Everyday Systems

is skipping meals while on the No S diet an OK thing to do? or even doing like a slim fast shake instead of a meal? i've tried so many different diets and pills and everything else that you can waste your money on and so far nothing has helped in fact i usually end up gain more weight the less i consume.

is it best to stick with No s even on the S day's at first?

Is it ok to drink decaf sweet tea?

thanks for the support

To answer quickly...

- Don't skip meals. You're training your body to eat at certain times, and skipping will make it harder.

- Use your S-days, even at first. They are important in terms of long-term sustainability.

- Sweet tea is an "S" (the name "sweet" should clue you in on that). So is soda. Juice is okay, and so is milk. Sorry!

I recommend the "Strictness" Podcast (#13, I believe) for people just starting. It helps to clarify how important "habit" is. Your first emphasis is on building habit - weight loss will follow, but know that it's a delayed result.

Welcome and best wishes!!

Oh, my dear. Why on earth would you want to skip a meal? You only eat three times a day, I can't see intentionally foregoing a meal unless it was for religious fasting reasons.

You can't lose a lot of weight quickly on this diet... or perhaps I should say eating plan. The other diets that have promised you this are flawed because as you know, you gain back the weight and then some. This is a slow cooker diet, not a microwave diet.

I think it's the word diet that is creating so much confusion. Diet can mean a restricted plan of eating for the purposes of losing weight or it can mean a general plan of eating. The No S diet refers to the latter.

Just slow down and start enjoying food again. Forget everything you learned after 5th grade about nutrition. This is about learning to eat for the rest of your life.

And regarding the sweet tea, I guess it depends on how much sugar you put in. I think more than a teaspoon or two of sugar per glass moves a beverage from something to slake your thirst to a liquid dessert.

Blithe, I like your response better than mine. You get to the roots of the questions.

Also, I confess I come from the South, where Sweet Tea has astounding amounts of sugar. I suppose there are actually are places where it has a only spoonful or two, hard as that is for me to get my mind around.

And a spoonful or two would be fine... I put a spoonful of sugar in my coffee, and consider that no big deal.

but i have never eaten breakfast ..... EVER and sweet tea is really the only thing i do drink. i put like 1/2 cup sugar to a gallon of tea, yes i make it by the gallons. i can say i only drink soda when i'm out. i just don't know if i can make my self eat breakfast. there are many days that i may eat an orange for lunch and then diner and nothing else.

what about the slim fast? is that an "S"lim fast thing too? because that too has been lunch for me.

I would not use the Slimfast. It's billed as a "meal replacement" -- you want an actual meal.

Do you use it because you're afraid real food will be too fattening, or because you have texture issues or something that make eating instead of drinking difficult, or some other reason like that? I bet we can come up with an alternative that would work for you.

Since you like that "shake" kind of a thing, what about smoothies for breakfast? You don't need a massive breakfast, but it's a good idea to have something. Just a little fruit and milk or yogurt in the blender ...

the reason i drink slim fast is because i'm trying to get some of this weight off. i'm only 26 and being treated for high cholesterol. i never use to have a problem with weight until my pregnancy i was put on complete bed rest for 4 months and i think just not being able to move at all just did it for me and now i can walk on my tredmill all day long and it gets me no where.

i've done 1000 cal diets and i gained weight and ate nothing really.

i just thought the less i took in the easier it would be for me to start seeing results.

Ok, I'm nerdy enough but I did the math with the help of onlineconversion.com

There are 16 cups of tea in a gallon.
In that 16 cups of tea, you put the equivalent of 48 teaspoons (.5 cups) sugar or 3 teaspoons per 8 oz which works out to 42 calories per glass.

Assuming you drank only ONE 8oz sweet tea a day, that would be fine. But, if you drank a larger glass, or several glasses a day (or several larger glasses a day), you are consuming way more in beverage calories than you realize.

