How long did it take for your S day's to calm down???

NoSnacker · Post by **NoSnacker** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 10:30 am

It has been 2 months that I have been following the No S plan. I was wondering how long it took you to find your S days no longer going wild for the most part. Did you gradually start taming one day on the weekend to start?

Truly I find my weekends quite discouraging to say the least..but not enough to stop overindulging.

Thanks.

Who Me? · Post by **Who Me?** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 12:46 pm

I never allowed myself out-of-control weekends. That whole idea just didn't make sense to me. I'll have a dessert or two over the weekend. Maybe I'll have seconds at dinner. Maybe I'll do a wee bit of grazing.

But eating an entire carton of ice cream at the stroke of midnight? Never. That wouldn't suit me.

Strawberry Roan · Post by **Strawberry Roan** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 2:20 pm

Same here. I actually found this site through a link on Calorie Count Plus (which is an excellent board as well). I am not interested in the S Days Gone Wild concept as my goal is to develop lifelong good eating and exercise habits.

To undo on a weekend what I have worked all week to achieve doesn't make sense to me. If I want a little something I have it. I just don't want it too often.

Nicest of the Damned · Post by **Nicest of the Damned** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 3:34 pm

First, define "no longer going wild". What specific behaviors are happening on your S days that you don't like? Be as specific as possible, the more specific you are, the easier it is to do something about it.

I instituted a couple of mods to deal with this. But remember, restricting S days is like cooking a small fish- it takes a very light touch. If you restrict too much, you'll build up resentment and end up chucking the whole thing. I suspect building up resentment and deciding the whole thing isn't worth it is why most people go off most diets. It's not something you can ignore.

My mods:

The Sitting mod. No eating in any position other than sitting. No eating standing up, on S or N days.

The NEP mod. Means No Eating from Packages, or No Eating without a Plate. If you want to eat something, you have to put it on a plate or in a bowl first, and close up and put away the package before you can start eating.

Those mods were enough to keep me from "grazing" through the day, and limited the damage if I did.

Who Me? · Post by **Who Me?** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 4:01 pm

I think both of those rules are brilliant. They're "eating like an adult" to my mind.

milliem · Post by **milliem** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 4:01 pm

I think it depends on your eating habits prior to NoS as to how your S days are. It's great that some people have the willpower and motivation to just never really eat sweets or snacks, or to eat sensibly and moderately every single day. For some of us, it's not that easy. I don't think it's about allowing yourself to binge it's about having those days when you don't have to limit or track your food - that release valve from 'diet head' and ability to go right back to N days without any guilt or failure feelings.

I ate a lot of chocolate, sweet things, snacks etc. (although I wouldn't often do any serious 'binging') throughout the week before I started NoS. When I started doing NoS I noticed how much of this stuff I was eating on the weekends - I don't think i necessarily ate any MORE of it than I would have normally, it was just placed in context of a NoS week it seems a lot!

I've had S days where I ate a lot of snacks and sweets throughout the day or basically permasnacked the entire time. I've had one or two where I've not eaten much outside of my 3 meals. I've been doing NoS for about 4 months now and feel more in control of my S days - I never really tried to control them per se, but I now feel like they aren't an opportunity to 'make up' for not eating things during the week. I'd say it's only been 2 or 3 weekends that I've noticed this change.

I love sweet food, I love snack food (GOOD food that is, not any old processed crap) and I will continue to eat it on weekends - for me this is why NoS works. It clearly defines when I will eat sweets and when I won't, and limits the opportunity to eat them. I think if I allowed myself sweets every day, or never, it would be a recipe for disaster.

Nicest of the Damned · Post by **Nicest of the Damned** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 4:51 pm

Who Me? wrote:I think both of those rules are brilliant. They're "eating like an adult" to my mind.

They kept me from going wild on S days, without feeling too deprived.

I also try not to hang around in the kitchen, except when I'm preparing meals, eating a meal or snack, or cleaning up after one, and I don't keep any food outside the kitchen. That lets my laziness fight against the urge to snack. It's not written anywhere that you can't turn one vice against another.

One I might add is that eating events must be separated by a minimum of 20 minutes of no eating (TV addicts could make it 30, or one half-hour show). An eating event is a meal or a single plate or bowl of snack food on an S day. I'll probably start tracking this rule if adding on to S day meals becomes more of a problem for me than it is. The idea is that your stomach takes 20 minutes to register being full, so you give it a chance to say "I'm full" before you eat more. 20 minutes is also enough time to get distracted by something else and not end up eating more. Also known as, "You just ate, you don't need to be eating again", in the tradition of Diet Advice Your Mom or Grandma Might Have Given You.

That rule would help to keep S day snacks under control, too, through the same mechanism No S keeps weekday meals under control. You have to see all the food you're going to eat, all together. If it's excessive, you can see that it's excessive.

NoSnacker · Post by **NoSnacker** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 7:02 pm

Nicest of the Damned wrote:First, define "no longer going wild". What specific behaviors are happening on your S days that you don't like? Be as specific as possible, the more specific you are, the easier it is to do something about it.

