Andie's Check In: 35 pounds so far...
Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 6:04 am
The Background:
I'm 29 years old (female), I'm 5'3", and when I became pregnant with my second child two years ago I weighed 215 lbs, which was my highest non-pregnant weight. I have been overweight to obese for most of my life, and have lost weight short term in the past by counting calories. I had found no s prior to that point, but wasn't really able to stick with it strictly enough to lose weight. I'm a RN, and I work 12 hour shifts (including nights) so I would always have failures on my night shifts and then fall off the wagon. I'm lucky that I didn't gain any additional weight with either of my pregnancies (having a baby on board was always good motivation for me to avoid junk and eat healthy). After I delivered in January 2011, my weight stabilized again at 215bs.
The Good:
I was finally ready to lose weight for good, and I knew that the No S diet makes more sense to me, and requires less conscious sustained effort than anything else I have ever tried or come across. I started the diet in January 2011, and also started a weight loss support group on Facebook consisting of some family members and close friends who also had some weight to lose. Thanks to No S and the extra support, over the course of my maternity leave (Jan 2011-December 2011) I managed to lose 35lbs, and since then I have maintained at about 180lbs. I have gone from a size 18/1XL to a size 14/L.
We also gave up our vehicle last fall, so I now walk or bike everywhere I have to go. My fitness level has increased dramatically, and my knees, feet and back don't hurt anymore during and after my shifts. I have so much more energy, and I feel like I'm eating like a normal person most of the time, instead of beating myself up all the time for compulsive eating.
One other significant benefit I didn't expect: No cavities on my last three dentist visits since I started No S! This is huge for me, as I have needed at least one cavity filled or re-done every six months for the past 9 years.
The Not So Good
My weight has plateaued since I've gone back to work. I've noticed that I've been "virtual plating" a little too much at meal times (really snacking on whatever ingredients I'm cooking with and or/shack foods like peanuts, pieces of cheese, even veggies while I'm preparing dinner) and I've had more red days due to lack of motivation with the increased stress related to the transition and shift work schedule (plus all the random sweets that show up at the nurses station from well meaning patients and their families). S days tend to be excessive at times, but they are actually improving.
"Aha" Moments
When my weight started to slow this fall and then eventually plateau after the holidays, I tried adding some dietary restrictions on top of the no S framework which ultimately backfired. I tried low carb at one point, and gluten and dairy free at another point. Both times I lost weight but then ended up feeling so restricted I fell off the wagon for a week or two (even off of the no S wagon as well) and ended up gaining any weight I’d lost. It’s easy to read the "diet" books and get excited to try something, and I told myself that these were just “modsâ€, but I'm finally realizing that this just doesn't work for me. If I can’t maintain it for the rest of my life, it’s not worth it. Also, it's not worth jeopardizing my progress in the No S habit building process. I’m also trying to start to see “health and healthy habits†as my goal, instead of weight loss. When I was losing quickly for the first 9 months or so weekly weigh-ins were motivating, now they seem to be psychological traps. If I’m up or stay the same I think “what the hell†and eat excessively on s days or even cheat. If I’m down I think “I’ve been good, I can afford an extra special treat (or treats) this weekendâ€. I’m slowly coming to the realization that it is how I treat my body that makes me healthy, not the number on the scale. Healthy habits I can sustain for life= healthy body. My weight and appearance will eventually reflect this, but it is not my goal, and it does me no good to get hung up on it. I realize that these ideas are not original, and Reinhard has previously discussed most or all of these in some form or another, but I didn’t really “get it†until I started learning from my own experiences.
Moving Forward:
To bring my journey to the next level, I’m re-committing to strict vanilla No S, with a couple of simple mods which I think will really help me continue to progress to eliminate the extra snacking that has been stalling my weight loss. I’m adding the “not eating anything standing up or that’s not on a plate mod†and eventually I’m going to progress to “no solitary snacking†as well. I’m going to weigh in once a month, and use my own paper Habitcal and check in thread on my Facebook group.
Anyway, I’m so thankful to Reinhard for putting this info out there, and for this site. I lurk here more than I post, but it’s so helpful to keep me on track.
