Everyday Systems

Hi all,
I've been reading this forum for quite some time and have finally decided to commit to the No S way publicly!

I'm currently 88kg (194 pounds) at 5'2. I've recently managed to lose 10 pounds through low carb eating (mostly No S style) but have fallen off the wagon and I'm struggling to get back on track.

I enjoy eating according to No S rules but really struggle with not being an idiot on S days! I'm a real 'might as well crash the car' thinker after even a tiny food misstep. This is something I'm working on and I've picked up some great tips from reading the posts in this forum and even from books that have been mentioned by some of you here. Martha Beck in particular has been helpful. Let me if anyone has any other books they can recommend...

I Look forward posting regularly and celebrating success and sanity!!

Welcome!

I think the trick with S days is not to look at them as a time when you can eat without restriction. They should be a time when you can relax a little, but not go crazy.

Reinhard wrote, "Saturday, Sunday and "Special" days. Special days include (your) national and (your) religious and (your) close family's and friend's birthdays" I would eliminate Saturday and Sunday as days when you can be unrestricted about your eating. Lose the restrictions only on Special days.

wosnes wrote:Welcome!

I think the trick with S days is not to look at them as a time when you can eat without restriction. They should be a time when you can relax a little, but not go crazy.

Reinhard wrote, "Saturday, Sunday and "Special" days. Special days include (your) national and (your) religious and (your) close family's and friend's birthdays" I would eliminate Saturday and Sunday as days when you can be unrestricted about your eating. Lose the restrictions only on Special days.

Excellent advice

Thanks Wosnes, I like this idea! I have experimented with one to three S event/s per weekend day but it was a slippery slope for me usually ending in a fail.

How long have you been at it? The common advice is not to mess with S days before you've had about 6 months of mostly compliant N weeks. I (a binger) went even longer.

I'm torn about wht to recommend about this. If bingeing is your issue, that may warrant more limited S days sooner. I'll never know if it would have had a backlash if I had tried to institute mods sooner, though I was unwilling to. I just wanted the urges to go away or become easier to say no to before I made, and they have decreased a lot. I've added a mod in that this month I eat sweets only in company. If mods sound good to you, that may make a difference. If they sound like a terrible burden, wait awhile.

Thanks Oolala , i've been at this for around 18 months on and off. I do keep coming back because I believe this is the best way to eat for the long term.

I need the mods for now, I prefer to think of vanilla no S as my maintenance plan once I'm in a healthy weight range. My height is against me and my experience is that I don't lose any weight without one or two extra mods to restrict eating beyond vanilla no s.

By the way, I really enjoy reading your posts. I find them very realistic and thoughtful. Your perspective often gives me insights I would not see on my own.

Hi again,
Thought I would give a quick update since it's been a month since my first post. I've lost 2 kilos since then or over 4 pounds. Not a huge amount when compared to other diets but I'm satisfied given the amount of S events this time of the year brings. I'm follow a paleo eating plan which fits in nicely with no s. I've tried every type of diet, no fat, reduced fat, vegetarian, jenny craig, weight watchers, calorie counting, shakes etc they all worked but I always regain sometimes sooner sometimes later.

At 42 and having been on this merry-go-round for 30 years, my focus is now working on my thinking patterns, (slow learner - I know!!) and I've found this forum really helpful in overcoming some of my issues, particularly the crashing the car problem that so many No S'ers also describe.

38 years of compulsive overeating here. And so much of what finally worked was stuff I had heard long ago. When the student is ready, the real teacher appears.

Congrats on your weight loss, but even more for the fact that it probably means you are actually implementing the habits.

Oh, BTW, a fellow binge recoverer on another board who's had quite a bit of success said many of her new good habits she got using Martha Beck's 4-day win principles. My friend also now uses No S, though because of a health problem, she tracks her food for a medical nutritionist.

I forgot to say that I used many of the strategies for sticking to this plan recommended by Judith Beck- no relation to Martha- in her books on weight loss. Just not the tracking and dieting or any reference to dieting! I just call it sane eating in my mind. I did make my list of reasons and read it and many response cards A LOT. Still do, sometimes.