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?

Seriously jealous of everyone with their lovely cakes/tortes/tarts!

Boozena, oddly I am actually generally better on weekends than during the week (last weekend was hopefully a one-off). I don't think I like being told what to do, even by myself! And I feel like I'm getting a sneaky one over the diet by eating less when the rules don't apply. I am very messed up

helen, I don't do the shred every day because I ache too much (although that does ease pretty quickly, i've found). I'm aiming to do it Tuesdays, Thursdays and both weekend days. I do find it makes a lot more difference than just walking, I guess because it uses all different muscles and quite intensively.

And great menu yesterday, by the way, helen! I had:
B: fruit/yog/granola
L: sandwich selection and fruit, 2 biscuits
D: coq au vin and mash there may have been a few kids' leftovers eaten too

Weighed in at 10st 0.4lbs (sorry, given up on kilos) which is about 1lb up from two weeks ago but still better than I'd been for a couple of years before that.

Waves to everyone else, and more for those still grappling with terrorist alerts. Hope the situation eases v soon x

Just snacked on an apple which I absolutely know is not the end of the world but for some reason makes me want to think "sod it" and give up for the day. Could someone please give me a swift kick up the rear end and tell me to stop being a numpty??

Don't be a numpty!
An apple is a sensible choice at least. Stick with it

Oh blimey, I haven't even been counting fruit as a 'snack'. Although, in fairness, I'm pretty sure that's not where things went wrong for me last week

As ever, you put us all to shame with your dedication to the cause!

I'll be struggling tonight as I've had a hellish day with work and stroppy kids, have to work on my day off tomorrow and still need to do some prep for that - and just generally feel like eating lots of chocolate. I should do my 'shred' exercise session too but, nah, ain't happening tonight!

Welcome Boozena!

Julie your thinking is seriously twisted, but I like your style :)

Helen I seem to have food envy every time I read your menu. Even when my own lunch is quite nice (today, for example I had chicken and avocado salad with Caesar dressing) I still always think yours sounds nicer. I think the main difference is that I work in the middle of nowhere (a science park in a village that doesn't even have a shop), so buying something nice as a spur-of-the-moment decision doesn't ever happen. I grew up in London and mostly lived there until I was 29, so the contrast is great!
I will give you a butt-kick about the apple though. As snacks go, it's got to be one of the least bad ones. Unless it was a GM one, the size of a football and super-sweet. Or a toffee apple

Oops, meant to wave to everyone else.....

Waves to Grumpy and everyone else!

Oh blimey, I haven't really been counting fruit as a snack either (although have been eating it as 'pudding' in some cases).

Am liking the twisted thinking Julie and great the presentation went well!

eltsihT hope your 2 year old is feeling better

In order to mitigate woeful performance on diet last week and yesterday, I only ate two meals today. But did succumb to two tiny square of choc at lunch time.

Have you noticed that I only post menus when meals have been relatively healthy

It's going to be a miracle if I can fit in to my "posh" Christmas "going out" outfit at this rate!

30 days until Christmas. Must try harder ... .

Hopefully things will be back to a version of reality tomorrow here. Schools opening again (for a half day) anyway.

Good luck for the rest of the week everyone!

Thanks for the kicks all. They did the job and made me realise that one piece of fruit is not an excuse for going mad. Much appreciated.

Julie - love your way of thinking about the weekend! And re my "dedication" - it definitely has its peaks and troughs! (the no milking drinks/artificial sweeteners thing got binned pretty quickly )

Grumpy - yes, London is amazing for food choice, isn't it? So many independent cafes, ethnic restaurants, plus all the coffee shop chains.. It is not kind to the purse however!

Glad to hear things are becoming a little more normal, SC. I feel your pain re the posh Christmas outfit.. Same here, plus I had really hoped to get back into my super warm north face winter coat.. Can't see that happening for a while yet and it is bloody freezing!

Rivier - how are you doing? Not heard from you in a while, hope all is OK.

Yesterday:
B - porridge with banana & yoghurt
L - Cheese & veg pancake, tuna salad
Snack - apple
D - chickpea & veg stew, 2 slices rye bread, nakd bar

Waves to Boozena & eltsihT

Ditto Helen I have a beautifully warm Goretex coat that will no longer fit me across the bust

That should have read in my post last night 'a version of normality' not 'a version of reality' (although it is all rather surreal here atm it has to be said)

DD went back to school quite happily this morning (4 policemen on the door and a film crew in our street) so hopefully I can get back to normal routine/normal food shopping/normal diet.

Yes Rivier hope you are ok

Waves to Boozena Grumpy eltsihT Julie Uphill and anyone I've missed!

Keep going everyone!

Thanks for the words of wisdom rethe weekend- I'm struggling a bit today so Saturday can't come soon enough! Have a mountain of work and a snickers bar is calling to me. Not sure why as I rarely eat chocolate during the day but am hormonal and craving the sugar!
Hope everyone else is having a good day!

