This is hard...

No Snacks, no sweets, no seconds. Except on Days that start with S. Too simple for you? Simple is why it works. Look here for questions, introductions, support, success stories.

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mshuler61
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Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2006 4:10 pm

This is hard...

Post by mshuler61 » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:31 pm

I am a cheater.I have NOT started No-S because I can't get through a day without cheating!!! Either with sweets or snacks or usually both, I haven't completed one day since trying to begin this plan. Any suggestions on how I can start and actually complete the first day? Anything is greatly appreciated!!

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gratefuldeb67
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Location: Great Neck, NY

Post by gratefuldeb67 » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:38 pm

Hi M...
For the first year, or at least the first six or seven months I was on NoS, I have to admit, I didn't do perfectly, but I stuck to the rules at least 75% of the week... Also, I ate plenty of "snack" food, like popcorn and tortilla chips with salsa, but I never ate it as a snack timewise.. It was always part of, or my entire meal... Okay okay... not too healthy, but I was forming my habits one at a time...
There were times when I'd go and get nachos and cheese (and still do sometimes) from 7/11 and that would be dinner... Well. I never gained any weight from those months and lost slowly too...

Funny enough, at this point, 16 months later, I eat junk food only about one day a week and I'm not having any cravings like I did before..
I used to want Haagen daz every four days, but these days, I'm really fine with having it only on S days...

I suggest you take those snack foods and serve yourself one "junk food" meal a day, so you don't feel deprived of those things, but then make sure your other meals are healthy... This way you are working on the most important of the rules... Forming the three meals a day habit and not eating in between...
Good luck and just forgive yourself your mistakes... Even 75% is better than zero! You will do it!
Love,
8) Deb

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JWL
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Post by JWL » Tue Jan 31, 2006 7:58 pm

Hi mshuler,

I found it useful to think in terms of "big choices" and "little choices" to combat this problem.

We tend to make "big choices," like New year resolutions, or "I'll run a marathon every weekday" or "I'll lose 75 pounds this month" or whatever. While it's important to make these "big choices" be attainable yet challenging, "I will adhere to No-S" is a good big-choice.

But, the "big choice" means nothing unless you back it up with a bunch of "little choices." Like, "I'm not gonna eat that snickers bar because it violates the rules of No-S." Or, "I'll wait until dinner to eat." Or, "I'll do my 14 minutes of shovelglove today," etc.

The thing is, fat people have gotten used to eating to much (for the most part). No-S helps you get this under control. IT takes work to retrain our body to get used to less food intake. Our bodies adapt to whatever conditions we throw at them.

That's why there is such an emphasis on 21 days. If you can forge your will of iron, and make yourself stick to No-S for 21 days through the power of lots of good "little choices," you will emerge from the end of that time with a smaller appetite, and will have laid the foundation for a new habit that moves you closer to health the longer you do it.

Good luck! It's work!
JWL[.|@]Freakwitch[.]net

Shameless Hussey
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Location: Madison, Wisconsin usa

Post by Shameless Hussey » Tue Jan 31, 2006 10:10 pm

I'm not sure who first posted this idea, but I have really found it helpful:

Get up in the morning. Eat breakfast -- one plate's worth. Go about your life. Concentrate on "not snacking" until lunchtime. Eat lunch -- one plate's worth. Enjoy it! Concentrate on "not snacking" until dinnertime. Eat dinner -- one plate's worth. Have a great meal! Concentrate on "not snacking" until bedtime. Get a good night's sleep.

With this plan, you're not concentrating on getting it right for the rest of your life... or for 21 days straight... or even for a single day. You're just enjoying your food when you eat, and concentrating on "fasting" until your next meal.

Really, you can do this. I have every belief in you!

kcin49
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Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2006 3:38 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by kcin49 » Wed Feb 01, 2006 1:18 am

Stick with it m... I played around with NoS for a few weeks before finally commiting to it. I experimented and took each day as it came until I got used to the idea. Now I've just completed my 21 days and am very happy with the result. It was hard at times, but I was determined, and succeeded. This is not like me. I've always found it hard to stick with diets but this is a new lifestyle for me, and the S days make it all worthwhile. I have to learn not to vertical stack my plate, but I'll start working on that now that I've got the snack thing almost under control. (I didn't say I was perfect!) :D

Good luck. This works.
NikC

silverfish
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Post by silverfish » Wed Feb 01, 2006 2:04 am

I find it helps not to say "I can't eat xyz". Instead, say "I will eat at 1pm". Or, "I will eat XYZ on Saturday" - for the first month or two I kept a list of things I was going to eat on the weekend :) Now, I've been wanting to try a cherry-ripe sundae at MacDonalds for about two months and still haven't managed to get around to it!

