8/25 started back on NoS (with mods)
Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating
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overly beige
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2007 12:54 am
8/25 started back on NoS (with mods)
Some of you may remember me from back in February when I started a discussion about my fear of not being able to eat healthy enough if I followed NoS. At the time I announced that I would commit to following NoS for 6 months. I did not follow through with that. However, the discussion has been percolating in my mind since then and I started back on NoS (with mods) 8/25. I want to thank everyone who participated in that discussion, it has had a large influence on the way I think about diet and nutrition.
I'm curious, what mods are you using?
I just finished reading A Year in the Village of Eternity: The Lifestyle of Longevity in Campodimele, Italy by Tracey Lawson. Here's an article about it. This is a village of just over 600 people and over 100 of them are between the ages of 75 and 95 (or older) and still healthy and active. My biggest complaint about the book is that she doesn't offer ideas of how to procure food, cook and eat like this when living outside this village in Italy. My second complaint would be that she mentions the main meal of the day often, but not how many meals they consume or what is generally served (I guess that comes from exposure to No-S!). But most of what they eat is still in season, locally grown food or what they have preserved. Very little comes from very far outside their village. The people in that village aren't eating much differently than their ancestors did a thousand years ago.
This book reminds me of The Jungle Effect by Dr. Daphne Miller, except that the whole book is about one culture instead of the six Dr. Miller wrote about.
I think it's more important that most of what we eat be as close to its natural state as possible than focusing on exact proportions or ratios.
I just finished reading A Year in the Village of Eternity: The Lifestyle of Longevity in Campodimele, Italy by Tracey Lawson. Here's an article about it. This is a village of just over 600 people and over 100 of them are between the ages of 75 and 95 (or older) and still healthy and active. My biggest complaint about the book is that she doesn't offer ideas of how to procure food, cook and eat like this when living outside this village in Italy. My second complaint would be that she mentions the main meal of the day often, but not how many meals they consume or what is generally served (I guess that comes from exposure to No-S!). But most of what they eat is still in season, locally grown food or what they have preserved. Very little comes from very far outside their village. The people in that village aren't eating much differently than their ancestors did a thousand years ago.
This book reminds me of The Jungle Effect by Dr. Daphne Miller, except that the whole book is about one culture instead of the six Dr. Miller wrote about.
I think it's more important that most of what we eat be as close to its natural state as possible than focusing on exact proportions or ratios.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
Here is the first post (and responses): Fear of Not Eating Healthy EnoughWho Me? wrote:I missed your first go-around. What were your concerns about the un-healthiness of eating three reasonable sized meals a day?
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
welcome back!
Looking for intelligent daily defaults of all kinds.
http://claricaandthequestion.blogspot.com/
http://claricaandthequestion.blogspot.com/
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overly beige
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2007 12:54 am
Hi wosnes,
I'll check out that book you mentioned, it sounds very interesting.
Here are my mods and commentary about them, maybe more than you wanted to know!
Mod one: not following the no seconds rule. The reasons for this mod are that I thought I would overeat more if I had to have it all on one plate and that I didn't want to virtual plate at a meal with courses. For the last 3 weeks I have used this mod once to have soup with lunch without worrying about virtual plating. I found I ate less after I had the soup so I could have virtual plated anyway and the outcome would be the same. I still like my mod more.
Mod two: I allow myself to snack on raw unseasoned fruit and vegetables (no dip, no sugar, etc.) One reason for the second rule is that with the rule I will feel free to eat less calorie dense meals (to encourage vegetable consumption and discourage what I consider to be excessive fat and processed food consumption. Another reason is that I want to be able to eat strawberries, blueberries and figs straight from the plant standing in the garden and not have it be a failure on the diet (kind of silly I know, and yeah, I know I really should be washing them). Thirdly I sometimes do long distance stuff (walking or running) and I want to have something that I can have after a long walk or run without it being a meal or being off the diet.
So far everything is going very well. I have lost a little weight. I have cut out a lot of sweets and a lot of junky snacks. While I don't think I am eating quite as nutritiously as I would be if I was following, for example, the McDougall diet, I am eating a lot more nutritiously than when I am not following any diet at all. Since in reality I have spent a lot more time not following any diet at all over the last 10 years (and feeling like I am failing myself for not following a McDougall type of diet) this should be a big improvement over my average diet. Additionally I am much less obsessed with food and diet in general. I find myself much less likely to stuff myself even on Sdays.
I realize that I may have modified it enough that some people won't think I'm following the diet at all. I'm okay with that. There is some element of ridiculousness in following a diet that allows no snacks and no seconds and allowing myself both of those things. Although in practice most days I don't have either.
I'll check out that book you mentioned, it sounds very interesting.
Here are my mods and commentary about them, maybe more than you wanted to know!