Yes, thanks, just overwhelmed by work and thesis writing.
And the horrible feeling that I keep putting on weight not losing it and not being able to fit into some of my nicer clothes.

Well no snacks here but I did have pudding at lunch time.

B- coffee and toast
L- ham and Brie toastie followed by 3 mr kiplings Angel slices.
D - chicken curry

I really want to stop cheating but it's so hard.

I am so close to getting to 10st and would really love to get there before the Christmas excesses.

It really helps posting here and reading all of what you share. Thank you all.

Dieting while studying + working must be really tough rivier. No great advice I'm afraid, but .

Keep going Eltsiht! 10st by Christmas sounds like a good goal.

OK day yesterday :
B - protein bar
L - salad with veg/beans/grains/anchovies, salted cashews, cuppa soup
D - quorn "meatballs" in pasta sauce, veg (plus 2nds of veg), fruit & yoghurt

Thanks Melissa but I'd rather be chunky than go on a meal replacement
I did give in to a crunchie last night but I feel I earned it. I've cut snacking out which is a pretty big step for me, hopefully the rest will follow!
Studying/working and trying to lose weight is difficult but I don't suppose it's easy for anyone. I've found I'm having more squash and herbal tea during breaks and dog-sitting this week has shown me that even when I feel I'm busy a 15 min brisk walk is doable and makes me feel better.

Boozena I have also found that if I have a hot drink rather than a snack is really helping. I tend to have coffee/tea through the day and about 1/3 of a mug of fruit juice topped up with hot water in the evenings.

Upthread someone suggested, splitting the day into slots and if you snack in less slots or the same number as than you did the day before then you start to feel like you are getting somewhere this really helped me early on.

Morning everyone, and it sounds like a is needed to keep us all away from the snacks and treats!

I've had a couple of great days, diet-wise. Followed the rules to the letter as far as I'm concerned, although helen would be shocked that I've eaten an apple each day too

Going to be tested now though. DC want to do baking at the weekend and I have the ingredients for the same chocolate cake that led me astray last week. I also have a box of chocolates that I'd bought as a thank you gift for someone before realising they are on a diet and getting something else for them. And there are chocolates, biscuits and cake at work today for someone's birthday. Aarrrghhh!!!

Good luck to you all, and hope the thesis writing continues ok rivier.

Julie hope you have resisted temptation better than me today,

B- coffee and toast with marmite
L - oven chips, chicken and peas and sweetcorn

2 biscuits and a cup of coffee with ds2 at 2

2 slices of pizza from the kids dinner

Some tic tacs in the car and then...

D- 2 chocolate spread sandwiches.

I think I will just go and stand in the corner now.

I may get just join you in that corner eltsiht - it seems like yesterday was difficult for a lot of us!

I can't face listing my whole menu, but suffice to say it involved burger king and (weird fruit flavoured Korean) chocolate and ended with . After a mental 14 hour shift I was beyond caring tbh.

Well done on a good few days Julie. Just to be clear, I do know that an apple is not a big deal, it's just that I have "previous" for starting with an apple and ending up in a massive binge, or eating 10 apples and ending up with a very sore tummy!

Right - one day to get back on track before the weekend. We can do this!

elish Monday was the first (and last so far) day that I haven't cheated. Mostly because I didn't feel very well that day. I have managed a bit of a loss this week, which has been encouraging. I've also been running twice and out for a long beach walk which always makes me feel better, even though I feel like I'm going to be blown out to sea at any minute.
My grandparents are coming over this weekend (should be here in a few minutes) and the one restaurant which actually serves vegan food is closed, so scrambling around for something else (stupid city with very little in the way of asian).

I need to keep walking and running this week as otherwise I'm going to get pulled down into a pit of despair at my thesis title deadline being on tuesday and that my mum would like to go shopping (lovely) but I'm several kilos heavier than last time I saw her and totally don't feel like it. Will try and stick to christmas shopping for others, that's quite nice.

Oh goodness, sorry about that rant.

Glad we're all sticking together in the battle against the snacks!

Hi everyone,
Rivier what sort of thing are you planning to write your thesis on? Hope you have a nice day with your grandparents.
Helen what was the Korean chocolate like?
SC is your DD better?

Have a good weekend everyone - I'll be back tomorrow for weigh-in.

Grumpy It's on adherence to medicines prescribed in the non local language speaking population of the GP practice and the effect of a communications intervention on this. (We have loads of immigrants in this town and are expecting a large influx of refugees in the nexr few weeks and for the forseable future, so it's pretty relevant at the moment).

Have a good weekend

Oh thanks river you just reminded me to go rouse my ds to give him his antibiotics.

I am off to bed now having had to eat all the pink marshmallows so the dinosaurs could have a snowball fight.

Just realised that I should explain, toy dinosaurs come alive in Dinovember when the children are asleep and get up mischief. (There is no way I am doing elf on the shelf after 30days of these antics)