Floating S Days

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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gk
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Floating S Days

Post by gk » Tue Sep 13, 2011 1:55 am

Anyone out there ever try the mod of floating S days? Like....looking at your schedule each week and choosing the days when you know you'd probably be at your "weakest", depending on what's going on?

I recently read how DaveMc has S Days on Friday and Sunday (which doesn't sound too bad to me), which then reminded me that floating S Days could be an option as well. I read the No S Book about a year ago, and if I remember correctly, he said that could be an option but he advised against it (of course, I can't remember why.....maybe not enough structure?)

Thoughts on the subject? Opinions? And if you have tried this approach.....how'd it go?

Thanks so much! :)
SW (as of 3/25/13): 172 lbs.
CW: 171 lbs.

r.jean
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Post by r.jean » Tue Sep 13, 2011 2:11 am

Floating S days may be fine for some but would be dangerous for me. I think that floating S days would give me more opportunities to overeat. I cannot explain why really, but I am pretty true to the Vanilla No S rules. I do not do mods.
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sheepish
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Post by sheepish » Tue Sep 13, 2011 7:24 am

I'm sure it can work well but it doesn't work well for me. For two reasons:

Firstly, I eat more that way. If I sit down and think about which days to make S days, I might say go for Wednesday (as I'm going out for dinner and want dessert) and Saturday (because I'm going to a party) and so I'd wind up eating dessert and snacks at the party. On vanilla No S, what I'd do is skip dessert on Wednesday, have snacks at the party and have a fairly normal Sunday (maybe a little bit of seconds or something but that'd be it). So, I'd wind up eating more with floating S days.

Secondly, for me, it'd end up being a slippery slope type thing. I'd start thinking that I could have three S days this week because I had only one the previous week, etc, etc, and then suddenly you have to do a lot of work to make sure that you're not having more than two a week on average and my willpower collapses.

I don't think these two things apply to everyone but I think they're worth thinking about first.

I think regularly taking them on different days than Saturday/Sunday is different - like DaveMc.

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NoelFigart
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Post by NoelFigart » Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:01 am

While not against mods, I gotta say that until you've got several months of really good (and not fooling yourself) vanilla compliance, mods are a mistake.

After a few months, you have a better idea of what you need and can choose the mods that will really work for you, if you need any.
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My blog https://noelfigart.com/wordpress/ I talk about being a freelance writer, working out and cooking mostly. The language is not always drawing room fashion. Just sayin'.

wosnes
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Re: Floating S Days

Post by wosnes » Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:29 am

gk wrote:Anyone out there ever try the mod of floating S days? Like....looking at your schedule each week and choosing the days when you know you'd probably be at your "weakest", depending on what's going on?

I recently read how DaveMc has S Days on Friday and Sunday (which doesn't sound too bad to me), which then reminded me that floating S Days could be an option as well. I read the No S Book about a year ago, and if I remember correctly, he said that could be an option but he advised against it (of course, I can't remember why.....maybe not enough structure?)

Thoughts on the subject? Opinions? And if you have tried this approach.....how'd it go?

Thanks so much! :)
I've done floating S days for several years now. EXCEPT -- it wasn't started because there was a day when I'd be "weakest" -- it started because my S occasions usually didn't happen on weekends. Nearly all of my S occasions happened during the week and I was always passing on something special because it wasn't an S day. I always felt deprived. Saving S days for weekends wasn't working for me. I modified it to work for my life and I allowed myself 2-3 S days, actually S events, weekly. I've since modified it even further and allow one S per day. That started primarily because I was having trouble keeping track of the S days.

I don't like the idea of modifying it so you have an escape on a day you'll feel weak.

I actually don't like the idea of two S days weekly. This is how I see it: S days give you the freedom to go wild with your eating. I think there are a handful days annually that should be S days and most S's are actually S events and don't need a whole day. Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and sometimes New Year's Eve and the summer holidays are the only S days I throw caution to the wind in terms of what I eat. I just don't worry about it on those days. Any other day, I can have one S, which for me is usually a dessert or sweet treat. Just because I can have them doesn't mean I do have them. In fact, there are more days when I don't have an S than there are days when I do.

This works well for me and it seems more natural to me than two S days weekly. It gives me only a handful of days yearly when I can really overeat. I feel this gives me more structure and control than two weekly S days.

