Everyday Systems

I thought I'd throw this out there for ideas, because for some reason, this seems to be an easy Red Day trigger for me. I am easily lured into gluttony when there is unlimited pizza available to me. I know there are practical tips (put two pieces on a plate and walk away, or don't order it (my family would murder me) or make a big salad to go with your two pieces) but I think what I need is philosophical or moral support. Not sure. I tend to have a very strong YOLO feeling when there's a delicious pizza and the workweek is over and we all know pizza has no rules.

Would love anyone's input.

my newest mod is portion control--S day or N day. I want to eat like normal people do, and they don't binge when they have a desirable food. They indulge, but not by much. So, philisophically and as a habit, I am trying to remain conscious of portions. The last several times I did No S, I used my S days to binge. Not this time.

Hi finallyfull- I don't have any philosophical or moral ideas... mine would be more to work around the situation... either to change the tradition to Something Else on Friday evenings and do pizza as a new tradition on Saturday or Sunday evenings, or to take Fri/Sat S days or do sundown Fri to sundown Sun S-days thing. Pizza is one of those foods that I find it very hard to eat in moderation, myself.

No real advice other than what you've mentioned.

We do Friday night pizza too. I've been working on only 2 slices and adding veggies (baby carrots), fruit (apple), or a salad in place of those extra slices.

I'd put four pieces on a plate. You are allowed to stack your plate after all. Yes, it's excessive. But it's technically within the rules and sometimes a technical win is the best you can do.

It's still a win, though.

Blithe, I agree. I usually have 3-4 pieces, with a small mixed salad on the side.
___________
h

I agree with Blithe Morning and heatherhikes. I always laugh when I do it, but 3-4 pieces DOES fit on my plate! And I am totally full afterwards (I usually eat pizza with a bunch of diet coke).

For philosophical support, I'd need to know what your philosophy is or what you want it to be. No S says three plates a day but its philosophy is moderation. Is that important to you? Because if YOLO, you only have so many chances to live moderation.

I very much believe in absolutely reveling in food, but I also believe that to really revel, I can't eat too much. That's not moderation and it's not really supportive of the total experience of enjoying food to the utmost. If eating is followed by a sense of bloating and discomfort, it's not really honoring the joy of food, and No S for me is definitely about the joy of food.

But it's also about putting food in its place. Food plays a delightful role in enjoying social situations, but it's not really the point of them. The point is to enjoy the company, the ambience, and sometimes an event. Let them take their proper place on Fridays. Excess intake isn't necessary to celebrate. Be excessive in your savoring of the total experience, if you must be excessive in anything.

Hope some of this helps.

Hmm, I don't think I understand this discussion. 2 pieces of pizza would fill 1/4 of a plate here maximum.

How big is your pizza? Can you just get an individual pizza that easily fits on the plate and isn't excessive instead?

The frozen pizzas I used to like (a local brand) fit perfectly on one of my plates -- and they are normal size plates! They made a great "transition" meal into the S days on Friday nights!

Thanks -- just hearing some viewpoints is helpful. I like that I have a "focus group" at the ready when I bump into a recurrent problem.

I think it probably boils down to me wanting to have the "unlimited" option, as if somehow having a limit makes it less Friday-ish or something. Very immature but it's emotional. I Now that I see it clearly, though, I think I can let it go. And stacking my plate will help alot -- truly it's what I'm avoiding -- having to have my family see a big fat plate o'pizza. I don't want to have to admit how much I want, even though if I put it all on there, I would see that it's way too much.

One very interesting aspect of No S that has come to light is that since unlimited seconds and snacks are very much par for the course for everyone, the rest of the world puts less on a plate, I think, so the peer pressure, even if it's imaginary sometimes, to put less on the plate is hard. I am eating one moderate plate next to a family full of people who are basically on their "first plate". So I look kind of greedy by comparison.

Thanks for the ideas.

finallyfull wrote:
One very interesting aspect of No S that has come to light is that since unlimited seconds and snacks are very much par for the course for everyone, the rest of the world puts less on a plate, I think, so the peer pressure, even if it's imaginary sometimes, to put less on the plate is hard. I am eating one moderate plate next to a family full of people who are basically on their "first plate". So I look kind of greedy by comparison.

Sadly, I've found this to be true in my life as well and still something I can struggle with. I mean, it looks ridiculous as a 5'2" woman to put more on my plate than my 6' husband--especially in social situations and we have a lot of those....

However, for me the alternative is worse. I absolutely stink at virtual plating (taking less on a plate or using a too-small plate, knowing I'll need more than one plate to get a decent meal). I almost always end up overeating in such situations. I believe I have a very good sense of portion control, but once I "break up" a meal, my reasonable estimations all go out the window. I have no idea why, but it still happens even after all these successful NoS years....

One of my favorite mottoes: One=Done

vmsurbat wrote: I absolutely stink at virtual plating (taking less on a plate or using a too-small plate, knowing I'll need more than one plate to get a decent meal). I almost always end up overeating in such situations. I believe I have a very good sense of portion control, but once I "break up" a meal, my reasonable estimations all go out the window.

