Everyday Systems

Feel so much hope these days. Even though I started only 4 days ago - my attitude and perspective have shifted as far as my eating goes - actually as far as my life goes too

The weekends have always been a source of discomfort for me - too much unstructured time would lead to too much unstructured eating. Often I would have a guilty feeling that I needed to be doing something which would lead to overeating which would lead to restricting and too much exercise the next day. It was a classic cycle of over indulgence followed by penance - eeshhh - don't want any more of that.

For so many years, I had labeled myself a food addict and weighed and measured my food - it was very rigid but it was what I needed at the time. I stopped attending 12-step meetings about 5 years ago and felt such freedom because I didn't have the label any more.

Started eating all raw and my structure went out the window. In a way it was very liberating, but a little scary too. Eating all raw lasted for about 3 years. Then about 1.5 years ago introduced cooked vegan food back into my plan, because all raw was very difficult for me to follow - talk about rigid The only thing was now I was so used to eating all day long that I had no idea how to find some grey without going to all black and white thinking.

This has been such a journey for me. Tried Intuitive Eating and every other hunger/fullness method. They made sense to me - but I just couldn't get the hang of it.

This No S plan is so ingenious. For me it's the best of both worlds - freedom with boundaries - who knew?

Back in my OA days people would say they were following a 3-0-1 plan. Three meals a day, nothing in between, one day at a time (ODAT).

That is what this is for me - except for the fact that all foods are included. I have proved to myself on many occasions over the last few years that I am able to eat sugar, flour, and wheat without going crazy. I have a behavior problem regarding my disordered eating for sure, but what I need to do is to get back in the habit of not grazing/snacking when I'm stressed out. It is possible - I did it for 20 years. Also, I don't need or want to have sugar every day - so that's a good thing as well.

So, for today, all is good.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

Welcome, KL! You are off to a great start, and we will look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks TSF for the welcome.

Developing a new habit really stinks sometimes In theory, it seems so easy, but in practice a whole other story...

Yesterday was a rough day mentally. I so wanted to numb out with snacking. I'm still trying to navigate how much I need to eat at each meal to comfortably carry me over to the next. I don't need to lose any weight - I'm at the low end of my BMI (of course, I always want to drop a few - but don't really need to) - so I need to eat enough to maintain. But I stuck with No S on this N day and was successful - whoohoo!

One thing I've noticed and have been pleased with is that the need to exercise intensly has diminished. I'm definitely an over-doer as far as exercise goes. But when my eating is balanced and sane - so is my exercise. Yay! - Loving that

Interesting that you don't have weight to lose! maybe someday I'll be that person, though after 2 years on No S, I'm not willing to do much more. My weight is still drifting down and I've not yet exercised really consistently, so there's always the possibillity.

I would never have had the will to be raw or vegan. It's interesting that you don't feel you need to be any more. I might get closer to it just because of wanting to have less of an impact, but the ratio of foods is working pretty well, so I don't want to mess with things prematurely.

I went to OA for a short time nearly 30 years ago and didn't think I could hack 3 meals a day. After No S saved my emotional life, I found out the slogan used to be "three meals a day and life in between." Boy, isn't that the truth. A lot of my overeating in the past and now my mild issues on S days was and is about that life in between stuff. I think that's one reason why Reinhard didn't have such a terrible time getting going on No S. He was wise enough not to try diet after diet and he sounds like an exceptionally stable person who is fulfilled in his work and family. A combination of luck and wisdom?

Keep up the good work!

Thanks oolala53 - When I started OA back in the mid '80's - my eating was out of control and my weight was about 50 lbs more. I lost most of it doing HOW and then FAA (branches of OA - ohh there are so many of them!) I stuck with it maintaining the weight and being abstinent from sugar/flour/wheat until my daughter was born. We adopted her as a newborn when I was 43 - she's now 7 - yes, I just turned 50 . That first year I dropped about 7 or so more lbs and then became a veggie and then a raw vegan - my weight went down a few more pounds. That's when I stopped going to meetings - I didn't want all the restrictions and it was very liberating to eat what I wanted when I wanted - of course, all I was eating was fruit/veggies/nuts and seeds. That's when all my continous snacking started. It is very hard to fill up on raw foods - espcially low fat ones. I loved being a "normie" - as far as not having to weigh and measure or look at the clock - I just ate when I wanted.

Then it just became too hard to maintain that. I really missed sitting down for a meal and eating foods that would satisfy me emotionally as well. So I started eating cooked vegan foods again about 1.5 yrs ago. It is really easy to eat 2000 calories of raw foods (which is a lot of raw food) and maintain a weight loss. But try eating that much quantity of cooked foods - I started to bloat and gain - I was so used to eating massive quantities of food and I began eating everything that I had not eaten since before OA - I mean everything - lots of junk. The deprivation of eating only raw was just too intense. I went up about 10 lbs and have since dropped about 5 - just from eating regular meals and not snacking.

Some of my clothes are a little tight from when I was so low - but not a biggie - I just don't wear those. I teach yoga, so I'm in skimpy clothes in front of 20-30 people at a time -I've done a lot of work about body image and I'm finally really in touch with my body after so many years.

The thing that I'm loving about No S is that it has brought sanity back into my life - just like it was when I was in OA - except I don't feel the rigidness that I did then - and I don't call myself a food addict anymore. I'm just a person who eats sanely and in moderation - wow, did I really say that

I'm excited to embark on a plan that indulges both my hedonism and my rigidity! Yay! A girl can have it all. I too am a recovered Binge-Eater/Bulimic. This program just feels RIGHT to me. Intuitive Eating didn't feel right, neither did structured meal plans where I'd have to time my meals like a laboratory biologist.

Having faith in my discipline and resolve, I've already noticed my confidence get a boost. And only 3 days in, I haven't been obssesing about food.

The in between hunger pangs are kicking in, but I'm learning to "outmaster my master".

A new habit is a new groove in the brain, everytime you use it, the more automatic it becomes. I'm working hard on getting these mental muscles strong!

Wishing us all the best of luck!

It's typical to have it easy in the beginning, as much as it is to have it be hard. What it is usually not is linear, meaning there is a lot of "noise" along the way. But consistency has probability in its favor. You just have to give it long enough.