I have been doing No-S on and off for a few months, but recently decided that I am in it for the long haul, and I've begun my second week. However, my willpower is fading. I think it has to do with the fact that I did not really enjoy my S days---instead of eating what would truly satisfy my cravings, I just ate whatever because I could. I feel the urge to snack on junk food right now, but I know afterwards I won't be happy. For those of you that have adpoted the lifestyle, how long before it became second nature? And how do you structure your S days so that you get the most out of them?
Thanks in advance for the support everyone!
Struggling--help!
Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating
Some days are harder than others. Accept that, and remind yourself that you are "habit -building." (Reinhard's podcast on "strictness" is a great one for times like this.)
Stick with the letter-of-the-law, but (important!) put enough on your "one-plate" to feel satisfied and happy. "Enough" may mean a big stack, or it may be the foods you particularly love. Don't worry about weight loss at first - the habits are most important.
And plan a really good treat for the next S-day. That really helps me.
Also, you may want to look at the rest of your life. I had an out-of-control weekend because things are stressful at the moment, and this week has been harder than normal as well. So I'm looking for other things I can do to lower stress, BESIDES eating. On the weekend, I caught myself eating so I wouldn't have to figure out what to do next. When I realized that, I tried to either do the task I was dreading or consciously decide NOT to do it and move on to something else.
Hope some of this is useful. Good luck!
Stick with the letter-of-the-law, but (important!) put enough on your "one-plate" to feel satisfied and happy. "Enough" may mean a big stack, or it may be the foods you particularly love. Don't worry about weight loss at first - the habits are most important.
And plan a really good treat for the next S-day. That really helps me.
Also, you may want to look at the rest of your life. I had an out-of-control weekend because things are stressful at the moment, and this week has been harder than normal as well. So I'm looking for other things I can do to lower stress, BESIDES eating. On the weekend, I caught myself eating so I wouldn't have to figure out what to do next. When I realized that, I tried to either do the task I was dreading or consciously decide NOT to do it and move on to something else.
Hope some of this is useful. Good luck!
For me the first step to making No S a habit is to tailor my meal times to my existing habits, not someone else's idea of what my habits should be. So for example I'm a confirmed late-night snacker, but I have never been much of a breakfast eater. My three meals therefore are lunch, dinner, and "bedtime snack". This fits my natural habits well.
I also find it so important to establish the habits of fixed meals and no sugar/snacks before you start really trying to restrict what you are eating at each meal. Don't worry so much at first about how sky-high you pile your plate - make it more than enough to get you to your next meal. Even if you're eating a lot at each meal, you're still developing the healthy habit of no in-between meal eating. Once that habit is established, you can begin to look more at the amounts you have at each meal. I didn't lose much the first two months because I was still eating a lot at each meal, but after the three meal habit was established I began to cut down amounts at each meal and my weight loss picked up a bit.
I don't know what to tell you about S days. . .I sometimes veer into "idiot" territory during them, but that idiot territory is not much worse than how I used to live EVERY DAY before.
This may be a bit controversial, but I would hold off on heavy exercise until you get the No S habit established. Intense exercise can cause your blood sugar to drop quickly and make it harder for you to make it to the next meal without snacking. Once you're safely established in the habit you can begin to look at more aggressive exercise.
Finally, if at all possible, get lots and lots of sleep. I find that most of my major temptations come when I am not well-rested. Researchers are just beginning to document the many ways that sleep helps us to regulate our appetite hormones, so you should really consider your sleep habits as a part of No S (unfortunately, sleep is a GOOD "S", so it's hard to make it fit into the No S slogan!).
I also find it so important to establish the habits of fixed meals and no sugar/snacks before you start really trying to restrict what you are eating at each meal. Don't worry so much at first about how sky-high you pile your plate - make it more than enough to get you to your next meal. Even if you're eating a lot at each meal, you're still developing the healthy habit of no in-between meal eating. Once that habit is established, you can begin to look more at the amounts you have at each meal. I didn't lose much the first two months because I was still eating a lot at each meal, but after the three meal habit was established I began to cut down amounts at each meal and my weight loss picked up a bit.
I don't know what to tell you about S days. . .I sometimes veer into "idiot" territory during them, but that idiot territory is not much worse than how I used to live EVERY DAY before.
This may be a bit controversial, but I would hold off on heavy exercise until you get the No S habit established. Intense exercise can cause your blood sugar to drop quickly and make it harder for you to make it to the next meal without snacking. Once you're safely established in the habit you can begin to look at more aggressive exercise.
Finally, if at all possible, get lots and lots of sleep. I find that most of my major temptations come when I am not well-rested. Researchers are just beginning to document the many ways that sleep helps us to regulate our appetite hormones, so you should really consider your sleep habits as a part of No S (unfortunately, sleep is a GOOD "S", so it's hard to make it fit into the No S slogan!).
Maybe we could say "No Sleeplessness?"
I agree sleep is important, although I myself stay up too late working this afternoon evening shift now. I do generally get the sleep in though.
I do think it gets easier. I went back on NoS in late October and I am actually starting to feel less hungry. It does help that you can generally eat what you like, sugar aside. It definitely helps me. I do find that on S days I don't necessarily finish all the food in my meals now!
I agree sleep is important, although I myself stay up too late working this afternoon evening shift now. I do generally get the sleep in though.
I do think it gets easier. I went back on NoS in late October and I am actually starting to feel less hungry. It does help that you can generally eat what you like, sugar aside. It definitely helps me. I do find that on S days I don't necessarily finish all the food in my meals now!
