Customer Reviews

The No S Diet: The Strikingly Simple Weight-Loss Strategy That Has Dieters Raving--and DroppingPounds

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't buy diet books, I don't believe in depriving myself or regimenting my diet and I was able to be a size 00 up until my 28th-29th birthday, give or take.
Alas, I moved countries and picked a few bad eating habits along the way, 10 years later I'm flirting my way to a size 12 and I started wondering if the weight gain was ever going to stop.
I knew there had to be a way to bake my cake (I'm a cook) and eat it, I just refused to think that if I wanted to be slim again I should forever ration, scrutinize, divide my food and worse: say goodbye to a list of foods and ingredients.
Well, I found the way: the NoS Diet.
If I tell you that I have been eating this way until I moved countries and started gaining weight and that there is plenty of people that eat this way, you'll think there's something wrong either with me or with the book, I mean: isn't this a diet book?.
Yes and no; it is a diet book in the sense that by reading it and following it's premise, you'll lose weight and even better, you'll keep it off; it's not a diet book because there is no regime here, no menus, no recipes, no restrictions, no magic formula; this is a book that will tell you in a concise and precise way how is that your skinny friend manages to be skinny even though she has never dieted, how come those people in the '70s were all so skinny, how come ,even, is that you used to be thin once upon a time, like in my case.
This is a book about good habits and moderation, how to learn them or re-learn them and more importantly: how to keep remembering those good habits and keep them up for the rest of your life.

You want flashy testimonials?, sorry, none here; I can, however, tell you that I have lost three lbs in the month I've been following this book's advice, that I've been eating exactly the way I wanted to eat, that all guilt about food has been removed from my conscience, that my confidence has made a comeback, that all my dietary anxiety is gone.
You want to know what I've had today?: Raisin and walnut home baked bread with butter and honey and hot milk, chickpea and pasta stew with a drizzle of olive oil and parmesan cheese and egg korma, flatbread and mango for desert, all chosen by me, just because this is what I wanted to eat today, not bad, huh?

No Sweets No Snacks No Seconds except on Saturdays, Sundays and Special occasions, that's all there is to it, yes it's all in the cover, but reading the book is also very helpful, very explainative and you can always go back to it for reference.
In short:
This is gold.
I can do this.
YOU can do this.
Forever.
Do yourself a favor, buy this book and follow it's advice.

Oh and one last note: there is a review here that was left by someone concerned about the glowing reviews, don't be afraid, they are not fake, I am not fake, you can check my Amazon profile if you want, it's just that this book is simply that good.
If you want more information, go to the NoS diet website and check it out.
Bon Appetit!.

I "overheard" a discussion on a mom's board about this "no S diet" back in December of '06. Intrigued, and a good 70lbs overweight, I googled it. It sounded too good to be true. The author is funny at times, but also gave me many "aha!" moments.

It's about 15 months into noSing and I've lost 22lbs. I've gone from a size 22 to a size 18. Now, not every day has been perfect, but you really can't learn new habits without making mistakes from which to learn. Every day I continue, slow but steady!

The book is great! I read it in only a few hours and found myself reminded again how SUSTAINABLE this way of eating is. It even applies this sustainable sanity to exercise, not just meals.

I went from a person for over 29 years who struggled with her weight. (Been on diets since the 2nd grade!) I loved food, I adored it, but I HATED it for what it did to me. I was an addict. Food made me fat, feel guilty, bloated, tired. Every meal, every bite I took caused me a great deal of stress, worry and guilt! I developed insulin resistance, which means my body's cells have difficulty absorbing and using insulin. A step away from developing diabetes! Every night when I went to bed, I often cried and reminded myself what a terrible person I was for not being able to control food. For eating all day long. For being obese. And that tomorrow would be better.

I am still a work in progress, not every N day is perfect, but I don't have to beat myself up and give up either! I am finally FREE! Free from worry about every bite that crosses my lips. Free to enjoy food as it is, and I even appreciate (and like!) healthy foods now!

Read the book, I am forever grateful because the NoSDiet has changed my life!

Not to be overly dramatic, but No S has changed my life. I always used to feel just a bit overweight. More recently, I noticed my body changing and starting to feel more clunky. I realized that it was time to start eating differently. But how? And then I discovered No S. The premise is so simple. But so practical! I understand that Engels has been practicing No S for years. He offers advice not only about how the "diet" works, but also how to make this way of eating last. I've been doing No S for about nine weeks now, and here's what I've noticed: 1) I enjoy eating much more now. 2) I no longer waste time thinking about whether I should eat the cookie in front of me or the ice cream that's in my freezer. 3) On S days, I am TRULY enjoying my desserts, but with less and less guilt. 4) My pants are starting to fit me better and better. Keep in mind, this is not a diet to drop a lot of pounds and then put them back on. This is more a "way of eating" that for me, I can see keeping as a part of my life. Kudos to No S.

I've been doing No-S from the website for about a year, and am convinced that this way of eating is qualitatively different from diets I've been on in the past. It has changed my relationship with food, and taught me lessons that seem to apply to other areas of my life as well. Some thoughts...(not grammatical or parallel).

