Everyday Systems

...about this system. (I hate the word diet.)

I want to shout and bang my tambourine.

I want to leave tracts all over kingdom come.

I want to annoy people at airports.

But seriously. The stupid thing works. I say stupid, of course, in an admiring way. It's so simple. It's so ridiculously obvious. It's so logical. It's so terribly in the face of irrationality, addiction, self loathing and pain. I'm sitting here at my desk, bored out of my gourd, as I am every day, and I'm not hungry. I'm not eating, I'm not thinking about food. I'm nursing my coffee, because it's cup #2 and I only get one more.

If I could get rid of my anger toward my mother-in-law, which is not doing well at all, I could feel myself, for the first time since birth, as a normal human being.

Whatta concept.

In Mahayana (a sect of) Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who vows to incarnate endlessly to help until the last sentient being on earth achieves enlightenment.

I don't know about future lives, but Reinhard sure is one in this life. Every screwed up being has the potential to be helped and cured (or at least vigilantly remitted) by this system.

I also think this is one of the nicest and most helpful Internet board I've ever been on, and I've been on a lot.

Hoo wee.

3 more bows,

f

f,

I'm standing right beside you bowing three times too. The word diet doesn't quite go with this process, does it? Okay, if we get really literal about it, the word diet does, technically, mean "what we eat." But those of us who have given food so much power over our lives think of a totally different concept when we hear the word "diet." I wonder if that too will change over time?

I'm with you both on the 3 bows. And with you too f, on the niceness of these boards.
I don't call this a 'diet'...shudder just typing that word....I call it a plan, because it is a lifelong healthy eating plan, sane, normal, easy

Yeah, get this.......I went biking with my boyfriend today and we met his sister for lunch. He started to tell her about my No S Diet, I tried to stop him but he kept going, almost immediately she tsk- tsks me and says "Diets don't work, snacking is HEALTHY. It's not going to work, blah blah blah" I said "I really don't want to talk about this." Then she said "Well,.....if it works for YOU......" Whatever. I cannot stand being patronized like this, I was SO freaking livid.

I told my boyfriend that I don't appreciate him telling people about my diet becuase I don't need their freakin 2 cents about it. Seriously, people who don't know anything about it need to shut the F up.

My boyfriend apologized.

And everyone is right, it's not technically a diet -- we just don't snack or overeat - how is that a diet. We even eat sugar but just on weekends. You all are right, it's more of a plan, NOT a diet. (I hate that word too.) I regret telling people I'm doing this, people just love to give me their opinions about everything....I'm sick of it.

I'm drinking the Reinhard Kool-Aid, too!

the Reinhard Kool-aid?



lol.....oh I get it...the cult!

lola628 wrote:And everyone is right, it's not technically a diet -- we just don't snack or overeat - how is that a diet. We even eat sugar but just on weekends. You all are right, it's more of a plan, NOT a diet. (I hate that word too.) I regret telling people I'm doing this, people just love to give me their opinions about everything....I'm sick of it.

I so hear you on this. My fiance said something like diets don't work. My mother-in-law downplayed my success by saying that it's 'EASY' when you're 23 and that it would be 'IMPOSSIBLE' for her because there are 'ALWAYS' snacks/sweets at work. Whatever!! It was not that 'easy' for me.

Her downplaying annoyed me. I said "it took me a month to lose 3 lbs." She didn't have much to say to that. She said, "you're much cuter than you give yourself credit for." I don't know if that's a compliment.

But yeah, I've mostly kept it all to myself. People are very negative about diets and for good reason. But I never discourage anyone from anything they want to try. You have to let them try. No one wants to be discouraged.

It's not a diet...it's a habit and a darn good one!

Buffalo Gal

Nichole wrote:
I so hear you on this. My fiance said something like diets don't work. My mother-in-law downplayed my success by saying that it's 'EASY' when you're 23 and that it would be 'IMPOSSIBLE' for her because there are 'ALWAYS' snacks/sweets at work. Whatever!! It was not that 'easy' for me.

Her downplaying annoyed me. I said "it took me a month to lose 3 lbs." She didn't have much to say to that. She said, "you're much cuter than you give yourself credit for." I don't know if that's a compliment.

Nichole, I'm about to become a mother-in-law in August myself, but I remember when I was 23! There were snacks/sweets everywhere then, too. I'm 51 now and it is not 'IMPOSSIBLE' for me, even if my metabolism is a little less. As a matter of fact, it's working very well, as long as I don't binge. So I doubt that it is impossible for her, either.

I would take her comment as a compliment. Besides, I saw your picture when you used to post it and I think you are very, very pretty.

I'm extremely new to this 'plan' and mentioned it to two of my co-workers. One has decided to bombard me with snacks and the other has told me it won't work since portion control is being thrown out the window...huh?

