Everyday Systems

Good luck today!

Still chugging. No funny stuff. Indulged this weekend with some lemonade (Target brand! So good!) and gluten-free double chocolate cookies. Very moderate weekend overall, though. I think about half of what I enjoy about S-days is the break from planning my meals.

I've noticed that my stomach is ...

Still NoSing my heart out. Enjoyed a weekend visit from my mom and brother, and I made a key lime pie using a gluten-free graham cracker pie crust that I found at Fresh Market. The pie came out delicious, but very very sweet—I had to drink two big glasses of water afterwards. And my mom and ...

Mods: None—first time in my life I've chosen vanilla anything, I think!
Intelligent Dietary Defaults: Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and some kind of starch for breakfast (often homemade muffins); cheese and whole-grain crackers alongside soup or salad for lunch
Alcohol: Personal glass ceiling ...

Thanks! Yes, the waist measurement has me super happy. That and the belly are what's been keeping most of my pre-pregnancy pants from fitting, so from both a health and a financial perspective, it's a big win.

I'm still on track. Camping was a fun break from No S. I took a NWS-day on Friday so I ...

Things are still going well here. No red days, although I have had some sweet beverages (orange juice and one glass of watered-down sweet tea). I don't consider that cheating, but I do try not to be excessive.

I have some results to report! I don't weigh myself, but I do measure from time to time ...

You're doing WW and No-S? That sounds hard. Not necessarily from a food perspective, but from a psychological perspective. To me, one of the primary benefits of No-S is that it lets you spend less of your day obsessing about food. Are you able to do that on WW? Do you count WW points on weekends?

Good for you! The snacking temptation gets so much easier. In the meantime, remember you can have drinks between meals (try not to go too sweet with these, but there are no actual rules). Glasses of milk or lattes between meals really got me through the first couple of weeks. You can do this. Post ...

You mean tips for moderate S-days? Gosh, not really. The only thing I can think of is to keep thinking "every bite needs to count," the same way you do on N-days, but focusing on pleasure rather than nutritious, balanced, filling meals. So on an S-day, I probably still won't eat any pretzels ...

Yesterday's food (S-Day):

Breakfast: Apple cinnamon gluten-free toaster pastry, eaten almost at noon (for some reason I was not hungry in the morning!)
Lunch: Broccoli cheddar pasta
Dinner: Breaded pork chops, rice with butter, salad with balsamic vinaigrette, chunky applesauce, homemade gluten ...

Yesterday's food:

Breakfast: Two pieces of leftover homemade gluten-free pizza; banana
Lunch: Two homemade banana nut muffins (not too sweet) with butter; sharp cheddar cheese; few slices hard salami
Dinner: Burger with provolone, sauteed onions, ketchup, and mayo on gluten-free toast; grapes ...

I'm gluten intolerant, so I don't have too many options there. Naked Tenders are strips of grilled chicken breast with some kind of magical seasoning on them, served with whatever sauce you choose for dipping. They're "naked" of breading, not sauce.

If I understand correctly, alcohol isn't technically limited under No-S. That's a separate system (Glass Ceiling). If you only had one plate of wings with your beer, I don't think that was an S event. If you're feeling doubtful about it, just drink less beer next time.

I love BWWs. I get their ...

Yesterday's food:

Breakfast: Two packets of McCann's instant maple and brown sugar oatmeal
Lunch: One large piece of kielbasa with sauerkraut and brown mustard; small handful of gluten-free multigrain crackers with sharp cheddar (wanted a banana, but was virtual plating and was iffy about whether ...

I don't personally count tasting as a fail, as long as it is actual tasting for a necessary reason and not snacking in disguise. Although it sounds to me like it was actually a snack for you this time.

Your mention of banana bread reminds me that I am overdue to make some banana nut muffins ...

Today's food:

Breakfast: Grilled cheese on gluten-free bread, cinnamon applesauce
Lunch: Salad from the grocery store salad bar: lettuce, pickled beets, peas, grilled chicken, bacon bits, hard-boiled egg, French dressing; small bit of "taco salad" (mostly overly salty taco meat); fruit salad of ...