Since you asked, this is what I suggest,

1. Stop drinking sweet tea except on weekends.
2. Start with eating two good meals a day and probably a smaller meal to make up for the loss of breakfast. GIve up the idea of a Slimfast. The name promises so much, but delivers so little. Look at the ingredient list: Fat free milk, water, sugar, cocoa (processed with alkali), gum Arabic, calcium caseinate, cellulose gel, canola oil, potassium phosphate, cellulose gum, soybean lecithin, mono and dyglicerides, artificial flavour, carrageenan, maltodextrin and dextrose. In short: Sugar. Oil. More sugar. And stuff to make you feel full.
3. Continue with your treadmill.

I know it's frustrating, but there is no quick fix for long term weight loss.

Blithe is so on target.

Additional notes:

The No S diet says to eat at meals, but doesn't specify how many or when. (Though if you do a BUNCH, it can be a problem!) Some people do more, and a few do less. If you NEVER eat breakfast, when do you normally eat what would look like a meal?

What I'm saying is that a consistent meal structure is more important than a specific structure.

I would also avoid the Slimfasts. For the calories, you could have something much more filling/healthy. A smoothie with real fruit, or the like. Or REAL food.

From your post, you eat nothing for breakfast, a slimfast for lunch, then dinner? That sounds awfully little. Are you snacking a lot, or eating huge dinner portions (which I would!!)? If you are eating a lot in the evenings, spreading out your meals would probably help with your overall consumption. If you really are consuming that little, you may want to check with your doctor for thyroid/metabolism issues.

On the tea... you might try the "glass ceiling" approach - limit to 2 glasses per day only. Other things you can drink include water (nice with lemon or mint), seltzer, some juice or milk (watch amounts, but okay), unsweetened tea (yes, it's drinkable - though I don't anymore), etc.

Do be prepared that this is NOT a quickie diet. Weight loss will be very slow. But it is a sustainable way of eating that doesn't make you crazy over time.

Good luck!

Blithe Morning wrote:Oh, my dear. Why on earth would you want to skip a meal? You only eat three times a day, I can't see intentionally foregoing a meal unless it was for religious fasting reasons.

If you look up the literature on "calorie restriction" and "intermittent fasting", it's actually an exceptionally healthy thing to do.

To the OP, either you are a genetic bizarrity (in which case I would advise you to love your weight and wear it as well as you can), or you are eating junk food when you do eat. As others have pointed out, "sweet tea" has to go. I drink black coffee and unsweetened green tea through the day; I like it this way, but it's not like I totally lack a "sweet tooth", it's just what I've always done. My Dad taught me to always drink coffee black, so you won't be upset if cream/sugar isn't available . Some of the differences in taste preferences is surely genetic, but the phenomenon of an "acquired taste" is very real.

Blithe, I think your math is off. 1/2 cup is 8 tablespoons or 24 teaspoons, so it would be 1 1/2 teaspoons per 8 ounces for about 21 calories.

I think of sweet tea as having a lot more sugar than 1/2 cup per gallon. If that's all you're using, go ahead and drink it as you wish. This isn't about no sugar; it's about no sweets. Since we can have all the hot tea or coffee we want with 1-2 teaspoons of sugar, go ahead and enjoy your not-so-sweet tea!

As for skipping meals, generally speaking I agree with the others. Having said that, I'm not a breakfast eater myself and never have been. I do eat it sometimes, but certainly not daily. I wouldn't use a meal replacement beverage for another meal.

DON'T SKIP MEALS!

Thank you, that is all.

Seriously, skipping meals is the road to ruin for most people. If you miss a normal meal time, 9 times out of 10 you push your hunger too far and more than over compensate with out of control portions come your next meal. That's assuming you even make it that far and don't have a total binge-fest in between. The more often you trigger true starvation mode (unlike mild hunger) the more efficient your body becomes at storing and retaining fat. Yes, the more you cut back the more stubborn your body becomes at holding on to the fat it currently has and storing more if possible.

cl2009 wrote: i've tried so many different diets and pills and everything else that you can waste your money on and so far nothing has helped in fact i usually end up gain more weight the less i consume.

I am inclined to think that even though you feel you are consuming less you are actually eating more calories when you do eat. Eating less to the point of being ravenous is a sure fire way to make sure you overload on calories when you do actually eat.

cl2009 wrote:but i have never eaten breakfast ..... EVER and sweet tea is really the only thing i do drink. i put like 1/2 cup sugar to a gallon of tea, yes i make it by the gallons. i can say i only drink soda when i'm out. i just don't know if i can make my self eat breakfast. there are many days that i may eat an orange for lunch and then diner and nothing else.

