Everyday Systems

Graham

So: it's Wednesday, I'm at home and I STILL weigh 11 stone 11lbs with a 40 3/4" waist despite having only an apple for lunch on Monday and working for several hours at the allotment as well as a Tango class on Tuesday. I remain 100% compliant - to no avail. I'm wondering, would today be the day to t...

Graham

OlderandWiser: thanks for the kind contribution. I do appreciate the support, the best thing about No S has been this forum and so many wise and friendly people here. That being said I'm near 100% compliance and have been at a weight plateau since the end of week 2, and I have a serious waist fat is...

Graham

11 stone 11 1/2 lbs this morning! SHIT. What did I do so wrong on Saturday? I had a good breakfast, a good evening meal - I snacked during the day, not massively (no tummy-ache). Had biscuits (about 8 biscuits? not a whole pack, maybe 6 wafer biscuits, 4 ginger biscuits (2 with a little butter on th...

Graham

Friday: was it a success or a failure? I am a little confused on a detail of the No S rules: the "no seconds" rule. I had space on my plate for 4 toasts and yet thought I might only need 3, so I didn't want to make 4 and waste one OR get into that "eating because it's on the plate" thing so I had it...

Graham

For all the detail I gave originally, I omitted to say part of why the rule compliance mattters so much to me is that I'm using HabitCal as a means of feedback and motivation. I wanted to know if I had to count my 4th piece of toast as seconds and thus Friday was a FAIL - which will put me back to z...

Graham

The habit of drinking sugary drinks is strongly associated with being overweight. The habit of drinking alcoholic beverages is not (on the contrary -- consider France) Don't you have the "beer gut" in the USA? They are often to be seen here in England. And how many of those skinny French people wou...

Graham

Hi all, me again with another knotty "driving me insane" "rules" thing. So, it's breakfast, I'm late eating and very hungry: I decide what to have - it's going to be poached eggs on beans on toast. I have my plate, my eggs, my beans - only I have this unusually small loaf of bread and I'm thinking -...

Graham

I like succeeding and dislike failing, the rules aren't complicated but at times maddeningly rigid. At times they are rigid, though I'd argue far less so than most other diets. Still, most of us need some firmness -- or we wouldn't have a problem with food to begin with. I could have had a second g...

Graham

Thursday/ success. This morning I was home, weighed myself - and guess what? after 4 weeks No S, nearly 2 weeks of perfect compliance - I have lost FOUR OUNCES! yes 1/4 lb - after a whole damn month! And my waist is the same obscene bulging pus-filled catastrophe it was when I started. I am getting ...

Graham

I finally finished reading this research paper today. I am glad you posted it - it should be archived somehow so we don't collectively forget what it says.

Thanks for posting it, regards, Graham

Graham

Wednesday was Successful. I had some confusing, upsetting things happening in my life, maybe to write about another day. I feel confused about my body today. This morning I felt thinner, thought I was thinner, then later I thought I looked fat, not sure what the truth is (not at home, couldn't use m...

Graham

9:53am Tuesday, for all it's insanity, was a success. I so overdid it at lunch that I could be a model of restraint at Hedy's table, leaving some uneaten pasta on my plate at the end of the meal. And I'd not only bicycled but also done 2 hours of tango. Let's see how today goes. Here at Hedy's I bro...

Graham

Hi mjn - I wonder, would you mind saying what it is that throws you off the No S wagon when it seems you are so happy with it when you are on it?

I'm pretty new here and just trying to understand what the issues are for longer-term No S'ing.

Take care, Graham

Graham

So is it lack of fat that is keeping you hungry? Or protein? I guess I'm not understanding why you are still hungry with a full plate of food. How big are your plates? I don't mean to imply anything, but are you sure it's hunger you feel and not just a vague urge to eat? No S is so much easier to f...

Graham

For me, the point of no-S is that it's not supposed to be like 'suffering' Well, I wasn't planning on suffering either, it just seems to be like this: If I eat No S and I don't exercise, I'm fine and can even skip a meal, but if I exercise - and I have no car, travelling mostly by bicycle, so exerc...

Graham

9:16am After all the issues Monday ended as a SUCCESS./GREEN day. I had a lot of grated cheese with Hedy's offer of pasta/bulgur wheat, vegetables and a smidgeon of quorn on her biggest plate (she doesn't get the one plate thing, it is so irritating to have to explain this "silly" rule to her over a...

Graham

Hi Oolala53, sorry to hear that the food on the retreat somehow set you on the wrong track - No S'ing doesn't fit with everything else though, and for me, well I just can't happily eat 3 x 1 plate vegetarian food yet. (If I weighed less, and therefore needed less calories, maybe I could, but till I ...

