Reading through the forum I've noticed that some tweak No-S at a certain point and I thought it would be interesting for everyone to share their experiances.
First off, how long had you been doing Vanilla No-S when you decided to start tweaking?
Secondly, how did you manage through these changes? Did you find them too restricting or did you find that No-S gave you enough of a foundation that the changes were pretty simple?
And finally, what exactly did you do and how has (or did it) affect your weight loss?
Thanks, guys. Looking forward to reading your responses.
Tweaking. When? How? What?
Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating
Some tweaks are meant to make NoS easier.
For instance, two months in, I decided I was unable to handle "no seconds" when eating Kebab, so I made it an S-food, and had a lot less N-day failures without any deprivation. (but, after a year, I found I was able to have kebab dishes without overeating, as long as it was in a plate without fries and not as a sandwich with fries. I still avoid having it more than once a week though).
Also I found if I added sugar into my breakfast, I would get ravenous around 11am, and craving a snack. So I gave up on jam and honey at breakfast and tried unsweetened herbal tea and everything went fine.
Some tweaks are meant to make weight loss quicker. But, if they make NoS significantly harder, it is not worth the risk in my opinion.
The only "tweak" I made in this regard was trying to follow very basic nutritional guidelines similar to the "plate" method, to make sure I ate enough vegetables and fruit, and did not go overboard with the fats. So, pizza has become something of a restricted food too, because it is difficult to have pizza as part of a balanced meal (unless they sell really small portions so you can add veggies on the side). But, I don't beat myself up when circumstances prevent having a balanced meal. It's still a NoS success unless I overate.
Just make sure you make small changes and test each one over several weeks or months.
PS: forgot my hot chocolate tweak. I allow myself a single cup of hot chocolate on any N-day. It "makes NoS easier" on afternoon breaks on days I feel really tired/bored/sick. If it had triggered snack/sweets eating I would have removed this option, but so far it has worked fine for me.
For instance, two months in, I decided I was unable to handle "no seconds" when eating Kebab, so I made it an S-food, and had a lot less N-day failures without any deprivation. (but, after a year, I found I was able to have kebab dishes without overeating, as long as it was in a plate without fries and not as a sandwich with fries. I still avoid having it more than once a week though).
Also I found if I added sugar into my breakfast, I would get ravenous around 11am, and craving a snack. So I gave up on jam and honey at breakfast and tried unsweetened herbal tea and everything went fine.
Some tweaks are meant to make weight loss quicker. But, if they make NoS significantly harder, it is not worth the risk in my opinion.
The only "tweak" I made in this regard was trying to follow very basic nutritional guidelines similar to the "plate" method, to make sure I ate enough vegetables and fruit, and did not go overboard with the fats. So, pizza has become something of a restricted food too, because it is difficult to have pizza as part of a balanced meal (unless they sell really small portions so you can add veggies on the side). But, I don't beat myself up when circumstances prevent having a balanced meal. It's still a NoS success unless I overate.
Just make sure you make small changes and test each one over several weeks or months.
PS: forgot my hot chocolate tweak. I allow myself a single cup of hot chocolate on any N-day. It "makes NoS easier" on afternoon breaks on days I feel really tired/bored/sick. If it had triggered snack/sweets eating I would have removed this option, but so far it has worked fine for me.
Started NoS Jan 07 at 74.5kg (164 lbs, BMI 26.7)
Stable since Jan 08 at 64kg (141 lbs, BMI 23)
My progress chart
Stable since Jan 08 at 64kg (141 lbs, BMI 23)
My progress chart
I like Rose's categorization.
Some tweaks are so minor/gradual that they're almost unnoticeable. I found early on I needed more protein/fiber at mealtime to sustain me to the next. Not a big deal, but useful info, and I did notice it. My meals have gradually gotten healthier, but I don't even consider that a "tweak" because it has been a barely conscious process.
I don't recommend "big" tweaking at first, because I think it's really, really important to get the basic habits down.
Some minor tweaks can be really effective, though. In my "memo to self" post, I decided to consciously carry over the 3-meals habit to S-days, instead of waiting for it to "just happen." That was really easy, and had an astonishingly positive effect.
OTOH, some tweaks don't work... when my S-days were consistently pretty wild, I tried tracking each "S-event." Made me crazy, and frantic. That reinforced the importance of relaxing on S-days, though. Someone here tried to make it "too complicated" and flamed out, then came back to "Vanilla No-S" (sorry I can't remember the person, but I think it's when the term "vanilla No-S" was coined!).