I've been NoSing for the last couple weeks and I've lost 1lb, which is great with me. I'm not obsessing over my portions, I'm not obsessing over calories, fat and fiber, I'm not weighing myself on a weekly basis, I'm not obsessing over my food options and most of all I'm just not obsessing. This plan has helped my emotional eating tremendously!

Meikmeika

Isn't it fun feeling smarter than everyone!!! Yeah, that's right, I said it! But I won't say it again. Smugness isn't pretty is it? But we can sing, dance and shake our tambourines all day, but it won't mean anything to these nay Sayers until one day it occurs them that you look great, and have for a while and "claim" you aren't even dieting. It will drive them mad!!! I love it! But until we have like a year of maintenance under our much smaller belts, everyone will just think "oh boy here she goes again" and I know I deserve all the eye rolling that goes along with it. I have been dragged everyone on so many half baked diet journeys that it's not even funny.

fkwan,

Yes! No S Diet gives us lots to dance about ... so shake that tambourine and celebrate!
this "cutesy jingle" really does work! I am also amazed ... and SUPER HAPPY as well!
Sorry to hear about your MIL sounds like a challenging situation!

Lola, I HATE it when my husband tells anyone I am on a diet .. he is now under strict instruction ... EVERYTHING I do is TOP SECRET

It was so funny, at the restaurant today taking pics of my food this girl came up and started talking to me. She took pics of her food too ... she does I think a raw food blog? She asked me if I did a blog and I said yeah and she was like what? And I was No S DIET and she couldn't get away from me fast enough
DIET TRULY IS A BAD WORD! but the NO S DIET is so good, I wonder how long it will take for people to realize????????????

Dawn,
I agree with you, no one knows anything from me ... I am zipping my lips until someone comes up and asks ... maybe it will be awhile, but hey I WILL GLADLY TELL THEM and then hey ... maybe they'll hear

Blueskighs

Blueskighs, Yeah, maybe they'll hear, but probably not. I tried to tell a few people but once they heard the amount of time it would probably take to even start to lose, their eyes started to glaze over and I just changed the subject. Most people I know are only into quick fixes, anything else and you've lost 'em.

Thank God we have each other to celebrate with, vent to and laugh all the way to the dressing room at our favorite clothing stores!!! Oh is there anything more fun in the world than clothes shopping when you are happy with your body? I know there is nothing worse than shopping for clothes when you are not happy with your weight.

I just so love all your posts, and thanks to ms. f there for starting yet another excellent thread!

I agree, I bow, and I am in awe of all of us...we are a truly well-bonded group. Makes me feel good each day to see how f, blue, blithe, jill, buffalo gal and everyone else are doing. I'm am in such intelligent company.

Yeah, I think we should call this the No S System, or lifestyle 'cause diets end and this is something we can all do forever.

3 bows to North, South, East and West
Diane

No don't listen to the naysayers. My mom, who has never been overweight in her life, worries that her "children" will end up with diabetes, whatever, from being overweight. I told her I was serious now and I had lost maybe 7 pounds and she is encouraging me.

I don't tell the people at work. It's true there's always food there so it's hard. You have to say things like "maybe later..." but you can do it. Right now I feel that I have to do this, I will be 55 this year and I don't want to wait any longer. If I can lose maybe 25 more pounds I will be feeling so much better.

Besides I can walk up those subway steps so much better already.

Diane,

luv that the No S System!

Blueskighs

Ya know, it's actually really surprising to me that people just blow me off when I tell them about No S! It's like I've stumbled onto the key to weight loss success but when I try to share it with others they're like, "Ummm, yeah, ok, whatever."

I really want to knock on their heads and say, "HELLO? Anybody home? Didn't you hear what I just said! Why aren't you thrilled? Why aren't you overwhelming excited?"

Tonight we went out to dinner with some friends of ours and I kind of felt sorry for one of the women who ordered everything low cal and low fat...while I ordered exactly what I wanted! Felt great though!

roseha wrote: I don't tell the people at work. It's true there's always food there so it's hard. <....>
Besides I can walk up those subway steps so much better already.

Hey, I know the feeling, but I wish I were walking up subway steps too....*sniff* This is how homesick I am for urbania: I put up the SEPTA commuter train route map up on my bulletin board at work to remind me how KEWL it's going to be to take the damn train home from the airport for the first time in after like 20 years in the red suburban car culture.

There is a lady at work who is really, really nice and suffering from a classic food addiction stemming from unresolved issues of depression. I left the book around hoping it could help her, but she isn't interested. I know that if she adopted the system, she'd get control over a large part of her life and hopefully start getting into the root causes of her depression too. You can't encourage, prod, or "make" any other human being except yourself do a damned thing.

I can't eat the food at work anymore, period, because I'm a vegan. No S is just like icing on the cake, if you will forgive a metaphor.

f

This has come up in the past, but the only people in my life that know about No-S are my daughters, and it's only because they've seen the book. Prior to that, they had absolutely no knowledge of what I was doing.

