Merlekins check in

[merlekins]

Your book is on it's way from Amazon. Yesterday was my bday so I actually started this adventure on an S day. Today, so far, no snacking. I am a full-time student and always come home to nosh on something, considering that lunch break is at 11:20...I just usually need something in my belly by 2pm. BUT NO S MEANS NO SNACKING and that will be my challenge.

No sweets...also a challenge...does that mean no sweets at all on N days? not with your 3 squares, nada, none, nothing? I'm going to take it as such. there is no chocolate in the house but there are some Pringle's Stix (good lord those are good) but I have them all tucked away out of sight.
does a glass of iced tea after school count as a snack?

can't wait to read the book, even though the website has so much info. I am old-fashioned and like to hold books in my hands.

this weekend, I am going to gather up and toss allllllll of my years of collected South Beach, Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, low-carb, etc etc materials that I just knew I would need someday....NOT. No S is just too simple a concept. I am almost annoyed that it has a "gimmicky title" because I hate to lump it in with the aforementioned "programs" I've slavishly tried in the past.
But NO S is a way of life and "no S" is a mnemonic device, plain and simple. And I'm not going to prance around saying "I'm on the No S diet". I'm just gonna do it. My classmate is doing that awful cabbage soup idiocy this week. She's miserable.

SUCCESS SO FAR TODAY. somebody at school gave me a home-made burrito for my bday, and I thought, oh gosh, this is decadent, but then I remembered, whatev, I can eat my one plate and this is probably still better than the creepy processed "micromeal" Dinty Moore beef stew. And I found myself just LOVING that burrito that was made just for me by somebody nice. And I'm excited to find out what we'll have for dinner after Jazzercise. Already treating food as a delight, not an ever-present convenience.

I want a snack soooooo much right now! 3:40pm.


OK SO BTW: weight is probably 150 today. I'm gonna weigh in on Thursdays.
I gained 10 pounds in 6 months...thanks to starting school. at 140 I was already at a weight I disliked...
I would like to be back down in the 130-135 range...my body liked that weight and would always "stop" there on other diet programs.

[merlekins]

I made it! I was so hungry all afternoon and driving to Jazzercise I was thinking, how will I make it thru class? but I had so much energy.... already....how is that possible?

this clip from MadTV seems appropriate. I love it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKs0oEIVOck

so here we go...we are on our NoS way... and strangely enough, the Netflix movie that arrived today is "Run Fat Boy Run", a hilariously awful title. I'm not a fat boy but it made me laugh to see that arrive today.

[blueskighs]

Merlikens,

Welcome!

yup ... no sweets with your 3 squares on N Days, good you are getting the book, it pretty much covers the bases about what is "considered" a "sweet"

Blueskighs

[merlekins]

day 2 and still holding strong.
btw day 1 was SUCCESS

I am still super hungry right now after school but am chugging water and iced tea. Nobody said iced tea was bad, right? I figure it has so little caloric impact.

I read on the website that he doesn't tell us how many meals to have each day...and that almost gave me license to have that 4th meal after school...but a MEAL means preparing something with care and anticipation, and I usually just want something to stuff down my gullet. I don't have time after school to prepare a 4th meal, so that mindless gorging = a snack and NO S means no snacks. so, I will soldier on with no eating at all between 11:30 am and 7:30 pm after Jazzercise (only 3 nights a week do I have to eat that late). Still, the difference between 7am breakfast to 11:30 lunch then to 7:30 dinner is pretty large. I might be justified in sitting down, actually taking time and having a small meal at 3pm...hmmmmm. Let's get thru week one before deciding (caving!)

I'm having no issues at all with No Sweets, surprisingly. and I never have Seconds. so Snacking is my waterloo.

what is this "nothing funny" people put on their check ins when detailing their foods? one of those NO S phrases/ideals?
and do we really have to detail our meals to ourselves or each other? I thought the whole gist of No S was to not really "watch what you eat" during your savored, cherished meals...what fits on the plate, right?

still waiting for the book. maybe I will get more answers from that. the website is great but when I read the boards I get so bogged (blogged?) down by everybody's take on it. I want to do this because it's simple, not to keep logs or plan meals or count points etc etc. I just want to click off my Habit Cal and track my nice simple progress.

