Everyday Systems

It's happened... I waited long enough and a book deal fell in my lap.

And not just any book deal: it's from a real, top flight madison avenue publishing house, and an editor who digs crazy (she also edited the Shangri-la diet).

The downside (besides a ton of work): it's going to be until spring 2008 until it hits the shelves.

I've got plenty of ideas, but I could use plenty more (have you ever seen a diet book without loads of disgusting recipes to fill it up?) so don't be shy about letting me know what you'd like to see there.

Now keep losing weight! We need more testimonials!

Reinhard

(P.S. I've known about this for a few weeks, but just got clearance to announce it)

Whoa! That's really incredible...and I wish you the greatest success. I just hitched my star to your wagon, but I will say I think the best thing you have going for you is your down-to-earth sensibility combined with your willingness to display your sense of humor. Most of these diet books take themselves w-a-y too seriously--the books normally suck while the plans themselves suck the life out of you.

I've read the transcripts for your podcasts (over and over and over again), and if I were going to give you any advice it would be: write like you talk. Then your book will not only be filled with valuable, life-changing information--it'll be a good read!

Congratulations, Reinhard.

Wow, Reinhard! That's great! Congratulations and lots of success with the writing.

(have you ever seen a diet book without loads of disgusting recipes to fill it up?)

I have an idea about recipes -- and since you said your editor likes "crazy" it might just work in a "diet" book. Have folks share favorite recipes that they had to eliminate on other "diet programs", that they thought they'd never be able to eat/enjoy again. While it might end up being all desserts, it very well may not.

Okay, now I know what I want for Christmas in 2008!

Reinhard, something I've thought about all morning since I first read your exciting post...

It's a quote from one of my favorite people in the world--Martha Beck: "When you're doing what you're meant to do, you benefit the world in a unique and irreplaceable way. This brings money, friendship, true love, inner peace, and everything else worth having. It sounds facile, but it's really true."

I think you are the living example of this and it makes me really happy for you and it fills me with hope for the rest of us.

Oh! And on another note, Martha's new book The Four Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace is coming out at the end of the month. Her sensibility and sense of humor are very similar to yours. I'm gonna order her book using your link to Amazon...

Congratulations! This is such exciting news. Is the book going to include all of your everyday systems, or just focus on No S?

You'd better believe I'll be buying a copy! And in a few months I'll have a great testimonial for you, too.

wosnes wrote: Have folks share favorite recipes that they had to eliminate on other "diet programs", that they thought they'd never be able to eat/enjoy again.

I think that is a great idea! I have several recipes that fit into this category that are not desserts. I mean: lasagna, rissoto, my grandmother's tamale casserole... there's a list of them!

And so it begins!!!!

{cue evil laugh}

--david

Congratulations. Even though this plan has such simple rules, you have changed my life. I have never, ever been at such peace with myself. The only modification I did to the plan was losing a total of 2.5 pounds per month - I weighed myself every morning and if I was at that weight or below I had a small treat that day. If I was over I could not. This helped to curb my "pigging out" mentality that I could not shed. I always, always stick to 3 meals a day. Also, after your third meal - brush, floss, pick and gargle - you will not want to eat anything else.

Now keep losing weight! We need more testimonials!

Well congratulations, first of all! But now that means I have until 2008 to pad my weight loss numbers... I've been at about 25 for too long now, something like 35 would certainly be better book material.

Yay! Congratulations!

We all have extra motivation now... those updated testimonials...

(PS - can we update them?)

What wonderful news!!! Congratulations. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
We'll all be able to say "we knew him when..."

Regarding suggestions... I thought about this off and on all day. I would vote to keep receipes out of the mix. That is the whole point and wonder of this diet. You don't need recipes, restricted foods or recommended foods. The beauty is you can use your own recipes, use your mother's recipes, eat out, eat at a friend's house. No rules about anything but sugar, snacks and seconds. The allure is the simplicity. If you start with recipes, you will have people saying you recommend eating this or avoiding that. I thought about what attracted me here and keeps me coming back. No counting, no specials foods, no obsession with what to eat or not to eat. Best of all, not feeling weirded out or left out of the fun at weekend parties, holidays, birthdays or at an unexpected invitation to supper. Cravings can be satisfied weekly without guilt.
For another focus, I would suggest to zero in on how well this way of eating fits in with any special diets or health conditions. If we want low fat, macrobiotic, vegetarian, fast food, heart healthy, organic, diabetic foods, it all works so well with this diet.
I personally turned from all other diets to this and will continue to stay here because we have a very active social life. We have people over a lot, eat out a lot and eat at functions and at other people's houses a lot. There is no diet on the planet but this one that makes that comfortably possible. I can eat in moderation whatever everybody else is eating. No guilt. For those of us who have been through the diet mill, you have no concept of how freeing and attractive that is.
Just some thoughts to help confuse you.

