Everyday Systems

wosnes

Saturday for breakfast I had a vanilla sugar crepe and cafe au lait. We went out and had a fancy schmancy dinner and I had two espresso martinis (made with fresh espresso and cream -- oh, yum!) and for dessert -- mixed berries with chantilly cream. Sunday lunch was crab cakes and had a peach/berry c...

wosnes

The problem with science writers and scientists and nutritionists is that they get bad cases of tunnel vision. They isolate one thing and look at it separately from everything else -- which isn't how we eat. This is from a variety of Dr. McDougall's newsletters. While I don't agree with his recommen...

wosnes

A couple of months ago I made a casserole for dinner. It didn't look "right" while I was making it and I kept checking and double-checking the recipe. I wasn't doing a thing wrong. After it was done I tasted it and, in a word, it was AWFUL. I pitched the whole thing and we got takeout! Funny thing i...

wosnes

Soup! I love soup for lunch. I usually make at least two batches of soup every week. One will be more vegetable based; one more bean based. It's incredibly easy to make and pretty much takes care of itself once you get ingredients in the pot. It can be done in as little as 30 minutes or can cook for...

wosnes

There's a world of difference between "trying to do your best" and "doing your best", which doesn't demand perfection, just your best effort.

wosnes

franxious wrote:[ I think the same number of carb calories will turn to fat more easily than the same number of fat or protein calories.

You couldn't be more wrong and science doesn't support that at all. Low-carb is nothing more than a form of calorie restriction.

wosnes

You want to know how I know this works? My ex-husband has eaten this way for as long as I've known him. I've never seen him at his "ideal" weight -- he's always been somewhat under it. Well, I take that back. I've seen him at his right weight once -- when he was actually eating 3 meals a day (he's n...

wosnes

"Trying is lying" Unknown wise person (said to me 35+ years ago by a friend) "Do or do not. There is no 'try'". Yoda Are you trying too much? Those things that you're "trying" to do usually never seem to get done. You can convince yourself that you're trying. You can announce to others that you're t...

wosnes

I'm with CrazyCatLady -- one day a year to eat what you want is not enough.

wosnes

At the end of the day, the only thing that is going to cause weight gain is consuming more calories than you burn -- doesn't matter what they are.

French fries aren't a refined carb. They're not the healthiest thing or the lowest calorie thing, but they're not a refined carb.

wosnes

A yellow day is an S day -- when, basically, you can do no wrong in your eating.

wosnes

Hi everyone, I'm new so please forgive this probably stupid question. But, what do you do when one of your meals just doesn't work. What if you are having dinner at a friend's house and she searves something awful and you eat a little of it and soon after find you are still hungry? Or for some othe...

wosnes

Congratulations!!

wosnes

I am in the Habit of checking all the S days on my No S Habitcal yellow right at the beginning of the month. I do that because with those days there really is no possibility of failure according to Reinhard. Now obviously if I eat allllllllllll day, including all 3 Sesses. then I would change the s...

wosnes

Isn't it amazing to be able to eat these w/o feeling carb guilt??? sandwiches...REAL sandwiches on hoagie buns, sour dough, etc. Sure, just go live someplace else! I have a cute cartoon that I found in a local newspaper aimed at natural health practices. It shows a slim Chinese person with a big bo...

wosnes

one of the hard parts of No-s for me has been the looming fear 'but what if i get hungry!?' A full plate of food is a lot for me in one meal, but i usually eat past when i'm full b/c of this fear. What's the worst thing that can happen if you get hungry? Actually, being hungry is a less uncomfortab...

wosnes

Here's what I'd do. I'd call the breakfast an "S event", do the best I can and not worry about it. Life if too damned short to worry about a muffin at breakfast. A half dozen muffins is another story.

wosnes

OrganicGal wrote:I vote for the treadmill. I have bad knees and have used both a treadmill and a recumbant bike and I have found the bike actually hurts my knees more because of the constant bending and straightening I guess.

I've found that to be true, too.

wosnes

Hey, Viggie! Enjoy your vacation. I just came back last week from a trip to Arizona where I visited my sister and her family. I called 4 days (Tues.-Fri.) S-Days. So, I really had 6 S-Days in a row. What it did for me was take away the obsession and the guilt. I was not eating all the time or eatin...

wosnes

I have no exercise equipment -- mostly think it's a waste of money. But if I were to have some it would be a treadmill so I can walk more in the winter.

wosnes

My thoughts on this have changed. I think by the time children are eating at the table with you, they don't need snacks. The only possible exception to this is if there's routinely [/b] a large amount of time between one meal and the next. As an example, if you eat lunch at noon but don't eat dinner...

wosnes

JustAnnie wrote:Mondays and switching gears to be good again.

