Thoughts after 21 days

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

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jordonk27
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Thoughts after 21 days

Post by jordonk27 » Sun Nov 20, 2005 1:35 pm

Well, I've been No-S-ing for at least 21 days, depending on when I consider to have started.

In my last thread it was recommended that I find an alternative to Frosted Flakes. Yesterday I accompanied my mom to the grocery store to find one. It is hard. There are so many cereals with sugar in them, it's unbelievable. Even the ones that I thought might be healthier than Frosted Flakes had sugar when I checked the ingredients. I never would have known. Eventually I found these toasted wheat flakes that looked pretty good. I haven't tried them yet, but I couldn't help but notice when I saw the old and new cereal boxes on the shelf that the Frosted Flakes have fewer calories (140) and more vitamins per serving than the new cereal (190). I guess 50 calories for a rather big-ish guy like me isn't a big difference, but what do I know?

Other than that, I've been following No S strictly except when it comes to school lunch. I decided to have some fruit along with my lunch to take place of my salty/sugary afternoon snack. It's kept the hunger away, to an extent. The thing is, I make no attempt to fit the fruit on the same plate or "virtual plate" it because the plates aren't very big anyway. It doesn't bother me, though. I mean, hey, I'm actually eating fruit!

I've screwed up at least once (I had a large chocolate chip cookie for lunch), but that was stupid of me and I'm not going to do it again. My biggest problem, as you could guess, is figuring what's a sweet and what's not. I think I'm getting a better sense of it though. Seeing as I don't eat too many sweets in the first place, eliminating the other S's has been more prominent in my mind.

I'm not sure how much weight I've lost (if any) because I'm going to do it relatively infrequently. The last time I tried No S, I did a once-weekly weigh-in and was disappointed that I had "gained" one pound. I've learned by reading around here that averaging several successive weighings after a long period is best, so that's what I'm going to do, on a monthly basis. I hope to lose 4 pounds; I don't know if that's realistic because I haven't done any exercise yet.

That problem, of course, is going to be fixed. I also got a sledgehammer yesterday (and a kitchen timer), so I'm going to start shovelgloving tomorrow.

Thanks Reinhard and everybody for your help and support!

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gratefuldeb67
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Sun Nov 20, 2005 1:49 pm

Good for you Jordan :)

Congrats on eating more fruit! Don't worry about putting it on a plate...
That's okay... As long as you don't just plough through five pounds of grapes at once you'll be fine...

As far as the cereal, I too had the exact, shocked reaction when I went and actually read the nutritional info... I thought plain rice crispies would be better than cocoa crispies...
They were identical... Now we just buy whatever cereal we like, but it's usually packaged, and sweetened, oatmeal...
There's less of a chance that I'll raid it at night before bed, if I have to cook it! We also like Life and Rice Crispies...
I've actually been buying fresh rolls and small croissaints for breakfast from the bakery at the supermarket... It's relatively cheap and it's not loaded with preservatives.. And it goes well with coffee!

Those wheat flakes might have been less sugar but more calories but if it's whole wheat, the nutritional plusses outweigh the concern over the fifty extra calories...
Okay fifty calories of refined sugar versus stuff with protein and fiber and vitamins...
If you ever look at the calories in granola it's very high, because it's got substance and is dense, but you just have a smaller portion..

Have a nice one..
Peace,
Deb

Kevin
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Post by Kevin » Sun Nov 20, 2005 5:14 pm

It sounds like you are doing well: keep hanging in there!

In addition to fruit, can I suggest raw vegetables, too? Buy some baby carrots, plum tomatoes, red/yellow/orange peppers, celery, etc. It'll fill you up better than fruit. We pack our kid's school lunches, and our own, too. It works out better that way. Bulky, low calorie veggies (like raw vegetables) can really fill that biological need for something in your belly, and there's probably nothing better for you, nutritionally.
I've screwed up at least once (I had a large chocolate chip cookie for lunch), but that was stupid of me and I'm not going to do it again.
You will mess up again. And when you do, you'll resolve not to do it again, and you'll do better, but eventually, you'll mess up again. Don't expect to achieve perfection - it's a trap. No one is perfect. Diligence is the key to success, not perfection.

Be prepared to gain weight when you start excercising, at least over the short term. Don't let that throw you. Resistance exercise builds muscle: muscle weighs a lot more than fat.

