eschano every day check-in

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:14 pm

Ok, so today was the first time that I ever posted on any kind of online forum, inspired by Heddi55, and here I am, apparently not getting enough of it.

As I'm in my second week and 10th day of the NoS diet I will just sum it up so far.

Until now, and probably greatly aided by a cold that suppresses my appetite, I had quite a successful run on N days. Otherwise, I even survived a meal at the restaurant with a friend today without hick-up. My first meal out on an N day.

As for the S days this weekend - they were pretty wild. By Sunday evening I felt quite sick and didn't recover until Tuesday. I still ate three light meals on Monday to make my body understand that there still will be food and to get out of my binge-mindset.

So far I had quite a love-hate relationship with food as I use it when I'm bored, sad, suppressing any uncomfortable feelings, think I deserve a treat. I usually binged when I'm alone, barely when I was in company. What I love about this diet is that it's the first system that makes me believe in the possibility of some healing when it comes to my relationship with food. The concept of enjoyment of food without guilt and of eating 3 plates a day on N days feels so weird I keep being surprised by "wait, this IS allowed!". I even lost a pound, although it's way to early to make that mean anything.

My goal is to get the enjoyment back into eating and to get a healthy relationship with food. I'm probably a stone away from a healthy bmi and to fence around the law probably some more to make it stable. The fact that this system focuses on habits and not weight goals is the most important change from the diets I usually tried.

Thank you so much Reinhard for spelling it out for me. It is a huge relieve to know that I can do it - I've just been focusing on the wrong thing.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:16 am

Day 10: Success

Breakfast: Tall cafe latte and porridge with berry sauce, one filter coffee with a drop of milk

Lunch: stir-fried vegetables and plum and pear yoghurt (I made it myself with literally plums, a pear and plain yoghurt so no sweet): it all fits on one plate.

Dinner: dinner out at a mexican place: one plate of vegetarian food (black beans with rice, plantain crisps, sweetpotato hash) - I didn't eat the last food on the plate that I didn't enjoy which is a new experience. Usually, I would have eaten it just because it was there. I just didn't like the taste and I have no idea what it was, some sort of tortilla. It all fittet on a plate easy and I couldn't get over the fact that indeed that meal is allowed.
And one Spritzer (I'm Austrian so a glass of wine diluted with sparkling mineral water is a common summer drink).

I am losing weight slowly but surely and I cannot believe it! I usually starve myself, or try to not eat by drinking lots and lots of coffee and diet soda and then binge. This knowledge that there are three proper meals coming is a game changer and my body immediately gets it. So far this might be beginners luck but it's working.

Giving up guilt associated with food is my biggest challenge by far and much harder than the physical side of NoS for me. It's a daily meditation on enjoyment of food and compassion. For example, I find it hard not to obsess over the fact that I put some berry sauce that contained sugar in day 10's porridge. It's a real struggle to let go of that perfectionist all or nothing mindset from previous diets.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 7:45 pm

Day 11: Success

Good day today. Although I left dinner a little late so I overate by basically eating a whole plate and let's face it: a pile of food on one plate is still an awful lot. However, I feel good today. This is easy enough although I haven't had any of the emotions yet that usually trigger my binges so that might be the real test.

I'm learning an awful lot about habits here - I never really thought a lot about them before.

Breakfast: Cafe Latte and a pear (I'm just not a big breakfast person)
Lunch: 1/2 chicken breast whole rye sandwich, an apple, a pear and some plain yoghurt
Dinner: 1 small wholemeal pita bread with 3 carrots, lots of spinach, 3 eggs, cayenne pepper and a tiny amount of ketchup. Obviously most of it didn't fit in the pita but it all fit on one plate.
Herbal tea

It still sounds like a lot when I write it out but it's a whole lot healthier than what I had on pre-NoS ordinary days. And no bingeing - so SUCCESS

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 7:51 pm

I started another 21day challenge this week.

It's my first NoS 21 day challenge but this second one is so related to my food binges that it nearly doesn't make sense to tackle them separately.

I have started a 2episodes/1film per day glass ceiling. On my nights in, I usually come home and start watching TV just to realise that it's hours later, I've eaten tons of food (usually sweets) and I'm not rested but exhausted.

So far so good. This week has been going well. I think I would exempt special movie nights with lots of friends but just in the house it's a firm glass ceiling now.