Hmm...how can you switch gears to be good when you haven't been bad?

wosnes

No snack. It's garnish. Now, if you drink enough martinis for the olives to equal a handful -- that's a snack. But at that point, you've got more to worry about than whether or not the olive is a snack!

wosnes

Hmmm I had missed the dishwashing issue. I have no dishwasher either. However washing one fork, one knife, one plate, and one microwave container after a meal is doable (I must admit, some weeks when I feel lazy or when I am in a hurry, I only wash the microwave container because I have only one of...

wosnes

I meant to add...

I'm all for eating healthfully, but I think we worry about it too much. My mom and all those other women didn't worry about it at all. I'm not even sure they knew about "balanced" diets.

wosnes

I am not trying to be argumentative. However, when I think back to the tiny older women in my life, I know of so many who never dieted, never counted calories, and never joined a gym. I'm currently not at a place where I am eating totally healthfully. No S is not second nature to me yet. But it is ...

wosnes

Does this mean I'm going to have to keep eating less and less as I get older and older? (I'm only 23) That's so depressing. Ugh. Probably -- but it really isn't depressing. Most of my friends and I have found that we're satisfied with less. So, it's not depressing and doesn't feel like deprivation....

wosnes

You know, we worry entirely too much about carbs. As Reinhard said in the book, compared to the rest of the world, we already eat a low carb diet -- and not all of those folks are eating whole grains. Last night I was reading about those skinny French women, who not only typically haven't worried ab...

wosnes

Nichole wrote:How much water is bad?

Nothing you're typically going to consume on a daily basis. It takes effort to consume enough water for it to be bad and cause hyponatremia. Most often you'll see this in athletes who replace water without replacing electrolytes.

wosnes

Magme, I think you're on to something by eating like the French. After reading Bright Angel's post last night, I thought about the eating habits of the French -- especially in terms of portion size From an article in American Fitness in 2003 Healthy Eating Habits Americans rarely hear about eating h...

wosnes

There's another solution for the less active, smaller, older woman: become more active. This doesn't necessarily mean going to the gym -- it just means moving more. Some years ago I read an article about The China Study. One of the researchers said that the people they had to call sedentary, typical...

wosnes

There's another solution for the less active, smaller, older woman: become more active. This doesn't necessarily mean going to the gym -- it just means moving more. Some years ago I read an article about The China Study. One of the researchers said that the people they had to call sedentary, typical...

wosnes

Here's my two cents worth: If you're skipping because you're not feeling well, that's okay. Not feeling well is an exception to the "rules." If you're skipping because you ate too much at a previous meal, eat something light and be done with your meals for the day. You're tying to build good habits ...

wosnes

I'm single, live alone, and rarely cook because I have the world's most inefficient kitchen and no dishwasher. So when it comes to the no-seconds part of the plan, how can I do that when I'm rarely eating off a plate, but more like a sandwich out of a paper towel and a cheese stick? It's sad, I kno...

wosnes

I don't taste everything, but I taste some things for seasoning before I serve. It's not like I'm constantly sampling it -- taste, adjust, taste. So maybe two teaspoons of a dish. Not enough to worry about. I do agree that food tastes better with seasonings added during cooking, not at the table.

wosnes

Nope, I wouldn't eat it for dessert, so it's not a sweet.

wosnes

SHE started telling ME about this Woman's Day article she'd read about No S, and how she had tried to follow the suggested menus in the article for awhile. It was mentioned in Woman's Day , too? Wow. I was just reading the reviews on Amazon for No-S and decided to read the reviews for Pam Anderson'...

wosnes

Years ago when my kids were little and misbehaving, I was really frustrated and inclined to just let them misbehave. What they were doing wasn't bad, just not what I wanted them to do. My mil asked me, "Who's in charge? You or the kids?" Well, it was pretty obvious that as the mother and the adult, ...

wosnes

You have so little to lose it may take longer.

wosnes

magme wrote:I put all my food together today and found it did not even fit on a full plate

Do you mean it was less than a full plate -- or more?

wosnes

Probably Friday. The S days are coming and I WANT THEM NOW!

wosnes

It may feel like it's going to take an eternity to lose the weight -- but it will stay off for an eternity, too! Keep on, it will happen.