1) 80% for the rest of your life beats 100% for two weeks
2) Good enough is good enough. Really. Perfection is not only not required, but can be very counter-productive.
3) Trust the process. Don't undercut it by putting restrictions on S-days. Just live with it and see what happens over time.
4) Relax about the details. If it's only one plate, don't dissect it, just eat it.
5) As counterintuitive as it sounds... if you're having trouble with S-days, the best strategy is to PLAN a wonderful, decadent treat. That cuts out all the perma-snacking on stuff-that-doesn't-really-satisfy. So...in other aspects of life, consider "what would be most satisfying?"
6) The one-plate rule has the side-effect of putting me in better touch with my body, b/c I have to ask "how full does this plate need to be?" In other words, "what do I want here?" That is a good beginning to asking that question elsewhere. Like, when I'm full and want to eat anyway... "what do I REALLY want here?"
7) It's okay to enjoy treats (on S-days). They taste better when they're truly allowed. (But that takes some getting used to.)
8) Failure is real but not defining. Accept, learn, move on. (This is the hardest for me - I keep re-learning it.)

I maintained my weight for years through a sort of armed truce with food - I didn't trust it or myself, so exercised constant vigilance. Now I feel that I've made peace with food, and some of the "lessons" are spreading into other areas of my life.

PS - Someone questioned whether the reviews here were by real people. If you come to the No-S website, I'm "KCCC." There are a lot of reviews from the website folks here, because we KNOW how good the information is. And the fact that so many of us bought the book even though we already had the info for free should tell you something.

I think this diet has to be one of the easiest, foolproof and liberating plans around. It was created by Reinhard Engels - a software engineer no less. He created it for himself and lost 40 pounds. He posted some information about his diet, which soon caught on. Due to it's popularity, he published this more detailed book. The book answers many questions you may have after reading the basics on the net. There are no secrets here.

There are 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)

That's it.

I've struggled with my weight, just about, my entire life. My personal feelings are that many, if not most, overweight people are overeaters. The media may have you believe that overweight people sit around binging on buckets of ice cream and other various "forbidden" items. Yes, there are people who struggle with binge eating but, most of us overeat by breaking the "No S Rules". We tend to eat seconds because the food tastes great. We snack between meals perhaps due to emotional reasons or because these days "they" say its the healthy thing to do. We end up yo-yo dieting, going through an emotional defeat often ridden with guilt. Years of this puts many of us at a metabolic disadvantage. So, we search for the solution and try every diet out there. So, what makes this diet any different?

There are no gimmicks. It is self limiting and solves the problems many overeaters face. If you stick to the rules without tweaking - not easy for a lifetime dieter that has been given thousands of conflicting rules - the weight will come off because you are cutting calories, keeping yourself from obssessing about what is on your plate and on weekends, given the opportunity to eat like a person who actually enjoys good food. You may be saying calories in, calories out - nothing new. But the rules help you stay on track with little effort. Kudos to Reinhard Engels for keeping it simple and feasibly maintainable!

This is an excellent book, well written and full of insight and common sense, and I think anyone who is interested in losing or maintaining weight should purchase and read this book.

I've been on about every diet there is, and for quite some time I've beem maintaining a 156 lb weight loss (from 271 lbs to 115 lbs. I am 5'0" tall)
As part of my maintenance, Dieting has become one of my Hobbies.
I'm always looking for an effective plan to take-off and keep-off weight.
I learned about the No S Diet book through Woman's World Magazine, because
I frequently pick-up a copy of it to learn about new diet books. If I find one that looks interesting to me, then I'll usually buy it and read it.

I bought a copy of "The No S Diet" and read it. Then I read it again. Then again. After that I ordered another one through Amazon for them to ship to an out-of-state dieting friend. A week or so later I ordered another for a different friend. Not long after that I ordered another for my sister.

I don't think I've ever written a book review here before, although I frequently buy books here. I've read literally hundreds of diet books, and worked to follow many of the diets inside them, but I think that if I had just been able to have this one book years ago, and had followed the simple plan it outlines, I could have saved myself many fat years....AND a great deal of money that I've spent on other diet books and diet clubs.

By spending a few dollars on this book, you could lose pounds. I have lost 70lbs over the last two years by following the No S Diet. I expect to lose more weight, and to be able to maintain a lower weight. This original and simple diet can really work, as the many testimonials on the No S Diet website attest.

The book is entertaining, witty, clearly expressed, and more portable than the website! Give it a try, and I don't think you'll regret it.

One reviewer expressed a doubt as to the validity of the reviews of the No S Diet book on Amazon. I assure you that I am a real person who has benefited greatly from following the No S Diet, and I recognise other reviewers from the No S website. Please check out the website if in doubt.

After trying Adkins and failing to maintain the weight loss, I always said I would never go on another diet. I guess the saying that "when man swears, god laughs" is true because I ran across this diet and realized that I should have been eating like this all along. To me, the most important part is that the diet is set up so that if you fail, it's easy enough to start right back up without binging. Starting my third week, I've lost 6 pounds, and even more important, don't feel like I would have any issue eating like this for the rest of my life.

I've been following NoS since 2006. I found the diet online and loved the fact that it was sensible and easy to follow. I wasn't expected to buy specialty products or pay to use the program. It was a real person sharing what worked for them and how to make it work for me. The history and explanations make so much sense I felt myself saying "well duh" and realizing I didn't need a bunch of gimmicks to succeed in my weight loss goals. All this information is still free on the web, there is a support group of great people from all over on a free bulletin board, there are even free podcasts I can listen to on my ipod when I need a bit of a motivational boost.

I have purchased several books to give to friends and family members in gratitude to the author for a solution that is so simple and sensible.

I've bought four copies of this wonderful book so far (1 for myself, 3 for friends and family who've asked about my "secret" to losing all of this weight). There are no forbidden foods, no crazy calculations, no driving friends or family crazy with special food requirements. I've lost 28 lbs in 5 months, and no one who watches me eat knows I'm on a diet. Excellent for weight loss and for maintenance!