The No-S Diet

I’ll gladly admit that I am a sucker for a good sales pitch. This morning, when I came across Mark Forster’s posts on his experiments with the No-S Diet, I went and read through the whole site devoted to the diet. What I read both interested and amused me (Reinhard Engels, the guy behind the diet and the site, is hilarious).

The diet is dead simple. Here it is:

• No Snacks
• No Sweets
• No Seconds

Except (sometimes) on days that start with ‘S’ (Saturday, Sunday, and Special occasions)

That’s it. Like I said, dead simple. It appeals to me for a couple of reasons, though.

1. I’m getting burnt out on tracking my food in SparkPeople. Don’t get me wrong, I still love SparkPeople, but I’m having a very hard time recording all of my food, which starts to turn into almost an excuse for poor choices. I like the simplicity of the No-S plan.
2. I thrive on guidelines. Some people hate them, but they work for me, as long as they’re not too strict. For example, I typically have a hard time turning down sweets, but when I’m fighting a cold, I have no problem whatsoever saying no. Once I accept a “rule”, I don’t break it (unless, like logging my food, it’s a huge hassle to follow—I firmly believe that the best way to make the right choice is to make the right choice the easiest choice).
3. It’s sensible and straightforward. While you can spend a lot of time reading all about the details, you can also explain it (and it will be understood) with just the description given above.
4. Unlike many diets, this one is not embarrassing, expensive, or inconvenient. You don’t have to eat weird stuff, turn down invitations, or go out of your way at all. And it’s even a money saver, because in addition to not buying expensive diet foods, you’re actually eating less of normal foods.
5. I can easily use this in conjunction with the other “good ideas” that are out there (The Insulin-Resistance Diet, Volumetrics, etc.). I am noticing a trend: the less exlusive a diet is (that is, the more likely it is that it can be used with other “best practice” techniques), the more useful it is.

So in case you can’t tell, I’ve talked myself into trying it. The serendipitous nature of discovery means that I’m going to be trying it at a rather odd time: I’m heading out of town for four days tomorrow morning, and that’s pretty much a formula for diet disaster.

I’ve been wondering how I can survive with diet intact, and this seems like a promising strategy. I’ll let you know how it goes!

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