Part of what's so great about No-S is that it's "the invisible diet." It's not obvious, you don't have to say "Oh, I can't have that; it's not on my diet." What you choose to eat looks normal for you. If offered snacks or sweets on an "N" day, you can just say "no, thank you."

fkwan, I like your style and I'm glad you thought of posting this. I'm proud to be a member of the "cult" and happy to be working the system! Love reading all of everyone's posts and learning more of what works for everyone. Such a relief to not be obsessing about food and worrying if what I have eaten is x number of calories or points or anything else!!!
And I am also being careful about who I tell. Had one lady tell me I was a "paragon of virtue" because I said I had turned down a free birthday sundae at a restaurant. First time I was ever called that! But it was so freeing to be able to say No, Thanks!
Have a great weekend, okay?

A lot of diet and exercise programs have cult-like followings because whatever it is has worked for at least some people. This is a good common sense system but Reinhard is human and thus, fallible. I would caution everyone not to get too caught up in the "cult." We are all responsible for our own lives and our own health and just because Reinhard says something, it doesn't necessarily mean it's gospel.

Atkins, the South Beach guy and other diet gurus all have their cults. Various exercise gurus like Matt Furey, Pavel, Scott Sonnon, etc. all have their groupies that would pretty much do anything their man told them to do. If Matt Furey told his followers that they would get better results by doing the Royal Court naked in their front yards at dawn, we'd be hearing on Paul Harvey about all the people arrested or cited for exercising naked in their front yards.

You've all gotten good results fro the no s diet but don't get so caught up in it that you throw common sense and reason out the window. I guess what I'm trying to say is, you are responsible and if Reinhard (or anyone else for that matter) says something that doesn't make sense or doesn't sound right, check it out. Don't automatically believe it just because of the source.

That being said, this is a good system and this is one of the better forums I've ever been on.

Tulsa

P.S. I wasn't trying to offend anyone but if someone is, I apologize in advance.

Whether it's a diet or not I love it for the removal of guilt. I told my (slender) sister about it today and she stared at me and said that's how she always eats. But she was most interested in it for her husband who snacks non stop. But he doesn't have the guilt even if he has the belly.
I'm not telling anyone else though. I've spent years enthusing about my various diets and getting fatter and I want to hug this to myself like it's too precious to have it sneered at or laughed off.
I agree the people on these boards are the nicest bunch I've met on-line.

Tulsa wrote:If Matt Furey told his followers that they would get better results by doing the Royal Court naked in their front yards at dawn, we'd be hearing on Paul Harvey about all the people arrested or cited for exercising naked in their front yards.

Thank you, Tulsa. I sooo needed the laugh. (And own a copy of Combat Conditioning, too!)

fkwan wrote:...about this system. (I hate the word diet.)

I want to shout and bang my tambourine.

I want to leave tracts all over kingdom come.

I want to annoy people at airports.

But seriously. The stupid thing works. I say stupid, of course, in an admiring way. It's so simple. It's so ridiculously obvious. It's so logical. It's so terribly in the face of irrationality, addiction, self loathing and pain.
f

LOL... This is exactly how I felt when I first found & started following the principles of "Intuitive Eating" in 2005. Up until that point, NOTHING had worked for me, and this was the first time I started seeing immediate -- and continued -- results. I was so excited, I tried to "convert" everyone to the "non-diet" way of doing things! And, I went about nearly-shouting "NEVER DIET AGAIN!" from my blogs. LOL.

Of course, now that I'm doing a "diet" (which, btw, I refuse to think of this as!), people look at me like I'm crazy. I'm the gal, after all, who said she'd "Never diet again"...

But, seriously... I don't see NoS as "diet" in the traditional sense of the word... it's not a "diet", in that you're not restricting anything, and not keeping crazy-insane track of stuff. You get to eat what you want (aside from 'esses') through the week, and you get to have your weekends & special days FREE to enjoy! SO, I say this is a "system" (like F said), and not a "diet".

Had to laugh at this topic. It seems crazy when you've (I've) discovered the perfect thing, and others don't seem to care.

I remember my father in law once telling me and some chubby friends to just lose a pound a month. We stared at him aghast. Why, it would take two years to get to our ideal weight. And doing nothing, somehow was better than doing it slowly. Well, guess what happened to our weight over those two years, and guess what happened to his. The pound a month would have been much preferable to the weight gain. Now his advice makes perfect sense to me, but I've had the advantage of time to see its value.

So, sometimes, people just aren't ready to hear the truth. Give them time - lots of time - and let them observe your success, and someday, when they're ready, they'll ask. Until then, you're just 'throwing pearls before swine'

Have a great day!

I'll drink the Koolaid since it is Sunday- I mean the sweetened kind.



