One-year check-in

(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."

Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating

Post Reply
sharon227
Posts: 292
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 12:13 pm

One-year check-in

Post by sharon227 » Tue May 28, 2019 1:03 pm

Hard to believe it's been a year since my doctor suggested I try NoS. A year since I came home and posted my first question here, about whether I could have an afternoon cup of tea. Why NoS? After many years of healthy eating and maintaining a good weight, my weight started increasing a few pounds a year after my parents died. Not a good trend.

While my blood work was still OK, a few of my numbers (especially sugar) had crept up into the high range of acceptable. When my doctor again suggested I lose a few pounds, as he did the year before, I told him that I was done with tracking and weighing and measuring my food. Those kinds of diets take all the pleasure out of eating, and I end up spending way too much mental energy worrying about what I can and can't have. My doctor then told me that one of his patients lost 20 lbs on NoS and characterized NoS it to me as a diet with a sense of humor. That seemed worth trying!

I had my latest checkup last week. I was down 9 lbs and back at the top end of the range my doctor wants me at: BMI below 23. (That may sound strict, but I have a very small frame and he's right, I really can't carry more weight than that and feel good). My cholesterol, which was in the midst of normal last year, was down 30 points to my lowest level in at least 9 years. (I only see since 2010 in my online record). Triglycerides, which were mid-normal last year, were down almost 50 points to their lowest level since before my parents died. Sugar was down 10 points from last year. I am really happy.

Here's what I learned a year in:

* Reinhard is right in cautioning that this is not a quick weight-loss plan. Losing 9 lbs in 12 months feels glacial when you're in the midst of it. You need to be prepared for that frustration. But it's worth it! A year later, I'm thrilled. Plus, this is a natural way to lose. I had to keep reminding myself that I didn't gain the weight at a rate of 1 lb a week either. This feels like I've developed important lifestyle changes instead of a temporary diet that I will soon"finish."

* It was worth following the plan to the letter for the first few months. I truly had no idea how much I was snacking and grazing until I stopped. Whoa. Or how much food I was consuming by taking one "small" portion, then another small amount of seconds, then a bit more picking, and then ... Or only eating half my entree when going out to eat (so virtuous!) and then snacking/picking at food in the fridge half the night.

* As a woman whose, um, youth is far behind her, "you can eat anything on one plate that's not sweets on N days" didn't work for me when trying to lose. In my case, having refined carbs made it almost impossible to lose weight after dropping my first few pounds on NoS, even when following all the other rules. The way I busted that plateau was severely limiting my refined carbs. I also cut way back on whole grain bread and even brown rice, except for S days. That may not be what you need, but apparently I'm rather sensitive to them. I don't think one food mix works for everyone. Find what works for you. I know that South Beach works for me to lose weight but not maintain, so I incorporated a couple of useful parts of that into my overall NoS framework.

* Longer term, being strict about one-plate meals didn't always work for me, because I found that I started to rebel against balancing my dessert fruit and cheese onto a plate with a main dish involving lots of sauce, for example. I've eased up a bit on that, doing more "virtual plating" or developing rules like "If at least half my plate is healthy vegetables, it's OK to have small amounts of seconds." What's key for me in these modifications is continuing to make sure these are habits and don't involve a lot of willpower to enforce. (It is, for example, easy to look at a plate and see if half of it is vegetables. And this rule does encourage me to eat more vegetables!)

* In trying to balance not obsessing about every fluctuation of the scale with keeping myself accountable, it ended up being worth erring on the side of weighing too often instead of not often enough. I discovered today that I'm up 3 lbs of my 9-lb loss after the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Lots of eating out, a few fruity alcoholic beverages, an afternoon snacking at a friend's BBQ yesterday ... it adds up. Some of my gain is likely sodium/water retention, but it's important for me to understand that temporary gains can become more permanent if I don't get back to healthy N days after an S splurge. If I wait a week or two to weigh myself after a splurge, I can convince myself that everything is OK when it isn't and continue making less healthy choices on my no-sweets, no-snacks one-plate meals.

* Coming to the bulletin boards when I needed support was really helpful. I relied on them heavily my first 9 months or so. I dropped off for awhile after feeling like this was how I was living my life and wanted to obsess less about my food consumption (I no longer need external encouragement to take my daily walks either, for example), but I plan to be back from time to time, whether to support others or when I need some advice and support myself.

automatedeating
Posts: 5305
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2013 2:16 pm

Re: One-year check-in

Post by automatedeating » Tue May 28, 2019 1:14 pm

Sharon, this is just wonderful! Thank you so much for posting this glorious testimonial!!
Triglycerides, which were mid-normal last year, were down almost 50 points to their lowest level since before my parents died. Sugar was down 10 points from last year.
Yay, yay, triple yay!!!!!!! This is so exciting.

Thanks for sharing your personal journey and for making such great bullet points.

I'm might do a little dance for you right now. :lol:
Month/Year-BMI
8/13-26.3
8/14-24.5
5/15-26.2
1/16-26.9; 9/16-25.6
8/17-25.8; 11/17-26.9
3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
3/19-22.1; 10/19-21.8
6/20-22.5; 7/20-23.0; 9/20-23.6
4/21 - 25.2

sharon227
Posts: 292
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 12:13 pm

Re: One-year check-in

Post by sharon227 » Tue May 28, 2019 5:36 pm

Aww, thanks so much Auto!! I am very excited about the health benefits I can measure. Plus all of the intangibles, like just feeling better because I’m eating so much less crap. I should have mentioned that I enjoy my food so much more now than I did before. We tend to appreciate things more that are limited, instead of things we can have in unlimited quantities. Another thing I learned is that if I am moderately hungry for a little while between meals, the world won’t end :D

Soprano
Posts: 1184
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:56 pm
Location: UK

Re: One-year check-in

Post by Soprano » Tue May 28, 2019 6:14 pm

Great testimonial Sharon, I've enjoyed following your journey :)

Jx
Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.

sharon227
Posts: 292
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 12:13 pm

Re: One-year check-in

Post by sharon227 » Wed May 29, 2019 12:17 am

Thanks, Soprano. Appreciate all the support and encouragement from you, Auto, and others here!

Whosonfirst
Posts: 538
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:32 pm

Re: One-year check-in

Post by Whosonfirst » Sat Jun 01, 2019 4:47 pm

Great report on all your healthy numbers! Shows what a sensible-low-maintenance diet plan can do. Looking forward to next year.
https://twitter.com/SipeEngineering
Current weight(9/2020)-212 lbs.
Goal Weight- 205 lbs.
NoS Goal: >= 80% Success days

sharon227
Posts: 292
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 12:13 pm

Re: One-year check-in

Post by sharon227 » Wed Jun 19, 2019 2:41 pm

Thank you! I think the best testament to this way of eating is that I still continue to do the vast majority of the plan, without feeling the need for external support most of the time. I don’t need to constantly refer back to a book, or get group support. This is just how I with my life now, and it’s quite natural.

I seem to have learned for the most part how to deal with weekend S days now. Long weekends and vacations are still a work in progress, probably because I haven’t had as much practice with those yet as I have with regular weekends. I was away on vacation a couple of weeks ago. While I didn’t go haywire like I might have a few years ago, I still was significantly off my usual N routines. The good news is I returned right back to my regular habits when I came home, and it didn’t feel punitive. It felt natural, like getting back to all my other routines now that I’m home.

Post Reply