S days are scary!

No Snacks, no sweets, no seconds. Except on Days that start with S. Too simple for you? Simple is why it works. Look here for questions, introductions, support, success stories.

Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating

Post Reply
Joelle
Posts: 55
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:01 am
Location: California

S days are scary!

Post by Joelle » Mon Jul 14, 2008 9:34 pm

Last week was my 1st week on NoS, and I found the S days unsettling. I was looking forward to them, but it just felt like all the other times I went off a diet, and I felt really anxious. I know they are there as a sort of pressure relief valve, but I think for now I'm going to do three meals and have desert with dinner on S days.

CrazyCatLady
Posts: 301
Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:58 pm
Location: Illinois

Post by CrazyCatLady » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:46 pm

I have found that sticking to the three meals on weekends helps a lot, too. But please don't fear the S days. They are kind of lovely. :lol:

kccc
Posts: 3957
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:12 am

Post by kccc » Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:38 pm

Three meals really do make a difference - took me a long time to get that.

You can make them "special" in some way if you like. Maybe cook something you wouldn't have time for on the weekdays, or get something you love that's perfectly okay, just a treat to you.

Do give yourself a truly delightful dessert or other treat. "Proactive treats" on S-days are one of the BEST strategies for avoiding "vacuum-cleaner eating" - sucking stuff down just because you can. :)

Over time, they will become less scary and far more enjoyable. But I hear you - they were awful for me for quite a while.

Dawn
Posts: 215
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2008 6:47 pm
Location: So Cal

Post by Dawn » Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:29 pm

5 months into this and S days are still a problem for me. I am 1/2 way to my goal (I am down 10 pounds), but I am sure I would be a lot further along if it weren't for my crazy S days.

I do know that I do sooo much better when I eat my 3 meals. Also I prolong my first treat as long as I can because the flood gates tend to open once that happens so keeping the window of opportunity to indulge open only so far is helpful.

I think it takes a long time for some of us. But that's OK, where I am going? I don't have a thing to wear!
Dawn

User avatar
reinhard
Site Admin
Posts: 5918
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2005 7:38 pm
Location: Cambridge, MA
Contact:

Post by reinhard » Tue Jul 15, 2008 2:05 pm

Welcome, Joelle!

The longer you stick with it, the less scary and more enjoyable S-days get -- especially if you actively try to enjoy them.

Not sure if you saw/heard the podcast I did on the subject:

http://everydaysystems.com/podcast/episode.php?id=34

Reinhard

Laff
Posts: 120
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2006 4:55 am
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada

Post by Laff » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:27 pm

I really look forward to S days but I also find that by Sunday evening I am really looking forward to the firm structure of the rest of the week.
Gotta smile. Laff

Achieving begins with believing!

Joelle
Posts: 55
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:01 am
Location: California

Post by Joelle » Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:26 pm

Thanks, everyone, for the support. I did find myself being very restrictive about what I ate on Monday, (hard to shake the "making up for it" mentality) so I was miserable Monday night and ended up snacking, which bled over to this morning. Ugh. I am not going to continue to freak out, though. I had a great first week last week, and I'm moving on from here. Tomorrow will be green. I just read the transcript of the S Days podcast and it makes so much sense. I will eventually relax and learn to trust the program and myself. :wink:

irish
Posts: 82
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:07 pm

Post by irish » Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:12 pm

Joelle, I've been doing no s for a little over three months, and I still have trouble with no s days. It seems as if, once the floodgates are open, there's no stopping. And I eat three great meals on those days, but I eat too much and Sunday night & Monday morning, I'm very disgusted with myself. I think I've only had one moderately good weekend, although last weekend I might have eaten a tad less than others. Other posters say that it just takes time - I hope so. In the 90 days I lost almost five pounds, but I've gained two of them back, I think from big weekends. But I'm hanging in there - barely. It gets discouraging, especially when you read how other people do so well.

kccc
Posts: 3957
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:12 am

Post by kccc » Wed Jul 16, 2008 7:55 pm

Irish and Joelle....

Don't get discouraged. It took me a YEAR to "get" s-days.

And then, it was like turning a corner. :)

Which is not to say that my S-days are always perfect, but they are significantly better. And I always FEEL better, both physically and emotionally.

Hope they get better for you both.

blueskighs
Posts: 1787
Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2008 4:11 am
Location: California

Post by blueskighs » Thu Jul 17, 2008 2:09 am

my last three weekends have been worse, I only had one bad before. "bad" being i ended up feeling not good from eating too much. The last two weekends were vacation. So overall I think its all good,

I think the difficult thing we have is just being patient with ourselves.

As Reinhard says, S days are like riding the bike without the training wheels. I think it's ok if we crash a few times as long as we get back up and get on the bike!

Blueskighs
www.nosdiet.blogspot.com Where I blog daily about my No S journey

irish
Posts: 82
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:07 pm

Post by irish » Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:27 pm

Wow! tomorrow is an S day. What will I eat? Last Monday ( after a not so great weekend) I planned out what I would eat tomorrow. Will I do it? Probably not. Oreos are calling out my name. Cheese and crackers sound wonderful. Hopefully, I will snack a lot on summer fruit. I thought about posting every time I ate something. Will I be honest? On Mondays I have such high hopes that NEXT WEEK END WILL BE DIFFERENT. And here I am at another week end.

kccc
Posts: 3957
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:12 am

Post by kccc » Sat Jul 19, 2008 2:15 am

Irish,

Plan something wonderful - something you truly love - and savor every bite.

Don't mess with the low-quality junk. It's not worth it. :)

You might check Reinhard's "S-days gone wild" podcast for good ideas.

User avatar
Mavilu
Posts: 319
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 11:57 pm
Location: California

Post by Mavilu » Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:29 am

I've recently gotten into "cook-a-thons", I decide on something before hand that I had never made before and that it's not something you would normally cook.
Since they are projects that involve several hours in the kitchen, by the time I'm done cooking and cleaning up, I'm too tired to overeat, but I have now added a new dish to my cooking catalog.
Last week, I made russian pierogis from scratch, tomorrow, I'm making cuban potato croquettes filled with picadillo and scottish shortbread.
The week after, I'll make my first traditional argentine dish: empanadas criollas.
Clearly, I don't recommend that everyone spends most of their saturday in the kitchen, but I'm writing about this latest projects, because I want to show to Joelle that S days don't have to be scary and about responsibility and stuff: I was kinda scared in the beginning too, but eventually we all relax and start seeing our S days like what they should be: occasions in which we relax and do what we want to do.
Just give it time and trust yourself.

User avatar
randallkharris
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:12 pm
Location: South Mississippi, USA
Contact:

Post by randallkharris » Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:29 pm

I am glad I read this thread and I am especially thankful for KCCC's comment that it took a YEAR to "get" S days..... because yesterday I had a bad S day.

It wasn't bad because of what I ate -- it was bad because I was scared of being an idiot. Foodwise, it was great -- I basically had a normal N day with very healthy, "real" food all around. But I did so well yesterday (and really, all week long, for the first time in forever) that I was especially mindful of wrecking it completely by running off the rails. So I was in a very bad mood last night, and it was SOLELY due to this issue.

I finally had my "S" for the day -- a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich after supper. (Yes, I am always crazy and reckless like that. :D) I will have to go back to Reinhard's book and podcasts and get myself reoriented to S days, because right now they are really throwing me for a loop, for some reason.

Post Reply