I've been lurking on the NOS website for years. I have the book and have read it. I've read the stuff on the site. I want to do NOS. It makes sense to me. But I can't do it. Instead I keep going back to Weight Watchers which worked for me once. But I don't have time to go to WW. I don't want to spend the money and I don't like the new program. Oh, and I don't want to become a calorie accountant.
So here's my problem. I can go from breakfast to lunch without eating without any problem. I can stop eating after dinner pretty well although it is definitely hard. I've been an evening snacker since I was born! But I can do it, especially if I eat a good dinner. But the time from lunch to dinner is a killer. I can't do it!
The funny thing is, I don't usually have much during that time period - usually a 12 ounce coke and a bowl of chips at 3:00. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to skip that. But I can't seem to do it. The few times I have, I've been starving by dinner.
Does or did anyone else have problems with this time period and how did you solve it?
By the way, I'm a full-time homemaker so I'm home and with easy access to food and I always have a mid-afternoon slump which is when I have my snack. HELP!!!!!! I want to do this.
Can't make it from lunch to dinner
Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating
-
planner lady
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 12:40 am
- Location: Kansas City, MO
- Contact:
It's definitely my most challenging time of the day. I haven't posted here in a while, but this topic caught my eye. One thing that has been helping me lately is to have a protein drink at around 4:00. I have 8 oz. unsweetened almond milk with a scoop of protein powder (the one I use is low in carbs, so I am guessing artificial sweeteners are involved, which you may not want). I don't really classify this as a snack, and some may see it as bending the rules, but it has been working for me.
Ok, this is just a habit. Good habits are hard to make; bad habits are hard to break.
If you're eating a substantial enough lunch you shouldn't need anything between lunch and dinner. If you think you do need something, have a glass of milk or juice (acceptable on No-S).
To further help, keep the chips and soda out of your home. You don't need them and neither do any other family members. Make them a treat.
Also, realize that hunger is NOT an emergency. You should be hungry by dinner (probably none of us has ever truly been starving). You should be hungry enough to eat a substantial dinner that will see you through the night.
I'm retired and at home most of the time, so I know about the temptations that can lurk in the kitchen.
You might want to read French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon. Not only does it deal with how she changed her kids habits, it also chronicles how she dealt with not snacking.
Here are the basics.
If you're eating a substantial enough lunch you shouldn't need anything between lunch and dinner. If you think you do need something, have a glass of milk or juice (acceptable on No-S).
To further help, keep the chips and soda out of your home. You don't need them and neither do any other family members. Make them a treat.
Also, realize that hunger is NOT an emergency. You should be hungry by dinner (probably none of us has ever truly been starving). You should be hungry enough to eat a substantial dinner that will see you through the night.
I'm retired and at home most of the time, so I know about the temptations that can lurk in the kitchen.
You might want to read French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon. Not only does it deal with how she changed her kids habits, it also chronicles how she dealt with not snacking.
Here are the basics.
"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."
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
I want to eat right now. It is 5 pm, and I generally eat supper at 6 or 630. I am doing things to keep me busy until it is time to eat. I am paying a couple bills, browsing the no S website, etc. I am also doing laundry. I really do not have to eat. I am not "starving." I am just craving! Have a glass of milk or juice in the afternoon and get through it!
The journey is the reward.
Maintenance is progress.
Maintenance is progress.
I think this is one of the things can be most surprising about NoS: The fact that it's *simple* does not in any way mean that it's *easy*. Especially when you're first getting started, it's incredibly hard to get out of the habit of snacking.
It's probably not much consolation, but it really does get easier! I'm coming up on my fourth year doing NoS, and I no longer even think of eating between meals on N days. But I still remember those tough first few months, so I'm not going to say it should be easy for you right now!
Maybe a one-day-at-a-time approach would help? Can you make it, on *one* day, from lunch to dinner without snacking? If you can do it once, you can do it again the next day. If you can make it through a week, then relax with a couple of S days ... well, then you're ready to try the whole thing again. Get through a few weeks like that, and sooner or later you'll notice that it's not such a big struggle every day, it's becoming the default. A habit, in other words.
Failing all that, do you have someone to lash you to the mast, like Odysseus, as you sail past the sirens of cookies and potato chips?
Best of luck! It's worth it.
