SUFFERING!
Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:23 am
As I sat at work today, with some delicious cookies and brownies nearby, I felt as if I would crack. I wanted a cookie (or four). I wondered if I just licked the frosting off a brownie, as part of my lunch, would it count as a sweet? I was really starting to tie myself in knots! So I began to read the main No S page, and I found these words of wisdom from Reinhard.......
Is it hard?
It's hard in a different way than most other diets. It can seem harder at first because it doesn't pretend that there is some trick to bypassing the work of building new habits - it does take willpower and patience and discipline. But the hard part is all up front. Once you get past this initial hump, once you've turned the rules into unconscious habits, it gets easier and easier.
This is in stark contrast to the way other diets work. Forbidden-foods diets, like Atkins, seem great at the outset, because you can go on being a glutton, gorging on unlimited steaks to compensate for never eating pasta or pizza or potatoes again. But it gets old fast. You really start to miss the forbidden foods. And then you crack. Counting calories is the same way. It can be fun for a week. Sort of a game. But after a few months it becomes a time-consuming chore. Every meal becomes a math assignment. It's almost a tossup whether you'd be more miserable sticking your diet or quitting and getting fat again.
Which brings me to another great thing about the No S Diet: it's never really hard in the sense of being unpleasant, even at the very beginning. It might take discipline, it might take patience, but it doesn't take suffering. In fact, you'll enjoy food more. The spotlight of three single-plate meals doesn't just catch excess, it focuses appreciation. And you'll enjoy your sweets on weekends and holidays more than you ever did before.
Lastly, it's socially unobtrusive. People don't have to cook you separate meals, as they would on a low-carb plan, for instance. Most of the time, they won't even notice you're on a diet, much less be inconvenienced by it.
It might take discipline, and patience, but not suffering. Was saying NO to the blue frosted cookies "suffering"? Was not indulging in a tiny brownie (which a friend tasted and said they were dried out and hard) "suffering"? I just need to keep focusing on habits, making sure that I have satisfying meals, and keep No S-ing!
What have you said "no" to lately, that was a triumph over old habits, and proof that new habits can be built?
Is it hard?
It's hard in a different way than most other diets. It can seem harder at first because it doesn't pretend that there is some trick to bypassing the work of building new habits - it does take willpower and patience and discipline. But the hard part is all up front. Once you get past this initial hump, once you've turned the rules into unconscious habits, it gets easier and easier.
This is in stark contrast to the way other diets work. Forbidden-foods diets, like Atkins, seem great at the outset, because you can go on being a glutton, gorging on unlimited steaks to compensate for never eating pasta or pizza or potatoes again. But it gets old fast. You really start to miss the forbidden foods. And then you crack. Counting calories is the same way. It can be fun for a week. Sort of a game. But after a few months it becomes a time-consuming chore. Every meal becomes a math assignment. It's almost a tossup whether you'd be more miserable sticking your diet or quitting and getting fat again.
Which brings me to another great thing about the No S Diet: it's never really hard in the sense of being unpleasant, even at the very beginning. It might take discipline, it might take patience, but it doesn't take suffering. In fact, you'll enjoy food more. The spotlight of three single-plate meals doesn't just catch excess, it focuses appreciation. And you'll enjoy your sweets on weekends and holidays more than you ever did before.
Lastly, it's socially unobtrusive. People don't have to cook you separate meals, as they would on a low-carb plan, for instance. Most of the time, they won't even notice you're on a diet, much less be inconvenienced by it.
It might take discipline, and patience, but not suffering. Was saying NO to the blue frosted cookies "suffering"? Was not indulging in a tiny brownie (which a friend tasted and said they were dried out and hard) "suffering"? I just need to keep focusing on habits, making sure that I have satisfying meals, and keep No S-ing!
What have you said "no" to lately, that was a triumph over old habits, and proof that new habits can be built?
don't ask... my husband reminded me of this a few days ago, FUNNY I had completely forgotten!