Rachelocity · Post by **Rachelocity** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:18 pm

For example, I find it hard not to obsess over the fact that I put some berry sauce that contained sugar in day 10's porridge. It's a real struggle to let go of that perfectionist all or nothing mindset from previous diets.

I'm also finding the relearning process to be difficult. Dieting triggered any OCD/B&W/perfectionistic tendencies I might have had. Sucks, eh?

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:23 am

Many thanks for your post Rachel!

It's so good to know that there are other with the same tendencies and the same struggle to replace those habits.

Good luck to us

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:21 pm

Today Success:

I'm still struggling with my diet-mentality. It was a clear success. Three plates, no snacks, no sweets, no seconds. But for my dinner (the 3rd plate) I did meet a friend at a restaurant and had pad thai - now this was a normal plate, no more or less than at home. It's a small family run place. I still feel like I did something nasty as it contained carbs (and that in the evening!) and was a meal out. I try to cook most days. However, it's totally a success in NoS as far as I know and I'm battling with myself to understand that.

Does anyone else have these inner battles with their old diet-mentality?

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:46 am

My S weekend: My focus was mainly on ENJOYMENT and not on deprivation and S-scarcity. This led to me eating all kinds of esses but also enjoying fresh fruit and vegetables.

I've only just started my third week but I think that my tastebuds are getting more refined. Fruit seems sweeter to me and some sweets that I ate in gallons before seem too sweet now. That might be due to the fact that I stopped drinking diet soda. (I used to drink 2-3 per day)

Still working on the guilt that preceeded my deprivation-binge cycle before No-S.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:42 pm

Fail

My first fail. Usually, I totally would have wrecked the car over it and had a WTH effect.
I was with friends in the park for our first day of sunshine in the UK and we got fish'n'chips, well actually calamari and chips for me. The reason it's a fail: Those paper bags of foods would have filled two plates per portion and I still finished mine completely.

What I learnt: I find it super hard not to eat the whole portion (no matter the size) so this is something to train myself in for the 2nd 21st days starting in a week
and
I didn't wreck the car - so success! I didn't binge and said politely no to sweets later and don't feel like I can/have to make up for it tomorrow but will just have 3 portions of food as usual.

Take that, diet-mentality!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 9:12 pm

Success edit: 25th July (see reasons below) FAILURE

There were about 20 minutes between the first and the second bite from 1 virtual plate but it was a canapÃ©, so maybe that's snacking but it was a social occasion and talking isn't food-friendly so I'll count it as a yellow success day.

It's finally hot here in the UK - summer has come and thus picnicking/apperitivi so I definitely found my potential stumbling-stone in summer. Against all odds it's not chocolate.

TUK · Post by **TUK** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 6:16 am

eschano wrote: Does anyone else have these inner battles with their old diet-mentality?

Yes I do. I am a former Dukaner. It still feels holier to eat a bit more proteins and vegetables and a bit less carbs. But I, from far, don't beat myself up about eating pasta.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 3:02 pm

Thanks for that TUK. It's very reassuring to know other people went through the same!

As for my comment to Rachel in her daily check-in about strictness: I'll call yesterday a failure not a yellow success. Walk the talk and all.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 9:41 pm

Success

Finally. I was worried it would become a streak but I got lots of encouraging posts on Happy Failures today

There was a big temptation-moment at my writer's group where we had chips and all kinds of other snacks on the table but I ate my packed dinner and abstained from the snacks! The drink was wine with tonic and that drop of tonic was disgustingly sweet (never noticed that before) so I only had a little bit.

Yeah me!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 8:49 pm

Success
No questions asked, no grey areas, nothing. Yeah!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 11:17 pm

Today Fail
I went to a big cinema night from 7pm until 11pm and gave in to small salted popcorn. The reason: I had too little dinner too early, just something I packed, so I felt it was ok to eat extra an hour later. Truthfully, it's snacking, so unfortunately a fail. Lesson learnt, solution noted.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:47 am

S days gone wild. A chain reaction of exhaustion, TV, staying at home mostly, and eating constantly (and chocolate of all things).
There's nothing to mark or report other than I was ok with the weight gain on Monday (2kg) and am back on track. Acknowledging what happened and moving on. New 21 days start today. Aiming to make the 21 Club.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:47 pm