[blueskighs]

the website is great but when I read the boards I get so bogged (blogged?) down by everybody's take on it

i had the chance to read the book before i even knew there was a website. There is a lot of great information on the boards, especially the podcasts, but the book has the nuts and bolts of the diet and pretty much clearly answers ANY question one might have, and it is a great read.

and do we really have to detail our meals to ourselves or each other?

it hasn't happened lately but sometimes there are flurries of questions about what people eat, for people who have these questions the daily check-ins that list meals is a great help, I think it is one of those things that doesn't appeal to you, I wouldn't worry about it too much!

Sounds like you are off to a great start,
Blueskighs

[merlekins]

DAY 2 WAS SUCCESS


DAY 3...not nearly as ravenous after school as I was on tues/wed. however, I did make my lunch last longer by having the yogurt at 12:30 instead of with lunch break at 11:30. I think it helped take the edge off the 11:30 to 7:30 span but probably was a snack, even though it was a portion of my lunch plate. Maybe Blueskighs will comment on that!

STILL waiting for the book in the mail...CAN'T WAIT TO DEVOUR IT figuratively. Thanks to Blueskighs for all of the quick info. that's so cool that you read the book first, not the web phenom~!

one more night of Jazzercise, then my weekly "me day" ...no school on Friday...which means a whole long day at home by myself NOT SNACKING but that means I will look forward to making myself a fabulous lunch and maybe we'll go out for dinner. will save the "Run Fat Boy Run" dvd for the weekend so we can have popcorn!

My classmate is on that Cabbage Soup craziness. (people still do that? I thought it was an urban legend) Without saying the term "no s" i have told her what I'm doing and OF COURSE she said "but aren't snacks good for you" so I said it's just what I'm doing to see if I have discipline. If it works, then hey, who says snacks are good for you?

[merlekins]

DAY 3 WAS SUCCESS

well...
i had pop tarts for breakfast...and they are sweet...but i didn't even think about it until later...hmmmm...Hubby said they are no worse than sweetened cereal, and I recall there was some discussion about those on the boardz...so I am still calling it success because normally, i eat Pop Tarts as a mindless snack. Plus I Jazzercised when i really didn't feel like going and I did not snack and I almost popped some oatmeal cookies in the oven but my No S kicked in and I went, "duh". NO SWEETS! (in fact, that's when I horrified myself by remembering the Pop Tarts)

hoping the book will come today. maybe they sent it Media Mail. ugh!

[merlekins]

i went to the boards and searched for sweet cereal, and people were saying to call something a sweet if you would eat if for dessert....so maybe my RATIONALIZATION above was completely twisted. I called Pop Tarts a snack, but they are a sweet, but I had them for breakfast....would I have Pop Tarts for dessert? ummmmmm....but boards also showed that if you wouldn't dream of eating that again all day, it's okay (like sweetened cereal)....oh what the heck. Day 3 FELT like a success and I don't want to discount those feelings.

Here's a thought: I kinda had a sh**y day yesterday at school. Maybe I can blame that on my stupid pop tarts for breakfast! i.e. healthy food = healthy attitude??? so at least I have learned a couple of lessons.

[merlekins]

book finally arrived from Amazon, and I can tell that it will answer a lot of my questions. and sure enough, there on page 7, Reinhard describes Pop Tarts straight up as a Sweet.

OK OK OK. so I learned. I still don't think it ruined my day and I am going to be a rebel and leave that day as a success.

I survived my Friday day off so day 4 was SUCCESS

am enjoying my first S day but already, the snacking and the chocolate is getting boring...still, it was nice to have nomz at the movies and not feel guilty. I lost 2 pounds this week!

