Everyday Systems

Hi all!

I am a big reader, but have never really been into the self-help/diet books genre. I have seen a few book names thrown around while browsing on the board. I was hoping to get some recommendations on which helped you with your eating struggles.

I have already read the most obvious: The No S Diet

Anything else would be appreciated.

Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink is a great book that further illustrates how conscious thought is ineffective in portion control. It's a good companion to The No S Diet.

I would recommend:

In Defense of Food and Food Rules by Michael Pollan

Food Matters by Mark Bittman

French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon

French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano (okay, French women do get fat, but not if they follow the traditional French way of eating)

The Fat Fallacy by William Clower

Any of the diet books by Judith Beck for the cognitive habits, not the calorie counting and such.

Brain Over Binge by Kathryn Hansen

Willpower by Roy F. Baumeister

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

I gently suggest you not get too caught up in all this, though. Count yourself lucky to have found something that gives you plenty of time to throw yourself into other interests. Reinhard really has streamlined the process.

The End of Overeating by Dr David Kessler. Good insight into food engineering.

Fat Land by Greg Critser. How policy and culture have wrought our current obesity problem.

I liked Ditching Diets by Gillian Riley. She writes that managing the desire to overeat is the piece missing from diets and if you can do that, even part of the time, then you will lose weight. There's no magic, just say no sometimes, especially with emotional eating, and the weight will shift down.

I struggled with the vagueness of "just say no sometimes" and "am I really hungry?" Then I found no s and it's a match made in heaven!! I think these two books go beautifully together.

Yes, No S was the key for me to all the Intuitive Eating, non-diet based approach books. Permissive structure.

Zoid wrote:Hi all!

I am a big reader, but have never really been into the self-help/diet books genre. I have seen a few book names thrown around while browsing on the board. I was hoping to get some recommendations on which helped you with your eating struggles.

I have already read the most obvious: The No S Diet

Anything else would be appreciated.

But anything else would be a waste. Every new book gives you another agenda and every new agenda is lingering ballast. You just get distracted by all this ideas. The simple key is: Moderation!

The No S Diet gave you a very clean and neat set of rules to help gasp moderation.

Right now you got a clear message: "No Sweets, No Snacks, No Seconds...."

Imagine yourself reading a book on slow-/low-/blow-carb (Paleo, Atkins etc.) Voila: here comes the doubt: Maybe i can eat seconds if i eat some of the magic foods from this fad-diet? Or i can snack some fruits?

If i could, i would erase all this diet-junk from my mind and enjoy the clarity No S allows.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. These should keep me busy for a while.

I'm not looking for anything to give me more eating guidelines. I was looking more into the psychology of overeating. I have issues with wanting to go back to portion control / calorie counting, so I think Mindless Eating seems like a great start for me.

I highly recommend "Skinny Thinking" by Laura Katleman-Prue. She doesn't give you any more rules or guidelines, but helps you deal with sabotaging thoughts. I've found that it meshes perfectly with "THe No S Diet."

The NOS Diet book, of course.

A book that contains, IMHO, numerous ideas usable with NOS is The Seven Secrets of Slim People by Vikki Hansen, MSW and Shawn Goodman.

I agree with GermanHerman (cool handle).

I would "throw in" The Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, and maybe one of the following three: Body by Science, Power of 10 (Zickerman), and/or Slow Burn (Hahn).

Have a fantastic journey.

Blithe Morning wrote:The End of Overeating by Dr David Kessler. Good insight into food engineering.

Fat Land by Greg Critser. How policy and culture have wrought our current obesity problem.

Thank you for recommending The End of Overeating, I'm reading it now and find it fascinating.

I love reading, mostly mysteries, but also diet books (I own heaps). These are my favorites:

-The Beck Diet Solution by Judith S. Beck. Cognitive therapy for weight loss. It really helps.

-The Complete Book of Food Combining by Kathryn Marsden. I've always loved food combining (it's so easy to prepare just one plate and a salad!) But some versions of it are too complicated. This one is simple and effective.

-The Hacker's Diet by John Walker. It's hilarious ("...the four major food groups: caffeine, sugar, grease, and salt") and his explanation of the human body as a rubber bag made me see the scale in a completely different light.

Most of the books about French eating habits go hand-in-hand with No S.

Also American Women Didn't Get Fat in the 1950s e-book is really good.

An excellent new book - just published (March 4, 2014)
is The Diet Fix by Dr. Yoni Freedhoff.

His concepts work very well with No S.

Highly recommend 2 books by Gillian Riley. I still use some of her principle(s) today. Its not as much about a certain diet, but more about the mental part of it!

They are

Beating Overeating: The Easy Guide by Gillian Riley

Eating Less Say Goodbye to Overating by Gillian Riley


She also has a new book I haven't read yet

Ditching Diets: How to lose weight in a way to Maintainby Gillian Riley

BrightAngel wrote: An excellent new book - just published (March 4, 2014)
is The Diet Fix by Dr. Yoni Freedhoff.

His concepts work very well with No S.

I love his blog, I'm sure his book is great too. Added to my Amazon wishlist.