Mod one: not following the no seconds rule. The reasons for this mod are that I thought I would overeat more if I had to have it all on one plate and that I didn't want to virtual plate at a meal with courses. For the last 3 weeks I have used this mod once to have soup with lunch without worrying about virtual plating. I found I ate less after I had the soup so I could have virtual plated anyway and the outcome would be the same. I still like my mod more.
Mod two: I allow myself to snack on raw unseasoned fruit and vegetables (no dip, no sugar, etc.) One reason for the second rule is that with the rule I will feel free to eat less calorie dense meals (to encourage vegetable consumption and discourage what I consider to be excessive fat and processed food consumption. Another reason is that I want to be able to eat strawberries, blueberries and figs straight from the plant standing in the garden and not have it be a failure on the diet (kind of silly I know, and yeah, I know I really should be washing them). Thirdly I sometimes do long distance stuff (walking or running) and I want to have something that I can have after a long walk or run without it being a meal or being off the diet.
So far everything is going very well. I have lost a little weight. I have cut out a lot of sweets and a lot of junky snacks. While I don't think I am eating quite as nutritiously as I would be if I was following, for example, the McDougall diet, I am eating a lot more nutritiously than when I am not following any diet at all. Since in reality I have spent a lot more time not following any diet at all over the last 10 years (and feeling like I am failing myself for not following a McDougall type of diet) this should be a big improvement over my average diet. Additionally I am much less obsessed with food and diet in general. I find myself much less likely to stuff myself even on Sdays.
I realize that I may have modified it enough that some people won't think I'm following the diet at all. I'm okay with that. There is some element of ridiculousness in following a diet that allows no snacks and no seconds and allowing myself both of those things. Although in practice most days I don't have either.
The over examined life ain't that great either.
Anonymous
Anonymous
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overly beige
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2007 12:54 am
Oh, overly beige, how I envy you having fresh figs to eat!! They do appear here, but are expensive and a treat for that reason alone. Plus, they spoil quickly and have to be the only fruit I consume until they are gone.
I don't see anything wrong with your mods. I've never followed the one-plate rule. When I originally learned about No-S, I missed that and took the "no seconds" rule very literally. I ate one serving of whatever was being served at a meal. If the meal came in courses, so be it. I was about a year into this before learned about the one-plate rule. By then I couldn't see a good reason to change what I was doing.
I've truly enjoyed reading about the various traditional diets. I've found that from place to place, they usually have little in common. But one thing they all have in common is the absence of chemical-laden, processed foods. One thing I've found interesting is that during WWII, most had one food that was the basis of their diets and not a lot else available to them. For the Okinawans, for example, it was yams. For the Campomelani, it was a type of bean (can't remember exactly which one). Extremely little variety, and yet they remained healthy.
Another thing they have in common is that no organization, agency, branch of government or self-appointed expert is telling them what to eat and how to eat it. They eat what's available and prepare it in much the same way it's been prepared for centuries (in most cases). And all have much less variety available to them than we do.
None seem to worry about eating healthfully/nutrition. I think the only time they worry about what is available is during times of shortages. The only people who worry about nutrition seem to be those of us from more affluent societies where the chemical-laden, processed foods are more common and various "experts" tell us how and what to eat! The heck of it is, we're less healthy than those who aren't following the expert advice but just eating simple food, simply prepared.
I don't see anything wrong with your mods. I've never followed the one-plate rule. When I originally learned about No-S, I missed that and took the "no seconds" rule very literally. I ate one serving of whatever was being served at a meal. If the meal came in courses, so be it. I was about a year into this before learned about the one-plate rule. By then I couldn't see a good reason to change what I was doing.
I've truly enjoyed reading about the various traditional diets. I've found that from place to place, they usually have little in common. But one thing they all have in common is the absence of chemical-laden, processed foods. One thing I've found interesting is that during WWII, most had one food that was the basis of their diets and not a lot else available to them. For the Okinawans, for example, it was yams. For the Campomelani, it was a type of bean (can't remember exactly which one). Extremely little variety, and yet they remained healthy.
Another thing they have in common is that no organization, agency, branch of government or self-appointed expert is telling them what to eat and how to eat it. They eat what's available and prepare it in much the same way it's been prepared for centuries (in most cases). And all have much less variety available to them than we do.
None seem to worry about eating healthfully/nutrition. I think the only time they worry about what is available is during times of shortages. The only people who worry about nutrition seem to be those of us from more affluent societies where the chemical-laden, processed foods are more common and various "experts" tell us how and what to eat! The heck of it is, we're less healthy than those who aren't following the expert advice but just eating simple food, simply prepared.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
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overly beige
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2007 12:54 am
Not sure if this holds true for all of those groups, but it seems a lot of them live in the same place for most of their lives, follow a pretty traditional lifestyle (not just food) and are part of a tight knit community as well. It does me good sometimes to remind myself that there is a lot to good health and longevity besides food.
The over examined life ain't that great either.
Anonymous
Anonymous