Hi Jocelyn,
I'm in the same boat. Back and forth with No S, but right now very motivated to make it a habit.
I'm definitely eating a lot at each meal and it's hard because I'm not losing any weight. So it's nice to hear from others that this is a normal part of beginning NoS.
Also, in order to focus on habit and not weight loss right now, I have a new tag on my habitcal: NoWeighing (Except on the first of every month). I weighed myself last night and got so demotivated from not seeing the scale move that I started to consider a stricter diet. Yuck.
No Sleeplessness would be great, but with three kids under the age of 4 I'm not sure I could manage
Anyway, good luck..
Betty
I'm in the same boat. Back and forth with No S, but right now very motivated to make it a habit.
I'm definitely eating a lot at each meal and it's hard because I'm not losing any weight. So it's nice to hear from others that this is a normal part of beginning NoS.
Also, in order to focus on habit and not weight loss right now, I have a new tag on my habitcal: NoWeighing (Except on the first of every month). I weighed myself last night and got so demotivated from not seeing the scale move that I started to consider a stricter diet. Yuck.
No Sleeplessness would be great, but with three kids under the age of 4 I'm not sure I could manage
Anyway, good luck..Betty
This may be crude science, but it's a bio-metric of a sort.
I'm an insulin dependent diabetic. When I first did No-S, my basal insulin requirements stayed constant for awhile, then went down about 20%. That's also when I began losing weight.
I wouldn't be surprised if this is an indication that it takes a few weeks of reduced calorie intake for your body to get used to the idea that it should start burning fat.
I'm an insulin dependent diabetic. When I first did No-S, my basal insulin requirements stayed constant for awhile, then went down about 20%. That's also when I began losing weight.
I wouldn't be surprised if this is an indication that it takes a few weeks of reduced calorie intake for your body to get used to the idea that it should start burning fat.
Betty wrote:Hi Jocelyn,
I'm in the same boat. Back and forth with No S, but right now very motivated to make it a habit.
I'm definitely eating a lot at each meal and it's hard because I'm not losing any weight. So it's nice to hear from others that this is a normal part of beginning NoS.
Also, in order to focus on habit and not weight loss right now, I have a new tag on my habitcal: NoWeighing (Except on the first of every month). I weighed myself last night and got so demotivated from not seeing the scale move that I started to consider a stricter diet. Yuck.
No Sleeplessness would be great, but with three kids under the age of 4 I'm not sure I could manage :( Anyway, good luck..
Betty
Kevin
1/13/2011-189# :: 4/21/2011-177# :: Goal-165#
"Respecting the 4th S: sometimes."
1/13/2011-189# :: 4/21/2011-177# :: Goal-165#
"Respecting the 4th S: sometimes."
1, the three meals a day-make them proper. fill up your plate as much as you wish. and make sure it's something you enjoy even if it's fattening. so what!
2, make your s-days count. choose something you can really look forward to, and always, when you feel like breaking the rules, remind yourself of what's ahead on next s-day and think of how much better it would taste without the guilty feeling. it won't run away. it'll wait for you!
3, on s-days, try to break the rule only once or two times. that means you'd have basically an n-day but you can have one or two snacks, or a second and a snack... if you break the rule 3,4,10 times though, don't worry about it. that's what s-days are for. i try to have my treats in the evening. the later, the better. at least i don't feel tempted once i've had my share of indulgence.
4, every craving will pass if you resist long enough. half an hour is a maximum. you can get rid of it faster if you find something else to think about.
5, this one is advice they give you when you are trying to quit smoking and it works for nicotine and food addiction too; take it one day at the time. don't think of yourself as someone who'll never be able to smoke (stuff their face) ever again for the rest of your life. get a calendar a tick off every successful day (habitcal). count days. days, not weeks, months, years, you've been a non-smoker (nos-dieter). that way if you fail, you're not a failure for all your life. just for this one day. feels better
6, if you have something you shouldn't have had at a time you shouldn't have had it, it doesn't mean you can keep failing "because today i did it already". try to stick to the rules at least from that moment on. you don't have to spoil the whole day just because of one weak moment.
well, i think that's it. if i remember anything else i'll let you know:)
good luck to you
2, make your s-days count. choose something you can really look forward to, and always, when you feel like breaking the rules, remind yourself of what's ahead on next s-day and think of how much better it would taste without the guilty feeling. it won't run away. it'll wait for you!
3, on s-days, try to break the rule only once or two times. that means you'd have basically an n-day but you can have one or two snacks, or a second and a snack... if you break the rule 3,4,10 times though, don't worry about it. that's what s-days are for. i try to have my treats in the evening. the later, the better. at least i don't feel tempted once i've had my share of indulgence.
4, every craving will pass if you resist long enough. half an hour is a maximum. you can get rid of it faster if you find something else to think about.
5, this one is advice they give you when you are trying to quit smoking and it works for nicotine and food addiction too; take it one day at the time. don't think of yourself as someone who'll never be able to smoke (stuff their face) ever again for the rest of your life. get a calendar a tick off every successful day (habitcal). count days. days, not weeks, months, years, you've been a non-smoker (nos-dieter). that way if you fail, you're not a failure for all your life. just for this one day. feels better
6, if you have something you shouldn't have had at a time you shouldn't have had it, it doesn't mean you can keep failing "because today i did it already". try to stick to the rules at least from that moment on. you don't have to spoil the whole day just because of one weak moment.
well, i think that's it. if i remember anything else i'll let you know:)
good luck to you
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xJocelynx87
- Posts: 319
- Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:17 am
