Everyday Systems

Minkymoo

After one successful year of no s, followed by one year of struggling with commitment I think I might just be turning the corner... My husband has decided that he needs to loose weight and will be giving no s a go, as well as embracing an altogether more active lifestyle. Since we have been no s-ing ...

Minkymoo

Fat shaming might have had more relevancy in those times when food scarcity was a recent memory. In the UK rationing continued for quite some time after the end of WW2, I don't know if this happened in the US. I am pretty sure that a larger proportion of people's income was spent on food in the ...

Minkymoo

I'm mostly type 1 - a reformer with similar scores in 4 the enthusiast and 7 the individualist... sounds about right!

Minkymoo

Ok im back and going for vanilla no s all the way through to January. Since im just coming back to the habit in going to tolerate the odd large portion as long as I don't actually break the rules.
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th
21st s-day
22nd s-day big children's party
23rd
24th
25th
26th
27th
28th
29th ...

Minkymoo

After falling off the wagon after my holiday in September and struggling to get back on im now ready to make a fresh start! Wish me luck!

Minkymoo

Hmm I don't seem to be able to handle thus one rationally, that is the problem. Yes I know I dont NEED to have another child right away, but that doesn't stop me longing to give my daughter a sibling. I'm finding it hard not to react emotionally.
Similarly I know that if I were to just stick to No S ...

Minkymoo

I was doing really well but hit a tricky patch and need sone advice/support to help me get back on track!
After more than a year of trying to get pregnant with our second child and no success I've been getting a bit fed up and my husband thinks we should go to the GP and ask for help.
I am ...

Minkymoo

Good for you! No S and the other systems are excellent ways of keeping all kinds ofhabits under control, I wish you every success with your journey! x

Minkymoo

I can relate! Actually it was a bit of a problem for me and in all honesty my drinking (similar amounts to you) took a rather large toll on a good ten years of my life. It sounds dramatic, but my life has changed immeasurably since I gained control over my alcohol intake.
For me (and of course this ...

Minkymoo

Finallyfull, I think you might have posted a classic just then! I will be copy & pasting that into my diary right now to keep me strong in times of weakness!

Minkymoo

I loved this post, what a lot of insightful points both in the article and in your comment. Food for thought!

Minkymoo

My goal for June is to stick with Vanilla, work on gently reducing portions and to avoid binges on S days. I will score my day as green/red/yellow and then comment on my success at portion control etc.
Love these challenges, good luck to all of us!

Minkymoo

Am I imagining it or has the phases of No S sticky come adrift? Looking for it earlier for reference but can't find it.

Minkymoo

Wonderful news!!! Congratulations

Minkymoo

No S has been such a brilliant experience for me in so many ways. It is a wonderfully enjoyable way to eat and live, and I never believed that this could be compatible with loosing weight.

The advice and support from the members of the forum and especially on this testimonials page has been so ...

Minkymoo

I'd just like to say how happy and pleased and surprised that the No S Diet is working for me! It's slooooow, but it's good, and hopefully, maybe, even permanent! Ive just made it to the 10kg loss mark (finally!) and it will be my turn to write my own thread on the testimonials page that I've spent ...

Minkymoo

Shortformyweight and leafygreens.... I feel your pain too!
In the past when I have lost weight I didn't start looking attractive until I got down to below 10 stone, UK size 12 (currently 13 stone, size 18), purely because of my flabby waist, which muffins over any normal waistband. Elastic ...

Minkymoo

Thanks for the support and advice! Im back on it now, although I never got round to doing that daily check in thread. I weighed myself this morning and found I havent even gained weight - I guess we did an awful lot of hill walking and frisbee, maybe that was enough to cancel the treats out? Funny ...

Minkymoo

After reading this, and also Reinhard's optimise your oatmeal ideas I am realising that in the USA porridge is a rather different (and altogether more serious) meal than the porridge that I am used to in England (anyone in the states heard of Readybrek?).
Over here its all about puddingy rolled ...

Minkymoo

Oh, I followed the link thinking this is something I totally didn't agree with, but then realised the article says something much kinder than the title suggests!

Minkymoo

Oh no!
After nearly 90 green/yellow days of Vanilla No S compliance I took a holiday by the seaside in Wales and had a whole week of S days (eek). I meant to take my 2 NWS days during the week and have 3 N days but then I relaxed and overdid it. Hot cross buns and Easter eggs mainly. But I did ...

