Everyday Systems

Thanks, eschano. You wanna know a secret? I can't ride a bike, never learned to As a child, I very much preferred being stuck in my room with beloved books.
today. Moderate plates, I keep an eye on my portions. I easily tolerated hunger between breakfast and lunch, as I was so busy with my work - I made a cup of real cocoa as a treat. Overall, a very good day. My resolve usually weakens around Tuesday and Wednesday, so I'll stay vigilant.
It's so very true that willpower is an easily exhaustible resource. I keep my finances in perfect order, as I'm in the process of buying my own flat right now. I have been consistently saving, tracking my expenses, investing, learning about money management and so on, for about a year. I almost never make impulse purchases anymore. But that also makes me more vulnerable to sweets.

Imogen Morley wrote:Thanks, eschano. You wanna know a secret? I can't ride a bike, never learned to

Hahahaha! Neither can I! I think the metaphor still applies though

Doing well Imogen.

YOu know what I find funny, Imogen - that people like us are so good at saving and managing money but we can't quite do the same when it comes to food. Like, I never go on a spending "binge" and deplete my bank account, ever...but why oh why can't I have the same resolve with my diet!?

eschano, there's more of us! Who'd have known?
Sinnie, willpower is an exhaustible resource, true, but it's also like a muscle - it gets stronger the more you exercise it. We can do it!

again. I'm going to get a special lunch tomorrow, sweet bread roll stuffed with quark cheese or blueberries, with almonds, milk, and perhaps fruit on the side. It's a borderline S - not as sweet or rich as cake or a danish, but still a bit questionable. I'm sure it will help tide me over till weekend though. And it's one of my very special foods.
Daily weigh-ins help me stay on track. It's enormously motivating to see even a small difference on the scale, and it shows very measurable and clear consequences of binging (my inner data junkie loves that!). I usually gain about 0.6 kg, and lose it over the course of 2-3 days, so a single binge episode in the middle of the week can set me back several days, and quite literally undo all the previous hard work. Halva on Tuesday looks far less appetizing if I know it puts my effort to waste. Weekend weight gain, however, is a completely different story - just a natural part of No S habit.

52.8. (that's pretty fast weight loss rate, roughly a kilogram per week, about 200 g per day). Another day. Yay! I wasn't even tempted by sugar biscuits at work nor sweets at home - and there was plenty of them today. Got my sweet-ish fix by having that bread roll with quark cheese and streusel. So yummy!
I'm going on a business trip to Croatia at the end of March, and possibly to London, where my best friend lives, right afterwards. So. Uncontrollably. Excited!

52.2

I still consider today although I plan to fail tonight and have a slice of freshly made, warm wholegrain bread with prunes, generously smeared with butter. That's something worth breaking the rules.

cool! Sounds like an awesome trip!!

Croatia and London? Yup, I'm officially jealous.

That bread roll with streusel and quark cheese sounds so delicious and makes me want to go to this Polish grocery store to get what sounds like something I've bought there before. Yum!

52.4

Business trips are one of the perks of my job - I can visit virtually any European university (as long as they agree to host me), and stay there for a week, establishing contacts, discussing cooperation, and sightseeing. The best part - my employer pays for everything! We receive non-refundable grants for each trip, which means we can pay not only for our accommodation, food, flight tickets, but "fun stuff" too. So far I've been extremely lucky in this job, even though the beginning was damn hard.
I have mixed feelings about today. I had seconds at breakfast - plated two crepes, ate them with gusto, saw that I could still squeeze one more on my plate, and so I got it. or ?
I've already bought my treat for the weekend: all butter Scottish shortbread fingers. But you know what? I don't really want them. I just felt the need to buy something, ANYTHING, because I could. And since I already have them in the cupboard, I'm going to eat them all. Having sweets because I crave them or because something special is served at a party would be a far better choice. And if there's nothing I particularly want, why do I have that urge to get my sweet fix? Do I anticipate deprivation? Believe I can get rid of my potential weekday cravings if I pig out on sweets on Saturday and Sunday?

That is so very cool. What an interesting job you've got. But of course it didn't come without hard work to get where you are.

I very much understand the sweets thing. That's what bothers me about Vanilla. I really don't like reinforcing the white-knuckle-it-all-week-and-blow-it-like-crazy-on-the-weekends-whether-i-want-it-or-not! I know not everybody does that. I am aiming for something that *to me* seems more natural. I keep looking at skinny people I know who don't put much effort into it. They would never do that. But they do indulge when everyone else is. But never like crazy. They just take a handful or whatever. The rest of the time they eat properly, whatever is typical for them. THAT is my goal. Check out my new mod

52.3

Very disappointing S-day. Most probably because I never craved any of the things I ate, but you know, "I could".
Things I want to fix:
1. stop buying large packages of treats - I tend to eat everything in one sitting
2. stop hoarding sweets on Friday as my preparation for weekend
3. I need to ask myself what I really want, and if there's nothing that sounds yummy, there's no clear choice right off the top of my head, just keep it similar to N-days
4. always avoid snacking, it just seems to open the floodgates, and ruins my appetite (random snacking makes me feel yucky, but planned special treats, like gourmet ice cream in town, are fantastic)

My very best way to enjoy my S days is #4, avoid snacking. Then I really enjoy my food. I've already been snacking this morning, and I don't like the not-hungry feeling I have.

