Will Power Failing

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Jayhawk28
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Will Power Failing

Post by Jayhawk28 » Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:00 am

Hello Everyone,

I just started my 4th week. I was down to 228 late last week from my starting point of 233. I thought I was on track - but I lost it this weekend. I had lots of beer, fast food and basic junk.

I was 234 on this scale this morning - my highest weight ever. On top of that, I just ate my 4th meal of the day. I actually went for a run after dinner. I came home, took a shower and then made two vegetarian burritos. They were healthy - but they were an extra meal.

I feel myself starting to slip. I've read other threads describing the 3rd and 4th weeks as being pivotal in terms of a long term commitment.

Any help with this one?

Laff
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Post by Laff » Tue Jun 03, 2008 6:34 am

OK Jay, the party is over!! :wink: You know how to do this as you have watched the weight come down. Stay off the scale after a weekend. It will not tell you anything that you would like to know! Don't beat yourself up, it was the weekend. Good for you for getting in some exercise. We are all human and we all make mistakes. What successful people do is get right back on track. Don't wait for next week. I am driving this old wagon and will pick you up. It may be a bumpy ride but we can do it.

I know you can do this. Good for you for checking in.
Gotta smile. Laff

Achieving begins with believing!

kccc
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Post by kccc » Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:13 pm

Ignore the scale. It will alway be up on Monday. Focus on the habits - they last, and work.

This is a turning point, where the honeymoon phase is over. The good news is that you don't have to be perfect on day one - just keep trying. Eventually, good habits will replace bad, and then the strength of habit will work FOR you instead of against you.

Hang in there. You can do this. One day/meal at a time, and if you slip, just get right back on track.

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NoelFigart
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Post by NoelFigart » Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:46 pm

Screw will power.

Go for habit.

Habit will win over will every time. KCCC is so very right. If you screw up, just go back to the habits you want to build right away. Eventually it will take.

I had a very bad month last month and made the mistake of letting exercise slide (why why why would I let what improves my mood slide when I'd grieving? Talk about ineffective choice!)

Throw in the towel? Goodness why? I'm going for the long term. One screwup is one incident and cannot have the power that all those green days do.

*grin* You could look at it like a video game, with every green day being an energy source. That helps me a lot so I don't focus on the red ones and let them get me down.

blueskighs
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Post by blueskighs » Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:23 pm

my highest weight ever.
i can understand that would feel discouraging,
but i am with Noel,
build those habits.

Although I have not binged since I have been on NO S I have def overeaten on both S days and N days,
but this is my real experience ...

this is the weirdest and most unexpected thing, maybe others can comment ...

My appetite is actually diminishing over time as I stick with No S. It is amazing ...but I am struggling to learn how to feed myself smaller portions because I really don't know how ... but if I dont eat smaller portions now I get nauseous and feel worse than ever when I overeat ...

what I am saying is don't worry about the scale, if you are really worried maybe you can go with "scientific weighing" otherwise I would just really STAY ON HABIT and things will just change.

I don't know why... I wonder if eating three meals a day in and day out at least five days a week effects your overall blood sugar levels so that over time it alleviates the "hunger" caused by fluctuations in blood sugar,

I don't know but this is my experience, HANG IN THERE,
also there are people who have posted who gained weight initially on NO S but now they are losing weight,

Blueskighs
www.nosdiet.blogspot.com Where I blog daily about my No S journey

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fkwan
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Post by fkwan » Tue Jun 03, 2008 5:15 pm

What everybody said, especially noel and blueskighs.

I tried to go to only weekly weighings and found it was more of a shock when something went wrong than if I did daily weights. With daily weights I could sort of visualize a pattern and make changes if something were going wrong.

However, in my three month experience, Mondays will always suck, or the weight will be the same as Friday.

If you are female and have any kind of hormonal imbalance whatsoever (menopause, hypothyroid), the weight will take at least twice as long to come off as any other diet you have ever been on. If you are a guy, maybe the beer has to go. :( And you CAN survive on three meals a day! :)

There is always a reason for weight gain, which is usually water retention. Even though I did everything else right, I ruined a whole week because I possibly took medications that caused me to retain water!

However, before I started No S, I was a hopeless self-loathing addict and now I am a regular person who eats normal, healthy food in normal, healthy amounts for the first time in 53 years of existence.

Hang in there.

f
One must know his limitations. -- John Milius
Beginning weight: 115
Currently: Haven't a clue

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BrightAngel
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Re: Will Power Failing

Post by BrightAngel » Tue Jun 03, 2008 5:36 pm

Jayhawk28 wrote:Hello Everyone,

I just started my 4th week.
I was down to 228 late last week from my starting point of 233.
I was 234 on this scale this morning - my highest weight ever.

