Have any of you read this diet book? It basically says just eat 3 meals a day with no snacks or sugar witht he exception of S days (being the weekend or special occations). I'm intriqued as I don't find that small meals and snacks work for me. I feel like smaller meals mess with my blood sugar even more and I never feel satisfied after a meal. Do any of you just eat 3 meals per day or have you read this book? What do you think?
No S diet
- Thread starter kariev
- Start date
MKEMom
Cathlete
I didn't buy the book, but I like the concept and basically eat this way now. My family and I also eat meatless except for "S" days. The small meals thing has never worked for me, either. I'm a teacher, and I can't just stop class to have a small meal mid-afternoon. Also, maybe it's just conditioning, but I don't want to eat a tiny meal at dinner. I like a real meal, and since I'm cooking for a family, I'd like to eat the same thing they do. If I eat a "small meal" a couple hours beforehand, I have to admit I don't eat less at dinner.
The guy who wrote the diet points out on his website (as does Michael Pollan in "In Defense of Food") that the whole snacking thing is kind of an American concept, and that cultures that don't snack have lower rates of obesity. To me, any snack, meal, whatever, is an opportunity to overeat. Obviously, some people need to snack for a variety of reasons, but I am not one of them.
The guy who wrote the diet points out on his website (as does Michael Pollan in "In Defense of Food") that the whole snacking thing is kind of an American concept, and that cultures that don't snack have lower rates of obesity. To me, any snack, meal, whatever, is an opportunity to overeat. Obviously, some people need to snack for a variety of reasons, but I am not one of them.
Thank you for your reply. When I originally lost 35lbs about 11 or 12 years ago I just ate 3 meals a day and when it was a holiday or special occasion would splurge on whatever I wanted but never overate or obsessed with it. When I found body for life program and began doing the mini meals and free day, my eating became difficult to control and I obsessed with food and would overeat on my cheat day. It really messed with me mentally. I have been struggling since so I was thinking about going back to what I did originally and what worked for me. I'm also not a big fan of carrying food everywhere with me and trying to hid and eat it during times when i'm really busy.
toughYrun
Cathlete
Five or six small meals a day don't work for me at all. I do much better staying on track when I eat three meals a day, snacking only if I am so hungry that I'm not going to make it to the next meal. When I have tried the mulitiple small meals approach I tended to constantly think about what and when I got to eat next. I think it's because my appetite was not fully satisfied. Obsessing about food is no fun at all.
lisa_la_machina
Cathlete
I also do better with 3 meals. Every time I try the mini-meal concept I end up thinking WAY too much about what I'm going to eat next. Too much planning and I want to spend my time thinking about things besides food.
Three meals also helps me feel more satiated than snacking or smaller meals throughout the day, and I feel like my diet is more balanced because I make sure that I cover all of my nutritional bases at each meal (protein, healthy carb, fat, veg/fruit).
Three meals also helps me feel more satiated than snacking or smaller meals throughout the day, and I feel like my diet is more balanced because I make sure that I cover all of my nutritional bases at each meal (protein, healthy carb, fat, veg/fruit).
toughYrun
Cathlete
Don't know how many calories I eat a day. When I am trying to drop weight, not much.....probably around 1200 at most. More, of course, when I'm not trying to lose.
For breakfast, about 2/3 cup of oatmeal with a T of chia seeds mixed in and 1/2 sliced banana on top along with 3 egg whites and 1 whole egg keeps me full for 4 or 5 hours.
One of my favorite lunches is a can of tuna mixed with about 2 cups of cole slaw mix, sliced green onions, cliantro, rice vinegar and 1/2 to 1 tsp of sesame oil (or olive oil and balsamic).
A typical dinner is a couple of thinly sliced zucchini topped with italian meat sauce and a little bit of parmesan.
For breakfast, about 2/3 cup of oatmeal with a T of chia seeds mixed in and 1/2 sliced banana on top along with 3 egg whites and 1 whole egg keeps me full for 4 or 5 hours.
One of my favorite lunches is a can of tuna mixed with about 2 cups of cole slaw mix, sliced green onions, cliantro, rice vinegar and 1/2 to 1 tsp of sesame oil (or olive oil and balsamic).
A typical dinner is a couple of thinly sliced zucchini topped with italian meat sauce and a little bit of parmesan.
MKEMom
Cathlete
I'm not sure how much I eat in a day, either. Some days it's low, probably around 1200, and some days much higher, close to 2000.
