Everyday Systems

pangelsue

I am jumping in the middle of this conversation because I feel I have a little different viewpoint on organic foods and foods free of additives and presevatives. One that hasn't been stated yet.
Up until 11 years ago, I ate whatever I wanted and whatever tasted good and was cheapest. Then my husband ...

pangelsue

I am sooo proud of you. What a great post! I think we have been on the same journey in some ways.
I actually think that vanilla No S may not be the best route for those of us who "always feel like we are somehow lacking something." The perfectionism vanilla No S shoots for feeds those feelings in ...

pangelsue

Zoolina, I loved reading your last couple of weeks posts. You are being so real and honest with yourself and your humanity. Ever see one of those editions of the National Inquiror where they catch Hollywood hotties looking not so hot? That is how they really look. When they look in the mirror in ...

pangelsue

Congratulations. You are doing a great job. Keep up the good work. Thanks for posting your good ideas and support on the boards too.

pangelsue

I'm with you, Steve. My "mungo" likes it when I start trying to be logical about food. Mungo starts going "MMMMMMMMMMMM, honey good." Thanks for the image. I too have often thought the trick here is to start treating that Mungo part of my brain like a puppy who needs training before he can be a ...

pangelsue

I love this post. The story is great and the analogy even better. Thanks.

pangelsue

We can only start where we are. I am morbidly obese as well. Working hard to pitch the "morbid" part.
Best of luck and welcome.

pangelsue

There will be temptations everywhere the rest of our lives. Whether they are in our desk drawers, snack table, the next party we go to or sitting on the table at a Mexican restaurant as free chips. There aren't enough deep drawers in the world to hide them all. Decisions. Do we want to cave or be ...

pangelsue

Think of anything else you ever learned in your life. Writing letters of the alphabet, reading, swimming, riding a bike, driving a car, cooking, knitting, making friends. Were any of them easy? Did you learn them with one try or were the trial and error? Did you start slow, get frustrated? Think you ...

pangelsue

What is your weight loss goal? Is it to be healthier? Feel more in control? Less obsessed about food and health? Able to maintain? Impress your family? Feel like a winner? Look good in clothes? Be able to play with your children? There are a million different reasons for losing weight. You have to ...

pangelsue

Poor =obese
I think there are a lot of reasons this equation is valid. When we were first married and money was incredibly tight, if I made spaghetti and meat sauce for supper, guess what it was long on? Not meat. Mac and cheese was 3 boxes for a dollar. We ate a lot of oatmeal and pancakes. Fluffy ...

pangelsue

The more I read, the more I feel the pain and frustration we all feel when we fail. We all want this to succeed so bad and yet many of us have problems making it work.
It seems to me that we all spend a lot of time putting ourselves down for being weak, being unable to do this or any other diet ...

pangelsue

Lots of good responses here. I agree with many of them. I think there should be special instructions for those of us for whom food is not the issue. There are a lot of us here. We have tried every diet on the planet and none of them has worked. There are 2 commonalities I have noticed though. We all ...

pangelsue

I liked Day 6 a lot, Zoolina. I think you are on the verge of something great. You are taking possession of your life, warts and all. Congratulations. The decisions from here on will be your own. Reinhard had a good idea. He shared it with all of us for free. How awesome is that!! Now we can take ...

pangelsue

Hi and welcome.

pangelsue

Sounds like you are starting to own it. Small victories are the only kind. The only large victory is when it isn't learning anymore, it is habit.

pangelsue

Thanks, Hexagon. I haven't heard from you in a while. Hope your life is going smoother.
I had an almost perfect No S last week and a reasonable weekend. Not too rough. Doable. I will proceed one day at a time.

pangelsue

I agree with the salty, sugary snacks. They are too hard to control. Keeping them under 100 calories helps too. I am happy to see you are taking control and learning to love how you are choosing to live. Afterall, we will never stick with what we hate or what we know we can't sustain. You will get ...

pangelsue

You are doing an wonderful job! Congratulations. It even sounds like your days in Europe were in plan and the the desserts were low enough carb to be OK as well. Especially since vacations are supposed to be loose N days. Welcome and keep up the good work.

pangelsue

Welcome. Take it slow and easy and enjoy the process. This is a great place to be. Cute name, Sassafras.