Graham

Anyway, I just wanted to write about a BREAKTHROUGH - well, it was for me, at any rate - I ATE LESS THAN MY ENTITLEMENT AT BREAKFAST! Back to food: I had porridge - my bowl wasn't full, and I thought - "better boil an egg and toast some bread to go with that or I'll feel hungry later" - and as the ...

Graham

Last week I posted on the "winning the mind game" thread about an Indian man who claims to have not eaten for 70 years - and no-one commented on it at all. I don't know if no-one saw it or whether it was deemed off-topic - but I thought it was So Amazing - it is surely the ultimate answer to diet/fo...

Graham

Well, is it just me, or what? I want to search old postings for specific topics, and I'm used to being able to put a phrase between inverted commas "-" and have that give me really specific results. I was looking to see if anyone had posted on "Fast-5" and made the mistake of putting "Fast 5" in the...

Graham

I may write a lot here - my PC isn't working properly, I can't keep my usual health journal which I've been using to track weight/exercise for a year or two. I don't have a steady job, I have financial issues (stress! Cortisol! Waist Fat accumulation!) so I'm reluctant to pay to get it fixed, I'll t...

Graham

Thanks again Lori: I've found the fast-5 website, I like it! Good people, really admirable perspective, I've downloaded the ebook and now I'll read it. I'm not sure yet which way to go then - incorporate it with No S, or do the ESE thing, or do it instead of No S or do ESE instead of No S - or maybe...

Graham

It's Sunday, and my 3rd week of No S draws to a close. I have learned a few things, but I haven't lost weight (well not exactly) To be precise, I did weigh 2lb more on The day I started No S - it was a rather odd situation - I'd just finished a period of work where I'd been riding to and from work e...

Graham

Hi Lori, most instructive blog you have! I can't imagine how you manage to exercise so much and eat so little. It has made me wonder to what extent it is realistic for me to think of using your experience as a template for myself: A zebra can't take much useful diet advice from a lion can it? I am v...

Graham

Hi Lori, and thank you for the tip about the Brad Pilon website. I am intrigued, yet I find what he's charging rather steep. Reinhards' book which is a real one you can carry around and show to people is only $14 - how come Brad P is charging $40 for an ebook? I am intrigued - especially the promise...

Graham

Hi MovieGuy - even a simple diet like No S has rules, and there's no point getting mad at us about it - you are free to give them a try or not. Maybe it will be easier than you think? And if it isn't, you can get lots of support on this forum as you go along. Best of luck whatever you decide, Graham

Graham

This seems such a tricky topic to discuss, I'm beginning to feel that talking about choice is carrying a lot more emotion than it ought to - almost as though it were, for some people, an article of faith that we are free choosing beings, and no-one can make us do anything we don't agree to without s...

Graham

I am over 50 and find gaining weight easier and losing it harder than when I was younger - however, I do have 3 very skinny friends who are all the same age as me - but they eat very differently to me. They all followed a Japanese diet for many years, they all eat fairly low-fat and 2 of them are no...

Graham

A Saturday. Can't fail today, but that isn't the point just now. Here is the point: I weigh 11stone 10lb, waist 40 5/8" despite a second day on which I had only 2 meals in the same week. Both low-food days were also low-exercise days - looks like it just balances out, no virtue in less of both, no p...

Graham

Below is a quote off the Internet about a Columbia University researcher on obesity: "From Dr Leibel's studies of formerly obese (who are keeping weight off), he observed that they are hungry all the time, are cold and other symptoms of the biochemical system kicking in to force a weight gain. When...

Graham

I will go to bed soon. Tomorrow, I am really looking forward to SWEETS, SNACKS and no fixed meal size.

I only had 2 meals again today - but I was sluggish, drifting, achieving nothing. (except some robust discussions on this forum)

Graham

In response to your third point, I don't believe that there's any physiological process which manifests solely from eating which allows a permanent alteration of the human metabolism resulting in an inability to build good dietary habits. Nor do I - but then, that's not what I said. There is accumu...

Graham

It doesn't matter how much advertising there is, how unhealthy-but-appealing food-like products are on the market, or how big the serving on the plate is. An individual is the only one who has control over what goes into their body (unless they're being force-fed on a regular basis, in which case t...

Graham

It doesn't matter how much advertising there is, how unhealthy-but-appealing food-like products are on the market, or how big the serving on the plate is. An individual is the only one who has control over what goes into their body (unless they're being force-fed on a regular basis, in which case t...

Graham

Thursday 6th May was a success - I actually forgot to eat 1 meal! Well, not forget exactly: huge meal on Wednesday night led to late breakfast Thursday - more or less at lunch-time, so I had an early evening meal and felt no need for a 3rd meal. That is so strange after feeling SO tempted to snack o...

