The Peanut Cluster Diet with Restrictions

(New!) Read (or post) about people who have stuck with No-S for 10 or more months, lost 10 or more pounds, or 10 or more percent for their starting weight. Periodic updates strongly encouraged -- you can think of it as "Yearly Check In."

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Kathleen
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The Peanut Cluster Diet with Restrictions

Post by Kathleen » Sat Nov 22, 2008 1:35 pm

DAY 1 - 9/8/08: FAILURE Starting Weight of 215.0 pounds
DAY 76 - 11/22/08: SATURDAY 205.0

From all my research on weight loss, I have to pull up the scariest quote I found. This is from page 10 of The Obesity Epidemic:

“Even the most motivated patients have difficulty losing a significant amount of weight and keeping it off. Many people can maintain a loss of ten or twenty pounds by watching what they eat or exercising more; few can sustain a loss of fifty, 100, or more no matter what the technique. The reason for this difficulty lies with the body’s weight-regulating system, which works to keep the body at a certain preferred weight, or set point. If you gain weight much above your set point, the extra fat stores produce more leptin, which acts as a signal to your brain to reduce your appetite and rev up your metabolism until your weight returns to normal. Conversely, if you lose weight much below your set point, your brain responds by increasing appetite and decreasing metabolism…Thus when an obese person loses fifty or 100 pounds, the weight-regulating region of the brain interprets the loss as a sign of a major problem and responds accordingly. The appetite is set on high, the metabolism on low. Doctors who have studied the so-called “reduced obese†– patients who were formerly obese but who have dropped their weight to near-normal levels – find that they share many psychological traits with victims of starvation. They think constantly about food, for instance, and they are deeply hungry in a way that a single big meal cannot assuage. If a fat person is to lose a significant amount of weight and keep it off, he must, in essence, maintain himself on a starvation diet.â€

This diet, like no other that I have seen, addresses the problem of maintenance in a way that does not result in a person feeling like "he must, in essence, maintain himself on a starvation diet."

In fact, this diet is the same whether you are losing weight or on maintenance.

My daughter calls this diet The Peanut Cluster Diet with Restrictions. I think of it as The Set Point Lowering Diet, but I find her name for this diet to be very charming. On December 15, 2007, at a weight of 205 pounds, I started a diet based on the concept from the book Intuitive Eating called "unconditional permission to eat." The theory behind the diet was that people are obese because they diet and their bodies feel like they are starving so they react to the self-imposed starvation of dieting by bingeing, and this leads to weight gain. The way to end the cycle of dieting and bingeing is to give yourself "unconditional permission to eat". My kids immediately called this diet The Peanut Cluster Diet because I started the diet by eating bags and bags of peanut clusters, a food I had denied myself for 30 years. My weight got up to 214 pounds before I gave up on the diet in June. I then tried an approach that I called the Hunger Satisfaction Diet, which was that I had "unconditional permission to eat" but only after my stomach growled. What a dreadful, dreadful diet. I was skipping meals with my family and eating huge amounts of food the second my stomach made a noise. That was my diet through the summer. My weight dropped to 212 pounds and, within six days of giving up the agony of the diet, I had gained back the two pounds I'd lost all summer and added four pounds. I topped out in my weight at 216 pounds on September 4, 2008.

On September 8, 2008, at a weight of 215 pounds, I started The No S Diet which was also a diet based on the idea that there are times of "unconditional permission to eat" as well as times of restriction. My diet started with four straight days of failure before I managed to get through one day following the 3S guidelines. It was about a week before I made the modification that you could accumulate two Special Days per month to be used however you want, and you must use a Special Day rather than classify a day as a failure. Since then, I have not had one failure and have used two Special Days, one for my birthday and one to take the kids out to celebrate our son making the rank of Star Scout.

Today is a significant day for me. Today I have lost 10 pounds on this diet. I have wiped out all the weight gain from The Peanut Cluster Diet. My 14 year old daughter, who is probably 25 pounds overweight and has observed years of diet failure on my part, has decided to follow this diet as well. It works. It is also easy. It's not as easy as The Peanut Cluster Diet, but it is easier than any other diet I've been on, and it actually results in weight loss.

I don't feel like I am on a starvation diet. Today was an S Day, and I had a Haagen Dazs bar in the bathtub. Now that's decadence!

Kathleen
Last edited by Kathleen on Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:16 pm, edited 10 times in total.