pangelsue

Hi Hexagon,
You started a good thread here and there have been a lot of good responses. I have enjoyed all of the perspectives.
Just a thought about the "superficial" looks, looks, looks thing. Have you ever watched a television show called "What not to wear"? The basis of the show is that someone ...

pangelsue

Wonderful insight. Keep up the good work.

pangelsue

I am so jealous of the exercise you have been doing. That is my downfall. I am a real couch/mouse potato. Good for you. It sounds like you are doing the best you can. None of us is perfect all the time. Hey, I loved your cartoon idea on Gettn busy's journal. Too bad you can't include pictures on the ...

pangelsue

You sound really frustrated and I can sympathize. But maybe you need to remind yourself that you are free to stop dieting at any time. Just stop. You could make that choice. So it also follows that you are free to choose when and what to eat. I don't think it is possible to eat against your will. So ...

pangelsue

Tell yourself you are going to give up.

Now tell me what thought popped into your head when you did. Was it, "Good, finally". Or was it "Oh no, I can't do that" or something in between?

It has to start with honesty. I have been here for a long time and I had 21 perfect days. Then it has been hit ...

pangelsue

Maybe try to make the meal before and after workout just one plate? Otherwise, Reinhard says in his intro that he never said how many meals were allowed. So have a small snack before that workout and meal after or meal before and small snack after. It is your life and your journey. Personalize it to ...

pangelsue

Hi Jent,
Thanks so much for the lovely comments on my journal.
I just finished reading all of yours and I think you can be incredibly proud of yourself. I was very moved and inspired by your insights and determination. I also had a couple of laughs. It is so hard for those of us for whom the food ...

pangelsue

Celebrate!! What a wonderful victory. Life is rather short on reasons to really celebrate but this is one of them. WooHoo.

pangelsue

It has taken me over a year to even approach S Day sanity (slow learner). But I am okay with that. Someone here (wish I remebered who so I could give credit) said to me once, S days are there so we can practice what we are learning on N days. We take the training wheels off and try to pedal on our ...

pangelsue

Good attitude. You did make it through the week. I didn't realize you had the 3 fluffy dogs too! You are one busy lady. Cute story with the baby wanting people food. Sounds like my daughter when she was small. She loved people food and pretty much disdained baby food. Didn't appeal to her fine ...

pangelsue

Hi there kid.
What can you do to help alleviate the stress? There has to be something? Do you meditate? There are plenty of free meditations available online. If stress is unavoidable, you have to find time to take in down, even if only a notch or two.
There is a cool story my daughter told me once ...

pangelsue

Way to go, Shammock!! You are a rebel with a cause. I love it. Sort of like Zorro only instead of leaving a Z you leave a No S. You made my day.

pangelsue

This is a wonderful forum for us emotional eaters and there are so many people here with a rebelous inner child that we are practically running a day care center.
Seriously, though, there are a million diets out there that have worked for one or more people and this one is one of the best and ...

pangelsue

Wonderful accomplishment! Congratulations. And the NO S grammy goes to.........you. I am very happy for you. And what a great decision to reward yourself with the start of the 3rd 21. You are a winner, girl.

pangelsue

If it is from a friend, I usually say. "Oh thanks. It looks great but I am going to save it for this afternoon." Then when they walk away, I toss it in the garbage someplace where they won't see it. Then later I say it was delicious and they are happy and I am happy. So far it has worked like a ...

pangelsue

There is a cool product out there called sweet agave syrup. It is low enough in carbs for Atkins according to the hype on line but it tastes like corn syrup. It is made from Agave cactus. I love it. Very sweet.

Also making your own yogurt is easy and delicious. We used to make it in our own jars ...

pangelsue

I also totally agree. The only thing we have to do here is learn to control freedom. Other diets are like oppressive dictatorships and no one is free. This is a total democracy. But like in a democracy, it is possible to live and love controlled freedoms, abuse them or throw them out. So there is ...

pangelsue

Sorry to hear you are struggling but I know what you are talking about. I just finished my best week in a long time last week. I made healthy meals, I read, took time to relax and meditated. I went to a wonderful show at the local performing arts center and life was good. Work still was stressful ...

pangelsue

Way to string those successes together, woman. I am impressed and so happy for you.

pangelsue

Awesome success. Congratulations. Keep it up.

pangelsue

You are really just stacking up those successes. Good for you. Your determination is inspiring. Keep it up.

