The Next 100 Days

Did you know there are 105 days til Christmas? No? Neither did I until I counted them, although the reason I counted them had nothing to do with Christmas at all. It had to do with this post on the No S forum.

I saw it a few days ago and since then the words '100 days of success' have been rattling around in my head. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.

I started by defining success:

• Confine eating occasions to meals 
• Confine desserts to weekends
• 'Exercise' three days a week
• Go out and play with my family at least once a week, hopefully more: tennis, bicycle, after dinner walk, etc- although by the end of the 100 days, this might mean building a snowman!
• Get to bed before 11 pm. 

I didn't mention seconds, because that has never been an issue for me.  'Dessert' means cakes, pies, cookies, etc. Fruit desserts and 70% dark chocolate are exceptions unless I decide otherwise. 

I'm posting this a day early in case anyone wants to join with me. But you don't have to start the same day or have many goals. Any day, any goal(s), just jump in where you are. Write us a comment or use  #100daysofsuccess on twitter. 

Friday Foodspiration!

Every Friday at LWNoS, we will have a post dedicated to 'Foodspiration'. It's a chance for readers to share menus, meals, recipes and even post plate photos to be included in our slideshow at the top of the page.

There are many ways to participate:

• share any or all of your meals for the week in the comments 
• if you plan meals in advance, share your menu ideas for the coming week
• submit a recipe or a plate photo with information explaining which meal it is and what is on the plate, to nosladies dot gmail dot com.  Photos will be added to the slideshow and recipes will be available in google docs. 
• if  you have a No S blog, share a link to your blog, or 
• just check in on Fridays and have a look around. To get details on any of the slideshow photos, just click on the image. If you see a meal that inspires you, feel free to ask for details and recipes in the comments 

So try a new recipe. Snap a plate photo or two. But most of all, share and enjoy! 

Go Figure

As I mentioned in a previous post  my first week back at work with my new schedule was something less than a rousing success.  I had tried to stick with No S, but I just wasn't successful at all. I was hungry hours before meals but didn't feel like eating when it came time to eat. I was unusually tired during the day and it didn't help that I started waking at 3 am which I haven't done in quite a while. The second week I decided to just bag the whole thing and allow my new circumstances to settle.

So for the next week I ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and slept as much as I could. I didn't try to exercise, other than an after dinner walk one evening. I went to the pool once, but you can hardly call floating around on a lounger 'swimming', so I'm not counting that.

This week I'm back to No S - easily going up to 7 hours between meals without a problem. I've also stopped waking at night - and feeling like falling asleep during the day. Perhaps the weirdest thing though is that after about 10 days of this, I was sure I'd have gained weight. Instead I found I'd lost 2.5 pounds.

Sometimes the most unexpected things work. Have you ever had to 'shake things up' a bit in order to get back into your routine?

Meal Planning

One of my tasks this past weekend was to plan meals and shop for the month. I know it probably sounds crazy, since that's what I first thought, too. I tried it, though, and found that  it actually injected a bit of sanity in my life. I'm not very organized, so planning means less stress, and more success.

I began with the basics from this website, altering it for our activities and schedule, what leftovers will need to be used and even the season. To streamline the process, breakfasts change day to day, but repeat each week, as do lunches during the school year. Dinner is more thoroughly planned - down to side dishes and dessert ideas, if it's an S day.

If this sounds rigid, it's not. The last thing I need in my life is a list of 'must dos' to feel guilty about if I 'didn't do', and somedays nothing else will do but to ditch the whole plan and go out. But I like to cook, to eat and to feed my family well - and did I mention I'm a bit 'organizationally challenged'? Meal planning helps me avoid standing in the kitchen at 5 pm with no idea what to fix for dinner, and if I do have an idea, finding out I don't have the ingredients. It also doesn't hurt that since I started doing this, I spend much less time shopping, and our grocery bill is only one half to two thirds what it used to be.

What method of meal planning, if any, works for you?

Friday Foodspiration!

