probably also last me into the next day, or maybe a very light meal, but mostly veggies, at night. So that means using only a bit more of my stores up for breakfast tomorrow. No pancakes this weekend. I'm not denying myself, no more than I was when I first started No S and dropped the dearly loved sweets on N days. The pancakes just don't fit in the mix right now, and no matter how much I may love them-and I do- I don't believe anymore that it's a good idea to eat them as often as I would like to have them. Maybe next weekend. I feel a tiny bit wistful about them now, not knowing when we'll "meet again," but to me, that's an old tape, not a sign of inordinate restriction. (I've been reading a book by a very successful therapist for anorexics who happens to be married to the best friend of one of my friends. I accept that for anorexics, it's much touchier to be concerned with restricting, as that is their art. But for anyone with a history of compulsive overeating, in this modern-food environment, it just doesn't seem reasonable that the majority of them can learn to be blithe about their eating and still not be playing a bit of Russian roulette with their health down the line.

We have to somehow at least mildly restrict our foods, whether it's by content or frequency or both. That sounds so depressing, but we all know that it can be a lot of fun! Beside, in essence, that's what slim cultures do, except that that's not how they think of it. It's just being prudent so that you can actually enjoy delicious food as an overall experience-meaning after the meal as well. Being very full to them is not enjoyable.

And if this kind of restriction seems too weighty (ha!), we can always go back to the fun of eating whatever we want whenever we want in the amounts we want- and live the life that THAT results in.

Keeping that option in mind has always served to make me take the restriction on my terms.

BTW, for breakfast, instead of pancakes, I had a tortilla-like item I made myself- no respectable Mexican cook would call it a tortilla, but I liked it-that I spread with the last of some jalapeno jelly. Plus, a small bowl of hot cereal that was a mix of steel cut oats, almond milk, coconut flour, cocoa powder, butter, walnuts, and stevia. When I was deciding how much of the already cooked oats to use, I was imagining a huge bowl of this concoction, similar to the bowls of chocolate frosting I used to make and eat, sans cake. But I used about half a cup, and the rest in approximately tablespoon increments. Any more that would have left me way too full. Plus a handful of grapes. They were delightful! More sweet tastes than I would have on an n day. It's Saturday!

Not sure what I'll have before I leave for my afternoon event at noon, but it will probably involve a ripe banana I have and some peanuts. It will not be what I would call a full meal. Snacks to come!

This seems a reasonable way to be aware of what's coming down the pike. God bless the small percentage of humans who can breezily decide in the moment to eat or not eat what's there.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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Post by ladybird30 » Sat May 12, 2018 11:53 pm

ladybird30 wrote:
That's how I regard my current plateau. It means I am quite content to be patient, especially as my eating is still moderating.
On reflection, this is perhaps more how I'd like to be - I know that waiting until my body and brain have reset at this current weight is the best option, but that doesn't stop a certain amount of thinking about when I will see that magic number fall.

I agree that moderation is relative, and that some restriction is necessary. However, I believe that restricting excess is not that same as restricting below what one's body needs (AKA as dieting). It's just that what our society regards as normal is in fact excess.
Three meals a day - not too little not too much, but just right

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Post by oolala53 » Thu May 17, 2018 5:17 am

At some point, if weight loss is a target, we do have to eat less than our body needs to maintain the present weight. A mathematician found that because of the decreasing need for calories as we lose weight, it takes a deficit of 36,500 calories rather than the expected 35,000 (3500 calories per pound) to get to and maintain a 10-lb loss. The calories needed to maintain will be about the same no matter how long the deficit takes. The calorie deficit can be done quickly or slowly, but the requirement will be the same. He said it's basically how much food you eat in a year that determines your weight.

it certainly seems to me to lose 10 lbs. to be a lot more pleasant to eat an average deficit of 100 calories a day for a year than to plunge myself down by a deficit of 500 calories for 73 days and still have to eat way less than when I started for the rest of the year.

In fact, on No S, it is probably easier to increase the deficit over time because we just get used to less food rather comfortably so we have the chance to lose more than that 10 lbs.

Well, I certainly went off on a tangent, and one I've said before. But it's still true.

I'm rarely hungry in the evenings, but I ate an early dinner, and I'm feeling it. But as I just stated in the catchphrase thread, I've been periodically saying, "All I have to do is get to breakfast." I said this when it was about two hours from bedtime. I used to have to use it when it was four or five hours, and that became easy.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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Post by Crystal » Thu May 17, 2018 8:53 am

“All I have to do is get to breakfastâ€. Love this! Thank you!
44 years old. Long time vegetarian.
Vanilla No S.
Starting Weight: 269 (17 July 2017)
Last year: 228 (14 August 2018)
Current Weight: 232 (6 November 2019)
Goal Weight: Wherever my weight eventually settles on No S.

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Post by Merrygoround » Thu May 17, 2018 6:43 pm

Crystal wrote:“All I have to do is get to breakfastâ€. Love this! Thank you!
This is going to me my new mantra! Thank you!
Merry

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Post by ladybird30 » Fri May 18, 2018 12:45 am

oolala53 wrote:
it certainly seems to me to lose 10 lbs. to be a lot more pleasant to eat an average deficit of 100 calories a day for a year than to plunge myself down by a deficit of 500 calories for 73 days and still have to eat way less than when I started for the rest of the year.
As someone who has taken a year to lose 10 lbs, I would have to agree. Not that I had any choice in the matter.
Three meals a day - not too little not too much, but just right

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Post by Octavia » Fri May 18, 2018 8:00 am

oolala53 wrote: He said it's basically how much food you eat in a year that determines your weight.
.
A very useful insight/reminder. I really roll my eyes when I see diet scripts that blithely tell you to cut 500 cals a day in order to lose that ‘sensible’ pound a week, or 1,000 cals a day to lose that ‘still-moderate’ 2lb a week. Hilarious! I’m definitely with you, Oolala...a deficit of 100 cals a day is quite enough for me!