wosnes

Losing guilt, resentment and shame probably feels like equally as big a loss (from the weight that used to be on your shoulders) as anything that shows as a loss on the scale. Good for you! Congratulations!!

wosnes

I'm not a food snob, but I try to eat real food like half and half, real mayo, real ranch dressing, whole eggs, real cheese. I had heavy cream in my coffee the other day because I ran out of half and half. Believe it or not, I had half-and-half for the very first time Saturday morning in my coffee....

wosnes

Welcome, Marebear! Best suggestion of how to be successful at this is to follow the rules. Mostly likely it will be harder at first, but keep on keepin' on -- it gets easier as time goes by. What typically is eaten at meals was asked recently. Here's the link: http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic...

wosnes

In my country, a large percentage of the population doesn't ever have breakfast, only a cup of tea or coffee and off they go, without eating anything until lunch at 1-2 in the afternoon. And I never heard of anyone complaining of having to eat more later, probably because they don't really think ab...

wosnes

I'd say eat one serving of each course and don't worry about it.

You could also attempt to visualize if it would all fit on one plate. If it would all fit on a dinner plate, you're good to go.

wosnes

One of the great things about No-S is that once you have the habits under control, you're doing what you'll always do.

wosnes

If you intend to eat more than cereal for breakfast, put the bowl on a plate or visualize the plate. If the extra fits on the plate, you're good to go. I could probably get a bowl of cereal, fruit and toast on my plates -- and they're not particularly large. Having said that, I don't worry about it....

wosnes

Personally, I think we're all on "observe and correct" all the time -- or at least we should be. Pretty much nothing goes in a straight line from A to B. Think about driving...always correcting a little here, a little there. I've read that pilots are off course something like 99% of time. They get t...

wosnes

3aday wrote:I went up and down the aisles of the supermarket and the bakery section wondering what my treat would be.

I don't think you'll often find your treat at the grocery, even in the bakery section. You might find the ingredients....

wosnes

I could choose to get to the gym for all sorts of virtuous or self-care reasons (mood improvement, etc.) but that the workout in and of itself is neither good nor bad. It's my life choices that may or may not have the morality attached. "For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes i...

wosnes

wosnes, I enjoyed your input about the Italian diet. I think that some of those meal habits are because of the siesta tradition and eating a late dinner. Much of this has disappeared over the past generation except during the summer and in the south. It is interesting to think that the cultures wit...

wosnes

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...

wosnes

Over the past few years I've gotten Mother's Day and birthday cards from both my daughters that essentially say that as they get older and want to establish their own identities, they realize how much of who they are looks and sounds a lot like me. In fact, this year for my birthday they got me iden...

wosnes

Since it's Friday, I began planning what horribly "evil" treat I'd reward myself with this week end. Okay, this is one of my pet peeves. Treats -- even high calorie, high in fat and sugar food treats -- are not "horribly 'evil'". They're one of the pleasures of eating and living! Pleasure is not ba...

wosnes

In some of the reading I've done about the Mediterranean diet, it's been observed that the Italians are somewhat heavier than others in the Mediterranean. Some have said it's because they eat large amounts of bread and pasta. But, at least in some areas of Italy, they have traditionally had 5 meals ...

wosnes

I'm not counting this as green on my habitcal, due to the cheesecake. I was already full, and it was a sweet. But I'm not making it a red failure, either, because it was such a success for me to not order my own dessert! And to not taste the other two desserts on the table! And it was wonderful to ...

wosnes

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...

wosnes

My husband bought me an ice cream maker. I put it in the closet in my studio. I don't want to deal with it until after all the weight is lost. :) f I have one that I'm thinking about digging out -- more for sorbets and granitas than ice cream (or the vegan equivalent). They're so refreshing in the ...

wosnes

I think a lot of the adjectives we apply to food -- "good", "bad", "healthy", "unhealthy" and so on -- have created a fear of food not seen previously or in other places in the world. We've lost the ability to enjoy food, to see it as something that not only sustains us, but brings us pleasure. In f...

wosnes

If you're accustomed to eating like most Americans -- one continuous meal daily -- it's not easy at first. But like I said and the quote in my signature says, the more you do it, the easier it gets. Not only does it get easier, it gets more and more exciting when you realize you can eat whatever you...

wosnes

I had a treat breakfast, too, but it's not my only treat for the day. My local farmer's market opened for the season today. There are about three bakeries that sell their goods there. I picked up a macaroon for later. Then I went to a small cafe for breakfast. I had a sweet crepe and cafe au lait an...