My biggest current "tweak" is that I start my "weekend" (S-days) at 6:00 on Friday and end at 6:00 on Sunday. It works with my life/schedule really well. However, timing matters - I tried this once before I "turned the corner" on S-days, and it was a fiasco. But once I had the S-days in place, it helped a lot.
Some tweaks are so minor/gradual that they're almost unnoticeable. I found early on I needed more protein/fiber at mealtime to sustain me to the next. Not a big deal, but useful info, and I did notice it. My meals have gradually gotten healthier, but I don't even consider that a "tweak" because it has been a barely conscious process.
I don't recommend "big" tweaking at first, because I think it's really, really important to get the basic habits down.
Some minor tweaks can be really effective, though. In my "memo to self" post, I decided to consciously carry over the 3-meals habit to S-days, instead of waiting for it to "just happen." That was really easy, and had an astonishingly positive effect.
OTOH, some tweaks don't work... when my S-days were consistently pretty wild, I tried tracking each "S-event." Made me crazy, and frantic. That reinforced the importance of relaxing on S-days, though. Someone here tried to make it "too complicated" and flamed out, then came back to "Vanilla No-S" (sorry I can't remember the person, but I think it's when the term "vanilla No-S" was coined!).
My biggest current "tweak" is that I start my "weekend" (S-days) at 6:00 on Friday and end at 6:00 on Sunday. It works with my life/schedule really well. However, timing matters - I tried this once before I "turned the corner" on S-days, and it was a fiasco. But once I had the S-days in place, it helped a lot.
I forget how long I've been doing this. The only real tweaking I can say I've done is 1. eating a tiny snack if starving before my exercise 2. eating small portions to keep my calories around 1500-2000 and 3. starting my S days Friday night.
That's it
Now I fluctuate between 143 and 146 lbs. I'm usually 145. I started this at 148. I got to 148 through exercising and was 154ish in Jan. No S helped get off those last few lbs.
That's it
Now I fluctuate between 143 and 146 lbs. I'm usually 145. I started this at 148. I got to 148 through exercising and was 154ish in Jan. No S helped get off those last few lbs."Anyone can cook." ~ Chef Gusteau, Ratatouille
I started out vanilla noS, then found that restricting sweets to weekends sent me overboard on sunday (felt like i had to eat sweets since i would be deprived all week), so i started allowing myself one bite of sweet at end of meal if i want it (often don't want it), regular portions on S days. if you are a sugar fanatic, this may not work for you. sweets have never been a problem for me (can take them or leave them) but when i started noS the restriction made me go crazy on weekends. so, the sweets restriction was counterproductive to me, & i never felt i had an issue with sweets (i am a salty snack fan), so i tweaked that part. since this tweak, i am back to usual - i may eat dessert if it is there, but do not seek it & often won't eat it if i am full. i am using noS mainly to stop permasnacking, which would resume on s-days, so i tweaked that by sticking to regular meals on s-days, with ONE snack if i want it each day. i really LIKE being hungry for each meal, it makes food taste so much better. so, that is 2 tweaks - sweet one bite rule, and 3 meals a day on s days. works for me!
Hi Gionta,
your approach is interesting. I don't think it would have worked for me when I first started NoS and probably it still wouldn't work now (eating a SINGLE BITE of dessert?? especially at the canteen), but in a way it is similar to my "single cup of hot chocolate" policy.
My problem is, my S-days were moderate for a while last autumn, but they have gotten out of control again. Basically I am craving chocolate on weekends and eating it all all times of the day (and sometimes night). It might be a natural reaction to magnesium deficiency and stress (doctor ordered magnesium supplements for the 3rd time in 6 months).
So I am considering again having a single square of ordinary dark chocolate once or twice a day. Another option I might try is moving a weekend S-day to Wednesday. I am still undecided, both feel dangerous (meaning they might crash my NoS habits).
Possibly I just need to try to eat more magnesium-rich foods besides chocolate and/or give myself a kick in the ass about weekends and/or find a treat that really satisfies me, like (small but rich) chocolate pies did last autumn.
your approach is interesting. I don't think it would have worked for me when I first started NoS and probably it still wouldn't work now (eating a SINGLE BITE of dessert?? especially at the canteen), but in a way it is similar to my "single cup of hot chocolate" policy.
