Everyday Systems

I have found that revisiting Reinhard's home page is very helpful. It helps remind me why I need to stay the course here. Here is something in particular:

1) Ask yourself if you can imagine staying on a particular diet for the rest of your life. If not, don't bother starting, it is a waste of time and will.

I have to repeat that one over and over.

Every diet I have ever been on has been painful. I couldn't wait for it to be over. This one has several pluses:

1) no one has to know you are doing it (nosey co-workers)
2)you don't have to eat or cook separate meals from your family (biggie)
3)you can attend social functions and restaurants without panicing or looking like a freak (I have actually gone to restaurants with a food scale)
4)you don't have to spend hours from your precious life counting and measuring
5) you can walk, without buying fancy and expensive gym memberships or equipment
6)you never go "off" this way of eating, so you don't have the tremendous guilt
7)you don't have to eat prepackaged, tasteless, microwavable diet food
8)you don't have to eat non fat cheese (which is disgusting)
9)you don't have to eat diet bars or shakes (hate these)
10)no panicing in the supermarket, visiting 5 different stores, obsessively reading food labels and calculating calories, points, sugars, carbs, salt, etc. etc.

Yes, this is the sane choice

P.s. This one is a big, big one for me: You can cook normally. I love to cook as a hobby, and it is just no fun when on a strict diet.

every single one of your points hit home for me! I was on the verge of starting a low carb crash diet before I stumbled upon this site. In the past, I tried to embrace intuitive eating, but I am just too overweight and at risk healthwise for me to be embrace those principles without feeling guilty for my lack of progress. I frequently find myself drawn to whatever diet promises the most weight loss, but I never get or keep the weight off.

I want to do something for me, that will not drive me insane and that I can easily do for the rest of my life without feeling like an absolute weirdo. (I can't imagine what your servers thought of your food scale!) I want to let go of my love-hate relationship with food and just be.

Reinhard's principles are simple enough and I am not going to overthink them. I am just going to do them, track my successes and keep it moving. I'm excited!

You both have captured the truth and beauty of No S so well! I couldn't have said it better. It IS a way of eating that is sustainable over time, and it truly does help to ease the love/hate relationship with food that so many of us have developed over time by dieting. It is such a joy to live without food turmoil and eating guilt - this alone makes it worthwhile for me. If I lose at a rate of 1/2 pound a week as I have been, I'll eventually reach my goal - only this time I'm not in any hurry. I'm going to enjoy my life as I do it. And you're right, milczar, we can cook from our favorite cookbooks - not some crazy diet cookbook! I love it!
mimi

Mimi, I love what you said about enjoying yourself while your doing NoS. I was just thinking that it is important for me to enjoy myself while I am on my "weigh" to that plateau Reinhard spoke about.

In the past, my thoughts have been filled with what I am going to do when I lose weight - and there are some things I really won't be comfortable doing until I get some of the weight off - but there are so many things that I've been putting off until I lose the weight that I can do right now. I am planning to enjoy doing them along the way!

Well June has been bumpy for me. Lots of stress and lack of sleep with the kiddos but anyway...

One thing that I have to repeat to myself is that:
The next meal is not that far away. 3,4 hrs w/out food won't kill me.

I HATE that bloated gassy, overful fatigued feeling I get when I reach for a snack during the day. Unfortunately there's been a lot of snacking for me all June long I think just so I can stay awake! LOL

I do need to go read the first page, it's always refreshing.

The thing about noS is it's sane and simple (more s's there ) I have also let planning my s day treat slide, and I think that was holding me together, looking forward to that one special, decadent dessert. And with dh's pessimist attitude toward sweets anyway, I get to feeling guilty about having any dessert at all and that's when things also start to unravel for my N days.

Anyway, it's always good to remind oneself, isn't it?