Not a fad or a gimmick...The No S Diet

neuro-praxis

I've been living by this recently and am feeling very liberated. Of course time will tell if it's truly successful, but I thought I'd share in case others might find it helpful.

The No S Diet, also known as the "Grandma Diet," the "Why Didn't I Think of that Diet," and the "No $ Diet" is a program of systematic moderation I invented for myself that I imagine might work for similarly minded people.

No funny science or calorie accounting involved, just a few simple and mnemonic tricks for giving your willpower the upper hand.

There are just three rules and one exception:

No Snacks
No Sweets
No Seconds
Except (sometimes) on days that start with "S"

That's it.

How could something this simple possibly work? Precisely because it's simple -- or rather, following the Einsteinian dictum, "as simple as possible, but not simpler." For all its folksy charm, there's a lot of serious, practical wisdom packed into those 14 words.

All the details here: http://www.nosdiet.com/

corkcomp

neuro-praxis wrote: »

I've been living by this recently and am feeling very liberated. Of course time will tell if it's truly successful, but I thought I'd share in case others might find it helpful.



All the details here: http://www.nosdiet.com/

i reckon its a pretty good diet, without really being a diet if that makes sense.
only two days to lent :eek: = no sugar, jam, biscuits, chocolate or while products and no smokes when drunk. 40 days of detox hell

claralara

I am throwing healthy eating out the window for the next 48 hours. Because then the willpower must kick in for the sake of baby jesus. I ran 10k on saturday and then had chocolate as a staple for every meal yesterday...ugh. Don't judge me..

Anyway back on topic...I liked the idea of this no-s-diet until I got to the no snacks part. I am a snacker. Not a bold one. But like clockwork at 11am and 4pm I always have to eat - usually fruit or nuts or yoghurt or ryvita with honey or peanut butter or something along those lines. I don’t think I could cope without those snacks. I hate how advices can be so polar opposite – I understood that it is better to eat little(r) and often and this guy is saying not at all to that.

neuro-praxis

I guess you just have to do what works for you claralara.

I am a real compulsive eater so this makes life easier for me. I aim to eat three really good meals a day and nothing else, except on the weekends if I fancy it.

There is no decision making to do, no "well, it's only a few crisps, it won't do me any harm"...kind of mentality. When the box of chocolates is passed round on a Wednesday morning I already know in advance I'm not going to eat some. It helps me psychologically.

It's also good that the kind of food is utterly flexible. I feel safe going to friends' houses for dinner. I just watch my quantities, skip dessert (unless it's the weekend) and avoid seconds.

The best thing about it is it crushes the "on a diet" mentality that so many of us struggle to shake off.

Macha

neuro-praxis wrote: »

When the box of chocolates is passed round on a Wednesday morning I already know in advance I'm not going to eat some. It helps me psychologically.

Also known as the "oh well" mentality. As in, "oh well, I'm not having any and that's it".

It definitely works for some but for me, depriving myself just makes it worse so I have 1 chocolate and then forget about it, instead of spending the next 30 minutes feeling sorry for myself (as I am very capable of doing )

neuro-praxis

But the compulsive eater can't have just one...you have the first one, which leads to the second, third and tenth chocolates. And it all could have been avoided! :eek:

It's funny that for you this looks like deprivation - for me it looks like liberation! You probably have a much better relationship with food than me.

biddywiddy

Neuro-Praxis, can I ask how you have been finding the diet - as in have you lost weight (maybe you're not trying to lose weight) or do you find it a good way to maintain weight?

I like the idea of it. I tend to follow Weight Watchers, even loosely, as a guide to how much I should be eating or how to counteract a bad weekend etc, when I'm trying to maintain my weight. I suppose I like feeling that I have some control over my eating habits, if that makes any sense! So I quite like the idea of No S's!

Macha

neuro-praxis wrote: »

It's funny that for you this looks like deprivation - for me it looks like liberation! You probably have a much better relationship with food than me.

Hah, I'm not sure I'd say that but I suppose it's all about how you think about it. I can see how just removing the decision entirely can simplify matters.

rubadub

corkcomp wrote: »

only two days to lent :eek:

Forgot all about lent, the heathen that I am. I just started the "shangri-la diet", only second day, meant to take several to kick in properly. I did resist all those bars & biscuits on offer in the supermarket today, and do feel fairly full like neuro I would polish the lot off -though I would have plans of 1 a day.

I have given up bread, well buying sliced pans, I might have a sneaky burger the odd time.

This is a 9min video on the shangri-la diet at the bottom. Basically I am drinking 40g of low flavour veg oil at 8am in a shot glass and rinsing my mouth to get any flavour out, then I do not take in any flavours until after 9. The theory is your bodyweight is sort of primitively controlled by your association of flavours with calories and by taking in calories with no taste you trick it, and your appetite is suppressed. I am actually using coconut oil so have to not breathe in when drinking it to stop the smell effecting me, some drink sugar water instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR33LNwgGIc

neuro-praxis

senelra wrote: »

Neuro-Praxis, can I ask how you have been finding the diet - as in have you lost weight (maybe you're not trying to lose weight) or do you find it a good way to maintain weight?

Well, bear with me a while. In an attempt to have a better relationship with food I got rid of the scales and now try to go by clothes size. I feel better in myself since starting (emotionally and physically), and my clothes are a little looser...but I will weigh myself in a few weeks and confirm if I have lost weight. If I haven't, well, it's back to the drawing board! I'll pm you, or post here if the thread is still going.

Maybe there is no way to reach your goal without being completely obsessed, but man...I really hope there is!

The thing that has drawn me to this is that it is the way I used to eat when I was slim. I'm a reasonable cook and a bit of a foodie so I love all my fruits and veggies (and the rest) so it's not that I'm overweight because I eat takeaways every night. But I also love toast, and chocolate, and crisps and nuts, and cheese and crackers and jellies and desserts. And rice and potatoes!

Not eating between meals can be challenging, and not going back for seconds...tonight we had guests and I made slow-cooked beef in red wine, with mashed potatoes, home-made bread, fine beans and maple carrots, and I had one (delicious) medium plateful and that was it. Of course I was totally satisfied but my mind was wandering to the leftovers in the kitchen, and all the guests were enjoying seconds!

But when I was growing up there was never enough for leftovers, and the only snack you got between meals was an apple. Dessert was a rich tea biscuit and a cuppa, except on weekends. And we were all thin as rakes!

This just makes sense to me.