[blueskighs]

still, it was nice to have nomz at the movies and not feel guilty. I lost 2 pounds this week!

COOL!

Blueskighs

[merlekins]

when I want to come and post my daily check-in, I usually hit "post reply". but am I replying to Blueskighs when I do that?

so....the real question is, how do you post a new message without bothering anybody? (ie. I don't want Blueskighs to be pressured to always reply to me when really all I am doing is writing another check-in...)

I am new to all of this and I like reporting in but want to make sure I'm doing it right

[blueskighs]

[blueskighs]

(ie. I don't want Blueskighs to be pressured to always reply to me when really all I am doing is writing another check-in...)

Merlekins,
when you "post reply" you are not responding directly to me, but i do enjoy reading the daily check-ins and comment when I relate or whatever, some people like that, but i will definitely stop doing so on your daily check-in thread, thanks for bringing it up,

Blueskighs

[merlekins]

the weekend is coming to a close, and for sure I enjoyed lots of chocolate, noshed whenever i wanted, didn't even try to eat 3 squares. and by Sunday night, it felt yucky...and I'm actually looking forward to 5 N days...I want my routine back!!!!!!!

wow! I'm working through the book and have already seen answers to most of the Qs I asked last week. best diet book ever written...best "diet" ever invented. then again, it wasn't invented because he reminds us that humanity has eaten like this for eons.

Reinhard talked about "crazy schedules" in chapter 2 and said that if you had to add a 4th mini-meal, then so be it (don't make it mindless). but he also said "make sure you have drinks and gum on hand" and by the end of last week, that's where I was. My water and iced tea saw me through from 2pm to after jazzercise. I found that once I got home from school and got down to homework and had my water, I forgot to be hungry. I'd prefer to avoid that 4th meal if I can. Unfortunately, that long meal gap will still be there for a very long time during school, but it's only 4 days a week and snacking was a huge problem on school days anyway.

so here comes Week 2. and then comes Week 3. and then a habit will have formed. and then I will get skinny again!

i decided to set my goal at 10% of current weight, to borrow a concept from Weight Watchers. i started at 150; that makes my goal 135, which would feel so great. Once I get there, we'll see...130 would be super awesome. i've read on the boardz that people who do No S will hit a weight and then stop losing. no harm no foul. do No S for the rest of your life because it's so right, and if weight comes off great, if not, you're still doing something so right.

[merlekins]

this is just unbelievable. I didn't even blink following No S after my first S weekend. just got right back on the horse. Didn't even really think about not snacking, no sweets, etc. Just went about my day. Had my iced tea after school NBD. didn't go to Jazzercise tonight (uh oh, fail!) so didn't have to eat so late. Hubby is working late so I could eat what I wanted, ie. didn't get derailed by some of his naughty dinner ideas. Not that we have to be such angels during our meals, but I like to keep up the effort to eat healthy.

So I really don't have much to say today. Today is a SUCCESS. what day is that? do we count total days? so this is...let's see...this is Day 7. OMG I am 1/3rd to the 21 day club! I can do it!

am loving the book. love love love it. it's like a tiny diet bible and I know people are wondrous and create so many other questions, but it's so cool that just this one cool guy did this and shared it with us. are we in a cult?

[Neptunus]

Cult of fitness and well-being! Wrraaaargghhhhh

[merlekins]

actually made it through a quick trip to the grocery store without buying any snacks---which usually would mean snacks that would be eaten mindlessly on the drive home!

finished the book this morning. Took the Churchill quote from page 124 in to school...forming habits is so applicable to getting thru court reporting school. Make it thru the failures without losing enthusiasm!