Most days are kind of like this:
Breakfast: Plain 2% Greek yogurt with fruit and maybe some granola sprinkled on top, or a big ol' bowl of oatmeal with wheat germ, a few nuts, coconut, or fruit (basically whatever's lying around), or an egg or two with whole-grain toast.
Lunch: Leftovers from dinner the night before, or a big salad with beans and full-fat dressing (can't stand the light stuff), and a piece of fruit.
Dinner: Usually some sort of vegetarian pasta, tofu stir-fry, or bean dish (always with brown rice or whole grain pastas). We almost always have salad in the fridge to eat on the side. I'll sometimes have fruit after dinner.
I'm much happier sitting down to three satisfying meals every day. And, like others said, when I try the mini-meals concept, I start to get obsessed. I also end up keeping way too much food in the house to either tempt me or end up getting wasted.
Most days are kind of like this:
Breakfast: Plain 2% Greek yogurt with fruit and maybe some granola sprinkled on top, or a big ol' bowl of oatmeal with wheat germ, a few nuts, coconut, or fruit (basically whatever's lying around), or an egg or two with whole-grain toast.
Lunch: Leftovers from dinner the night before, or a big salad with beans and full-fat dressing (can't stand the light stuff), and a piece of fruit.
Dinner: Usually some sort of vegetarian pasta, tofu stir-fry, or bean dish (always with brown rice or whole grain pastas). We almost always have salad in the fridge to eat on the side. I'll sometimes have fruit after dinner.
I'm much happier sitting down to three satisfying meals every day. And, like others said, when I try the mini-meals concept, I start to get obsessed. I also end up keeping way too much food in the house to either tempt me or end up getting wasted.
DirtDiva
Cathlete
The concept of 5 to 6 meals a day was to keep the motor burning since its estimated that 10 to 15% of calories burned daily are from just metabolizing food. When that came out several years back, I tried it faithfully. Smaller, nutrient dense meals meant to even out hunger, but instead it got to be tedious very quickly. Too much thought about food, and honestly, I was never satisfied! It just lead to constant calorie counting and I disliked that very much. I'm much happier with breakfast, lunch and dinner and an evening snack.
This is what I usually eat, unless I have a group ride that day, or I'm carb-loading then breakfast will start with buckwheat pancakes. But normally its a protein shake in the morning, 24 grams of protein, one tablespoon of coconut oil with MSM and minerals. Or 3 organic eggs in organic milk and a banana.
Lunch is a big honking salad with at least 7 different types of veggies, ground flax seed and olive oil or dressing. The bowl is huge too. A container of greek yogurt, a piece of fruit and either salmon or chicken.
Dinner, that's anything from John Berardi's Gourmet Nutrition, something with protein usually. Sometimes a homemade margarita pizza. If I'm not particularly hungry, I'll graze on raisins, fruit, a couple of pieces of cheese, almonds and walnuts. My snacks are always dark chocolate and Bryer's real ice cream.
So pretty much close to 1,800 to 2,000 calories, I'm 5'10" and I'm supposed to eat 2,350 a day according to my TDEE. Also, a couple of times a week I will have a glass of red wine and pray there are no chips in the house.
This is what I usually eat, unless I have a group ride that day, or I'm carb-loading then breakfast will start with buckwheat pancakes. But normally its a protein shake in the morning, 24 grams of protein, one tablespoon of coconut oil with MSM and minerals. Or 3 organic eggs in organic milk and a banana.
Lunch is a big honking salad with at least 7 different types of veggies, ground flax seed and olive oil or dressing. The bowl is huge too. A container of greek yogurt, a piece of fruit and either salmon or chicken.
Dinner, that's anything from John Berardi's Gourmet Nutrition, something with protein usually. Sometimes a homemade margarita pizza. If I'm not particularly hungry, I'll graze on raisins, fruit, a couple of pieces of cheese, almonds and walnuts. My snacks are always dark chocolate and Bryer's real ice cream.
So pretty much close to 1,800 to 2,000 calories, I'm 5'10" and I'm supposed to eat 2,350 a day according to my TDEE. Also, a couple of times a week I will have a glass of red wine and pray there are no chips in the house.
Dela
Cathlete
Doing the mini meal thing now, have not lost any weight (nothing new), but I like that I'm not starving all the time. But I am obsessing over not eating out at all except for on my cheat day and what I'll eat for my next meal, and it's just not at all fun. I don't think this will continue for much longer.
