Everyday Systems

I realised this week that it is nearly a year since I started following the NoS plan. It has been somewhat hit and miss; there have been some thumping falls from the wagon, a bit of excessive wiggle room on what constitutes a plate of food and some downright wilfulness. I don’t think I have had a fully green week ever, but as time has gone on things have settled to a pattern.

As well as 3 meals I have a small amount of supper before bed if I am hungry, and sometimes that is a couple of nice chocolates savoured, and mid-afternoon I usually have a mocha made with a heaped teaspoon each of cocoa and coffee and about half a teaspoon of sugar with hot water and a dash of milk. That keeps me on until my evening meal. During the week I tend not to take milk in any other hot drinks.

I tend to distinguish between normal S days, where I might have starters and snacks, but portion sizes are still much the same as in the week, and what I think of as F(east) days, which are the rare days like Christmas and Easter, where things are more unstructured.

I have flirted a bit with bite counting, not with any intention of doing it long term but as a way of looking at portion size, and have found if useful at times, particularly if I am eating out.

So I decided to weigh myself, and over the year I have lost about a stone

Congratulations, Ffwl! And thanks for sharing. It's great to see how effective even imperfect compliance with No-S can be.

I like your distinction between F-(east) days and ordinary S-days. It's like that "capital" vs. "lowercase" S days mod that's been tossed around for a while now -- great to hear how well it's been working for you.

A stone is 14 pounds if the internet is not deceiving me? (my favorite number! I'm going to have to be more stone-conscious going forward).

Reinhard

Sorry, yes a stone is 14 pounds. My favourite number too at the moment.

Hi Ffwl- Glad to hear how well the NoS diet with mods is working for you!
Just curious- how many bites do you shoot for when you are eating out?

I find, somewhat to my surprise, that I am usually comfortably full after 20-25 bites, so I tend to aim for 20. If it is on an S day then I aim for 20 bites for the main course but will probably have a starter as well, which usually works out at about 5 bites. I have never been much of a one for dessert, we only tend to have dessert after our main meal on a Sunday, and virtually never when we are eating out.

20 bites does not sound like much, but is actually a reasonable amount of food. I should add that I am only 5'2", and I am a not very active middle-aged woman. I don't think that portion size would last my 5'7" Ultimate Frisbee playing teenage daughter very well.

Congratulations! What a great achievement! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much for sharing & Congratulations on 14 pounds (6.4kg) lost!!! It is so great to hear when someone in spite of falls & stumbles still shows impressive results!! Good luck in the year ahead.