The first day of my second 21 Days challenge

My body is still letting me know that the last two S days were way over the top so smooth sailing today when it comes to temptation - there was none as I was busy holding my tummy.
Success

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 6:50 pm

Success
I really want to get into the 21 days club. Ambition is a funny thing. I'm taking it slower than my first 21 days which means that I make bigger portions and allow myself everything within the rules rather than restricting vanilla no-S further. I'm quite excited about this new start which is why I think 21 days work perfectly.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed Aug 01, 2012 8:58 pm

YEAH! Success! So happy on N days (but also glad for S days always being around the corner). All super easy as long as I remember to put enough on one plate and to enjoy my food. Tomorrow will be a bit of a challenge as I'll be at a BBQ.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 7:07 am

Surprisingly I made it through the BBQ with a Success

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 11:08 pm

Another Success! I finally feel good in my own skin again - No-S rocks!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Sun Aug 05, 2012 9:20 pm

Ah well, wild Sunday but overall this weekend wasn't as bad as the last one. I'm still focusing solely on my N days as it's only my 2nd 21 Day set and I want to get into this 21 club

Amy3010 · Post by **Amy3010** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 4:54 am

It sounds like you are doing really well - I like what you say about it being super easy as long as you remember to put enough on one plate - it really is that simple, isn't it? Good reminder. Have a great week!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 8:38 pm

Today: Another Success. What I now have to watch out for is righteousness. In my office we have gained weight together, all slowly getting bigger and bigger in the one year I've been there. I guess it was a "it's ok to overeat and be overweight" group dynamic. Now, the others still eat and I'm just shocked by how much I must have eaten when I just "grazed" with them on sweets all day. Definitely no reason to get all righteous about it though. a) They are the loveliest bunch of people I've ever worked with. b) I'm still overweight and c) even if I was model thin now I'm not a sucker for righteousness.

Amy3010 · Post by **Amy3010** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 4:27 pm

LOL! I hear you on the righteousness - no reason for us to get all cocky now, is there?

It is amazing, though, to see other people practicing our former bad habits, isn't it?

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 7:58 pm

Yes, it's astounding to see what goes on around me in terms of snacks and sweets. Seconds don't seem to be much of a problem but then perm-snacking eliminates the need for seconds.

Also, I figured out that part of the righteousness is jealousy. Today I had to pass up on the 3rd birthday cake opportunity since starting NoS and I found it really hard. The thing is, the cake was for temps whom I barely know and from a carton from a supermarket and so I didn't think it's S worthy at all.

Part of the righteousness is mourning for the unrestrained life I left behind and part is the fact that I now notice the excess that went unnoticed before.

Anyways, I did stay strong and so today was another Success - although so far the hardest won.

Amy3010 · Post by **Amy3010** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 1:50 pm

I have three teenage boys so there is always someone eating around here, too...

And I totally get the idea of mourning certain habits - it's hard to let go of some things at first.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 11:06 pm

Today was a Success!
I had a half-day off and everything was so perfect it felt like a real celebration. I was tempted to call it an S day - and didn't. I realised that this celebratory feeling is there whether or not I eat. Enjoyed the day fully and feel even better now for sticking to my Vanilla guns.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 7:21 pm

Success. Heavily tempted by chocolates my friend brought me but I decided to save them for the S day round the corner. Struggling through and using my magic weapon: herbal tea.

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:09 am

yep, tea is my secret weapon as well. In the middle of the night, it is a glass of milk.
Sounds like you've had a great week!

Amy3010 · Post by **Amy3010** » Fri Aug 10, 2012 8:42 am

I like the idea of being able to enjoy a celebratory feeling whether we eat or not...

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Aug 10, 2012 9:02 pm

Amy, Ironchef: Thanks so much for your comments!

Success - It was a good week. But the temptation of this amazing chocolate in the cupboard... Just one more long, good sleep and it's S day - YEAH!

I have to say that this diet gives every weekend a holiday feeling and I feel like a 5 year old anticipating the amazing treat that is waiting for me.

Happy S Days

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Sat Aug 11, 2012 4:17 am

eschano wrote:I have to say that this diet gives every weekend a holiday feeling and I feel like a 5 year old anticipating the amazing treat that is waiting for me.

