Update on The No S Diet - Diet Review - POSTED ON: May 10, 2016
I believe that this is not a one-size-fits-all world, and that every diet doesn't work for everyone, but every diet works for someone. That said, I'll admit that I have my own personal biases and prejudices. I've written about them here and there in various articles here on DietHobby, and you can find them in the Archives section.
Personally, I'm strongly opposed to the concept of Intuive Eating as a means to lose weight or maintain weight-loss. I've read many books about it. I've attended seminars on it.I've experimented with it. I've spent a great deal of time observing others who try it out. My conclusion is that ... for anyone who has a long-term problem with obesity ...Intiutive Eating as a weight-loss or maintenance of weight-loss diet is simply "wishful thinking", and it almost never works.
I am a great believer in using a computer software program to daily track one's food intake ... forever. I've written a very great deal about that, and although my own personal favorite is DietPower, any such software program that you can learn and use will work well.
I've experimented quite a lot with various low-carb diets, and with alternate day eating, and I frequently incorporate elements of those plans into my own eating plans.
One Diet that I am quite taken with, is the No S Diet. While I do not follow it myself, I have incorporated many of its concepts. It is a simple plan, and its theme of moderation is a sound one. Although it is ineffective for many, as a stand-alone-diet, It can be a behavior base for many other diets, and with a few modifications can become an excellent plan for almost everyone. The book, The No S Diet is simple, well-written, and quite excellent. I've read it many times, and have purchased copies for friends. You can find an extensive review of it here.
Here is a recent testimonial from a long-time user of the No "S" diet.
I'm nervous and excited about finally writing this because I love No S so much and want to sing it to the high heavens, and not after just the honeymoon phase of success. At age 58 and two years, this marriage is going to last!
I can’t be a source of hope for anyone who is trying to get into the low end of his/her BMI range, but there are others who can. However, No S HAS SAVED MY EATING LIFE AND MY SANITY AROUND FOOD. In 2 years, I’ve gone from 185 to 161 (13% of my weight) and am still losing. Not the huge drops some have, but I had some setbacks, and yet I’m stronger now than ever...
The No S Diet - Diet & Book Review - POSTED ON: May 08, 2016
One should read the book “The No S Diet” by Reinhard Engels even if only to access his wisdom, common sense, and Habit concepts. Reinhard Engels is a software engineer who created the diet for himself and lost 40 pounds.
His diet has just three rules and one exception: No Snacks, No Sweets, No Seconds, Except (sometimes) on days that start with "S" (Saturday, Sunday and Special Days). The No S Diet is incredibly simple. It has just three rules. These three rules focus attention on the three primary areas that affect a person’s diet.
No Seconds…means you have to use portion control. All of the food in your meal must fit on one normal sized plate (the one-plate rule). No Snacks..…means you have to eat at mealtimes only..no food in-between meals. No Sweets......means you have to avoid foods that have sugar as the principal ingredient.
All of these rules apply on all normal (N) days. None of these rules apply on (S) days, i.e. weekends, holidays, and special occasions.. However, you are advised to normally stay with your normal-N day- habit and only SOMETIMES use your allowable exceptions. Just because it is an "S" day, doesn't mean sweets or snacks or seconds are REQUIRED. It just means there's no RULE against them. It isn't permission to binge. Following N day principles on S days is appropriate behavior. Reinhard's No S is: ..."except SOMETIMES on S days". Reinhard’s basic warning is: "Don't be an IDIOT". Putting all of your food on one plate in front of you at the same time is meant to help you see how much you are actually eating, and keep you from deceiving yourself about that issue. Both the "No Snacks" rule and the "One Plate" rule are meant to keep one from DECEIVING oneself about how much one is actually eating. Reinhard hopes that the REALITY of seeing the food all together will jolt one into choosing ...
No S Diet vs. Intuitive Eating - Diet Review - POSTED ON: May 05, 2016
If I am "building castles in the air" I am dreaming grandiose dreams without any foundation.
Building castles in the air is NOT however to be confused with dreaming big dreams and then planning through the steps necessary to make those dreams a reality.
A member of a forum I frequent, recently asked:
“Just curious. What about No S vs. Intuitive Eating?”
Here is my take on these two concepts. No S accepts that it is a diet, and gives specific and objective (although flexible) rules...such as: "No snacks, no sweets, no seconds except ..sometimes..on days beginning with S". Intuitive Eating is one of those diets that refuses to admit it is a diet, and gives vague and subjective rules...such as: "Eat only when hungry, eat what you want, stop when you're full". No S relies on the principle that: when a person who is interested in moderation, sees and actually realizes the amount of food they are eating, they will choose to reduce that amount,and through that behavior, they will achieve and maintain a more normal bodyweight. Intutive Eating relies on the principle that: when a person gets rid of outside rules,....except for the Intuitive Eating rules about eating when hungry etc....and relies on their BODY to tell them what and how much to eat, that their own body signals will cause them to reduce the amounts they eat and eventually acheive and maintain a normal bodyweight. (Note: "Intutive Eating" is a diet (labeled non-diet) used by many "eating disorder experts", although it has absolutely zero scientific basis, as well a dismal success rate.)
No S is objective and primarily based on common sense. Intutitive Eating is subjective and primarily based on magic.
