Hi everyone
As I wrote in my daily check in, I've just completed a successful round of 21 days with pure greens on my HabitCal and the normal yellow S days. I'm very happy about doing this as I've been on & off NoS for a while (with a disastrous Atkins style crash diet in between) & I'm DETERMINED to continue just with NoS for the rest of my life as it's the only sensible approach that seems to work for me.
Like everyone else, I have trouble with S days which tend to go wild. However, I don't yet want to tackle S days. I feel N days are not yet that firmly established. So my first question: how long would you give until moving to the next step (following KCCCs NoS diet phases) i.e. tackling S days? I'm thinking I should challenge myself with another round of 21 days of Vanilla NoS & not even think at this point of doing anything else. Any ideas of how long I should do this for?
Second question: I want to add exercise again. I've been going to the gym on & off last year (which was great except hard to get to because of time limitations). I also did jogging/walking last summer, also good but not great for my knees. I'm playing with the idea of getting a wii fit. Any suggestions about that whole thing? Have never used anything like that so have no idea where to buy (I'm based in UK), how much it costs, if it's effective etc.
Third question. I weigh myself once a month after being obsessed with the scale & daily weighing for years & years. Just read a few things on Reneew's thread about weighing, & have questions about it myself. Do you think once a month is ok (I've only been doing this for 3 months & don't have enough data) or am I heading towards disappointment because it's not enough monitoring? Also: do you log your weight? If so where? (I'm very bad at Excel). For the moment I just use an iPhone application 'meal diary' to do my weight logs but I would like something that can be uploaded to my NoS profile. Any ideas?
Final question. I have always found logging what I eat good but never stick to it for long because it's just too tiresome. Do you know of any good iPhone app that would work for that kind of thing? More generally, what do you find most effective in order to successfully keep a log of what you eat? If it's on my computer I just find that I neglect doing it...
Sorry for the essay but people on this forum always have great ideas so would love some input for my next steps.
21 successful days under my belt! What now?
Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating
21 successful days under my belt! What now?
Last edited by Cassie on Sat Jun 19, 2010 2:52 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Restarting NoS (after going back & forth over the last 4 years) in November 2013.
GOAL: to lose 10 kilos.
HAVE ACHIEVED SO FAR: 1.6 kilo
GOAL: to lose 10 kilos.
HAVE ACHIEVED SO FAR: 1.6 kilo
Congratulations on 21 successful days!
Wait until you feel ready to tackle the S days. How long will it be? Who knows -- it doesn't really matter. You'll know when it's time. You'll also know when the N day habits are firmly in place. Sometime after that it will be time to tackle the S days.
Wait until you feel ready to tackle the S days. How long will it be? Who knows -- it doesn't really matter. You'll know when it's time. You'll also know when the N day habits are firmly in place. Sometime after that it will be time to tackle the S days.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
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Too solid flesh
- Posts: 639
- Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 5:22 pm
- Location: England
It's great that you've had 21 successful S days.
My two penn'orth:
1 I didn't need to consciously tackle S days - they just gradually got better over time, as I became used to eating less.
2 I haven't used it myself, but Which (the Consumer Association) tested Wii Fit and was impressed with it. The caveats were that it required setting up initially, and took a bit of getting used to, which could be discouraging in the short term, but generally it did well. If you want to know more, private message me or post again.
3 I only weigh once a month, and find that it saves me from getting discouraged by daily fluctuations. However, the National Weight Control Registry has found that people who successfully maintain weight loss tend to weigh more frequently. See:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1819 ... d_RVDocSum
My two penn'orth:
1 I didn't need to consciously tackle S days - they just gradually got better over time, as I became used to eating less.
2 I haven't used it myself, but Which (the Consumer Association) tested Wii Fit and was impressed with it. The caveats were that it required setting up initially, and took a bit of getting used to, which could be discouraging in the short term, but generally it did well. If you want to know more, private message me or post again.
3 I only weigh once a month, and find that it saves me from getting discouraged by daily fluctuations. However, the National Weight Control Registry has found that people who successfully maintain weight loss tend to weigh more frequently. See:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1819 ... d_RVDocSum
Be kind, for everybody you meet is fighting a hard battle.