Totally agree with this. I'm taking the baby for a walk this afternoon to my favorite coffee strip for a hot chocolate and a piece of beautiful cake. It's like treats have actually become treats again

Happy S-days to you!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 11:11 pm

Absolute ridiculously gluttony S days. It's only my second go at the 21 days so I won't beat myself up. But really?

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:12 am

eschano wrote:Absolute ridiculously gluttony S days. It's only my second go at the 21 days so I won't beat myself up. But really?

I'm glad you're not beating yourself up - they're S days. My S days are still fairly heavy at the moment. I'm going to give it a couple of months of good N compliance before I start to focus on the other S (sometimes).

I just read the No S phases sticky post, and I highly recommend it if you haven't read it already.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:34 am

Thanks Ironchef! I immediately read it and I'm completely in Phase I. Just very impatient. My mum is visiting this week and I just would have liked to be all thin already. As I write this I have to laugh though. No-S is so much more than that.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:24 pm

Easy win after the abundant S days.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 8:55 am

Success. Nearly broke my TV glass ceiling but managed not to. My mum is in town to visit so it will be an interesting week. Just in case I declare Friday a non-weekend-S Day.
Also: The Book just arrived! YEAH!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 3:48 pm

Oh, come on! ANOTHER temp's birthday with birthday cake shoved under my nose. I might have to change industry.

Still a Success

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 9:56 am

Success and special S day today and tomorrow and sunday

(Mum's visit is worth a NW-Sday.

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 11:28 am

Sounds like you had a great week, even with cake "shoved" at you

Well done.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 10:23 am

I made it into the 21 Club

Really delighted about it. Funny how made-up challenges can be so much fun. Off to the next 21 days. No mods, all good.

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:29 pm

Congrats! Here's to another 21

Amy3010 · Post by **Amy3010** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 7:16 am

Good for you!!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 11:41 pm

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: Success despite some struggles.

Today: minor Fail. I had one big chip that was pushed on me by the birthday girl way after dinner and it was delicious - a special bar menu at the place we went to. Also, the two drinks I had were cocktails so maybe they were sweets? Anyway, I'm marking it and moving on. My enthusiasm for NoS won't be lowered at all by this minor indiscretion.

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 12:49 am

eschano wrote:Anyway, I'm marking it and moving on. My enthusiasm for NoS won't be lowered at all by this minor indiscretion.

This is a great attitude. Keep up the good work, and enjoy your weekend!

Joy2012 · Post by **Joy2012** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 3:14 pm

I appreciate your honesty. It's good to know that we can learn from a failed day and keep moving.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:14 am

Thank you Joy and Ironchef!

The real struggle was to mark it and suppress my urge to cheat and mark it green. After all, what is a chip?

But I'm really glad I did. I'm learning a lot about strictness here.

Otherwise, after 3 S days I feel sick and super happy that I'm back on N days. I still have wild S days about every other weekend. I was at my lowest weight in years on Friday so there is some sabotaging for sure.

And I made the decision to only write on this threat when I struggle from now on. Like negative tracking. This is in order to get valuable data on when and why failures occur.

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:23 am

eschano wrote:The real struggle was to mark it and suppress my urge to cheat and mark it green. After all, what is a chip? But I'm really glad I did. I'm learning a lot about strictness here.

I felt a bit this way after my two marshmallow red day, but I agree it is important to mark truthfully

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:18 am

Felt a bit freaked out about my more than wild 3-S-Day weekend. Now I looked at my habitcal and realised that this is just my 8th week doing NoS and relaxed a bit. I hope S days will sort themselves out over time.

bigshoe · Post by **bigshoe** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 2:09 pm

great tip to relax. I struggle as well...

It's a great perspective to look at habitcal through timeline. It shows how little time we've been doing this yet expectations are still big.

Keep at it!!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:31 pm

Thanks Bigshoe!

So after another relatively wild S weekend:
I've maintained compared to last week's first N day.
Given that I had last monday as an extra S day and therefore only had 4 N days between S days I'm ok with that. It's a lot better than it used to be - where the status quo was to gain weight - but I have to actively be proud of myself as impatience is lurking around every corner of my mind

So here come 5 N days - YEAH!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 9:11 am

New habits to be tracked + old ones

- Vanilla NoS (goal is gold for Sept)
- 3 times daily of 30 minutes of writing
- 10 minutes daily of yoga/dancing (preferably in the mornings)
- Blog every Tuesday
- TV glass ceiling: 1 episode/1film per day after 17.30

September here I come!