By the way, I agree with the rest of the group that initially, I was attracted to your sight by 2 things,(well actually 3). Your great sense of humor, the simplicity of the diet and that it was free. I couldn't believe that someone would do what you did and not charge. It meant you were the real deal. So I think your book should be free. (just kidding).

Best of luck and the others are right, I too have a year to become a testimonial and have my 15 minutes of fame.

I second the 'no recipes' motion. It really is one of the great things about the diet that we're free to eat whatever we want (in moderation) without having to eat specialty foods.

Congratulations

Thanks for the suggestions and encouragement!

The book will just be on No-s. If it sells, maybe there will be a separate follow up shovelglove book or an everyday systems compendium.

I don't think anyone here will be surprised by the book. It'll basically be the homepage (prints out at over 30 pages already!), plus stuff from the podcasts plus stuff from posts to the board here, plus a touch of fresh consideration, organized a little more methodically. If it winds up a little short, that's part of the appeal. I'd rather have the deal fall through than fluff it up with recipes and other junk.

And don't worry, No S will still be free -- the site will still be free and I'll give away the "secret formula" on the cover of the book. On one level it'll just be a glorified a glorified promotional product, like those refrigerator magnets and mugs I sell through cafepress (except hopefully I'll sell a lot more of them).

Regarding updating testimonials... email me any time. The worst thing about traditional testimonials is how stale they get. I like to have a bulletin board post to point to for context and "evidence," so the best thing would be to post it here somewhere, either in your check in thread or the main forum here (or should I create a dedicated testimonials thread? that might not be a bad idea...).

Reinhard

I agree with no recipes and I think a testimonials page is worth a whirl.

If some of us disrupt WW meetings, intercept NutriSystem shipments, and otherwise free people from their diet shackles can you put pictures in the book?

--david

Too cool!

I agree with no diets. (Freudian slip - I meant recipes, lol!)

And while I can't give you a major weight loss testimonial (I've lost about 8, and don't expect to lose more than 12 before I'm done), I can give you one one why this is mentally peaceful. And I'd love to see a chapter on that.

I've done WW. But I can't maintain on WW, because it takes too much ATTENTION. (When I was a kid and asked my dad for money, he'd joke "I'm so broke I can't even pay attention!" That corny line has become profound over time.) I don't have it in "regular life." I can do it for a super-human while, but that's IT.

With No-S, I don't have to. Plus... my whole relationship with food is changing. If I can have only one plate, then I ask myself at the beginning of a meal "how much needs to go on this plate?" I have tuned into my body's needs more than I have ever done before. In addition, I'm more relaxed about meals - no anxiously dissecting a restaurant meal to try to estimate calories. So, I get to relax about food, and enjoy it.

Still working on S-days - have a tendency to overeat still. But I have confidence that will get better over time.

Anyway, I think a chapter on the mental bit might be nice. And I think a number of us could contribute to that one.

Holy S!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reinhard I am totally bursting at the seams with happiness for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll write something very soon, or if you like you can put my original testimonial into the book, but I think it would sound much more interesting to hear that I have lost additional weight and also maintained my loss (within the usual 2 lb ups and downs each month), and been sticking with NoS for over two years and still not interested in finding some other bogus short term "solution" for the remaining weight I need to drop.. I just need to buckle down on the rules a tad and start moving my carcass a lot more! Heheh...

Wow Reinhard!!!!
A Good Publisher too???
That's phenomenal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And appropriate because you are way too classy to be shoved in between those National Enquirer diets at the supermarket!
I expect, when I get mine, that I will have an autographed first edition please

Maazel Tov!!!!!!!

Peace and Love,
Deb

What? No pictures of you shovelgloving?! Come on!

Seriously, CONGRATS!! Believe me, it is awesome to see your work in print.

This is wonderful terrific news! I will definitely be buying at least two copies.

No recipes! But comments from no-s people about specific foods they eat that help to fill them up and keep them going until the next meal might be useful.

Maybe you/your publisher could include a no-s refrigerator magnet in the book as a little extra attractive thing?

By all means, keep the book short, and make it a comfortable type size with some white space in and around the print.

This is going to be the diet book to end all diet books!!!

I can't say how incredibly happy I am to read this. This is a whole new motivation to get on track! Congratulations - you so deserve this, Reinhard.

Wow! Congratulations Reinhard!