Minkymoo

This is a interesting piece, thanks for the link!

Minkymoo

Hi, I think it's great to eat with your child, I hate seeing parents shovel food into their child's mouth whilst they are on the phone etc and then exclude them from the proper dinner! It sets up poor eating habits for life.

I don't know about your schedule so I don't have any advice but what has ...

Minkymoo

My granny had something called the 'rule of one' which was her system for controlling her weight. My mum tried to tell me when I was a child but of course I didnt listen!

Minkymoo

I suspect the kind of calorie restriction they are talking about is rather more extreme than the very mild restrictions of No S. I wouldnt want an extra long life that is full of joyless restriction!
I also think the whole 'food is poison' concept could be very dangerous thinking for some people who ...

Minkymoo

I've got one called... Habitcal. It doesn't do green, red or yellow but you can tick days (means green/yellow) or leave them blank (for red days). It counts up your green days and gives you a medal when you get onto a winning streak! You can track up to five habits with it. I got it off the AppStore ...

Minkymoo

I have found that I often misjudge when I try to guess sizes (and often overestimate what would fit on a plate) so my on the run tip is to put two palms together to estimate the size if a lunch plate's surface area including the rim of the plate.
As you can imagine it works better with better for ...

Minkymoo

Thanks for the share, it's an interesting idea! Though I don't really fancy doing more housework than I do at the moment :-) I think the key is to be busy instead of idle.

Reinhard's shovelglove page makes some good points too, about how strange it is that we have removed so much useful exertion ...

Minkymoo

Actually, my heartrate is being elevated just thinking about all that 'you must snack' rubbish.

I'm getting angry realising what an evil little tool that is for the advertisers of snack food! I could NEVER resist a bite of something, and I even had a term for wanting to eat without feeling hungry ...

Minkymoo

Make sure your meals are substantial and really something to look forward to. If you want something yummy and calorific... go for it!

Knowing you have something great just a few hours away takes the edge of your hunger. So do hot drinks and milk (or even hot milk / lattes).

This is all within the ...

Minkymoo

I would wait a while before making any changes like this. If you have been restricting carbs recently then there will likely be a rebound effect - there sure was every time I stopped doing the Atkins diet or similar low carb diets.

Cutting out / restricting carbs is a fairly major endeavour, and it ...

Minkymoo

If it's not sweet enough to be a pudding, then it's fine. The programme is not 'No Sugar' it's 'No Sweets'. You can have a sugar in your hot coffee too! I did this a lot while I was first doing No S, but after a while I realised that I didn't actually need it, it just helped me to avoid panicking ...

Minkymoo

The 21 day thing doesn't work for a lot of people, so I say drop it if it doesn't motivate you personally.

If you want to draw parallels with 12 step recovery they talk about "Just for today..." as a mantra to take the pressure of abstinence off... as most can manage to go without a drink ...

Minkymoo

I think that, barring any medical issues, stress might be your number one enemy here. That said, it's hard to avoid stress when it's taking a long time to conceive (actually I'm in the same place right now).

I honestly don't believe that any food will help anyone to conceive (except maybe ...

Minkymoo

This month I will be mostly Vanilla flavoured, with sitting and plate mods.
Wed 13th - :mrgreen:
Thurs 14th - :mrgreen:
Fri 15th - :mrgreen:
Sat 16th :-) Capital S day today! Bit overfull when I went to bed oops.
Sun 17th :-) s day with lots of moderation due to the excess of yesterday!
Mon 18th ...

Minkymoo

Love the linked article JustForToday!

Definitely strikes a chord and a very similar idea to the section in Reinhards book that says (something like) "you have no business worrying about vitamin content when you are 50lbs overweight"

I think that real food continues to be the answer. I haven't ...

Minkymoo

I like the title of this post, I find that I often fall victim to unrealistic expectations... about how much weight I can loose and how fast, how much I can fit on my plate, how much I need to feel full etc!

The linked article and didn't resonate with me so much and I did find it rather negative ...

Minkymoo

Ha ha, rude & childish but funny! My inner dialogue sounds a little like this at times. The diet is quite No S isn't it, and I think the fact he keeps a sense of humour about his weight problem & solution is so much more healthy than that of the diet bores you meet who agonise over the calories in a ...

Minkymoo

I'm really interested in this. I would like to know more on this topic so I might have to do a bit of reading!
At the moment I am eating my last meal between 5 and 6 so that the whole family can share the meal together (husband works evenings and daughter goes to bed at 6ish). I used to eat much ...