Did you consider that never eating breakfast EVER is part of your problem? Also, if you make sweet tea by the gallon is it possible to consider your consumption excessive? These are just some things for you to consider, only you can answer these for your own situation.

You are obviously desperate to lose weight, please don't let that desperation cloud logical though and drive you to even more unhealthy and dubious dietary practices. I’m very glad you are on this forum, take a look around and read everything you can. There have been a lot of people in similar positions to you and they have achieved good success with healthy normal eating. We are all here for you.

reitschule wrote:If you look up the literature on "calorie restriction" and "intermittent fasting", it's actually an exceptionally healthy thing to do.

Indeed, but only when it's moderate, controlled and sensible. Given the nature of this thread it's highly unlikely it would be in this case. I would rather we don't muddy the waters for this lady until she deals with the more pressing dietary issues at hand.

wosnes wrote:Blithe, I think your math is off. 1/2 cup is 8 tablespoons or 24 teaspoons, so it would be 1 1/2 teaspoons per 8 ounces for about 21 calories.

Indeed it is. Good catch. I still wouldn't drink even a lightly sweetened beverage more than once a day since that would just make me crave more sweets. But I understand that weaning a Southerner off sweet tea might be asking a lot off the bat.

Bushranger wrote: Also, if you make sweet tea by the gallon is it possible to consider your consumption excessive?

BR, sweet tea is an institution in the American South. The ONLY way to make it is by the gallon. I'm sure KCCC and others can more fully explain That Nectar Which Is Sweet Tea.

As a Yankee, I've only had sweet tea when traveling through the South. It's always a shock whenever I come across it as it usually is REALLY sweet. Way too sweet for me, who likes my iced tea (tea is the hot beverage, right? ) unsweetened with a squirt of fresh lemon.

However, I'm sure our friends from the UK are aghast at the idea of icing tea. So, it's all regional.

cl2009: About the Slimfast and the cholesterol issue, here is my experience. I had lost 50 pounds on Weight Watchers and thought I was "living right", so was totally shocked when my doctor told me my cholesterol. which for years had been just fine, was much too high. He wanted to slam-dunk me onto statins, but I went to a doctor with a more holistic approach who got me to examine the amount of "phony food" I was eating: it was a lot! (All those frozen diet dinners, reduced calorie this and low-fat that -- endless lists of unpronounceable ingredients). So I kind of went cold turkey and started eating mainly whole foods, and within 3 months my cholesterol levels had dropped quite a bit, and after 9 months they were back to within a normal range, and have remained there every since. (This was about 4 years ago).

As they say, "your mileage may vary", but until you get a grip on the cholesterol, my experience would say to avoid processed food as much as possible, which would include Slimfast. You really don't want to be put on statins, especially at such a young age.

And, BTW, you absolutely can lose weight eating whole foods. It's a tad more work, but if you cook in bulk and use the freezer wisely, it's not that much more. Over the course of that 9 months, I sort of inadvertently lost an additional 6 pounds even though I was focusing on food content, not calories.

Also, poke around on this forum, and you will find people who are just not into breakfast but have found some acceptable workarounds. I'm not a big fan of skipping meals either.

Hope this helps -- best wishes for good health!

Everyone has already had some really great responses, but I wanted to add a couple thoughts.

Tea, even sweet tea, has caffeine in it, right? So if that is all that someone drinks, they may be mighty dehydrated. Drinking some water may be just the ticket to help get rid of some of that weight. I know that when I drink a lot of water, it keeps me fresher and I have more energy. It also helps with hunger, so that's nice too.

I've heard that eating breakfast (maybe not immediately when you get up, but in the first hour or two) can help jumpstart your metabolism. This may or may not be completely true, but I have more energy on the days that I do eat breakfast (I admit, sometimes on those lazy weekends I won't have anything until later). Eating even a couple pieces of toast may be helpful.