I agree about something about mental health, being comfortable with yourself, mending relationships with food, that sort.
After reading a few posts here about how people (and myself) used food to push down feelings so we wouldn't have to feel them, has helped me learn to acknowledge those feelings, feel them, and move on with my day without resorting to eating a whole box of Ritz crackers or chips, etc.

Would also be good to include different people's interpretation of what a plate should look like (personally I like the 1/2 vegs/fruit, 1/4 protein 1/4 carbs, since I feel the best eating meals this way), and how to interpret S days- I had a hard time figuring out how I wanted to do S days initially. (though Sat was my first day on the noS diet and was also my first S day).

Being a newbie to this eating plan, I don't know if i have a whole lot to contribute just yet


One thing I DON'T want to see is pictures of nekkid, shiny, no body fat people for success stories. Not saying that it would be bad if noSers got that healthy but it's depressing when that is all the success stories that they would put in print. I want to see real people who still have lives other than protein powder and being gymrats for hours at a time. Because I always take one look at those pictures and know that I would never get THAT thin without an amazing amount of exercise, calorie counting, etc.
Anyway, just a rant there

Congrats and can't wait to see thebook in print!!

I was watching a show on tv about drinking too much alcohol, a push from the Belgian government to have people be more moderate, and they had lots of stuff about creating habits and planning and planning for contingencies and being strict with yourself that sounded really familiar!

What I'd like to see in your new diet book, Reinhard, is some nod to habit forming for us emotional eaters. I find that it hasn't been hard just to give up sweets, or only eat meals at mealtimes. My body has responded well and I only get hungry at those times now. If I didn't use food as a drug when the going gets tough, I'd be at the 21 days twice over! So what I'd like to read are specific strategies to overcoming what I feel are deeeeep habits, the ones we learn when we're babies and that are conditioned into us about food as solace, food as reward, etc.

Being strict does go a long way. I try to think of it as having a new mom's voice in my head saying that it's just not ok to eat between meals (something, god knows, my own mom has never said)-- but is there more? There has to be more...some way to deprogram those habits that have more to do with the mind than the body.

Hey Reinhard: Maybe your publisher could put a perforated page in the back with a 21-Day checklist on it. Then it could be removed and stuck on the fridge, so people can check-off their days to success.

Reinhard,

I agree with Jamin'Jan, but would go even further: A No-S workbook would be great. I imagine a 3 month habit forming calander with stickers (green, red, yellow--what else?) and a space to write a few comments. Even better, tips for every week, focusing on the challenges of the first few weeks, what to do when enthusiasm wears off, etc.

Z.

Renie, Renie, Renie....

This is such terrific news. I just found out this week by communication via Deb. (Your PR girl)

There is so much that I want to thank you for, but let me just say that I love No S and what it has done for my life. I can enjoy food without guilt and avoid that horrible cycle of feeling bad about eating, gaining weight and self deprivation.

I have modified your program because I was having a "small issue" with bread so I have included bread as one of my N's and only have it on weekends. Consequently, I have dropped another 5 pounds! (I have been trying to convert a cousin of mine to this way of thinking but she is still eating, feeling guilty and then going on cleanses!!! What hell. )

I have two suggestions for the book: I like when you talk about gluttony and also about history. I think gluttony has become an acceptable way of life for many Americans...yes, I know it's a "judgement" and people don't want to be judged but hey, I keep seeing all these fat kids around and it bothers me. As far as history, I liked hearing about the luddites, the ripped French miners (?) and plowing. I also want to read about portions in the 1950's vs now. That kind of stuff is important to people. Especially people who eat out a lot. (Like me).

Finally, who ever suggested the stickers is right on. Most people enjoy interactive things so that they can track their progress.

Hope you and your family have a terrific holiday season.

Fondly,
Dru

Reinhard, at the risk of sounding Grinch-like, I'd advise avoiding gimmicks. Please don't make this just-another-diet book. No S is so straightforward and simple that I would hope the book reflects that.

If you do decide to add food ideas, how about samples of our profitable plates-du-jour!

I wish you joy in this new venture.

I agree. I would rather see pictures or descriptions of plates than recipes.

Reinhard, have you been following Mark Forester's "tweaks" to No-S?

http://www.markforster.net/display/Show ... ryId=75905

I think a chapter on how people customize it to work for them would be useful. Because part of its success is that it's simple, but that it leaves room for the user to learn about what works for them. You can combine it with other things you find helpful. (For example, I have other "rules for eating" that aren't No-S, but work very well with it - divisions of the plate, minimum number of fruits/veggies per meal, that kind of thing. But I've been doing them long enough that they're second nature anyway. Snacks and sweets were my real downfall.)

