Two years of NoS. Reflections on saner weekends
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 11:17 pm
Two years of doing this and I almost never think about it anymore. it crossed my mind that superbowl sunday marks about 2 years for me but it took me a good week to even start writing this post . that is how much different my approach on life is. it doesn't revolve around food/dieting anymore.
One thing that has happened during this year is I don't get the "let's pig out, it's the weekend" feeling as much as I did during my first year on this. Some foods i used to eat "just to eat because I can" have now just seemed less tempting to me, like i'm over it. I save my treats more for things I might actually enjoy.
My exercise has remained stable and I'm running now as much as 9 miles on my long runs. Typically 6-9 miles. I'm training for a half marathon . I also do pilates/yoga for strength training. I love what I do for exercise and don't see it as "burning calories" anymore.
I have pretty much stable breakfast, lunch, dinner. I don't freak out if I have a treat on a Friday night because maybe it's a special occasion or something and i'm getting better at not having weekends start until Saturday. I used to be letting Friday kind of slip in there too. But even if it does happen now and then, nothing to worry about. Like last night it was our valentine's day dinner and we had cake. And it was nothing to worry about or panic about.
The largest change this year is in my mindset. I'm no longer obsessed with food/dieting. I follow the rules of NoS pretty much every day and when I slip I don't let it turn into full binge mode. That is a big change for me. before when I "slipped" it turned into an avalanche. Not anymore. Just, "ok, so i had a sweet"...
My weight has stayed in the same ballpark of 135-140. So I'm pretty happy with that and not trying to worry about it or force it to be less. If it's less someday, ok, and if not, ok.
two years of this is a good milestone... I'm sure I'll be checking up on here every now and then. And I did mean to a few times but never did. It just isn't on my mind constantly and that's a great thing! Success to everyone who is trying this. It does work, it's just not a quick fix. I hope it's a forever new mindset, not a quick fix.
******My one year post**************
I have been wanting to do this for a while, really talk about my experiences with NoS and with dieting in general.
Let me start by saying I have always had a problem with my weight, in as that i always perceived it as being too high even when it really wasn't.
My first feelings that I needed to lose weight pretty much occurred in middle school/early high school. I went on a horrible calorie counting nightmare diet (1000 calories a day was too much) and went from 132-104 in a few months. I was my same height, about 5 foot 4 1/2. Of course that was unattainable.
I went back up into the 120s toward the end of high school, got a boyfriend, "got over" my anorexia. But i never really did. in college i was so busy i never worried about my weight until my senior year. then i was up to 142 and was horrified. mind you, these are all normal weights for my height. Got down to 123 ish and was so pleased with myself. again, unattainable!
was ok with my weight again for a number of years... probably all the way from age 23 through 30. then i was pregnant and went from good old 142 again all the way up to 175. after the baby, couldn't lose weight because i was breastfeeding. finally, at 32 decided to lose weight again. i was at my highest non pregnant weight, 152. i had finally crossed the BMI line into overweight and was wearing a tight size 10. again, still not really a huge weight problem but my perception was that it was! i got back down to... you guessed it 123. very unhealthy ways. eating 1200-1600 calories, working out ferociously. not good! again, unattainable!
June 2012 was my first flirtation with NoS. I was 33, had lost weight with the nutty dieting and was back up near 130ish... i was tired of calorie counting, it was making me miserable. so i tried NoS. I failed because I freaked out. I gained weight. Of course i would! my body wants to weigh around 135 and I keep making it be 123. of course it doesn't like that! but i can't figure that out. so i abandoned NoS after not even 2 months. The thought of weight gain was so much that I went back to the misery of calorie counting.
Then I realized, this was no good. I cannot sustain this weight with these obsessive measures. I had to do something different. And I realized what made the most sense for me was NoS. 3 meals a day. No snacks, no sweets, no seconds... except the weekends. That was perfect. I eventually knew i wouldn't feel like I was rebelling because those sweets would be there for the weekend. I could even save myself a few during the week by wrapping them up and freezing or saving it if i thought i was "missing out" when others were having it. It could work for me. So I gave it a shot.
First day was Feb 4, 2013. I tried to start a week before but the ambivalence settled in and i wasn't sure of myself. But Feb 4, 2013 I was committed. It was superbowl weekend. I started on a Monday after the superbowl. The first few months were hard. I did gain weight. Went from 132 to 140 again. This was my reaction from diet deprivation syndrome. My body wanted to gain weight because I hadn't let it be where it should have been. Even though under 132 I thought I was "happy" before, I was having all kinds of binges and guilt and beating myself up when I "went over calories". . no way to live life. so end of April I believe I was at 140.