pangelsue

You are doing just wonderful. You should be so proud of yourself. Don't worry about weekends for a while. Let them be big if they need to be. Your No S days are great. Keep up the good work.

pangelsue

I love how you are being so kind to yourself. You really deserve the loving attention. Cramps suck. Or do you really think you tore muscle tissue? Cramps can slowly be walked off but torn muscle tissue should be rested and might need a doctor's attention.
Hang in there and keep up the good mental ...

pangelsue

Thank you for your honesty too. Many times when I am wavering on the edge, I get words of encouragement from you and move on.
Last week was a great week and did good for the whole week. The weekend got a little longer than planned because it began on Friday night. But all in all, I was very proud of ...

pangelsue

Hi and thanks for the nice post on my thread. Glad to hear you are back on track and that a suggestion from me has helped you. Many of the things you have said to me have been a great help as well. That is the best thing about this board. There are so many people here who help each other with ...

pangelsue

Woo hoo!!! I like you just the way you are too.

pangelsue

Best of luck. Checking is probably a really good idea. I may have to steal that idea from you. I know what you mean about the little cheating thing......

pangelsue

Welcome to No S. Sounds like you are off to great start. I think you will like it here.

pangelsue

You are going great and welcome to No S. Enjoy your S days for a while and just get used to the program. You can shave them down later. I see 21 days in your future.

pangelsue

Some good ideas guys. Jaxhil, I am with you on the Friday night thing. In fact I tried for a while to have my S days be Friday and Saturday because we go out a lot on Friday nights. Unfortunately, like you and J Ellis said that ends up being 3 S days instead of 2.

Do a lot of stress eating because ...

pangelsue

The actually description of this diet is no sugar, no snacks, no seconds, except SOMETIMES on days starting with S. I have always totally ignored that word sometimes. I know it is there but it is not in capital letters in my head. In fact, consciously, it is not there at all. Subconsciously, it is ...

pangelsue

That's why we're here. 4 rules, easy to remember and simple to follow.

pangelsue

Weekly check in. Weight down .2 of a pound. Not miraculous but first time in a while it wasn't up. Really tough week at work again but had a breakthrough of sorts yesterday. Decided that I have about 1000 work days left in my life, God willing, and I can make them all miserable because of the ...

pangelsue

Way to go girl. You are turning the cheerleader in you back on. Give her the front row seat in your life and she will get you where you want to go.

pangelsue

You caught yourself being good. Good for you. Do it again, and again, and again. It is much more fun to catch yourself being good than to catch yourself acting like you always have. Both the old and the new Tiffani will always be there. To focus on the old self is discouraging. It makes the task at ...

pangelsue

Good advise, Hexagon. For all of us. Winter is a tough time to be a mom. I work with a number of women with small children and they are all going a bit balistic. If the kids aren't sick, they are screaming through the house. Time for some good weather and good health. Spring is coming. Hang in there ...

pangelsue

I like having friends over (positive friends) or watching a really up movie or helping someone. I get blue a lot and I find there is nothing that helps me as much as getting outside myself for a while. I also like taking a ride someplace beautiful like a park or going to a store that has a look of ...

pangelsue

Some good thoughts, there. And I will add one more. Sometimes when I try to help my daughter by giving her all kinds of advise, she says, "mom, please stop. I just wanted to tell someone I was feeling awful. I didn't want advise. Just hug me and say 'poor baby' and let me feel bad until I don't ...

pangelsue

I don't know what the trials are that you have been going through but is there something you can do about them? Or are they something that needs to be endured? If there is something to be done, maybe making of list of things you can do might help and then moving to do them. If it is something that ...

pangelsue

I think you should give up the struggling and relax until you realize binging on S days makes you feel so lousy that you volunterally scale them down. I remember many years ago reading a book by a woman who finally learned how to eat by removing all the rules. She said at first she gained weight ...

pangelsue

Hi Deb.
Haven't checked on you for quite a while. You and Richie sound like you have been through the mill! So sorry to hear it and hope you are both starting to be on the mend. Life can be so hard sometimes and so unfair. You try as hard as you can and the breaks don't seem to come your way ...

pangelsue

Who has control of it now if not you? You are already awake and maybe it seems like things are a mess but step one is still there waiting to be taken. If it's the right step, take step two. If it's the wrong step find a new step one. Continue with this plan.
There is a cool web site called 365 Tao ...