Every Friday at LWNoS, we will have a post dedicated to 'Foodspiration'. It's a chance for readers to share menus, meals, recipes and even post plate photos to be included in our slideshow at the top of the page.

There are many ways to participate:

• share any or all of your meals for the week in the comments 
• if you plan meals in advance, share your menu ideas for the coming week
• submit a recipe or a plate photo with information explaining which meal it is and what is on the plate, to nosladies dot gmail dot com.  Photos will be added to the slideshow and recipes will be available in google docs. 
• if  you have a No S blog, share a link to your blog, or 
• just check in on Fridays and have a look around. To get details on any of the slideshow photos, just click on the image. If you see a meal that inspires you, feel free to ask for details and recipes in the comments 

So try a new recipe. Snap a plate photo or two. But most of all, share and enjoy! 

A New 'Normal'

Last week was a tough one for me. I have a new schedule this year that sounded good in theory, but hasn't worked out very well. The way it's supposed to work is that I eat breakfast around 9, then have lunch when I get home at 2. At the beginning of the week I was hungry for breakfast about 8, and *very* hungry for a good two hours before I could get lunch. I also don't have a lot of time at 2 pm. The combined effect has been that I eat a lot very quickly which means I don't enjoy it much and I'm not hungry again in time for dinner. I've tried adjusting the amounts and the timing of breakfast and lunch as much as I am able, but it hasn't really made a difference.

The second problem is that it took me until Friday to adjust to these meal times, which of course, will not mesh with my family life on weekends - which then means I'll be constantly adjusting to two different schedules and for me that is simply unsustainable.

I didn't get any exercise in at all last week. I don't know how much of this is due to my busier schedule, the fact that I work in a very hot place that kinda sucks the energy out of me, or simply because I'm always tired when I start back to work.

Change is part of life, though. I just have to find a new 'normal' that works for me, and in the meantime, try not to get too discouraged.

Friday Foodspiration!

Every Friday at LWNoS, we will have a post dedicated to 'Foodspiration'. It's a chance for readers to share menus, meals, recipes and even post plate photos to be included in our slideshow at the top of the page.

There are many ways to participate:

• share any or all of your meals for the week in the comments 
• if you plan meals in advance, share your menu ideas for the coming week
• submit a recipe or a plate photo with information explaining which meal it is and what is on the plate, to nosladies dot gmail dot com.  Photos will be added to the slideshow and recipes will be available in google docs
• if  you have a No S blog, share a link to your blog, or 
• just check in on Fridays and have a look around. If you see a meal that inspires you, feel free to ask for details and recipes in the comments 

So try a new recipe. Snap a plate photo or two. But most of all, share and enjoy! 

Every Bite Counts

"Every Bite Counts" has been part of my signature at Everyday Systems blog for quite awhile now. At first that was meant as a reminder to help establish the no snacking and no seconds habit. And then I used it to make sure that on my S Days any splurges I might choose were really worthy. Now when I think of every bite counting I think of making sure what I feed myself is good for my body.

You see, I have no calories to spare like I used to when I was a young thing. I have monitored my 3 plates for 10 months now mainly for information. For instance in the last quarter (May 25-August 25) I have averaged 1341 calories daily. This has been all nutritious food..no junk. And I have gained 2 lbs. I am assuming this is not a real gain, but just a 2 lb. fluctuation. Nonetheless, it is obvious that I will not lose weight on 1341 calories. My choices: try to get calorie count lower? don't think so Maybe up the exercise? I am still recovering from a broken foot bone and cannot walk for exercise, but I can work on this some. Get happy where I am? Maybe. I am just 4 lbs. over the BMI suggestions for normal weight, but I am 20 lbs. over my normal adult weight. I think it is just hard for a 64 yr. old to eat what I used to. My appetite and desire stays the same, but I just don't burn it off.

Conclusion: Just keep on NoSing and don't fret. I am healthy, don't look fat, can wear size 12 clothing. And lest I forget, I have lost over 40 lbs. since last October! My body will do its own thing, but I still have to be aware that Every Bite Counts. If I don't, then I will not just maintain, I will gain bigtime.