Mmmm, seems like I do quite well during the week, no binging..but once I give in to snacks, I keep going. I like what you also said about waiting 20 minutes for your brain to register you are full, then again if you have another snack..problem is I eat even when I'm full.

I know if I don't allow snacks on the weekends as they cause me to binge, then I'll feel deprived and pig out anyway.

I thought today, wow, it has been almost 2 months since I had a piece of hard candy at work...a good thing..

I guess I just don't know...I have to figure out a way that works...snacks do not work for me, but yet I look forward to them on the weekend..go figures..

Blithe Morning · Post by **Blithe Morning** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 7:15 pm

Certain snacks can trigger a binge in me. I no longer eat them at all.

Give yourself a year. Seriously. Eating habits are a tangled knot of hard-wiring, habituation, and social cues.

r.jean · Post by **r.jean** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 1:32 am

It was during the fourth month that things settled down into an easier routine for me; however, as I work my way through the seasons I find new challenges with each time of year. So...I agree with Blithe Morning that you need at least a year of maintaining these habits for it to become second nature.

One thing that changed during the fourth month was that I relaxed. I had become a bit over zealous in my third month and was going overboard with trying to eat too healthy. I was restricting my choices too much. I was not restricting calories or logging anything, but I was not eating my favorite foods much. So...this led to feeling deprived and led to overeating on weekends and sometimes during the week. I lost no weight at all my third month, and this woke me up. I went back to the basics of vanilla no S and quit trying to be perfect. When I am more satisfied during the week, I do not feel the need to change much on the weekend.

DaveMc · Post by **DaveMc** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 12:15 pm

I didn't really keep track, but I think it was over at least the first six months or so -- maybe longer! Two months is probably too soon to worry. Are N days now fully under control, for you? If not, that's always the recommended place to start ...

debrabuf wrote:Truly I find my weekends quite discouraging to say the least..but not enough to stop overindulging.

Eventually that feeling *will* lead you to stop! That general sentiment is one of the things that leads to less wild S days. That plus a bunch of other factors, like it no longer feeling good to eat so much, and the ability to trust that more treats will be coming in just a few days (your subconscious starts to believe that you don't need to eat everything in the world while the chance is available) ... So feeling disgruntled about your S days is part of the progression! If you're nice and solid with your N days, you can even start giving your subconscious some conscious nudges: "Hey, remember last weekend? Didn't feel good, did it?" The big concern when people start talking about trying to deliberately tighten up their S days is that they'll go too far and scare themselves off, and stop completely: no amount of gain on S days is worth losing all those N days (and losing the long-term sustainability of the plan), so that's got to be avoided! But if you can nudge yourself without falling off the plan completely, there's no harm in it.

finallyfull · Post by **finallyfull** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 1:22 pm

Something that really helps me is that I try to make sure I still eat three full meals on S days. Three complete, regular sized meals, at the usual times, too, when possible. This is hard, because my diet-head tries to get me to skip meals or eat less to "make up" for the treats. But the more I do this, the saner I am. I think eating the usual N-day meals is a key to sane, adult, healthy eating. I find that after a good meal, I am way pickier about my snacks and treats. Also, after 3 and a half months, I am now naturally getting averse to "spoiling" my next meal, so I have a brand new voice in my head that is getting stronger that says "wait, you'll spoil your dinner."

Obviously I still want to enjoy some delicous treats and snacks on the weekend, but I can really see how the N-day training is making me pickier. Even on "S" days, I ultimately don't want to "permasnack" -- but I want to have special things, like a piece of cake or if someone's made great appetizers or something. I want a big milkshake or a couple of pieces of home-made pie. If I think I want cheetoes, I'm better of putting them on my lunch plate than allowing them to wreck my next meal. I also end most meals with a big glass of water. This both helps me feel full (even though I know fullness is coming in about half an hour) and it takes the taste away, that lingering yummy taste that makes me want more).

I still struggle -- part of me will always be on the "see food" diet (eat whatever I see) -- I think Americans are programmed against denying ourselves anything -- but the longer I "trust" the vanilla plan, the louder the voice of reason and moderation gets. In fact, that voice is starting to become stronger than the voice of "just eat it now, it looks good, hurry!," which I suspect is stoked every day by advertising. I'm now listening to the wisdom of my ancestors instead of Taco Bell marketing geniuses, or whoever makes Cheetos. Thankfully, the ancestors have my best interests at heart.

NoSnacker · Post by **NoSnacker** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 4:03 pm

r.jean, davemc, finallyfull, blithe morning, milliem, who me, nicest of demand, strawberry roam,

thank you everyone for the feedback...i like a lot of what was said and will take a better look at all the sound advice..

have a great day.

