Everyday Systems

I did the Vanilla No S for about 2 1/2 weeks straight, and before I hit three weeks I got a bit complacent, wasn't seeing any results, and went back to my old eating habits.

Before, Vanilla No S was a breeze for me! I refused every snack and sweet and seconds except on S days with absolutely no problem. But I lost no weight, and I've been at roughly this same weight since I stopped, so I haven't found much incentive to return back to the diet.

But I have noticed that I've been binging more frequently since I quit it... I just can't seem to find the motivation to keep going at this point! Any thoughts?

Hmmm... I guess that you have to be ready for a slow gradual change that will be the best change you ever made. If you do not have much to lose, you will not see much change in weight and may even gain at first. However, you will change your attitudes about food, and eventually you will start to lose weight. I believe I have been successful for two reasons...one is that I have focused on increasing my exercise at the same time as changing my eating habits...the other is that I have more to lose than some people do. I have lost 42 lbs in 10 months and have 28 lbs to go. I am no longer concerned about how long that takes me.

No S is unique in that many people start the diet in the maintenance phase. Once they get the habits down, then they tweak till they start seeing weight loss. I was on the three year plan, apparently, in that I did No S on and off for about three years. I didn't gain weight but didn't lose either (due to lack of compliance, no doubt). Once I got serious I dropped about 10 lbs. However, I was also exercising and using other guidelines/tweaks/mods.

Two and a half weeks is a blink of an eye. Don't give up yet!

the no s diet is boring, but it is has two components that I really like, progress or not:

practice

unintentional results

I like that it sets goals about what food practices to have, not the kind or amount of food. It made me very thoughtful, from the very beginning, about what constitutes 'special' occasions. For example, I have always liked the idea of having a weekly family dinner, or 'celebration', if you will, which emphasizes both the material joys we are sharing (food) and the regular, non-material joys. (I don't have a 'family' dinner every week, but I have always liked the idea of it.) A moderate amount of moderation... I could go on and on.

And the unintentional results I get from going through the process of having these few restrictions. An ongoing process, I get information I didn't understand about myself and sustenance in particular. But also about treats and satisfaction. And attitude and procrastination and maintenance as progress and how no obvious effort at all can still count as perseverance.

I definitely started to lose weight, and I have definitely lost a lot of weight, but I didn't check it for about two months after I started, and if I had I probably would have gotten frustrated (as I have, many, MANY times over small fluctuations) and lost momentum.

It's hard to sustain momentum without obvious rewards, but it has totally been worth it for me.

Is weight loss the only result worth getting for awhile? Is it worth it to refuse snacks and sweets only if we lose weight? It's fair if it's true for you, but perhaps consider that there was a payoff in being able to do without these things, as you did for a few weeks, for other reasons. The freedom from being at the beck and call of food all the time. Delicious feelings of lightness and a delight in the meals you do eat. Maybe these could tide you over until you do see other results.

Weight loss is the reason I started No S and is one of the things that keeps me going. However, I am less concerned about the weight loss now. Maintenance remains my goal each month although I always hope for at least a small loss.

That said, I now recognize that this style of eating has other benefits that are huge. I enjoy food more. I am more relaxed about what I eat. I no longer experience the food coma you get from overeating. I sleep better. I am more active. My mood is better. I could go on and on.....

rawruth wrote:I did the Vanilla No S for about 2 1/2 weeks straight, and before I hit three weeks I got a bit complacent, wasn't seeing any results, and went back to my old eating habits.

Before, Vanilla No S was a breeze for me! I refused every snack and sweet and seconds except on S days with absolutely no problem. But I lost no weight

You're not going to see results on No S after 2.5 weeks. It's not a quick weight-loss plan, and is not intended to be. You will see results on a timescale of months, not weeks.

Clarica wrote:the no s diet is boring...

What do you find boring about it? The thing I like most about it is that I can have whatever I want for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so long as it's one platefull. Although, I guess if you have a sweet tooth only being allowed to eat dessert two days a week might be a bit frustrating. I'm much more of a savoury lover than sweets so that particular "S" has not been a problem for me (my downfall is snacks, especially crisps and cheese).

Clarica wrote:the no s diet is boring

That's the point. It doesn't include a lot of thinking about what you're going to eat, by design. It's supposed to be so boring that eventually you will automate it into habit. This is a diet for people who don't want to have to think about their diet all the time.

If what you're bored by is that No S doesn't make you try any new foods, know that there is nothing in No S that says you can't try some new foods. Any cookbook other than a dessert cookbook has stuff you can do every day on No S, and the dessert cookbook has stuff you can do on S days. Get a new cookbook from the library, or buy one, and try some new recipes. Nothing in No S is stopping you from doing that.

Nicest of the Damned wrote:

Clarica wrote:the no s diet is boring

That's the point. It doesn't include a lot of thinking about what you're going to eat, by design. It's supposed to be so boring that eventually you will automate it into habit. This is a diet for people who don't want to have to think about their diet all the time.

If what you're bored by is that No S doesn't make you try any new foods, know that there is nothing in No S that says you can't try some new foods. Any cookbook other than a dessert cookbook has stuff you can do every day on No S, and the dessert cookbook has stuff you can do on S days. Get a new cookbook from the library, or buy one, and try some new recipes. Nothing in No S is stopping you from doing that.

Weight loss is the result we like to focus on, but No S puts the focus on the behavior. 2.5 weeks isn't enough time to modify behavior. My counselor told me last night told me that current research indicates that it takes about 9 months to really change behavior. 3 weeks is what we hear on habit establishment, but "rest of your life" type changes probably take longer than that. Are you going to do some other diet and exercise plan for the rest of your life? If the answer is no, then the focus should be on the hard work of habit establishment. Those habits don't have to be No S, but they make sense to a lot of people and they are doable.

By boring I mean:

Not fancy. It doesn't have bells and whistles and charts and restrictions. It's not the circus coming to town. You don't have a star-trek-level complicated set of concerns to address with a carefully complicated system.

Aside from not being fancy or exotic, it is not actually complicated. It's simple to tell if you are following it correctly. It's easy to distinguish on-plan from off-plan.

And, personally, after all this time, it has been boring because after months and months of eating this way by plan, I eat this way without planning. So it feels like I am not doing anything at all.

It is SO WEIRD to be frustrated by the feeling that I should be doing *something*, when I already am doing something. I already am eating less every week than I need to be eating to maintain my weight. And I am losing more weight. But the "work" of learning to eat less is pretty much over...And I still want to "work" on it.

It's kind of confusing, but luckily this week I have had kind of a lot of impulsive eating episodes, so maybe I have some other 'work' to figure out where that is coming from and address it, which would be nice. Because I like to feel like I am 'working'... otherwise what am I doing?

Edited to add: I am definitely not bored by food, because I really do not judge it at all and eat whatever I want. learning that I have taken my stomach down a half a size or something is very confusing, but it's an educational experience, not an educational *effort*. AND I only follow two rules: I eat sweets whenever I want, if I put them on the plate. I don't want them as much as I used to. (And I haven't liked sodas for ages.)