Graham

I had started the No S Diet last Monday and I did really well the first 5 days. t I lost 4.5 lbs and I felt so much better all around. Then the weekend came, and didn't do so well. ( I'm grazer, I nibble on stuff all day long). When Monday came I had a hard time starting up again. Has anyone had th...

Graham

If we know the food industry is making products that are making us fat and unhealthy and we also know that portion sizes are too large, then it's our responsibility to stop supporting the food industry and reduce the portions -- or stop patronizing the places that serve huge portions. We "vote" wit...

Graham

oolala53 wrote:Not sure what Graham meant, as No S has no official weight loss and maintenance phases.

Yes, I didn't mean to imply that people did anything different at different "stages" just that they might be No S'ing and losing weight, or No S'ing at a long-term state of stable weight.

Graham

IowaMom, this question occurs to me - are you talking about weight-loss stage or maintenance stage? Because I'm thinking there's a difference, not sure if it can ever be easy to be in constant calorie deficit - except in so far as you just accept the discomfort, and it becomes easier in that sense. ...

Graham

Hi ShannahR - it may not be apparent, because I didn't start posting daily check-ins till Thursday of week 2, but I am half way through week 3 and that's why I'm a little disappointed at the static weight. However, I have noticed some conflict about dieting, because if I don't eat a lot but do exerc...

Graham

Wednesday was a success - but I felt some real temptation to snack, had floating fantasies of biscuits, jelly-babies, nuts, raisins, ANYTHING, in fact. I didn't do it, but I ate a massive evening meal - fish and chips. I did a round trip of about 6 miles (on my bicycle) to get it, but the scales tel...

Graham

Just a little thought on shame and self-responsibility. I was talking to a colleague many years ago, Anglo-Dutch. We were discussing the greater freedom the Dutch enjoyed over issues such as drugs and sex when compared to the UK, and he told me a very instructive story: He was in Holland, visiting f...

Graham

Wow - fantastic article - made me SO ANGRY - and, If I have an uncensored rant, I am going to offend so many people on this board... I know we are advised to play nice here - don't get mad, don't offend people, don't take offence either. What am I to do? put a sock in my mouth? You may have gathered...

Graham

Thanks for so many empathic responses, it does help me stay on track, I really appreciate your kind words and thoughtful suggestions. I guess it isn't too smart to get closely involved with someone with very different dietary needs from one's own (unless you can afford a chef). If I ate the kind of ...

Graham

SUCCESS on Tuesday: I FELT THIN - and was OK with it. I know that is an issue. I could do stuff (EFT for example?) about the feeling side.

Graham

Good link, glad you posted this.

To see the Mind Game taken to it's conclusion see:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8652837.stm

If we could all master that.....

Graham

Oh my old scale drove me crazy - I'd weigh myself 3 times and get 3 different results, maybe varying by over 3lbs! I just hated it. I found that things like where on the floor I put it and which direction I faced in seemed to influence the reading, plus where my weight was - nearer the front/back et...

Graham

Success on Monday. But not expected. I have to think and get clear about whether it is ok with me to feel hungry/needy, to exercise and feel like I want food but NOT eat it... I also have to keep re-editing my first posting as I remember things - I wrote I only ever dieted twice before in my life, f...

Graham

Yes, far too much information, too much advice, too many people saying I've got to do this, eat that, read the other thing - and it is mostly pure **** Many of us here in the West have all the basic necessities - but the economy demands we go on consuming, with ever noisier nonsense used to keep us ...

Graham

Can't fail on a Saturday. Had a sweets/nuts/chocolates/biscuits binge for an hour or so on Saturday morning and then I stopped. It was ok, it limited itself. Evening meal at Asakusa with Andi, Masayo, Jeanne and Hedy, breakfast at Hedy's - then walked home to feed the cats. PC is getting worse - I c...

Graham

This area has obviously been a source of conflict between the two of you since way before No S; she may subconsciously want you to fail as proof that she's right. Or a more charitable interpretation, maybe she is in denial that you really are at risk for another heart attack. Maybe she can't face t...

Graham

Have you explained to your partner why you've chosen to lose some weight? Yes, ad nauseam (in her opinion) but she has difficulty believing it. She grew up around people who didn't have any weight related health problems even if they were a bit stocky (farming people). Also, she sees my face as "no...

Graham

doesn't sound like you are eating enough at meals. It sounds like you significant other is a natural eater who doesn't understand that you aren't. If you have been off and on a lot of diets, then that might be why your SO isn't being supportive. No, I haven't been on a lot of diets - I have been ve...

Graham

What metric are you using to measure how overweight you are? You give a height and weight that could really go either way depending on frame and musculature, and you imply you're pretty active. Hi Noel: the metric: my abdominal circumference: currently 40 1/2". Looks ghastly, very much centred in t...

