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.
First day - Saturday - SUCCESS!
(ok, it was an "S" day, but I did it without sugar)
Second day - Sunday - SUCCESS!
(another "S" day, ate three separate meals, and then enjoyed hot-from-the-oven-home-made cookies, and milk, with the world series)
Third day - N day - SUCCESS!
(no sugar, no seconds, no snacks)
First off, your name makes me giggle.... I keep thinking of the one single solitary cover tune my band does, "Shameless" by Ani DiFranco....
But yes, I urge you to be vigilant in these early stages of your No-Situde. Allow as few slipups as possible while your body gets used to this new mode of nutrition.
21 days is a common benchmark around here, and it's true it gets easier after that amount of time.
You just saved yourself probably 100 empty calories!!!!!!!
Most of those are covered with extra fructose and cornsyrup...
Might as well eat a bag of cheetos with sugar added!! LOL...
Keep saying "No" it gets easier and easier!
I can even walk through the snack aisle of the supermarket now without any problems... Even the cookie aisle...
The only thing I ever agreed with from the Reagan/Bush administration is the power to
"JUST SAY NO"!
LOL...
I am happy for you... Each time you have one of these moments, shout it from the hilltops!!!!
It is what Reinhard would say equals "Fifty Spiritual Pushups"!
I absolutely feel better. I feel free of that obsessive dieting relationship with food; I am enjoying my meals; my clothes are no longer tight.
I monitor my weight, but I don't trust what the scale says short-term. I don't believe I could lose that much that fast, so I'm just noting the numbers for historical reasons.
unfortunately for some of us, the need for 'willpower' will never go away. But it does get easier to apply that willpower and stick to it... and the days when you need willpower in abundance will become fewer.
Don't worry. You're doing great and it will come. Habits take a while to unbreak and remake in a better mould. 21 days is just a tool, not some 'magic formula' don't forget.
I am checking in at the conclusion of 42 successful days on habit (my second set of 21 days). No funny business. I am down another two pounds, for a total of 8 pounds lost to date.
I am still calling on my willpower from time to time, but yesterday, for instance, it was easy to three-times refuse an offer of hard candy from a co-worker. Friday doesn't start with "S".
I am checking in @ 63 successful days on habit (third set of 21 days). My weight is down another two pounds, for a total of ten pounds in nine weeks.
Funny Stuff: Twice during this past week, I used the "virtual plate" to reserve my customary end-of-the-meal serving of fruit, eating it instead during "between-meal" time. I know it is a "tweak" some folks use successfully, but for me it just felt wrong.
It was much harder in the beginning. Now it just seems natural. If sometimes an effort, it is a natural effort, "just the way things are."
Your encouragement, and this community, has been consistently supportive. I am thankful for all the positive energy evident throughout the Everyday Systems site, and all who post here.
I am checking in @ 84 successful days on habit (fourth set of 21 days). My weight is down another half pound, for a total of ten and one-half pounds in twelve weeks.
One extra "S" day, my 52nd birthday. I am still eating exuberantly on my "S" days, but have decided to just live with this pattern, since I am not gaining weight, and see what happens.
Eating exuberantly on S days....I love it. I certainly did that today. So much so that I am considering making tomorrow, (Sunday) an N day. I just don't seem to be able to enjoy one treat. I have to totally over-indulge. I will mull over that tonight and see what tomorrow brings. MJ[/quote]
schmiddtty wrote:...I am considering making tomorrow, (Sunday) an N day.
Hi, schmiddtty!
I've had that thought, too, but have decided to keep S-days as S-days. My tendency to really enjoy my Ss, and both my S days each week, is a powerful inspiration to mind my Ps & Qs on N-days!
It's worked for me so far, and I don't like to fix what works. YMMV.
Excellent Plan...and unless I go out and buy more boxes of Hostess Twinkies and Cupcakes I should be almost to the end of that little issue! Really the problem for me has always been stopping after enjoying one treat. That's why the hard and fast rules of NO S work for me on the N days - No Dabbling!! MJ
Hello Shameless Hussey, I think your user name is the best, I simply love it! Just wanted to tell you that you're doing great, and I can see how healthy your meals are getting. Go SH go!
operababe wrote:Just wanted to tell you that you're doing great, and I can see how healthy your meals are getting.
Thanks, operababe. All support is appreciated! I tend to eat pretty sugary on my "S" days, and pretty healthfully on "N" days, so I'm hoping it all balances out.
Deb
!!!
Thanks, Deb! 