The idea of "keeping the big picture in mind" is key in customizing, though. And not adding too many rules at once - the "plain vanilla for 21 days" approach is probably best!

So maybe a chapter on "what did you learn?" and "ideas for day 22 and after" might be good. ) If you want to get into book layout marketing tricks, that section could be sealed separately, to be opened at day 21. (Okay, that's a little over the top... just having fun with the idea.)

I agree with KCCC, as long as the readers don't get the idea that you can waffle on your own rules. (I use the No-S structure not AS much as a weight loss tool as a way to manage my blood sugar. So I'm more rigorous about what I eat but I'm a little less rigorous about how much I eat.)

But what Reinhard's plan gives me that's invaluable is a way of looking at the rules of my eating, the idea of personal responsibility and being strict. That has to come through first and foremost if any "advanced concepts" are to be integrated...

Zoolina, you're exactly right. The idea of leveraging habits to overcome the constant battle with willpower is HUGE. That, and addressing 80% of the problem in a liveable way rather than 100% in a way you can't live with.

The "strictness" podcast is my favorite. I've listened to it several times, and get more each time.

Those ideas come first. Once you have that, you can tweak the rules to fit your needs - as long as you stay strict.

The best part of the book deal is that it will reach a whole new group of people.

Reinhard - I wanted to let you know that the "Natural Cures" guy says nearly the same thing you do - but with more crazy naturalistic (for lack of a better word) methods on top of you common sense. Also... Dr Oz (from Oprah) book (YOU: ON A DIET) says alot of the same things that you do..but theirs is backed up with medical evidence. You just winged it! LOL
Congrats my Yogi
If you offer it here I will buy it here.

PS: No one I know follows the recipes in diet books.

Here's something I've been thinking about in terms of No S, and I think it would make a good addition to the book. Foregive me if it's been covered elsewhere and I missed it.

Some time ago someone on this board asked whether they could "shift" S days for N days. That is, get to eat snacks and sweets on a Thursday, say, in exchange for not doing so on the following Saturday.

Most people advised against this, but I have a good explanation as to why that I haven't heard formulated elsewhere.

With the non-shifting way, you have a MAXIMUM of two days a week where you can snack and have seconds. Maybe you'll use both of them; maybe you won't. However, if you shift the days so that there are ALWAYS two days where you splurge, then that will be a lot more calories over the long term.

This is especially true because you'll be most likely to decide to shift days when presented with a great opportunity to splurge, like, say, a desert buffet. You can justify this to yourself by saying that you are just shifting days, but in reality there is not a 100% chance you'd find the same desert buffet on the weekend, so you're behind in the calorie game.

Apologies for the time taken to reply, but well done. Your non-confrontational writing style will produce a diet book that many will enjoy reading, though filling a whole book may be difficult with that knack for succinctness. Oops, too many complements came out there. I'll have to watch that.

I'm overwhelmed by all these suggestions! Thank you! I keep meaning to sit down and respond to them all but I think I'm going to have to pick them off one by one at this point. Stay tuned (and keep em coming!).

Reinhard, your advice to CarrieAnn on 1/6/07 should also make it into the book. Flesh it out a little, it's great.

I joined in Nov. but the last few weeks were a disaster for me, and I'm just now getting back to this BB. Wonderful news about the booK!

As for suggestions on the book, all of your postings on this site could be a goldmine of additional material for you or your editor to explore.

Secondly, I very much agree with someone who said please flesh out the historical stuff. There's an old thread here that's about the way people ate in decades past, 50's and before. I always find it so amazing, when you see old movies from the 50's and even later, how slim all of the movie stars were. Cary Grant in North by Northwest comes to mind, he wasn't a really young man at the time but had no fat at all on him. And I bet he didn't have a diet or exercise guru like they all do now. Somehow our "permissive" culture has made it much more OK to be out of control in all things, including overeating.

Here's another vote for no recipes, recipes are simply everywhere already IMO.

Rollo

on the book deal. No-one could deserve it more and the world will definitely be an even better place with your book in it. You will reach a whole new group of people - those who need to have a book in hand to believe a program. I have lots of friends I will be buying this one for.

Stick to your wonderful writing style and this will be a hit of note.

Congratulations again and don't get too stressed out on this journey - take time to enjoy the trip towards being a published author.

Welcome back, mommashell!

As for wasting food, you're absolutely right: if you make your mouth the garbage disposal, you make your whole body a sewer. Now that's a waste.

Reinhard

You should definitely put this little gem into your book.

Congratulations!

I came back to share some good news and heard some instead!

Good luck! I doubt you'll have the problem most beginning writers have (lack of willpower to get it done).

