Reason #743 that I don’t like most diets* is that the authors assume everyone is just like them. We’re not. Like I said before, “You are not me.”
One diet that I really want to like is the No S Diet. The entire plan is summed up in 14 words:
- No Snacks
- No Sweets
- No Seconds
Except (sometimes) on days that start with “S”.
I love the simplicity of it. I love how sensible it is. I love everything about it, except …
It won’t work for me
I already don’t snack between meals. I already don’t eat many sweets. I already … well, okay, I’m a sucker for seconds. But according to Reinhard, the guy who created it, the most important rule is “No snacks”.
People act as if snacking is this natural thing that would be cruel to deprive themselves of. But the truth is, historically speaking, snacking is a very recent eating behavior. No one did it to any degree worth mentioning until very recently — when we promptly started getting fat.
According to an analysis of USDA food consumption data by David Cutler at Harvard University, 90 percent of the increase in calorie consumption in men in the United States since 1977 has come from between-meal eating. For women, it’s 112 percent — calories from meals have actually gone down. (Journal of Economic Perspectives “Why have Americans Become More Obese?” Page 101)
So with this one rule, just two words, you’ve got a 90-plus percent solution to the problem of over-consumption.
I can’t believe there’s only one reason people are fat. But I’m absolutely sure there are some people who are fat just because of snacking. Those people can fix their weight just by giving up the snacks.
For me there’s nothing to give up so that’s just not going to work for me. But there’s a pretty good chance you would do well on the No S Diet. Might be worth a 4-week trial.
What have you got to lose?
The human body is a marvel of self-regulation. It takes a lot of abuse over a sustained period to permanently damage your metabolism.
In Super Size Me
What’s my point? You can try a diet for 30 days and see how it goes. Check with your doctor before and after if you want to be really sure whether it’s working.
Of course, if you’re smart you won’t tell yourself it’s a “diet”. You’re trying out a new way of eating. That way you can keep doing it if it works, and don’t have to think of yourself as being “on a diet” all the time.
So true! 🙂 I have friends, too, who push intuitive eating on me. I tried it years ago. My body has been out of balance, and that simply won’t work for me. What is working is using Fitday and cutting carbs lower than they were (I was eating a bunch before). I think it’s about knowing your personality, too. I get annoyed with people who say, yes, diets don’t work. You’re right! And then they push me to “eat intuitively.” I don’t feel I am dieting. I’m using Fitday to figure out where I feel best carb wise. I don’t pay attention to calories, just macronutrients.
I’ve been following No-S for about 4½ years. No, it didn’t make me super skinny, but I certainly weigh considerably less than I did when I started.
I don’t think most people realize how many calories are consumed by snacking. Especially if you’re driving through some fast-food restaurant for a snack, or, really, even mindless nibbling. By the way, a snack isn’t what you eat, it’s when you eat it. If I decide I want to have a sandwich and chips or fries for lunch, it’s okay — as long as it would fit on one plate.
I’ll have to admit that I often don’t follow the “No Seconds” rule as defined by Reinhard. His definition of this is one plate of food at each meal. If you’re served appetizers or salad on the side, you’re supposed to subtract that amount of food from your dinner plate. For myself, I normally omit appetizers altogether except for those special occasions, and if a salad is served on the side, I don’t sweat it.
But the overall message is that we eat too much. These are simple rules that will definitely decrease the amount of food most people eat.
I’ll also have to add that for most people, four weeks isn’t an adequate trial for this diet. Weight loss tends to be slower on this plan than most other plans. This is due in part to the fact that most people tend to load their plates so that they won’t get hungry between meals. In addition, you may have to look at exactly what you’re putting on those plates. You may need to eat less of the more calorie dense foods, and more of the less calorie dense foods.
My only complaint about is that Reinhard doesn’t discuss what to eat, though many of the followers have! But, that’s part of the appeal for many. If, as I mentioned above, I decide to have fries or chips with a meal, it’s okay. I have on occasion been known to make a meal of tortilla chips and salsa with guacamole or other dip.
This is most like the way we used to eat — before we all overate!
Sally, that’s what I’m getting at with solving your own problem. If you’re fat because your first helping of every meal is four pounds of food, cutting out snacking won’t help you much. If it’s because 90% of your diet is Twinkies, jogging a few miles a day won’t do anything for you.
Pretending that one set of rules will work for everyone is like thinking one medical diagnosis will work for everyone. It depends on what problem you’re trying to correct: what you eat, when you eat, how much you eat, etc.
I agree with everyone here, actually. I have certainly seen MAJOR changes in attitudes toward snacking in our culture. Anyone else go to college in the 1980s when they practically threatened to expel you from school if you attempted to bring food in the library? Now, they have cafes IN the college libraries! Ditto for classrooms, etc.
I also agree with Drew. The S diet isn’t for me – I don’t snack, I’m not much for seconds, and I’m not exactly a sweet tooth. I do, however, take entirely too much on my *first* serving, and I don’t exercise as much as I need to. So *for*me*, a “diet” consists of “don’t take piles of food when you serve yourself”, and “exercise!”. Now, to find the time to exercise….
Rachel, sounds like you need to check out Part 5 of the Undieting series, Eating is not a sport.
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