I like "failure"!!

[gratefuldeb67]

Well actually I don't really like failing, but I felt like posting a little thought.
After a number of years, with the initial "knee jerk" resistance to the word "failure" in the first few years of doing NoS, I have reached a new phase in my NoS evolution.. I actually *prefer* to post failure, right away, and have done with it, than try to mentally finagle and make excuses as to why "this could be an S day, if.... etc" or make exceptions.. I'm totally fine with saying to myself "I chose to eat an ice cream today, and so I'm giving myself a "red" rather than making today an S day"... It just feels better to me to be completely honest with myself, rather than try to rationalise it into an S day or S "event"..
I want my HabitCal, to be a real and honest representation of whether or not I've truly been following NoS.
Today I chose to have a snack and a lemonade at my Son's performance of Into the Woods, and I could have claimed it as an S day, but I am actually happier calling it a conscious failure.
When i first joined NoS I had a terrible reaction to that word, and I'm really happy to say I've got no bad feelings about it now at all.
Debs

[reinhard]

I'm glad to hear it, Deb.

It's good not to beat oneself up with words.

It's better to be impervious to such beat ups.

Congratulations for your victory over/reconciliation with "failure!"

(And congratulations to Richie too, that's a fun musical).

For those of you who have not quite come as far as Deb, "red" is not a bad provisional substitute. Just as clear, less potential for masochistic abuse.

Reinhard

[Strawberry Roan]

Deb,

The one thing that has kept me honest is this board.
I post my weight every morning (yes I weigh every day, always have even as a skinny teenager - just curious I guess).
I post what I eat, how much I exercise, etc.
If I "fail", it is there in black and white for all the world to see (or any who might be reading my daily checkins at least)
I don't beat myself up, don't fret about it - It just is what it is, a moment in time. I then move on.

Sounds like you are right on track with your thinking.

And You Go Ritchie

[Murphysraven]

I've also become more comfortable with being really honest with my failures. I've come to accept that it's ok to fail as long as you reflect on what caused the failure and hopefully learn from that mistake going forward. Sometimes it takes me a few failures to really figure out what I need for success!

Last tuesday I was super hungry between lunch and dinner because I had a very small lunch. I ended up eating an apple before dinner. and I counted it as a failure because it was a snack. Even though it was a healthy food choice I am trying to be strict with following vanilla nos.

I noted that the reason I failed is that I did not eat enough at lunch to tide me over until dinner. I added eating an apple and a handful of nuts or a small salad with my sandwich and have found I am less ravenous between meals.