NoSRocks · Post by **NoSRocks** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 9:33 pm

Hi deb! On my first attempt at No S, the weekends never really settled down - I was ALWAYS permasnacking or bingeing on my favorite foods. TBH, that was one of the main reasons I was drawn to this plan in the first place. Also, being able to go 'wild' at the weekends was what helped me in the beginning especially when our willpower is not at its strongest, and got me through the N Days. Before starting No S, try as i might, I could not get further than 2 or 3 days without having sweet treats/permasnacking and/or bingeing! The reason i stopped No S the first time around was I guess down to my overindulging at the weekends. This time around, my second attempt, certainly the first 3 - 4 months were just the same: permasnacking etc. I was all set to give up since the S Days were really worrying me. I couldn't believe how I could be so 'good' for 5 days and then blow it at the weekends. I found however, that once I stopped No S I would start fretting over diets and food/eating again. I'd go back into my old ways of 2 days being really good/strict and then caving in and having something sweet (which is one of my vices) before the guilt seeped in again and the vicious cycle of diet binge would start up again. Frustrated, I decided to go back to No S and this time, I am trying not to be so impatient and let things happen naturally. I restarted January of this year. Its taken me around 4 months to gradually reduce my portions and wild eating habits on S Days. This past couple of months I've noticed that I don't want or need to permasnack anymore. However, my brain is still 'wired' in to thinking "its an S Day therefore I must make the most of it". However, I tend to go for one really decadent dessert after my evening meal on an S Day and the permasnacking - fingers crossed - seems to be naturally and gradually diminishing. I was not happy to see that my weight had gone back up again after this weekend and so quickly and it makes me want to re-think what I will do on S Days. Not prepared to give them up entirely at this point. It could be something for the future, however. Perhaps I might make my next mod to streamline what I chose for my S Day desserts. The great thing about No S is its all up to you. You can chose to go at your own pace, decide what you want to eat, when. If you feel progress is too slow or not happening, you can make adjustments as necessary. Again, the emphasis is on taking it slowly but surely.
Sorry if this post was long winded! I hope this helps somewhat. Good Luck!!

Nicest of the Damned · Post by **Nicest of the Damned** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:12 pm

finallyfull wrote:I still struggle -- part of me will always be on the "see food" diet (eat whatever I see)

If you want to eat whenever you see or smell food, try to think of ways you can minimize the amount of time each day when you see or smell food. Don't hang out in the kitchen, except when you're preparing a meal or cleaning up after one. Don't keep food outside the kitchen. Work in your office or in the library, rather than in the local coffee shop (or somewhere else that sells food). Don't hang out near the Cinnabon at the mall. Don't use air fresheners or scented candles that have scents that remind you of foods you like.

It's not written anywhere that you have to have food around you at all times and resist the temptation to eat it. Your ancestors, for most of human history, assuredly did not do that. Eating whenever the opportunity presented itself was a huge survival advantage for them, because there weren't as many opportunities to eat as there are now, and gaining a few pounds when food was plentiful could help you get through the next famine.

NoSnacker · Post by **NoSnacker** » Sun Aug 07, 2011 10:10 am

Thanks everyone...starting to track what I eat on my S day's on my daily check in. This way when they finally tame down I can look back at where I came from

.

Nicest of the Damned · Post by **Nicest of the Damned** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 5:49 pm

Nicest of the Damned wrote:One I might add is that eating events must be separated by a minimum of 20 minutes of no eating (TV addicts could make it 30, or one half-hour show). An eating event is a meal or a single plate or bowl of snack food on an S day. I'll probably start tracking this rule if adding on to S day meals becomes more of a problem for me than it is. The idea is that your stomach takes 20 minutes to register being full, so you give it a chance to say "I'm full" before you eat more. 20 minutes is also enough time to get distracted by something else and not end up eating more. Also known as, "You just ate, you don't need to be eating again", in the tradition of Diet Advice Your Mom or Grandma Might Have Given You.

I just started doing this as a mod. I serve myself a snack on a plate or in a bowl, then no other food for at least 30 minutes. I think it helped me keep my eating under control this weekend.

SunCat · Post by **SunCat** » Wed Aug 10, 2011 3:13 pm

I was going to say mine have never 'settled down' but then when I read other people's ideas of what 'wild' is, mine seem pretty tame compared. I am hoping to get over the idea I have in my head that my weekend 'must' contain some sort of really great dessert. We didn't have one last weekend and I was okay with it, so maybe it's improving. What they have done is settle into a pattern that suits me, which I guess is all I really need.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 3:38 pm

I still have problems on weekends after 19 months, but life is so much better, I'm still happy I'm on No S.

SkyKitty · Post by **SkyKitty** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:06 am

I just had my best S day, not necessarily eating the least but I was happiest with what I had eaten, yesterday after about 3 and a half months.

What I had was:
Breakfast - My usual which is 2 slices toast, a yogurt and a banana.
During morning - 2 chocolates from a box given as a thank you to all staff (it was a working day for me)
Lunch - BLT sandwich, strawberries and bought a packet of crisps but didn't eat them.
After lunch - Another 2 chocolates (it was a big box

)
Afternoon snack - 3 oatcakes with coleslaw
Dinner - Fish, salad and coleslaw
Dessert - roast plums on sweet bread, and I had seconds of this.

My best tip for S days would be stck to a sensible N day type breakfast. I find if I start indulging myself really early, it just puts me in a 'wild' mind-set for the whole day.

I won't kid myself that I will never have any morewild S days, but now I know I can do it, it will be easier.