Everyday Systems

I think a lot more about snacks/sweets on the N days right after S days. It's like I have to tell my mind to tell my body all over again--not today. I almost think I shouldn't snack on S days--it's like they throw me into my old mindset again.

I think, for the most part, S days should be utterly off the hook for the first few months. I cannot encourage you enough to look up the Phases of No-S. She is sooo right.

I'd even go so far as to say for many people who've done a lot of dieting, really getting the habits of No-S down requires years.

I notice you joined quite some time ago. Have you done some off and on, or do you feel like you've got the habits solid and are just in need of a mod at this point?

FOr me, it's VERY hard if I get a little too crazy on S days. Especially if I get into sugar, then my brain craves and craves and my whole body is a mess begging for it.

I try to keep to my no snacking, no seconds at least, and my Sweet I make something really special. I really prefer the recipes from Wheat Belly cookbook, using stevia, I have very little insulin response, and then crave far less sugary crap during the week.

JMO.

I learned early on that two S days could undo five N days so I try to just keep each day moderate as much as possible.

I think that is why so many people say they actually look forward to being back on the N days, they feel better being in more control. I know I do.

When I first started NoS, since I hadn't been doing any sort of dieting or deprivation for a while, the weekends weren't a problem for me---I wasn't missing sweets or snacks, and so I wasn't making up for them on Sat. and Sun. So for the first month or so, my weekends were close to NoS days.

However, after several months of no snacking and no sweets during the week, I suddenly found my weekends, especially Sunday descending into permasnacking, especially on sweets. The real problem was that this uncontrolled eating on Sundays was making me feel awful come Monday morning. Plus, I always seemed to have left over treats in the kitchen that somehow became my Monday breakfast. These sweets lead to more cravings throughout the day, making it hard to stay on program.

Eventually, Monday became almost always a red day, and I found that the red was starting to creep over into Tuesday. I was disappointed at my stalled weight loss, which I knew was tied to these weekend over eatings, but the real issue was that I felt so awful on Monday and Tuesday. I geuninely feel better on a NoS day, so I decided to start focusing on the "sometimes" idea for S days.

These days, before having an S on a weekend, I ask myself: 1. Am I actually hungry? 2. Do I geuninely want this item, or am I eating it because I am "allowed"? 3. How will I feel after eating this, both emotionally and physically?

It took a while to reign them back, but now my weekends are much closer to NoS days. It was a struggle; however, anytime I over indulge, my Monday is awful.

I gently suggest that you really try to consider just how bad the experience is. Is it so terrible to think more about S's right after S days? There is value to avoiding triggers but there is also value to experiencing them and resisting. In fact, learning to resist the temptation to be immoderate on S day and after S days can be very powerful. Yes, it's convenient if we just aren't tempted, but it's very hard to control whether that happens, too.

But, if you really dislike having to put up with desire, and it seems it's worth the trade off of the pleasure you would miss, have at it. I couldn't imagine giving up the overages on sweets on S days for a LONG time, even though I felt cruddy all day long on Sundays. (Cruddy enough that N days were welcome.) But I finally did get tired of it, mostly.

NoelFigart wrote:I think, for the most part, S days should be utterly off the hook for the first few months. I cannot encourage you enough to look up the Phases of No-S. She is sooo right.

I'd even go so far as to say for many people who've done a lot of dieting, really getting the habits of No-S down requires years.

I notice you joined quite some time ago. Have you done some off and on, or do you feel like you've got the habits solid and are just in need of a mod at this point?

I did read the phases, thanks! What's bothering me is that by the end of a week, I'm starting to not think about snacks so much, then S days come and I just eat whenever, and then after S days I'm thinking about eating all the time again. So far I haven't snacked on N days, but it seems counter-intuitive to go back and forth like that so much. So, I'm thinking of making S days more N-like in terms of meals w/o snacking, not in terms of limiting what I eat, if that makes sense. And, not necessarily being strict about it if I'm in a social situation, but having a more general habit.

