Everyday Systems

Hi! I don’t know if this has been asked before (the search function isn’t really working for me), but I’m curious as to what other people consider “special” days. From the summary of the no s diet, birthdays of close friends/family and holidays are the obvious ones, and vacations are sort-of s days. What else do you guys consider a “special” day vs. a random event?

Too many special days and they aren't "special" any more. . . they're just days.
1) Birthdays of people I'm actually celebrating with. If they aren't in the room with me, there is no reason for me to celebrate.
2) Holidays that mean something to me personally.
That's it. Anything else and I'm just looking for an excuse. I've never even understood "sick". If I"m sick why do I need extra food? And it' pretty easy to stick with no-s while on vacation. But you do have to plan ahead during the actual travel time.

Hope this is helpful,

I read somewhere on this forum that 2 "special" days per month are smiled upon. So at the beginning of the month, I plan two days. Last month it was my birthday and our Easter party at work. This month it's memorial day and out monthly birthday celebration at work. If there's a month when I have more than 2 contenders, I'll try to just pick two, but won't be too strict if there are 3 occasions that feel really special.

After many years, a guiding principle is NOT to look for excuses for special days, meaning the S element of the day should be very important if I'm going to declare it NWS. It's often possible to celebrate even without S's, though for us sweet lovers, more challenging, but I've found that is mostly in my mind. It's a learning curve to figure out what extras are enough for long-term satisfaction with the program. And even that morphs.

Is that fuzzy enough for you?

My birthday
My kid's birthday
My boyfriend's birthday

Sometimes these fall on a weekend, so I don't have to claim them.

I also take Halloween, Christmas, Hannukah night 1, Thanksgiving, and Valentine's Day. Then I sometimes take an S Day for an event that I'm hosting (e.g., I have a cocktail party and want to eat the hors d'ouvres) or for a friend's birthday party. Although sometimes I go to the friend's party and skip the cake. For most of these days, I try to eat the first two meals normally, with no sweets, and just confine the sweets or snacking to the actual party. Sometimes I just let the snacks be my dinner.

Then there are usually some things I consider special that crop up. This year, I did an overnight relay, running 17 miles, and the first day was a Friday. I ate whatever I wanted that day and night.

What does NWS mean? I'm sure it's in the book but I don't know where.

NaomiShambles wrote: ↑

Thu May 02, 2019 2:26 am

I read somewhere on this forum that 2 "special" days per month are smiled upon. So at the beginning of the month, I plan two days. Last month it was my birthday and our Easter party at work. This month it's memorial day and out monthly birthday celebration at work. If there's a month when I have more than 2 contenders, I'll try to just pick two, but won't be too strict if there are 3 occasions that feel really special.

Love this idea!

Gabby said -

What does NWS mean? I'm sure it's in the book but I don't know where.

Non-weekend S Day.

Thanks!

Right now? Apparently everyday.