Planned failure?

staclinusa · Post by **staclinusa** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:19 pm

Things are going really well for me on No S - I'm down 7 pounds in my first 2 weeks - and I'm working hard to avoid things that are pitfalls for me.

Friday night I'm having some friends over and we'll be having snacks and drinks. Obviously, Friday is not an S-day, but I know I'm not going to sit there with snacks I made watching my friends eat them.

I know that the No S philosophy is not about feeling guilty when you slip, but my concern is falling back into my old habit of making excuses to eat poorly. You know, "It's Flag Day! Have a cookie!"

I do have a point... How do you decide when it's okay to forget the rules for a day (or afternoon) and when you need to stand strong?

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:56 pm

Someone here has a set of criteria to determine things like this, but it's too complicated for me. Here's my own criteria:

1. Is this something or someone I would change my plans to do/be with?

2. Does this happen routinely? My criteria for "routinely" is not more often and hopefully less often than monthly.

If the answer to 1 is yes and 2 is no, it's okay to indulge. I wouldn't call it "forgetting the rules," because you're NOT forgetting the rules.

Starla · Post by **Starla** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:11 pm

Congratulations on your great beginning!

Have you considered trying to do this within the rules of No S? As long as you're not eating sweets, you can have appetizers with your friends and call it supper. The nice thing is that if you're making the appetizers, you can figure out ahead of time what you want to eat and how much of it can fit on a plate. Then when Friday comes, you can eat and drink with your friends guilt-free.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll figure this out in a way that works for you.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 4:23 am

I'll second the appetizers idea. There's lots of things you could make for a get together that aren't sweets (deviled eggs, crackers or veggies with fancy dip. etc...)

staclinusa · Post by **staclinusa** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 1:08 pm

I will definitely make foods that are as healthy as is pallatable, but I'm not sure about having the appetizers be dinner. We're teachers, so after work means 3:00... I've gotten pretty good at not snacking in between meals, but not eating from 4 p.m. until the next morning's breakfast (most likely 10 a.m. because I like to sleep in on weekends) is likely not going to happen.

I do normally have a small meal when I get home from school to fill in the gap between my early lunch and late dinner, so maybe I'll use the social gathering as my big meal and have a small meal (half a bagel and fruit) for dinner.

ShannahR · Post by **ShannahR** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 1:54 pm

You could do what I have started calling the "S-day slide." It's a pretty common idea, you move your S-days to Friday night through Sunday afternoon. Then Sunday afternoon you start N days again. That way you are "Sing" the same amount of time, it's just moved a little. I've done it and as long as you're strict about getting back to N day behavior on Sunday afternoon I think it works well.

jaob · Post by **jaob** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 3:30 pm

Stacey, I was going to suggest what you already came up with. If you think you could make it from breakfast to 3:00, make your gathering your lunch. I have found that if I can sacrifice one thing so that I may enjoy another that I enjoy that other thing even more (not as in more food, just more enjoyable

). And you are still not breaking any NoS rules. Let us know how your Friday night goes!

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 5:31 pm

Remember that many people take floating NWS (non-weekend S) days for just this sort of thing. Mostly they're used for holidays that don't fall on weekends, but this sounds reasonable.

To keep yourself from celebrating Flag Day with a cookie,

limit the number of NWS days per month to two. That will enforce choices.

And I'd add: think in terms of "S-events" on those NWS days. Just because you have something planned in the evening, don't gorge all day. Treat it as a normal N day until you get to the reason for the exception, then go back to N-ness for the remainder of the day.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 7:29 pm

When I was taking S days routinely on weekends, I allowed myself an extra S event weekly, if needed, instead of two monthly. Allowing it didn't necessarily mean I used it. But if something came up, I was okay at least once a week.