This is a fun article on diet books:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 42,00.html

--david

That's awesome!!

IMHO you should include LOTS of the nitpicky questions people ask here about the tricky gray area situations... Frankly something as simple as No-S can be very hard to comprehend when you have done Weight Watchers, Body for Life, The Formula and on and on. If it wasn't for these boards and reading lots of back posts, I'd have been very very confused trying to apply this system.

Here's hoping you become a bestselling author- I think the world needs your message!

i have heard that if you eat like a normal person, then you will look like a normal peson...

something that is very helpful to me it reading what other people eat in a day-- maybe you could include some members food plan for the day

maybe you could put an example of menus for different members
based on their age, sex and size

i need to eat more like jammin jan and pangelsue than some of the larger fellows in the group

.. you are doing a great thing here

i can't wait to buy the book !

Donna O

i have heard that if you eat like a normal person, then you will look like a normal peson...

something that is very helpful to me it reading what other people eat in a day-- maybe you could include some members food plan for the day

maybe you could put an example of menus for different members
based on their age, sex and size

i need to eat more like jammin jan and pangelsue than some of the larger fellows in the group

.. you are doing a great thing here

i can't wait to buy the book !

Donna O

i have heard that if you eat like a normal person, then you will look like a normal peson...

something that is very helpful to me it reading what other people eat in a day-- maybe you could include some members food plan for the day

maybe you could put an example of menus for different members
based on their age, sex and size

i need to eat more like jammin jan and pangelsue than some of the larger fellows in the group

.. you are doing a great thing here

i can't wait to buy the book !

Donna O

I have been away for a long time, and logged on tonight because I re-read my diary from the 20 full days I spent on NOS a couple of years ago, and was drawn again to a program that gave me peace of mind around food for the first time in my life.

Even before logging on, I had decided to resume NOS starting today, but the opportunity to be of help to you gives me even more determination. I am starting RIGHT NOW, will weigh myself first thing in the morning, and will work hard to provide you with an inspiring testimonial, complete with pictures.

Better than that, this is an area which, as it happens, I am actually knowledgeable about. I never mentioned it when I last participated in this forum, but in the mid-1980's, I wrote a best-selling diet book, giving the details of the diet that had helped me lose 140 pounds. My book was on the New York Times best-seller list for 13 weeks, and I had the good fortune to appear on Oprah Winfrey, Phil Donahue, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and was even interviewed by Lesley Stahl on Face the Nation.

I had 15 minutes of fame, and seven years of being thin, before I put every single pound back on and understandably sank into a deep depression. I regained the weight in 1990, and for the past 16+ years, have been trying without success to take it off. I haven't been able to believe in diets, or myself, for a very long time, but I DO believe that NOS has something extraordinary to offer.

I will be happy to give you all the tips and information I can, and I promise you (and I don't promise lightly) that I will give this program my very best so that I can be of service to you to promote this message.

J

Mondurvic,

Wow! That's incredible/sobering. Thank you for sharing that. I'd love to hear more details, but I don't want to pressure you.

There's an ancient Greek saying "call no man happy till he is dead." I guess one could also say "call no man thin till he is dead." I hope I'll still be thin and on no-s and posting here when I'm 120, but I'll be careful not to count my chickens till then.

Cautiously optimistic for both of us,

Reinhard

P.S. Thanks everyone again for all the suggestions and encouragement... I am absorbing this stuff. If I don't respond here it's not because I don't value your input, but because I actually have to write the book and I need to ration out my bulletin board time carefully. Keep it coming!

. . . to ask as much as you want about any aspect that interests you. This can be done either online, through private emails, or by phone. I have no secrets, and consider personal questions to be the most interesting.

I would respectfully recommend two things:

1. Make sure you have enough money to upgrade the server - or cover its administative costs, becuase the user group has got to be part of the deal, right?

2. I would structure the book as a series of your philoso-casts, sort of a series of gentle lectures. Your style is a big part of this success, I think, and I'd leverage it.

3. (Okay, I said two but I thought of a third.) Demonstrate how useful adaptations of the plan can make it yours: For instance, some weeks when I don't feel successful, I'll make the S day equal to only the Sabbath. For those of a more spiritual bend, this will reverberate.

I wish you joy and success. You deserve it! It's encouraging when good guys succeed.

mondurvic wrote:...I wrote a best-selling diet book, giving the details of the diet that had helped me lose 140 pounds.

Your diet book was one of the many that I read in the late eighties after I gained a lot of weight as a 17-year-old. Interesting that we should both find our way here to No S so many years later.