53 (I binged yesterday...)

No snacking today, and I'm very happy about it. Being hungry for my meals feels great! I did not go crazy with sweets, just had a handful of petit beurre biscuits, and homemade strawberry sorbet after dinner. Nothing sounded particularly good anyway. Strawberries with Greek yogurt which I ate as sort of dessert after breakfast were suprisingly satisfying.
My mom wants to lose some weight, and so she started asking more detailed questions about No S (she tried it briefly last year, but did not stick with it long-term). She complains how little she eats yet still can't lose weight. It's true that in my parents' house we rarely snacked, did not eat any processed foods (everything was made from scratch, including desserts), and had sweets mostly on Sundays or because of some family celebrations, so No S foundations were always there. But she still eats too much. My mom is even shorter than me, and 12 kg heavier, which puts her at BMI 27.5 - and don't get me started on her cholesterol and blood pressure. I asked her "do you get really, physically hungry about an hour before your next meal?", and obviously, she said no. So I told her than she wouldn't be able to lose weight if she couldn't tolerate hunger. Mom frowned, and started googling "green coffee" or some other weight loss supplement, to which I replied: "Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something". It's especially true if it comes to weight loss - there are no miracles, only persistent effort.
We have Fat/Shrove Thursday here this week. People will be pushing doughnuts on me all day, especially at work. I'm going to declare it an S-day, just keep the usual N-day structure with sweets after meals.

But as you and many of us have found, Imogen, hunger can be a real pleasure-enhancer -- more a case of delayed gratification than outright pain! I wish your mother well -- and you're quite right to steer her away from the magic pills and potions.

52.6

Three moderate meals, cafe au lait, and milky, sugary rooibos in between. Lots of walking/running errands, 2 mile workout.

Imogen--I'm sure it can be frustrating to see people we care about not interested in the sanity of 3 moderate-sized meals a day. I have to force myself to not try to talk my friends and family into NoS.....then watch them try gimmick after gimmick.

52.3

Doing fine in spite of mountains of sweets in the office. But I'm definitely going to take Thursday off.

Doing well Imogen! Thursday is just around the corner.

52.3

To be completely honest, though, a minor fail today - a bite of cake with my dinner.
I'm going to eat only doughnuts tomorrow

"Life is pain -- anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something" -- is that from you? That's awesome. I love it.

I might add that deliberately seeking out regular doses of discomfort can keep much of the pain away. (i.e. being a little hungry every day can stave off having the many pains that come with being overweight, or taking a walk can stave off the pain of anxiety, etc.) Seek out pain before it's big brother comes and beats you up.

You're doing great Imogen -- enjoy those donuts!

52.5

I was quoting "The Princess Bride", an immensely enjoyable film I saw last summer. I've been told it's very popular in the US. Highly recommended!
I've had a fantastic S-day, I'm sure Reinhard would be proud. Even though I do my best to avoid trans fats and store-bought sweets, I ate 3 doughnuts (2 were absolutely yummy, and the last one just OK). I felt guilty afterwards, I have to admit... not weight, but health issue. After work I went with a very good friend to a newly opened Ukrainian restaurant, and everything we tasted (vegetable starter, pielmieni, dessert) was fresh and delicious. Portions were modest, so we didn't feel overly full. I enjoy the social aspect of eating more than food itself... which makes me rethink my weekends.

Congrats on thoroughly enjoying your S-Day!!

53.2 - what a bummer

Well, it's time to accept that vanilla doesn't really work for me. The same goes for relying solely on calorie counting. Some mods were pretty successful, some not, but plain old vanilla has only reinforced my feast/famine mentality. Sticking to one moderate plate of food (no stacking) filled with whatever I want was a slightly better strategy for my mental health, as long as I was really strict about "one meal plate, no snacking" rule.

B: a bowl of split pea soup with a handful of homemade croutons, 12 almonds, orange (a bit overfilled plate)
small cup of cafe au lait, no sugar
L: 2 egg omelette with spinach and goat cheese, apple
D: 2 hashbrowns, 1/2 cup kefir, 1 pierogi, 1/3 cup OJ

Imogen, the Ukrainian restaurant sounds delicious! As for the donuts: well, your body will be able to tolerate some crap from time to time and good of you to avoid it otherwise!

52.1 today. What the...?

I've calmed down a bit. Ate my typical, protein-filled breakfast, added a few squares of semi-dark chocolate to my lunch and dinner plate. That's not a bad strategy for S-days - making sure my desserts are a part of meal plates. Recommitting to vanilla after a short temper tantrum yesterday.

53

For me, vanilla is the same as yo-yo dieting.

For me too, Imogen.

I understand what you mean but scientifically speaking it isn't. Most weight losers who kept it off vary in weight +/-1 to 2 kgs a week. Totally normal. Yo-yoing looks more like +/- 10kg every 6 months.

