Everyday Systems

What do you think about adding a PINK day to the habit cal for the days when you have a teeny tiny snack so that it is just a little bit RED? I have a hard time sometimes when dinner is so late due to my hubby coming home late and I will have a small snack to hold me over until he comes home. The rest of the day has been GREEN. So what to do???

I wouldn't worry about it.

Laguna,

This concept has been debated throughout these threads. Reinhard is pretty clear that although we sometimes think we just can't survive to the next meal, that it may very well be habit not hunger calling our name.
And lots of people of done various tweaks on the Vanilla No-S (pure strict version) of the diet. However, the concern is always that when you start messing with a good thing, you can rationalize yourself right back into the old habits. That being said, you may find that for your body or schedule you may have to do something a little differently.

I know in my heart that the pure No S is the ideal commitment, yet like you, I hated marking that big red square if I just made one little slip. So I solved it by creating some additional Habitcals. . . which allow me to track whether I was able to do the real deal--or if I didn't, to track if I made, as you say, a tiny little slip as opposed to going off the deep end. It's really working for me. I've included below the posts I made elsewhere to explain these. I think some others have done similar things. You just have to be careful not to settle all the time only do it "kinda sorta!" I STILL keep the original No S Habitcal.

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:17 pm Post subject: SOMETIMES. . .
This of course goes right back to the reason the official wording of the plan includes that word "sometimes!"--even if it didn't make it to the book cover!

Except (sometimes) on days that start with "S"

Re-reading this old thread refreshes the explanation of that and how not being an idiot is so important:
http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=759

That's why I started a Habitcal reserved just for S days to keep myself thoughtful of not being an idiot!

It's called Not_an_Idiot_S_Day I give myself a Green even on an S day just to keep track if I've avoided being an idiot!

Also added a habitcal called GREEN_Equals_two_r_Less_S_Slips I even mark regular S days green then too

As I noted in a previous post, I still keep my "real" Strictly S day Habitcal called Strictly_Speaking_No_S but I'm doing the extra Habitcals to give myself permission to go crazy--it's just a way to track where my issues are if I do blow it.

When I remember that prior to No S--I was not only having S's on every day--but I was often "an idiot" every day!

Now -- to plan my S day so I won't be an idiot TODAY!

And other post on the same subject. . .

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:23 pm Post subject: Not_an_Idiot_S_Day --- Habitcal to keep myself honest
I'm happy to report that my Habitcal for not being an idiot on S days is all green so far. For my own reporting purposes, I consider myself not an idiot if at the end of an S day. . . if I've had Seconds only once; one sweet and one snack.

The Habitcal is called Not_an_Idiot_S_Day and I only mark it if it's a day I marked as S on my Strictly_Speaking_No_S Habitcal.

Now that I've written this long post--I see Wosnes has posted a much more concise reply--and just as appropriate! One of the beauties of this whole plan is to make it as simple as possible to follow and to keep up with. . . another advantage over all those SAD diets (substance accounting diets--see other old threads for those!)

Good luck.

For a while, I posted what the red was about on my daily check-in. There is a difference between a tiny-slip red and a full-out binge red (I always imagine lipstick or nail-polish names when I start describing the reds, lol!), and the daily check-in is a good place to record it.

But marking it flat red on the HabitCal is powerful. It makes me think HARD about how much I want/need this.

You'll find a route that works for you. Your route doesn't have to be like everyone else's, it just needs to work for you and you need to be honest with yourself about whether it does or doesn't.