I also agree with Noel. I did No-S by the book for well over a year, maybe longer, before I made this modification.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."

sheepish
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Re: Floating S Days

Post by sheepish » Tue Sep 13, 2011 1:21 pm

wosnes wrote:
I actually don't like the idea of two S days weekly. This is how I see it: S days give you the freedom to go wild with your eating. I think there are a handful days annually that should be S days and most S's are actually S events and don't need a whole day. Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and sometimes New Year's Eve and the summer holidays are the only S days I throw caution to the wind in terms of what I eat. I just don't worry about it on those days. Any other day, I can have one S, which for me is usually a dessert or sweet treat. Just because I can have them doesn't mean I do have them. In fact, there are more days when I don't have an S than there are days when I do.
I think that works for people - like you - for whom the S treats are primarily sweets.

They aren't for me - I don't have much of a sweet tooth. What I like about S days is the freedom to eat more savoury food so, for instance, I really like that I can go to a party and sample little bits of savoury food throughout the evening rather than have to virtual plate.

Pangelsue2
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Post by Pangelsue2 » Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:43 pm

We almost never do anything special on Sundays but we do go out or have people over most Fridays and Saturdays. On vanilla No S, I really dreaded Fridays. End of the work week. Looking for some fun and letting your hair down and you can't snack or have a dessert. Fridays were often failures for me. Also, since being retired, we sometimes go out or have friends over during the week. Then Wednesday could become an S day. We usually know what our entertainment schedule will be during a given week. I plan my S days by that calendar. If there are 3 social events, I choose the 2 that I would prefer to have as S days and keep the third vanilla. I feel this gives me some freedom of choice. Most of my S days are no longer blow outs and I feel this movable S day plan is part of the reason. I don't feel the pressure to make them count nor feel deprived at a party. But again, my S days are no longer binge days but rather color outside the lines days.
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DaveMc
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Re: Floating S Days

Post by DaveMc » Wed Sep 14, 2011 12:38 am

gk wrote:I recently read how DaveMc has S Days on Friday and Sunday (which doesn't sound too bad to me), which then reminded me that floating S Days could be an option as well.
For the record, I introduced that mod after a good while on "vanilla" (unmodified) NoS -- I think it was after most of a year, maybe nine or ten months.

For something as (relatively) major as floating S days, I'd be cautious about adding it too soon, before you'd had a while to get used to the structure of fixed days of the week being N vs. S days ...

I can't recall the reason Reinhard gives when advising against floating S days for beginners, but if I had to guess, I'd say it might be because of the slippery slope it could create: "I'll have one of my floating S days tomorrow. Then maybe the next day I'll shift another S day from next week into this one. And now I'll borrow one S day from next month, and make up for it by being extra-good then ..." Next thing you know, you're deep in diet-mode, counting things, making and breaking bargains with yourself, and all that. So there's potential peril there, I think.

wosnes, I thought you'd mentioned before that it was closer to *two* years before you went to floating S days. At any rate, you'd definitely given yourself a long time with fixed S days before going that route.

gk
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Post by gk » Wed Sep 14, 2011 2:25 am

Thanks so much everyone for your replies!

Yes, that does make sense.....wait until I've got the habit down before thinking of modifying the plan. Will stick with vanilla for a good year or so and then re-assess.

Your opinions and advice are greatly appreciated. Thanks! :)
SW (as of 3/25/13): 172 lbs.
CW: 171 lbs.

SkyKitty
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Post by SkyKitty » Wed Sep 14, 2011 5:56 am

I do float my S days, but I try not to do it too often and it's usually instead of taking a non-weekend S day, a Special S day. Most weeks I stick to the weekend but this week I found out yesterday I got a new job, so it became a celebratory day. I'll skip an S day on Saturday then go right back to normal.

So far it hasn't caused any difficulites and I haven't found myself stealing S days from more thsn the coming weekend - and I have always stuck to whatever plan I made.

I will be keeping vigilant about it though....
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wosnes
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Re: Floating S Days

Post by wosnes » Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:20 am

DaveMc wrote: wosnes, I thought you'd mentioned before that it was closer to *two* years before you went to floating S days. At any rate, you'd definitely given yourself a long time with fixed S days before going that route.
Seriously, it's now been long enough since I started it that I don't remember exactly how long I'd been no-s-ing before I started it. I've never kept track of the details, no habit-cal, no daily check-in. I know why I changed it, just not exactly when I changed it!
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."

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