pangelsue

I love this. I caught myself being good so many times this week. Not perfect but good-er than in a long time. This is starting to be fun and interesting again. Humor has been a wonderful addition to the plan. I am remembering why I love it so much and the more I relax into it, the easier it is again ...

pangelsue

You have been doing it for quite sometime now. You havne't given up. You are still here. You are just working out the kinks in the plan to suit you. Believe in yourself and your ability to make it work. Maybe not perfectly but perfect for you and your life. You not only can do it, you already are ...

pangelsue

Week at work really sucked so I am glad to report that I had a fairly good week on plan. Not one day was perfect but it was so much better than the last couple of months, I am still pleased. A week like I had would have driven me over the edge before. But I kept telling myself stress is tolerable ...

pangelsue

Sounds like you are having a bad time of it with more than the food battle. Things will get better. Just hang in there. I know that is easy to say and hard to do when things are going bad for a time but life is a roller coaster. That means there are highs as well as lows. There is a high on the way ...

pangelsue

Plan is 5 days (Monday through Friday) no sugar, snacks or seconds.
Then 2 S days off.

That is the plan from day one. Simple and righteous.

Welcome.

pangelsue

I agree. I showed it to a number of people at work because I thought it was so good. I especially liked the part about our reaction to what the scale told us. If we are up in weight, give up and splurge. If we down in weight, we can cheat a bit. Been on both ends of that argument. Put the why I step ...

pangelsue

Welcome back. Enjoy the weekend with the boyfriend and greet Tuesday with a smile and sigh of relief. You are home and we missed you.

pangelsue

Wonderful advise from everybody. I will just add that getting off plan is like a panic attack. We can't think straight, we feel out of control and like a rabbit in headlights. That's why it works to do what the others are advising. Just like when panic strikes, we need to focus, slow down, breathe ...

pangelsue

That is one of the issues I am dealing with too. The plan at the moment is not having those things around. Linda Moran in her book on how to survive your diet says to accept the fact that greed exists and call it that. We say, "but it tastes soooo good". She suggests eating a couple and loving them ...

pangelsue

I agree that vanilla No S is a great way to make peace with food and maintain weight. I don't exercise very much and until recently I didn't use any kind of portion control. I also let myself go completely on weekends. That doesn't work. I have been losing and gaining the same 5 pounds for an entire ...

pangelsue

Thanks everybody for your vote of confidence. I too think I wil get there. I am still lurking and learning. Still at 198. Good days, bad days and very confused days but I am happy with that and dealing. I may make it, I may not but if I do it will be real and forever or I won't do it at all. I have ...

pangelsue

Welcome back, gal. Missed you. Glad to hear you are recommited and doing better. I will be rooting for you as you move forward. No S is simple (not to be confused with easy) but we are tough and will see the job through.

pangelsue

One would think reading here that we spend a lot of time screwing up and that we are miserable.

This is fun guys. We are learning a new skill, we are getting healthy. We still have times we can eat sweets and snacks. Remember the horrible diets when we couldn't think about ever eating those things ...

pangelsue

Good thoughts, Kevin (and all). The road to success is not straight and you are talking to the queen of curvy roads. I have been here over a year and have lost only 5 pounds and that is off and on BUT, and here is the reason I stay. I know I belong here and I will eventually get the right ...

pangelsue

Great post and welcome. Hope it always stays just like that for you. That is awesome.

pangelsue

You guys are making me hungry. Both burritos sound wonderful and as part of a meal are perfectly acceptable. Welcome, Jent. You are a fun read with your honesty and openess.

pangelsue

Thanks for the vent!! You go, girl. I hear ya about the dieting since 7 with nothing to show for it and I really saw myself when you talked about tightening up any plan I am on. My husband and I are 61 and we do eat organic and don't do fast food for health reasons. That should be enough restriction ...

pangelsue

Glad someone besides me pouts about eating sensibly. If there is one thing No S has made painfully clear to me is that the reason I am not losing weight is because I am totally fighting the process. I have finally found a diet I can't call stupid or not geared to my lifestyle. I have given up on ...

pangelsue

Just try not eating the popcorn and I think you will know what is going on. When I am feeling emotionally charged (boredom, sadness, anxiety, lonliness etc. ) I want to make it stop. If I just sit and endure those emotions, it is uncomfortable. But if I get up and do something (eating), I am not ...

