Starting the no 'S' eating regime today to lose weight, anyone want to join in?

[standclear]

Hi, have got decidedly porky over the past few years.
I feel tired and lethargic, and none of my clothes look good anymore.
I also need to lose weight for health reasons and increase my (currently woeful) level of exercise.

I want to follow a simple and 'do-able' eating plan that is fairly simple and that I will be able to sustain ie hoping to lose 0.5 kg each week.

I'm planning to follow the no 'S' "diet":

book here

A summary of the basic rules is:

no snacks
no sweets (it's an American book so that covers puddings as well as biscuits and confectionary)
no seconds

except on days that start with 's' ie the weekend, and 'special' days ie birthdays and big holidays such as Christmas.

I've got the book so can answer further questions but that is basically it!

I'm going to be using MFP to log calories and I have also found the free NHS weight loss plan (includes exercise) helpful too

see here

I am planning to post my weight here every Sunday too (but that is not obligatory of course).

The other reason for posting on here is that I don't want to bore my family and friends to death about it in rl!! But it would be nice to have some companions along the way .

Anyone want to join in?

This is prezi Helen prezi.com

I was doing so well today. I avoided taking a sweet from the jar, but managed to put it in my bag for tomorrow. Still haven't eaten it. But did have a piece of chocolate. And worse a couple of extra slices of bread with dinner.

wow - prezi looks very cool rivier!

Funnily enough, I did exactly the same as you and had two slices of bread after dinner. Except mine were joined by two jaffa cake bars I was doing so well til then.

I've written mine off to emotional eating - had crisis talks scheduled with DH and was terrified of how it would go. It was actually ok, but I did feel that the food helped. My equivalent of dutch courage, I suppose!

Hope everyone is enjoying their rules-free weekend

Hello all! And thanks again for your kind thoughts about dd.

She's just starting to recover now (she managed a few hrs back at school last week) but we have collected lots of work from school which she is doing now as I type.

Sorry to have been awol! How is everyone getting on?

Julie what a fab reply to Helen! Wise words about "redefining normal" and your shredding exercises sounds v impressive! (Am I allowed to say that I love the idea of listing chocolate cake for breakfast ?!!) And definitely no eye rolling here, I am struggling too with moving from awareness to actually restricting volume! I have slim hips and narrow shoulders which means that all my weight gain has gone on norks and abdomen (you can see me coming around corners atm ) Not a good look!

Helen hope you are feeling less disheartened now. As others have said, I really think you are being too hard on yourself because your menus are so incredibly healthy and you are obviously very committed to the diet. (And if it's any consolation, I have a spare tyre worthy of the Michelin Man himself atm! I am certain yours is miniscule in comparison!)

eltsihTHope the queasiness has eased now. I'm with you on the "fitting in to jeans" thing! (I was prompted to do this diet by the fact that I am struggling to get in to my largest size of jeans, which is not a nice feeling!)

Rivier I think having biscuits or sweets just 'sitting there' is one of the hardest things to resist so well done for that! I hope you managed to decide on your thesis research question (a very stressful decision to have to make I am sure) and that the presentation went well.

Grumpy another self-confessed "squishy" and "strangely lumpy" one here! And you are definitely not the eldest, I think I take that honour at 51 yrs. Put simply, I am fat because I am eating much more than I ever did and not exercising enough! I can't really blame my age because I am blessed with a metabolism that stops me from feeling very hungry when I move around; I just don't move around enough!!

I've been naturally stick thin all of my life (despite eating like a horse!) and returned to my usual weight post the birth of dd. I've put on all of this weight in the past 5 yrs. It's definitely a life-style issue.

Tbh I feel a bit of a fraud posting on here. I can (and do) walk fairly briskly but I couldn't run even for 2 mins so I am really impressed by those of you who exercise seriously. And I am nowhere near at the level of those of you who feel guilty for eating extra bread or artificial sweeteners.

(Feel free to eye-roll at this bit! ) I seem to always have an excuse, but this past week has been difficult with dd ill and dh away. I've barely been able to leave the house (and had to arrange baby-sitters when I did and dog-walkers to walk the furry one). Hopefully this week will be better ; although current terrorist alert not helping! Not sure I will be going too far afield today tbh!

Hope you keep safe Rivier too and everybody wherever you are!

Big waves to all!

x posts Julie glad the talks with your dh went better than you had anticipated x

Grumpy apologies, just re-read my post and it comes across very badly; did not mean to say you were "squishy" and "strangely lumpy" - that was not my intention at all- was trying to say that I was both!!!

[keeps digging hole]

Looks like I am the baby here! I am 33. I am really trying to sort my eating out so my DC don't pick up our bad habits.

Today we ran out of bread (probably because I ate loads on Friday to try to stop the queasiness) so breakfast was pop tarts or breakfast biscuits
L- sausage rolls and baked beans
D- roast beef with all the trimmings.

We went out for a walk to enjoy the frost and had hot chocolate when we got back in.

I am feeling much better today after going to bed at 7 on Friday night. Dh is out tonight so I have taken my self to bed so I don't snack.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.

65.8 last week 64.4kg today.

Hi everyone,
Just popped in for a quick catch up.

eltsihT well done, that is excellent :)

I am weighing the same as last week (70.7 kg). I was out in Chinatown with old friends last night for a meal and few drinks, which was lovely, but I suspect prevented me from going down a little. We'll see next week.

SC no offence taken! I am definitely squishy - although not really lumpy.

Off out now for shopping trip with DD - back later, laden and skint no doubt.