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Post by Dalia negra » Fri May 18, 2018 10:15 am

Octavia wrote:
oolala53 wrote: He said it's basically how much food you eat in a year that determines your weight.
.
A very useful insight/reminder. I really roll my eyes when I see diet scripts that blithely tell you to cut 500 cals a day in order to lose that ‘sensible’ pound a week, or 1,000 cals a day to lose that ‘still-moderate’ 2lb a week. Hilarious! I’m definitely with you, Oolala...a deficit of 100 cals a day is quite enough for me!
And for me!!! :D

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Post by oolala53 » Thu May 24, 2018 1:58 pm

Hi, gang!

Had a "lost weekend." Hey, it happens.

Green this week.

I have 23 days in a row on my one-minute exercise from the site recommended here sometime in the fall, I think. I have been adding a few more minutes of vigor, concentrating on the same muscle groups targeted in that day's one minute. In the last couple of weeks, I've forgotten where I parked my car (in a parking garage and near a beach; I can't believe my friend and I didn't take note of the street name before we left the car). The good news is I was able to put in a lot of steps and some of them a slow jog to find the car. I'm pretty sure if I hadn't been doing my minutes for the last few months- though never as long a streak before and often nothing more than the one minute- I would have had a much harder time.

Got nothing coming up for the holiday. My Saturday class meets only once more before the summer break and that's after skipping two Saturdays. I guess I should call some people...
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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Post by oolala53 » Sat Jun 02, 2018 4:32 am

Hit 30 days in a row of my 1-minute exercise. Look out, Senior Olympics!

Went to a retirement buffet and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Oh, I also subbed for a teacher whose very impaired Special Education class had an end-of-the-year dance that started at 10:30 am and ended at 12:50 pm. The luncheon food was set up in an adjoining room as all the retiring teachers were in that program. These are quite specialized teachers. It's going to leave quite a gap at our school.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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Post by Octavia » Sat Jun 02, 2018 6:19 pm

I tried one of those 1 minute exercises myself...wow, they are tough! Kudos to you for doing one every day!

I did one where you had to sort of push down onto your chair seat and lift your posterior from the seat for a minute. Later on, having forgotten I’d done this, I became aware that my arms were shaking and feeling really weak! I was quite worried for a while, that maybe I had some exotic, weak arm syndrome! :lol:

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Post by Merrygoround » Mon Jun 04, 2018 8:04 pm

Where do you find your one minute exercises?
Merry

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Post by LifeisaBlessing » Tue Jun 05, 2018 12:15 am

Merrygoround wrote:Where do you find your one minute exercises?
Hi Merrygoround! :) I'm obviously not oolala lol, but here is the original thread where I mentioned the one minute exercise program. I still exercise this way every day in addition to my 10K steps--it's keeping me in great functional shape--I highly recommend it! ðŸ‘😀
I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
~Jimmy Dean

The second you overcomplicate it is the second it becomes the thing for which it is a corrective.
~El Fug, on the NoS Diet

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Post by Merrygoround » Tue Jun 05, 2018 5:57 pm

LifeisaBlessing wrote:
Merrygoround wrote:Where do you find your one minute exercises?
Hi Merrygoround! :) I'm obviously not oolala lol, but here is the original thread where I mentioned the one minute exercise program. I still exercise this way every day in addition to my 10K steps--it's keeping me in great functional shape--I highly recommend it! ðŸ‘😀

Thank you blessing, I shall check it out today :D
Merry

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Post by oolala53 » Thu Jun 07, 2018 5:00 pm

I finally had a 3-day streak of 1-minute exercise with some days up to 11. I missed one day (on Monday) and on Tuesday had a bout of something that hit me 3 other times: labrynthitis, a condition where I quite suddenly feel the severe effects of motion sickness- without any motion. The first three times (over the course of about 10 years), it started with it seeming like there were little circular strobe lights fluttering around in my field of vision. Within a few minutes, strong nausea comes on and dizziness springs from even rolling over in bed. This time, the nausea was present the previous day, but I thought it was because of something I ate. I awoke as usual around 4 a.m. but realized the nausea was worse and that the dizziness was coming on. It's not life=threatening, but it does mean I can't function much on my own and would have to wait for the symptoms to subside, which could take days, but usually less than 24 hours. I was supposed to sub that day, but texted the secretary to say I wasn't coming in. I had to call several people- all pretty much before 5 a.m.- before I could get anybody who could help. The first was on a train to L.A. Two more couldn't hear the phone ring. The fourth was a gem who came over right away. Thankfully she lives about a mile away. I called 911 because I knew she wouldn't have been strong enough to help me get to her car. I basically have to go on hands and knees with my head down, or be supported on either side by strong people while I stumble opening my eyes only in flashes, still with head down, to get anywhere. I know it sounds self-sacrificing, but I really wish I had just done the crawl thing to my friend's car rather than having the EMT's come. In any case, she got me to a Kaiser hospital. I was lucky it was early morning. There were only three or four people in the waiting area, though much goes on behind that room. By the time I emerged seven hours later, the room was filled, as were multiple beds I walked by on my way out. And people in a lot more trouble than I was.

It all sounds so dramatic, when it really doesn't need to be. The medication for it (which can be used if people know there is a chance they'll get motion sickness, but in this case. would be taken as soon as there are symptoms) is now available over the counter. I might still have to opt out of activities for a day, but I would not be rendered inert with a black cloth over my eyes feeling heavy and nauseous for hours or even days. I have the med now and will keep a tab in my car and in my wallet- though it's entirely possible the condition will never happen again. There is just no way to tell when and if it will come on.