Keep it up!

I gave myself permission to eat whatever I wanted today. Ended up having my usual three moderate meals, plus a biscuit, and a piece of dark chocolate in the evening.

Wow, that's pretty moderate for an S day Imogen!

The thing is, it wasn't an S-day. If it had been one, I'd have eaten 15x more than that, because "tomorrow I can't have any".

B: 2 "90% meat" hot dog sausages, slice of bread, 1/2 plate green beans
L: overnight oats with 1/2 banana and a spoonful of peanut butter
D: cup of pasta with vegetables and mushrooms, apple

Neither 100% vanilla nor 100% intuitive/mindful eating work for me in the long-term. These are the things that are true in my case:
- weekday deprivation makes me binge on weekends
- constant decision-making/vigilance is tiresome
- if I eat my treat very slowly, mindfully, and in tiny bites, I tend to be satisfied with much less and much sooner than usual
- I like being hungry for my meals
- the moment I tell myself "you can't have that", I get insatiable cravings, and overeat when I do indulge

So I'll just try to eat three meals a day, one plate each, and have sweets on my plates if I want it. This sounds like true moderation, and not my usual deprivation/binge cycle. Don't get me wrong, I love No S, and I still intend to be a part of this wonderful community for as long as I can, but for me, a person with a history of disordered eating, it only reinforces diet mentality. The right tweak may be all I need to truly normalize my eating habits instead of just refraining from binging on weekdays.

Thats pretty much exactly my conclusion and what I'm having, and have only had, success in. I posted so much over the years, and spent some time re-reading my old threads. This is a resounding winner of a mod for me. My thinnest time (before trying to get pregnant) was on this mod and I lived it and loved it. My only question, a bit random - do you actually put your dessert on your dinner plate? I just ask because that would only work if I ate alone. If I ate with other people it seems it'd be a little embarrassing and pre-emptive "wow, you really want that dessert badly there dont you Sinnie?" and such comments I couldn't handle. How do you find it?

I always put whatever I want to eat on my plate to make sure all fits nicely (and with some edges showing), sometimes directly, sometimes in little containers. I can't just eyeball it, I have very poor spatial memory. And sometimes I just virtual plate, eating less for my meal, and having dessert later. I often do that on vacation, and no one has ever made any comments. It's pretty obvious to everyone that being such a shortie I must cut back on something else if I want to have my dessert as well - like, I often order soup&bread or salad (something light), or don't finish my meal if I want some cake or ice cream afterwards. Actually, nobody knows how much I'm able to eat in one sitting! Everybody assumes a tiny person eats tiny portions

B: 2 egg omlette with spinach and goat cheese, orange
L: overnight oats w/banana/pb, pretzel sticks
more pretzel sticks
D: 1/2 plate baked potatoes/butter, small bowl of soup w/pasta
T peanut butter (I was very hungry in the evening)

B: a couple bites of leftover baked potato w/butter, small bowl of soup w/pasta, piece of dark chocolate, sesame-oat biscuit
small cafe au lait w/sugar
L: camembert/barley/spinach salad, apple, pretzel sticks
D: not sure yet, but later in the afternoon I'm going to my brother's place, and he most certainly will serve cake, so I'll try to virtual plate at dinner

All in all, I'm doing quite well. I refrain from snacking as much as possible, but try to not beat myself up if I feel I just have to snack (doesn't happen often). My portions are modest, but not marginal nor too large for my frame. Yesterday I was about to unwrap my favourite chocolate, but decided to hold off, as it would have been an episode of textbook-perfect emotional eating. Numbing myself out with food didn't sound appealing. I'd rather wait until I really want the chocolate just to appreciate its flavour.

I am admiring your success and thought patterns. I've been derailing a bit this week (two days this week giving in). Love your approach. Keep it up.

Ended up having just a bowl of soup for dinner, and 4 pieces of cake later. Did I overeat? Yes. Did I binge? Absolutely not. I felt in control the whole time.

52.3 this morning. Still binge-free. Virtual plating sometimes gets very tricky, but so far I haven't had too much trouble with it nor had to use it often. I'm simply loving this new mod.

52.5 plus a binge today. I blame unusually light and carb-heavy breakfast.
I'm sitting on the fence again. I really want to limit my sugar intake for health and weight-related reasons, as sugar is an independent factor in the development of cardiovascular diseases, which unfortunately run in my family. But I can't attain that goal with just plain old vanilla, which for me is more like "5 binge-free days & 2 massive bingefests". To cut it short, I eat exactly the same amount of sweets whether I do vanilla or "moderate" (spread) my intake throughout the week, and it's three times as much as recommended for somebody my size. Still A LOT of sugar, way more than is safe. To really reduce that amount I should probably get down to 1 or 2 desserts per week - which is a mod that Reinhard proposed in "S-days gone wild" podcast - while having unlimited "uppercase" S-days, like Christmas etc. It may be super hard for the first two or three months. Boo.

52.9, binge today. Perhaps I should quit daily weighing. More often than not, it makes me terribly disappointed.