Nothing to do with pizza in particular, but This! I am so frustrated by eating with German friends and others at work related pot lucks. The "polite" thing to do is take a small amount on your plate the first time around and then "you can always come back for more". I think culturally this is to appear less piggish, and also keeps the food from running out. But, yeah, I always wind up taking more than I should when I try to make up with virtual plating, what I should have taken in the first place and then called it quits. The plates are too big so the second helping looks smaller than it is, and it's hard to judge what would have fit on a smaller plate in the first place, minus the first serving... I guess I could try taking only 1/3 of what I think my virtual plate make-up should be. Often I just plow through with a decent first plate and accept the funny looks.

One piece of Costco pizza, if cut to fit, would cover 3/4 of my plate.

I think you've hit on something by noting that what you secretly wanted was to be able to eat unlimited amounts to make it a real Friday, i.e., the signal that the work week is over.

Pot lucks and pizza and other situations with unlimited food will always be a challenge, and each of us must come up with the solution that is right for us. However, I agree with the one plate method even if that plate is pretty full. This keeps me No S compliant. It also allows me to enjoy more at my favorite meals without going totally overboard. I solve the potluck issue by staying toward the end of the line so I do not feel that I am taking too much and depriving others in line behind me. If that means some things are gone when I get up there, so be it. I can freely give my plate that one good fill. Sounds like this problem is a common one given the number of responses!

I'd wager that potlucks are actually one of the least satisfying eating situations most people encounter. It's a cultural pressure to think we should enjoy having an abundance of food available, but since we have so much food available so much of the time, it actually becomes a burden to try to negotiate the table without regret. I don't think it's a natural human ability to eat rationally in that situation. The only people who do it are exceptions in our culture or people from cultures that don't admire overeating.

I guess this is off the pizza topic, but I wanted to pontificate.

oolala53 wrote:
I guess this is off the pizza topic, but I wanted to pontificate.

That's because you do it so well!

I can't tell you how many times I hear "your voice" saying to me: "That is only a thought...." when a sudden urge to sneak eat hits.

Can someone please post how many inches or cm a pizza is in diametre, I'm totally out of this conversation, as individual pizzas in Europe easily fit on a plate.

eschano wrote:Can someone please post how many inches or cm a pizza is in diametre, I'm totally out of this conversation, as individual pizzas in Europe easily fit on a plate.

Pizza size varies. An individual pizza would be about the size of a plate, but usually when you eat pizza with the family as a meal, you don't get individual pizzas. Regular pizzas are usually 14 to 20" in diameter, depending on the brand/shop.

Thank you Zoid! Now this conversation makes complete sense to me!

I think: order an individual portion for yourself. Worth the extra money.

I don't know if anyone would find this helpful or not but here is what I do: (Pizza is an issue for me too.)
When we have pizza night -really only about once a month but it could be more often- I always order a small individual pizza for myself. My husband and son get a medium pizza for themselves. My excuse is that I like pineapple and bacon and nobody else does. When the pizza comes I take off the two pieces I'm going to eat right away, and put them on the plate. Then I get heavy foil and wrap the rest of my pizza up and put it into the freezer. Out of sight, out of mind. It really does work. Then too, pizza is, and has to be, just one part of a meal for me. I never eat a meal that consists of only one food. 90% of the time my meals include a small cup of soup, a salad, main course, veggie, and cheese. All my household eats that way for lunch and dinner. If we have sandwiches of some type for lunch it's soup, sandwich and salad- at the very least. So on Pizza night we can have pizza for the main course but we do have our soup and salad too. I have not heard any complaints from husband and son because they know the cook makes the rules, and that would be me. When they finish I wrap their pizza up too (if any is left- they don't have the no seconds rule) and that pizza works good as bread with various later meals.

I found thus discussion interesting because I used to think of No S as the "pizza and beer" diet. This is because my first time on no s, I was working a lot of overtime and I stocked up on the frozen French bread pizzas from the grocery store and had one almost every night with a beer. They are delicious (unlike other frozen pizzas), they are filling and fit easily on a plate with room for veggies.

oolala53 wrote:I think you've hit on something by noting that what you secretly wanted was to be able to eat unlimited amounts to make it a real Friday, i.e., the signal that the work week is over.

I agree this is key. Is there some other way to celebrate the week being over, without having that link with excess? When we have pizza and red wine night (usually Mondays), we make our own individual plate sized pizzas with fancy toppings. The fun / indulgence of making a pretty plate with nice bocconcini, anchovies, artichoke hearts etc takes the focus off quantity pretty well.

And yeah, having a full plate while everyone else "politely" takes several smaller serves is one of the reasons No-S works for me. There is no hiding my excess from myself or anyone else. My mother commented on the size of my lunches when we stayed with her last week, and I had to remind her that I don't have any snacks between breakfast and dinner (she has 3 or more), so my lunch needs to be enough to get me to dinnertime.

[quote="jw"] They made a great "transition" meal into the S days on Friday nights![/quote]
You are so right! I need to change from ice cream being my thing on Friday night to something like pizza and a beer/wine. Makes it special while still being N. Ice cream also seems to set up a Saturday binge (I need to work that out too. )
I'm only on my first week of doing this seriously so the learning curve is pretty big and that's OK.