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sophiasapientia
- Posts: 919
- Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 3:09 am
- Location: Michigan
Congrats on your 21 Days!!! 
We have a Wii Fit. Personally, I don't care for it that much and don't think it is the best workout for the $$$. (I'd rather go for a walk.
) But my DH and DD enjoy it and we pull it out once in a while for them when the weather is bad.
The best workout is 1.) something(s) that you enjoy and 2.) something that you will do consistently.
It sounds like doing another round of 21 days is a good idea. My own experience is that a certain point, the N Day habit just felt very natural, my N Days were green 98% of the time and it didn't take much effort on my part. I reckon the time this takes will vary from person to person but you'll know when you're there. (I still have unrestricted S Days but keep to a basic 3 meal structure which helps keep things reasonable.)Like everyone else, I have trouble with S days which tend to go wild. However, I don't yet want to tackle S days. I feel N days are not yet that firmly established. So my first question: how long would you give until moving to the next step (following KCCCs NoS diet phases) i.e. tackling S days? I'm thinking I should challenge myself with another round of 21 days of Vanilla NoS & not even think at this point of doing anything else. Any ideas of how long I should do this for?
Second question: I do want to add exercise again. I've been going to the gym on & off last year (which was great except hard to get to because of time limitations). I also did jogging/walking last summer, also good but not great for my knees. I'm playing with the idea of getting a wii fit. Any suggestions about that whole thing? Have never used anything like that so have no idea where to buy (I'm based in UK), how much it costs, if it's effective etc.
We have a Wii Fit. Personally, I don't care for it that much and don't think it is the best workout for the $$$. (I'd rather go for a walk.
) But my DH and DD enjoy it and we pull it out once in a while for them when the weather is bad. The best workout is 1.) something(s) that you enjoy and 2.) something that you will do consistently.
Again, I think that this varies from person to person. Some of us weigh in daily without issue and some of us do best if we stay off the scale or weigh-in infrequently. Personally, I weigh in daily and chart my weight everyday on Fitday which works well for me for a variety of reasons. There is nothing wrong with weighing in once a month, though. The only issue I could see is that, if whatever reason, your habits are causing you to gain weight, it could take a month to realize this. But, if this hasn't been the case and you are recovering from "scale issues," weighing once a month sounds reasonable.Third question. I weigh myself once a month after being obsessed with the scale & daily weighing for years & years. Just read a few things on Reneew's thread about weighing, & have questions about it myself. Do you think once a month is ok (I've only been doing this for 3 months & don't have enough data) or am I heading towards disappointment because it's not enough monitoring? Also: do you log your weight? If so where? (I'm very bad at Excel). For the moment I just use an iPhone application 'meal diary' to do my weight logs but I would like something that can be uploaded to my NoS profile. Any ideas?
Restarted No S (3rd times a charm!) January 2010 at 145 lbs
Re: 21 successful days under my belt! What now?
Just keep going - you'll know when you're ready... IF you even need to tackle S-days directly. They may gently ease off on their own, without any special attention on your part. Give yourself time, and just "check in" periodically and see how it's going. You'll know when/if you need to address them.Cassie wrote:
Like everyone else, I have trouble with S days which tend to go wild. However, I don't yet want to tackle S days. I feel N days are not yet that firmly established. So my first question: how long would you give until moving to the next step (following KCCCs NoS diet phases) i.e. tackling S days? I'm thinking I should challenge myself with another round of 21 days of Vanilla NoS & not even think at this point of doing anything else. Any ideas of how long I should do this for?
I have one, but honestly don't use it that much now that the "new" has worn off. However, it DOES give a reasonable level of exercise, keeps opening up new "games" to keep you amused, and is certainly better than nothing. I just like other things better. Do you have a friend who has one who might let you try it, so you can see if you like it?Cassie wrote:
Second question: I want to add exercise again. I've been going to the gym on & off last year (which was great except hard to get to because of time limitations). I also did jogging/walking last summer, also good but not great for my knees. I'm playing with the idea of getting a wii fit. Any suggestions about that whole thing? Have never used anything like that so have no idea where to buy (I'm based in UK), how much it costs, if it's effective etc.