I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. One moment I'm clear-headed and rational, coolly explaining to myself that I'm able to handle sweets whenever I like it in small quantities... aaaand after a couple of days one praline morps into twenty. Probably because the more often I indulge, the more it takes to satisfy my cravings.
Vanilla it is then. Still don't know how I'm going to handle weekend binges. I'd really love to cut out all snacking, even on S-days, and perhaps keep breakfasts sugar-free. If I have something sweet at breakfast, the whole day is a goner...
There's going to be a family celebration on Thursday - I'm going to treat is as an S-event, independent from the weekend.

Imogen, sorry to have to ask you a question I'm sure you have answered for me or others before: in your 4? years of NoSing, when have you been the most at peace? Has it been with a particular mod, with vanilla, or some other eating plan altogether?

I feel like you've been at this long enough that we should be able to see some sort of pattern of what works for you.

I've been thinking about it a lot. According to my personal journal, I was the most successful and serene doing "3 desserts a week" mod - after Wed, Fri, Sun dinner. And by dessert I meant a specific portion, like "5 biscuits" or "3 pralines" or "1 large piece of cake".
I am such a mess right now. Grrr.

OK, so then.... what usually knocks you off the peace you have with that mod?

Sorry you're having such a hard time. I really believe in the importance of taking the focus off of weight loss and on having peace with with food. The latter can be attained but your body may not agree with your weight goals. That can be endlessly frustrating and cause binging.

You need to trust your body to be where it needs to be if you eat moderately but well. If I was a big sweets person, I'd probably just allow sweets on my lunch and dinner plate and not worry about it. Or maybe allow a dessert sized plate or bowl of sweets after each meal? Whatever is doable & sustainable.

Hope I don't sound like I'm lecturing. Just offering my two cents but only you know what's going to work for you!

Linda

Feeling better now. I talked to my fiance about my food struggles, and once again, after expressing his concern about the whole issue, he reminded me that restriction was the least effective method of controlling weight or making peace with food. He urges me to not give up, and continue my efforts to moderate my eating habits - exactly the way your described it, Linda, by adding something sweet to my lunch and/or dinner plate if I feel like it. He also, very accurately, pointed out to me that it's snacking that made me fail over and over again.

Good to know that it's the snacking that does it. Maybe you should just go for snacking then.

I'm not sure what he means by restriction is the least effective method of controlling weight but for me vanilla NoS has been amazing. I went from a sweet addiction - eating about 100-500g a day for 20+ years to not even be tempted on N days. However, each person is different.

So maybe your eating plan is NoSnacks? Except on Special Days? Is that what has given you the most peace with food? I see a plan forming!

That's my plan!!! I just stick to No Snacks...that's the only thing that seems to affect my weight (not seconds or sweets).

52.1

So I'm doing No S(nacks) rather than vanilla. The key is to modify the rules, but keep the strictness.
Yesterday went well. I skipped semi-dark chocolate pralines I was offered at work - I'm not big on chocolate anyway - so no sweets, and no snacks.

Yesterday was also good - even though we had a family celebration here, I didn't go nuts, and fit all my sweets on a plate. To make it possible, I ate only 1/2 of my lasagna, and 1/2 of my appetizer. Feeling good. My jeans are already starting to fit a little better. Being hungry for my meals makes everything unbelievably delicious!

Glad things are going so well! I'm always wondering where you work that seems to have an abundance of delicious treats being offered all the time!

I work as an assistant to the vice-president of one of the biggest universities in my country. We often have VIP guests - ambassadors, domestic and foreign politicians or artists or scholars etc. I have been lucky enough to speak to several European presidents, and on one particularly memorable day - to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Naturally, we are well stocked for such occasions, always having around an assortment of gourmet teas, coffees, chocolates, biscuits, and so on. I'm so blessed to work where I do, with wonderful people, exciting environment, and relative stability of employment...
Today went fine. I added a piece of my mom's cake and a slice of halva to my dinner plate. I felt a bit sick and very, very thirsty afterwards, so next time I'm going to stick to just one type of dessert, or eat less than I think I want in order to avoid that yucky feeling.

My goodness, Imogen, no wonder you are such an organized person! The similar position at the small community college I work at is held by one of the most amazingly organized, patient, helpful and sweet people I know.

Imogen, sounds like an amazing job! I'm sure stressful at times but never boring!

Very cool & thanks for indulging my curiousness (noseiness).

Linda

51.8/114

I did snack in the evening - mom brought more of her irresistible cake I also had a slice of freshly made, warm bread with butter (something that falls under the category: "I can eat it only here and now"). I didn't binge, so I'm quite OK with those slip-ups - well, as long as they don't become a norm!

EDIT: I ended up binging :/ Snacking on sweets always makes me ravenous, and after cake or chocolate I need a lot of fat and protein to normalize my blood sugar level.
Today I'm better. I ate my typical breakfast sans sweets, but had leftover cake after dinner. Just two meals plus milky coffee today.
Last week clearly showed that "no snacking" is far more important than "no sweets", habit- and weight-wise.

