This diet is fantastic!

Kathleen · Post by **Kathleen** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 11:21 pm

Those words weren't my words. Those words were my daughter's words.

She is 10. She could care less how much she weighs.

She was over at a friend's house, and she turned down a snack. She explained that she was on a diet. Her friend told her that it was terrible that her Mom had put her on a diet.

She explained that the diet was FANTASTIC and she wanted to be on the diet.

Why? To lose weight?

No.

She explained about Sundays when she can eat anything she wants except really junk food and Fat Sundays (first Sunday of the month) when she can eat anything she wants even food that is really bad for you (like Spaghetti - O's).

This little girl had a plateful of whipped cream on Sunday.

Is that right?

I haven't forced her to go on the diet. She's just all excited about it. She's willing to give up snacks so that she can get what she really wants on Sundays.

I actually think it's a way that she will build character. She's learning to delay gratification.

As for her weight, she's a normal weight. Unlike my 15 year old, our pediatrician has not recommended weight loss. She's just fine -- about 70th percentile in height and weight.

Kathleen

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:48 am

Awesome Kathleen!!!
Good for her!
I really enjoyed this post.
As for the age, and the diet factor.. well, no time like the present to eat sensibly. She's already ahead of the game since she's thankfully, not overweight. Can happen fast once those bad habits kick in.
My Son, Richard, was so skinny till about eight years old.. Then he started getting a belly because of eating cookies and snacks, pretty much, daily.
We both joined NoS together. He curbed his cookies and soda etc, and in a year, his pants which were starting to get way too tight, which we were sure he'd never wear again, were falling down and he needed to use a belt.
He's thirteen now, and we both enjoy the structure of NoS, and it is definitely a helpful tool in this new generation of snackers and soda drinkers..
I'm happy for your family that you found NoS! Just think where you'd be ten years from now if you didn't.. Trying the next new fad of peanut cluster type diets and getting nowhere! Haha

We are really all so lucky to have found Reinhard's plan.
It is indeed *FANTASTIC*!!

Debs

Kathleen · Post by **Kathleen** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 3:10 am

Debs,

I think I would have eventually figured out something similar to No S, since I had concluded that eating meals and avoiding snacks is important, and I had already figured out that controlled binges were essential for recovery from years of dieting.

The problem, of course, with figuring it out is it would have taken me longer than if I had found The No S Diet. I recognized the brilliance of this diet immediately, and that was because I had already spent 5 years focused on trying to lose weight.

I feel blessed because I was running out of time for the daughter who is now entering 10th grade. She gets to witness this diet on a day to day basis because she's still at home.

I really get a kick out of the things my 10 year old says.

Good for you for your 13 year old son being willing to follow this diet. Our 13 year old son said just recently that he's never following this diet. That's OK. I'm not forcing anyone to follow it. All I'm doing is restricting access to sweets during the week. Those who follow it get special privileges -- and that 10 year old enjoyed her plateful of whipped cream on Sunday!

Kathleen

Cassie · Post by **Cassie** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:20 pm

How brilliant! It's such a healthy way of thinking (and so much healthier than the eating-disordered-type thinking that lots of adolescents seem to adopt). I too believe NoS can be a good way of eating for the whole family. I offer my 1 year old 3 meals (at particular times of day) & I try to only offer him cookies or sweet things on special days e.g. on his birthday, some weekends etc (he seems to have developed a sweet tooth already unfortunately!!)

What are your ideas though about snacks (eg small pieces of fruit) between meals for toddlers? I'm a bit ambivalent about that one. My boy has a small fruit between breakfast & lunch & then another small fruit (or a rice cake) between lunch & dinner. That seems to keep him going & it's the only way I can get the fruit in him, as at mealtimes he's too full to eat fruit on top of his main meal. Any ideas? (Although I suppose he's too young for me to be concerned about these things...it's just that I don't want to instill the snacking habit from early on, if I can avoid it).

Post by **reinhard** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:51 pm

That's great (and very amusing), Kathleen.

Forcing a kid to go on a diet is one thing, but if the kid enthusiastically volunteers to eat in a way that previous generations wouldn't have even recognized as a "diet" (three square meals a day) I think that's quite another.

Reinhard

Bushranger · Post by **Bushranger** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 1:25 am

I, personally, am hesitant to restrict snacks for little children and teens. I know for myself that, as a teen especially, I would have cracked without my 5/6 meals/snacks a day. You must remember they are growing so they often need more food then they can fit in 3 meals. I could not physically consume enough food at 3 meals at that age, those plates would have been sickeningly huge and to poke down that much food at one sitting would have been insane.

For myself, the "snacks" were more like meals and they were mostly healthy. Also, I naturally phased off snacking as I got older, stopped growing, and only needed the 3 meals.

It's a tough call to make though, because society has shown that most people do not naturally phase off snacking as they get older and I have never been able to eat massive meals in one sitting, something a lot of people seem to do with ease. So this has probably worked considerably in my favour.

Kathleen · Post by **Kathleen** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 2:14 am

Bushranger,

All I can say is that I still remember how my brother ate when he was a teenager. My 13 year old son is NOT on this diet!

Kathleen

PS. My sister paid $1,000 for her son to attend a summer program at a college. She joked that she actually came out ahead because room and board was included!

Bushranger · Post by **Bushranger** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 2:22 am

I was commenting more toward Cassie's last post.

