Everyday Systems

Having a discrete number of esses on S days is something that I would like to do. But I lack the inclination to do it. As a result, I permasnack on S days.

My question is, if I start limiting my esses on S days, will that make overall diet compliance easier or harder. What has been the experience of others?

Well, I tried this and actually found it quite helpful. If I keep the number to around 2 events per S day, then I feel like I'm getting a few special treats rather than just eating everything in sight "because I can." Most members try to discourage you from making a mod (you should check out the podcast on the subject if you havent already), but I found it really helpful and you might feel the same way. The great thing was that I found my overall diet compliance the same, so I've kept with the mod for the most part.

Well, I'm fairly certain that this would not be a mod. In fact I think it is what is recommended for everybody. At least that was the impression that I got from "S-days gone wild"

How to quantify "sometimes", hmmm, that is sticky. I've started by limiting snacks since seconds are limited by hungry I am and sweets are limited by what's in the house.

I plan snacks and sweets to some extent. Seconds are rare for me and depend more on what I'm eating that whether or not I'm still hungry after I've eaten.

Hi there!

I understand about the tendency to permasnack on S days just because "I can" and it definitely feels crappy.

I say a little experimentation never hurts! Decide on a particular number of S events for this weekend and see how it makes you feel both throughout the weekend and during the subsequent week. You may find that putting a bit of structure/planning/intentionality into your S days makes them more pleasurable and makes you more enthusiastic about no S overall. And well, if it makes you feel deprived or stifled instead, you can always go back to totally free S days.

I think alot of people have to put an upper limit on their S events, else they tend to get out of hand (certainly applies to me!). Good luck and let us know what you discover.

I recommend the "S-days gone wild" podcast/thread highly.

I do not limit the number of S's because I think doing so would backfire on me. But I do make sure I eat three meals, drink enough, PLAN good treats, etc. Lately I've added "avoid snacking" to my list, but that was only after I realized I didn't really like it and it made me feel crappy.

Some people are okay with limiting S's, and some aren't. I don't recommend it for the first month (or however long it takes to get "diet-think" out of your system), but after that, it kind of depends on how you will react to it.

But do refer to the podcast on it first - there's a good bit of accumated wisdom there.

CriticalMass wrote:Having a discrete number of esses on S days is something that I would like to do. But I lack the inclination to do it. As a result, I permasnack on S days.

My question is, if I start limiting my esses on S days, will that make overall diet compliance easier or harder. What has been the experience of others?

I think you are discovering the wisdom/common sense of including the "sometimes on S days" that was part of the original NoS mantra.

As you see from other posts, a number of people *do* limit their S days because *they want to.* They've found unlimited indulgence unsatisfying. I also fall into that camp.

I think there is a possible danger in setting up a specific limit and then "failing" on a day when you are not supposed to be able to fail--talk about demoralizing.

I approach it this way: I want to be able to go to bed on Sunday night *feeling good*, not slightly overstuffed, not uncomfortable, not waking up on Monday morning feeling bloated. And mind you, I do NOT have over the top S days, but the habits of vanilla NoS make one much more sensitive to overeating (IMO).

That is my goal and I can choose several ways to get there. For me, this is generally accomplished by following basic NoS principles starting Sunday afternoon....I will sometimes cautiously allow myself a very small portion of a truly delightful dessert Sunday evening, because my goal isn't about the number of S's but feeling good. I often don't have any S's past our Sunday Lunch because I think to myself how great it will feel to wake up and look forward to breakfast rather than a day to recover from eating too much.....

I think this positive motivation is a *good* thing and urge you to find a positive incentive rather than an "I can't have xxxx" one.

hth,

My S-days are rule free. I've had some doozies, and still do occasionally, but mostly they're not too awful. I attribute this to good weekday habits of meal based eating carrying over + intentional rewards -- I don't just wait and hope I don't get too hungry.

The "S-event" concept isn't a bad one -- but I think for most people the feeling of being restricted isn't worth it. They'll rebel. And then what? Get a "Failure" on an exempt day? That feels wrong to my mind at least...

That being said, it certainly is a reasonable option if you find after a good long time (months) vanilla rule free S-days aren't doing the trick. To avoid the "red on yellow day" conundrum, you could simply record the number of s-events or number of s-events in excess of some threshold (say, 1 or 2) on your daily check in. You can't "fail," but you still have some incentive to keep the number down.

Reinhard

Well, I don't usually have problems with eating so much that I feel bad. So, that's not a huge issue for me.

My main issue, from a behavior modification point of view, is the feeling of going "cold turkey" every Monday. When I first began the diet months ago, this was not a problem, because I like many people can be fervent about new things. However, once the newness has worn off, I have not maintained the 100% N-day compliance that I had.

The results for me have been good, and almost exactly mirror my level of compliance. Good compliance month=results, bad compliance month=no results