pangelsue

One more idea that works for me every time I am so worried I can't sleep. I mentally picture handing over everything I am worried about to a higher power. I ask Him (Her or It) to hold on to it for me til morning. I know the subject matter is in good hands while I sleep and I fully agree to take the ...

pangelsue

Savings is a great thing to add into the plan. You might want to have 2 savings account. One that is untouchable and one that is for unexpected events. Good thinking about catagories I missed. My daughter isn't making enough yet for these catagories. She just saves her tax refund every year for ...

pangelsue

I am right there with both of you. I have been off and on for the last couple of weeks. We all 3 have some issues with commitment. I wonder why. I read a book yesterday called "How to survive your diet." It was very interesting. It was written by a gal named Linda Moran. It is a very small book and ...

pangelsue

I am actually pretty good at setting up budgets. I have had to do it for years for our family and I now do it for my daughter and some of her friends.
Usually it just involves, listing all the items you regularly spend money on like rent/house payment, utilities, phone bill, cable bill, food ...

pangelsue

Ask Jerod who does all the subway sandwich commercials in the US. He lost a huge amount of weight and did it all eating sandwiches every day, every meal for several years. I am sure there is support out there for being healthy eating just about anything. If it is working, don't fix it.

pangelsue

Yippee for crock pots. I love being at work and suddenly remembering that supper is being made while I am away. Pea soup from scratch is awesome, as is a whole chicken with garlic, lemon and a little chicken broth. Homemade beans are the best as is homemade chili. I make lots and freeze them. And my ...

pangelsue

Mark Twain was a terrible worrier. He once said of all the terrible things he experienced in his life, some of them actually happened.

From personal experience,I think worry comes from a need to feel in control of all situations at all times. I find that worriers are the best people to have around ...

pangelsue

My daughter said she thought it had Zen qualities too using the same attachment idea. We talked about it for quite some time. Was very cool.

pangelsue

No gain or loss this week but I am still happy with the results. I think I am making headway on gerbil wheel thinking. I just finished reading a book called "How to Survive Your Diet" by Linda Moran. It is a very small book. Even though she is careful to not recommend any particulate diet, she does ...

pangelsue

No gain or loss this week but moving on with more ammunition.

pangelsue

Not a good week. The snacks and sugar are back and meals blurry. Weight is up. Many reasons and all of them are excuses. Need to regroup and I intend to take the weekend to do that. I am still very pleased with what is happening in my head. I think I know more about myself and what has brought me to ...

pangelsue

How close is 15 pounds to your ideal weight? I don't know your height or age. Maybe wanting to be the same weight you were as a teenager is not being realistic or even ideal. You're not a teenager. Maybe just being really happy where you are and maintaining might be in order. Or if more weight loss ...

pangelsue

Thanks so much for all the great support guys. It really means a lot. It is always the spur that makes it easy to go on.
Still learning. This was a 21 star week and I lost a bit. The weekend was large though and the scale doesn't look so great today. From now on, weekend will be 2 planned excesses ...

pangelsue

Love the horse across the finish line image. LOL. Sounds like you are back on track and that is great news. I have still to stick to the exercise for more than a day or two but it sure seems like it is helping everyone here who makes the commitment so stick with it. Glad to hear you are also ...

pangelsue

So far so good this week. Doing all my stars and not too hard. Seem to be in a motivated phase and will do everything to make it last. I still do 2 snacks a day but they are healthy ones. I feel better with 2 -100 calorie snacks so at least temporarily they are part of my day. The hunger is ...

pangelsue

Harpista,
I admire you for hanging in there and using introspection to study your failures. Some of us need to take this on in bits and pieces until we get it right. Keep at it and you will get there.

pangelsue

Thanks as usual for listening. I think there is a demand for tolerance for failure. But maybe most people who are having issues just need to know they can start slow or accept failure as part of the process until they work through the infant stages of the program. My fear is that many who could ...

pangelsue

I rarely eat at a table even though I probably should. We almost always eat supper in front of the TV, breakfast is eaten on the fly and lunch is at my desk. Wow, I just realized how nasty all that sounded. Snacks usually happen for emotional reasons. Unavoidable stress at work is the largest ...

pangelsue

It sounds like you are in a tough spot right now and I wish I could make it better. I am not sure what the issues are with your love life because I couldn't quite understand what you wrote in my post. But... read back through your own journal. You have come so far. You will re-inspire yourself just ...

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