Non Sweet Esses

[Murphysraven]

What are some of your non sweet Esses? Food that aren't based off sugar but you are trying to avoid eating.

For me the big non sweet noS food is french fries. I LOVE french fries. If I don't make this food an S I could see myself on bad days counting them as an acceptable meal. I don't go to many fast food places anymore, but it's so ingrained to have fries with a burger that I feel I should restrict it. Plus with many places offering a choice of sides, I think making fries and S will help me make healthier choices.

So with fries being an S, I am also going to limit the size I can have as a treat. There really is no need for me to eat the super size or basket of fries with my meal. I have some fries in my freezer at home that I enjoy, that are baked in the oven (I think they are called "crispers") I think they are a slightly better choice then fast food fries when I need a fix.

[roseha]

Murphysraven, I am so glad you brought this up. I have tried for a month at a time a couple of times to follow NoS and haven't lost any weight at all. I think it's the "other" stuff that's the problem.

I had half a mind once to start a thread here and call it "Fries, Egg Rolls and Samosas" Now strictly speaking they are not forbidden but really...they are really fattening. So I have been trying not to eat any of them on N days but .. there is a nice little Indian place near my job (I work till 10 at night) and their vegetarian combo is quite good. Some days I weaken and have the samosa though..I guess you can "virtual plate" it but I don't think that's working for me..

I am also trying to eat lunch at home more. I always find that eating it out gets to be tempting, perhaps that's also where I'm having problems. I want to get stuff that I wouldn't keep at home.

[rose]

Hi Murphysraven,

for me non-sweet S foods are those that make it too easy to overeat, that trigger binging behavior, or that I am afraid of from a caloric POV. The list of such non-sweet S foods has evolved during the past year, because my habits (and stomach size) have evolved.

Banana used to be an S food. Now I have listed it as an N food as long as I buy small ones and don't exceed 3 pieces a week.

Kebab too used to be an S. Now I consider kebab sandwiches with french fries an S, but kebab dishes (meat, salad, and wheat grain) are N food as long as I have it no more than once a week.

Peanuts and other apetizer foods still trigger binging. So I try to have some only when I am not alone - shame will hopefully keep me from binging on them.

Also I avoid pasta meals without vegetables, especially if carbonara sauce is included. Same with pizza. However both are not strictly speaking an S. So I can have them as long as the portion is reasonable and it doesn't happen too often. Actually I think I use them as a kind of N day congratulation food, when I feel especially good about my NoSDiet progress. (Or is that when I am subconsciously afraid of too fast a weight loss ?)

Conversely, a single cup of hot chocolate is technically an S, but I may have it on an N day if I feel really bad physically or mentally and/or bored out of my skull. However more than one cup is an S.

I must add that I roughly follow some nutritional guidelines in addition to NoS. So my N day meals are structured to include carbs, protein and veggies/fruit at almost every meal. There are some exceptions such as the N day congratulation food described above. But I have found that once you get used to eating veggies and fruit, you actually miss them (both in your mouth and in your intestines) when you don't have them.

PS: I think a side effect of such structured meals is that they prevent some excesses especially regarding cheese. I never have cheese as the main protein of a meal (except on some rare pizza or sandwich day). It is always an "extra", and therefore a very small piece is enough.

PPS I forgot to mention that I don't eat mcdonalds-type food anymore for various reasons. But if I did, I would use rules similar to the kebab ones.

[bonnieUK]

For me this also applies:

non-sweet S foods are those that make it too easy to overeat, that trigger binging behavior, or that I am afraid of from a caloric POV

Specifically peanut butter - I have had to make this an S because I like it so much that I have difficulty eating it in moderation. I have essentially had to ban it from my house. I haven't dared to by any since starting the No S diet, because I know I'll find it very difficult to only have it on S days
My husband is also very anti peanut butter and complains if I buy it (because he thinks it's one of the most fattening vegetarian foods around and that it has foiled his diet plans on too many occasoins!).

Cashew nuts are a kind of "semi S" for similar reasons, on N days I avoid them unless I'm using them in a meal recipe (e.g. in nut cutlets or as part of a pilaf or salad) I'll sometimes add them to my oatmeal in the mornings but have to resist the temptation to eat them by the handful as I used to!

[apple]

For me, S foods are artificial foods. Not 'real' foods like bread, fruit, vegetables, milk, butter, eggs, etc. but highly processed stuff. I try to avoid these when I can, within reason of course.

My sister once said: "if it has more than five ingredients, don't buy it"


Fried food is another thing, but since I don't have a frying pan and don't eat salty snacks anymore (on N-days) that is not a problem for me.

[reinhard]

I would be very careful about doing this. It's very easy to overburden yourself by adding extra restrictions.

I'd say, only consider it if you're compliance with vanilla no s has been excellent for a good amount of time (months) and you're still not seeing results. And even then, I'm not sure it's the first thing I would tweak.

Some ideas:

1. Take another look at your compliance with the existing rules. Can you quantify it? Have you kept a habitcal, either in paper or electronic form? If you aren't able to stick with basic, the last thing you should do is jump to advanced.

2. come up with positive, intelligent dietary defaults

3. are you doing some kind of moderate regular exercise? If no, start. It's much easier to solve the problem of being overweight by coming at it moderately from two directions than relying on an extreme effort from one. No-s solves the problem of overeating. If you're not overeating, no-s has done its job. If you're under-moving, that's another job.

This all being said, it really might make sense for some people to add non-sweet esses. No-s provides a good structure to build on like this, if necessary. But be careful.

Reinhard

[Murphysraven]

I do agree with you reinhard. Which is why I really only have one big non sweet S, which isn't to say I can only eat french fries on weekends. It just helps me be a little more strict with a food that I at one time would eat as a daily staple, sometimes for both lunch and dinner.

[Spook]

My sister once said: "if it has more than five ingredients, don't buy it"

I love that quote - I think I'm going to adopt that as a new everyday system!

[Prodigalsun]

You may want to look at foods that are made with enriched flour, or are made of potatos, as well as any simple carb. Easy way to do that is not eat white things. To reinforce what Reinhard said though, if your not exercising, you're missing one of the most important parts of weight loss, and should probably start there before you get too draconion on your food choices.

Urban Rangering is excellent for a long term fat burning strategy. Urban Rangering increases the capilary growth in your body, which enables your body to burn fat for energy instead of glycogen stores in a more efficient fashion. The only way to build that aerobic fat burning engine is through low impact aerobics. So, take a walk, and eat some brown rice tonight!

[ou812]

Just curious. Do you eat the oatmeal without any sweeteners?