And I've stayed between 135-140 between April 2013 and Feb of 2014 (which is my 1 year mark). I run several times a week, about 4 miles each time. I lift weights. My numerical size is still around a 6. There is nothing wrong with weighing 135-140 for my height. I have finally convinced myself of this. After many trials of trying to maintain the illustrious 125 and under, I know that is simply unattainable. I might be able to wear a size 4 but my life was miserable. I was hangry (hungry/angry) all the time. I could never eat what I wanted to. Others would go out and enjoy themselves on the weekends and I felt like I never could. Now I can. And I'm only slightly larger!
So far I have gone almost a year on NoS and maintained the same 5lb weight range. And it's a healthy range.
So what have i learned. Some lessons. Don't think other people will like NoS just because I do. I tried to tell others, they don't want to try it. That is their choice if they want to calorie count and demonize foods. Not my choice. Second, it takes time. Way more than 21 days. 21 days establishes the good habit of Sdays/Ndays. But 21 days doesn't mean that every day is perfect and no wild S days. I still have them now and then and it's a learning process. I say to myself "wow, i feel overfull. i probably should have taken it easier today" but no beating myself up. it's over. Also, way less binges. I can say I truly can't remember the last time I had a binge... ok maybe it was the early stages of NoS when i was getting adjusted to the fact that I can eat whatever I want to on S days. but now i don't do that because I know it's not a big deal. It takes time. biggest key.
when i gave up during my first go round after 2 months it was because i didn't trust the process. i thought gaining weight was the worst thing in the world. it's not. the worst thing for me is trying to do something that makes me miserable and is unsustainable. and that is my one year post. i love this system and want to keep doing it. i like the articles about how italians stay slim (they basically follow NoS only they dont' call it that). this has saved me from allowing my anorexia to come back. I have to remind myself always that it's not worth it to join the under 125 lb club if it means misery in my head... i'll take the 135-140 lb club any day if it means inner peace! oh, and weight lifting and running have been amazing for me. i do it because i like it. not because i need to "track calories burned from exercise"... i do what i love and it is working out!
One thing that has happened during this year is I don't get the "let's pig out, it's the weekend" feeling as much as I did during my first year on this. Some foods i used to eat "just to eat because I can" have now just seemed less tempting to me, like i'm over it. I save my treats more for things I might actually enjoy.
My exercise has remained stable and I'm running now as much as 9 miles on my long runs. Typically 6-9 miles. I'm training for a half marathon . I also do pilates/yoga for strength training. I love what I do for exercise and don't see it as "burning calories" anymore.
I have pretty much stable breakfast, lunch, dinner. I don't freak out if I have a treat on a Friday night because maybe it's a special occasion or something and i'm getting better at not having weekends start until Saturday. I used to be letting Friday kind of slip in there too. But even if it does happen now and then, nothing to worry about. Like last night it was our valentine's day dinner and we had cake. And it was nothing to worry about or panic about.
The largest change this year is in my mindset. I'm no longer obsessed with food/dieting. I follow the rules of NoS pretty much every day and when I slip I don't let it turn into full binge mode. That is a big change for me. before when I "slipped" it turned into an avalanche. Not anymore. Just, "ok, so i had a sweet"...
My weight has stayed in the same ballpark of 135-140. So I'm pretty happy with that and not trying to worry about it or force it to be less. If it's less someday, ok, and if not, ok.
two years of this is a good milestone... I'm sure I'll be checking up on here every now and then. And I did mean to a few times but never did. It just isn't on my mind constantly and that's a great thing! Success to everyone who is trying this. It does work, it's just not a quick fix. I hope it's a forever new mindset, not a quick fix.
******My one year post**************
I have been wanting to do this for a while, really talk about my experiences with NoS and with dieting in general.
Let me start by saying I have always had a problem with my weight, in as that i always perceived it as being too high even when it really wasn't.
My first feelings that I needed to lose weight pretty much occurred in middle school/early high school. I went on a horrible calorie counting nightmare diet (1000 calories a day was too much) and went from 132-104 in a few months. I was my same height, about 5 foot 4 1/2. Of course that was unattainable.
