So I cheated and made my own modified diet. And it works.

[nonskanse]

After falling off the horse a couple of times, and falling off the forum for longer...

I gained 7 pounds to 160 in my first year in my real job. Most of it in the winter. I have lost 10 pounds and maybe a little more slowly but surely.
But NOT using strictly NO-S. I had a terrible time on the weekends when i would start off reasonably and be stuffing my face constantly come Sunday night.

But, I wasn't using another diet either. I was using the *principles* of the NO-S diet. I discovered that I personally like to eat 4-5 times a day. And 1 of those times is a snack of sweets, and 1 is a piece of fruit or juice or something.
And NO-S says none of that. I'm still losing weight now slowly but surely, on my modified NO-S, and it doesn't even require thinking for me. I used to have to count my snack calories and tell myself "no" some days when I had big meals, but now its effortless. So I'm on MOD-NO-S. That is "My own darn no-s".

So if you've been trying no-s for many moons (I was on and off for at least a year with varying success), it is OK if no-s doesn't work for you - you can adjust it. For me, I have no self control without more frequent but small rewards.

Please don't be mad, Reinhard

[mimi]

It's all about developing good habits to replace our bad ones that cause us to gain weight in the first place. Reinhard has said many times that it's about what works for you, and it sounds like you have done exactly that! Congratulations!

[bonnieUK]

Hi

There was a post on a similar subject back in January which you may find interesting, quite a few people shared how they modify No-S to suit them, it's quite reasurring when you know you're not the only one who has to tweak things a bit!

http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2527

[reinhard]

nonskanse,

I'm not mad, I'm thrilled! I'm delighted to have inspired you to come up with a system of your own that works. The fact that you didn't just give up after running into serious trouble, but learned from your experience, tweaked and tried again until you hit on something that worked is wonderful and completely in the spirit of no-s and everyday systems -- that's how I came up with No-s in the first place.

The truth is that EVERYONE who does no-s does their own version, somehow -- even if they do exactly what I tell them. Because everyone has different S-days, depending on their religion, nationality, close family and friends' birthdays. And everyone draws the "borderline" for S foods in slightly different places. Some people go farther than that -- they up the number of meals from 3 to some other number. Some people don't count certain kinds of food as food. All of this is fine -- as long as it keeps you from overeating.

I think the explicit rules of no-s as I've described them on the site and in the book are very useful starting points for most people -- and not too far from the finish either. But more important than the rules themselves are the sprit behind them -- clarity, simplicity, pleasure, "habit friendliness." While it's important to be "conservative" and stick with what you set out to do to some degree, or you'll be changing the rules at every whim, it's also important to be "progressive" now and then and recognize when a rule really isn't working as is and change it.

At some point, hopefully soon, I'm going to add a "mods" section to the site to collect all the ideas people have posted and reports of how they've worked -- even unsuccessful mods will be useful as warnings (so please keep us updated, mod-authors, even if it doesn't wind up working for you).

Reinhard

[wosnes]

A couple of months ago I found this on a blog:

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's slimming diet

This is principally a diet for energy and health, not weight loss, but serious fatties will probably find the kilos fall off. By rights I should earn billions for this, as it is guaranteed to keep you well-nourished and fit for the rest of your life. But here it is, gratis, from the goodness of my happy, healthy heart:

For breakfast

Eat a bunch of fresh fruit. Then, if you're still really hungry, have a piece of toast.

Mid-morning snack

Eat more fruit. Then, if you're still really hungry, have another piece of toast.

Lunch

Eat a bunch of veg. Raw if possible. If you're still hungry, have a sandwich (but not two), or a piece of chicken, or a lump of cheese (but not both). Eat with juice or water, not Coca Cola or Fanta.

Mid-afternoon

Have another piece of fruit. If it's a bad day, have a biscuit too.

Supper

Eat whatever the hell you like. If you're actually trying to lose weight, eat whatever the hell you like, but not too much of it.

http://joannasfood.blogspot.com/2007/06 ... mming.html

I don't do this exactly, but pretty close (including the biscuit/cookie). I do put more emphasis on vegetables.

The problem with our snacks isn't so much that we snack, I don't think, but what we snack on and that we snack whenever, wherever without giving it much thought. Often our snacks are meal-sized, and rather than eating less or lighter at the meal that follows, we eat a "normal" meal.

[nonskanse]

Ooo mod collections.

My mod phrased less verbosely is 3 single plate meals, 1 small optional sweet/'unhealthy snack', and 1 (generally) fruit. I don't eat the optional sweet/snack when I've had a lot that day, but I am the judge of a lot.

I still relax it on the weekends but I'm no longer bingeing because I feel so deprived.

I'm so happy to have habits that are sticking though. I still stuck to a lot of no-s principles