I work from home, I homeschool, and I have a disabled husband--so there aren't a lot of markers that tag days as being different like a person might have with a regular job, you know? Days can run into each other easily.

I did join (and posted a lot--I've thought I should try to look up those posts if they still exist!) for probably a few months in 2008--not sure how long I tried to stick with it. I never had months without red days back then, and I didn't have the mental mindset of making life-long changes. I do have a lot of various church/homeschool social things, and everyone seems to serve dessert, so to change means to decide not to eat that stuff every time I go to a meeting. I wasn't ready to make that mental change in 2008, and kept trying to juggle things--and of course it didn't work. I found myself ready to make that mental shift in November, and had a gold medal December even!

So, not new to the ideas really, but new to being committed, if that makes sense.

I also just got the book last month (on my second read-through). I think the book makes a huge difference in really getting inside the mindset changes needed, and getting inside your own head.

FarmerHal wrote:FOr me, it's VERY hard if I get a little too crazy on S days. Especially if I get into sugar, then my brain craves and craves and my whole body is a mess begging for it.

I try to keep to my no snacking, no seconds at least, and my Sweet I make something really special. I really prefer the recipes from Wheat Belly cookbook, using stevia, I have very little insulin response, and then crave far less sugary crap during the week.

JMO.

I do still go overboard with sugar. Hoping that evens out a bit as time goes on! I do the "something special" but tend to also add things on impulsively.

Strawberry Roan wrote:I learned early on that two S days could undo five N days so I try to just keep each day moderate as much as possible.

I think that is why so many people say they actually look forward to being back on the N days, they feel better being in more control. I know I do.

I do think that could easily be true for me! I don't have a great off switch, LOL! I don't so much miss the control of N days, but I do feel a lot better physically when I don't over-eat. I think the thing that's mainly on my mind now though is having to re-do the mental work every week, rather than it seeming more normal to follow regular eating patterns.

oolala53 wrote:I gently suggest that you really try to consider just how bad the experience is. Is it so terrible to think more about S's right after S days? There is value to avoiding triggers but there is also value to experiencing them and resisting. In fact, learning to resist the temptation to be immoderate on S day and after S days can be very powerful. Yes, it's convenient if we just aren't tempted, but it's very hard to control whether that happens, too.

But, if you really dislike having to put up with desire, and it seems it's worth the trade off of the pleasure you would miss, have at it. I couldn't imagine giving up the overages on sweets on S days for a LONG time, even though I felt cruddy all day long on Sundays. (Cruddy enough that N days were welcome.) But I finally did get tired of it, mostly.

Oh I know I'd still think about sweets on N days--and I'm not thinking of giving those up (though I do hope to tire of them and lower the number soon, LOL!)--but I'm more thinking about the rhythm of eating--I just start to think it's normal to eat 3 meals a day and then go back to eating how I used to always eat (any and all times of the day/night) and then it throws my thinking and my physical appetite off so that I have to retrain it every week to not eat at night, or not associate being on the computer with eating, etc...

I definitely had the experience of being hungrier on Mondays at the beginning. Now I am more likely to have most of my 'treats' on Saturday, and a fairly moderate Sunday - then on Monday I'm glad to be back to N days! My current method is to have a 'stash' of sweet things or savoury snacks, that I keep on a top shelf to enjoy on S days (if I want to). The craving for sweets has diminished hugely. I hope this happens for you too.

This may or may not be true, but I've heard it's actually really good for your metabolism to have a couple days where you eat more than the others. If you read about Taylor Swift's diet, that's what she does, and look at how amazingly thin she is! But I could be totally wrong. Anyway tomorrow is SSSSaturday and I'm sure many of you (Certainly me!) can't wait! Happy Friday peeps!

Merry wrote:I think a lot more about snacks/sweets on the N days right after S days. It's like I have to tell my mind to tell my body all over again--not today. I almost think I shouldn't snack on S days--it's like they throw me into my old mindset again.

I know this is an older post, but I had my first Monday Morning After this week and I definitely was in a different mindset than a usual N-Day. "So wait, I could have whatever I wanted whenever I wanted yesterday, but now I have to wait for meals?"