If you want to lose weight, add walking to your schedule. In my experience, no exercise is more efficient at taking off weight than walking.

Good luck, and hang in there!
Kevin
1/13/2011-189# :: 4/21/2011-177# :: Goal-165#
"Respecting the 4th S: sometimes."

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gratefuldeb67
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Sun Nov 20, 2005 6:28 pm

No one is perfect. Diligence is the key to success, not perfection.
Amen and amen T. K!

Love,
:wink: Deb

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Mon Nov 21, 2005 8:36 pm

jordonk27,

Congratulations on making the 21 days! And on swapping processed snacks for fruit. That's huge.

You're right that a lot of "healthy" cereals are about as bad as frosted flakes in terms of sugar content, but most of them have *some* other redeeming value. They have fiber, whole grains, something. And ridiculous as it sounds, branding does count for something, even just for yourself. "Frosted" means "sugar coated." How are you going to take your resolve seriously when you're eating something that has "sugar coated" in the name? Naturally, the best thing would be to really eat less sugar, but the name is a good place to start... It'll help with that whole S-clarity issue you're having.

The vitamins in frosted flakes are not naturally there: someone cracked open a sub bargain basement brand vitamin pill into the box. Interesting science experiment: put a magnet up to your frosted flakes and watch the it pick up the iron filings (highly digestible, I'm sure!). So I wouldn't let that be a factor. If you feel this kind of vitamin supplementation is important, I wouldn't let it confuse your food choices, just stick with the pills. I prefer to eat the fruits, vegetables, grains and meats that naturally contain these vitamins and skip the supplementation altogether.

There are a lot of cereals on the market. It may take a bit of experimenting to find a suitable replacement. You might even need to do it in several transitional steps: lousy cereal -> less lousy cereal -> reasonably healthy cereal. And maybe allow yourself a big bowl of frosted flakes on the weekend as an appropriate reward.

Keep us posted, and let us know what you wind up doing. Good luck with the shovelglove.

Reinhard

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gratefuldeb67
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Mon Nov 21, 2005 8:43 pm

You might even need to do it in several transitional steps: lousy cereal -> less lousy cereal -> reasonably healthy cereal
LOL!!!!!
Reinhard you are a riot!!!

Love,
8) Deb

Kevin
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cereal

Post by Kevin » Tue Nov 22, 2005 12:05 pm

The discussion of cereal reminds me of two things...

First, when next at the grocery store, see if they carry Kashi cereal. It's an organic/natural food company that's starting to make it into many major supermarkets. It is still somewhat sweet, but it has tons of fiber and is probably a better choice than the highly refined, sweetened stuff.

And that of course, reminds me of the old Phil Hartman Saturday Night Live sketch (you're probably too young to remember) for "Colon Blow Cereal", each bowl of which had a as much fiber as a small hill of Total. It really was a funny sketch, seeing Phil Hartman standing on a small mountain of Total, but I guess you had to be there.
Kevin
1/13/2011-189# :: 4/21/2011-177# :: Goal-165#
"Respecting the 4th S: sometimes."

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Prodigalsun
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Post by Prodigalsun » Tue Nov 22, 2005 2:29 pm

I remember Colon Blow!

I also remember an adds from the Belushi/Curtain/Akroyd days. The cereal in the faux commercial was called Quary.

Quarry - breakfast cereal made from rocks; "Better, because it's mined!"

And then there was the one with John Belushi winning these olympic events (Bruce Jenner parody) and he sits down to eat the breakfast called "Little Chocolate Donuts: Breakfast of Champions."
--

Starting Weight: 275
Current: 269
Goal: 190


"I shovel well, I shovel very very well."

Prodigalsun

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gratefuldeb67
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:26 pm

Poor John, I used to love him...
Yeah, he was definitely not Bruce Jenner...
Sadly, he died pretty darn young...

Have a nice day Prodigal and Kevin, and don't forget to have some fiber!
LOL..

Love,
8) Deb

Kevin
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Quarry

Post by Kevin » Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:54 pm

I forgot all about that one... that was very funny, too.

Thanks for the wish, Deb.
Kevin
1/13/2011-189# :: 4/21/2011-177# :: Goal-165#
"Respecting the 4th S: sometimes."

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