Everyday Systems

Am curious - do most of you stick to 3 meals even on S days (even though you could eat anything you wanted)... ? It's kind of weird that I'm gravitating towards that, but not sure if that's part of the obsessive diet thought process I've cultivated for over 30 years. (Amazing, the need for rules, counting and worry are Hard habits to break.)

Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. It kind of depends what else is going on. But I will say that on the S days where I have my meals and add a snack or dessert or whatever, that I have a much better day! I feel better physically and mentally. There is little to be said for continuous snacking, even when you "can"!

Perhaps that's what the book meant about 'balancing out' your habits. You begin to see some carryover.

Yes I think that the hope is that the N day habits will carry over to S your S days so, if that's happening to you, it's a positive sign! A lot of us, including me, have the opposite problem of permasnacking all day. It's not very fun after awhile and I've had to implement some structure.

So I'd say you're doing great but do think about relaxing the rules a little like planning a special treat each day perhaps.

Linda

hmm. reading your posts i came to realise that we always had kind of a n-day-structure on weekends (3 meals, dinner maybe smaller) plus the goodies from an s-day (sweets/treats with tea).

it has always been the weekdays that troubled me - irregular eating, emotional eating, seconds/overeating.

now that i have some structure in my n-days i find this helps on s-days too: in portion size and that i just cannot bear feeling stuffed anymore. and that too many sweets give me slight heartburn.

...

red, i don't quite understand why gravitating towards structure even on s-days worries you?

Hmmm good question...

I've been dieting for so so long, with ingrained habits - I often question my own tendencies. AND I wanted to ensure that I wasn't diving down another food-control, slightly obsessive path. It's very hard to let go of the stainless steel grip I've had on my food intake (Unsuccessfully I might add, or I wouldn't be here) over the years.

AND being new to No S - I was just curious if others were experiencing it... it just confirms the verbiage in the book.

Sorry - am an engineer - and tend to .... over-analyze and speculate ad nausea. LOL.

I've been doing No S since last June, and been all over the place with S days. At first I had things I definitely knew I wanted to eat on an S day (sweets, snacks, cakes etc) - then I started feeling a bit unsatisfied with the chaotic eating at the weekends. Now I find that I plan three meals on S days, and include sweets, snacks as I want them - but my dilemma currently is that if I eat those snacks and sweets I find I don't want my meals! So I'm trying to a bit more planned about my S day treats...... and having more fresh, light meals - like salads in between. I think you have to keep experimenting until you find what works best for you. It depends on your lifestyle - I know that some people enjoy using their S day freedom to go out for a meal - for me it's usually more like having some ice-cream or chocolate during the day - or baking a cake!

In engineering terms, perhaps you might think of a modern electrical system which has multiple options - turning bits on/off as required.

"Habit is overcome by habit." (Desiderius Erasmus) (and quoted by Reinhard in his book.)

so just stick with it, have fun with it and i guess somewhere along the way you'll find a happy balance.

happy monday!

On my first real S day I broke all three No-S rules and not only hated the feeling of being out of control again, but couldn't get back in the swing on Monday (which felt like the worst day a dieter ever had). It shook my whole faith in the No-S Diet to the point I tried several times but couldn't really start back up until recently when I decided I would at least stick to the no snacking rule on S days.

I like that word permasnacking used earlier. That's me. I can eat all day long, but it isn't fun like it sounds.

I'm a few days in to this current try and I feel really positive about it.
If you need one too, you'll find your personalized No-S with a little trial and error, I'm sure. I figure if it takes a few weeks or months to figure something out that works for the long term, those weeks/months were well used.

I want my meals a day habit to stick with me on the weekend. Because 2 days of allowing myself to do whatever I want with food ends up with me fighting for a good 3-4 days during N days to keep on track.