Everyday Systems

With the holiday season quickly approaching, I'm wondering how No S folks deal with the sweets that inevitably come with it.

I work at a veterinary hospital and from November through January, we get tons of home baked goods from our clients.

The way I look at it, I have three choices:

1. Refrain from eating them completely.
2. Save some for an S Day.
3. Eat a single, small serving of said sweet with a meal on the N Day and not consider it a failure.

If I choose #1, I will be depriving myself completely and deprivation always leads to binging for me. #2 is doable, but I'm afraid I'd end up with a huge stash of sweets that I would just have to eat on Saturday or Sunday. Not good. #3 seems like the best option, but I wonder what everyone else thinks.

We have a huge amount of snacks and sweets at work, and I generally don't eat any of them. However, I'm a terrible food snob, and don't like most candy.

So, I would suggest trying the second option. Take the very best for later, and just pass on the middling treats.

I would take the second option as well. Take the ones that look really good and enjoy those.

Option 2 - that is what S days are for!

I tend to do a mix of options 1 and 2.

The hard truth is, if you want to lose weight on No S (or any diet), you're going to have to eat less than you were before. The laws of thermodynamics dictate that. (On this diet, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!) That includes eating fewer home-baked treats during the holidays. If you keep eating as much as you were before No S, you're not going to lose weight.

If you really think you can do option 3 and eat less than you were before No S (be brutally honest with yourself here), then I'd make a mod out of it. You want to have clear rules on when it is OK to have sweets and when it is not, what is OK to have and what isn't, and how much is OK. No S works because the rules are simple, and it is hard to break them without knowing it. You know what a sweet is, you can taste it. You know if you are eating at a meal or not. You know if you're taking seconds. You know if it's a weekday or a weekend. If you blur those rules too much, it won't work as well. You'll end up debating with yourself whether you should get to have some of this delicious homemade treat, and when people debate with themselves over this sort of thing, the answer usually ends up being yes. The idea behind No S is to get rid of those debates.

One of my pre-NoS criteria was that the sweet had to be homemade, that is made by the hands of someone I know (or their spouse or other family member). Desserts from a restaurant or bakery or donut shop do NOT count and can't be eaten. Somehow I believe I'm getting the best of the dessert world!

Gwen

On occasion...if it something I love.. I use Option 2 or in my case there is an option 4.

Take it home to a slender husband who loves sweets. This is how I handle it when I am in the awkward position of someone handing something directly to me. I take it back to my office and wrap it up and take it home.

November? My wife has had Halloween candies in bowls around the house since Columbus Day. I have learned to ignore those. At work, I find people get peeved with me if they offer me a "snack": being candy, or doughnuts, etc. Today I had eaten lunch and someone offered me a slice of Hot and Ready Pizza. I politely declined, but I think it irritated her.

I vote for option number two also and make sure you choose only the things you REALLY want. Perhaps lay them out after dinner and have a 'tasting party' with them and whoever you live with like spouse and kids. You don't have to finish them

Great comments, NicestoftheDamned!

No S does work because the rules are simple. I just need to follow them and save my sweets for the weekend. I really shouldn't be modifying No S when I haven't given it a real chance to work.

So, that is what I will do.