wosnes

There are quite a few here who aren't "newbies." The great thing about No-S is that it's habits that you can live with for a lifetime. It's good old common sense rules about eating that used to be very common. It's how people used to eat before gazillions of experts, the food industry, the media and...

wosnes

For the most part, I've stopped thinking of specific foods or food groups as "good" or "bad." I know there are things that are not good or healthy, but they aren't things I eat often anyway (can you say " Cheetohs" [/color]?). But as far as butter or other fats or sugar or meat or eggs or whatever, ...

wosnes

That hasn't happened to me! Although there have been weekends that I've gone through without having a sweet treat (or snacks or seconds), it's not been planned or because there just wasn't anything I wanted. They were busy for one reason or another and just "got away" from me -- "S" days that didn't...

wosnes

Breakfast: Oatmeal and/or toast and fruit or smoothie. Occasionally an egg. On weekends maybe pancakes or waffles. This isn't because they're an "S" food, it's because they're more time consuming to make. Lunch: Usually some combination of soup, salad, sandwich. Occasionally leftovers. Fruit. Dinne...

wosnes

icz wrote:I love coffee, but it tends to make the low blood sugar worse if I am hungry.

I've been making a cafe au lait. About 2/3 milk, 1/3 coffee and sometimes just a little sugar. It gets me through to the next meal if I need that.

wosnes

My mom died 43 years ago March 30. Though there's rarely a day that I don't think of her, I find that now I remember more "about" her than I actually remember her. Everyone loved my mom, too. I never heard her say an unkind word about anyone and I've never heard anyone say an unkind word about her. ...

wosnes

I've seen some vegan "junk" food that surprised me, because it was pretty much junk! I didn't know veganism could mask disordered eating. It's about as easy to be a junk food vegan as it is to be a junk food omnivore. Bingeing has nothing to do with the food, it's all about addiction and stress. Yo...

wosnes

I am surprised about this! I get his newsletter, though I've not done his diet. I thought his diet was all about health (though I think he has other motives also for promoting veganism), so I wonder why there are so many "binge-ers"! Why do you think he has other motives for promoting veganism? Of ...

wosnes

Here's some ideas: I'm fond of Everyday Food magazine, their cookbook Great Food Fast, and the web sites: www.marthastewart.com/dinnertonight http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood/ And for your leisure enjoyment -- here's 5,000 recipes from a contest earlier this week: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/...

wosnes

Mac n Cheese, the way my Mom used to make it, is a comfort/trigger food for me, so again I very seldom make that either....although now I think I have a craving for it :wink: Might have to make it on an S day. I have a recipe that I like and is "supposed" to feed 2; I find it feeds 4. So, I'm reduc...

wosnes

Here's some ideas: I'm fond of Everyday Food magazine, their cookbook Great Food Fast, and the web sites: www.marthastewart.com/dinnertonight http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood/ And for your leisure enjoyment -- here's 5,000 recipes from a contest earlier this week: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2...

wosnes

wosnes, if you have ever eaten entire box IT IS A LOT and cheese is very heavy and VERY FILLING in that quantity! but my you are sounding like such a food snob with my share! so sorry you are not impressed! :D Blueskighs! I have eaten an entire box -- with more food on the side, so what I say is ba...

wosnes

blueskighs wrote:I could eat a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for dinner by myself!

That one doesn't surprise me too much. It's not a large amount of food and it's not very satisfying, so it takes more to satisfy.

wosnes

One of my favorite people says this about something else: "it's simple, but it's not easy." Meaning, it's not difficult to understand, but doing it requires effort. It also takes time for results. While it might be hard initially, the more you do it, the easier it will get. After some time (and sorr...

wosnes

Protein is present in all whole foods except fats. More of a variety of whole foods would take care of a need for protein as well as calories as well as the carbs that the body uses for fuel.

wosnes

Sounds to me like you might need something more substantial than just cereal for breakfast AND lunch.

wosnes

If left to our instincts, we're all basically gluttons and greedy. Civilized people have been trained not to be. It's a hell of a way to define yourself; it's like giving up to it.

wosnes

Another author you might be interested in is Ecknath Easwaran, especially his book Take Your Time . If anyone has read any of the Laurel's Kitchen cookbooks, this is the teacher they talk about. http://nilgiri.org/ fkwan, what you say reminds me of a couple of things (my apologies in advance, this i...

wosnes

Tonight -- crockpot chicken dish: 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed 1 can corn, drained (or 2 cups fresh or frozen) 1 jar salsa 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts Put in crockpot in order listed and cook 3-4 hours on high; 6-8 hours on low. Serve with rice or cornbread or in a tortilla. Also ...

wosnes

Nichole wrote:
Jaymiz wrote: Technically, our stomachs are the size of our clenched fist.
That is shocking EVERY TIME I hear it!