I actually got very hungry about an hour after the med began to work, and ended up eating an entire bean and cheese burrito, which I would normally have only half of with a half a plate of salad. Some other stuff later, too.

Back to the routine yesterday. Having a late breakfast today. Just felt too gurgly in the morning and decided I wouldn't eat just because it was time. It can get tricky changing the eating window, but I went with it today. I'm not a believer in the eat-when-you're-hungry strategy. Too hard to call all the time and too hard to co-ordinate with social eating. I don't do much of that, but still like preserving a semblance of it. But sometimes, it just feels like I going with habit is not really the best strategy. This after years in.

"Crisis" over. I knew I was never in any danger. I knew I would soon be getting up an walking around, taking care of myself very soon, not facing any painful and protracted recovery. More of a nuisance than anything. And I feel so lucky that there were people to help and a strategy for recovery so fast. Over the counter med! Cheap, too.

Lazed around per doctor's orders yesterday. Now I'm doing it all on my own.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

automatedeating
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Post by automatedeating » Sun Jun 10, 2018 1:57 am

Your condition sounds nightmarish, dear friend. But I'm thankful the treatment/preventative is easily obtained and actually works.
Month/Year-BMI
8/13-26.3
8/14-24.5
5/15-26.2
1/16-26.9; 9/16-25.6
8/17-25.8; 11/17-26.9
3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
3/19-22.1; 10/19-21.8
6/20-22.5; 7/20-23.0; 9/20-23.6
4/21 - 25.2

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Post by TexArk » Sun Jun 10, 2018 12:47 pm

Thought you might find this study interesting. Seems to verify NO S as we already knew. It is also interesting that the "eating with others" had an opposite effect though. Of course this is just an abstract of the study.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals ... 92820C6E59

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Post by Crystal » Sun Jun 10, 2018 3:01 pm

That sounds so scary, Oolala. I’m so sorry you had to go through that and truly hope it never happens again. I get severe migraines with aura and nausea/vomiting so I know how truly awful that is, but what happened to you sounds so much worse. Glad you are ok now!!
44 years old. Long time vegetarian.
Vanilla No S.
Starting Weight: 269 (17 July 2017)
Last year: 228 (14 August 2018)
Current Weight: 232 (6 November 2019)
Goal Weight: Wherever my weight eventually settles on No S.

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Post by ladybird30 » Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:45 am

So glad you had someone to call on for help, and your unpleasant symptoms are now over.
Three meals a day - not too little not too much, but just right

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Post by oolala53 » Mon Jun 11, 2018 6:24 am

Thanks, Gang!

Get this. I had another vertigo event yesterday. this time going full on with an ambulance per the advice of a triage nurse on a number Kaiser provides. I tried to talk her out of it! Couldn't I see if I could find a friend who could take me in? She said several times that I should go now (then) and that her recommendation was to call 911. Got out after midnight . The same friend as last time took me home, but I had to call her so late! I was able to text her around 9:30 pm ( challenging with an IV in) to ask if she could do it and that it would be LATE! She was game and kept saying not to worry about it.

Got the next step up of meds. Was still a little woozy this morning and called to see if that was typical. This nurse said to wait on it a bit. I was on hold (I could have asked a nurse to call me back, but I foolishly thought that if I was on hold, someone would answer sooner; turns out it wasn't true, and if I hung up, I would have lost my place in "line" and had to start over. It had already taken several "layers" to get to the right number! The wooziness had died down a lot by the time we talked, and got better and better as the day went on. New med did the trick. So thankful to feel good and be able to move around.

While I was hold (for that 70 minutes), I started a project that I have said for at least six months I should do. It was cleaning and organizing the junk/tool drawers. I have a friend coming in two days, and he said he would help me with some things around the house. He will have to go into those drawers for tools, etc. He is super tidy about those things, Yikes! I pretty much worked on that nearly the whole rest of the day. It's amazing how almost relaxing it is to do it. Things fit into decent categories., so there wasn't much angst, as there often can be when I wrk with paper. (I an in doubt on so many thins and i get overwhelmed.) I ended up changing where I put my silverware and cooking tools AND which side of the sink to put the dish drainer on .(No device here.) I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. I had a plastic piece under it that was slanted to get the water into the sink, but there was one corner that kept failing at that. There was a sunken tile there already, but over the course of years, the wood had become very fragile and there was residue from it the drawer all the time. I doubt the tile could be replaced, so then we're into rettiling and that migh tmean changing the cabinets and we're getting into the tens of thosands of dollars range. I guess I kept the drainer there because that side is where I keep the clean dishes. There were already hooks for cups and it's wider than the cabinet on the other side. I finally said, ah, I can move the drainer, and take the few steps (my kitchen has one counter about eight feet long) to put the dishes away. I tend to leave a lot of them to dry in the drainer anyway. Maybe I will find a way to move things around, but not tonight!

I've been eating as the spirit moves me since the first day after this ordeal. My maid is coming tomorrow. I wanted to have some more of my food eaten, and I did avoid buying some of what I will want to have around when my visitor comes just too keep it simple. She will be a little surprised to see the changes on the counter. She never has a reason to go into the drawers so she won't know the half of it!

Gosh, I don't feel a bit tired here at 10:20 pm. No caffeine today. I think both my meds are actually supposed to make you a bit drowsy. I'll get in there and turn on my meditation bells.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

TexArk
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Post by TexArk » Mon Jun 11, 2018 10:35 am

Whoa! I have just seen your medical episodes. You are handling it all so calmly. Who else would clean out their tool/junk drawer while on hold with medical personnel???

Wishing you success with the meds and hope you don't have to go through this again. I know you live alone and the medical emergencies are scary.

