Everyday Systems

Hi all! My first post here!

I like the sensibility of this plan... I generally eat quite healthy and am trying to lose those last 5 pounds. My weight loss looks like this: Watch cals like a hawk, get down 3 pounds, eat 50 pounds of trail mix (or peanut butter sandwiches, or some equally bizarre binge food), 3 lbs comes back. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I'm tired of fighting that cycle and am wondering if I ate a little more moderately if the weight would just gradually drop off. So I have some questions:

First, I love peanut butter. Like... if it drops on the floor I consider eating it anyway because who wants to waste peanut butter. Luckily, the dog usually beats me to it. I buy the no-sugar added kind, but I wonder if since I love it so much, should it be a Sweet? Ditto with fruit yogurt and granola bars. The aren't cupcakes, but I have used them to sub for sugary, high fat desserts so in my mind they sort of ARE desserts.

But I'm wondering if limiting things like strawberry yogurt would drive me into the arms of strawberry cheesecake?

Also, I know from reading the diet rules that carb and calorie counting are generally discouraged... but does everyone do that? Or, not do that? The reason I ask is that I have been told that fat loss will not occur if carb grams are over 100g per day (unless you're an athlete). It doesn't take much to go over 100g so I was wondering if anyone else has noticed that?

Thanks in advance!

I don't think peanut butter should be a sweet. Have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you like, just not as a snack.

The yogurt with fruit is personal choice -- some of us call it sweet, some don't. If I want yogurt with fruit I get plain yogurt and add fruit. But if you eat it like dessert, it's a sweet. Granola bars are generally grouped with sweets.

I agree, eat what you want at meals, but peanut butter between meals, even off the floor, would count as a snack.

I personally don't count calories, but I'm on week 2 and still learning. It's better to do one thing at a time. Get the habit down first. If you try to do too many restrictions at once, it's too easy to get discouraged. The three S's are hard enough as it is.

leafy_greens wrote: but peanut butter between meals, even off the floor, would count as a snack.

HA! Noted, thank you. Will only eat PB off the floor during meal times.

Peanut butter - not a sweet, especially if you get the ones that are all peanuts. Some others have icing sugar added
Fruit yogurt - I watched something once that showed how much sugar is in some yogurt, and that was enough to make me switch to plain+fruit or honey. I eat greek yogurt, which is delicious and so thick a very small amount fills me up.
Granola bars - I'd say it's a sweet. Enjoy them on your S-Days ^.^

Thanks for the suggestions/answers! My first week has been... no successful.

according to the front page of nos.com, Reinhard thinks that you may count some foods you tend to overeat as sweets

What do you mean by "sweets"?

I mean something whose principal source of calories is sugar. Go ahead and put sugar in your coffee or oatmeal; you have my blessing. Of course fruits are fine.

But beware of soda and corn syrup "juice" drinks. I'm not just being a killjoy; adolescent Americans get an estimated 13% of their total calories from such nutritionally bankrupt "liquid carbohydrates."

I wouldn't worry too much about borderline foods like yoghurt and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. If these are a problem for you, i.e., you eat them every day and lay it on thick, then make them esses. If not, don't. Just by targeting the really egregious offenders you'll be cutting out a lot of calories. And you'll be that much more likely to stick with the plan. If you're like most first worlders, it's a little revolting to think how much unambiguously crappy food you consume. So forget the borderline cases, the clear cut cases are 80% of the problem and 0% of the headache.