I have looked at the NO S diet, but in it's simplicity I am confused about what to eat at meal time. I guess it is only restricting sugar?
How do you handle working out at 6pm after not eating for 6 hours? No pre workout snack allowed?
Wow, I just realized how annoying and confusing all of this really is. Dieting sucks.
I have looked at the NO S diet, but in it's simplicity I am confused about what to eat at meal time. I guess it is only restricting sugar?
How do you handle working out at 6pm after not eating for 6 hours? No pre workout snack allowed?
Wow, I just realized how annoying and confusing all of this really is. Dieting sucks.
DirtDiva
Cathlete
I don't follow anything that close, where I can't eat something before I workout. I've gotten to a place in life where I check the boxes off and don't care about anything else. My boxes are protein, vegetables, fruits, calcium and the last is carbs. I eat as simple as possible, and I know how many calories my body works well on. I don't tend to go over that limit very much, unless I need to because of some event. I think the body has a set amount of calories it needs and anything else, regardless of what it is will add up as extra fat.
lisa_la_machina
Cathlete
I don't religiously count calories and I am not trying to lose weight, but I figure that I eat between 1800 and 2200 calories/day in maintenance mode. I try to emphasize fruits and veggies, lean protein, healthy fat, and a calcium source. Sometimes these overlap, like when I eat whole Omega 3 enriched eggs (protein + fat) or greek yogurt (protein + calcium). I eat whole grains too, but I try to make the grain a supporting character in the meal as opposed to being the star of the meal..
The other key for me personally is to allow myself 200 calories of completely empty calories each day (usually eaten sometime after dinner). Milk chocolate M&Ms. A small cookie or brownie. A small scoop of real ice cream (but I can only get this when I'm eating out or else I'd eat way more than 200 cals worth). Savory stuff would work too, but I like the sweet stuff. I feel like knowing I can eat 200 useless calories each day prevents me from going overboard on holidays, etc., because I know there are more treats waiting for me tomorrow.
Sample breakfasts would be: 1) Greek yogurt, mixed with 1TB natural PB + cinnamon, an orange, 1 piece Ezekiel toast with 1TB PB. 2) 1/4 cup cooked oatmeal, with 1TB coconut butter mixed in, scrambled eggs + cheese. 3) Green Smoothie made with greek yogurt, frozen fruits, handful of spinach, chia seeds or flax seeds.
Sample lunches/dinners would be: 1) Huge salad, full of greens and any veggies or fruits (like strawberries, oranges or cranberries) I'm craving, topped with 1 cup beans or baked chicken or baked salmon, sprinkled with freshly ground flaxseed or nuts, a little cheese, 1-2TB light balsamic vinaigrette (sometimes will include 1/2 sweet potato or 1 piece Ezekiel). 2) Ezekiel Wrap spread with hummus, sprinkled with chia seeds, filled with greens, tomatoes, etc., and either beans or meat. This is great paired with a veggie soup during winter. 3) Grilled meat, roasted veggies, couscous salad (couscous, tomato, cucumber, onion, a little olive oil).
lisa_la_machina
Cathlete
Dela
Cathlete
Thanks Diva! Wise words indeed. I am in a place where I so desperately want to lose about 10 pounds, and just can't! I am pretty good at maintaining, and can do it while not obsessing, but in my quest to really buckle down and get rid of some of this fat, I am trying this very regimented small meal, carb cycling diet, it's been 6 weeks, and I have been adhering very closely, I just can't drop anything. I am just now starting to add in twice daily workouts, and will see how it goes from here.
DirtDiva
Cathlete
How active are you? I'm curious here, because I think the body gets very used to anything regimented. Do you drink wine or alcohol on a regular basis? What type of muscle do you have on your body? Do you strictly workout to DVD's and do they really wear you out? I'm also wondering what body-type you think you are? I'm sorry I'm being so curious, but I do think they are all keys to the mystery. For me, I gain muscle easy enough and if I eat too much pasta, I gain weight FAST. If I drink too much wine and then have chips or crackers, that does the most damage to me. I don't believe in age factors regulating fat loss unless you are completely devoid of muscle because I think the more muscle your body has the better it functions, especially in terms of hormone production such as HGH and testosterone. This gets so complicated here though, especially if one is estrogen dominate, like if you carry a lot of fat between the thighs, or notice you have abdomen fat. These can be tip-offs. That's when diet can be tweaked, because you do need to stay away from excess sugar, even raisins can cause problems. Oy...now I am agreeing with you, it would be cool if we could have robotic guts and feel no hunger or cravings.
