The question every newbie asks...

No Snacks, no sweets, no seconds. Except on Days that start with S. Too simple for you? Simple is why it works. Look here for questions, introductions, support, success stories.

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Betty
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The question every newbie asks...

Post by Betty » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:20 am

My first two S days were out of control. It was as if the floodgates had burst open. Sweets were ok, but boy, did I snack. And I think I snacked enough to offset all of the hard work I had done in the week.

So the question is, will it get better? I would love to hear the experiences of those who've been no-sing for a while. Did you start out with crazy S days? And did they get better over time? Or did you eventually have to reign yourself in?

Thanks,
Betty

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Blondie
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Post by Blondie » Mon Jan 28, 2008 2:30 pm

Hi Betty,
I think a lot of people do this, and I do think it's a learning experience. I think the more important thing is building the N-day habits. I think most peoples' S days become more sane once the panic of having "only" two days to get in all the snacking and sweets subsides...and I've heard many people say that it is a relief to get back to the routine of N-days once a crazy S weekend or holiday was over.

Another thing that people do during the habit-building phase, which I think is useful (and this was true for me) is piling the plates high for N-day meals to avoid snacking. Then, again, once the panic of only eating at meals subsides, we realize that we won't starve if we have to wait an hour or two to eat a meal, and the habit starts to form. For me, the snacking habit carried over and I still rarely rarely snack on weekends. Try bigger meals, maybe? My experience is that it took at least 2 weeks (and some will say the full 3 weeks or more!) to get in the habit during N days, and then perhaps longer to settle down on S days.

You may not have lost weight in the first week--that is, you might have undone the calorie-based work you did during the week--but from the much more important habit perspective, you definitely succeeded. Things will settle down, I bet.

Good work!! :D :D :D

davestarbuck
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Post by davestarbuck » Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:28 am

As I've gotten more and more consistent with my habits, I found that my S-days are fewer and farther apart. For instance I just spent a long weekend at Disney World with my girlfriend. I didn't feel the need to splurge at all during the trip, I just ate my 2-3 healthy meals every day and walked about eleventy billion miles around the Magic Kingdom!!!! I'm lucky that my girl isn't a snacker either.


-dave
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laura99
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thanks

Post by laura99 » Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:55 am

oh thank god i thought it was just me. it really gives me hope that i can stop eating soooo much junk. i too eat alot on the weekends,I LOVE THIS NOS GENERAL DICUSSION! it'so good to know that their are others out like me with similar eating habits.

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apple
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Post by apple » Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:43 am

For me S-days are still out of control, though I am now slowly improving. At first you just eat everything you can on S-days. I still have the feeling that I MUST eat chocolate and cookies on S-days, just because I don't eat them during the week. Whether I actually feel like them or not.
But now I start to watch out a bit more, because too much sugar and fat does not make me feel good. It just takes some time to find what works best for you.

But I think the most important is to focus on getting the N-days right, and then you can start with working on the S-days.

Don't be too hard on yourself. You've done a great job if you've gotten through the first week successfully, without failure on your N-days.

kccc
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Post by kccc » Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:18 pm

I've been doing this for a while, and my S days vary dramatically depending on how stressful my week has been.

That's something I need to address, but not by tightening down on my S-day eating - that would just stress me more! I'm working on developing new coping strategies or dealing with "root causes" of stress.

In the interim... if I really follow N-day rules, the wild S-days don't seem to derail me.

In the past, I've always done best at "dieting" when I tell myself what TO DO, not what NOT to do. (Like "drink more water, eat more veggies" instead of "don't eat xyz.") What I'm finding on my S-days is that if I DO eat proper meals, especially lunch, and if I DO plan one extra-special treat, then I'm less prone to going wild.

But if I do go wild... well, it was an S-day. My N-days are good.

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:53 pm

Dear Betty,

This is a common question -- and though it's come up frequently on the bulletin board and we have many (very good, I think) anwsers, it's trickier to find them than it should be.

I'm going to devote my next podcast (some time in February) to this issue. I think I'll call it "S-days gone Wild." (I was toying with the idea of using that venerable pop culture trope -- then KCCC used the term in her post above and that clinched it).

In the meantime, here are some quick ideas:

1. It probably seems worse than it is. By being moderate during the week, your eyes have really been opened to excess. The contrast is striking and painful. This is actually a good thing, because if you can get over the initial feeling of discouragement, it'll help whittle down your excess in time.

2. Your weekday habits will start to carry over into S-days. It takes time, but it will happen.

3. The temptation to add extra rules is strong. I'd resist this. Instead, if you want to take some concrete step, proactively identify a special reward instead, an s day treat you really, really want. That way your appetite will feel appreciated and less likely to opportunistically grab whatever trash happens to be around just because it can.

