Cricket's Check-In

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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cricketbird
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Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:16 pm

Cricket's Check-In

Post by cricketbird » Wed Mar 16, 2011 3:32 pm

Well, here goes. Yesterday (Tuesday, March 15, 2011) was my first official Day 1

Day 1: SUCCESS.
B: cereal with yogurt and blueberries
L: Indian curry with rice
D: Leftover curry with biscuits
Snacks: None! Not even the fabulous leftover pi's from Pi Day. Not even the Reese's cups being passed around during a meeting. Not even the Oreos in the cupboard.

Whee :) :D

cricketbird
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Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:16 pm

Post by cricketbird » Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:03 pm

Day 2: Fail

I'll count this as a fail, but there were extenuating circumstances! I went hiking with friends at a local state park yesterday. There's still snow on the ground here and on our way back to the car just before dark, we lost the trail for over an hour. It was getting dark, we hadn't seen a trail or a sign or a human, and we were starting to get panicky and perhaps a bit irrational. So, we sat down and snacked on oranges and granola bars while we figured out our plan of action (hike in a perfectly straight line in a random direction - surely we'd hit SOMETHING). At that point, it might have been our dinner and it might have been a snack - we didn't know at the time. Just as the sun set, we finally crossed a marked trail and made our way out by the last light of dusk. By that point, we'd been hiking for hours, and the "snacks" were not enough, and we were just ready to get inside to some warmth and hot food, so I had dinner at a local pub.

So, back to day 1 again today. But hopefully no emergencies will crop up today! :)

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NoSRocks
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Post by NoSRocks » Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:21 pm

Hi cricketbird! Sorry to hear about your 'misadventure' yesterday. That must have been scary!! I don't think you ate unreasonably at all, especially under the circumstances. Kudos to you for carrying on with the No S and not dwelling on the past too. I've often cried over spilled milk but that's just what it is... you can only move onward and upward huh?

I had a bit of a strange eating day today because of St Paddy's day celebrations and stuff. Trying to avoid the 'naughty' foods at a buffet and ended up overeating once I got home in any case! However, i would consider these exentuating circumstances since it's not every day one celebrates St Paddy's day now is it?? :wink:

Kevin
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Location: Maryland, USA

Post by Kevin » Fri Mar 18, 2011 12:43 am

Don't be hard on yourself over that. Is it a fail? Maybe. Is it understandable? Completely.
Kevin
1/13/2011-189# :: 4/21/2011-177# :: Goal-165#
"Respecting the 4th S: sometimes."

cricketbird
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Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:16 pm

Post by cricketbird » Fri Mar 18, 2011 2:01 pm

Thanks Kevin and NoSRocks :)

Day 1 (again): Success!

B: cereal with blueberries
L: small bagel and peanut soup
D: grilled fish sandwich and salad

After dinner I was craving dessert, but I just went to bed. I thought I'd wake up this morning starving, but was barely hungry for breakfast! I'll have to work on veggies though. I thought I ate a lot, but am realizing that I only *sometimes* eat a lot.

cricketbird
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Post by cricketbird » Fri Mar 25, 2011 10:04 pm

All week: FAIL

Yikes - I had no idea it would be this hard for me to follow a diet so (seemingly) simple!

Monday - fell for snacks at work meeting before I caught myself
Tuesday - did great all day, then grabbed a handful of snackmix at a friend's house without even noticing or realizing my mistake until later. I had no idea I did so much "mindless" grazing...
Wednesday - Awards banquet served in courses. I probably didn't eat THAT much, but I'm certain I ate more than a plate. My skills at "virtual plating" aren't up to snuff yet, I'm quite sure.
Thursday - I knew dinner was going to be super-late, so I wolfed down tons of food at lunch preparing to starve....end result? I felt like crap all afternoon and was STILL hungry before dinner and ended up eating crackers and cheese to tide myself over.
Friday - actually, I shouldn't admit defeat yet. I'm actually doing good so far. I even avoided a homemade muffin at my morning meeting.

*sigh*
Next week I will do better - more at home eating, less social pressure to snack and gorge...

Have a great weekend everyone!

r.jean
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Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 7:47 pm
Location: Midwest

Learning curve

Post by r.jean » Fri Mar 25, 2011 11:31 pm

It is definitely a shock at the beginning to realize how much mindless eating we do. Hang in there...
The journey is the reward.
Maintenance is progress.

Kevin
Posts: 1269
Joined: Mon May 02, 2005 9:02 pm
Location: Maryland, USA

Post by Kevin » Sat Mar 26, 2011 12:17 am

So there's a lot of self-awareness going on in this post. Sounds like a great start.

You'll get there.
cricketbird wrote:All week: FAIL

Yikes - I had no idea it would be this hard for me to follow a diet so (seemingly) simple!

Monday - fell for snacks at work meeting before I caught myself
Tuesday - did great all day, then grabbed a handful of snackmix at a friend's house without even noticing or realizing my mistake until later. I had no idea I did so much "mindless" grazing...
Wednesday - Awards banquet served in courses. I probably didn't eat THAT much, but I'm certain I ate more than a plate. My skills at "virtual plating" aren't up to snuff yet, I'm quite sure.
Thursday - I knew dinner was going to be super-late, so I wolfed down tons of food at lunch preparing to starve....end result? I felt like crap all afternoon and was STILL hungry before dinner and ended up eating crackers and cheese to tide myself over.
Friday - actually, I shouldn't admit defeat yet. I'm actually doing good so far. I even avoided a homemade muffin at my morning meeting.

*sigh*
Next week I will do better - more at home eating, less social pressure to snack and gorge...

Have a great weekend everyone!
Kevin
1/13/2011-189# :: 4/21/2011-177# :: Goal-165#
"Respecting the 4th S: sometimes."

milliem
Posts: 1178
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2011 2:30 pm

Post by milliem » Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:32 am

You might not have had the most successful week, but you are realising where you've been going wrong which is great.

Maybe track each of the 's-es' separately next week to see which one is most difficult - plus it can be a boost to realise that you've changed SOME of your habits even if not all of them!

Who Me?
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Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 2:18 pm

Post by Who Me? » Sun Apr 10, 2011 5:19 pm

Seems like you're noticing things you never took note of before.

That's good, right?

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