Minkymoo

Sometimes I do this, especially If I have a lot of work on and want to make sure my family get fed properly!

I do it monthly and cook huge amounts in advance during a big cook up night (wine helps) then freeze them in family sized dishes. This helps with portion sizes as I'm not deciding on ...

Minkymoo

Wow Clarinetgal what a great month!

Minkymoo

You're right, I was being unrealistic in my expectation! Sulk over, thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it!

I've woken up in a much more practical frame of mind and ready to get on with it. Also thinking of starting the 'no solitary snzcking' and only eating when 'sitting at a table with a ...

Minkymoo

I'm feeling hungry now, and yes I am usually hungry for meals, although I guess I could go further in this direction.

I have started using side plates for breakfast and lunch and a 9 inch plate for supper. I haven't made any mods yet though, although its pretty clear I will have to at some point ...

Minkymoo

A serious case of diet-head and feeling sorry for myself going on right now. I guess I am just used to expecting serious weight loss results by now on a diet. Especially as I feel that I'm doing well and sticking to the plan (I have only had 4 fails since the start of November).
I have a dress that ...

Minkymoo

Nearly there everyone! Fingers crossed we can all keep it green for the last few days

Minkymoo

Mine is on my kindle for iPhone app so it's always on hand. Very useful and discrete!

Minkymoo

I find it interesting and useful! I have no intention of complicating the diet - I love the simplicity of No S. For me weight loss only started when I began using a tea plate for breakfast and lunch instead of the larger ones. Seeing the numbers in cm squared makes me realise why that small change ...

Minkymoo

I use his recipes for Toad in the Hole, Chicken Korma and Plum Bakewell all the time as they are family favourites. His cookbooks are highly recommended, and he is also a big fan of authentic regional italian food. He was quite young when he came into the public eye in the UK as a TV chef, but he is ...

Minkymoo

Stress is my main trigger for binge eating, and in my job there is an endless supply of chocolates / biscuits that I cannot get away from, whilst real food and drinks are banned from the nurses station, and I cannot leave the room.
Previously (and still occasionally on an S day) I binged whenever I ...

Minkymoo

I'm a big Jamie Oliver fan, and he puts so much energy into trying to improve the quality of food offered to children across the country in schools. He gets a lot of criticism because he tells it like it is, but personally I admire his courage.

Minkymoo

I would personally consider taking from a second plate to be a mod or an advanced manoeuvre! I'm pretty sure I could not pull that one off yet, but my habit is still quite new, and I'd like to think that a few years in I will be able to act a little more naturally.
I do have a set of ramekins I use ...

Minkymoo

Really inspiring! Thanks for signposting this, I think it is the yearly check ins that I enjoy reading and gain the most encouragement from. I really appreciate your input on these boards and am glad that your are doing so well. Hopefully I will be able to post my own success story a year from now.

Minkymoo

Well I think that is pretty inspirational even if you don't! It sounds like real and lasting success, and 22lbs is a great loss

Congratulations on a successful year!

Minkymoo

Mmmm, a choc chip muffin with my lunch on Saturday and an Apple & Cinnamon pudding with custard on Sunday!
Plenty of fruity snacks in-between as we have some lovely apples and blood oranges sitting in the kitchen.

Minkymoo

My method of overcoming S day binge eating (which nowadays only occurs when I work on a weekend and let myself dip into the staff chocolate and biscuits boxes... again & again & again), is to purposely choose some awesome treats for myself in advance for the weekend and, as is suggested in the ...

Minkymoo

Awesome advice Nicest of the Damned! I will be copy & pasting this onto my phone notebook for reference.

Minkymoo

That TV show sounds horrible Bright Angel. I can't imagine what those children's parents were thinking, and adults who sign themselves up must be either naive or deluded. Boycotting advertisers is a good way to show disapproval.

Minkymoo

I'm not sure it would work for me, I think I would just avoid using it in the first place, but then I vastly prefer the carrot (cake) to the stick. I can see how it would help if you are differently motivated to me though and line the funny title!
Personally I like the Na No Wri Mo approach better ...

Minkymoo

Borrowed from the website of Martin Lewis who runs a money saving expert website... a money saving mantra. It goes something like this

If you are skint you ask yourself...
- Do I need it?
- Can I afford it?
If you have money you ask yourself...
- Will I use it?
- Is it worth it?