Kathleen · Post by **Kathleen** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 3:07 am

Sorry!

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 5:38 pm

Yeah, in regard to Cassie's post -- I think it's pretty normal and appropriate for toddlers to eat often. They're very active, they're growing like crazy and developing their bodies and brains, and they aren't likely to overeat if offered appropriate foods (fruits, veggies, full-fat dairy -- not Twinkies). I think rice cakes are a poor choice, because they're mostly air -- maybe cheese and crackers instead, or a quesadilla, or full-fat yogurt?

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 5:53 pm

Thalia wrote:Yeah, in regard to Cassie's post -- I think it's pretty normal and appropriate for toddlers to eat often. They're very active, they're growing like crazy and developing their bodies and brains, and they aren't likely to overeat if offered appropriate foods (fruits, veggies, full-fat dairy -- not Twinkies). I think rice cakes are a poor choice, because they're mostly air -- maybe cheese and crackers instead, or a quesadilla, or full-fat yogurt?

I think that as long as "snacks" and "treats" are different categories, you're fine. Growing kids need more food, and toddler tummies are small.

I would advise structuring the snacks. Offer them about the same time, and eat at the table. I am SO grateful I never let my son walk around with snacks! It's not only healthier, the mess-reduction is significant.

As my son got older, I stopped offering snacks, but would let him have them if he asked. Only recently have I started saying "too close to dinner" (he's 8 years old). However, if he asks close to dinner, I put out fruit/carrots as an appetizer while the meal cooks.

Mavilu · Post by **Mavilu** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 10:29 pm

I grew up without snacks ( I have said this before, haven't I?)
I did have a "merienda" we all do as children, which is invariably tea with milk and a couple of slices of french baguette with butter and jam during the cold months and milk chocolate (with Nesquik powder) instead of tea in the hot months; that comes at about five-ish in the afternoon and ties you up until dinner at nine-ten.
I went to school, I played, I went to Girl Scouts during the weekends and some extra-curricular class or another over the years and I grew up fine and never famished or stunted or tired or anything.
My nephew as he became a teen needed more food, so his slices of bread became more like ham sandwiches or slices of cheese with quince paste or possibly some lunch leftovers, but still within the merienda.
Snacks are unnatural to us.

Bushranger · Post by **Bushranger** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 1:03 am

Mavilu wrote:I grew up without snacks ( I have said this before, haven't I?)
I did have a "merienda" we all do as children, which is invariably tea with milk and a couple of slices of french baguette with butter and jam during the cold months and milk chocolate (with Nesquik powder) instead of tea in the hot months; that comes at about five-ish in the afternoon and ties you up until dinner at nine-ten.
I went to school, I played, I went to Girl Scouts during the weekends and some extra-curricular class or another over the years and I grew up fine and never famished or stunted or tired or anything.
My nephew as he became a teen needed more food, so his slices of bread became more like ham sandwiches or slices of cheese with quince paste or possibly some lunch leftovers, but still within the merienda.
Snacks are unnatural to us.

What you are calling merienda is essentially the kind of snacking we are talking about here for teens and children. It's the morning tea and afternoon tea "meal" times. We are all agreeing on making it real foods too not some packet snack junk. I hope we aren't all confusing each other with our loose use of terminologies. I'm going to have to make sure I'm clearer in future.

Mavilu · Post by **Mavilu** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 4:58 am

Bushranger wrote:
Mavilu wrote:I grew up without snacks ( I have said this before, haven't I?)
I did have a "merienda" we all do as children, which is invariably tea with milk and a couple of slices of french baguette with butter and jam during the cold months and milk chocolate (with Nesquik powder) instead of tea in the hot months; that comes at about five-ish in the afternoon and ties you up until dinner at nine-ten.
I went to school, I played, I went to Girl Scouts during the weekends and some extra-curricular class or another over the years and I grew up fine and never famished or stunted or tired or anything.
My nephew as he became a teen needed more food, so his slices of bread became more like ham sandwiches or slices of cheese with quince paste or possibly some lunch leftovers, but still within the merienda.
Snacks are unnatural to us.
What you are calling merienda is essentially the kind of snacking we are talking about here for teens and children. It's the morning tea and afternoon tea "meal" times. We are all agreeing on making it real foods too not some packet snack junk. I hope we aren't all confusing each other with our loose use of terminologies. I'm going to have to make sure I'm clearer in future.

Ah no!, when I talk about snacks, I talk about a meal that it is not structured, can come at any time and many times, it's not at the table, it's not really nourishment, etc.
I thought youy guys were talking about that; a child coming up asking for cookies after he had his lunch, etc., so, we do agree on that.

Bushranger · Post by **Bushranger** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 6:32 am

Indeed we do agree.

I'm glad we cleared that up. This thread has opened up some very useful information and points of view regarding this entire subject and I, for one, am very happy it has. It's very useful and everyone has made valuable contributions.

Cassie · Post by **Cassie** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 1:08 pm

Yup, all this makes sense. I currently offer my toddler some fresh fruit & water or diluted juice around 10 (between breakfast & lunch). And then again the same (or half a mini bagel, or some full fat yoghurt, or a rice cake) at 3 (between lunch & dinner). It makes sense to only cut down on snacks gradually- later on- when they don't need them any more.

Thalia, thanks for the tip about rice-cakes. My boy seems to love them (but then he seems to love all bread-like substances!) I'll try different things instead (e.g. crackers etc).