Dela: I never did the pre or post workout meal thing. My workouts are either before breakfast or before my dinner. Not sure if that helps at all. I just read an article about how my can train our bodies to be hungry at certain intervals. So if you are used to eating at a certain, your body will naturally be expecting food and get hungry at that time. So it takes a little bit of time before you get used to going longer inbetween meals. For me, I've noticed that my blood sugar drops worse inbetween meals when doing mini meals then when doing larger less frequent meals. Its like i'm oppostie or just weird
Dela
Cathlete
Hi, thanks for taking the time to help trouble shoot, cause I'm really at a loss. OK, so here is ALOT of info....
I workout 5-6 times per week, the last 3 months were with an STS weight Rotation plus cardio workout. I only workout to dvds, almost made it out to a class yesterday, but I seem to have some anxieties about working out with other people that comes and goes. I am very sedentary at my job, I work from home, so I get in even less walking around than just going to an office.
When I do dvds like HIIT I'm gasping for air, I did STS full body yesterday and I was wiped at the end. Some dvds are just nice low impact stuff that works up a sweat and burns pretty decent calories like Powerstrike and some of the KCM cardio, and others are more intense like Turbo Fire or KPC or HIIT, but I mix it up a lot and always get at least 3 days of weight work in any given week. Right now, I am going to mix up weeks with variations of full body weights and split workouts.
I always forget the different body types, I have broad shoulders, I am pretty muscular under the fat and have decent strength, and the bulk of my fat is around my middle, I have larger upper arms (12 inch around), and my upper thighs are not huge, but not thin, I don't store weight in my hips or butt, I guess I'm built a little more like a guy
. For about 7 months I followed Primal eating my Mark Sisson, loved it, lost 7 pounds, but those were "extra" pounds I put on by eating like crap and not working out enough due to a house move. Stopped losing, but liked eating that way and felt good. Then for a couple months I lightened up on the "rules" of Primal, but did not gain. Then decided it's time to lose more weight, so I'm in week 6 of Cheat to Lose (carb cycling with 1 cheat day, first 3 weeks no cheat day) and I have lost 2-3 inches overall, and a pound or two that just keeps coming back and going away after my 2 low carb days. I eat 5 meals/snacks a day, the calories range from 250 to 400 per meal, but I NEVER eat 5 meals closer to the 400 range in one day, and I do have a cheat day on Saturday, I am not binging on Saturdays, just eating some fun stuff at normal meal times, like pasta for dinner kind of meals and having a dessert instead of protein and veggies, not any extra snacking, those cheats make me full for so long.
I am not a frequent drinker, I will have 1-2 glasses of white sometimes, but not often when I eat out. I don't eat much sugar or white carbs, actually have not since I started eating Primal almost a year ago. I do feel that the higher carb days on Cheat to lose may be too high, so this week I am tweaking those days to reduce the whole wheat kind of carbs to early meals only, and only 1 or 2 times per day, then fruit for the other meals with carbs.
Well that's my diet and workout history in a giant nutshell, I am open to any thoughts or advice you have!
Dela
Cathlete
Dela: I never did the pre or post workout meal thing. My workouts are either before breakfast or before my dinner. Not sure if that helps at all. I just read an article about how my can train our bodies to be hungry at certain intervals. So if you are used to eating at a certain, your body will naturally be expecting food and get hungry at that time. So it takes a little bit of time before you get used to going longer inbetween meals. For me, I've noticed that my blood sugar drops worse inbetween meals when doing mini meals then when doing larger less frequent meals. Its like i'm oppostie or just weird
Thanks Kariev, I have actually had to stop and eat during a workout because it's all I could focus on, that only happens during weight workouts for me though.
I have heard a lot of people just don't do well with the mini meals, I think I can go either way with it, but come to think of it, I don't think I have ever just eaten 3 meals, there has always been a couple snacks for me in addition, so the mini meals make sense for me, in that, I am more aware to keep the "main" meals smaller than usual. I think for me the biggest benefit the mini meals have had for me over the past 6 weeks, is I'm getting used to eating a small dinner. In the past for me, dinner just naturally "HAD" to be more food, but my dinners look more like my lunches now, so there has at least been something positive for me to take from this style of eating.