BTW, now that you are semi retired, how about writing the book you have in your head...all of your posts would be a good start. The compiled wisdom of oolala.

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Post by Merrygoround » Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:30 pm

Goodness, Oolala, I have just been reading what you have been going through these last few days. You made me laugh about cleaning out a drawer when on hold....I normally just read. This is much more productive, I shall try it next time!

These medical events do not sound fun at all. I hope the new medication works. Go easy on yourself until things stabilise again. Hugs.
Merry

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Post by oolala53 » Tue Jun 12, 2018 4:17 am

Thank you all for your warm wishes. I could only work while on hold because the meds were much better; I just wasn't sure if I should have felt any residue of unbalance. It got better and is back to normal today.

Didn't make any headway on decluttering today except to take some things out on my mostly hidden deck so the maid didn't have to contend with them. I did some food shopping and pretty much conked on the couch after that. Been noodling around since then.

I found out a sleeping mask is pretty effective. I usually wake up (the first time) around 4 am. Of course it's dark but the light starts really early. When I woke up today, I assumed it was 4 because it was so dark, and took off the mask to get up and go to the bathroom. Holy moly! It was darn light out, though not blazing as there was some morning haze we often get in June. Already past 6:30. Let's see if it works again tonight.

Does anyone else see very small letters when they type here on Everyday Systems? On my laptop, it's very small and I can' sometimes have a hard time editing.

I just tried the font size feature, designating LARGE print. It doesn't look any bigger as I type it. I just posted and it doesn't look any bigger.But on the outside of this paragraph, it has indications that the font should be size 18.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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

Post by oolala53 » Tue Jun 12, 2018 5:13 am

TexArk, I have had a secret intention to write a book but have never told anyone. Sometimes I'll say it like a joke: when I write MY book, ... I have played with titles and with exactly that: looking back at my posts. The thousands of them and not only here. But I almost said it out loud to someone recently. I just don't like saying I will and then not do it. Like how we used to have people say, "How's that diet going?" as we eat a piece of cake.

I lead a team on Sparkpeople on bingeing issues. I've "shared my wisdom" there plenty. A woman who had disappeared for awhile came back and is talking about a course on eating disorders, then posting notes on them. She is so surprised by all the information. What the what? I've shared nearly everything she is writing. This woman is not that young, yet she said she had never heard anyone say there are no good and bad foods! I must have said that before, or something like it, tons of times. They even say it on Spark. But we all know that there are foods that lead to satiety and ones that lead to never being truly sated. Still, it was useful to me that I got that food demonizing before No S. Now. I've come a bit full circle, but it's from a different place and I try not to proselytize. It wouldn't have worked on me, either, years ago.

I should just start looking at random long posts from the past and seeing if they sort out into categories. I also need to play with my "voice." I can often sound so clinical, when, because of my lack of credentials, seems a little hifaluting (sp?) Also, I don't want it to sound heavy (no pun intended). I want to sound a bit cheerful while also telling the truth. It probably won't get anywhere because I'm going to say it takes a lot longer than people want to get decently established in new eating habits. And there will be uncomfortable moments, etc. Maybe there will be a chapter or more on getting through the tough times.

The problem with so many books is that people can read them in much less time than the author took to accumulate the knowledge and experience that makes them authentic and in much less time than it will take the reader to make the practices solid. They finish one book, get excited, apply a few ideas, get stuck, feel betrayed, and go on to something else. This is with anti-diet books, too. They make a lot of the same promises as diet books to. Oh, just do this, and it will all fall into place.

My exhilarating corner of the market will be to say you don't necessarily have to have a wonderful life outside of getting the food issue down. You are allowed to still be miserable! You may still have a lot of the same problems, maybe even ones that would be more important and satisfying to solve, but they are probably even harder to master than food! But get food in the corral anyway, even if it still snorts and runs around a lot.

Hmm, I got to think that one through... :P

I have also thought of writing TWO shortish books, one in one voice and the other in another one.

I have not written any of these plans down. That is not a good sign.

If I thought I would really do it soon, I would not go back to work this coming school year. But who knows? Maybe I'll get religion and do it in my free time. Im working only half time, and don't even have to do a lot of the lesson planning.

I realize I've been thinking, well I have to take care of some rather big maintenance problems on my house, and get clutter taken care of. THEN I'll devote my time to it. Maybe I should reverse the order of things.

But don't hold me to it.... 8)
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

TexArk
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Post by TexArk » Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:53 pm

Have you considered a "Daily Reading" kind of book. 365 "sermonettes"? That way you could just impart the wisdom of the day for inspiration and food for thought. Hey...there's the title, Food for Thought.

oolala53
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Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Tue Jun 12, 2018 6:26 pm

Yes, and I just wrote a response that disappeared when I accidentally hit some key that took it all away. Maybe later.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

idontknow
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Location: UK

Post by idontknow » Thu Jun 14, 2018 9:29 pm

I'd buy your book :)
53 years old
Average weight loss:
May 18 - 2.45lbs

Larkspur
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Location: Pennsylvania

Post by Larkspur » Sun Jun 17, 2018 6:56 pm

My husband is a psychologist and has shaken his head over clients who have suddenly discovered what he has been telling them for years :) But they had to be standing in the right place to see it, I guess. I would totally buy your book :) Hope you’re feeling better— did you happen to get a blood pressure when you’re feeling ill?

oolala53
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Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Tue Jun 19, 2018 5:39 am

LS, did you mean a blood pressure reading? Oh, yeah, they had me hooked up to a cuff that took it automatically in the ER. It was higher there than usual. At my primary care doctor's office, it was back to where it has been for awhile.