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NoelFigart
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Post by NoelFigart » Sat Nov 22, 2008 1:37 pm

Congratulations on the ten pounds!
------
My blog https://noelfigart.com/wordpress/ I talk about being a freelance writer, working out and cooking mostly. The language is not always drawing room fashion. Just sayin'.

blueskighs
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Post by blueskighs » Sat Nov 22, 2008 8:13 pm

Kathleen,

I love your story and your "names" for the diet. What great success in a short amount of time. Very glad you are here,

Blueskighs
www.nosdiet.blogspot.com Where I blog daily about my No S journey

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gratefuldeb67
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Sat Nov 22, 2008 11:38 pm

Way to go Kathleen!!! :wink:
Love
8) Debs x
There is no Wisdom greater than Kindness

Kathleen
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Post by Kathleen » Sun Nov 23, 2008 12:40 am

Next posting here will be 193.5 pounds, or a loss of 10% of my body weight from my 215 pound start! Another 10% is 174.15, then 156.735, then 141.0615, and finally 126.95535. My guess is that I'll be on maintenance somewhere between 126.95535 and 141.0615. My goal is to follow the diet and let my body decide its own weight!

Thanks, KCCC, for the idea of establishing milestones at 10% weight losses, and thanks, NoelFigart, Blueskighs, and Debs, for the congratulations! I'm very happy to have reached this 10 pound milestone.

Kathleen
Last edited by Kathleen on Sun Nov 23, 2008 2:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

kccc
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Post by kccc » Sun Nov 23, 2008 3:53 am

Congrats, Kathleen! That's real progress!

(The 10% was a WW guideline, but I like it a lot.)

I like your diet names too.

Cheers,

KCCC

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Tue Nov 25, 2008 2:56 pm

Kathleen,

Congratulations and thank you for posting here!

Your (and your daughter's!) charming observations and "mods" are a great contribution to the board.

Reinhard

Kathleen
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Post by Kathleen » Tue Nov 25, 2008 11:47 pm

Reinhard,

I kept a journal for over a year of all my weight loss attempts and the disasterous results of failure -- failure -- failure. The harder I tried, the more weight I gained. In fact, I weigh more now than I did the summer before last.

It's great to have the chance to be online and get feedback. I briefly decided to lose more weight by going down to one S Day on the weekend, but Blueskighs talked me out of it. I was discouraged by a four pound weight gain in two days, and gratefuldeb67 (Debs) suggested I not weigh myself on Mondays. KCCC suggested I set my goals at 10% weight losses, which seems like a terrific idea because each weight loss goal is a lower actual amount.

Thanks for building this site, and thank you to everyone who is encouraging me along the way!

Kathleen

Amyliz
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Post by Amyliz » Thu Jan 08, 2009 7:05 pm

Hi Kathleen,
I loved your post! great story and great bottom line!
I'm adding it to my daily reminders page of things i ready when I think about having a red day.

thanks again!
Amyliz
Amyliz

START: 03/30/08 - 158- 161lbs range
Current: 145-148lbs range
On 12/22/09 I saw 145 on the scale for the first time in 7 years!

Amyliz
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Post by Amyliz » Thu Jan 08, 2009 7:06 pm

Hi Kathleen,
I loved your post! great story and great bottom line!
I'm adding it to my daily reminders page of things i ready when I think about having a red day.

thanks again!
Amyliz
Amyliz

START: 03/30/08 - 158- 161lbs range
Current: 145-148lbs range
On 12/22/09 I saw 145 on the scale for the first time in 7 years!

Kathleen
Posts: 1685
Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2008 12:46 pm
Location: Minnesota

Post by Kathleen » Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:26 pm

Amyliz,
Thank you for the compliment! This diet would end for me if I had a failure. I don't have failures because I accumulate exception days (two weekday exceptions per month) to be used whenever I want and for whatever reason I want. On Wednesday, I could feel that I had bad breath, so I took an exception day and bought Certs. I would never make it on vanilla No S because one failure would lead to another and another...
Kathleen
Last edited by Kathleen on Wed Sep 09, 2009 12:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Kathleen
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Post by Kathleen » Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:45 pm