4. Though I don't recommend this starting out, it can be helpful to know that there are reasonably sane ways to add some discipline to S days if you find you really need it. The best one I've seen discussed here is to interpret "sometimes" as meaning "once" per s-day (or some similarly small predetermined number). In other words, every s-day, you get one essy exception -- one sweet dessert, for example. I hesitate to recommend this because I do think the feeling of complete freedom that an unrestricted S-day gives you is very valuable, but it does retain enough freedom that it might be worth considering if the alternative isn't working. A further refinement, which I think I like even better, though it's slightly more complex, is to divide s days into two categories: routine lowercase s-days (weekends, vacation days, minor holidays), and really special, rare capital S-days (Christmas, Thanksgivings, your birthday). On the lowercase s days, "sometimes" = "once." On the capital S-days you get complete freedom. I'm not aware that anyone is actually doing this version, but it seems very attractive to me.

Hope this and the other posts at least tide you over to the podcast!

Reinhard

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Post by silverfish » Wed Jan 30, 2008 4:22 am

I just said over here http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2579 in answer to Laura99's question:
Seriously - I found the trick was (if it was an S Day) to eat the cupcakes and not feel guilty. Eat 2. Eat 7. Eat the whole batch. You can let yourself not feel guilty. However, you have less control over whether you feel physically ill
A couple bouts of misery and the junkfood addiction will start to regulate itself. Don't stress about it - that's not what S days are there for.

Someone once said that a diet doesn't make you live longer - it only makes it feel longer. NoS lets you eat without worrying about it (once you work out you can't starve to death in four hours).

Spook
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Post by Spook » Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:40 am

I've been no-essing for about 3 months and my S-days are still pretty crazy. Sunday evenings are especially bad - it's like I'm forcing myself to eat all I can while I have the chance, even though I don't really want it.

Having said that, I think my general level of snacking on S-days is less than it once was. So there has been some improvement.

Basically I agree completely with what silverfish says. Don't worry about it, and don't let yourself feel guilty. In the long run, the misplaced guilt is probably more harmful than the excess food.

Jembop
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Post by Jembop » Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:02 pm

I've only been doing this for a few weeks but usually treat myself to a milky drink (like a milkshake or latte) and a cake or pudding each S day.

For me, the key is to buy only one sweet/sugary thing/snack at a time. I find after one cake, for example, on top of my usual three meals, I'm normally sated.

And If I buy a 6 pack of fairy cakes on a Sunday afternoon, I'll try to eat the lot even though I don't feel like it because if I have them in the house on Monday I might break my N day resolve.

Betty
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Post by Betty » Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:13 pm

Basically I agree completely with what silverfish says. Don't worry about it, and don't let yourself feel guilty. In the long run, the misplaced guilt is probably more harmful than the excess food.
love it. I think, given my propensity to worrying, that Silverfish is right on.

Thanks for all the replies,

Betty

kccc
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Post by kccc » Wed Jan 30, 2008 4:04 pm

reinhard wrote:
4. Though I don't recommend this starting out, it can be helpful to know that there are reasonably sane ways to add some discipline to S days if you find you really need it. The best one I've seen discussed here is to interpret "sometimes" as meaning "once" per s-day (or some similarly small predetermined number). In other words, every s-day, you get one essy exception -- one sweet dessert, for example. I hesitate to recommend this because I do think the feeling of complete freedom that an unrestricted S-day gives you is very valuable, but it does retain enough freedom that it might be worth considering if the alternative isn't working. A further refinement, which I think I like even better, though it's slightly more complex, is to divide s days into two categories: routine lowercase s-days (weekends, vacation days, minor holidays), and really special, rare capital S-days (Christmas, Thanksgivings, your birthday). On the lowercase s days, "sometimes" = "once." On the capital S-days you get complete freedom. I'm not aware that anyone is actually doing this version, but it seems very attractive to me.

Reinhard
Reinhard - I tried it for a few weekends, and was miserable. So I dropped it. I still think it's a great idea, but one I'm not ready for yet.

However, trying it did make me aware of how important the feeling of freedom on S-days can be, so I was more willing to just be comfortable with them "as is."

The "one-s" rule feels like a "don't" or "only" and I do better with "do," as I discussed above.

(Though now I'm wondering why the general "No's" on No-S don't bother me. I think because they're coupled with do's - do eat enough at your meal, even if you pile up your one plate. Do develop habits that support you. Do focus on habits, not scale. Dunno... something for me to think about.)

In the interim, my personal "S-day Do's" are...
- Do eat meals at normal times
- Do plan a special lunch (The afternoon snackies hit me harder if lunch is unsatisfying in terms of either quantity or quality)
- Do remember to drink enough (I forget at home)
- Do plan an exceptional treat. After dinner is the optimal time.

Those "rules" help me the most - but they're more "satisfaction-oriented" than "limiting."

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Post by Murphysraven » Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:58 pm

I think my bigest problem on s days is just snacking the whole time with maybe 1 or 2 real "meals" although i have found i'm not eating as much sugar as I normally would. It seems to be more savory stuff like a half a loaf of french bread, 2-3 apples throughout the day, a handful of cheese curds (love those), a small bown of ice cream, maybe 1-2 mini candy bars, etc...

I think i really need to focus on my meals during S days so I'm still enforcing the 3 meal habit, but with extra bonuses. instead of a no holds bar day.
When I asked for all things, so that I may enjoy Life, I was given Life, so that I may enjoy all things.

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