Kathleen.

creaky
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Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:58 am

Long Reply

Post by creaky » Wed Feb 01, 2006 5:38 am

Hi mshuler61,

I'm new to No S but not to changing how I eat. I found No S two nights ago and jumped right into it, but I've had a year worth of practice in getting my eating in line. I was worried about losing my 10 and 3 pm and 7 pm snacks but I added the foods I'd eat in my snacks to my meals.

Are you eating enough at your 3 meals? I eat a lot at my meals, but it is a lot of fruit and veggies and runs about 1800 cals per day. You didn't post what you eat each day, maybe seeing what you eat for a few days will help us help you. Have you started a daily check-in journal?

Do your meals contain enough fat to keep you full and satisfied? If I eat a meal without some fat, I seem to get hungrier faster.
I know when I started all of my weight loss (90 pounds in the past two years and 70 of it in the last year) I changed one thing at a time in my life. I decided that I would change my eating first, then add exercise. I didn't change my eating overnight, but each week or so, I would change one meal to make it healthier. I started to eat breakfast - oatmeal and fruit - I can't face protein in the morning. Once I had breakfast down, I started on lunch. I tried different lunches until I found a few that I liked. Now I eat a large (and I mean a laaarrrge salad), 2 pita halves stuffed with salad and 3 oz of meat, a piece of bread and if I'm still hungry a piece of fruit

I played around with my meals until I found what I liked. I keep the same meals every day. This seems to keep my tastebuds under control as I'm not stimulating them each day with new foods and tastes. It may be boring to some people but it works for me.

So maybe do the same for yourself. Set yourself to do one meal at a time each week. Breakfast might be the easiest one to start at. See what you need to eat to be full, but not stuffed. Then once you have this under control and it may take a while, then go to another meal. Treat each good breakfast to lunch time with no snack as a successful "day" until it is automatic for you. Then go to next.

Don't see your self as a cheater. This defeats your purpose. Instead say positive things to yourself - I eat healthy foods. The breakfast I eat satisfies me. and so on.

Take each time period separately 1. Breakfast to lunch, 2. Lunch to Dinner, and 3. Dinner to bedtime. One day each time period will be a successful No S for you and you will look back and say "That was easy!"

Remember this is all a process and if I can do it and change how I eat so can anyone!

Creaky

jbcombs
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2005 4:37 pm

Post by jbcombs » Wed Feb 01, 2006 2:27 pm

Hello mschuler61!

Don't be too hard on yourself...I have been doing NoS since Jan. 2, and I've had a lot of "failure" days. But I have learned a lot about what works for me and what doesn't, and the NoS days are getting easier and I'm having more success.

For example, I drink coffee w/ a little cream first thing in the morning and that allows me to have a later breakfast (I saw a post on this forum somewhere with that idea). That keeps me from feeling starved in the mornings. Then I can eat a later lunch and then the time between lunch and dinner doesn't seem so long. I also found I have to stay busy throughout the day and that on Mondays, all the sugary stuff has to go in the garbage. Another important lesson I'm learning is to take my 3 meals seriously--eat a full, balanced plate of foods I like.

Don't give up! :) Just pick yourself up and try again today!
Jen

cvmom
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Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 1:03 am
Location: California

Post by cvmom » Sat Feb 04, 2006 6:11 pm

Hi.

Everyone here is giving you great advice. My little Jedi Mind Trick, in the beginning, was to talk to myself the way I would talk to my kids. You see, it is the rebellious child in me that wants the sweets and the snacks all the time. There are still times, even after 7 months, where I have to say to myself, "It's Okay, you are fine. You can eat in another hour. You are not going to starve".

There was a day this week where I didn't eat for 7 hours. This is very long for me and I started getting brain fog. But, I made it home and had a decent (late) lunch. It is true that you need to make sure that you eat enough at each meal. Don't think of your meal as a "diet" meal. It needs to satisfy you without stuffing.

Set a small goal for yourself. See if you can do this for a few days. Once you do it consistently it will become a habit. I went to a business dinner last night and didn't blink twice while my husband devoured a huge creme brulee. It wasn't even an option because it was Friday.

Best of luck,
CV Mom

Kevin
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Joined: Mon May 02, 2005 9:02 pm
Location: Maryland, USA

Post by Kevin » Sat Feb 04, 2006 9:53 pm

I'm a proponent of the make a promise, keep a promise approach. You can keep a promise to yourself for six hours, right? With each one you make and keep, it gets easier to believe yourself.

But if you fail, so what? Try again. For a while, I did penance. If I cheated, I did 50 situps. Did it burn up the calories? No, but at least it was a positive step I could take (and flattened my belly a bit at the same time).

You can do this. Try again. Nothing breeds success like success. And forgive yourself when you fail. You're human. Failure and redemption is humanity's big story line. :0)
Kevin
1/13/2011-189# :: 4/21/2011-177# :: Goal-165#
"Respecting the 4th S: sometimes."

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