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 12:52 pm

Those are great goals for the month - go for it!

animated · Post by **animated** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 3:19 pm

Way to go eschano!

I like the TV limit. It's where I find myself at my least mindful.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed Sep 05, 2012 9:34 am

Thanks ironchef and animated!

I did realise that TV and binging is completely related in my case. It's hard to binge when reading and therefore holding a book

As for writing: I have to specify. It's a success if I do 3 Morning Pages (however long they take) and 2x 30 minute sessions later.
Morning Pages come from "The Artist's Way" which is a really great book/program for anyone creative.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 9:46 pm

Failure today. Had a Lemon presse and it was absolutely gorgeous but surprisingly sweet.
Otherwise it was a green day. Still, marking it red. Can't wait to get S-s this weekend.

I went to a place full of cocktails, cupcakes, and amazing chocolates (but primarily it was about fashion - the irony!). Everyone asked me if I want some, shoving it in my face. I stayed strong except for the Lemon presse. A well. Took some of the chocolate home though for Saturday. And a cupcake.

I find it very hard and very tempting to have it at home but leaving it would have been harder.This way I have something to look forward to (that cost no money and is from one of the very high-end bakeries).

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 11:02 pm

Hey, well done for resisting the WTH effect and limiting yourself to just the one S. That cupcake will taste even better on Saturday!

snapdragon · Post by **snapdragon** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:37 am

Wow I wouldnt beat yourself up about the lemon press, you are doing so well.I admire your writing goals.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 9:03 am

Thank you so much for your support ironchef and snapdragon! Keeps me grounded and is uplifting at the same time

Love reading your posts!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 9:12 am

As it really helped to see it in one go at the August challenge, I'm updating Sept here now:

September:
1 S-Day
2 S-Day
3 Success
4 Success
5 Success
6 Red - 1 Lemon presse, very sweet
7 Success
8 S-Day
9 S-Day
10 Success
11 Success
12 Success
13 Success
14 Success
15 S-Day
16 S-Day
17 Success
18 success
19 success
20 Failure - nacho starters
21 Sick day
22 S-Day
23 S-Day
24 Sick day
25 Success
26 Success
27 Success
28 Success
29 S-Day
30 S-Day

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 9:19 am

As I'm going to retire these for my new goals, I just want to make a note:

5minuteyogi - score over 5 1/2 weeks: 92% - aka 2 failures : Success 25.0%; Weekend 20.7%; Special 2.2%, Failure 2.2%; No data 50.0%

TV Glass Ceiling (2 episodes per day): score over 3 months or 7 1/2 weeks: BRONZE Medal

Score: 95.1% - aka 2 failures: Success 42.4%; Weekend 18.5%; Special 1.1%; Failure 2.2%, No data 35.9%

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 5:44 am

Absolutely delighted that my No S habits are becoming ingrained. Yesterday at dinner out with friends I briefly remembered that I can't have a starter and forgot after they had eaten their starter and briefly remembered when they chose their desert but forgot before they even finished. No victimisation. Didn't think of food the rest of the evening. A real success! Hope my other habits will follow.

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 7:11 am

That's really positive eschano - nice work. Good to hear it is getting easier, not harder

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 9:23 am

Having such a hectic time at work that I can't keep up with the boards at all. Hope you're all doing well!

The plus side of the hectic life: zero problems with NoS, limited TV, and yogadance in the morning (as it's the first thing I do).

The minus: can't keep up the writing 3 times a week and my blog is reduced to very little content.

All in all, it's all good but looking forward to quieter times so I can implement a new fitness regime.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 2:41 pm

Had a couple of very bad sick days. So fail on all systems. So happy to be back and a little better.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:14 am

I was very much MIA from the boards. A bit of a stressful two weeks. A new month and new 21 days.

Two systems to be retired:

10 Minute yogidance daily:
43.30% 33.30% 10.00% 3.30% 10.00% 89.90%

and
3x30 min writing daily:
20.00% 33.30% 13.30% 20.00% 13.30% 43.70%

to be replaced with 1x daily writing and 4x sports weekly

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 3:54 pm

Good to see you back, sorry to hear you've been sick and stressed. Hope you get back in the swing in October

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:46 am

Thank you ironchef!