I think that's great for you to zero in on just one "S" for your life. Mods that optimize for you and allow for greater simplicity have got to be winners!

Hi! I have read through some of your check in, with great interest. I have been doing No S off and on since 2009, but I have found, through trial and error, that Vanilla No S doesn't work for me. I, too, tend to experience that feast or famine mentality. If I can't have sweets for several days, I end up bingeing on them over the weekend. I like your idea of focusing on No Snacks. That has become more of a problem for me, lately. I think I will focus on that, too, and try to fit any sweets on one plate, for now. Anyway, it sounds like you're doing great!

clarinetgal, that's awesome! Please do give this mod a chance, I hope it helps you.
EDIT: pretty successful day. I had a slice of halva with my dinner, otherwise didn't even have to resort to my usual cup of cafe au lait between meals. I have downsized my lunches a bit, because I now eat early dinners between 4 and 5 pm. Lighter midday meal makes me pleasantly hungry at just the right time, on my way home.

I overate on Tuesday (nothing terrible, but had an episode of textbook-perfect emotional eating), but tried to stick to rules today - with mixed results. I sometimes forget to put my sweets on an actual plate to make sure all fits together nicely, and end up eating too much dessert. Plan for tomorrow: usual protein-based, sugar-free breakfast, with optional sweets after lunch or dinner (I still have halva and extra dark chocolate in the fridge), no snacking, no virtual plating.

I really, really recommend this mod to everyone who has struggled with binging on S-days. It's far easier on the mind than plain vanilla. Perhaps my sweet cravings will lessen at some point, but it's not the expected result. I usually have a thin slice of halva or a square or two of quality dark chocolate after lunch/dinner. I'm slowly losing weight, don't get bloated as often, and feel healthier/lighter/happier/calmer overall.
I'm also experimenting with eating more vegan dishes. I need my usual portion of mostly animal protein at breakfast, and I love dairy, so I guess I'll never be able to go full vegan - my life would lose all flavour. My red/processed meat consumption is pretty minimal anyway, and now I've downsized poultry, eggs, and cheese as well, living off vegetables, fruit, nuts, lentils, beans, whole grains like graham bread, millet, barley, graham pasta, parboiled rice, and fatty fish. It's fun and challenging. That's my accidental version of Mark Bittman's VB6 - in my case, it's "vegan after 8 AM"

I'm actually sort of doing the same thing as you, with eating mostly vegan, except I need my meat at dinner time. I too have been experimenting with more plant-based proteins. I actually need to give up dairy (I'm sensitive to it), but I could never completely eliminate eggs or lean meats and fish.

I went overboard yesterday, but didn't go hog wild. Sometimes I focus too much on calorie allowance (even though I try not to count anything else than my three plates), and in result, eat more than would normally fit on one plate, just because I can. The weekend was a classic example.
I've downsized my lunch plate to a 6-inch one - it makes sense as my dinner is only 4 hours away from my lunch at work. Refocusing my effort on strict plating, and no snacks whatsoever.

OMGosh, I can so relate! Focusing on calorie allowance over plating. It's really hard on the tummy to eat so much food, just because I have the calories, and because I make low calorie foods.

It's so, I don't know, comforting, to find another person with this same issue. I'm glad I stopped by.

I'm planning to increase the quality of my plates so that I get plenty of calories in a strict plate, and not too much quantity.

I hope your strict plating get easier for you, too. Are you planning to strict plate on Yes S days, also?

Chani, I don't do vanilla anymore. I don't snack nor take seconds, but have sweets if I want them, as long as they fit on my plates. After 4 years of constant struggle with the original version of the plan (although thanks to it I lost a lot of weight and reached/maintaned my "goal weight"), I've found a mod which suits me better. I might get back to my very first successful mod later (dessert after Wed, Fri, Sun dinner), because all that daily sugar, even in small quantities, doesn't agree with my stomach.
And answering your question - yes, I try to be strict with my plating at all times, but I'm going to relax a bit during holidays, and rather have one plate of whatever is being served.

Oh my. It's good to be back!
I spent 8 wonderful, glorious days in Croatia (Split, to be specific) with a friend. Very few tourists, fantastic weather, some work-related meetings got cancelled, so we had plenty of time to explore the region. Even though I've been to Croatia many times before, including Split itself, I was still able to discover new places. My Croatian isn't very good, but a couple of times I spoke with the locals. And food, glorious Mediterranean food, fresh and simple, prepared with basic, quality ingredients: vegetables, grilled fish, seafood, fruit straight from the market, warm bread drizzled with olive oil, cheese with truffles, gnocchi... It was both my blessing and my demise! I'm partial to Kras brand sweets, especially lemon/mint chocolate, white chocolate/cinnamon tea biscuits, and the famous Bajadera nougat pralines, and I inhaled so much of it that now the thought of having another piece makes me feel sick. I walked an awful lot, climbed mountains, and ate two big meals per day, so I didn't gain too much weight, but my eating habits are all over the place now. First, we wrapped up every evening with wine and chocolate (snacking!), and second, post-travel blues has made me eat everything in sight for the past two days. I want to stick to vanilla for some time, and I have insane cravings for vegan meals.