I'm 29 years old (female), I'm 5'3", and when I became pregnant with my second child two years ago I weighed 215 lbs, which was my highest non-pregnant weight. I have been overweight to obese for most of my life, and have lost weight short term in the past by counting calories. I had found no s prior to that point, but wasn't really able to stick with it strictly enough to lose weight. I'm a RN, and I work 12 hour shifts (including nights) so I would always have failures on my night shifts and then fall off the wagon. I'm lucky that I didn't gain any additional weight with either of my pregnancies (having a baby on board was always good motivation for me to avoid junk and eat healthy). After I delivered in January 2011, my weight stabilized again at 215bs.
The Good:
I was finally ready to lose weight for good, and I knew that the No S diet makes more sense to me, and requires less conscious sustained effort than anything else I have ever tried or come across. I started the diet in January 2011, and also started a weight loss support group on Facebook consisting of some family members and close friends who also had some weight to lose. Thanks to No S and the extra support, over the course of my maternity leave (Jan 2011-December 2011) I managed to lose 35lbs, and since then I have maintained at about 180lbs. I have gone from a size 18/1XL to a size 14/L.
We also gave up our vehicle last fall, so I now walk or bike everywhere I have to go. My fitness level has increased dramatically, and my knees, feet and back don't hurt anymore during and after my shifts. I have so much more energy, and I feel like I'm eating like a normal person most of the time, instead of beating myself up all the time for compulsive eating.
One other significant benefit I didn't expect: No cavities on my last three dentist visits since I started No S! This is huge for me, as I have needed at least one cavity filled or re-done every six months for the past 9 years.
The Not So Good
My weight has plateaued since I've gone back to work. I've noticed that I've been "virtual plating" a little too much at meal times (really snacking on whatever ingredients I'm cooking with and or/shack foods like peanuts, pieces of cheese, even veggies while I'm preparing dinner) and I've had more red days due to lack of motivation with the increased stress related to the transition and shift work schedule (plus all the random sweets that show up at the nurses station from well meaning patients and their families). S days tend to be excessive at times, but they are actually improving.
"Aha" Moments
When my weight started to slow this fall and then eventually plateau after the holidays, I tried adding some dietary restrictions on top of the no S framework which ultimately backfired. I tried low carb at one point, and gluten and dairy free at another point. Both times I lost weight but then ended up feeling so restricted I fell off the wagon for a week or two (even off of the no S wagon as well) and ended up gaining any weight I’d lost. It’s easy to read the "diet" books and get excited to try something, and I told myself that these were just “modsâ€, but I'm finally realizing that this just doesn't work for me. If I can’t maintain it for the rest of my life, it’s not worth it. Also, it's not worth jeopardizing my progress in the No S habit building process. I’m also trying to start to see “health and healthy habits†as my goal, instead of weight loss. When I was losing quickly for the first 9 months or so weekly weigh-ins were motivating, now they seem to be psychological traps. If I’m up or stay the same I think “what the hell†and eat excessively on s days or even cheat. If I’m down I think “I’ve been good, I can afford an extra special treat (or treats) this weekendâ€. I’m slowly coming to the realization that it is how I treat my body that makes me healthy, not the number on the scale. Healthy habits I can sustain for life= healthy body. My weight and appearance will eventually reflect this, but it is not my goal, and it does me no good to get hung up on it. I realize that these ideas are not original, and Reinhard has previously discussed most or all of these in some form or another, but I didn’t really “get it†until I started learning from my own experiences.
Moving Forward:
To bring my journey to the next level, I’m re-committing to strict vanilla No S, with a couple of simple mods which I think will really help me continue to progress to eliminate the extra snacking that has been stalling my weight loss. I’m adding the “not eating anything standing up or that’s not on a plate mod†and eventually I’m going to progress to “no solitary snacking†as well. I’m going to weigh in once a month, and use my own paper Habitcal and check in thread on my Facebook group.
Anyway, I’m so thankful to Reinhard for putting this info out there, and for this site. I lurk here more than I post, but it’s so helpful to keep me on track.