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.
6 May: Success. I'm proud of myself today, 7 May. Hubby and I were in a bakery and I bought cakes for only him. He can hide behind a broomstick. I bought a roll that is high fiber for myself. I'll make a sandwich for my lunch with this roll.
lpearlmom, thanks for your encouragement. I would really like to achieve your rate of weight reduction so I can function normally again. How are you doing it?
Day 4, May 8: Green.
Day 5, May 9: Yellow, an S day. I haven't gone overboard, just enjoyed a brownie. I've worked hard for that brownie in the garden.
My husband is naturally slim too (he still has some of a box of chocolates my sister gave him for his birthday in January!). Sometimes it feels unfair. Interestingly, No S has actually brought me closer to the way my husband eats!
Mrsj: I'm not really sure the answer to that. I think what helped a lot was doing nos for several months just focusing on the habit & not worrying about weight loss. I was finally ready to make changes with the what part of my plates at the same dh had a heart attack so we were both super motivated to change our eating & exercising habits. It was very hard at first--lots of hunger & sore muscles but now it's second nature. I also have a lot to lose so my body seems to want to cooperate (at least for now).
Well that's the short answer but my advice is to focus on getting your habits strongly in place first. You can do this!
Heart attacks have turned many a person around, if they survive.
But not always. When I did massage, I had a client who had had open heart surgery in his early fifties. Afterwards, he told me he ate a lot less, but he wasn't really careful. He was told if a person doesn't change, it takes about ten years for the buildup to happen again. Ten years later, he died of the second heart attack. But honestly, I think he really enjoyed the life he did have. I guess it was worth it to him.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 71
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
12/20/24 24.1
I've been very busy at my allotment garden so I haven't had time to post.
Every day has been Green, except 16 May, a Saturday, which was Yellow.
I attended a party but didn't pig out.
I've been doing very heavy work in the garden and have stuck to Vanilla No S. The result is I'm 2 kilos lighter. Even though it's only 2 kilos, I feel so much better. My feet and knees are thanking me.
mrsj wrote:Even though it's only 2 kilos, I feel so much better.
Yay for 2 kilos lost! That's great! When you lose 2 kilos in a sustainable way like this, it's such a different thing from bouncing down 2 kilos on some strict regimen, where it's just as easly to bounce right back up. I trust it will be gone for good, and "good riddance", huh?
-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".
May 27: Green
May 28: Green
May 29: Green
May 30: Green
May 31: Yellow. I drank a soda pop. i consider soda pop a sweet and it was Sunday. This was my treat.
1 June: Green
2 June: Green
3 June: Green
4 June: Yellow. Constitution Day
5 June: Green
6 June: Green
7 June: Yellow Sunday. Didn't overdo my treat day.
From 7 June until now I've been a Green Girl. I've had 1 yellow day and had to force myself to have a treat. I've been very busy at the allotment garden.