I also agree with all your points about No S'ing. It's the most practical, common sense approach to eating that I've seen in a long time. I can't wait to read the book. Hopefully by the time it's released, I will be another No S Diet success!

crackityjonesjr wrote:

mondurvic wrote:...I wrote a best-selling diet book, giving the details of the diet that had helped me lose 140 pounds.

Your diet book was one of the many that I read in the late eighties after I gained a lot of weight as a 17-year-old. Interesting that we should both find our way here to No S so many years later.

Ohhhhh, curiousity is one of my biggest weaknesses!

Hi there- I am new- and as you may have recently read- I wrote a low-carb cookbook (unfortunatly, i missed the boat as it came out after the "fad" had passed...sigh)... You are very smart to go w/ a major publishing house. It is so much fun to sell something you have written and created! Tonight actually im watching a series on young inventors- and then i fell upon this post. Great for you!!

This is a great diet- and will be a huge hit as a book- i just know it! I love this WOE already. Its refreshing and makes sense and I think people like your honesty (I know I did). It gives you credibility and people can trust what you are selling, even if you arent a certified nutritionist, Doctor etc. You are normal like us- been there, done that- and that is what makes it so great!

I come from a family of chefs, and after putting a ton of energy into my book, and we spent about a year creating the recipes I ended up missing the boat, and also by not going w/ a major publisher- it was an uphill battle. The kicker was that I had no trouble selling my book but it took so much $ in advertising, it didnt make sense. sigh. Good for you though- wish you all the best!!

ps--I know you also dont want to fill the book up w/ tons of recipes, but I think some recipes would be expected. I know people like to read the diet part, but some people like to flip through cookbooks even if they dont cook to look at the Purdy pics. Put pics- lots of food pics!!



~nicole

Recipes aren't really needed with No-S, but pics of plates of food would be fun. Just samples of N-day meals, to give people ideas.

A hugely piled-up plate would be nice to see, too, saying "You may not lose if you can ski down your plate, but you'll soon retrain yourself, establish better habits, and become ready to start eating less".

Judy

Hi Reinhard, I have been absent for a long while, but have decided to come back to the only sane and sensible diet around. I am so pleased for you about the book - you truely deserve it. Many many congratulations.

Kindest regards Daisy

Thanks again for all the suggestions and encouragement. Sorry I've been so lousy about posting the bulletin board recently but my first draft is due in 2 weeks and I'm scrambling to get it done. Wow am I sick of thinking about diet!

Reinhard you are the best!!!
Good luck!!!!!!
ps.. Heheh.. funny about being sick of thinking about diets! You should add that to your preface in the book.. People will laugh!

We are all totally excited and thrilled for you!!!!
I am very personally thrilled for you and so proud to have been part of this community (though not so much in the last year), and will continue to be part of it for my whole life!

This will be a very very successful endeavor my friend, and you will reach a big big audience I'm sure!
People need this system!
I expect to get an autographed first edition

Peace and Love,
Debs

ps--I know you also dont want to fill the book up w/ tons of recipes, but I think some recipes would be expected. I know people like to read the diet part, but some people like to flip through cookbooks even if they dont cook to look at the Purdy pics. Put pics- lots of food pics!!

Hi Nicole and everyone..
No disrespect at all intended, and I guess Reinhard will do whatever his soul tell him to, regarding this side of the book, but I personally would be totally uninterested in seeing pics of food or plates of food or whatever, unless it was done in keeping with the "Comic Pragmatism" model in mind..
I really love the fact that NoS doesn't dictate *what* we should eat..
Perhaps some plates of S's might be funny if they were all piled up, in some weird fashion, or maybe just showing a gargantuan portion, with clear disregard for "no vertical stacking" (maybe with a circle and line through it, ala the NoS logo) Or a side by side comparison of what a "normal plate" of food looks like, compared to an extremely overloaded one (really a grotesque picture would be cool! LOL)

I for one, don't want anyone but me, to tell me what I *should* be eating..
I love being able to make whatever choice I want on this plan, so long as it's not breaking an S rule..

Leave the choices up to the individual, that's the beauty of this which separates it completely from any other patented diets..
If too many specifics are dictated as to *what* we *should* eat, well then, sorry, but it starts to feel a little like that micromanagy boss we hate, and takes away, big time, from the empowering aspect of this plan that uses as it's main fuel, free will.

Maybe as a little tongue in cheek silliness, and as a nod to Reinhard, he could take a picture of his famous Black Bread and cheese breakfast and his Oatmeal lunch..
That at least would be humourous!

