Newbie with a dilemma

scgal · Post by **scgal** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 1:16 am

I've been doing No-S since the beginning of November and lost 2 lbs in the first month! I'm really liking the structure of the plan on the N days.

Here's my dilemma: I love my Starbucks Raspberry Mochas. I'd love to incorporate them into my week....I get them no fat milk, no whip cream. I'm wondering if I used them as a mod and then keep my weekends "N" days also and use "S" days for holidays if that's a good compromise. I believe that I could do it.

I'm finding that leaving them to the weekends is OK, but I really want one (or am sneaking one) during the week and my weekends tend to be snacky and sloppy. I'm female, 5' 2", almost 50, and need to drop 7-10 pounds. Since we need milk and it's good for you, I figure that only 1/2 the calories in the drink are "bad". I also have a travel mug that could be used as a dedicated "mocha" mug to keep me on track.

So what do you No-S people think? I really feel that I could keep the other tenets of No-S if I could include this into my diet. I'm normally not a snacker or seconds and I use a lunch sized plate for my meals.

oliviamanda · Post by **oliviamanda** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 4:27 am

Yikes! It's a hard call. If you think it will keep you on track, then do it. Otherwise, personally I would not choose to get my calories through a drink. I would consider it a sweet, but that's just me. I think you will find greater success if you make it an S day thing, but again... if you need to do it to get by, then by all means...

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 11:31 am

oliviamanda wrote:Yikes! It's a hard call. If you think it will keep you on track, then do it. Otherwise, personally I would not choose to get my calories through a drink. I would consider it a sweet, but that's just me. I think you will find greater success if you make it an S day thing, but again... if you need to do it to get by, then by all means...

I agree with olivemanda, especially about not drinking your calories. In addition, I wouldn't start mods 1) just so I could have a sweet treat more frequently, and 2) so soon into the program.

Jammin' Jan · Post by **Jammin' Jan** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 1:35 pm

Seems like a complication to a very simple structure. Keep your N days N and your S days S. Enjoy your drink on your two S days each week.

geekmom · Post by **geekmom** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:19 am

I'd consider a raspberry mocha a sweet. Maybe you could find some other drinks to try mid-week - a latte with cinnamon sprinkled on top, a cappucino or something else that doesn't include syrup?

My husband managed to wean himself off a serious Starbucks mocha addiction by drinking sugar-free vanilla lattes, then eventually just plain lattes without syrup, so maybe you can consider a similar plan.

Good luck!

sheepish · Post by **sheepish** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:17 am

I think you should treat it as a sweet and try to restrict it only to S days. If you're still having trouble doing that after 2-3 months, maybe consider limiting yourself to 2 a week but not worrying about when you have those two? If you do then have more than 2 a week, you should mark those days as failures.

scgal · Post by **scgal** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 1:46 pm

Thanks for all of your replies. I'll follow your good advice and keep them to the weekends for now.

It could be something that I could add back once I drop my weight. I'll look into the lattes. I've been making a hot chocolate at home using unsweetened chocolate and a tsp of sugar: bittersweet, but still milk and chocolate!

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:35 pm

I drink cafe au lait that I make at home - half a cup of milk heated in the microwave, topped off with coffee. One tsp. sugar per cup. (My mug is really more than a cup, so there's more coffee than milk.)

My usual quota is two mugs, which I think reasonable. Mostly, it's milk and coffee, both of which are okay. I limit to two because of the sugar. (I will allow a third on a really difficult day when extra coffee would help... but I try to keep that the exception rather than the rule.)

Anything with more sugar I would definitely consider a sweet.

Dandelion · Post by **Dandelion** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:12 pm

I don't drink coffee, but I do drink hot chocolate. I make it with a teaspoon each cocoa and sugar and whole milk (we don't use low fat milk since it's not as healthy as full fat dairy, and eating fat does not make one fat). With only a teaspoon of sugar, I do not consider it a sweet and have it anytime I want.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 5:52 pm

Dandelion wrote:eating fat does not make one fat

I've been thinking about this ever since you posted it. On the one hand, I agree. We've been lied to about fat and its importance in our diet and the "harm" it will do in terms of health and weight loss. On the other hand, fat is twice as calorie dense as carbohydrates or protein.

I don't believe in reduced-fat foods, but I'll use less in a recipe if I can, eat higher fat foods less often and eat less of them to reduce the fat in my diet.

puddinpie · Post by **puddinpie** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 9:15 pm

I just started nosing, but it makes complete sense to me.

I have a suggestion for your raspberry mocha, scgal.

At Starbucks, you can request any amount of syrup in a drink you want. For example, a grade size is probably being made with 4 pumps mocha and 4 pumps raspberry. You could reduce to 1 pump of each flavor and have a drink that has a similar amount of sugar as adding sugar to your coffee. To make it taste better, you could switch to whole milk, as this is not a no s and is allowed between meals. Maybe having this when you are having a major craving would help you keep to no s. It might not taste as good as the full syrups, but I bet you would get used to it after a bit.

scgal · Post by **scgal** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 5:50 pm

Thanks! That may be a good alternative. Right now I'm trying to keep it to the weekends and make hot chocolates at home, which seems to be working well. I appreciate everyones imput!