Resting

You can't encourage, prod, or "make" any other human being except yourself do a damned thing.

How true! Not to change the topic, but it applies exactly to expecting my husband to clean up his desk and his bed-side table just because I like a tidy bedroom or study and make sure my space is orderly. I was in danger of turning out to be a super-nag but caught myself before things got worse than they were. Now, my side is clean and tidy, his side disorderly but I've trained my eyes and brain to ignore the latter. Hopefully, a silent example will work better. But I won't hold my breath...

Savita

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Savita

Savita wrote:You can't encourage, prod, or "make" any other human being except yourself do a damned thing.

How true! Not only did I learn that with my husband, I learned that with my kids! You can lead a horse to water...

I just call this a "way of eating". WOE. That, however, is what a diet is, but it removes the word "diet" from your vocabulary. I have told a few people at work what I am doing to lose weight. Most of them looked at me in shock........."What!!!! No Snacks???!!! "I could never do that". Well, now that I have lost a few noticable pounds, those same people are coming back to me saying, "Hey, what was that diet you were telling me about the other day?" Three people in church today asked me if I was losing weight...........I said "some". "What are you doing?" I told them and low and behold.........they were interested. By the way I'm 2 weeks from being 64. I think this will work for any one no matter the age, because it's the right way to eat. As far as the "cult" thing goes. I don't buy into anything very easily. I read and observed for 2 weeks before I even started this woe. Reinhard discovered a system that worked for him.......he shared it with a few others who found that it worked for them. He has very graciously shared it with all of us. We ask his advice he gives it, and I for one am very glad he is willing to help us along the way. That advice, freely given, we may make use of, or ignore. That freedom of choice is the difference.

Hilarious.

I think there should be a sequel to the No S Diet book: the No S lifestyle. Basically the same thing but hooking the non-diet crowd. I think the first time around, the word diet had to be used to get the weight loss crowd's attention. And include Shovelglove/resistance and Urban Ranger. I would just be tickled if Reinhard could actually make some dough telling people to eat moderately, walk a lot, and swing a heavy weight around for 14 minutes a day. He must really like his work because I think if he had pushed to travel and do the circuit, No S could have been even bigger. But it can never be the marketing giant of P90X or diet programs that depend on complexity.

fkwan wrote:I want to leave tracts all over kingdom come.

I want to annoy people at airports.

I feel like an evangelist about NoS, myself, but I very rarely actually say anything about it. (In my mind, I'm accosting people in airports, though.) I did, however, recently make my first "convert": I told a good friend about it late last year, and he's now several weeks in to his first attempt. I don't know if we'll be seeing him here on the boards, eventually, but for now it seems to be going well for him, so I'm thrilled.

I also looked seriously into how to donate some copies of the book to our local library system. (Unfortunately, the result was discouraging: there's no guarantee, here, that anything you donate will actually be put into circulation. Some unspecified person or group will decide if they want to add it to the collection, otherwise they'll sell it to raise money or just dispose of it some other way. I don't want to be a wild-eyed zealot, but I feel like telling them, "But don't you see? People *need* to know about this!" )

I really can't help feeling like this approach could help a lot of people out there, if they just found out about it. But as we've discussed around here before, people need to be ready to really hear the idea, and if they're not, hounding them about it is not going to end well for anyone involved, so I tend to restrain myself.

But in short: yeah, I know how you feel!

Unfortuanately, it's hard for things to get much exposure unless they are profitable or sensational. Common sense doesn't "sell."

I have told tons of people about this over the years, but I use stealth tactics. My weight is a bit up now thanks to going off vanilla, counting calories, and having the predictable bounce back. But when I have been thin, anytime anyone asks about my eating habits, I say "I don't eat between meals, I don't have seconds, and I don't eat any sweets or desserts unless it's the weekend or my birthday or holiday or something." Somehow this comes across very differently than when I have said "I'm on this great No S diet, that's not really a diet, where I eat no snacks.....etc."

If I put it in "diet" language, people start arguing with me about metabolism, willpower, blah blah blah. But when I put it in "grandma language" people seem to react with an intuitive "oh yeah, I should probably be doing that" and then they move on. I want to give Rinehardt credit where it is so tremendously deserved, but I think a better tribute is to help ensure the message is heard, rather than credit given.

(by the way, for those who repeatedly asked me, I then went into further detail and told them about No S).

I told my parents about this last night, after hearing that Dad is on his approximately one millionth diet. He was complaining that this one is the "if it tastes good, don't eat it" diet.

I ordered a copy of the No S diet book for him. I feel like a cult member.

I doubt we'll ever see Nicest Dad on these boards, though. He is in his 70s and rather set in his ways, and online message boards play no part in his life, as far as I know. Which is too bad, because this board is one of the really good things about No S.

The Daddy of the Damned?