My problem is, my S-days were moderate for a while last autumn, but they have gotten out of control again. Basically I am craving chocolate on weekends and eating it all all times of the day (and sometimes night). It might be a natural reaction to magnesium deficiency and stress (doctor ordered magnesium supplements for the 3rd time in 6 months).
So I am considering again having a single square of ordinary dark chocolate once or twice a day. Another option I might try is moving a weekend S-day to Wednesday. I am still undecided, both feel dangerous (meaning they might crash my NoS habits).
Possibly I just need to try to eat more magnesium-rich foods besides chocolate and/or give myself a kick in the ass about weekends and/or find a treat that really satisfies me, like (small but rich) chocolate pies did last autumn.
Started NoS Jan 07 at 74.5kg (164 lbs, BMI 26.7)
Stable since Jan 08 at 64kg (141 lbs, BMI 23)
My progress chart
Stable since Jan 08 at 64kg (141 lbs, BMI 23)
My progress chart
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blueskighs
- Posts: 1787
- Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2008 4:11 am
- Location: California
orignally kept wheat for S days, cause too much wheat causes me problems, then since i wasn't binging lifted that restriction, but wheat still doesn't agree with me when I eat it frequently. at this point i am unwilling to eat a completley wheat free diet, but I am slowly shifting it back to more on S days and/or more infrequently,
Blueskighs
Blueskighs
www.nosdiet.blogspot.com Where I blog daily about my No S journey
rose, my "bite of sweets" may be a bite of dessert that everyone shares at a restaurant, but more often it is a single square of really high quality dark chocolate, or a mint, or an almond thin (awesome buttery cookie with only 20 calories - real flour, butter, almonds, sugar), or even a single spoon of premium ice cream. Perhaps you could try adding a square of chocolate after a meal for a week, and see if you can stick to that - only you know if this is reasonable. Adding a bit of chocolate during the week may just help you to rein it in over the weekend.
I tweaked the diet because I want to gain habits that I can keep for a lifetime - and when I say to myself: "you can never have sweets during the week again for the rest of your life" I get this intense deprived feeling - i just don't WANT to do that for the rest of my life, and since I don't overdo the sweets, for me to not eat them during the week is just random deprivation for no real reason. In contrast, if I say to myself: "no more snacking or seconds except on S days" I think, OK, I can do that, sounds reasonable, I like eating on a schedule. So, I guess it is all very individual what you can live with and what you can't. The sure way to fail on any lifestyle, diet, whatever you want to call it, is to try to adopt an action that is unsustainable for YOU in the long run. No sweets is unsustainable to me, and actually counterproductive (I binged on sweets for the first time in ages when starting the noS diet! - on S days only, but anything that causes bingeing is not ok!).
By the way, after reading your post I am now craving a small but rich chocolate pie! Better save that one for the weekend!
I tweaked the diet because I want to gain habits that I can keep for a lifetime - and when I say to myself: "you can never have sweets during the week again for the rest of your life" I get this intense deprived feeling - i just don't WANT to do that for the rest of my life, and since I don't overdo the sweets, for me to not eat them during the week is just random deprivation for no real reason. In contrast, if I say to myself: "no more snacking or seconds except on S days" I think, OK, I can do that, sounds reasonable, I like eating on a schedule. So, I guess it is all very individual what you can live with and what you can't. The sure way to fail on any lifestyle, diet, whatever you want to call it, is to try to adopt an action that is unsustainable for YOU in the long run. No sweets is unsustainable to me, and actually counterproductive (I binged on sweets for the first time in ages when starting the noS diet! - on S days only, but anything that causes bingeing is not ok!).
By the way, after reading your post I am now craving a small but rich chocolate pie! Better save that one for the weekend!
In the beginning, I would have one square of a dark chocolate bar (60 calories) after dinner in lieu of a seconds and/or a dessert. It helped me reach satiety. I don't need that crutch now but I remember not feeling full after a meal for at least the first couple of a months. Now I save the chocolate for my S days.
JamieS, I don't look at my one bite of dessert (or square of chocolate) as a crutch - it is just something i love & i fully intend to keep doing it. I am losing weight anyways, and i am not a sugar fiend (it doesn't send me off the deep end), so don't see any reason not to have a bite of sweets at the end of a meal. By the way, congrats on your great success - it is inspiring!