Everyday Systems

back again -- I think I decided after the last time I "quit" no s that I would be too cranky with my kids if I couldn't snack, not sure. I am sure I gained more weight, which has been slowly sneaking up despite my pretending to be "watching" what I eat. So about 2 weeks ago I started again, because I desire a return to sanity and moderation instead of disordered, random hunger/spurts of imagined virtuousness/gluttony. I'm one of those (don't hate) who is not overweight enough to lose on vanilla -- I've tried! -- so I'm doing No S 7 days a week with the exception of "s events" on S days if a very special dessert presents itself. I don't have a sweet craving anyway. I just can't be a snacker and a thin person, apparently. Also, importantly, I'm adding a big breakfast. So far, for 2 weeks, I have really noticed a major difference from the last times, in that I never get really hungry before lunch or dinner the way I used to. I make sure I pack on like 5-600 calories at breakfast (when I'm not naturally hungry) and lo and behold I have a "food calm" the rest of the day. I have always tried to eat light in the morning because it's an "easy win", but I think I might be onto something here.

Everyone is so different when it comes to breakfast. I am someone who does better when I eat a decent breakfast of plain yogurt, muesli and fruit. I don't eat a large amount, maybe a cup's worth of volume, but there is a good balance of what keeps me full and energized. ANd like you, I think it makes for a better day hunger wise.

Your example brings in an interesting tweak for those that are looking to increase satiety throughout the day. Perhaps "How's your breakfast?" is a good diagnostic question.

If I eat a big breakfast, all I want to do all day is eat. I'm better off with none or something very light (toast and fruit).

I love your idea! I don't have time for a big breakfast, unless I wait until after 8:45 AM, when my older son leaves for school. I can see how it would help you to stay fuller for the rest of the day.

Hope the breakfast tactic keeps working.

I also like your idea of just doing S events on S days.

Originally, I did most of my socializing during the week and not on weekends. I felt very deprived because they weren't S days. I eventually modified by allowing myself 2-3 S events weekly. Later I modified that to allow one S daily. If I don't use it, it's gone.

As I've written before, I think there are only a few days yearly when I can throw caution to the wind and they're mostly surrounding the winter holidays. On the summer holidays I may eat things that I don't eat often, have sweets or seconds, but still don't go wild.

Even though I allow myself an S daily, I think I've really tightened things up. I rarely snack and have only a few days that I allow myself to go wild.

In the book, Reinhard says eventually the perfect S day will be much like an N day with perhaps a well-chosen S. It can also be a day with no S events. So S days really boil down to N days with an S event or two-- or none. The difference is that S's are on the table on S days. Some people are helped by not thinking of a day with an S event as an S day because the idea of "day" implies supporting permasnacking or something close to that. It's an inside job anyway. Some people have S's drop away as a concern very early, but I think most of us have to go through some stages or thinking mods. I know I have but mine are so wonky I won't go into the details. But things are better and it has been worth the wait. I know all things being equal, a diet couldn't have gotten me here.

I am always a proponent of the big breakfast. Research shows that people who eat eggs for breakfast eat fewer calories during the day. I have noticed this phenomena in my own personal experiences.

So, in the morning I fry some sausage, scramble 4-6 eggs, give about a third of all of it to Klaus and I eat the rest. Klaus is my five month old, sixty lbs.German Shepherd. We should have named him Marmaduke. He' s smart, he opens doors, cabinets, and I discovered today the trash compactor.

I definitely think I'm on to something here. I usually eat a late breakfast (like 9 or 9:30) and I make it a good one, almost always with eggs, but never so much as to feel weighed down, just satisfied. There is a BIG difference in my desire to snack or eat bigger meals later. Plus I love breakfast food. One more thing: there is something healing about eating when I don't normally want to eat much -- it creates an extra feeling of abundance in my day that I cannot get when I eat breakfast or lunch, because I always like alot of food at those times. A daily dose of abundance to start out every single day leaves me feeling secure or something.

I also eat a big breakfast it keep me from snacking and I love breakfast food

I am taking some lite breakfast at morning after some weighted food at noon and at night big food .

Eating a 600-calorie breakfast rich in carbohydrates and protein helps dieters lose more weight long term than eating a modest breakfast

From personal experience this past month, I have discovered that a bowl of cereal and glass of orange juice are not enough to tide me to lunch. I start "thinking" about food way too early in the day. So I have started adding a piece of toast with peanut butter, and this seems to be enough.

Still eating a good breakfast after 2 months, and it's still helping. Still having too many red days, but I feel physically satisfied except for the hour before a meal, every day. That makes a huge difference: my mind is not on food, I have no primal sense of deprivation that threatens to eat Tokyo the first chance it gets, and I feel confident I won't have to scratch my head this time next year wondering how my weight crept up to a level I never wanted it to reach.

Also think I have truly conquered eating three good meals (including big breakfast) on all S days. Makes a big difference!

Peace. Enjoyment. Sanity. Moderation.

If I eat a breakfast with a lot of protein, I tend to feel more satisfied and it takes longer for me to get hungry. Heck, I've had days where I had a late breakfast around 10:30-11, so ate an omelette or something big like that, stuffed with veggies, and that would be the only meal I had all day because I didn't feel hungry again. I couldn't eat like that every day, though.

If I have a breakfast that is heavy on carbs and/or sugar - no bueno!