Fall Ahead

Temperatures are in the 90s here, but the days are shorter, yellow leaves are starting to appear and as of today, school is back in session. As Sojourner mentioned in the comments last week, for many of us, this time of year can feel even more like the start of a new year than January 1 does. I've often felt that way, and this year is no exception.

You're no doubt familiar with the phrase 'Spring Ahead, Fall Back' that helps people know which way to adjust their clocks when daylight saving times begins and ends. I'm feeling quite enthusiastic today, so rather than thinking of falling back - I'm looking ahead. Summer has been lovely and much as I don't want to see it end, I find myself looking forward to fall specialties -  crunchy leaves, backyard bonfires (no mosquitos!), and the golden glow of aspen trees. To  cozy sweaters, hot chocolate and other  comforting, cool weather foods. And to that favorite of parents everywhere - the return of structure and routine to family life.

I've got my goals (health/fitness and otherwise) lined out for the month and I'm ready to give it my best. I've even set up a habitcal, which I haven't used in quite some time. 

Here's to old routines and new challenges. Happy (almost) fall, everyone. 

Friday Foodspiration!

Every Friday at LWNoS, we will have a post dedicated to 'Foodspiration'. It's a chance for the No S community to share menus, meals, recipes and even post plate photos to be included in our slideshow at the top of the page.

There are many ways to participate:

• share any or all of your meals for the week in the comments 
• if you plan meals in advance, share your menu ideas for the coming week
• submit a recipe or a plate photo with information explaining which meal it is and what is on the plate, to nosladies dot gmail dot com.  Photos will be added to the slideshow and recipes will be available in google docs
• if  you have a No S blog, share a link to your blog, or 
• just check in on Fridays and have a look around. If you see a meal that inspires you, feel free to ask for details and recipes in the comments 

So try a new recipe. Snap a plate photo or two. But most of all, share and enjoy! 

Two Month Review

It's been two months now since I started back with NoS, which means it's time for an update. I have been doing weekly updates, but there isn't that much to say, so I've decided to go with monthly for now, and possibly throw in an extra if something unusual is going on.

I guess that's a clue then that things on the NoS front have been fairly 'usual' - which is to say, 'mixed'. On the positive side, I've been keeping up well with some of the goals I set for myself. I've managed to stay off the scale, other than a couple of days this past month. I've also continued my exercise - both 'playtime' and the scheduled type. I've played tennis 2-4 times a week, been for the occasional walk or swim, done some gardening and kept up my strength training 2-3 times a week. I like the way my arms look and feel tighter, but I really noticed the benefits of that strength training yesterday when I went to work and had no trouble with the heavy lifting I have to do as part of my job.

On the negative side, I have been staying up too late, which really affects how I feel the next day. I haven't been very serious about NoS rules, either, which isn't entirely negative, depending on one's point of view. It's not because I've been struggling, but more because I just haven't been too bothered. I have had a 'summer vacation' feeling and I haven't really wanted it to go away. But it's my summer, my NoS, so it's a compromise I'm okay with. If I want to sit with my son on a 98 degree summer day by the pool and eat ice cream that's melting almost faster than we can eat it - I'm going to do it. It doesn't mean I'm going to do it every day, or that because I had an ice cream, all rules are 'off' for the rest of the day. It just means, for me, there's a time for rules, and a time to just live life and make memories.

And for me, summer is over. The weather is still hot and sunny, but summer activities are winding down and school is starting up. So what are my goals for the next month?

• keep up my activity - go for walks or play tennis with the family in the evenings, do some fall gardening and continue with the strength training 
• get to bed on time
• get some sunshine every day
• take some time to relax, laugh and generally enjoy life every day
• tighten up 'da rules 

How has everyone else been doing? Do you have progress to share or goals you're working on?

MM: Judgements and Rationalizations

A friend and I were out at the pool recently with our children. It was a Saturday, and since we were going to be there most of the day, we packed a picnic lunch. I even got up early to early to bake brownies for everyone. The kids and I enjoyed them, but my friend didn't have one. It was just on the tip of my tongue to say 'I only eat sweets on weekends' but I stopped myself. Why did I feel, even for a fleeting second, that I needed to justify eating a brownie?