So you're not avoiding or limiting sweets anymore? That's an interesting mod. Call it "chocolate" No S, maybe.

Today's food:

Breakfast: Fage individual cup of 2% Greek yogurt with strawberry preserves; scrambled egg, sausage, and hash brown from McDonalds
Lunch: Indian buffet (one takeout container, which I didn't finish)—tiny portions of chicken tikka masala, some other chicken dish with an onion gravy ...

Just for the fun of it, I'm going to try to record what I ate for a few days.

Breakfast: Greek yogurt (too much, actually, as I couldn't quite finish it) with a teaspoon of honey and fresh blackberries, handful of raw almonds on the side
Lunch: Qdoba "naked burrito" (without tortilla) with brown ...

Why not try for a week of all green N-days, while eating whatever you want that fits within the regular old No-S rules? If you crave a burger and fries, have it. If you crave a pork chop and peas, have that.

One thing about cutting out sweets is that, if you still want to have sweet-tasting foods ...

Look at your signature block: Forget everything you learned.

Were you happy counting calories? If so, what drew you to No-S?

In my experience, the conventional wisdom regarding calorie restriction does not work. If you restrict calories for a long time, your metabolism adjusts downward, so that when you add them back in, you gain weight. Maintenance after dieting is extremely difficult for that reason, and it's a large ...

Sure, why not have another place to be accountable?

1. NWS-day (Labor Day)
2. Success!
3. Success!
4. Success!
5. Success!
6. S-day
7. S-day
8. Success!
9. Success!
10. Success!
11. Success!
12. Success!
13. S-day
14. S-day
15. Success!
16. Success!
17. Success!
18. Success!
19 ...

A bit of unsolicited advice: make sure you're eating enough. I saw you're using an 8-inch plate, and many of your meals sound so small that they definitely would not tide me over until the next time. Could you be treating this more like a "diet" than like a lifestyle change? Make sure the way you ...

(cross-posted from my personal check-in thread; hope that's okay!)

Made it through 21 days! I'm seeing some changes, all positive.

1. Work pants are slightly looser. I mean slightly. My belly is a little bit flatter. I'm only about six months postpartum, so I don't really expect my abdomen to ...

Made it through 21 days! I'm seeing some changes, all positive.

1. Work pants are slightly looser. I mean slightly. My belly is a little bit flatter. I'm only about six months postpartum, so I don't really expect my abdomen to return to my pre-pregnancy size for another six months or so, if at all ...

Success yesterday. A bit of funny stuff today, although I don't think it's a fail. I went to a restaurant for lunch with some colleagues and ordered a cup of chili and a house salad (totally legit via virtual plating). The house salad that was served didn't resemble the description on the menu ...

It sounds like you're doing great. Eating during pregnancy is tough, even when you're not nauseated. I found that my appetite was extremely varied and very specific—I had days when I couldn't imagine eating anything but enchiladas, for example, and days when nothing but grilled cheese would do ...

Hi FunnyGirl,

I think the best way to look at these daily check-in threads is as a personal journal. When people comment, that's a bonus. If you look at other people's threads, even longtime posters will often have several posts in a row without any comments from others.

Is there something special ...

Another green day in the books. What's made it a lot easier is realizing that I get hungry an hour after I eat, pretty much every time. In the past, that led to permasnacking: each time I'd snack, I'd be hungry an hour later, so I'd just nibble all day. Even if it was just one square of chocolate or ...

Back on the N-day horse after a fairly moderate long S weekend. I could easily have made yesterday an N-day, but I decided to take an S because I only anticipate one other NWS-day this month, if that. I enjoyed a small amount of really excellent coffee ice cream and had pancakes for breakfast again ...

Another good week in the books. I'm still feeling hungry between meals most days, even though I make a real effort to make sure I'm eating filling foods and putting enough on my plate. I often feel hungry an hour or two after eating, but interestingly enough, the feeling fades after another half ...

Hi, everyone! I've done NoS at times over the past... gosh, many years, not so much for substantial weight loss as because it makes me feel sane and not obsess over food. I also find that I eat a wider variety of foods when NoSing rather than relying on the same rotation of snacks and small ...