Everyday Systems

I have been checking out the No S Diet, seems logical to me. Here is my problem, I get up really early for work 4am, work as an electrician. Anyways, I have a very early breakfast, and "lunch" around 9-10am. I don't usually eat dinner until about 7pm. Normally after a day of walking around back and forth, up and down ladders, lifting, pulling, etc....I come home around 3pm and am usually starving. Normally I'll have a snack(usually trail mix or an apple or something), I see that the No S Diet wants you to avoid this. Problem is, it can be 9hrs. in between meals. That is quite some time to go without anything to eat, any suggestions?

Thanks.

Hi there! And welcome to No S! There's a great bunch of people here, always willing to help and offer support.

With No S, it does not stipulate that you are restricted to 3 meals per day. (And I got that from reading one of Reinhard's responses to a similar question.) As long as you avoid snacking, sweets, and seconds, 4 meals is perfectly reasonable. You may wish to, after you've developed the No S habit (which is estimated to be around 21 days), to keep your portions down. At first though, it's best to have your one plate of food at each meal, but to not worry about portion size. Some No S people talk about another S: stacking, and at first it's OK to stack your plate, especially if you've been in the habit of snacking. Therefore, build the habit of no snacking, etc., and then you'll find yourself making adjustments like portion size.

Congratulations Gravy! And keep posting!

Hi- I have a similar timing issue with meals during the school year. (I teach middle school.) My husband and I get up at 4:30 AM and he's out the door at 4:50. My school lunchtime isn't until 12:45. What I decided to do is eat a bigger breakfast with my husband, but wrap up part of it to eat about 8 AM just before the kids come in. I make a lunch and make sure that there are things in it that are easy to grab (like half an apple or celery sticks and peanutbutter or half of my sandwich.) I save some of my lunch to eat when school gets out at 3. It's fudging on the no snacking rules a bit, but I make sure that the amount of food is what I would have eaten anyway if I sat down to one plate of food for breakfast or lunch.

Hopefully this makes sense.

Monica

Welcome, gravysmothered.

Here are a couple of options: you could give yourself a forth additional mini meal. The pro is that it's minimally painfully and requires the least change to your current routine. The con is that that additional input opportunity makes your overall consumption more difficult to monitor.

Another option might be to skip the 3 PM snack eat an earlier dinner than 7, say at 5. Assuming that's possible for you, that's not crazy early for dinner, and spaces the meals out somewhat reasonably. I assume you go to bed pretty early to get up at 4, so it might even be nice to put some more space between dinner and sleep.

Best of luck, whatever you decide. Keep us posted.

Reinhard

I don't think you could go wrong with an apple and a handful of raw nuts.

--david

Mia, I know what you mean. My work hours are 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. Often I eat breakfast at 6:15 am, and then lunch is around 11:00 am. What I do is to only eat 1/2 of my sandwich at lunch, and then save the other half for after work. But I make sure I pack more than just a sandwich for lunch. I'll also bring salad or veggies & dip, plus a fruit. So lunch is 1/2 sandwich and everything else, and then the other 1/2 sandwich at 3:30 pm (I'll eat it just before leaving work). Then I can go home and not be ravenous, and later, around 6:00 pm, eat a healthy dinner.

A note about eating that 1/2 sandwich before leaving work: I used to think, oh I'll eat the other 1/2 sandwich when I'm home, and so I'd stick it in my fridge at home. What ended up happening was that after leaving work I was so hungry that I'd stop at the corner store near the office and buy a bag of peanuts, or chips, or sometimes a chocolate bar. I cannot get out into the "real" world with an empty stomach and expect that I won't be tempted.

Just my 2 cents.