S days and snacking/seconds

ziggy · Post by **ziggy** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 2:22 pm

I can understand why having days when one can have desserts. But I wonder, if we are breaking snacking and seconds habits whether we are better off maintaining a firm comittiment to no eating between meals and no seconds. Desserts on weekends and at special events is a sound exception. Curious what others think and do about this.

snapdragon · Post by **snapdragon** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 2:58 pm

I think its nice to have the choice if I want it. It is a choice. Weekends for me don't always have a schedule. I might be running around between four or more soccer games, and all sorts of social engagements and obligations. I find myself in different settings with more options. It is nice to know I can indulge in them if I want to. Things get hectic. Three regular sit down meals are not always an option.
If I don't have any plans I usually stick with three meals, and a treat.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 3:11 pm

I think everyone does what they are most comfortable doing.

I've never followed the no seconds rule as Reinhard intended it: meaning one plate of food. I literally took it to mean one serving of whatever is being served. By the time I realized that he meant one plate of food, I was having success and saw no reason to change what I was doing.

I've been here nearly 7 years and just recently started no snacks, even on S days.

krawford13 · Post by **krawford13** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 4:00 pm

ziggy wrote:I can understand why having days when one can have desserts. But I wonder, if we are breaking snacking and seconds habits whether we are better off maintaining a firm comittiment to no eating between meals and no seconds. Desserts on weekends and at special events is a sound exception. Curious what others think and do about this.

I have thought the same thing and in fact that is what I am doing. Sweets, and just a few bites, on weekends and special occasions. Everything else remains the same. I am not one that can just drop all habits that I am trying to develop and maintain and then start back up on Monday. To me that is diet mentality - break the diet, begin again on Monday. I have done that for years.

Imogen Morley · Post by **Imogen Morley** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 5:59 pm

You're free to have sweets, AND snacks, AND seconds if you really want to, but I have the impression that most folks here stick to N day habits even on S days. I know I do, because it feels natural and (YES!) effortless, and arriving at dinner slightly hungry makes the plainest of dishes taste incredibly delicious. I rarely snack, as it spoils my appetite and makes me feel too full too soon - only on social ocassions, and the food served has to be really phenomenal. YMMV. I'd suggest experimenting with having various amounts of your favourite sweets/snacks/seconds on your S days and just observing how you feel.

SuperMysteryCat · Post by **SuperMysteryCat** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 6:21 pm

I don't do snacks on S days, but that's because I've found that snacking actually diminishes the pleasure of meals and I don't like that. The biggest difference for me on S days is that I usually go out and eat. Even though I don't technically have seconds, let's face it - restaurant plates are the size of space ships. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but I will drink sodas on S days.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 6:54 pm

Imogen Morley wrote:You're free to have sweets, AND snacks, AND seconds if you really want to, but I have the impression that most folks here stick to N day habits even on S days.

I do, too. But I've always thought I was in the minority with that.

Imogen Morley · Post by **Imogen Morley** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 6:59 pm

Sorry, learning two new languages at the same time has fried my brain. I should have expressed it differently - I meant that most people stick to three meals a day routine + sweets. Snacking or taking seconds, I think, is not that popular... well, unless you count snacking on sweets.

musiclvr02 · Post by **musiclvr02** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:40 pm

LOL Imogene, that's what I was doing prior to No S. Snacking on sweets.

musiclvr02 · Post by **musiclvr02** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:41 pm

Today Saturday an S day; I was craving chocolate so bad! I made brownies. I find if I'm gonna have sweets, I want it to be SPECIAL. Before No S, everything was game whenever I wanted it!

Blithe Morning · Post by **Blithe Morning** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:42 pm

Like others, I tend to stay away from the snacking on S days. But if I were to go to, say, a baby shower on a Saturday, I would have a piece of cake at 3PM which makes it a snack and a sweet.

