Everyday Systems

This way of eating is qualitatively different from diets I've been on in the past. It has changed my relationship with food, and taught me lessons that seem to apply to other areas of my life as well. Some thoughts...(not grammatical or parallel).

1) 80% for the rest of your life beats 100% for two weeks
2) Good enough is good enough. Really. Perfection is not only not required, but can be very counter-productive.
3) Trust the process. Don't undercut it by putting restrictions on S-days. Just live with it and see what happens over time.
4) Relax about the details. If it's only one plate, don't dissect it, just eat it.
5) As counterintuitive as it sounds... if you're having trouble with S-days, the best strategy is to PLAN a wonderful, decadent treat. That cuts out all the perma-snacking on stuff-that-doesn't-really-satisfy. So...in other aspects of life, consider "what would be most satisfying?"
6) The one-plate rule has the side-effect of putting me in better touch with my body, b/c I have to ask "how full does this plate need to be?" In other words, "what do I want here?" That is a good beginning to asking that question elsewhere. Like, when I'm full and want to eat anyway... "what do I REALLY want here?"
7) It's okay to enjoy treats (on S-days). They taste better when they're truly allowed. (But that takes some getting used to.)
Failure is real but not defining. Accept, learn, move on. (This is the hardest for me - I keep re-learning it.)

I maintained my weight for years through a sort of armed truce with food - I didn't trust it or myself, so exercised constant vigilance. Now I feel that I've made peace with food, and some of the "lessons" are spreading into other areas of my life.

Some morning ramblings...

Hi!

Good post, I too have found that the No S diet and the idea of moderation has found its way into other areas of my life (e.g. generally being more disciplined, reducing caffeine intake etc.) It has made me think about habitual behaviour and taught me that habits can be changed. I've also found that not snacking has freed up time for other things, and not overeating means I have better energy levels, so it's all good

KCCC,

Thank you for posting these insights. Like most of what I've written on the nos home page, they may seem obvious in retrospect. But you have to earn that retrospect first, which it sounds like you have.

It's interesting that most of your insights have to do with managing failure. It really does seem like this is the hardest problem for most people. People are fine as long as they're doing 100% -- then the inevitable slip up happens and they unravel. It's not so much the failure itself as the reaction to the failure.

Reinhard