I went back up into the 120s toward the end of high school, got a boyfriend, "got over" my anorexia. But i never really did. in college i was so busy i never worried about my weight until my senior year. then i was up to 142 and was horrified. mind you, these are all normal weights for my height. Got down to 123 ish and was so pleased with myself. again, unattainable!
was ok with my weight again for a number of years... probably all the way from age 23 through 30. then i was pregnant and went from good old 142 again all the way up to 175. after the baby, couldn't lose weight because i was breastfeeding. finally, at 32 decided to lose weight again. i was at my highest non pregnant weight, 152. i had finally crossed the BMI line into overweight and was wearing a tight size 10. again, still not really a huge weight problem but my perception was that it was! i got back down to... you guessed it 123. very unhealthy ways. eating 1200-1600 calories, working out ferociously. not good! again, unattainable!
June 2012 was my first flirtation with NoS. I was 33, had lost weight with the nutty dieting and was back up near 130ish... i was tired of calorie counting, it was making me miserable. so i tried NoS. I failed because I freaked out. I gained weight. Of course i would! my body wants to weigh around 135 and I keep making it be 123. of course it doesn't like that! but i can't figure that out. so i abandoned NoS after not even 2 months. The thought of weight gain was so much that I went back to the misery of calorie counting.
Then I realized, this was no good. I cannot sustain this weight with these obsessive measures. I had to do something different. And I realized what made the most sense for me was NoS. 3 meals a day. No snacks, no sweets, no seconds... except the weekends. That was perfect. I eventually knew i wouldn't feel like I was rebelling because those sweets would be there for the weekend. I could even save myself a few during the week by wrapping them up and freezing or saving it if i thought i was "missing out" when others were having it. It could work for me. So I gave it a shot.
First day was Feb 4, 2013. I tried to start a week before but the ambivalence settled in and i wasn't sure of myself. But Feb 4, 2013 I was committed. It was superbowl weekend. I started on a Monday after the superbowl. The first few months were hard. I did gain weight. Went from 132 to 140 again. This was my reaction from diet deprivation syndrome. My body wanted to gain weight because I hadn't let it be where it should have been. Even though under 132 I thought I was "happy" before, I was having all kinds of binges and guilt and beating myself up when I "went over calories". . no way to live life. so end of April I believe I was at 140.
And I've stayed between 135-140 between April 2013 and Feb of 2014 (which is my 1 year mark). I run several times a week, about 4 miles each time. I lift weights. My numerical size is still around a 6. There is nothing wrong with weighing 135-140 for my height. I have finally convinced myself of this. After many trials of trying to maintain the illustrious 125 and under, I know that is simply unattainable. I might be able to wear a size 4 but my life was miserable. I was hangry (hungry/angry) all the time. I could never eat what I wanted to. Others would go out and enjoy themselves on the weekends and I felt like I never could. Now I can. And I'm only slightly larger!
So far I have gone almost a year on NoS and maintained the same 5lb weight range. And it's a healthy range.
So what have i learned. Some lessons. Don't think other people will like NoS just because I do. I tried to tell others, they don't want to try it. That is their choice if they want to calorie count and demonize foods. Not my choice. Second, it takes time. Way more than 21 days. 21 days establishes the good habit of Sdays/Ndays. But 21 days doesn't mean that every day is perfect and no wild S days. I still have them now and then and it's a learning process. I say to myself "wow, i feel overfull. i probably should have taken it easier today" but no beating myself up. it's over. Also, way less binges. I can say I truly can't remember the last time I had a binge... ok maybe it was the early stages of NoS when i was getting adjusted to the fact that I can eat whatever I want to on S days. but now i don't do that because I know it's not a big deal. It takes time. biggest key.
when i gave up during my first go round after 2 months it was because i didn't trust the process. i thought gaining weight was the worst thing in the world. it's not. the worst thing for me is trying to do something that makes me miserable and is unsustainable. and that is my one year post. i love this system and want to keep doing it. i like the articles about how italians stay slim (they basically follow NoS only they dont' call it that). this has saved me from allowing my anorexia to come back. I have to remind myself always that it's not worth it to join the under 125 lb club if it means misery in my head... i'll take the 135-140 lb club any day if it means inner peace! oh, and weight lifting and running have been amazing for me. i do it because i like it. not because i need to "track calories burned from exercise"... i do what i love and it is working out!