That being said, I passed a speed test yesterday but didn't perform as well as I had hoped. So I had to make a plan to increase my skills at that speed, and I actually added it to my HabitCal. Every testing day when I turn in an 80 daily, and if I would have passed it had it been a test, I will get a success. as soon as I see some habits forming there, then I will start working on my 100 test. THANKS REINHARD! so logical.

bought a bunch of fruit options... consistently not eating enough fruit in my daily food-group log. Food log is ongoing, pre-dating No S by by months...yes, okay, I'm being an accountant but it's only to encourage myself to eat from every food group. Especially on No S! there is a row on my log labeled "Bad Jill" and on No S, there should be absolutely no entries in that row. Eventually I'll just take it out! cuz Bad Jill happens during snacking and sweets. When I started No S last week, I also just flat out deleted the Sat/Sun columns.

feel like I am developing a cold...our sinuses have been so very angry this week...and that is keeping me from Jazzercise. itchy eyes...sore throat...rest is what I need. could sweat it out in jazzer but my head hurts. SNIFF SNIFF. I don't want to take a S day already (sick!)

[merlekins]

I don't even think about this any more, and it's only Day 9. so FYI Days 7-8-9 were SUCCESS

OH, and screw my plan to stay at 80 until I'm "ready" for the next speed. I turned in a 100 today with only 9 errors and I got really mad at myself for holding myself back. I like to think that my brief but early success at NO S has led to increased confidence and willingness to tackle other challenges in my life. My teacher today said I was crazy to hold myself back and that if it's going to be too hard in the next speed class, I might as well get in there and deal with it, get it over with and move up and on.

I'm dying to see my weight on Friday. Clothes are not fitting looser but I feel like I'm slowly losing lbs.

Sinuses were finally behaving themselves today so it's back to Jazzercise after skipping 2 days, and not doing any AURKPERZ to make up for it. I was strict and marked failure for those.

[merlekins]

Week Two was SUCCESS, that is five days of successful N days. this is so much easier than I thought, and now even the hubby is doing it. (no snacking at work and he's not a sweet-eater).

I can recall only two mistakes or temptations since I started. Had Pop Tarts for breakfast on like Day 3, and this week hubby worked very late and in my loneliness I ate the HUGEST meal but at least only served myself one serving of each item...and then tried to go back to eat the rest of the noodles but stopped myself. Seconds are not my problem but that night, I was obviously trying to feed my loneliness and boredom.

currently, my second S weekend is ever more enlightening. I think about noshing while on computer or etc and it just sort of disgusts me. I do eat plenty on my S days but I end up feeling gross, and I haven't had BM all weekend (TMI, sorry)

THIS IS REALLY REALLY STICKING! can't say I lost any weight this week, then again I weigh in on Fridays and Thurs night was my gigantic lonely meal, so who knows. Jazzercise began a 10-week Body Challenge yesterday, so I signed up/weighed in/had measurements taken. I was 152.6 with my aerobic shoes on (they weigh 2 lbs total, I checked first!) so I am still at 150, basically. We weigh in every week, but it has to always be on the same day, so now I am committed to getting up on Saturdays for Jazzercise to weigh in. AND...the "biggest loser" wins MONEY at the end!!!! now there's a motivator! they were supposed to measure our body fat, too, but the person didn't show up. So it's not only about losing weight, it's about losing fat and inches. (just remember to always wear the shoes during weigh-in)

BTW, the Churchill quote from page 124 is now up on the wall in my classroom at school. It was PERFECT for what we go through with testing. and another BTW, I passed my 100 test so i am moving up to the next speed level. Maybe I already wrote that, but I am still basking in the glow of it and worried about my next challenges.

so here I go, heading into Week 3 and hopefully logging in to the 21-day challenge in a week!!!!!

[merlekins]

I don't like Mondays on No S, but not for the reasons you are thinking. I actually am GRATEFUL for Mondays to come! My stomach was very rebellious this morning (as I continue with my TMI trend) and I have had a stomach ache all day. I can only chalk it up to bad living over the weekend. Slothfulness and S-day extravagance. So in reality, I do like Mondays on No S but I don't like how I felt this day re: what I consumed over the weekend. Like I said above, I started getting bored and disgusted with myself and the pigging out. Snacking just seems so stupid now!