I'm onto my third Scopalomine patch. I'm going to experiment not putting on the last one, as my doctor friend Richard suggested. He also said I could just ask her to write a prescription so that I have some on hand, not having to wait until there's a reason I might need one. It never occurred to me that I could tell the doctor what I wanted!

I also got a few little crusty spots on my face burned off. Now I'm noticing what looks like rosacea. The fun never stops.

Had a flour-product filled Sunday. Went to the monthly Shakespeare cold reading. Several of us brought such fare: scones, Mint Milanos and killer homemade chocolate chip cookies. We all got to be friends: I mean the foods and I.

Ooo, I just remembered that some time this week, I take out the clothes I put away a few months ago to see if there items to move into or out of the rotation, or to get rid of.

I had my attic cleaned out of a rat infestation and had a deep layer of new insulation blown in several weeks ago, and damn if I don't still hear rustling up there. I even had someone come out already. He recheck the blocking of all the possible entrances. But something that can walk is up there because I've heard it in three different places. I wanted to believe it was my imagination, but it was very clear overhead in my bathroom just awhile ago. All I know is I'M not going to look tonight!
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

ladybird30
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Post by ladybird30 » Tue Jun 19, 2018 6:49 am

I'm sure rats in the ceiling wear lead boots. As a child I used to lie in bed nervously listening to rats gnawing at the walls.
Three meals a day - not too little not too much, but just right

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Tue Jun 19, 2018 1:10 pm

Lead boots with little wire prongs on them for the scratchy sound.

I don't understand why I don't hear the noises more often. If there were someone else living here, I'd wonder if I were being gaslighted. A visiting friend slept in the living room. He thought it was squirrels on the roof, but I would definitely hear the sound a lot more often if it was them.

I guess it's not a cat or I'd be hearing a lot more than scratching.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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Octavia
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Post by Octavia » Sat Jun 23, 2018 9:37 am

...just popped by to say hello - haven’t been on the forum much recently, what with one thing and another! Hope those vertiginous spells have settled down and you’re feeling better. And the rosacea thing - you shouldn’t have to deal with all this! It never rains but it pours, to use that old saying. ðŸ’

This might be of no use whatsoever, but....for facial things, I have a theory that things settle quickest if you can’t see them. (This is tested only on myself and my friend Emma, the other believer in this theory.) So whatever the problem, I disguise it with makeup, even though that might seem counterintuitive when skin is sensitive. Just one of my pet theories concerning the power of the mind...😊

Good luck with the rats and their little lead boots 😂, and hope you have a great weekend. X

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:07 am

tx, Octavia. i has the sealing/insulation company come back. The employee said he did find a couple of places that might have been entrances. I saw him carrying wire barricades up into the attic, and he said the blocked a couple of spots in the hot water heater closet outside. (He said, I guess they missed those. Uh, yeah. ) But he was a nice, respectful young man.

However, the scratching was so loud last night and right on top of the board in the bathroom ceiling that covers the entrance into the space that I thought it might actually be able to rattle it open enough to drop in for a visit. Freaked me out so much I called a wild animal removal service that claimed to be open until midnight. They weren't called another one open at 7 this morning- on a Sunday!- but couldn't ask him to come to do a thorough examination because of possible entrances (the other guy hadn't come yet, and who knows how competent he was going to be?) and lay a trap for any animal. The other company does not advertise themselves a animal remover, just cleanup and insulation. The inspection call is 129 bucks just for showing up. The varmint might be gone by now, but I won't take the chance. I just wish peace of mind was a little cheaper.

On another note that puts all this in perspective, I "attended" the class by webcast version yesterday of a class I usually go to in person, but could not because of a repeat attack severe dizziness and nausea.


The first thing the teacher announced was that one member of our group, a young man (to me: he was 42) died last week. Later a member sent me a post by his father on his Facebook page that said, "He was a free spirit from the day he was born and always plotted his own course...in the end, he chose his own time and place to leave us." I knew he rode a motorcycle and thought at first that he had died in an accident, but I knew also he had a dark side to him, and felt sure one of those would have been the reason.

A close friend in his age group responded to a text of mine rather late, probably reluctant to call because of the hour. I was up anyway, so I talked with him late into the night. I had carpooled and hung out several times with them, and I had seen the deceased many, many times at our meetings. Our mutual friend said he knew the victim was profoundly unhappy, even to the point of asking repeatedly, "Tell me again why you think suicide is a bad idea?" He talked of using a gun rather than other means because of its greater efficacy. Our friend said he suspected that he could one day do it, but there was never any clear and present danger of harming himself, so he felt no freedom to involve anyone else. The deceased was extremely distrustful of traditional medicine and would never even consider going for any treatment, insisting that his thought processes were actually logical and defensible, not possibly a sign of faulty brain patterns. The young man felt very distant from mainstream society, lamenting the obvious injustices, false promises, and corruption of public life. I suspect these made him also reject the values of his family, who while not privileged or disdainful of disadvantaged classes, did not share his deep concern for the world, which he saw as uncaring. He had gone at one point not speaking to his mother for 20 years.

Over 70 people shared their sorrow on Facebook. His mother thanked everyone profusely, saying that he had never let the family know who he really was after he left them as a relatively young adult. Among other things, he had gone to live in China for several years. He knew the regime was extremely authoritarian, but he did believe that he might also find that there was a fairer gap between rich and poor. I don't know if he didn't find that, but our friend said he became very unhappy relatively soon and then blamed himself for staying on for four more years. In recent political times, he was dejected about the leaders on both sides whom he saw as privileged white men causing great misery to many. He himself was white and educated with few obstacles holding him back, and he felt guilty for that, believing he was actually part of the problem. Of course, there were several very red flags in all this, but once again, you cannot force a person to get the kind of help you think he needs.