Graham

Interesting points KCCC - I am wondering now - have I been on diets most of my life? I would say I haven't, yet, I do sort of have rules of my own. I have followed UK government advice to eat five portions of fruit & vegetables a day, I use sweeteners instead of sugar - I try not to buy sweets/choco...

Graham

Thanks for the kind words Mrsj, but the lemonade I was drinking is what Reinhard calls Soda and it is counted as a sweet, I checked in the book this morning. As for the loose skin - I have been wondering about that - does anybody have any experience with major no-s weight loss actually resulting in ...

Graham

Interesting discussion here. One thing I'm puzzled over: what has size to do with eating 3 meals a day? Surely, all you have to do is make each meal small enough? I do see that the smaller you are, the less calories you need and the more impact even small quantities of sweets (aka candy) have on you...

Graham

Friday was a FAILURE too dammit! I did a post about this, it was "technical" - i.e. I had 2 glasses of LEMONADE instead of a second glass of white wine - though the calories were identical. I do mind about failing - but the failures have been minor I AM JUST AS FAT! 2 weeks of this and I weigh the s...

Graham

I have had 2 "failure" days in the past week - but neither of them were to do with excess and I feel rather frustrated about it. I like succeeding and dislike failing, the rules aren't complicated but at times maddeningly rigid. Last night for example - unexpectedly offered refreshments after a lect...

Graham

FAILURE Did I fail yesterday? I was with Hedy. Her style of eating cooking doesn't fit me and especially not No S me. She snacks, has no weight problem isn't sympathetic to my efforts - can't see why I can't just be natural... I was having 2 meals with her in the same day. Soup twice. 1st was ok, it...

Graham

Hi - I guess 5' 7'' for a man is outside "vertically challenged" but I read with interest about the small appetite - and then the candy Just yesterday I eat only 2 meals for the first time - and I suspect I know why. I drink a lot of tea and coffee in a day, have been using sweeteners for years, but...

Graham

Male, 59, height 5' 7", waist 40 1/2" weight 166lbs (11 stone 12lbs) BMI 26.1 WHtR 60.4% Body Fat 33.8% (calculated stats courtesy of http://clymer.altervista.org/bmi/) *11/4/2011 I really should have checked my height - nearly one year on and I actually tried to measure it, using the same tape mea...

Graham

Just re-visiting the wording of the original question "needed or not?" - reminds me that this is, in the end, a political issue. I am certain that a sugar tax, if sufficiently heavy to significantly reduce children's and adult's consumption, would save lives and reduce disease - but who is to say if...

Graham

NoelFigart wrote:No-one's saying you HAVE to do anything, of course (and even if they did, you don't have to listen, what with being a grown-up and all. Cool, huh?)

No problem, I don't feel under any compulsion to follow your advice, just wondering what was the perspective that gave rise to it....
Regards, G.

Graham

"Well, I suggest you try something. Go ahead and let S-days be COMPLETELY off the hook at first -- say for a couple of months" That is an interesting though somewhat worrying suggestion Noel. I assume you expect me to find balance without having to suppress myself, and I would like it if that were i...

Graham

I think I could make a good case for a sugar tax, especially in countries that have a subsidised health-service. Here in the UK we have taxes on things like tobacco and alcohol, and there seems to be evidence that price is part of the issue with excessive drinking by some people and price/tax increa...

Graham

I'm new to all this, no track record yet, but after the initial panic over "How will I endure from one meal to the next?" I moved on to coping and accepting the rules, finding comfort and safety in the structure. Then came a new sort of panic: "What will happen on the weekend when I have to decide w...

Graham

I was reading the topic about being a fat girl in a skinny world and it got me thinking about why I'm dieting, and why I wish some people weren't dieting. I got to thinking about why any of us are here doing No S anyway. It strikes me now that I read the No S book and don't recall seeing any argumen...

Graham

Thanks to all who replied, it was very helpful to have friendly words when I felt so uncertain that I would be able to cope. I got through 5 N days, my main problem being the day I had an unexpectedly demanding physical schedule and was ravenously hungry by 11:30 - so I had lunch early and it turned...

Graham

Hello. I just happened upon No-S in another forum and got intrigued - thought it sounded very sensible, do-able, but my goodness, my reactions to actually starting took me by surprise. I think there are really big emotional issues tied up with eating for me, lots of neediness - much of it was covere...

Everyday Systems

Search found 1570 matches

No Seconds: waste and excess

Disappointment

Searching the site problem

Re: Having trouble my second week

Just wondering WHEN this gets easier.........

The Atlantic - Beating Obesity

Playing (and winning) the Mind Game...

Do you have a suggestion for a good scale?

Re Conflicting Information is Crazy-Making

Re: failure?

senseless failure /rules frustration

Graham's Daily Check In

Why Diet Anyway?

New to No S - impressed but wondering if I can stand it.