Rachel's Daily Check-In

amicamom · Post by **amicamom** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 11:54 pm

Hello Everyone,

On Wednesday, I was browsing on the internet looking at amazon.com and saw an ad for the "No S Diet." It received very high reviews on amazon.com so I searched google for it and found the www.nosdiet.com. The author seemed very down-to-earth and practical. I appreciated that the book was written by an average person instead of a "doctor." This seemed like something my 13-year-old daughter might be able to follow, too! I found a used copy on eBay that should be here in another week or two.

I won't go into my complete dieting history but suffice it to say that I have been diagnosed as a "food addict" and have tried a ton of different diets. I thought "abstinence" based food plan was the only real cure but could not stay on it due to the time involved and the bland yucky food. Nothing has ever worked in the long term and they have all required a tremendous amount of self discipline. Moderation is something my "all or nothing" personality has never really understood, until now...Reinhard has hit a nerve with me!! I am about 1/3 of the way through reading the podcast transcripts and they are wonderful!!

As far as the n-s diet goes...it is so simple! This is something I can do! I started it immediately, right in the middle of the day on a Wednesday of all days! Don't all diets have to start on a Monday after a weekend of binging? Right away I noticed how much I had been snacking between meals. : ( I noticed at dinner how I slowed down and didn't gulp my food since I knew I needed to savor the one plate of food. This may be the miracle I've been searching for!! Thank you, LORD!!

What if I could actually eat moderately like a normal person?
What if I could throw away every diet book I own
and never read another one again?
What if I never had to count calories or points again?
What if I could eat whatever I wanted?
What if???????

My weight today is 190 lbs (4 months after baby #5)
when I should weigh between 133-147 for my height.
Just read this blog if you want to know my insane food history.

Day #1: SUCCESS!!!!

More about me: http://journeyfromfrumpytofabulous.blogspot.com/

One of the podcasts that really meant something to me...I especially appreciated this part...

OK, abstinence. On one level it works because there's something chemical going on that you're avoiding, a trigger. But on another level, and this is the level we moderates can emulate, it works simply because it's so damn clear. The line between 0 and 1, between something and nothing, is very unambiguous. There is no slippery slope. It's a line in the sand. You can cross this line, if you decide, but you can't do it by accident or by imperceptible degree. You're on one side or the other. That's powerful. Without clear lines like this, the number of complex decisions you have to make soon becomes overwhelming. In the book mindful eating, the author did a study that showed the average American makes over 200 food related decisions every day -- when to eat, what to eat, how much to eat. Without clear lines in the sand to help you make quick, snap decisions, you might make the first 2 very well because you're taking a million factors into account, but the next 198 will ride right over you because you simply don't have sufficient attention left over to deal with them at all.
But abstinence has costs. You have to completely sacrifice what most people regard as a great pleasure -- what you presumably regard as a great pleasure, or you wouldn't have such a problem with it. It's a cost some people are willing to pay, or willing to try to pay, for the benefit of this powerful and effective clarity. But it's a high cost. Too high for many people. They try it and feel deprived and resentful and long for the forbidden whatever. And when they cross over then from 0 to 1, from nothing to something, because they miss it so much, then suddenly they've lost all all the benefits of abstinence, it becomes a liability, it has nothing further to say to them at this point, they've failed, and they might as well crank it up from 1 to 11, from something to everything, because all failures, big and small, are the same, because 1 = 11 in the system of abstinence. So you might as well max it out, not only do you get more pleasure but you get more drama. People can understand failing for the sake of an 11. It's like going to war for Helen of Troy. Failure for a 1, well, that seems paltry, sort of pathetic. So abstinence demands too much from most people, and when they inevitably fail to meet those demands, it magnifies that failure.

It would be great if we could get the clarity of cold turkey abstinence without the sweeping deprivation. And we can. Very simply. Just draw your clear line in a different, more moderate place. At 2 instead of 0 (like I do with glass ceiling, for the number of glasses of alcolol I'm allowed to drink). Or at "S-days" instead of "never," as I do with the No-s diet and shovelglove. The key is to be just as firm about your number as the abstainer is about his, to be just as clear about what that number is, so there are no last minute revisions, and just as irate when you come anywhere near to crossing it.

Simple doesn't mean easy. It's one thing to say "this is my boundary" and another thing to respect that boundary. The 0 to 1 boundary compels a kind of natural respect. For other, more moderate boundaries, you need something extra, a metaphor, a back story, a mythology, almost. Or a joke, or a bit of poetic consonance. Something that will jump into your mind whenever you approach that boundary and can't immediately be reworked into something else. The letter S for the no s diet. 14 minutes of schedualistically insignificant time for shovelglove. The Song of the urban ranger.