That sounds like a wonderful trip! It's hard to get back on track with eating, right after a vacation. The food and sweets you described sound wonderful!

Ah, beautiful Croatia! Welcome back and lots of success with veganish vanilla for now

Success. I needed just one cup of milky coffee before lunch.

Welcome back from your fabulous travels!

Spectacular fail was inevitable, wasn't it?
Vanilla No S is clearly not for me. The moment I tell myself I can't/won't have x for x days, I go into cookie monster mode. I scarfed down a lot of chocolate today (between meals!), and very predictably, felt ravenous all afternoon, so my dinner didn't end with just one plate. Yuck. I can handle SMALL quantities of sugary stuff if I include them on my lunch/dinner plates, but snacking always leads to binging. I need to put more effort into avoiding snacks, and keeping my plates moderate. Resisting sweets during the week is fighting a losing battle in my case.

Quite a nice day, made even better at lunch by two squares of newly discovered creme brulee chocolate with rich, crispy, extra thick exterior.

Sounds delish! And glad to hear you had a great trip--wb!

Wow Imogen, sounds amazing. As my S days are just around the corner: do you mind sharing the crème brulee chocolate brand?

I doubt you can get it anywhere outside Poland and perhaps Germany/Czech Republic, but just in case: it's Wedel brand. Seriously addictive stuff.
Grrr. I've just written a long-winded, philosophic essay about vanilla, and it somehow didn't get published. Ugh. Let me just say: I want to try it for a month, April 13-May 13. I'd be very, very grateful for your encouragement along the way.

Day 1 S-day!
B: hot dog sausage, 3 tablespoons vegetable salad, slice of bread, 1 medium square of custard slice
scoop of artisan hazelnut ice cream
L: tomato soup with whole wheat pasta, small chicken cutlet, braised beetroot salad, poatoes, 1/2 Kit Kat peanut butter bar
S: olive oil, slice of bread, 3 thin slices of sheep cheese, 1/2 Kit Kat bar, 1 medium square of custard slice
6 squares milk chocolate

I didn't apply any common sense whatsoever to my eating today, just tried to have whatever I was in the mood for, to sort of "get it out of my system". I can't fail on S-days, I can only make them more or less enjoyable. I definitely ate too much chocolate - I felt kinda sick after 3rd piece - but otherwise, the whole day wasn't so terrible compared to my previous S-day binges. I guess it's easier for me to have a smaller portion of dessert often (even it means snacking) than make bold declarations about "dessert only after meals". Knowing I can have one little piece of cake every time I want it seems to prevent me from gorging on multiple pieces in one sitting, and let's not forget about psychology - small and frequent beats fewer and larger if it comes to happiness. But sugar between meals (especially in the form of chocolate) does make me hungry...

Ugh. Late night snacking on chocolate made me feel ravenous, and I didn't sleep well. Eating past 6 pm always ends up badly...

Day 2 (+minor blunder at dinner)
B: pumpkin seed roll, quark/smoked salmon spread, radishes, orange
big mug of coffee au lait
L: overnight oats with oat milk, almonds, pb, 1/2 banana
D: tomato "egg drop" soup, rice pudding (oops, two plates!)

Good luck with your month, Imogen....sorry your post got swallowed by the Internet.

Hey Imogen!

A little confused on what you decided but do wish you good luck on whatever path you take. I've recently change things up quite a bit.

I'm so glad I did vanilla nos for long enough to give me the habit of no snacking but realized I can't do vanilla nos forever. I need a little more freedom & flexibility.

Hope you find a good solution for you!

Linda

Linda, I feel like I need clear boundaries for some time, a little reminder that I can do things that are difficult and inconvenient. I totally get your confusion, I've been switching sides (vanilla vs. countless mods) for so long now that I feel downright ashamed of my lack of committment to any long-term solution.

Day 3 (I could have skipped the virtual plating...)
B: overnight oats, oat milk, hazelnuts, 1/2 banana, drizzle of maple syrup
L: quark/smoked salmon spread, radishes, 1/2 graham roll, apple
D: barley soup, about 5 tablespoons barley with broccoli and onion&tablespoon pb (virtual plated)
hot cocoa

It's so easy this time. My workmate scarfed down a box of biscuits today, but I didn't even bat an eyelash, because Easter/weekend is fast approaching, and I know a lot of amazing food is coming my way. I just need some patience.

Day 4
B: 2 hard boiled eggs, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 graham roll, 1/2 glass of oat milk
L: barley/broccoli/caramelized onion/sunflower seeds, apple, pretzels
D: fried trout, potatoes, orange

Having discovered another cavity just two months after I got my last filling, I'm even more convinced that I would be better off doing vanilla version of No S for some time, and perhaps sitting down to dessert (without limiting its size) once per S-day instead of grazing on cake all day long.

We've been NoSpending too much time and money at the dentist with my 8 yr old lately! We have started up some serious daily flossing with him.