It can be printed ...

Minkymoo

I agree that some people with a BMI of 18-19 look really thin, it definitely depends on individual body type/shape.
And when it comes down to it, there is always a 100% death rate, eventually...
Unfortunately I am an apple shaped, centrally obese person so I am still in the danger zone :-(
Ive seen ...

Minkymoo

Well done with the teacake incident! One raisin can so easily turn into one bite, then one whole teacake!

I have to report another fail on last nights shift, with a handful of doritos eaten when I was stressed (so silly as of course it didn't help!) Fortunately I have managed to resist the WTH ...

Minkymoo

Ive heard of this phenomena, its called the obesity paradox - more info on google but I think the gist of it is that for some unexplainable reason obese people tend to have better outcomes than lean people following diagnosis with diabetes or heart attack (and some other conditions), despite the ...

Minkymoo

I'm in, my first month challenge... I'll be doing Vanilla no S and my goal is to stay green all month!
1st :mrgreen:
2nd Fail - a small handful of doritos at 0500 while on night shift.
3rd :mrgreen:
4th Fail ! Stress eating at work
5th - :-)
6th - :-)
7th :mrgreen:
8th :mrgreen:
9th :mrgreen:
10th ...

Minkymoo

Hi Morris,
I too work shifts including nightshifts on a CCU and find myself in a similar situation. Currently I work most of my nights at the weekend so those shifts aren't the problem, although I try to avoid eating much from the communal biscuit / chocolate stash as that tends to trigger bingeing ...

Minkymoo

That menu looks awesome! I exchanged to several French schools in my younger years and eat similarly to those menus. Their culture is so different though, those kids talked about politics over lunch! Really! There was no sense of there being different tastes for children and adults.

A few years ...

Minkymoo

I think what is helping me the most to stick to No S over Christmas is that my main focus is not really on loosing weight (although with a BMI of 34 I do need to loose at some point) but on modelling healthy eating habits for my daughter.

I don't deprive her of snacks (she is only 2!) but I believe ...

Minkymoo

I did use conscious effort, but it didn't feel particularly onerous, I think because I remember so vividly the feeling of not actually enjoying any of my food on Christmas day because I had eaten so many treats in the run up to it that I was sick of it all by then... but still eating it anyway. That ...

Minkymoo

I'm going back to work today and I'm declaring my first no S Christmas a big success! Although I took Christmas eve, Christmas day and 2 extra S events this month I still feel like I've eaten FAR less than a usual December and most importantly I've been able to resist the temptation to binge on the ...

Minkymoo

Thank you for all your replies, I appreciate your thoughts and experiences. I'm feeling ready to commit fully to No S this year, definately inspired by the way you all see it as a way of life rather than a quick fix.
Fingers crossed I can keep it going through the holiday season this year!

Minkymoo

Hi, I'm pretty new to this forum but been no S ing by myself on and off for much of the last year (with more than a few fails & false starts as I wasn't really ready to commit to the plan). I'm now about 6lbs under what I started at a year ago which for me is a great result and I'm ready to give it ...

Minkymoo

Hi, I love the idea of shovelglove, the 14 mins daily would work great for me, I'm sure I could do that indefinitely and as a parent I can't get out to the gym / class on a regular basis.
However, I don't have much space to swing a hammer at home without smashing up my furniture (in the UK our ...

Minkymoo

Thank you for your advice, tips and experience! I hope I can make it work for me, it all seems very practical & sensible and you're right, an extra (planned) meal is far more No S than leaving myself vulnerable to the biscuit by skimping on the meals!

Minkymoo

I mean overnight nursing shifts from 9 at night to 8 in the morning. I've tried eating an extra meal but having 4 small meals instead of three generous ones, or I'm thinking of allowing two snacks overnight. It's difficult not to eat overnight as I get really hungry when I'm tired and night staff ...

Minkymoo

Hi, does anyone have a tip or two on how to handle night shifts on the no S diet? I'm doing really well the rest of the time but I seem to come completely derailed when I work nights (about 4 times a month).

Everyday Systems

Search found 74 matches

helpful husband

Im back!

Having trouble, advice needed!

Phases of no S

Minkymoo's 1 year ish check in

It's working!

Easter holiday oops!

Struggling with motivation.

Money mantra

Successful Christmas!

How common are major no S relapses?

How can I modify shovelglove to make it work for me?

Night shifts...