The following is a list of one weight from one day of each month of this diet:
(Month 1) Day 1 – Monday, September 8, 2008: 215.0
(Month 2) Day 36 – Monday, October 13, 2008: 210.2
(Month 3) Day 57 – Monday, November 3, 2008: 209.4
(Month 4) Day 99 – Monday, December 15, 2008: 208.8
(Month 5) Day 120 – Monday, January 5, 2008: 209.2
(Month 6) Day 148 – Monday, February 8, 2008: 205.0
(Month 7) Day 176 – Monday, March 2, 2009: 203.4
(Month 8 ) Day 211 – Monday, April 6, 2009: 203.6
(Month 9) Day 239 – Monday, May 4, 2009: 204.8
(Month 10) Day 267 – Monday, June 1, 2009: 201.8
(Month 11) Day 302 – Monday, July 6, 2009: 200.4
(Month 12) Day 330 – Monday, August 3, 2009: 199.6
(Month 13) Day 362 – Friday, September 4, 2009: 197.8


Well, I had a failure and the diet went on. It is now exactly one year since I started this diet, and my goal during most of this past year was to lose 10% of my body weight within one year, which meant I would reach 193.5 or lower by today.

Last Friday, when I last weighed myself, I was at 197.8.

I didn't make the goal of losing 10% of my weight in one year.

The success I have experienced is, surprisingly, not what is on the scale. I've lost the obsession with food and weight that has been so entrenched that I didn't even realize how much my dieting consumed my life.

I think I will lose more weight with this diet, but I'd rather be at this weight and focused on my family than be 60 pounds lighter and obsessed with food.

Someone once told me that you can most easily identify your values by asking youself what you would want for your children. I have a 15 year old daughter who is overweight and has been the motivation for me to understand weight loss. When she was 9 years old, I woke up to the fact that she was obsessed with food. My husband told me he was concerned about her weight, and I remember telling him that what concerned me was how frantic she was to eat the second she got into the house after school.

She has been following this diet since early November. My husband told me he sees a real difference in her eating habits, and so do I. I also think it's possible she's lost some weight. That isn't as important, however, as that she won't be consumed with food and diet.

What can I say? I'm surprised by what has happened. I have been very aware of the problems associated with being overweight -- not being able to be as physically active, not being able to look good, etc. -- but I hadn't really appreciated the psychological drain of being so obsessed with food until just in the last few weeks, until -- at last -- my obsession with food ended. I feel a great absence in my life, and it is a great relief.

Blueskighs, in her final post on her blogsport, wrote this:
"Here's to actually living life!"

I cannot think of a better way to summarize the advantage of this diet. You can actually live your life. Thank you, Reinhard, for helping me to help that daughter of mine to avoid the time sink of dieting.

Kathleen

PS. We now call this diet "The S Day Diet". The focus is on the positive -- "unconditional permission to eat" on the weekend!
Last edited by Kathleen on Mon Oct 19, 2009 12:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Thu Sep 10, 2009 1:49 pm

Kathleen,

Thank you for posting your update and congratulations on your continued success!

The best things about your experience so far might be qualitative, but your numbers are not at all bad! I'm so glad you didn't let being just a few pounds shy of some arbitrary quantitative goal diminish your satisfaction with the diet and (justified) sense of achievement. Slow and steady (and sustainable) is exactly what you want -- and what you're continuing to get.

Reinhard

Kathleen
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Post by Kathleen » Thu Sep 10, 2009 5:43 pm

Reinhard,
I'm hoping the weight loss continues, but I'm not sure it will. I'm just so exhausted by thirty-plus years of dieting that I'm willing to settle for my current weight in exchange for the sanity of not having to count calories or weigh myself every single morning or -- ugh! -- eat Lean Cuisine!
Kathleen

Janette
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Thank you Kathleen

Post by Janette » Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:15 am

Kathleen, thank you for your post..I found it extremely inspiring and can relate to the feelings of liberation and peace...

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Dandelion
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Post by Dandelion » Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:46 am

In my case, it was chocolate eclairs instead of peanut clusters. Do I know how to do it up right or don't I? :)

I so agree. Having a life is more important than being a certain size, and having a healthy kid is greater than all of that.

Kathleen
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Post by Kathleen » Tue Nov 10, 2009 2:59 pm

Janette and Dandelion,

I actually decided that I didn't want to settle for a weight of around 200 pounds. Instead, I am on a course to what I believe is the minimum for me. I'm reducing the number of S Days (I call them Exception Days since I can take them for any reason) from where I started (10 per month) down to 3 per month in March. In addition, I'm close to eliminating processed foods on N Days and am exercising 3 times per week. I feel a lot better.

Luckily for me, I kept an almost daily journal of my weight loss attempts since August, 2007 and didn't start this diet until September, 2008. Whenever I feel discouraged about the slow weight loss, all I have to do is go back and read my journal and see how much dieting took over my life.

