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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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vmsurbat
Posts: 499
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:12 am
Location: Montenegro

new here

Post by vmsurbat » Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:49 pm

Greetings!

I found out about NoS diet on another forum (Ttapp) and almost skipped the post because I thought the NoS represented No Sugar and I most certainly wasn't interested in that. :?

I've enjoyed browsing past posts and decided to introduce myself and my story for future NoS'ers.

Unlike many others, although I have been overweight for a number of years (5 kids, 10lbs/kid), I *knew* dieting was bad so avoided most "diet" plans. Also, we live overseas and couldn't follow "prescribed" menus because the foods simply aren't available. I've educated myself well regarding nutrition and managed to avoid most fads. Frequent snacking on "non-foods" is not much of an issue here because there is very little (some but nothing like the aisles upon aisles of "convenience" foods found in typical US grocery stores). Neither is frequent dining out; most of our meals are homecooked. Plus, we eat 3 square meals a day.

So, I thought I was doing everything right and couldn't figure out why I still had the excess weight--and finally decided that I would *have* to go on a diet to lose weight because our normal good eating wasn't doing it.

Fortunately, that first day of looking, I found NoS--the diet that is not a diet. YES!

One week into it and I now know why my good knowledge and reasonable eating habits didn't lead to weight loss.

1. Snacks. No, not the junk food kind, but even with "healthy" ones. Just too much food was going into my mouth. The books that suggest snacks often say "take a part of a main meal and save it for a snack." My problem is that I was eating a full meal AND a snack. Also, the No Snacks rule has shown me how often I ate the last spoon of (healthy) green beans, licked the (healthy) peanut butter knife, tidied up the (healthy) cheese end with a little sliver, etc.

2. Sweets. I routinely make a sweet treat for Friday (Family Night) and Sunday lunch, and not much else, so I seemed pretty good regarding Sweets, but realized that "Special" times came around far too often. In the country in which we live, if you drop in on somebody, they almost always offer you coffee and a *small* cake/cookie type item--all homemade. Of course, the mere fact that we were visiting made the event "special" and down went the treat. I will have to learn how to negotiate the offers--I am thinking a polite "I have health issues" will go a long way, especially if I accept the coffee....

3. Seconds. I never realized that I took small portions several times in a meal, and thus lost sight of how much I was *really* eating. The one plate rule has been the most eye-opening for me, and therefore, the most helpful.

I can see myself following this plan for life--it has seamlessly slipped into my already reasonably ordered life and eating, and has already made a difference in how I feel.

So, No S has something to offer even for the person with reasonable habits--No S is just the tweaking I needed.

HTH,
Vicki in MNE
7! Yrs. with Vanilla NoS, down 55+lb, happily maintaining and still loving it!

blueskighs
Posts: 1787
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2008 4:11 am
Location: California

Post by blueskighs » Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:33 pm

Vicki,

WELCOME!
I can see myself following this plan for life--it has seamlessly slipped into my already reasonably ordered life and eating, and has already made a difference in how I feel.

So, No S has something to offer even for the person with reasonable habits--No S is just the tweaking I needed.
That is a great perspective,
Blueskighs
www.nosdiet.blogspot.com Where I blog daily about my No S journey

cvmom
Posts: 639
Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 1:03 am
Location: California

Post by cvmom » Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:57 pm

Hi Vicki!

I hope you find that NoS works. I believe that if you stick to the rules over an extended period of time, that it really does work.

I do Ttapp too. Ttapp makes me feel good, but as far as weight loss, I still find that I need to do cardio too.

Please keep us posted on your progress!

Cvmom

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reinhard
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Location: Cambridge, MA
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Post by reinhard » Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:53 pm

Welcome, Vicki!

The snacking bit tends to be the most surprising and difficult for people -- but I'm convinced it's also the most important. And once you get used to it, it'll feel profoundly normal.

Sounds like you've got a good base, structure to build on, with regular home cooked meals. Best of luck and keep us posted!

