Newbie needs some support please

[Skelton]

Hi everyone, first post.

A bit about me. I'm a 50 y/o female, need to lose about 70 pounds but I will be happy with 45-50 pounds.

I started No S Tuesday 7 August, had green days right through the weekend and didn't go 'wild' on my S days but I did indulge a little.
Green day Monday just past too. I was so thrilled. I'm an emotional eater who has never been able to stick to a diet and had been having sugar binges almost daily for the previous two months. I have a history of eating like this since I was about 17 so that's 33 years of out of control.
No S was great, I was in control, I didn't feel deprived. I felt happy and I felt like I had more energy because less of my brain power was being wasted on food and wondering if I should eat this or that, when I should eat it etc.
I'm sure many of you have been there too.

Anyway, the bad news. Yesterday, I get this urge for sweets. Which I gave in to. But I only ate a very tiny amount. It tasted too sweet and yucky. I threw it away into the bin. I was very proud of myself. But today...same again. And I'm in the sweets again and eating quite a lot. And snacking. I'm so disappointed in myself.

So my questions. Can anyone identify with this? Did you do this at first? I had sailed through that first week of No S and I'm feeling despondent now.
Also, what advice would you give me now? You can imagine, my head is telling me to go on a strict diet and blah blah.

Sorry my post got long. Please share anything you can that will help me. I do not want to go on a restrictive 'traditional' diet...they don't work and they make me feel depressed.

[Jethro]

Anyway, the bad news. Yesterday, I get this urge for sweets. Which I gave in to. But I only ate a very tiny amount. It tasted too sweet and yucky. I threw it away into the bin. I was very proud of myself. But today...same again. And I'm in the sweets again and eating quite a lot. And snacking. I'm so disappointed in myself.

So my questions. Can anyone identify with this? Did you do this at first?

The road to slimville via NOS is full of bumps, craters and obstacles. You have to go thru or around them to reach the promised land.

[Skelton]

Anyway, the bad news. Yesterday, I get this urge for sweets. Which I gave in to. But I only ate a very tiny amount. It tasted too sweet and yucky. I threw it away into the bin. I was very proud of myself. But today...same again. And I'm in the sweets again and eating quite a lot. And snacking. I'm so disappointed in myself.

So my questions. Can anyone identify with this? Did you do this at first?

The road to slimville via NOS is full of bumps, craters and obstacles. You have to go thru or around them to reach the promised land.

Aww thanks Jethro! I may just have to copy that and stick it on my bathroom mirror.
I'm determined to keep going.

[wosnes]

What you experienced is pretty normal. Sometimes it happens the first week, sometimes not until a few weeks into No-S, but it's not at all unusual. Just get back on track with the next meal.

[oolala53]

I had three months of perfect Vanilla No S and had lost ten pounds when I ran into trouble. It's been bumpy on and off but nothing like the decades of bingeing/compulsive overeating I had done before. In fact, I feel pretty solid and normal most of the time, but if you had read my check in thread over these last 31 months, you would have heard of some down times. Even last week! But No S is it. And vow to have three green days before the weekend. Then stick to your guns even if you feel like crying.

[oolala53]

Oh, and check this out from last week. Not exactly the same, but worth looking at. http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=8797

[eschano]

For me NoS only works well so far because I'm not restricting my S days at all. Some of them were pretty wild but I think it's more important to concentrate on N days for now. Maybe indulge a little on S days?

[JayEll]

I have a suggestion for you, and that's to sit down and write out reasons to stick with the plan on N days. It would be things like this (you can make your own list):

- No one dies because they can't have candy.
- An S day is not that far away and I can wait.
- I feel better when I stay with the plan.
- It's OK to have a beverage instead of snacking.

And so on! Keep your list somewhere close by so that you can read it, preferably out loud, when you get those urges. You could have one copy on the fridge, one in your purse, etc. You get the idea--just divert yourself with better messages.

[heatherhikes]

...
- No one dies because they can't have candy.
- An S day is not that far away and I can wait.
- I feel better when I stay with the plan.
- It's OK to have a beverage instead of snacking.

And so on! Keep your list somewhere close by so that you can read it, preferably out loud, when you get those urges. You could have one copy on the fridge, one in your purse, etc. You get the idea--just divert yourself with better messages.

Jay, I find this to be very helpful. I do something similar. It's all about telling yourself the truth, isn´t it. Thanks for sharing this with us.
I keep a daily journal in which I remind myself of the (positive) truth of the situation - a reality check of sorts.
I have a separate little note book with the topic, "What I did right today" in which I, by date, write successes and how they happened; helpful during challenging times to look back to...be encouraged...
________
Heddi

[Skelton]

Thanks everyone, it's good to know I'm not a spectacular No S failure and that others have been there too. I think my fall off the wagon hit me hard because last week when I got a great run of greens, I felt amazing and very optimistic.

So, I've had 3 Red days. Tuesday wasn't too bad, Wednesday I went a bit wild and yesterday wasn't too bad either. Previously I'd have turned it into a week long binge. So I'm very happy to be back on track today. I'm doing Vanilla No S, no mods, so tomorrow and Sunday will indeed be S days and I've got my treats planned already

Jayell thanks so much for your suggestions, I think something like that would be very helpful. Actually that just reminded me that I have a copy of the Beck Diet Solution somewhere and the tactics and strategies in there would likely work great with No S. I must dig it out.

oolala- I'm glad to see you post here too. It was a post of yours on SP that brought me over here and to buy the book. I saw a lot of myself in what you'd written and decided to give this a try. So thank you!

[oolala53]

Glad you saw me on Spark. This site is so invaluable. Oh, and Beck's workbook was instrumental to me in implementing No S, though I ignored her recommendations to plan and track every calorie. I used the strategies that helped support these guidelines. I found it easier because I am convinced that No S is fair and reasonable. I know I wouldn't think that about traditional diets.

But there are also similar ideas here about cognitive strategies from many threads and on the Catch Phrase forum.