I won't give up snacking and the other S's on Sunday though. Inner beast is just going to have to deal.

I love the S days gone wild podcast for reinhard's take on this. I really dislike my more permasnacky weekends (usually Sundays), and over time have slowly leant more towards meals regardless of the day.

I know the book doesn't have it in the title, but the website says Sometimes. My ultimate goal is to honour that 4th S.

I should add that despite wild weekends and permasnacky Sundays, I still lost and maintained my loss on No S. If you're strict on N days and limit what counts as a NWS day, it is possible.

Merry, how are you feeling about this after a few months of No S? Is it not so much of an issue? There's no obligation to eat just because we can on S days. The motivation NOT to feel nagged by desire on N days is a perfectly valid one, IMHO, to take SOMETIMES very seriously.

oolala53 wrote:Merry, how are you feeling about this after a few months of No S? Is it not so much of an issue? There's no obligation to eat just because we can on S days. The motivation NOT to feel nagged by desire on N days is a perfectly valid one, IMHO, to take SOMETIMES very seriously.

Yes, much less of an issue now, for a combo of reasons:

I think when I first started, I felt a need to try to eat all the things I didn't eat all week long (extra snacks, lots of sweets etc...), and also to go back to previous habits (basically, eating whenever I want instead of meals--mainly permasnacking type habits).

Over time I started to realize...I don't feel that great when I snack all day. I don't feel that great when I eat tons of sugar either. It's starting to sound less like a good idea.

That and now it has become more of a habit to eat meals--so I mainly just keep eating meals. I might have a snack here or there on S days, but most of the time, snacks don't have that same pull. I'd rather wait for a meal.

ironchef wrote:I really dislike my more permasnacky weekends (usually Sundays), and over time have slowly leant more towards meals regardless of the day.

I know the book doesn't have it in the title, but the website says Sometimes. My ultimate goal is to honour that 4th S.

I should add that despite wild weekends and permasnacky Sundays, I still lost and maintained my loss on No S. If you're strict on N days and limit what counts as a NWS day, it is possible.

I lost with wild and permasnacky S-days too. And not that I don't still occasionally have one--but much less so now. I'm with you--I just don't enjoy the more permasnacky days the way I used to (or thought I did--once I started to realize how often I overate and how it made me feel, it made me more conscious that I really did NOT enjoy that "freedom.")

I also lost weight at first with crazy weekends. But as I got closer to a normal weight, that didn't work anymore.

For me, the one S on S-days that helps me the most is no snacks. It cuts out a lot of junk, because once I start snacking I can't stop. Then I'll long for that sane Monday on Sunday, but on Monday, I'll wish it were still Sunday.

This is exactly the process of changing appetite as opposed to consistently enforcing specific limits. In a way, overeating in the beginning is not throwing us off because it allows a kind of learning that is very hard to get any other way. Making a decision to rein yourself in because you just realize it feels better to do it is gold.

I don't think I've done S days like most. I've kept my n day rules in mind on S days. I just went on vacation & dropped all rules thinking "how much damage could I do in just 5 days". Boy was I wrong. I didn't do well at all. It kind of ruined what should have been enjoyable. I didn't need to be healthy on vacation but dropping all rules turned it into something where I was constantly grabbing "one last thing" from the buffet because I COULD, not because I actually wanted "one last thing". Food quit tasting good & I came out of the whole experience realizing I do much better with guidelines. My S days have no rules but I do create some lines in the sand so that I don't go overboard & end up being miserable because of S days. Overindulging isn't actually enjoyable. Food quits tasting as good & I'm left feeling really icky. I need to have a "don't cross" line even on S days. It's just better for me!!

You did cross the line and found out pretty quick you don't like it! I really think it's now or later! I guess I believe regret is actually pretty useful. Nearly everyone here long term goes through the experience of pushing the envelope, and making new, committed refinements.


From a reformed S day "idiot." Though I didn't kid myself. I did it on purpose. I really didn't want to be moderate on S days at first. I got over it!