My new scale is NOT my friend; she sits in my bathroom as if she is the Queen of Sheba, watching my every move.  Sometime I think I see her sneer at me as I step out the shower.  She sits, smug and sure of herself.  She just knows I have gained weight and cannot wait to exclaim my abundance to the world. (Yes, I got a talking scale for my birthday and I was insane enough to keep it)

One tap of my foot and she cheerfully chirps, “Hello.”  Within the next few seconds she chirps “Ready.”  I swear she snickers after she says it.  Once I am on the scale she calculates my weight, to 1/10 of a pound, and announces the result in a very clear, loud voice.  There is no way to turn her off or turn her down.

The First time I responded to her she gleefully announced that I weighed 210 pounds.  The next few days were the same.  That is when I noticed a seeming lilt to her voice.  I was if she got such pleasure when I did not lose any weight and when I gained; she seemed to sing the poundage out in an almost operatic manner.   

I decided to silence her.  I refused to weigh every day. 

I have started taking notice of how my clothes fit.  I made a special trip to Good Will and bought a pair of jeans, a pair of Capri’s and a pair of shorts, all one size smaller than what I wear.  Each one is cut different, but success in wearing all them will denote a notable degrease in the pounds I am lugging around for free.  I call them my 21’s and I intend to weigh myself every 21 days.

My scale sat unattended for weeks, (I hoped she had lost her voice). On Tuesday, I weighed for the first time in two weeks and when she announced 200 pounds, she did so with a sniffle.  10 pounds since May 16, I did a Cha Cha out of the bathroom and an Electric Slide into my Kitchen.  I had to backtrack to put on my Robe.  I am sure my boys, Chihuahuas, thought I had lost my mind. 

As for my scale, she is a bit less smug, she seems to have gained some much warranted respect for me… I think her name is Barbie  

No seconds, no sweets, no snacks EXCEPT (sometimes) on days that begin with an S.  Is that simple or what? 

I am halfway through my second 21 day cycle on this No S Diet.  The premise is, it takes 21 days to make or break a habit so, if you commit to No S for 21 days you have a basis to change your eating habits for the rest of your life. 

In the last 4 weeks and 4 days I have lost 10 pounds.  I have lost these pounds without feeling hungry or deprived.  I have been given the opportunity to let my body tell me when and what to eat rather than me giving in to eating just because food is there.  I no longer permagraze.

This "diet" is almost too good to be true.  Monday through Friday I eat three meals a day.  I eat what I want and I eat the quantity I want with each meal. The only caveat is that my food must fit on a  9” plate.   I was so afraid I would get hungry between meals, I piled that plate so full, it would often look like the leaning tower of Pisa.  Dinner was the worse because I could not see not eating something, anything between dinner and bedtime.

To my surprise, I am discovering what I ate was more important than how much I ate.  I came to see that I needed to FUEL my body NOT Feed my mind.  The healthier my meals were, the less likely I was to WANT to snack between meals.   Talk about a revelation that leads to a lifestyle change. 

During the week I found myself eschewing the cheese grits, sausage, eggs and pancakes for yogurt with walnuts and fruit and a slice of Ezekiel bread or a spinach and feta omelet with a slice of Ezekiel bread or a bowl of Uncle Sam’s cereal with fruit and Almond Dream.  I started to notice my body functioned much better when I FUELED it properly.   Healthier breakfasts lead to healthier lunches and dinners.  I am learning to make better choices about what I eat. 

Saturdays, Sundays and special days, birthdays, holidays, I still had my three 9” plates of food a day, I sometimes had that Southern breakfast, smaller portions and I could have a second helping or a snack between meals or a desert.

Wellllll, on my second set of S days I was NOT excited.  I followed the rules all week, dad gum it, why was I NOT excited? I was deprived of snacks, sweets and seconds for a whole WEEK!  Why was I not jumping for joy? Why was I NOT planning a spree?  Brownies, ice cream, where were the cravings?  Could this NO S DIET really be this EASY OR...HAVE I MISSED SOMETHING?

Since I started this No S DIET, I noticed some changes in how I feel about food. I no longer take a little extra at dinner, so I won’t be tempted to snack. My body seems to be adjusting to the “three plate” thing and I find that I am NOT HUNGRY between meals. Now, don’t get me wrong, if I don’t eat dinner by 7:00 p.m. the right legs of my Chihuahuas start looking like something I could marinade and stick on the grill but, I really do not miss the constant, mindless grazing like I thought I would.

My body seems to be saying “Thank you! Now let me show you how I am supposed to work when it comes to food”

In all of my previous attempts to DIET, I felt that I needed a lot of support from family and friends in order to stick to the DIET. Two weeks ago I solicited my best friend to join me in this No S DIET. I knew that I would need her encouragement to keep me on track, to gaze at the Krispy Kream donut with me and pull me away.   Well, she has broken every rule of the No S DIET and made every excuse to have the snack, the sweet and the seconds that the No S DIET restricts. I have followed the rules faithfully and after my first week of being on the No S DIET, I found that I did not need any one to keep me on track with this No S thingy. Wait a minute, did I just call this a “THINGY”?

EUREKA!! I have discovered the secret! This is not a DIET, IT IS A LIFESTYLE CHANGE, a “THINGY”!

I tell ya, I took the word “DIET” out of this equation and replaced it with the word “THINGY” and I have been on a roll every since! I am changing my lifestyle and in doing so I have been given the opportunity to really get in touch with my body regarding food, how I related to food and how my body needed to relate to food.

What ever I call it, I have found a way to make it work for me!

I am taking a mini vacation to Savannah, GA this weekend.  We had been planning all year to return to Paula Deane’s restaurant, The Lady and her Son’s, to pig out at the buffet and eat at least two pieces of Oooey Gooey Butter Cake. Now, I don’t even want to think about that much food in one setting.  We will probably still go but I won’t be getting the buffet! I will have a square of Oooey Gooey Butter Cake and I will enjoy each bite!

In these days and times we seldom get something for nothing, but the basic concepts for this “THINGY” is FREE.  Reinhard Engels has written a wonder full book, No S Diet Book.  It is available at Amazon.com, BUT he is not asking you to BUY his book to find out how to follow his diet.  No seconds, no sweets, no snacks EXCEPT (sometimes) on days that begin with an S.   That’s it.  Everything else you need or want to know can be found on his website, nosdiet.com. 

 This is working for me and if you visit the site you will find that it is working for many others as well.