The No S Diet (it's not exactly a diet)

[holmessweetholmes]

I just found this and I think it's awesome. The most sensible thing I've read in aaages about how not to be overweight.

The No S Diet rules:

No Snacking
No Sweets (puddings, sugary stuff)
No Seconds

... except when the day starts with an S (Saturday, Sunday, Special days).

That's it.

I am sooo fed up with thinking about carbs / no carbs / fat / low fat / fasting / superfoods / G.I. blah blah blah. I think I might actually be able to stick to this.

You're quite right, Cheapskatemum! I was aware of that thread, but hadn't clocked that it was so similar to what I'm doing. I've just popped over there to say hi. Thanks for the heads-up!

Yes thank you! It is a bit different in that I don't think the dieters on the other thread are allowing themselves snacks/treats at the weekend? That's literally the only thing keeping me going right now (only on day 3!)

holmes I started thinking about your tip - pushing breakfast & lunch back & it led to, "Well, why not have brunch, afternoon tea and dinner, then?" So that's what I'm doing today. Brunch at 11.30 was sausage, fried egg and tomato on toasted rye bread & orange juice. Afternoon tea at 4pm - as that's when I always get hungry anyway - was jolloff rice with ham, followed by mango & plain yoghurt. Dinner will be whatever the family leave for me when I get back from my evening meeting. I just hope they do leave me something! Then I'll be going straight to bed, no snacks having been consumed all day

^ Love this idea!

Cheapskatemum - I find that breakfast sort of kicks my metabolism into motion and can actually make me hungrier, especially if it's high in carbs. I'm in the habit of eating breakfast at about 7:30 because that's what time the dc have theirs before school. But actually I sometimes think that's just habit and I'm not necessarily hungry yet.

Having said that, I'm beginning to find the late-morning and late-afternoon hunger pangs are reducing, or perhaps just easier to ignore, since I've been No S-ing. I guess your body just gets used to going longer without eating when you cut out snacks.

I must be getting in the habit - I just made choc chip banana loaf cake and didn't eat a single one if the leftover chocolate chips! That's just unnatural !

Incidentally, how's everyone finding the one-plate portion control thing? Reinhard says it's a good idea to load your plate pretty fully at first to keep you full, so that you can really establish the no snack rule. And then reduce portions a bit once you've got it. That's why he says you might not see weight loss at the very beginning.

I'm not really worrying about that. I'm eating quite filling stuff with lots of salad or veg - so big platefuls, but hopefully not too excessive.

Drinking plenty of water, and having a cup of tea or coffee when you feel like a snack helps too.

I'm on Day 4 so it's very early days, but I've eaten quite big portions sla few times this week. I happened to have a couple of meals out and on Monday evening I felt starving so I had garlic bread as a starter/side with my main. But for both meals out I just had tap water (not diet coke which I would usefully have) and NO DESSERT which is unheard of for me! I still enjoyed the meals and tbh if I'd had to have a low-calorie main as well (eg salad instead of the main I wanted) it would have been... shit, frankly. So I'm probably not going to lose weight, certainly not this week, but I'm hoping I will get into the swing of it a bit more and naturally have "regular" portions.

Weaning myself off sugar is the main thing really, although I've been surprised how much I've missed snacking - I didn't realise how much I did it! Apart from feeling hungry, which isn't great, it's actually quite freeing not to think about whether/what to eat between meals. It's just not an option so I don't think about it.

But... can't wait til Saturday!

Argh typos!
sla = a
usefully = usually

Hi Holmes! I'm lurking!!! I've been thinking about this. It's pretty similar to what my daughter does. It's the Danish childhood obesity thingy. (she's no longer obese). I have noticed how much I snack. I work from home and I have so much to do I am scared to get started on anything...so I have a little snack to see if that helps! Might give this no S thing a go (I am aware it is Friday )

Hey Still! Best day to start . Summer holidays start today, so that's going to make things harder - dh (teacher) will be home for 6 weeks and he's not exactly a good influence!

What's the Danish childhood obesity thingy?

The Danish think they have cracked childhood obesity!! They have a program which addresses all your unhelpful habits on an individual bespoke level and it is quite strict really eg sweets once a week, take away once a month. But they say it is the only way and you get lots of support (compare with change for life 'suggestions'). Early days yet but they say it is having a massive effect.

Incidentally our dinner plates are massive! But part of the Danish thing is to make sure you've had enough to eat at meal times.

That sounds quite good! Better than the 'advice' we get over here. It's time we stopped demonising particular food groups and claiming magical superfood status for others. It's misleading and unhelpful. Eat a balanced diet, avoid snacking, have an occasional treat. As we've said, it's not rocket science!

Ok, this looks sensible and do-able, I am in!

Well I just passed up raw chocolate after a gong bath tonight. just remembered in time!

Hi beela, great!

stilllearnin what's raw chocolate? Is it healthier than regular chocolate?

I think so, because it's not got the refined sugar in, but I've never made it. It is definitely a snack and quite possibly a sweet!

I just had to google gong bath. Sounds cool!

Ummm... I started my weekend a bit early with a bbq, cake and too much wine last night. So I am going to treat Sunday as a non-S day instead.

Today might be a bit ott too, as I'm taking the dc out for a proper afternoon tea as an end of term treat!

oooh afternoon tea! I think that's my favourite treat!

The gong bath was great - you have to do it on your own terms - or embrace your inner hippy. Actually it was a lot like being at a rave- We had a new massive symphonic gong and the bass on its was epic!

So I think starting on a Saturday might be cheating, but I have considered it easing myself in gently. And I have done quite well today (though slightly horrified to identify a sugar headache half way through the afternoon). Plus I got up at 6.20am and did day one of the 30 day shred.

Now I've just got to keep it up.

Beela. The lead in to any sustained change of habits is crucial. Think about giving up smoking. Most people are thinking about it and planning it for a while before taking the plunge.

Wow - that was some S Day! I can't have too many like that... The afternoon tea wws seriously heavy on the cake:

A few little sandwiches
An enormous scone with jam and cream
No fewer than 3 large pieces of different cakes each

We didn't eat all the cake, but wrapped some up to take home.

That was at 4:30 and I'm still stuffed! Tomorrow is definitely going be a non-S Day.

My S-day started well - with moderation - but didn't end so well!
Breakfast: muesli and nectarine (good)
Lunch: healthy main with diet coke and chocolate cake for pudding as a treat... savoured it and enjoyed it more than I would have done before (since I'd gone 5 days without any chocolate or cake!)
Dinner: eek! Friend's BBQ. Drank cider - does the No S Diet have rules about alcohol? I'm not sure but I know cider has lots of sugar in it so probably bad! Ate too much BBQ food (felt over-full) followed by fruit salad with ice cream (yum) a chocolate cake slice (didn't enjoy much, didn't think it tasted good enough to be worth the calories) and a marshmallow roasted on the fire (delicious)
Having drunk/eaten all that I feel like I've had far too much sugar/sweet stuff and feel a bit guilty and unhealthy even though it's an S day. Maybe this is why the diet works?! You only enjoy treats if they're within the rules ie occasional (sometimes on S days) and in moderation (one piece of cake not three!)
One thing I will say about alcohol. Being drunk meant I ate more than I feel I should have. So maybe it should be S days only??

I am going to join as well.
I read about it few days ago and managed 3 days but last 2 were quite bad

Meal planning us the only way forward. I get home from work and I am starving! In my experience if I have soup in the fridge I can stop myself from snacking and will then be able to carry on eating healthily for the rest of the day.