We all have the right to eat what we want, when we want it.  It's no one's business but our own. Yet many people, especially women or the overweight, sometimes act as if they are embarrassed to be seen eating as if they have been caught doing something wrong. 

I've noticed this behavior in other people recently. We were in an ice cream shop a few weeks ago, where an overweight woman declared loudly to the room in general that she knew she 'shouldn't' be eating ice cream, but was getting the  'low fat'. Was she feeling 'guilty' about eating ice cream? Maybe she felt we were all judging her - so much so that she felt she had to make this announcement to a roomful of total strangers that she would never see again. 

Later a very fit, young woman was heard telling a group at large that since they had walked for a while, they could 'enjoy a second scoop of ice cream' at lunch. That they'd 'earned' it. As if we can only have ice cream if we 'earn' it - or that exercise is for no other purpose than to allow ourselves to eat more later? She would have probably found herself in agreement with the woman I overheard later on the trail, telling her husband that surely she was 'burning off the second cookie'.

Why for so many has it become something to be avoided - almost to be feared? I read a comment once by a woman who was so fearful of gaining weight, she said she hated eating and wished she didn't have to eat at all. 

Judging by the brownie incident, there's still a bit of that kind of thinking in me, but I'm working on erasing it. I will  eat good food and I will enjoy it. I will not explain, justify or apologize  and I will not feel guilty (unless, that is, I steal it).  Food is fuel. It is life. It is also meant to be enjoyed. If it was not, then why were we given the ability to enjoy it? 

FOOD REWARD

There is a huge discussion going on in the blogosphere concerning what causes obesity which bubbled up at the Ancestral Health Symposium this month in Los Angeles. Gary Taubes has put forth the carbohydrate hypothesis (carbohydrates pumping up insulin), and Stephen Guyenet has put forth the food reward theory, and others say it is the Neolithic agents of disease –gluten, excessive fructose, and omega 6s as well as food reward. Lustig of youtube fame says that we are becoming leptin and insulin resistant due to excessive fructose. So if you are interested, it is good reading. However, I am only going to speak for me, an older woman who has lost 40+ lbs. and still has 10 lbs. to go that won’t budge. I have been losing and gaining all my life so I am sure I may have a messed up metabolism. There is probably some reason that I cannot lose weight at 1400 calories a day.  I do practice 3 meals a day without snacks, seconds or sweets. But I cannot lose weight without watching my calorie and carbohydrate consumption. And I have always had trouble with S Days undoing all the good work of my N Days.  Here is where I think the food reward hypothesis does have some validity.

We already know that processed foods and restaurant foods are chocked full of sugar and fat and salt combinations designed to get us to over eat. We are also now living at a time when foods of all types are abundant year round. We probably have the most variety of any diet since the beginning of mankind.  We can go to local stores or walk into our own kitchens and food is readily available. It is obvious that our food environment is contributing to obesity because of all those darn high reward foods calling our name. But shouldn’t I have more control of the available food in my own home?

Here is a list of foods that I really have trouble limiting. Can we say FOOD REWARD?

Salty foods…nuts, chips, fries

Sweet foods…especially if combined with flour and fat…Brownies, pies, cookies

Breads, especially homemade and biscuits and cornbread

Coffee with cream leads to more coffee consumption than black

Creamy foods…butter in mashed potatoes, cheese, mayonnaise, creamy dressings, buttermilk

Fruits…ripe and juicy

Do I ever overeat vegetables without seasoning or butter? Do I overeat unseasoned lean meat? Unseasoned rice or potatoes?  NO… NOT ENOUGH REWARD

I do not plan to put Guyenet’s plan into practice…i.e. eating foods separately, unseasoned, bland, etc. However, since food reward is an area where I do have troubles, I have to be very, very careful. I have learned that it is better for me to have some foods outside of the house on S Days, and there are some foods I just do not eat any more. Even on N Days I have to put some restrictions in place so that I don’t overeat.