Oatmeal is a great food that can help lower cholesterol, as are other foods with fiber. That might be a good place to start. Eating "fake foods" like SlimFast may not do near as much for cholesterol as real food.

winnie96 wrote:cl2009: About the Slimfast and the cholesterol issue, here is my experience. I had lost 50 pounds on Weight Watchers and thought I was "living right", so was totally shocked when my doctor told me my cholesterol. which for years had been just fine, was much too high. He wanted to slam-dunk me onto statins, but I went to a doctor with a more holistic approach who got me to examine the amount of "phony food" I was eating: it was a lot! (All those frozen diet dinners, reduced calorie this and low-fat that -- endless lists of unpronounceable ingredients). So I kind of went cold turkey and started eating mainly whole foods, and within 3 months my cholesterol levels had dropped quite a bit, and after 9 months they were back to within a normal range, and have remained there every since. (This was about 4 years ago).

As they say, "your mileage may vary", but until you get a grip on the cholesterol, my experience would say to avoid processed food as much as possible, which would include Slimfast. You really don't want to be put on statins, especially at such a young age.

And, BTW, you absolutely can lose weight eating whole foods. It's a tad more work, but if you cook in bulk and use the freezer wisely, it's not that much more. Over the course of that 9 months, I sort of inadvertently lost an additional 6 pounds even though I was focusing on food content, not calories.

Also, poke around on this forum, and you will find people who are just not into breakfast but have found some acceptable workarounds. I'm not a big fan of skipping meals either.

Hope this helps -- best wishes for good health!

Winnie, I've had pretty much the same experience with eating real food and cholesterol levels. What was interesting to me is that it dropped even more when I added full fat dairy and more meat than I was used to eating to my diet.

Blithe Morning wrote:

Bushranger wrote: Also, if you make sweet tea by the gallon is it possible to consider your consumption excessive?

BR, sweet tea is an institution in the American South. The ONLY way to make it is by the gallon. I'm sure KCCC and others can more fully explain That Nectar Which Is Sweet Tea.

As a Yankee, I've only had sweet tea when traveling through the South. It's always a shock whenever I come across it as it usually is REALLY sweet. Way too sweet for me, who likes my iced tea (tea is the hot beverage, right? ) unsweetened with a squirt of fresh lemon.

However, I'm sure our friends from the UK are aghast at the idea of icing tea. So, it's all regional.

None of that really addresses my point which was simply to consider how much she is consuming and how often. Fine, it's only made by the gallon. But how fast is that gallon being consumed?

Also, just because something is considered an "institution" doesn't mean it’s healthy, useful or worthwhile keeping up. I could easily argue that McDonalds has become an institution in most of the western world, does that make it above reproach when considering someone’s dietary issues? I think not.

I agree that you should keep the tea, but avoid the Slimfast. If the tea helps you feel like you are less deprived it will probably be a big help in getting through those first couple of weeks. If you are hungry enough to eat three meals, you should eat three meals of real food and enjoy it. Like the others all say, learn to change your relationship with food, and do it in a way that you could see yourself doing it for the rest of your life. Make your first goal simply to maintain, to stop gaining. You might accidently lose weight that way

BR, sweet tea is an institution in the American South. The ONLY way to make it is by the gallon. I'm sure KCCC and others can more fully explain That Nectar Which Is Sweet Tea.

I can tell you about it, but I don't drink it (near heresy in my region, but oh well).

Southern tea is most definitely an S.

One-half cup per gallon is not even close to what I know as "Sweet tea." I'd consider tea in this range to be okay in reasonable quantities - several glasses a day, but not the only liquid consumed.

I do ask for "hot" tea without thinking in other regions, since iced is the default here.

KCCC wrote: One-half cup per gallon is not even close to what I know as "Sweet tea." I'd consider tea in this range to be okay in reasonable quantities - several glasses a day, but not the only liquid consumed.

One-half cup of sugar per gallon of tea is "sweetened" tea, but not "sweet" tea.

Funny, with the exception of one particular restaurant I frequent, the default here is hot tea.