Hi Imogen

I have been No S with various degrees of success for years!!!

Most of the lack of success has been in my own head. When I start thinking about the restrictions / focusing on weight loss / allowing the brat that lives in my head to win.

Every time I have succeeded at No S has been because I focus on the habit. I am not banning anything only delaying the gratification - I know I can eat anything I want, just on S days. Yes this led to some terrible weekends of eating from morning to night, but you know what?

The longer I stuck to habit the more the habit stuck!

Even when I had crazy weekends or bad snacking days I seemed to gradually slide back to No S.

My natural default is No S. I still have days where my brat says it's not fair! Why can't I eat what and when I want!!! But even the brat is slowly (mind is very determined) fading away!

I feel guilty when I snack or have sweets now on anything other than a S Day. The best bit is that Vanilla No S works. For some of us it is not easy, but the more you persevere the easier it gets.

On S days I find that if I have a tiny amount of sugar it causes me to binge later in that day. Maybe you can schedule your desert after dinner to be the official end to the eating day? I find this helps as it restricts the time afterwards for more.

Good luck with Vanilla No S this time. I am routing for you!!!!

auto, my dentist has assured me just today that it isn't a cavity, so I'm relieved - but she applauds the idea of No S anyway. Do teach your kid to floss properly! I learned to do it when I was 25, way too late.
MerryKat, thank you so much for the input, that's exactly what I needed to hear. The fact that I have started slacking after reaching healthy weight proves that I've always treated No S like a diet. This time around I want to do it to establish healthy habits that will carry me through life, and not just to see some arbitrary number on a scale. And I see plenty of solid, scientific evidence that No S is a great way to overall - mental and physical - health.

Day 5

B: 70 g raw oats, oat milk, 1 T maple syrup, a small handful of almonds, orange
L: millet/caramelized onion/avocado, apple, pretzels
D: rice, chicken stew, salad

I'm doing surprisingly fine. Wasn't even tempted by creme caramels - unheard of.

Day 6

B: cabbage/carrot/tomato/mayo/tuna salad, 1/2 graham roll, orange
L: millet, oat milk, almonds, apple, pretzels
D: baked potatoes with butter, pasta, milk

It's really weird. I haven't had a single craving for sweets since Monday - probably because of my low GI meals. I do see myself eating the No S way, with two vegan meals and one with some animal protein, forever. It's sustainable, affordable, keeps cravings at bay, should make maintaining healthy weight a breeze, and it's probably healthier than any strict diet (like veganism or paleo): to cut it short, it's - hopefully - the best of both worlds. And I can have my cheesecake, too!

Imogen, you sound happy today!
Glad NoS is working for you. And now the weekend is here and you can have cheesecake!

The scale is stuck on 52 kg, same as last week. I'm fine with it. My BMI is 21.5, for goodness sake - I don't need to lose any more weight.

Day 7 S-day!
Easter holidays are here, so I take three S-days, Sat-Mon. I guess I won't be following my flexitarian eating plan, as almost everything on the table will be some form of animal protein (eggs, ham, duck, cheese etc.). I'm sort of already looking forward to brown rice and broccoli on Tuesday! I feel much lighter, more energetic, and less hungry on plant-based diet.

B: leftover tuna with tomatoes and some mayo, 1/2 graham roll, orange, streusel-topped coffee cake

I've been reading your journey with Vanilla No S with great interest. It sounds like you're doing great! I love your eating plan, too. It sounds very healthy, and sustainable.

And it went downhill from there - snacking, random nibbles here and there, blood sugar swings that made me eat twice the usual portions... My normal reaction to an excessive S-day would be to come up with new rules and restrictions. This time, I'd rather try to find enjoyment in food by being a little more mindful, by - let's say - finding that sweet spot, stopping at a peak experience, just before enough is enough. How much food can I genuinely enjoy, and how much of my overeating is caused simply by trying to get rid of the anxiety of wanting, inability to tolerate discomfort of having an urge? I'm not going to consciously limit my portions, only watch myself carefully. Reinhard has a point when he encourages us to ask ourselves: "will I really enjoy it?".
So what I DON'T enjoy?
- Having sweets between meals on empty stomach. It makes me hungry, leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and provokes intense cravings for fatty food. For the rest of the day my blood sugar spikes and dips uncontrollably. Just a single sweet snack is a point of no return. Only a good night's sleep restores the balance.
- Eating too fast, in big, greedy bites, as I was sneaking. There's no need to sneak. Eating in tiny bites, slowly, sitting down, with a nice cup of tea, is reward in itself.
- Eating too much, obviously, but so far I haven't been good at stopping just before the experience becomes uncomfortable. Instead of vowing to never get seconds of dessert, I might rather observe "how much is too much" before upgrading to "how little is enough".
Off to bed, then. On a side note: I saw "Rush" this evening, and wasn't expecting to like it that much. Superb movie, with excellent casting, visuals, pace, everything. I highly recommend it!

I hear you on having sweets between meals. I just can't do it anymore. The big swings in blood sugar are not fun. Yes, it's hard to find that balance in eating on S Days. That is something I'm still working on, as well.