How do you handle highly rewarding foods?

Friday Foodspiration!

A few weeks ago I read this post on the No S board. 

"I searched around a bit, but couldn't find a thread for meal planning / brainstorming--either for questions, or just folks describing meals that work well for them.

I get stuck in dietary ruts really easily--I've got multiple, severe food allergies, which means that trying new things often feels like more trouble than it's worth--so it's always useful and helpful to see what other people are putting together!

I've also noticed that with No S, I'm paying much more attention to planning balanced meals, since the need to be the source of *all* the calories and nutrients I'm getting.

So, if you've got regular meals that you make, or stumble across meals or recipes that work well enough to be worth sharing, here's a place for it!"

This post really hit home with me. Around the same time this was posted I was also in the  doldrums as far as meal planning/cooking was concerned. I just couldn't think of anything that sounded good or that I felt like cooking. Sometimes I couldn't even think of things to cook at all. That's saying something considering I really enjoy cooking (and eating!) Once in a while I shopped and cooked, but  we were eating out far too often.

I finally decided enough was enough. Fortunately, stored on my computer I have lists and menus from previous, doldrum-free months. I pulled up a couple of them and started small, planning just a few, easy meals at a time until I was out of my rut. 

Shortly after that, I saw this post and I realized I was not alone. Other people also ran out of ideas from time to time, or sometimes just want to climb out of their rut and try something new for a change. Over the next few weeks I thought about it, wondering if there was a way we could use this blog as a way to share meal planning ideas, recipes and plate photos in a way that isn't always so easy on a fast moving forum. 

Beginning today, I will be dedicating my Friday posts to 'Foodspiration' with the hope that it will become a useful resource for the No S community. A place to share menus, meals, recipes and even post plate photos to be included in our new slideshow at the top of the page.

There are many ways to be included:

• share any or all of your meals for the week in the comments 
• if you plan meals in advance, share your menu ideas for the coming week
• submit a plate photo, along with information explaining which meal it is and what is on the plate to nosladies at gmail dot com and it will be included in the slide show. Recipes should be sent to the address, and will be available in Google Docs
• if  you have a No S blog, share a link to your blog, or 
• just check in on Fridays and have a look around. If you see a meal that inspires you, feel free to ask for details and recipes in the comments 

So try a new recipe. Snap a plate photo or two. But most of all, share and enjoy! 

Whatever the Weather..

It was an absolutely gorgeous day here! There was a breeze, the sun was shining, the temperature was reasonable.,..and no absolutely no humidity! I felt fabulous! I had coffee outside first thing in the morning. I went to yoga class. I cleaned out the car. I washed clothes. I scrubbed bathrooms. I worked in the gardens. I made a lovely frittata for lunch and a yummy veggie and chicken stir fry for dinner. I didn't think of food or eating except at meal time. I am feeling content and happy with the world.
How is this different than yesterday? Extrnally, only the weather has changed but my attitude toward just about everything has done a big turn around. I need to make a plan so that the weather doesn't rule my attitudes. I'm not sure how I can do this. I have air conditioning and heat to keep me comfortable, but nothing is better than being able to open the windows and let the fresh air into the house.. or having meals outdoors..or just relaxing in a hammock under the trees. I'm going to have to learn to not let the weather get me down and head me down that path toward the refrigerator! This may be a bigger problem for me than I believed it to be and I need to take it seriously! For now, I am heading to the outdoors to enjoy the evening and watch the sunset. Wishing you a sunny day and a starry night!

Getting My Ducks in a Row

It's no use denying it. Summer is nearly over. Fall activities are gearing up, we're doing our back-to-school shopping and my family is starting to slip back into the routine we follow most of the year.

While I've been on summer break my posts have been pretty random, but now that my schedule is tightening up I felt it was time my posts did, too. I've decided to aim for posts two to three times a week. I combined the topics that interest me and my affinity for aliteration and, at least for the near future, the following is how I've decided to organize my posting.