Yea, but it's designed to hold about a quart of food normally.

wosnes

NoelFigart wrote:I agree that the food quality ain't "All That". But I think the draw of a buffet is the excess! When you've stopped wanting that, the appeal kinda goes away.

I think it might be the variety. But that's just what I think.

wosnes

There are several doctors who say that one is free of the risk of heart attack when total cholesterol is less than 150. Most of them also advocate a diet that is free of animal products and all added fats (such as olive oil). At least one allows fat-free dairy, but eliminates nuts, seeds, olives and...

wosnes

Suzy, Gaining weight sucks especially when you think you have finally found a way to lose weight without too much effort. I felt frustrated AND I felt like my clothes were getting tighter (check out "who's kidding who"). For me...I was piling the food onto the plate. You know you can fit 3 bacon ch...

wosnes

Bright Angel -- I've read and reread your posts in this thread and can't help but think of the book What Do You Say When You Talk To Yourself by Shed Helmstetter. Something makes me feel that you've talked yourself into believing that greed and gluttony are problems for you -- at least to a greater ...

wosnes

Sounds like my breakfast, only I make it at home. I wouldn't have the whipped cream, but that's just personal choice. Not all whipped cream is sweetened, but even if it has sugar in it, the amount used to sweeten whipped cream is usually pretty small.

wosnes

It's easy -- if you consider it a dessert or a sweet treat -- it's a sweet, so avoid it except on S days. You can use sugar in your coffee or tea or on your cereal. You can use foods with sugar in them -- like jams or jellies.

wosnes

I have been drinking diet drinks for so long, the real thing tastes like syrup. I feel exactly the same way. In fact now real sugar in beverages is actually disgusting to me. For many years, I've chosen to have artificial sweeteners in beverages even when I was bingeing on rich, high-calorie, sweet...

wosnes

I also wonder how you can build up a 21 day habit when you are taking two days off after every five days of forming the habit. The S days are part of the habit, not separate from it. Also, though most of us will do it initially and at one time or another after the habits are well-established, S day...

wosnes

Wow, Congratulations!

wosnes

Personally, I think 21 days is what it takes to begin to have something become habit. I think it takes much longer for habit to become second nature. I'm not sure what it is about us, but we tend to be such perfectionists. It's something that absolutely drives me nuts! Not trying to be one, but that...

wosnes

Today I found out that in past 2 years that I've been on No-S my cholesterol has dropped from 229 to 182!!! Also my good cholesterol went up and my bad went down and the doctor actually said and I quote: "your numbers are perfect, you're going to live forever with numbers like these" I was complete...

wosnes

...sure I could probably get 5-6-700 calories on a plate. Multiplied by three meals a day, that's still not too much food for me.... Can anyone provide me with any guidance on meal size? Thank you very much! There's a great book on Amazon called "The Portion Teller" by Dr. Lisa R. Young: http://www...

wosnes

The 21 days isn't 21 perfect days, it's 21 calendar days.

Technically, I suppose a milk shake would be off-limits on an N day, but what is it Reinhard says? If you aren't sure, it's probably okay.

wosnes

A little off-topic for this forum, maybe, but interesting. http://www.aarpmagazine.org/lifestyle/living_healthy_to_100.html This is written by the guy who wrote this for National Geographic http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0511/feature1/ He's written a book about it: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-...

wosnes

Interesting segment on the Today Show:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/24295957/

It will probably sound familiar to many.

wosnes

That can be so hard because so many people want to celebrate with you!

wosnes

Here's more about the glass ceiling:

http://everydaysystems.com/podcast/episode.php?id=8

Everyday Systems

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Forget about trying

Re: What if one of my meals stinks?

Re: Does anyone else do this?

Re: Potatoes, rice, pasta...BREAD!!!

Re: irrational fear of hunger?

Re: The one-plate plan for someone who doesn't cook

Re: What's wrong with me??

Re: What's wrong with me??

Re: Tales From the Crypt

Re: Thoughts on Buffets....

Re: No-S Victory Over Cholesterol!!!

Re: Meal size question

Living to be 100

Disordered Eating