Reinhard

Sunnyside
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 8:39 pm
Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Another Newbie

Post by Sunnyside » Sun Jul 27, 2008 8:51 pm

Hi Everyone,

Hope you don't mind if I join your group which looks like a very sizable group. I came across the No S Diet quite by accident while brousing for diet books on Amazon. Just reading a little of the synopsis of the book really got my curiosity going, so I ordered the book and I'm so happy that I did. I have struggled with my weight for longer than I'd care to admit, and there is just so much plain common sense and simplicity in this approach that I am totally enthusiastic about trying and I have very high hopes for success. I have been on the diet for about 1 week now and have already lost 1.5 pounds with no suffering at all. I'm looking forward to reading more of your posts and the success stories.

Sunnyside

CrazyCatLady
Posts: 301
Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:58 pm
Location: Illinois

Post by CrazyCatLady » Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:15 pm

Welcome, Vicki and Sunnyside! So glad that you found us! Jump right in and keep posting. It really helps a lot to hear how everyone is doing!

Sunnyside
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 8:39 pm
Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Post by Sunnyside » Tue Aug 05, 2008 4:39 am

Hi Folks,

I almost lost this site, but here I am again. The No S Diet is going very well I'm happy to report. I have only been on it for 2 weeks now but I've already lost 2.60 lbs. I just can not believe that a diet with such simple rules works so wonderfully well! For the first time in years I am not thinking of and obsessing about calories, carbs, fat grams, etc., etc. I feel I've just been liberated.

Hope that everyone is doing fine and enjoying great success. I've been telling all my weight concious friends about this and they are starting to check it out!!

Bye for now,
Sunnyside :lol:

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daahling
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:45 am
Location: Malta

My First Day

Post by daahling » Mon Aug 18, 2008 2:29 pm

Hi all

Am new to this site and have decided to start the diet today! I would like to shift about 21lbs and/or get back into my skinny jeans, whichever comes first!

So far today I've had:

Upon arrival at office: Coffee with milk and sweetened with artificial sweetener;

Breakfast: Cereal with Actimel instead of milk (don't know if you get Actimel in the US, but it's this yoghurty drink that's supposed to help boost the immune system)

Lunch: Small bowl of pasta with broccoli, tahini, garlic, chilli, & lemonjuice

Mid-afternoon: Coffee with milk same as in the morning

Dinner is probably going to be more pasta with broccoli.....

I have a few questions which I'd appreciate an answer to:

Is pasta discouraged on this diet? I simply love it and wouldn't mind eating it every day. Of course I do vary my diet, but I go through phases where I feel like pasta for lunch and dinner every day!

Is a sandwich or baguette ok for lunch? With butter?

What about diet sweets? The ones which are artificially sweetened and have about 5 calories each?

Is coffee with milk a snack?

I hope you don't mind all these questions.. Knowing me I'm sure to come up with more!

Thanks and looking forward to losing this excess weight slowly but surely!
Current weight: 136 lbs
Target weight: 117 lbs
Height: 5 ft 1
Total lost to date: 2 lbs

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mel1974c
Posts: 113
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:12 am
Location: North Shore, Massachusetts

Post by mel1974c » Mon Aug 18, 2008 4:00 pm

Welcome daahling!!

To answer some of your questions:

Pasta is fine. Any food that doesn't contain too much sugar is fine really.

Sandwiches are fine. So is bread with butter.

Artificial sweeteners are discouraged but not "banned". Reinhard makes a good point that they haven't really been around long enough to know the long term effects on the body. And when you consume artificial sweets on N-days, it can hinder the habit forming of not needing the sweets during the week. It sort of tricks the body.

Coffee with milk, and even a bit of sugar if you want, is not considered a snack. All liquids are permitted - even fruit juices. Milk is recommended between meals if you get hungry because it tends to be a bit more filling to get you to the next meal.

I hope that helps. Keep asking questions. This is a great group of people on this discussion board - very supportive and very willing to answer questions. I have been No-Sing for 37 days and love it. I have lost maybe 3 lbs, but I have gained more control over what I eat and the amount of sugar I consume. There are many benefits besides he weight loss.