Monday Musing. Yes, I know it's a common blog theme for Mondays. Unfortunately, I'm only about to get busy - not clever or even original.  I realize I should probably hang my head - and if I think of a better title, I'll use it. Whatever it's called, Monday will be for observations, articles, book reviews and related topics of interest to me - and hopefully to you as well.

Wednesday will be dedicated to my progress with No S over the previous week. I've been doing my wrap-up (I bet you see where I'm going with this. At least one of us is clever...) on Friday which never seemed entirely ideal, so hopefully this will work better.

It's not uncommon for diet/weightloss boards to feature food as a topic, but I'd like to take it a bit further than that. Judging from a recent thread on the No S board, many NoSers could use a bit of inspiration in their meals, so my Friday posts will be dedicated to 'Foodspiration'. Ideally, this would grow into a lively exchange of recipes, menus and plate photos - and maybe even start an exchange with other blogs and bloggers.

I am really looking forward to at least this part of my new schedule and I hope you are too. Enjoy the last weeks of summer, and for those of you wondering if those ducks are mine. Yes. Yes they are.

My Best

Even though the "rules" of NoS are very simple and straight forward, abiding by them is often a struggle. What seems easy to do one day.. no snacking..one plate of food three times a day.. can be so very difficult the next.
One of the things I need to remember is that my "best" changes every day, maybe even more than once a day. I tend to make my plans when I am full of energy and think I can change, not only myself, but the world! Then I hit a day when my energy and resolve is not that strong. On those days, I need to consider myself successful if I do not stand in front of the frig with a fork and just eat everything shelf by shelf! Those types of days are getting fewer and less intense and I am figuring out strategies to overcome my need to graze.
That is a success and that is my best!

Another week down

For me, June always goes by at a reasonable pace. For some reason, July always seems to go faster - and then August comes along, and I feel like I'm gonna get whiplash. If only I could figure out how to duplicate this perception when it's below zero and dark at five pm. On the other hand, perhaps I should just take up skiing.

As far as No S goes, my week was pretty average. I feel like I have been pushing the boundaries a bit, but somehow managing to stay just within the rules.  I've been aware of it every time and it's been a conscious decision to stretch the rules - but not break them. Sometimes a person just needs that. At least, this person does.

In a few days I'll be back at work and up to my eyeballs in everyone else's problems. But for now, along with stretching the rules, I'm stretching those last days of summer. I'm playing a lot of tennis (four days this week) and trying to balance relaxing (I still have quite a sizable 'to be read' stack) with getting things organized for back to school/work. Speaking of organizing, I've been thinking about how to keep up with this blog when life gets busy, but that's a post for next week.

Biochemistry and No Snacks

Disclaimer: I am not a scientist. This will become obvious as I try to explain the truths I have learned about biochemistry and snacking. But I think it is important to get beliefs in front of me to help better inform my decisions, i.e. shut the refrigerator door and go to bed! Entire books have been written on each of these hormones, and I have probably oversimplified their roles. But this is the way I see it. There is a kind of orchestrated hormonal dance going on throughout our cells. The food we eat and when we eat that food is controlling the dance. None of the following information is original with me, and I would cite it if I could, but I have just gathered notes from various books, blogs, and essays without documentation. This blog is for personal use only. If you are doing research you need to go to primary sources.

3 Important Hormones and how they relate to the No Snacking Rule

Leptin:
Leptin sensitivity and leptin resistance determine the human energy balance. Leptin is to humans as photosynthesis is to plants. It is the most powerful hormone in the human body. What does this have to do with snacking? There is a 24 hour leptin pattern. Leptin levels rise at night, are the highest the first two hours of sleep, fall during the evening, and are lowest around noon. A high leptin level tells a person that he is full. It is normal not to be hungry after supper. Not eating after supper and going 11-12 hours until breakfast is fundamental for establishing healthy  hormonal patterns. Improperly timed eating can disrupt all of our hormones and throw the body out of rhythm. Sleep is our primary fat burning time. But this can only happen when no food has been eaten for 11-12 hours. During the night the body gradually begins to burn a higher portion of fat for fuel. The 9-12 hours after supper is when the body can access the fat stores in the buttocks, thighs, and stomach. Sounds good to me! If anything is eaten before bed, this prime fat burning time is shut off! So no snacking after supper is a good rule, and it is simply a fact of biochemistry.