This is Week 3. I think I will re-tool my S days to be more about having a nice meal, a social event, rather than stocking up on junk nomz. I was more than happy to put it all away last night.

After my 21-day challenge is accomplished, I will also start working harder to eat better during my N-day meals. I have been letting it all hang out a bit for a couple weeks (just so happy not to be counting anything or avoiding anything) but I can see that No S lends itself to actually eating healthy foods. I did not lose any weight last week but I am trying not to let that discourage me, and seeking the reasons (not excuses) for not losing. Let's get through Week 3 and then put some more effort into eating well, since the brain and habits will be all set and won't have to spend energy on those 3 S rules.

[merlekins]

this is my third Friday...like, day 19. This has been so so easy and there is all green or yellow on my habit cal...except last night I shared a dish of coconut ice cream after thai food. ALAS!!!!! it was so weird. I just wanted it...and gee, I had had a very emotional day (good and bad, rollercoaster) and was out for dinner with a new friend from school. She knows what I am doing and was like, "ice cream????" and I was like, "don't judge me" ha ha ha ! so I guess I have to start over. Other than that ONE SHARED DISH OF ICE CREAM, my only other mistakes have been poptarts for breakfast and one other thing,,, what was it......maybe that was it.

I don't want to start over. I really think the habit is there. Even my hubby is doing it now. PLUS i turned down carrot cake and pumpkin roll being offered to me by nice people. So tough to politely decline...you feel like a jerk! but rather a jerk than a fat jerk! PLUS I am down 2 lbs this week after not losing last week...smaller meals helped. So, you know what? I'm logging on to 21-day club on monday. I've done the work.

[gratefuldeb67]

Hi Merlekins
Sounds like you are doing great! Yeah there will be times you mess up and cave in to temptation..hahah coconut ice cream sounds worth it!
The big picture is that you aren't doing this *every day* and you are staying positive and enjoying this and dedicated to it.
Wonderful your husband is joining you. That really helps to have someone who is supportive and who you can now look forward to sharing nice S's on S days with.
For me and my Son Richard, our first year on NoS, every weekend was like a big party! We still get excited when S days roll around.
It's like pay day at the end of a work week.
Have a nice weekend.
Debs

[gratefuldeb67]

And congratulations on your weight loss!!

[merlekins]

wow...once I hit the 21-day club I sort of stopped checking in. But no worries, I am still doing No S and am in Week 7 already. I made Halloween an S day... knew I'd be nibbling on the candy but we didn't buy very good candy as it was, so it wasn't a big deal. Just didn't want to have to think about it. Unfortunately, we held a bake sale at school on the 30th and I had to mark that day a fail...mostly because I was licking the bowls and eating the edges off the stuff I made. Probably should have made the Bake Sale the real S day instead!
also had some fail last Friday...ate, like, a little bit of chocolate. NBD but I was surprised I reached for it, so I had to spank myself for being bad. Otherwise, it is very much second nature by now. I haven't really been losing a lot, because I haven't really started "watching what I eat WHEN I do get to eat" like I said I would back at 21 days. grrrrrr! And haven't been super-consistent with jazzercise. I am still obsessed with Samba de Amigo on the Wii, but it's not so much real exercise...still better than sitting on your butt, however!

I started taking Reflux Away (from Vitamin Cottage) and have been very pleased with how it makes my tummy feel. I will be more consistent with Jazzercise. It's so easy to NOT go, but it feels so much better TO go. I do lose more weight on the weeks I actually make a strong effort to be there.

all in all, I wish I was losing more, but I do need to make more effort. I'm still very proud of myself that I still refuse bday treats and such at school, and I don't come home to snack any more, and I don't even think there is any chocolate in the house right now. Keep on keeping on....holidays are coming and I think we are going to humbug them this year. School takes so much consistent effort and it's hard to let go of the routine that I need to follow to succeed...so often I "slack off" during the holidays in every way and I just can't afford to do that during school. Money's tight and we won't even be home for Xmas and we don't really need anything and neither do our loved ones...so there!