Two absolutely disastrous, binge-ish S-days under my belt. Been snacking on sugar all the time. Ugh. I'm mildly disgusted with myself, bloated, but not as miserable or ashamed as I expected. I accept those feelings as a part of learning process. I've been eating embarassingly huge portions of EVERYTHING, probably a whole week's worth of calories in three days. I must have gained a kilogram or so of pure fat. But, well, it's not like someone forced me to eat it all, I've done it myself
But no, really. I'm fine with it. I suppose I needed to get it out of my system, to take my greedy inner cake monster on a long walk. Looking forward to tomorrow nonetheless.

Uuugh. Ouch.
I didn't get any quality sleep, let me tell you. I was tossing and turning all night, and woke up bloated, uncomfortable, tired. That's what excess does to me. I desperately want to crawl back to bed and sleep until next morning. I'm wondering if I'm really going to learn my lesson this time.


B: piece of homemade pate, slice of bread, beetroot/horseradish salad, orange, a sip of coke
small cup of cafe au lait
L: brown rice/onion/broccoli/sunflower salad, apple
D: roasted duck, potato, red cabbage/apple/onion salad
1/2 cup of soy milk with turmeric and honey (not feeling well), 1/2 cup regular milk

Oh, Imogen, sorry you got sick from too much sugar. I think that's how my kids are feeling after Easter!

I have a work-related question for you: do you have a suggestion for not bringing home the stresses of the office? I don't know if there's ever anyone that's not happy with you at work, but do you have a way to keep it from getting under your skin?

Oh dear. That's a tough one! I certainly do bring work-related stress home, although compared to my first two years at the current position tension levels have plummeted down... My approach is "don't fix the bad, increase the good", which means that I'm extra nice to myself on stressful days. And when I catch myself thinking of office conflicts or my recent blunders, I immediately tell myself that I'm home, and I'm going to enjoy it, enjoy the present. Music and rewatching my favourite films/rereading beloved books also helps.

B: raw oatmeal with vanilla rice milk, peanut butter, 1/2 banana
L: leftover brown rice/broccoli/onion/sunflower salad, 12 almonds, apple, 10 pretzel sticks
D: 2 cups red pesto tagliatelle

Weigh-in: 53 kg/116 lbs, which means that three idiotic S-days produced 1,5 kg/3 lbs weight gain. No wonder why. My problem is that I treat regular weekend S-days like binge days, which is a terrible way to approach them.
I eat as much food at meals, of whatever type, as I want - seconds, desert, whatever. It's snacking that will kill you. If I allow myself to snack more than, say, once a weekend, I'm done. - Kevin
I wholeheartedly agree with Kevin. My goal for the upcoming S-days: eliminate snacking.

Thanks for the work-stress suggestions, Imogen. I think I've just got to be extremely determined to not let myself dwell on these things.

Re: the snacking, that's my philosophy on weekends, too. I really avoid it, although I wouldn't say I forbid it. Like your work comment, I just try to focus on the good of avoiding snacking--reminding myself of how glad I will be later.

Imogen Morley wrote:The fact that I have started slacking after reaching healthy weight proves that I've always treated No S like a diet. This time around I want to do it to establish healthy habits that will carry me through life, and not just to see some arbitrary number on a scale. And I see plenty of solid, scientific evidence that No S is a great way to overall - mental and physical - health.

Wonderful insight!

I'm still here, still going forward with vanilla... but I have to admit I'm tired. The constant rollercoaster of weekday deprivation and weekend overindulgence has taken its toll on me, but I'm afraid it doesn't mean that my S-days are miraculously going to get moderate "just because". I guess I've been trying to believe that vanilla No S is a ticket which allows me to eat my cake in unlimited (HUGE) portions on some days, but have a trim body anyway, all this without accepting personal responsiblity for my food choices on both N- and S-days. I've been refusing to acknowledge the limitations of my tiny, short body, which isn't able to keep up with such hearty appetite. Let me just say that recent wild Easter holidays have opened my eyes to two insights: first, the promise of reward rarely lives up to my expectations, and what I get from sugary stuff is just very, very fleeting and insignificant pleasure (in which case big servings make absolutely no sense, because no amount of cheesecake is going to make me feel as good as, say, "Conan the Barbarian" soundtrack). Second - S-day calories are still calories. And of course, there's still the same old problem: prohibition fuels desire. Tell me I can't have sweets for x days, and I start craving them. Tell me I can have them anytime, and I end up eating way less than expected.
Three meals, no snacks - it's perfect. But how can I handle sweets? Should I have some daily allotment? If so, what measure should I use?
There's probably more, but my brain is fried after a grammar-packed Spanish lesson.

I'm embarrassed to even suggest this, because it reveals my own unhealthy eating habits--but I don't gain on the weekends because I eat the stuff that I crave as an actual meal--not in between. So I end up foregoing much regular food (e.g. lasagna), and instead just have a milkshake for dinner. Hehehehe I am a toddler.

But it seems to work for me. I don't typically get overly full or bloated on the weekends.