Insulin:
Insulin carries glucose to various cells. If we overeat at mealtime (seconds) or eat in between meals (snacks) insulin takes the glucose to the liver, muscles, etc. to be dropped off. But the cells do not need the fuel, so they refuse the delivery and turn off the receptors for insulin. This is insulin resistance. And the liver can also become insulin resistant. Eating between meals causes the liver to retain the calories it has in storage. A person who has a "clogged" liver suffers from fatigue, is tired easily by stress, has difficulty going 5 or 6 hours without eating, and the liver turns the calories into fat. Fatigue and getting hungry too often are evidence of an out of shape liver. 

Ghrelin:
Ghrelin is a hormone produced in the stomach that signals that it is time to eat. Cells in the stomach release this hormone which is controlled by a circadian clock that is set by mealtime patterns. Scientists call this group of hormones the timekeepers of hunger. In a normal weight person, ghrelin rises before meals to signal hunger. When leptin is too high in the overweight individual, ghrelin loses its normal function. In an overweight person ghrelin levels before eating are lower than normal, and the levels will stay high after food is eaten. This stimulates excess eating and especially excess eating of carbohydrates.  Eating between meals throws off the natural hormonal signals. We need to "set our clocks" by eating at meal times and not in between.

Conclusion:

When we eat in between meals or after our last meal at night, we are messing with our hormones and their signaling to each other. We need five or six hours between meals so that our bodies can work as designed. When we snack, even on healthy foods, we are interrupting the hormonal communication which controls our appetite and hunger signals as well as stopping fat burning and encouraging fat storage.

So whether Reinhard knew all of this hormonal stuff or not when he said No Snacks, it is nevertheless sound biochemistry. Those folks who advocate eating healthy snacks between meals just don't know how the innocent snack interferes with our hormonal balance.  I know there are some who must have more than three meals a day…diabetics and those who have had gastrointestinal bypass surgery come to mind. But the majority of us should avoid snacking. I personally think this applies to S Days as well. My body does not know it is an S Day, and I don’t want to interrupt the dance if I can help it.

No S Goes on the Road

I know sometimes I come off sounding like a commercial for No S, but in all honesty between the way it can be tweaked for the individual and the ease with which it fits into everyday life, I don't see much negative about it. I'm sure one of these days I will think of something I don't like about it and write about that. In the meantime, here is another entry in a list of 'Things I Like about No S'.

No S makes vacation eating easy. No special foods to pack or search for on the road, no feeling 'different' from everyone else, no feeling shortchanged when everyone else is enjoying something especially nice that doesn't fit into your food plan - or worse, eating it and not even enjoying because you feel guilty or ashamed.

Been there, done that. But those days are far behind me.With No S the freedom to choose is mine. I can maintain my usual routine of 'N' days and 'S' days, or I can declare that vacations are an 'S' and go with that. No matter what choice I make, there is no guilt, no shame, no failure. I did not 'fall off the wagon' because whether it's an 'N' day or and 'S' day - it's my wagon - my conscious choice.

I have not had many vacations in the time I've been following No S, but the choice I've made has been to designate vacations as 'S' events and to pack quite a lot of our own food. We prefer good food and it can be quite difficult to find real food in a strange town. It's also more cost effective - by not spending our money on cheap food we don't even like, we can afford better food later.

It's not so easy these days when traveling by plane, but those most of our trips are by car. We start off with provisions from home but supplement with the best options from local stores. We usually find a park for a picnic lunch and have dinner in a restaurant.  If we get tired of the usual options, or we find a particularly good place for breakfast or lunch, we go out. It's a routine we've evolved over the years that works particularly well for us. We like it, and if it ceases to work, we change it.

What about you? What helps  you stick to your weight loss goals and maintain your good eating habits on the road?