I think getting rid of the mindless grazing is a good idea, even on S days.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 9:30 pm

There is nothing that says you HAVE to eat all three S's on S days, although in looking at how eating (or many other) habits change, intermittent allowances for more freedom, which can "allow" for a failure without engaging the WTH effect, are more successful. Sometimes, just saying at one point that you can have some desired food later will do the trick. Often when "later" comes, the food is much less important and can be skipped with little fuss. The important thing is to have an out at the moment of temptation. This is covered in the chapter on dieting in Baumeister and Tierney's book, Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength and is likely one of the reasons Baumeister says when it comes to weight loss, never swear off chocolate or any other food.

finallyfull · Post by **finallyfull** » Sun Jul 21, 2013 1:24 pm

For me snacking has slowly fallen by the wayside on S days, and so has having seconds. I think the reason we "can" have them is so No S never becomes a restrictive diet, so we won't rebel. I occasionally have a snack just to revisit the pleasure of that bad habit (it spoils my appetite, adds empty calories, and leads to all-day eating, not to mention flab), because I wanted to remind myself that I could if I wanted to on an S day. But it's less and less common since I value my appetite.

Ditto seconds. Both of those S'es are, I agree, not a valuable part of a healthy food relationship in my opinion. But I also know if I make it a rule, a part of me will feel like she's on a diet (and turn into a beast who will one day want to prove who is boss!).

Broca · Post by **Broca** » Sun Jul 21, 2013 6:11 pm

It probably depends on what S is your particular weakness. For me it's sweets so I do indulge on the weekend, but I don't miss seconds or snack during the week so I don't really feel a need for them on the weekend. I see the weekend as a chance to live without rules or thinking about what I am allowed or not allowed to eat for two days. It's a break-take a breather, do what you want and don't beat yourself up!

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sun Jul 21, 2013 8:24 pm

Exactly, Broca. Have the one (or ones) that seems most special.

Sweets used to be my greatest downfall. They are the S I have the least of now, but I used to go to town on them-- as snacks, mostly, but pretty darn big snacks! I still get a kick out of popping grapes or cherries in my mouth as I make my breakfast on an S day, or something like that. But I certainly don't force myself to have any S's anymore. If something has little appeal, there's, no need to force it. But if there's a lot of fear or "morality" in the curtailment, don't be surprised if the pendulum swings.

finallyfull · Post by **finallyfull** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 1:29 pm

Yes -- it's the pendulum. What has kept me mostly green for all these months is that I work hard not to push that pendulum, because I am 100% convinced it will always swing back. I am aiming to keep it at a motion-free balance. No pushing. If I accept it, it could move to a different resting spot on its own, but whenever I push it, wham, back it comes.

clarebear · Post by **clarebear** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 12:56 pm

I had my first S days this weekend, I let myself eat whatever this weekend to use it as a gauge to how I would feel after having a brilliant week of successful N days. I felt like I was eating treats and snacking just because I could and not because I actually wanted them - I think a lot of it is because my thinking was 'this is my only chance for another week'!

It has given me something to think about for this weekend coming though, I think unless I have got a true craving for something sweet, I am just going to carry on as normal. If I don't feel like anything over the weekend and then I do on Monday then that is just tough, I will have to just wait a few days!

I do understand what you mean Ziggy, it felt very odd to be so good all week and then suddenly start snacking again- it was weird - I was actually looking forward to Monday and an N day as it made me feel so good and full of energy last week! I think I may do as others have said and not snack on S days but have a dessert or something sweet with a meal if I feel like it.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 1:19 pm

MIght as well experiment with S days, since there's so much leeway. And N days to come back to.

clarebear · Post by **clarebear** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 2:05 pm

This is true

ahen23 · Post by **ahen23** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 9:13 pm

I havenâ€™t touched sugar for the past 6 months and I usually have only small portions, so seconds either. But the problem is the second S â€“ Snacking. Lately I have been going easy on this second S. I usually have a snack or two once every three days. Is it okay, or does this show my lack of commitment.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Thu Aug 15, 2013 2:17 pm

It's really up to you. Can you commit to always having only a small snack? Just know that the trend in the past is that small snacks every few days grows to every day and then larger snacks and then the person isn't No S-ing much anymore. It's only the exceptions that keep it to small and infrequent.

Meal-based eating is not the exception in slimmer countries. Snacking is. Even the French believe that it's very hard for the average person to gauge her hunger well enough to accommodate snacking AND be hungry for her meals.

After you snack, are you hungry for your next meal?

Why not stick to beverages? Or can you change the timing of your meals?

Everyday Systems

S days and snacking/seconds

S days and snacking/seconds

Re: S days and snacking/seconds