I wish now I had realized how profound his distress was. He and I had butted heads a few times. I don't say that I would have had to tiptoe around him, but I would have liked to have considered that he was more sensitive than I thought, and made more considered responses. I don't say at all that our interactions played any more than a smidgen part in his life, but I think I would have chosen to let things go more, less attached to being right, as I do now with my brother, understanding that he actually has a pathology that explains what felt like cruelty to me in decades past.

However, I will not heap criticism on myself and vow to make all my interactions even-tempered and tender. I am grappling with my own physiology and brain-grooved habits. I will not drum up guilt for not having an immediate transformation.

At the beginning of my eating habits turnaround, I read a long list of reasons to change my habits every day, several times a day for weeks, and every day for months. I want to develop a similar but shorter list of reasons to choose to hold back my knee jerk reactions in more situations, especially since most of the offending instances don't actually have the power to do any real damage to me; it will not be a true squelching of my actions out of fear, but a reasoned choice about the seriousness or lack of it, in the situation.

I do not have to have everyone's approval, respect, or even good treatment in order to give them or myself those things. It's convenient if people give them to me, but not a necessity. It is so easy to ramp up a sense of woundedness that has nothing to do with the present moment or real threat to my wellbeing.

In that class I go to, which is a kind of Indian philosophy class, an older teaching far before Hinduism with its myriad gods and caste system, I had asked the question at one point about our responsibility in the world to work towards alleviating suffering, the focus of many spiritual canons. My teacher said it is each one's absolute freedom, without any outside pressure, to choose to do that or not. But he also said if I was waiting for the world to be a fair place before I was happy... he just looked tenderly at me and didn't finish the sentence. Of course he meant then I would then probably never be happy, and that would be a waste of my life energy.

I had realized at one point that much of my difficulty at my teaching job was an intense worry for the fate of so many students I have clashed with and can't reach. I realized that I thought the worry was a kind of proof that I cared, but also that I thought being happy in spite of the problems trivializes the seriousness of the situation. I see now that it was also a way to make me feel like a good person protecting the identity. None of this is in anyone's best interest. But, it is a very strong habit. I need to bring the same kind of rational compassion to weaning myself off the comfort of this belief and worry, and make similar limited and progressive changes to my actions as I did when first turning the ship of my eating.

I've told people many times that I feel living with food more peacefully is easy in comparison with these much more subtle but powerful affects on our happiness, or at least mine. My present slimness does not protect me from this kind of sorrow.

I've realized this before; I guess I have been somewhere in the first three stages of change of important actions for quite awhile. I hope I am ready for more action, but with compassion for myself as I go.

This seems to have gotten far afield of the death of my friend, but one of death's values in my mind is not to fall into fear but to awaken or reawaken the poignancy of each person's efforts to live well and to let it move the living in the direction of satisfaction.

Even in the face of personal and world troubles, let's each have the happiest week we can.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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lpearlmom
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Post by lpearlmom » Tue Jun 26, 2018 4:26 am

“ do not have to have everyone's approval, respect, or even good treatment in order to give them or myself those things. It's convenient if people give them to me, but not a necessity. It is so easy to ramp up a sense of woundedness that has nothing to do with the present moment or real threat to my wellbeing. â€

Beautiful post and really resonates with me especially the above. Just yesterday I acted like it was the end of the world just because my waxing appt got lost. Ugh, what a prima donna I can be.

I’m so sorry about your colleague. Seems to a lot of that going on lately. It’s probably just because I’m so wrapped up in it but I can’t help to think that the current state of this country is not helping anyone’s depression.

Anyway, thanks for the reminder not to wait around for perfect in order to be happy.

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

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Octavia
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Post by Octavia » Tue Jun 26, 2018 6:46 pm

oolala53 wrote:
Even in the face of personal and world troubles, let's each have the happiest week we can.
I second that. Let’s practise being happy.

So sorry to hear about this young guy.

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

Post by oolala53 » Tue Jun 26, 2018 7:03 pm

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

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

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

Post by automatedeating » Sat Jun 30, 2018 11:20 pm

Thank you for taking the time to share your extremely deep thoughts at this time of loss. I so appreciate everything you shared; it resonated deeply with me and has me rereading a few sentences to grapple with how it applies to my own strange grooved behavior.

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

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:45 pm

Hugs, Auto.

I think I may have figured out why this vertigo condition keeps coming back;I'd like to think I'm right, though if I am, an awful lot of health care money just got wasted. I am entitled to sizable discounts on a new pair of glasses every 2 years. I sometimes dawdle about it because it's not that important to me, especially with the frames I have right now, which are my favorites of the last 10 years at least. However, but the first time. I notice that they seemed very cloudy or dirty very easily. (I'm kinda notorious for looking out of smudged up glasses.) Then I noticed that actually seemed to have very small scratches. Plus the bottom lens part for reading needed to be in exactly the right place for the print to be clear I constantly had to keep moving the print in, out, up , down, close, and far. I still have the old ones, but got an exam nearly 2 week sago and my new ones are due this week. My doc said my vision hasn't changed a whole lot, but I still suspect that it has been constantly looking through the wrong prescription that has been offsetting things. Have you ever tired on someone else's glasses and felt almost a little whoozy? The patch I put in Friday evening did not kick in in hear the time the others had. I purposely ket my classes off as much as I could yesterday and put them back only this morning to drive. The nausea slight dizziness (enough not to drive) are gone, but I don't know if it's from the med kicking in or not wearing the glasses . I'm actually hoping ti's the glasses because that is an easy fix.