It's probably not much consolation, but it really does get easier! I'm coming up on my fourth year doing NoS, and I no longer even think of eating between meals on N days. But I still remember those tough first few months, so I'm not going to say it should be easy for you right now!
Maybe a one-day-at-a-time approach would help? Can you make it, on *one* day, from lunch to dinner without snacking? If you can do it once, you can do it again the next day. If you can make it through a week, then relax with a couple of S days ... well, then you're ready to try the whole thing again. Get through a few weeks like that, and sooner or later you'll notice that it's not such a big struggle every day, it's becoming the default. A habit, in other words.
Failing all that, do you have someone to lash you to the mast, like Odysseus, as you sail past the sirens of cookies and potato chips?
Best of luck! It's worth it.
Re: Can't make it from lunch to dinner
planner lady wrote:I've been lurking on the NOS website for years. I have the book and have read it. I've read the stuff on the site. I want to do NOS. It makes sense to me. But I can't do it. Instead I keep going back to Weight Watchers which worked for me once. But I don't have time to go to WW. I don't want to spend the money and I don't like the new program. Oh, and I don't want to become a calorie accountant.
So here's my problem. I can go from breakfast to lunch without eating without any problem. I can stop eating after dinner pretty well although it is definitely hard. I've been an evening snacker since I was born! But I can do it, especially if I eat a good dinner. But the time from lunch to dinner is a killer. I can't do it!
The funny thing is, I don't usually have much during that time period - usually a 12 ounce coke and a bowl of chips at 3:00. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to skip that. But I can't seem to do it. The few times I have, I've been starving by dinner.
Does or did anyone else have problems with this time period and how did you solve it?
By the way, I'm a full-time homemaker so I'm home and with easy access to food and I always have a mid-afternoon slump which is when I have my snack. HELP!!!!!! I want to do this.
When I first started the No S Diet more than 2 years ago, what I did when I was tempted to snack between meals was to drink a glass of water. Many times we think we are hungry when we are really thristy. So try drinking a glass of water when the "hunger" feeling comes around and see if you weren't just thirsty. Other times, I would just take a 10 minute walk, and this would do the job. Stick with it for 21 days, and see if it doesn't become a habit. It worked for me. Good luck!
Health Is The Greatest Wealth!
I don't think it's so terrible. I don't know how long you've been at it, but I wouldn't fret about not making it unless it's less than 5 hours between lunch and dinner. Then I think you should tough it out. Maybe you could try eating fewer chips each day until you don't need any.
Or have the snack WITH lunch and then push on through. I did that in the beginning.
I have never had hunger go away for more than 10 minutes from drinking water.
Or have the snack WITH lunch and then push on through. I did that in the beginning.
I have never had hunger go away for more than 10 minutes from drinking water.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23
There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23
There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)
First of all, yes you can do it. Get rid of the "I can't" self-talk. Yes, you can. I'm not saying this in a rah-rah cheerleader way, I'm saying it in a matter-of-fact way. It may not be easy but it's most certainly doable.
A 3:00pm snack is a habit. When these habits are firmly established, the body is going to send you a "it's time to eat!" signal -- a craving -- even if you're not really hungry. The urge can be very strong. But that doesn't mean you have to give into an impulse, especially when that impulse ultimately doesn't serve you (and, let's be frank, a soda and chips daily is not something that serves you).
And here's the thing about not giving in, within a pretty short frame of time, the urges diminish and then pretty much disappear as you establish new habits. I had a very strong habit of nibbling during dinner prep. Lots of spoonfuls of whatever I was cooking went into my mouth under the guise of "tasting." If I was making a salad with cheese or croutons I would grab some for myself before it went into the bowl, and then every time I passed the bowl I'd reach in and swipe one.
It sounds silly but it was a firmly entrenched habit and when I decided to go on No-S I actually felt kind of sad and apprehensive about giving that up. In the beginning it was HARD as I felt very powerful urges to "swipe." But I persevered and within a couple of weeks, the urges (which had been diminishing by the day) disappeared. Now, I'm not tormented by urges like I once was.
The same thing happened to me with in between eating. In the beginning it was very hard but I stuck with it and now I don't get those urges anymore. It was actually quite freeing.
The most important thing to remember is that a craving doesn't last long. It really doesn't. They don't continue and build in intensity until you give into them. If you just give yourself a bit of time, and we're talking minutes, not hours, you will see that the craving subsides. During a craving, I utilized a technique called "urge surfing" from mindfulness/cognitive behavioral therapy along with deep breathing to help me get through and it worked.