Peace and Love,
Debs x

I agree entirely with you Deb. As soon as a someone tells me what I can or can't eat then I start obsessing about that food. That is the beauty of this plan, no hard and fast rules (apart from the No S bit), so if I want to eat baked potato for breakfast, lunch and dinner I can - I don't have to start adding up all the grams of carbs or counting calories. This is what makes No S work - it can fit in with every eventuality.

If I want to find recipes, then I'll buy a cookery book, you don't need special recipes for No S, unless as you say its done in a humourous way.

By the way hope you an Ritchie are well - I haven't been here for a while, but have realised this is where I belong.

Kind regards Daisy

Congrats, Reinhard!

I've been away from the forum for several months, but just found out about your book deal. That's exciting!

Advice: Keep it simple. After all, simplicity is why No-S is so effective. Humor is good, too. Toward that end, I'd probably do something like this:


Chapter One: The No-S Diet

No Snacks, no sweets, no seconds, except (sometimes) on days that start with 'S'.

(page break)


Chapter Two: Further Thoughts On The No-S Diet

No Snacks, no sweets, no seconds, except (sometimes) on days that start with 'S'.

(page break)


Chapter Three: Refining The No-S Diet

No Snacks, no sweets, no seconds, except (sometimes) on days that start with 'S'.

(page break)



.... just to underscore the point. LOL Then from there, you can get into additional text.

Also, in my mind shovelglove and urban ranger are indelibly linked in my mind. So if it were up to me, I'd include at least a chapter on both of those. The beauty of ES stuff is that you can cover them pretty thoroughly in just a few paragraphs. At least give people a taste of them....

Again, congrats! And if Penguin finds themselves in need of a book design/layout subcontractor.... well, have them call me.

James,

Great to see you here again!

Thanks for the advice. It's been tricky trying to stay true to the simplicity of the plan while coming up with enough material to fill a book. I think I'm managing...

Reinhard

Somehow I found your plan.....no receipes but their favorites are needed. All you need to do is download what you have here. Don't add or take away, you are like a permission slip from the principal to go ahead and enjoy life.....and food....and excercize. I wish you the very best, and I thank you.....simply use all comments on your bulletin board to back up your plan.

Reinhard

I've not looked at the forum for a while and just saw this thread - great news. I hope it is a success and that there is scope of a compendium of some of the other systems in the future. Glass ceiling is a favourite at the moment.....

Chris

reinhard wrote:Thanks again for all the suggestions and encouragement. Sorry I've been so lousy about posting the bulletin board recently but my first draft is due in 2 weeks and I'm scrambling to get it done. Wow am I sick of thinking about diet!

Hello, Reinhard. I'm longing to know how the first draft went, or is going.

Do you have any idea of the timescale until the book is available?

Will it be published in the UK too, or just the US at first?

Hope all is going well.

Thanks for your interest!

I got the first draft in on schedule (March 1). My editor seems happy.... waiting for detailed feedback to start the next round.

Originally, I was told to expect publication in spring 2008. But things are moving pretty quickly so who knows, maybe it'll happen a little sooner than that.

Reinhard

I'm not sure about the UK... I'll ask.

reinhard wrote:Thanks for your interest!

I got the first draft in on schedule (March 1).

Originally, I was told to expect publication in spring 2008. But things are moving pretty quickly so who knows, maybe it'll happen a little sooner than that.

Reinhard

Congratulations! Great news. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in print.

Congrats! This is the other reason for my rejoining the group! See if they can possibly put this thing on shelves by January 1, 2008. You are guaranteed to sell a heap of 'em then!

haha.. Very true and good point Storm!
How are ya these days
Are you still flinging that 20 lb sledge around?!

Hey Rein, I was wondering how the publishers liked the first draft?
I am so rarely on the boards these days, but we are really sticking with NoS pretty well since the reassertion of rules.
I may only visit the boards rarely, but I am a life long Nosser and always will be, so don't think I've converted to any other diet plan or am following any new diet guru!
haha!

Hope they are treating you well at the publishing house, and hope you and the fam are having a great weekend!
Peace and Love,
Debs x

Yay!! I will be looking for it when it's released. Good ON ya, Reinhard!

Deb,

The editor claims to like it. Just started on the next and presumably final draft...

Glad you and Richard are still with it and doing well!

I understand that bulletin boards can be a bit of a distraction, but I'm happy you'll still be checking in from time to time. I always enjoy hearing from you.

Storm,

I'm ahead of schedule in terms of what I have to do, but I don't know whether that's enough to make a decisive difference. From what I've been given to understand, the initial estimate of spring 2008 still stands. Dead tress publishing is slow...

Reinhard

Reinhard, congratulations on finishing your first draft. That must feel great, especially with the good feedback. I am looking forward to seeing the "dead trees" version of your NoS plan.