On to food. I have found a new kryptonite ,but one I am determined to conquer. (If I can, I guess it's not really kryptonite.) It is a kind of knotted partially baked roll with a fat and garlic coating that you put in the oven to finish thhe baking off. They are in a foil pouch that is made to bake the lot in, shake up to make sure the coating is spread, and open up. Don't even have to dirty a pan! I will bake and eat two on any one day; maybe three on S days; the rest go in the freezer. They are just the chewiness I loooove. I find myself thinking I have to justify them. I really want to get away from that feeling; how do I dismantle it while still feeling I am also aspiring to support this 64-year-old body with the foods I believe are the best choice for me? It is interesting that I can see it wrapped up in this culturally induced requirement to for women to be good girls and eat to keep them slim and attractive. I feel the vestiges of shame. Yet, if I sped my way through a yellow light that turned red on the way through, which has a lot more chance of causing true misery, I wouldn't brood over it. I'd just think, well, I slow down sooner before the intersection so I can stop when it turns yellow. End of incident. I guess if I were taking those chances often, I might think I have to start being more mindful and feel perturbed at least if I didn't change the habit.

I'm not going to fix my typos above because my mouse pad on my laptop has stopped responding to the direction to take the cursor to a specific line. I have to rely on the arrows to take me row by row and letter by letter. This does not bode well . If my regualr shop is open today, I'll take it in. I can still use my desktop if need be. I told myself when I set it up as a standing desk that I would use it 90% of the time, when it' s more the reverse.

I'm went to see if I could exchange a spur of the moment decision to buy a huge 8-qt. Instantpot at a swap meet because I thought the 3-qt would be too small and the vendor didn't have 6 qt. The 8-qt. Also because the pot has 24,000 reviews on Amazon so ebullient that it might be dangerous to ask a couple if each had to choose between the mate and the pot, it would be like Jack Benny being held up at gun pint being with "Your money or your life." When he hesitated, the thief pressured him to which Benny replied, "I'm thinking about it!" The large pot wouldn't even fit in any of my cabinets unless I took a shelf out and I have few enough shelves now. This is the kind of situation where the seller is not some big outfit where it's easy to ask for refunds but it turned out t was easier than I thought. I ended up buying two! A 3-qt and a 6-qt, just to see. I think I would have no trouble selling one if I had to. I got such a discount that I wouldn't lose mine, very likely. But now I can get rid of my 'big" crockpot and a pressure cooker. I will see if I want to keep my 1.5 qt one. It was just about right for a pound of dried beans, but I had a hard time timing it right. For it to be convenient, I wouldn't have to be around at the right time to turn it off, but I did, so they would get too soft. Edible but not ideal

Speaking of edible, I did something last nigh that I have never done before: threw out most of my dinner. Maybe I'm just not adventurous enough, but I just don't throw food out just because it's not that good. But this had such a permeating flavor that nothing could camouflage it. I tried this and that because I didn't want to waste the beans and kale, but they finally went into the container for composting. But it won't stop me from experimenting because my track record shows my odds are pretty good.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

jenji
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Post by jenji » Mon Jul 02, 2018 1:37 pm

I'm sorry about your loss of your classmate. Suicide has such a ripple effect on people around the deceased. May his memory comfort friends and family.
I'm a 53-year-old mom and non-profit CEO
I am 5' 7.5"
Began No S at 184#, BMI 28.4 - 9/25/2017
Current weight: 181#, BMI 27.9, 12/19/2022

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

Post by automatedeating » Wed Jul 04, 2018 12:19 am

Here's to the quick "glasses" fix!

I suggest, if you must replace your computer, check out a Chromebook! I love mine and it is SO SO cheap -- like $200 cheap. Suits my purposes just fine. :-)
I've determined in my heart I will never buy a PC again!
Month/Year-BMI
8/13-26.3
8/14-24.5
5/15-26.2
1/16-26.9; 9/16-25.6
8/17-25.8; 11/17-26.9
3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
3/19-22.1; 10/19-21.8
6/20-22.5; 7/20-23.0; 9/20-23.6
4/21 - 25.2

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

Post by oolala53 » Wed Jul 04, 2018 4:38 pm

The keyboard issue has disappeared for now. Knock on ...wood?

Potluck tonight. Leaving it open for dessert. I still grapple sometimes with having it just because I can vs. having it because there is something really special, something I don't usually have access to. I don't want to let the second one turn into a measure of my morality, as if I'm a better person if I stick to an ideal. It's so easy for these things to be percolating below the surface.

I've been noticing how this kind of self-evaluation goes on subtly all day long in the background of my thoughts, an automatic rendering of enoughness/ not enoughness: clean enough, tidy enough, productive enough, kind enough, shrewd enough. For instance, I was able to trade the 8 qt, Instantpot for two smaller ones: a 6 qt. and a 3 qt. Of course I felt I was in a hurry and didn't open the boxes. Both of them are missing a little part, a small plastic container that slides in to collect steam condensation. It's not as if I couldn't put some little bowl to catch it, but the part is so well designed for the purpose, and it would have taken me only a few minutes to just check for it right when I was there. If I want to go back again to sort this out, I can't do it until Friday at least and it's possible the vendor isn't there that day. It seems I so often bring these things on myself and no amount of reminding myself to take my time is "enough" to stop these things from happening. And there's no easy "bright line" standard analogous to three one-plate meals to use. One more time, food is so much easier than life!

Speaking of clean enough/ tidy enough, off to the kitchen...
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

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

Post by automatedeating » Fri Aug 03, 2018 3:17 pm

Hi Oolala! I've just had you on my mind for a few weeks now -- I don't think it's normal for you to be off the boards this long. And with your history of having some serious vertigo issues, etc., I've been worried!!! Please let us know you are OK and just enjoying your summer away from the computer!
Please take care.
Month/Year-BMI
8/13-26.3
8/14-24.5
5/15-26.2
1/16-26.9; 9/16-25.6
8/17-25.8; 11/17-26.9
3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
3/19-22.1; 10/19-21.8
6/20-22.5; 7/20-23.0; 9/20-23.6
4/21 - 25.2

Larkspur
Posts: 438
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Location: Pennsylvania

Post by Larkspur » Fri Aug 03, 2018 6:06 pm

Yeah, I’m concerned too. Downside of online connection-/ can’t pick up the phone and touch base. Hopefully just busy with nice summer stuff.

