wondering if anyone is following the noS Diet? It is no snacks, no sweets, no seconds, except on days that start with S.
I like it so far. Been doing it for 2 months. Doesn't seem restrictive to me. And I like not counting calories or points.
I eat 3 plates of food and nothing else on the weekdays. I relax on the weekends with quite a few sweet treats and some snacks. We eat out on weekends a few times which works well with my lifestyle.
I like having treats on the weekends. It's fun and something to look forward to! I can't eat as much sweet things as I used to without feeling or getting sick. I've learned to go easy on the sweets on the weekends or my weekends are not fun anymore. Otherwise I just eat very normal food -- stuff I cook during the week and restaurants on weekends.
I'm so called "grandma age," AARP sends me all kinds of junk mail. This is so true.
You got dessert once a week. Candy on the holidays and as special treats. I drank 2 or 3 sodas per week.
Snacking between meals was not favorably looked apon.
Seconds made you look like a glutton.
I think the big thing was that our parents had gone from the great depression, to WW2, both very lean time periods. Over-eating was seen as something akin to farting in public. Overweight people could not find clothes to wear. Everything was made for smaller people. Not being able to dress nicely or fit into standard chairs was also an incentive to stay lean.
There were also a lot more activities and group activity. Moving around, walking, sports, dancing.
Its kind of hilarious. What people think of as a "diet" these days was what people back then considered a normal portion.
In other words, what does "eat normally" actually mean?
There are so many advantages to this plan, but the main one is that it's so darned simple. No special foods, expensive bars, counting calories/carbs/grams of anything. In fact, it's free! Most important, it WORKS. If you prefer something more chic, you could consider it a form of intermittent fasting. ;-)
I like the founder of NoS. Based on what I've seen on the NoS web site, he is a nice guy. Also, the plan itself seems like a good dose of common sense. I tried it a few times, but ultimately, I didn't stick to it for a few reasons:
1) It seems better suited to those who have a lot of weight to lose. Those are the ones who seem to lose the most initially. If you have 10 lbs. to lose, it normally takes a LONG time to do so on NoS (I'm basing this on my own experience and the experiences I've read about on the NoS forum).
2) The three-meal structure may give false expectations that a decent weight loss will occur with three "reasonable" meals a day. However, that really depends. A petite woman of 40+ would still have to really watch the content of those three meals. Even three supposedly "normal" meals can have enough calories in them to stall the weight loss of such a woman.
3) It seemed like too much sacrifice for too little pay off. At times, the pace was glacially slow, yet I was depriving myself throughout the week.
However, I think for those who have hit rock bottom with traditional dieting and/or are not in a hurry to lose and/or just want to maintain, NoS could be just the ticket. Also, the advantage is that it teaches eating discipline that if internalized, will serve one well for the long haul. And, as you mention, it's easy!
Update: Actually, I've re-thought my original objections to the NoS diet and am trying it again. So far, so good. I just have to realize that establishing the habit is the most important thing initially. Apparently, some folks on the NoS board don't lose any weight for the first couple of months, but they establish the no snacking, no sweets habit. It seems that, over time, the meals one eats naturally become more moderate, and that is when the weight loss occurs.
I'm doing it with some tweaks, which is actually NOT recommended for newbies, but I'll see how it goes and adjust accordingly. My tweaks are to eat two meals a day---a brunch and dinner and to have my S days be "floating," i.e., Saturday will probably stay, but the other day will be whenever the opportunity arises. That may end up being too loosey-goosey, so we'll see how it goes.
Thus far, though, this feels very freeing. The immediate difference I'm noticing is that I do not think about food so much----which feels SO good. I feel less obsessive already.
I have tried the No S plan and lost 16 pounds over an 8 month period. This plan was so easy to incorporate with my lifestyle and I adjusted within a couple of weeks.
Anyone noS Diet?
