Everyday Systems

I would really like some advice from experienced no-S dieters. I am female, 45 years old, 5'2" tall and this morning weighed 139lbs. I'd like to lose about 8-10lbs more.
I started no-S for the second time on 28 April. I read through lots of the threads on the message boards and started with vanilla no-S. Between 28 April and 25 May I had one red N-day - all other days were either S-days, or green N-days. I lost 2-3 pounds in this time - all good so far

However, by 25 May I was finding the time between lunch and dinner very difficult. I normally eat lunch about 1pm -dinner is about 7pm, unless I go to the gym and then I generally eat about 8.30pm. My meals are generally well-balanced and healthy (it's the snacks and sweets that have done the damage over the years!). However, I was eating until I was stuffed at lunchtime so that I could last until dinner. By dinner I was so hungry that my portion sizes were much bigger than I would generally eat and I was overfull again. I know that if I eat any less I won't be able to last until dinner - especially on gym days.
What I would like to do is divide my lunch into 2 parts and eat the second part at about 5pm. However, I don't like to break the rules, which seem to be there for a good reason. Most of the advice on the boards, and the podcasts, is to stick with vanilla and ingrain the habits before tweaking. So what I'd like to know is: should I stick with the vanilla? Will my food needs adapt so that eventually I can last from 1pm until 7/8pm without finding it too difficult? Is there anyone else out there of a similar age who has lost what I need to lose by sticking to vanilla or by tweaking? Any advice/suggestions gratefully received. Thank you

Nowhere in the rules does it say how MANY meals you should have... only that they're regular. The "big idea" (in my mind) is to make each meal a planned, definite event - and to avoid "perma-snacking" or random eating all day.

There is a warning that every eating opportunity is an opportunity for excess, however. So if you decide to divide a meal into two smaller ones, be very conscious of your total intake.

(Perhaps it's your dinner you need to divide, instead of your lunch... or just a tiny bit at 5:00, like a piece of fruit, would be enough.)

Reinhard has a great trilogy on "mods" that might interest you.

Hi KCCC - thanks for your advice. As an initial first step I am going to divide my lunch into 2 parts so that I eat a 'mini-meal' at 5pmish. I won't eat any more than I am eating at the moment and it will be fruit. Dividing dinner is tricky as it is a family meal which is cooked later. Hopefully if I eat at 5ish I will be able to manage my dinner portions more successfully.
I have read the transcripts of the podcasts - the message I took away was not to mess with the structure of no-S, which was why I posted the question. Maybe I'm not reading deeply enough - I'll go back and have another look. Thanks again.

Well, if I recall correctly, the usual mistakes are...

-Tweaking before habit has had a chance to form (you seem to be doing well)
-Tweaking in order to hasten weight loss, and reaching "unsustainability" levels (you're not doing that)
-Over-tweaking, so that it gets too complicated/unsustainable AND it's impossible to track results of any individual tweak (you're not doing that)
- Not monitoring "what happens" as a result (which I've encouraged you to do)

From my memory, R's advice is that if you must tweak, to do only one thing, follow it for a set time, then evaluate. So, why don't you try holding back one piece of fruit from lunch for 5:00, seeing (a) if it solves your problem and (b) how it affects your exercise, your total intake, or your weight loss, and going from there....

You might also ask yourself "Do I really need this?" when you have your fruit. Over time, you may less and less.

(And it's true that over time, you might stop stuffing anyway and be fine. So, if you just want to give it time and see, that's an option. Either route has possibilities, and you can try one and change your mind later...)

Thanks again KCCC - you have really helped me clarify some things. I think you are right that I need to develop the habit of reflection in order to find out how much and when I need to eat, so I'm going to use the daily check-in thread to do this.
Thanks for your help - very much appreciated