Reinhard talks about that in the book, about how giving in just makes the urging/craving cycle continue. There is a reason he calls for strictness and it's not because he's a big bad meanie who doesn't understand what it's like. He calls for strictness because the strictness is what makes it easier as time goes on.
Make sure you are eating enough at your meals to carry you through to the next.
A 3:00pm snack is a habit. When these habits are firmly established, the body is going to send you a "it's time to eat!" signal -- a craving -- even if you're not really hungry. The urge can be very strong. But that doesn't mean you have to give into an impulse, especially when that impulse ultimately doesn't serve you (and, let's be frank, a soda and chips daily is not something that serves you).
And here's the thing about not giving in, within a pretty short frame of time, the urges diminish and then pretty much disappear as you establish new habits. I had a very strong habit of nibbling during dinner prep. Lots of spoonfuls of whatever I was cooking went into my mouth under the guise of "tasting." If I was making a salad with cheese or croutons I would grab some for myself before it went into the bowl, and then every time I passed the bowl I'd reach in and swipe one.
It sounds silly but it was a firmly entrenched habit and when I decided to go on No-S I actually felt kind of sad and apprehensive about giving that up. In the beginning it was HARD as I felt very powerful urges to "swipe." But I persevered and within a couple of weeks, the urges (which had been diminishing by the day) disappeared. Now, I'm not tormented by urges like I once was.
The same thing happened to me with in between eating. In the beginning it was very hard but I stuck with it and now I don't get those urges anymore. It was actually quite freeing.
The most important thing to remember is that a craving doesn't last long. It really doesn't. They don't continue and build in intensity until you give into them. If you just give yourself a bit of time, and we're talking minutes, not hours, you will see that the craving subsides. During a craving, I utilized a technique called "urge surfing" from mindfulness/cognitive behavioral therapy along with deep breathing to help me get through and it worked.
Reinhard talks about that in the book, about how giving in just makes the urging/craving cycle continue. There is a reason he calls for strictness and it's not because he's a big bad meanie who doesn't understand what it's like. He calls for strictness because the strictness is what makes it easier as time goes on.
Make sure you are eating enough at your meals to carry you through to the next.
-
i-try-2-b-fit
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2012 6:47 pm
- Location: NYC
-
planner lady
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 12:40 am
- Location: Kansas City, MO
- Contact:
For some further inspiration: A 12-ounce can of classic coke has about 145 calories. A serving of potato chips has about 160 calories (there's some variation depending on brand and type of chips). That is 305 calories. If you're having a bowl of chips, you're probably having at least 2 servings equally 320 calories and making the total snack 465 calories. Just by eliminating the snack on weekdays you eliminate a day's worth of calories (over 2300) every 5 days. That means you could still enjoy your snack on S days and plan on weight loss.
I used classic coke and regular potato chips because you didn't specify diet coke or baked or low-fat chips.
I used classic coke and regular potato chips because you didn't specify diet coke or baked or low-fat chips.
"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."
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
-
Nicest of the Damned
- Posts: 719
- Joined: Wed Aug 11, 2010 4:26 pm
The lunch-dinner stretch is what kept me from even trying No S for a long time. Last summer, my work schedule changed in such a way that it was almost impossible for me to snack in the afternoon, so I gave it a shot and it stuck.
My schedule has largely returned to normal (I work at an outdoor education center and our schedules change with the seasons and the academic year) and I get cravings in the afternoon quite often.
In addition to drinking water, as mentioned above, I find that coffee and tea (herbal or non, and unsweetened for me) really help when I need something. As the weather gets warmer I'll need to find a cooler alternative, but those two options may work for you as they have for me.
I really think a big part of it is just the act of getting up and doing something, whether it's brewing a cup of coffee or tea, or preparing that bowl of chips.
Good luck!
My schedule has largely returned to normal (I work at an outdoor education center and our schedules change with the seasons and the academic year) and I get cravings in the afternoon quite often.
In addition to drinking water, as mentioned above, I find that coffee and tea (herbal or non, and unsweetened for me) really help when I need something. As the weather gets warmer I'll need to find a cooler alternative, but those two options may work for you as they have for me.
I really think a big part of it is just the act of getting up and doing something, whether it's brewing a cup of coffee or tea, or preparing that bowl of chips.
Good luck!