Everyday Systems

I have had some success recently with counting calories, but that really takes a chunk of time out of my day. The No S diet seems so easy...no calculations required! I am wondering if I will lose a pound in 5 days and gain it back in 2. Over & over. That would be really frustrating! On the other hand, I think eating 3 squares a day and saving indulgences for the weekend seems ... sane. I hope checking in here will help me appreciate the progress I make, even if it is slow.

I am currently 176 pounds, and would like to be 145.

Welcome! The thing about NoS is: it's all about experimentation. You can make it your own if you find that after a few months of following it you don't lose any weight overall. I think it useful to keep an average of weight to track trends because some weight will go back on over S days.

The other thing I'd say: the stricter you are on N days the more weight you will lose but make sure to make it sustainable. Good luck!

Thanks, eschano!

Week 1, Day 1, Monday, Success

It was harder than I thought! Wanting to grab a snack was very distracting today!

It'll definitely get easier! Regarding the weight gain over the weekend: Im almost always up a pound or two on Monday but somehow I'm back down a few more lbs but the following Friday with a net loss of almost 2lbs/week so the math can still definitely work out in your favor!

Welcome & good luck!

Linda😀

Welcome!

I can't remember who it was who had the signature "respecting the fourth S - Sometimes". I know I don't always manage it, nut I try to remember that Reinhard intended S days for occasional treats, not weekly free for alls. Also the idea is that eventually the weekday habits spill over onto weekends.

Best of luck!

I'm getting used to feeling hungry between meals. It's not an emergency! There's another meal soon

Day 2, Tuesday, Success
Day 3, Wednesday, Success

Thursday, Day 4, Success
Friday, Day 5, Success

Friday was tricky, because we had company, and a multitude of desserts. But, I did want to finish out my first week with Green!

Great first week! Keep up the good work.

Saturday, Day 6, Yellow
Sunday, Day 7. Yellow

That was fun, but I actually am wanting to get back to the stricter way of eating for 5 days. I just felt better. Also, when I give myself permission to have snacks & sweets, it's a little tricky to know when you are done. One plate = so easy! No need to overthink it.

And....down to 173!

Ha! Yes, teadrinker, it is still tricky for me on SOME weekends, nearly 3 years in. But on the plus side - it gets easier and my overeating S Days now would have been tame days pre-NoS.

Monday, Success
Tuesday, Success
Wednesday, Success


Thursday, Not Successful

Well, I suppose it was going to happen eventually, but that doesn't make me less disappointed. I was so hungry Thursday morning that I had seconds at breakfast, which turned into snacks & sweets throughout the day. So, I may need to figure out something simple to avoid the "I blew it" mentality that leads to overeating. Probably, having seconds once in a while is not such a problem as following that up with Twizzlers and other contraband!

Hi teadrinker-
Your post reminds me of something I read by Kelly Guy, in the Yahoo Health series. She said

My biggest advice: You get to choose to start over any time you’d like. That can be the next morning, the next meal, the next moment. No one lives a perfect life, and no one can follow a meal/exercise plan to a T every single time. Give yourself a break, and hit that reset button.

I think that's really gracious advice and a great way to treat one's self in one's failures. I hope to adopt that mindset myself.

Great to read your thread as I am on week 1 - so right behind you. My question about your Thursday splurge is ?are you eating enough at your meals? It occurs to me that if you are cutting down on calories on the N days, you are going to feel hungry - and eventually cave.

But, whatever the reason, it's the weekend again tomorrow - so WELL DONE for completing TWO WEEKS already!

I'll watch out for how I feel on my week 2 Thursday! The crave might hit me too!

Thanks for the encouragement, rawcookie and osoniye!

Friday, Successful

And, yes, rawcookie, I think I have been a bit skimpy on meals. Also, I had a day of helping my aunt move, which was a lot more physical activity than my normal day. I was trying to tough out the extra hungriness, but I'm not really that tough. I like it better when I'm hungry before meals, and I like to go to bed a little hungry. But, I don't like being hungry ALL the time! I imagine I'll find the balance sooner or later. I hope!

Yeah you'll definitely figure it out. I love the idea of being able to "set the reset button"!

Saturday, S-Day
Sunday, S-Day


Monday, Fail
Tuesday, Fail


Okay, time to hit that re-set button! The weekends aren't four days long, teadrinker, don't you know!

Wednesday, Success
Thursday, Success


Feels much better to be a bit disciplined! It seems easier to be organized about everything when following No S correctly. Something to remember when I'm tempted to fail!

Doing well!!

It can take a while to find the balance, and by a while, I mean several months to a year. So what? That's the same amount of time in which most people have gone on and off a diet and gained all the weight back, not really having changed anything.

This is really more about weaning yourself off extra food. It can happen very successfully in fits and starts, not a straight line.

Stay with it!

Hey! I just realised that my first 'FAIL' day was on the Wednesday of week 2, and yours was on the Thursday of week 2 - perhaps there's something in that - around the 10-day mark.

We got over it though - right!

I'm feeling more 'calm' about the up-coming S days - how are you feeling?

I've planned my desserts and snacks. I can see now how liberating the NoS system will be when I go to a party or something - just hope they fall on an S day!