You might object that naturally moderate people do not follow explicit rules, that they are moderate out of instinct or something, or, on the other end of the spectrum, that they simply somehow make rational decisions about stuff that the rest of us can't bring ourselves to be rational about. People in France, for instance, who are held up as exemplars of moderate eating, do not have a written code that makes them eat the way they do. But I would argue that they do have rules, they do have a code, but it's an internal, largely unconscious code of habit. It was instilled in them by custom, by tradition, which is sort of like the habit of a whole society. It might be unconscious, but it is still a rule. It's not like the French are rational Mr. Spocks logically evaluating every culinary decision for maximum long term health benefit. And it's not like they simply "eat when they are hungry" out of some primal instinct. Nothing could be more American than "eat when you are hungry."

It's still rules that govern French eating behavior, rules that are built into the fabric of society itself. If you don't believe this, go to France. Go to a french restaurant or have dinner in a french home. If you're an American, you'll immediately be impressed by the ritual involved. You'll also probably be impressed by a sense of inadequacy at your not getting these rules and rituals, but that's another story.

Those of us who don't live in such a society, -- and from what I understand, such societies aren't what they used to be, there are more McDonald's per capita in Paris than anywhere else in the world, I think, and french women are getting fatter all the time -- those of us who don't live in such a society have no choice but to resort to explicit rules. And if we're smart, we'll make those explicit rules moderate, like the traditional social structures they are standing in for.

I'll close on another quote from the world of politics. Teddy Roosevelt had this great piece of advice, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." That's exactly what we aspiring behavioral moderates should do. Don't insist on much, but insist on it like hell. Not with big flamboyant gestures, but with actions. Oh, and carry a big carrot too.

Starla · Post by **Starla** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 2:25 pm

Welcome, Rachel!

I think you've hit on what No S is really about - changing the place food holds in your life. I've been doing it a little less than two months, and I have never felt so calm about a "diet" or so sure that I am on the right path. Buttercreampillow said: "I look forward to each meal as something to enjoy. I don't feel frightened of food, or eating opportunities, or of myself as some kind of insatiable monster barely contained by my own frail willpower." Isn't that beautiful?

So stick with this, even though it can be hard at the beginning. I promise you it gets easier!

amicamom · Post by **amicamom** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 3:37 pm

Day #2: Success!

Thanks, Starla. Its nice to meet you!!

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » Sun Nov 01, 2009 12:40 pm

Welcome, the best of luck, and I truly hope it works well for you.

Jammin' Jan · Post by **Jammin' Jan** » Sun Nov 01, 2009 12:59 pm

Hi Rachel. Welcome to No-S. I wish you all the best success!!

amicamom · Post by **amicamom** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 1:46 pm

Day #3: Success!

Day #4: Success!

Both of these days were s-days and I stuck with the three plate framework. On Saturday I only had one chocolate chip cookie as a treat and on Sunday I had two plates plus a couple of cookies and a plate of cheese and crackers with wine with my husband before bed.

My weight early Monday morning was 186.5 lbs which is down 3.5 from last Monday morning. WAHOO!

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:24 am

Great work!

amicamom wrote:Day #3: Success!

Day #4: Success!

Both of these days were s-days and I stuck with the three plate framework. On Saturday I only had one chocolate chip cookie as a treat and on Sunday I had two plates plus a couple of cookies and a plate of cheese and crackers with wine with my husband before bed.

My weight early Monday morning was 186.5 lbs which is down 3.5 from last Monday morning. WAHOO!

amicamom · Post by **amicamom** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 2:59 pm

Day #5: Success!

amicamom · Post by **amicamom** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:45 pm

Day 6: Success!

Day 7: Success!

Day 8: Success!

Day 9: Success!

So far I have not had any trouble at all. This diet is a gift from God for me!

-Every meal is enjoyable
-No obsessing over food, weight, diets, calories, points, etc.
-Nice slow and steady weight loss
-No decrease in milk supply (I'm nursing a 4 month old)

I will be posting on the habit calendar from now on:

http://everydaysystems.com/habitcal/vie ... &t=Walking

I decided to work on three habits for November:
1. Following The NO S Diet
2. Walking
3. Putting On Make-Up Every Morning (I'm a stay-at-home-mom)

Girl Next Door · Post by **Girl Next Door** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 2:53 pm

Congratulations on your successes. Keep up the good work!

amicamom · Post by **amicamom** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:18 pm

I made it through the first 21 days without a hitch!

After 30 days, I started to have some glitches.

I lost 7 lbs during the first 30 days so I was thrilled with that but I started getting sloppy with the rules. I'm nursing a 5-month-old and she didn't gain any weight so I was worried about that and started eating outside of meal-times. I found out it was due to the length and frequency of feedings rather than my calorie intake, but it threw me off for a couple of days. I got a terrible cold at the end of November which also did not help. It got to cold to take my kids out for a walk in the morning. It has been tough to get back on track!! HELP!!

I guess for me it might take longer than 21 days to get this habit going.

~reneew · Post by **~reneew** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 9:31 pm

I've found that when I'm on a roll (in the right direction) it truly gets easier. They key is to keep going. It isn't hard to do, so I ask myself "why do I stop?"

I suggest re-reading this from the top for encouragement. You did it before and enjoyed it. You can do it again!