I feel myself starting to slip.
Any help with this one?
You are talking a maximum 6 lb deviation.
There is a large difference between a body's salt/water/waste levels
when, after a series of on-target weekdays, one overeats for a couple of weekend days.

A 3 to 6 lb bounce over such a weekend is nothing....even for me at 115 lbs.
During the last couple of years of maintaining my current weight,
serveral times after a couple of days of overdoing the food,
I've had 8 lb up-bounces,
which after two or three days of reduced food intake dropped back down to normal..
....maybe with 1/2 lb to 1 lb gain...if I ate a lot of really high-calorie foods during those few days.
Higher weights have even larger normal salt/water/waste bounces.

The secret is to stay on track,
and build a HABIT of eating less.
No matter what the scale says, your actual Fat Weight depends on your food intake...
...which is how many calories you eat.
Over time, N days and S days combined MUST total less food intake than your body burns,
That is the only thing that will cause anyone to lose fat weight over time.
BrightAngel - (Dr. Collins)
See: DietHobby. com

Dawn
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Post by Dawn » Tue Jun 03, 2008 6:59 pm

I wouldn't dare weigh myself after some of the weekends I have had. Actually most weekends since starting this 4 months ago have been less than perfect. Although I am not sure what a perfect weekend is. The point of them is to keep you from feeling deprived thus keeping you on track the rest of the week, and I really need that.

I didn't even start to lose until 10 weeks into this. At around 10 weeks I was getting discouraged but at the same time I had a sense of peace and strength inside. If I were you I'd focus on the N days and get them going as good as you can. The S days will follow, or at least they will a lot better and it should be enough to make the difference. Remember to do super small changes.

Also, I try to look at things as being their own separate components. Exercise, N days and S days. I try to do my best with each of them. But if I don't do so good with one of them, I do not allow myself to "make it up" with one of the other components. It was that type of mentality that killed the other plans I'd been on. The constant negotiating was driving me crazy.

So now I feel great about my N days and my exercise so that only leaves my S days for me to focus on now. But I am down 8 pounds in four months, so if this rate of loss is the best I can do, it's OK. That still gets me to my goal in less than a year.

Good luck!
Dawn

Jayhawk28
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Post by Jayhawk28 » Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:29 pm

Thanks for all the support. I almost got fed up and started another "extreme" plan that I've failed on mulitple times in the past like South Beach, Weight Watchers or Body for Life.

I will work on keeping N days N days and let S days be what they may.

Exercise, though needs to be consistent along with the above. I put daily running on my HabitCal. I think that will really be helpful.

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NoelFigart
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Post by NoelFigart » Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:47 pm

Boy howdy am I a firm believer in consistent exercise!

Yes, indeed, put it on your habitcal.

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JillyBean
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Post by JillyBean » Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:18 am

I'm just sticking like glue to everything Reinhard suggests at the moment. His recommendation is to weigh in once a day, for three days in a row, once a month, and take the average of the three weigh ins. Then do not weigh again until the next month. For me that's the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of the month (just ending my second weigh-in today since starting No S).

I was up a little this month overall, but each day it was going down (as I got further away from the weekend maybe??). I could see this morning that I could easily revert to weighing in more often to keep looking for that drop in weight. Not a good place for me to go. I know weight fluctuates too much to rely on a loss every day. I'm in this for the long haul and I know it's going to take time. That's okay. I can do this for the rest of my life.
Jill

The food I eat today is my choice! What price am I willing to pay?

"There are no failures, only feedback." ~~ Robert Allen

trytrytry
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Post by trytrytry » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:58 am

Hi Jay

I haven't really realized about 3rd and 4th weeks being crucial, but now that I look back at my progress chart it is when I had my biggest doubts, slip up and jump in weight.

Somehow I managed to get back on track (reading all the advice on forums and the book helps me a lot) and since then (I'm on day 35 today) my weight has been dropping!!!

Hang in there. Your weight will jump up and down. Don't worry about slip ups. Try to get back on track as soon as you can and focus on the habit!

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

PS. Don't worry too much about will power - I'm convinced that when I was born my parents somehow forgot to get some for me from the baby shop. I think focusing on the next meal is the way to go - and when you're really struggling, try to make it especially nice.

take care

flipturn
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Post by flipturn » Fri Jun 06, 2008 4:35 pm

I wish that I hadn't had any slip-ups, but I have had one, a big one at that. It was pouring, there was a tornado watch, I couldn't do what I wanted to do, and I had gotten up at 4 am to drive my daughter to the airport. I allowed myself to have a wicked afternoon breaking all of my newly-developing No S habits, then had a Reinhard-approved dinner. I agree with all who said that (No S) habit is a much better way to go than willpower.

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