I was motivated by concerns for the health of other members of my family, including my husband. Except for the 8 year old, we're all overweight. I'm the only one who is obese, and I think that my losing weight and following a healthy lifestyle will encourage the others. Besides, guess who goes to the grocery store? Chips and fruit snacks have been replaced by cashews, almonds, homemade banana muffins, apples, and oranges!

Kathleen

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Dandelion
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Post by Dandelion » Tue Nov 10, 2009 3:30 pm

That sounds like a good plan, and an excellent attitude.

Kathleen
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Post by Kathleen » Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:59 pm

My husband, the ultimate skeptic, has seen me careen from one diet to another during our sixteen years of marriage, which started with a wife who had 36" hips and now has a 36" waist. He wants me to stay on the diet, a diet he used to call "The It's Not Going To Work Diet". It's a pain to change habits without weight changing, but the habits are changing. I am exercising. The house is filled with good food. I am happier and calmer and the kids are eating better, too. Even my son, who has called me a "health freak" recently, is finding foods he enjoys.
Kathleen

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Post by Clarica » Wed Feb 10, 2010 12:46 am

Wow, I found your post really inspiring and moving! The thing I try to remember, is that I've slowly been getting fatter since I was thirteen, and that's over 20 years. If I lost fat twice as fast as I've gained it, it would still take over 10 years to slip off. It seems crazy to think that ten years would be the crazy, thrill-packed version of the change, but it is!

Kathleen
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Post by Kathleen » Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:50 am

Clarica,
Thanks for your post! To me, it's overrated to lose weight quickly. The trick is to lose it so that it stays off without it becoming your life mission to keep it off!
Kathleen

lbb (Liz)
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Post by lbb (Liz) » Sun May 30, 2010 1:04 am

Great Job!
I'm new to this, but find your stories so inspirational. I'm not really looking to lose weight, but to lose obsession with food. It can overtake and get in the way of what's most important...our families!
Thank you for your story.
Liz

Kathleen
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Post by Kathleen » Wed Jun 09, 2010 3:32 pm

lbb,

I tend to think in analogies, and losing food obsession reminds me of when I was single and on a backpacking trip in Glacier National Park. We went up a hill through brush and came out to see one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. I have had food obsession for so long (at least since I was 17, and I'm now 51) that I forgot how it felt to not be obessed with food. To me, that beautiful sight -- of mountains and lakes -- is like living with food in its proper place, as a source of nourishment and joy rather than a source of struggle and guilt. Of course, life is beautiful even with a food obsession, but it sparkles without a food obsession!

To me, weight loss is minor in comparison, so I'm glad you are highlighting the importance of not feeling every minute like you are starving.

Kathleen

Kathleen
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Post by Kathleen » Sun Dec 09, 2012 8:48 pm

It's rather lame to report success when I started No S at 215 on September 8, 2008, got to a high of 222 on August 29, 2012, and have dropped to 211.4 yesterday. I am making a testimonial now because I think I've finally figured out how to lose weight and stay sane using this diet as a framework.
Kathleen

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Post by vmsurbat » Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:38 am

Kathleen wrote:It's rather lame to report success when I started No S at 215 on September 8, 2008, got to a high of 222 on August 29, 2012, and have dropped to 211.4 yesterday. I am making a testimonial now because I think I've finally figured out how to lose weight and stay sane using this diet as a framework.
Kathleen
NO, NO, NO! Not lame at ALL!

On the contrary, I think this last post has SUCCESS written all over it! Thoughtfulness, perseverance, better mind habits, better eating habits; I, for one, applaud you and esteem your efforts over the years. I had relatively easy success with NoS, but you inspire me all the same and many others, I'm sure. We all have an important story to share.

Congratulations!
Vicki in MNE
7! Yrs. with Vanilla NoS, down 55+lb, happily maintaining and still loving it!

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Fri Dec 21, 2012 3:06 pm

Kathleen, I'm so happy you're still tenaciously at it, stubbornly accumulating and applying self-knowledge. It's so easy to just up and quit when our sense of perfection is offended. You didn't, and you're wiser (and lighter!) for it.

Have a great Christmas and new year,

Reinhard

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NoSRocks
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Post by NoSRocks » Sat Dec 22, 2012 4:11 am

Hear, hear! :)

All the best to you Kathleen! Have a very Happy Holiday Season :)
No S-er since December 2009
Streamlined S Days: 6/25/12
SW: 170 /CW: 127
Weight loss to date: 43 lbs

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