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lpearlmom
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Post by lpearlmom » Fri Aug 03, 2018 11:04 pm

Hoping she’s okay too. She did respond to a thread on the general questions on Saturday but that’s the last Post I saw from her.
:twisted: SW: 210 lbs
CW: 172
GW:160

oolala53
Posts: 10059
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Post by oolala53 » Sun Aug 05, 2018 4:08 pm

Thanks for your concern, ladies!

My absence was a combination of things, not the least of which was having let myself be seduced by the call of food and not wanting to come and talk about it. In essence, too proud and thus hiding. Not very much in keeping with my pronounced habit of putting it all out there and encouraging compassion instead of shame- on myself. I hope it's over now. I've been using some "carrots" to get me back in, which actually allows for getting from a certain meal to the next and then also allowing a fair number of seconds after that. Going back to work hasn't provided as much good structure, as I'm not occupied up until a lunch time; that was a much better fit with the three-meal timing I had before.

I feel I was influenced in the past few days to just do it. There has been am African American man panhandling near the local Costco. He's in a wheelchair- not a motorized one- and he is missing his legs below his knees. He is positioned by some trees, so there is some shade, but it's been god-awful hot by our standards for days. The first time I saw him, I felt I wanted to give him something; know that I worked for years in our downtown where there is a sizable homeless population and had never given any of them anything. But the traffic won out with the man in the wheelchair. Yesterday, I pulled over to the side and went back to give him something. His face was distorted, too, from an injury or stroke, who knows. I've read that a fair number of panhandlers actually make very good money and are just playing the part; if he was, he was dang good.

I've got more, but I have to get crackin' on some things before the day gets hot.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

ladybird30
Posts: 1118
Joined: Sun May 07, 2017 10:41 pm

Post by ladybird30 » Sun Aug 05, 2018 10:36 pm

Thanks for letting us know how you are going. I too was concerned by your absence.
Three meals a day - not too little not too much, but just right

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

Post by automatedeating » Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:58 pm

Oolala -- part of your pain of teaching high school is probably that you are a bit of a "reluctant empath"! Ha! It is such a part of you but you also know that catering to the every whim of hormonal teens is not good for them.

And you're safe here. If I can admit I drink too much, you can be safe to admit you have been a bit outside the food fence.
Month/Year-BMI
8/13-26.3
8/14-24.5
5/15-26.2
1/16-26.9; 9/16-25.6
8/17-25.8; 11/17-26.9
3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
3/19-22.1; 10/19-21.8
6/20-22.5; 7/20-23.0; 9/20-23.6
4/21 - 25.2

jenji
Posts: 661
Joined: Tue Sep 26, 2017 5:00 pm
Location: Cambridge

Post by jenji » Mon Aug 06, 2018 9:19 pm

I do think that we need to forgive ourselves a little as we puzzle through changes in routine. Figuring out what is off is not always automatic. Our first instinct about how to "fix" it may not be correct. Keep working on it. We are here for you, as you've always been here for us.
I'm a 53-year-old mom and non-profit CEO
I am 5' 7.5"
Began No S at 184#, BMI 28.4 - 9/25/2017
Current weight: 181#, BMI 27.9, 12/19/2022

worth it
Posts: 458
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2013 1:47 pm

Post by worth it » Tue Aug 07, 2018 4:51 am

Phew! I was gone out of town for a few days and I am glad to hear that you are doing OK.

p.s. I think you are even more awesome for sharing that you were “hiding†out! Totally real-100%. Nothing better! We’ll be here when you get back (like you are always here for us). Hugs! 🤗

3squaremeals
Posts: 291
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2016 11:03 pm
Location: Australia

Post by 3squaremeals » Sun Aug 26, 2018 6:30 am

Hoping everything is ok with you as you haven't posted in a while

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

Post by Strawberry Roan » Mon Aug 27, 2018 1:41 pm

Yeah, where are ya, oolala? :roll:
Berry

User avatar
Octavia
Posts: 901
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 8:01 pm
Location: UK

Post by Octavia » Sun Sep 02, 2018 11:34 pm

Missing your posts! Hope all’s well. Take care. 🙂

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

Post by oolala53 » Tue Sep 04, 2018 12:06 am

Curses! why does this happen? Wrote a long catch-up post and was scrolling through it to review when the page just went backwards as if I hadn't started. that happened about a month ago, too.

Won't recreate it all. I'm okay, just not eating well, and am not seeing an end to the disorderliness of it. One pair of pants felt tight yesterday for the first time. Weight loss wasn't my incentive back in 2008; will it be now? Not yet.

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

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

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

Post by oolala53 » Tue Sep 04, 2018 4:58 am

P. S. Not really trying to understand this stage or correct it. Just reporting. It is what it is.

I think it's a little like the scale issue. I no longer want my feelings about my day to depend too much on whether I'm No S compliant or not, just like I don't want my day to revolve around that scale. It might take some whacky eating to get there
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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

User avatar
Octavia
Posts: 901
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 8:01 pm
Location: UK

Post by Octavia » Tue Sep 04, 2018 11:18 pm

Great to hear from you and glad to hear you’re ok. I think I understand what you’re saying. I’ve had moments when ‘compliance’ feels unhealthy. Weird and insane, even! Wish I had the answer to this. We’re just fighting a really tough battle. Maybe you’ll come through this phase with new insights! Take care, and yes, let’s keep fighting the good fight!

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