Now I'm back for sure. My resolution from now until Christmas is to post and read more posts more regularly again

I did ok. I maintained my weight alright. I will have a little more time again from now until late November and am very happy that this means I'll go back to strict N-days and will start three times a week exercise. For now I leave all other habits out of it. I'd love to have a healthy bmi until Christmas. (3kilos to go).

I hope you're all doing well! can't wait to catch up on your progress over the last month.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 11:07 am

All good yesterday. It's day 2 of 21 now. I'm very determined to get into the Club. Special days: halloween (I'm cooking roast - my first ever - and pumpkin pie for friends) and this friday as we have a special company day out at a great restaurant.
For the latter: only lunch is the S event, once I'm home it's an N day.

Feeling happy to be back to posting and paying attention. I just want to say: I love food and I love discovering how to cook. This is so much fun and such a healthy, wholesome way of living!

tobiasmom · Post by **tobiasmom** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 10:50 pm

Im on day 2 of 21 with you. We can do this!!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 10:56 am

That's great tobiasmom - love having a 21day buddy

Also, you're doing so well, I can't even imagine how NoS would be while expecting! Well done so far!

tobiasmom · Post by **tobiasmom** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 1:51 pm

Thanks! How did yesterday go?

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu Oct 25, 2012 3:22 pm

Wednesday was a Success! So far so good

For a while I overloaded myself a bit with habits now that I focus on NoS again I realised that I really lost sight of what I put on my plate for a while and the scale knows it. Good to get back to the boards and back on track.

Tobiasmom - well done you!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Oct 29, 2012 10:26 am

Horrible, horrible weekend but all S days so won't worry about them.

On the plus side I finally found a 14min exercise program that really works for me and I'm set to have the habit firmly in place by Christmas. I'm already quite freaked out about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas rolling around and I don't want to gain anymore. I'm sure we all make it through it though!

I realised that most of you who are doing really well seem to share what they eat on S days. I think that might keep me in line a bit better. I'm going to do that from now on. Next S day: Wed, 31st as I'm hosting a Halloween film marathon with roast dinner before.

tobiasmom · Post by **tobiasmom** » Mon Oct 29, 2012 12:47 pm

I do feel like sharing what I eat on S days keep me a little more accountable to not going so crazy!! Ha...

Let's have a nice GREEN Monday!!

Sweetness · Post by **Sweetness** » Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:08 pm

Just thought I would say Hi, I'm doing a re-start and can use the support of some people who are doing well. Looks like that's you!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 9:28 am

Thanks tobiasmom and sweetness!

Yesterday was a Green day and I have to laugh about how pathetic it was:

After my dinner I had such a craving for comfort food, preferably warm (that time of the month, rain, autumn, I was having dinner alone... - all the reasons that really are no reasons at all) so I sat there staring at my pot of tea (yogi tea with milk), willing the craving down. I'd say I passed an hour staring the tea down and had to reheat it twice. Then I started laughing about how funny it is to make such a thing into a drama in my head. I used to live in places where personal security wasn't a given. I never stared at my tea there.
That snapped me right out of it. Success!

Sweetness · Post by **Sweetness** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 8:11 pm

Good for you on the success! I'm wondering, did you finally drink the tea, or just stare at it?

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 5:40 am

eschano wrote:I realised that most of you who are doing really well seem to share what they eat on S days. I think that might keep me in line a bit better. I'm going to do that from now on.

To be honest, I only write about my S day treats if they are really nice or I am really excited / looking forward to them. This could make my S days look a lot more controlled than they really are. I often have a snack, but I don't bother writing "slice of toast with PB&J" in my check in, since that would be a bit boring to read (and write). Just in case you thought my S days were super sane or something

Your tea story made me laugh. Good perspective.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:59 am

ironchef wrote:
eschano wrote:Just in case you thought my S days were super sane or something
Oh, good! I totally thought they were

Sweetness, I did drink the tea and had no sweets! Quite proudly so, haha.

Yesterday was an S day for me and I really celebrated food and Halloween so it was one of those extra-special days, like a holiday from childhood, and I'm completely at peace with that.

tobiasmom · Post by **tobiasmom** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:17 am

How did today go? Are you on day 12 also?