I also just wanted to thank you for this site. Its an amazing thing you've done here - thanks for putting it out there for all of us to share.

Hey.. this is my first day here and with No S, but I feel welcome and comfortable enough to give you some pointers:

What hooked me in is that
1) You articulate in a clear, down-to-earth manner what each of us knows inside, but has lost touch with. What you're saying is just simply common sense and so it encourages my own common sense to come out of hiding. Hence, keep it down to earth.

2) You're funny. You strike just that right balance between sarcasm and sympathy. Hence, we can all relate to you.

3) Whatever you do, please please please stay away from the whole New Age spirituality BS. Stay away from language like "spiritual growth" or "finding inner peace", "accessing full potential" etc... You get what I mean?

4) And most definitely, no recipes. People hate being told what to eat, even if on the surface they think they'd like to be told what to eat. I love to cook and I've done lots of dieting in my life, and not once have I used a recipe from a diet book.

5) You have put your finger on something very important: It's not WHAT people eat. It's how, when, why, with whom, and how much that matters. Not a single diet book I know of has tackled these other, more salient, aspects of eating and weight management. So, continue to keep the focus off particular foods or kinds of foods.

That's all I can think of now, but will be back if anything else occurs to me.

AMEN to that, Lentilbean, AMEN!
That's exactly what made me start with it, too.

Hi Reinhard. I don't even know if you're still checking this thread, but it occurred to me that had I encountered this "diet" before your book deal, I would have suggested that you not call it a "diet" book. It's not really a diet, in the current sense of the word. It's actually "a return to normal eating". Its the "anti-diet diet".

There is a growing movement of people, mostly women but also men, who are trying to change their relationship with food and learn to eat intuitively. But there seems to be a gap there (almost a power vacuum), where traditional diets are being condemned and eschewed without something to begin taking its place. A lot of people, especially people recovering from eating disorders, actually have no idea what it's like to eat like a normal person, and that is what the No S Diet ultimately is.

In psychology there is this notion that you do not remove a defense unless you have built, formulated, created something else to take its place. There are dysfunctional defenses and healthy ones. It seems to me that the No S Diet could be the healthy defense that people with ED's and otherwise food issues need to bridge the gap to recovery.

Just some thoughts...

I'm still reading -- I just have to limit it to 15-20 minutes a day until book and baby are safely on their way.

Thanks for the advice! Don't worry, there will be no "new agey bs." This is old school, not new age.

Reinhard

I really liked SteveCooper's response to the honey question, and was wondering if you might put this in your book: http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1962

This is a great quote... thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Just in time, too, my next (last?) draft is due tomorrow.

Thanks again Steve and Jan!

Reinhard

Congratulations on the book Reinhard! I can't think of a greater person for this to happen to. I think you are standing on the brink of fame and fortune! Think of the millions of people around the world that you will be helping (in addition to all those you already are)! My only regret is that I won't have a testimonial soon enough so that I could be a very small, tiny, part of your book!!!!! Maybe in the sequel? Sincere best wishes!
mimi

hey reinhard, i also want to congratulate you, i have spent so much money on diet products and books in the past. and you gave this wonderful plan to us for free. i must say, i bet i was the hardest one to sell with this, and the main person to fight this and quit and come back, i just couldnt stay away. i knew this plan was best for me, but i am just such a hard head and was afraid of failure again, with this plan and how you worded everything just makes so much sense that it had me coming back.

i too am sorry i wont be in the book, because for 10 yrs i have been fighting the yo yo dieting and depriving myself and never succeeding. for this to be finally working for me and really helping me control my binge eating disorder(self diagnosed) it is and outstanding way to lose weight. and the most enjoyable way i have ever lost wt.

while it took me 6 wks to lose 10, having gone off plan a couple of times, and coming back, YOU have finally helped me to realize losing it slower is better, especially if you dont feel like you are starving.

SO, THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH.!!!!! i am here to stay and i will surely let everyone i know about this plan and tell them to buy the book.

Thank you for your kind words, wantobehealthy (you too, mimi)!

I am so happy you kept bouncing back and are now seeing good results.

Keep at it -- if there's ever a "new updated version!" I'll make sure to squeeze you both in

Reinhard

cool, i would be sooooooooo happy to share my story. even though i am at the beginning of it, i know i will be a success !!

NoS is the best!!!!
There's nothing else like it and never will be!!!!!
We are all so lucky to have found it!!
It's a blessing!!!!!
Thank God for it and Reinhard!
Yay!!!!!!!!!!!
Vive La NoS Revolution!!!!!!!!!

Peace and Love,
Debs xo