It all sounds like sugar water.

when i make tea i make 2 gals at a time. there are 4 people in my home but i can say that on most days i may have 3-4 glasses.

and as far as breakfast goes i can try to eat a small bowl of cereal or something. some asked if i don't eat breakfast then when do i eat.
lunch is usually around 11ish and dinner 6ish.

with 2 small boys i sometimes just get too busy to eat i know that sounds crazy but so can my home be

and before i started on No s when i did get time to grab a snack it was usually fruit or dry cereal. Nothing too heavy.

thanks to everyone who has posted i've learned a great deal and enjoy hearing what you have to say.

thanks again[/quote]

cl2009 wrote:when i make tea i make 2 gals at a time.

Each of us on the forum has individual differences and preferences regarding food.
While Reinhard does not like the taste or choose to use them himself,
there is no Restriciton in No S requiring one to avoid artificial sweeters.
I...personally...find artificial sweetners to be desirable, healthy, and delicious.
I think that Splenda is a "gift from God" which I gratefully incorporate into my food plans.

Tea is my normal beverage of choice.
For many, many years, I've found drinking hot and iced tea to be a pleasant and desirable Habit.
I have several cups of hot tea (sweetened with Splenda) each morning,
and sip glasses of iced tea (sweetened with Splenda) throughout the day as desired.
In the years before Splenda, I used SweetnLow.
For iced tea, I add Splenda each time I make 2 gals, and I am the one who drinks it all.

I also usually have a diet coke or coke zero sometime during the day if I wish.
I choose to spend my time working to change eating Habits that I am certain will help me lose or maintain my weight,
and do not choose to work on eliminating everything in my life that "might possibly" be a less healthy option.

BrightAngel wrote: I think that Splenda is a "gift from God" which I gratefully incorporate into my food plans.

I've seen you say this before and I always think about that as I use Splenda, lol. It's a staple in our home. My husband makes homemade iced tea with it. The canister that in most houses that would contain sugar contains Splenda. I keep sugar packets for when people come over, but they're rarely used. I love Splenda .

Let me add something to this sweet tea thread. I was raised in Alabama and I love sweet tea, especially with lemon. Here, in the South, when you order "tea," they bring you iced sweet tea or they ask you, "Sweet or Unsweet?"

Since I have been a dieter for so long, I have found that the best sweetener to approximate the taste of sweet tea is to mix one packet of pink (Sweet n Low) and one packet of blue (Equal). By using two different kinds, it cancels out the chemical taste quite a bit, plus two packets makes it the equivalent sweetness of Southern tea. Other than tea, my personal choice is Splenda, which goes in my coffee.

Gee, this makes me sound like I do nothing but ingest chemicals!! I'd do something about this if I didn't like the taste so much!

buttercreampillow wrote:I have found that the best sweetener to approximate the taste of sweet tea is to mix one packet of pink (Sweet n Low) and one packet of blue (Equal). By using two different kinds, it cancels out the chemical taste quite a bit, plus two packets makes it the equivalent sweetness of Southern tea. Other than tea, my personal choice is Splenda, which goes in my coffee.

Gee, this makes me sound like I do nothing but ingest chemicals!! I'd do something about this if I didn't like the taste so much!

Bahaha we've got a chemist in our midst lol. I actually like my tea black, but I do like diet snapple, diet coke, and fresca. I'm trying to cut down, but kind of failing...

marleah wrote:Everyone has already had some really great responses, but I wanted to add a couple thoughts.

Tea, even sweet tea, has caffeine in it, right? So if that is all that someone drinks, they may be mighty dehydrated. Drinking some water may be just the ticket to help get rid of some of that weight. I know that when I drink a lot of water, it keeps me fresher and I have more energy. It also helps with hunger, so that's nice too.

I've heard that eating breakfast (maybe not immediately when you get up, but in the first hour or two) can help jumpstart your metabolism. This may or may not be completely true, but I have more energy on the days that I do eat breakfast (I admit, sometimes on those lazy weekends I won't have anything until later). Eating even a couple pieces of toast may be helpful.

Oatmeal is a great food that can help lower cholesterol, as are other foods with fiber. That might be a good place to start. Eating "fake foods" like SlimFast may not do near as much for cholesterol as real food.

It appears that the belief that tea dehydrates is unfounded.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5281046.stm

My octogenarian grandparents drink tea over plain water all the time. I've done the same for about two years.