There's a thread on here somewhere about how often to weigh. Different things work for different people. The two main schools of thought are "infrequently enough so that losses will show" or "frequently enough that I know the patterns and don't get de-railed by temporary blips." I think it depends on your nature (how much small changes in your weight will affect you emotionally), and how closely you need to monitor.Cassie wrote: Third question. I weigh myself once a month after being obsessed with the scale & daily weighing for years & years. Just read a few things on Reneew's thread about weighing, & have questions about it myself. Do you think once a month is ok (I've only been doing this for 3 months & don't have enough data) or am I heading towards disappointment because it's not enough monitoring? Also: do you log your weight? If so where? (I'm very bad at Excel). For the moment I just use an iPhone application 'meal diary' to do my weight logs but I would like something that can be uploaded to my NoS profile. Any ideas?
I just keep a daily thread here, plus the Habitcal. And since I'm here a lot (blush), that's good enough. So, don't really know about "what's out there," but I think other people may.Cassie wrote:
Final question. I have always found logging what I eat good but never stick to it for long because it's just too tiresome. Do you know of any good iPhone app that would work for that kind of thing? More generally, what do you find most effective in order to successfully keep a log of what you eat? If it's on my computer I just find that I neglect doing it...
Hope you find a solution that works well for you!
There's another option when it comes to weighing -- not at all/once a year at the doctor's office. It would be my preference followed by monthly. I'm weighing daily for medical reasons.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
These are good questions/topics. A few thoughts of mine...
1. I think if there isn't a good reason to do a tweak, like you always go bowling on Wednesdays and want a snack there or something, it would be a great idea to do a series of 21 days on vanilla, and see how that feels. Really, probably your S days will settle themselves out, as you get used to not pigging out on N days and feel so much better physically as a result.
2. For exercise equipment, I get the most use out of a couple of yards of one of those exercise bands. It gives me some tension against the muscles and combine that with walking and swimming and it's good for me.
3. I weigh every Mon. am and track it on a 3x5 card paperclipped in my daily planner. I highlight one wt every month about 4 or 5 wks apart, when I know I'm not bloated or something, and can track my monthly weight changes at a glance that way. Every day would be too much and monthly seems to far apart for me, anyway.
4. I log what I eat on the check-in thread here. Perhaps no one reads it, but maybe someone does, so there's some motivation and accountability there, and it's enough to keep me checking in every day or 2. That's better for me than doing it solely on my own, but less intense than having a sponsor who I have to contact daily, as I did on another program. That was a bit much.
Wishing you the best!!
1. I think if there isn't a good reason to do a tweak, like you always go bowling on Wednesdays and want a snack there or something, it would be a great idea to do a series of 21 days on vanilla, and see how that feels. Really, probably your S days will settle themselves out, as you get used to not pigging out on N days and feel so much better physically as a result.
2. For exercise equipment, I get the most use out of a couple of yards of one of those exercise bands. It gives me some tension against the muscles and combine that with walking and swimming and it's good for me.
3. I weigh every Mon. am and track it on a 3x5 card paperclipped in my daily planner. I highlight one wt every month about 4 or 5 wks apart, when I know I'm not bloated or something, and can track my monthly weight changes at a glance that way. Every day would be too much and monthly seems to far apart for me, anyway.
4. I log what I eat on the check-in thread here. Perhaps no one reads it, but maybe someone does, so there's some motivation and accountability there, and it's enough to keep me checking in every day or 2. That's better for me than doing it solely on my own, but less intense than having a sponsor who I have to contact daily, as I did on another program. That was a bit much.
Wishing you the best!!
I also think you'll find S-days get more reasonable all by themselves as you go along.
For exercise, I don't have a Wii Fit, but I tried one at my friend's house and while it was amusing, I wouldn't want it to be my sole source of fitness. What about walking or biking? Those are inexpensive and low impact, so they shouldn't hurt your knees. And they help you get places for free.
For exercise, I don't have a Wii Fit, but I tried one at my friend's house and while it was amusing, I wouldn't want it to be my sole source of fitness. What about walking or biking? Those are inexpensive and low impact, so they shouldn't hurt your knees. And they help you get places for free.