Best,
Melissa

CrazyCatLady
Posts: 301
Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:58 pm
Location: Illinois

Re: My First Day

Post by CrazyCatLady » Mon Aug 18, 2008 4:46 pm

daahling wrote:Hi all

Am new to this site and have decided to start the diet today! I would like to shift about 21lbs and/or get back into my skinny jeans, whichever comes first!

Welcome!

So far today I've had:

Upon arrival at office: Coffee with milk and sweetened with artificial sweetener;

Breakfast: Cereal with Actimel instead of milk (don't know if you get Actimel in the US, but it's this yoghurty drink that's supposed to help boost the immune system)

Lunch: Small bowl of pasta with broccoli, tahini, garlic, chilli, & lemonjuice

Mid-afternoon: Coffee with milk same as in the morning

Dinner is probably going to be more pasta with broccoli.....

I have a few questions which I'd appreciate an answer to:

Is pasta discouraged on this diet? I simply love it and wouldn't mind eating it every day. Of course I do vary my diet, but I go through phases where I feel like pasta for lunch and dinner every day!

No, pasta is neither encouraged nor discouraged. Enjoy your meals, and eat moderately. That will mean different things for different people. There are no good or bad foods. But sweets are limited to S days.

Is a sandwich or baguette ok for lunch? With butter?

Sure.

What about diet sweets? The ones which are artificially sweetened and have about 5 calories each?

Is coffee with milk a snack?


Reinhard discourages "diet" sweets, but many of us use them. A snack is not a what, but a when. So don't eat anything between the meals. But some pretzels, or anything but a sweet, is fine as part of your meal. He does not count liquids as snacks, so coffee with milk is fine between meals. In fact, a glass of milk or juice is also fine between meals if you are hungry!


I hope you don't mind all these questions.. Knowing me I'm sure to come up with more!

Thanks and looking forward to losing this excess weight slowly but surely!

User avatar
daahling
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:45 am
Location: Malta

Post by daahling » Mon Aug 18, 2008 4:50 pm

Thanks Melissa!

Your input is much appreciated. Right now I am trying to talk to my body and telling it that feeling hunger is not the end of the world and my next meal will only be in a short while. When I got home from work, ravenous, I didn't succumb to temptation and that already is a small victory!

Will try and squeeze in some exercise too this evening.. I don't have a sledgehammer. Thought I'd do 14 mins of cardio instead.. I guess anything's better than nothing right?

Hope to be around here for a long time, but that there'll be less of me as time goes by :D
Current weight: 136 lbs
Target weight: 117 lbs
Height: 5 ft 1
Total lost to date: 2 lbs

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daahling
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:45 am
Location: Malta

Post by daahling » Mon Aug 18, 2008 4:53 pm

Thanks a lot CrazyCatLady!! You guys are making me feel so welcome! :D
Current weight: 136 lbs
Target weight: 117 lbs
Height: 5 ft 1
Total lost to date: 2 lbs

CrazyCatLady
Posts: 301
Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:58 pm
Location: Illinois

Post by CrazyCatLady » Mon Aug 18, 2008 5:01 pm

We are very glad that you found us! And I apologize for my advice sounding so similar to Mel's! I had started my post, then went off and rebooted laundry (switching washer to dryer), did some dishes, swept the kitchen floor....so when I finally completed my post and posted it, I had not seen her post! LOL!

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mel1974c
Posts: 113
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:12 am
Location: North Shore, Massachusetts

Post by mel1974c » Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:03 pm

Hi CrazyCatLady, your post simply confirms to me that I have gotten accustomed to this lifestyle, I was happy to be repeated - sort of like being seconded in a vote :-)

Daahling, each victory, big or small, is a victory, and a step toward building change and habit. They all count! Exercise is where I fall short. I don't do much exercise in the summer. I can't stand the heat. On the cooler days, I take the dog on longer walks, but that is about it. I hope to get out more in the fall.

Good luck!

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