Those of you who are unfamiliar with the No S Diet, and/or the diet-that-says-it-isn’t-a-diet concept known as “Intitutive Eating” can learn more about these from reading some of my past articles which are contained here in the ARCHIVES of DietHobby. Some specific links are:
Stop When You're Full? - Intutive Eating 3 - Diet Review - POSTED ON: May 05, 2016
Lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater ....which means... Be careful not to discard something of value with something that is of no value.
I see and share various thoughts and ideas here at DietHobby that come from many different sources. If an idea or article is posted here, I’ve found some of its concepts interesting, enjoyable or valuable to me in some way. It does NOT mean that I agree with all of that author’s basic food beliefs or way-of-eating philosophies.
Here is the third of three articles about the basic Intutive Eating Concepts by UK addiction counselor, Gillain Riley, who appears to share my point of view about the general ineffectiveness of this Diet. Ms. Riley states her professional knowledge about these concepts in a thoughtful and precise manner, and I am sharing this series here at DietHobby.
Advocates of Intutitive Eating insist that this diet / manner-of-eating / way-of-eating / lifestyle is "not a diet". My belief is that EVERY diet works for someone, and this includes Intutive Eating.
The other two of the three articles can be found at: "Does Our Body Tell Us WHAT to eat - Intutive Eating 1" “Eat When You’re Hungry? – Intutive Eating 2”
HOW TO END A MEAL by Gillian Riley, Author of Ditching Diets (Revised edition of Eating Less) A great many people do most (if not all) of their overeating at meals, especially their evening meal. You may be one of those who consistently buys, prepares and serves what you know is way too much food but finds it impossible to contemplate cutting back. Or maybe your meals aren't too huge to start with but you find it tough to stop, taking second helpings, finishing off what others have left, picking on things in the kitchen while you're clearing up and then finding things to snack on for much of the evening. The third principle of Intuitive Eating, suggesting that you 'stop eating when you're full', attempts to address this problem. As with the two other principles we've looked at over the past two newsletters (eat whatever your body tells you it needs and eat when you're hungry), it ASSUMES a reliable, innate wisdom in our bodies. Those who promote Intuitive Eating argue that it's your ignorance of this wisdom that makes you overeat. If you simply pay attention to it, your body will let you know when you've had enough. Of the 5,000 or so medical academic journals that are published every month, a good number of them, as you might expect, are dedicate...
Eat When You're Hungry? - Intuitive Eating 2 - Diet Review - POSTED ON: May 05, 2016
Recently I ran across a series of three articles about the basic Intutive Eating Concepts by UK addiction counselor, Gillain Riley, who appears to share my point of view about the general ineffectiveness of this Diet. Ms. Riley states her professional knowledge about these concepts in a thoughtful and precise manner, and I am sharing this series here at DietHobby. Advocates of Intutitive Eating insist that this diet / manner-of-eating / way-of-eating / lifestyle is "not a diet". My belief is that every diet works for someone, and this includes Intutive Eating. The first of the three articles can be found at: "Does Our Body Tell Us WHAT to eat - Intutive Eating 1"
Are You Hungry? by Gillian Riley, Author of Ditching Diets (Revised edition of Eating Less) The assumption behind this advice is that hunger means you are depleted of energy or nutrients, and therefore in need of food. But it's considerably more complicated than that. For example, when people fast or follow extremely low calorie diets, their hunger doesn't become increasingly more intense as time goes on and nutrient stores dwindle. Any anorexic will tell you that after a short time without food, their hunger fades away. If hunger accurately reflected nutritional status, this wouldn't happen. The reverse would happen, and hunger would intensify day by day. To make the same point in a different way, if hunger expresses genuine nutritional need, it would begin to subside after the first few mouthfuls of a meal. But this doesn't necessarily happen either, and most people have at least some experience of the reverse occurring. Many people can begin a meal not feeling especially hungry, and then, after just a few bites of tasty food, feel a strong sense of hunger suddenly arrive. It doesn't make sense that your body would signal depletion after those bites but not before. (1) We often think of those first few bites as a way to stimulate hunger, to awaken it. After all, the whole point of the 'starter' course is supposed to be to awaken our appetite and get our 'gastric juices flowing'. But how can we rely on this hunger signal if it needs to be stimulated to appear in the first place? Rather than a signal of nutritional need, hunger is, to a great extent, a response to cues, at least some of which will be learned. The cue prompts an expectation of eating, and it's this expectation that sets off all those hungry sensations in our stomach. The cue could be the time of day, or the sudden availability of food along with the sights and smells of its arrival. There may well be no problem at all in responding to this by eating.
The problem arises for those who have overeaten so much that the cues triggering feelings of hunger happen much too frequently. It's okay for the expectation of eating to prod...
Mar 01, 2021 DietHobby: A Digital Scrapbook. 2000+ Blogs and 500+ Videos in DietHobby reflect my personal experience in weight-loss and maintenance. One-size-doesn't-fit-all, and I address many ways-of-eating whenever they become interesting or applicable to me.
Jun 01, 2020 DietHobby is my Personal Blog Website. DietHobby sells nothing; posts no advertisements; accepts no contributions. It does not recommend or endorse any specific diets, ways-of-eating, lifestyles, supplements, foods, products, activities, or memberships.
May 01, 2017 DietHobby is Mobile-Friendly. Technical changes! It is now easier to view DietHobby on iPhones and other mobile devices.