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:32 am

So yesterday was a fail. I'm on day 12 as well and hope to keep it to one red day.

I feel extremly at peace with the fail though. I was at a restaurant with friends and it turns out that two of them got engaged and one has just gotten a new job. Great celebratory mood and celebrated with shared dessert. What a beautiful way to celebrate such great turns of events.

I guess what No S really does for me is to reduce the times where I'm mindlessly, and compulsively eating in front of the tele or somewhere hidden and alone and No S gives me this feeling of celebrating and enjoying food back. Mostly it's healthy food as well. Unbelievable!

I also maintained my weightloss from my very first month through the last three months. It's time to lose a little more - 3 kg to go - but it's fantastic to learn about how much I can eat and what I can eat to maintain. I always dieted before but never understood maintainance at all. It was always either gain or lose.

This is definitely the way to live for the rest of my life.

I'm going to keep my S days sane this weekend but no making up for yesterday.

milliem · Post by **milliem** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 5:36 pm

I love your attitude

NoS is great for learning about how we eat and building good habits even if we aren't perfect every time! I really hope to get to a point where the general habits of eating solid meals, no snacking and no sweets except SOMETIMES on weekends are ingrained enough that I can 'break' the rules without worrying if that makes sense... Have a great weekend

Sweetness · Post by **Sweetness** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:52 pm

Eschano, I would call that a non weekend S day, because it was a special celebration. How often do your good friends get engaged? you don't want to allow one every week, but a couple each month is fine.

gk · Post by gk » Sat Nov 03, 2012 1:26 am

Thanks for dropping by my thread. Sounds like you're in a good place with No S. Keep up the great work.

So....did you try an exercise class? If so, what did you try? Isn't it FUN????

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 10:58 am

Thank you so much milliem, sweetness and gk.

I did end up going to a taebo class and loved it! So thanks a lot for the inspiration.

I realised that when I remember how abundant food is in NoS I'm doing really well. When I believe that food is scarce I get binges, get frustrated, feel bad for myself, get a bad body image,... you get the picture, the whole lot.

Interestingly it's these two believes that makes the biggest difference in succeeding or failing. Taking the odd red day for a very good reason reinforces the abundance believe and I'm doing better over the rest of the week and the following S days. That said, it only works if it was a true S event, not mindless eating.

tobiasmom · Post by **tobiasmom** » Mon Nov 05, 2012 1:42 pm

Don't you just love how sane No-S is? I am just learning more and more about myself each day through this journey! Let's have a wonderfully GREEN week!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Tue Nov 06, 2012 8:57 am

Success yesterday and can see that I actually maintained very well during the last few shaky weeks. Woohoo! Down from now on for rest of November and maintenance in December - that's the goal.

Sweetness · Post by **Sweetness** » Tue Nov 06, 2012 6:16 pm

Yay, lets go for a green week!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Wed Nov 07, 2012 10:09 am

Seems like a good challenge

I take it!

Yesterday Success.

Sweetness · Post by **Sweetness** » Wed Nov 07, 2012 4:54 pm

eschano wrote:Seems like a good challenge I take it!

Yesterday Success.

Oh good, we can do what we decide to do. Two down

three to go!!!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:49 am

Three down, two to go

We rock!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:34 pm

Success (as I'm about to go to bed)

gk · Post by gk » Fri Nov 09, 2012 2:03 am

Look at all that green!!! Great job!

Sweetness · Post by **Sweetness** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 3:22 am

Hurrah for us, success for me too! that's 4 down and one to go till the weekend.

Love it!!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 9:51 am

gk wrote:Look at all that green!!! Great job!

GK, I even went to another exercise class. Thank you so so much for inspiring me to get my butt off the couch!

Thanks Sweetness, I'm getting very excited about his week. It's the first in over a month that I start losing weight again. All due to the new commitment on N days.

So happy right now

The challenge for today: not to sabotage myself

Sweetness · Post by **Sweetness** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 9:27 pm

you can do it!!!
WE CAN!!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 9:29 pm

GREEEEEEN! Done

thanks so much for challenging me to this! How are you doing sweetness?

Sweetness · Post by **Sweetness** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 10:16 pm

Definitely a green week all the way, wouldn't dare turn back now!!!