Waves to Helen, Julie, Rivier and anyone else who's still with us

Hi all. I've gone up in weight today, from 82.7 to 83.3kg. Not a huge surprise. I've had much less exercise than normal this week, and my portion sizes have been far too large. Totally woeful performance frankly! And now have to go about losing again what I already lost ifyswim!

I know I always say this, but I am going to try and rein it in this week.

Well done for not gaining Grumpy!!

eltsihT glad you were able to catch up on sleep and very well done re: weight loss!!

Waves to everyone else!

Well done on the loss eltsiht, and for not gaining grumpy!

I gave had an all in all rubbish weekend. Worked both days, got very little sleep, binge-ate in the evenings and drank for too much wine (at home ). Kicking myself now, of course.

On the positive side, I have ordered the 30 day shred (thanks for the inspiration Julie!)

Right, no time for a proper post, unfortunately. Waves to everyone, onwards and upwards (downwards) through this week, and do stay safe xx

Just looked over the thread and it dawned on me where some of you live. It must be a horrible strain but I'm sure the security services are doing everything to keep you safe. and [tea] and sorry for moaning about my really not that stressful weekend Xx

Hi, also logged in to send for those of you in Belgium. Hope you're all doing ok.

Also, well done to eltsihT and grumpy!

I'm giving a big presentation at lunchtime, which is terrifying me to the point of nightmares last night, so signing off now but will be back to chat later... x

Good luck Julie, hope it goes excellently :)
Be sure to pop in later and let us know....

Thanks for the kind thoughts everyone! The situation is a little bit "tense" tbh, but all is calm in our immediate vicinity! And we've been told that the schools have been closed, not because of any direct threat to them (thankfully) but because of a threat to the transport links that 'feed' them ifyswim.

Helen sorry you've had such a tough weekend, but good luck with the shredding!!

Julie hope the presentation is going/has gone well!!

Waves to Grumpy and everyone else and tries to ignore delectable apricot tarte sitting on the kitchen counter

Hello! Hope you don't mind if I join in? I started no S last week, surprised me how much I snack!
Haven't weighed yet as haven't dared.I will in the morning so I can see if it's working..

A very warm welcome to you Boozena!! (Love the nn btw!)

The more the merrier!

Ha it suits me, especially after this weekend
Thank you for the warm welcome! Hope this plan turns out ok for me (lost 2 st with sw before my wedding this year but lost my mojo). Finding it hard to stick to anything but this plan is so straightforward there really isn't an excuse!

Congrats on your recent marriage and good luck with the weight loss!

I'm finding the straightforwardness (if that's a word) of the diet quite difficult in practice, but there are others on here for whom it has worked in the past and is working now so it definitely can be done!

Thanks! All feels like such a long time ago now! I know what you mean re the straightforwardness. Sometimes I think it doesn't feel like a "proper" diet if it's not a bit difficult to follow/new rules to learn.
It is quite hard trying to re educate myself that I'm not to snack and no sweet treats through the week! But hopefully it will pay off.
How do people go about the weekend? I'm not much of a binger (with chocolate anyway) so don't plan to go mad, but is the temptation there because you 'can'?

Hi and welcome boozena!

Yes, this plan is straightforward but I very cleverly manage to find lots of excuses . Tbh, it's the support on here that's helping me, rather than the "no S" side of things, but I've not been kicked off the thread yet so I'm still hanging around...

My presentation went reasonably well, thanks all - it was a kind audience! I did have a couple of biscuits after, in sheer relief that it was over (I hate public speaking - can you tell?!) but will try to hold firm for the rest of the day.

I'm with helen on having a bad weekend though. No wine (not really my thing) but way too much food generally. I didn't weigh myself this morning so the evil reckoning will be tomorrow. However, I did do the 'shred' both days and quite a bit of walking so I am at least getting fitter.

SC, I will be beyond impressed if you can resist a delicious torte sitting in front of you

Thanks Julie, I'm hoping joining this thread will keep me going when it gets tough too. I liked the accountability when I was following sw!
I hate public speaking too so big well done on getting through it. My voice always seems to shake and I feel sick!
I had a heavy weekend on the sauce but food hasn't been terrible.. wine is definitely my downfall lol

Welcome boozena!

Not a good day for me today, parents night, so just got home had a large glass of wine, fish and chips, and a bar of chocolate, which I had to stop at the shops and buy. My 2yo is also vomiting so looks like I will be having a fun week.

I too have fallen at the first hurdle. DH brought chocolate cake back from work
I'm dog sitting this week so will walk it off in the morning!

Welcome Boozena! Don't worry about the chocolate cake, just jump straight back on the wagon. ("forgive yourself and move on" has been my mantra A LOT recently)

In answer to your question about weekends: I tend to go about them badly! It's not the sweets so much, but the snacks and seconds allow me to fall back into old habits of eating for reasons other than hunger "because I can". Always resolve not to but it's hard when you're tired and feeling rubbish and there's nothing there to stop you! I think it all depends on your personal relationship with food though, & overall this diet has helped me loads, so don't let that put you off!

Well done on the presentation Julie! Re the shred, do you think it's worth doing/will have visible results if done 3 times a week or so? I'm getting a bit scared about committing to do it every day!

Hope your dc gets better soon eltsihT.

Better day here yesterday:
B - protein bar
L - cauliflower & truffle soup (yum!), roll, cashews
D - fish fingers, peas & courgettes, blueberries & yoghurt
No wine

Day off today - woop! Going for a run, then need to be careful about accidentally wandering to the kitchen cupboards

Waves to grumpy, SC, rivier and everyone else!