love, Love, LOVE No S!
Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:43 am
About me, I'm a 58 year old woman, five foot six inches, I now weigh about 187 or 185, down from 197... (my scale here in Mexico is unreliable). I live with my hubby and two young adult sons in St. Paul, Minnesota USA in the summers, and hubby and I are snowbirds here in Mexico in the winters. I have been on No S for more than a year now, even if you subtract the two months when I fell off and gained several pounds. Today someone asked me how much weight I have lost! She noticed! I've only lost about 10 or 12 pounds, but that's all happened since October, when I came close to my all time high weight of 200 pounds. I'm happy to report I'm right now wearing some capris I haven't fit into for a couple years.
I love No S! Even though I have 20 to 25 pounds I still could lose, and the weight is coming off s l o w l y, I am heading the right direction, and my relationship with food is much better. Before I started No S I was very discouraged, thinking the only way to lose weight was a strict calorie counting mode, because that's the way I had lost weight before. I had gotten down to almost my ideal weight a few years ago, lost 20 plus pounds, but the weight crept back on a few pounds a year, even though I was conscious of eating healthy and avoiding sweets most of the time. I always felt guilty about eating sweets. Now I enjoy my sweets, just only on the weekends. I ate a lot of snacks before, now I enjoy being hungry for each of my 3 meals a day. I rarely have that sickening overfull guilty feeling that was so common to me before NoS.
One thing I LOVE about NoS is that I know I can easily maintain my weight if I just stick to the simple habit, and the habit is not hard! You can't say that about any other diet that I know of.
The boards, the encouragement of others who have walked this path is so valuable. So many success stories! I feel like I'm not alone on the journey.
Right before Thanksgiving I started a running program (C25K) and gradually worked my way up till I could run for 35 minutes straight. I love the way my metabolism kicked up and I have more energy. I'd like to run further and faster but I'm having some knee issues. I was also faithful to The No S habit and for the first time in my life I lost weight over the holidays. I did this while allowing some extra S days and events, and enjoying sweet treats. YESSSS!
January this year was quite stressful, I flew home to help my family for 3 weeks as my Mom had an apparent heart attack. I was able to stick to habit most days, and didn't relapse or gain weight. I stuck to my running schedule, every other day, running outside whenever it was above zero Fahrenheit, even right after snow, they plow the walking paths there... a couple times I ran indoors in a shopping mall. I was proud of myself!
I look forward to sticking with the NoS habit as a way of life. Why would I want to give up freedom! Thanks Reinhard for sharing your wisdom with us!
March 23, 2013 update:
As soon as I wrote my testimonial, I thought I should have explained what happened when I relapsed. I'm writing this for my own benefit, because I may soon be in a similar situation as last year, also it may help someone else to avoid the same mistakes I made.
When I started No S, i was quite motivated to lose weight, because i was alarmed at how much weight had crept back on. The first few weeks i was in Minnesota, we are busy there but it was the honeymoon period with No S and I lost about 3 pounds. I usually have a more laid back style of life here in Mexico. When we came to Mexico, it was nice to have the boards for encouragement, because when we first get here in the fall we usually are NOT busy, and I feel a little lonesome. I did well, settling in to a routine here with No S, but didn't get into much exercise, I kept loading my plates pretty full and didn't lose and maintain any more weight loss the six months we were here. When we got back to the states in April, I was So busy right away.... Working 30 plus hours a week, plus 15 to 20 hours of ministry work, along with conferences, helping my folks and trying to get together with friends. I actually maintained for a couple months even without posting here on the board. I took 5 trips in July and August, and didn't gain weight, but without accountability, September and October I just lost the habit... And gained 7 pounds!
So here is my plan for success this summer. I will keep up with my "daily" thread. I don't have to post daily but must account for EVERY DAY. Accountability is the most important key to success on the no S habit for me. I decided I won't work for pay more than 20 hours a week, the ministry and family must take priority. I'm also going to make a rule that if I have more than 4 reds in a month, I have to do a 21 day challenge to get back on track. Those have always helped me, and I can do them. I've done 3 this winter. I'll also keep up with the running at least 3 times a week. So far this habit has been self motivating for me, i missed only once since I started, and thats this week, the hotel had no place to run, and it was too dangerous to leave the grounds. I just love the way I feel when I run and afterwards, and it's key to losing weight. By the way, I think I found the secret to not hurting my knees. I had been running on concrete, because all the streets are concrete here in my neighborhood. Now I walk to the soccer field, and run on the grass and dirt around it for 30 to 35 minutes then walk back... 55 minutes total workout. I also wear knee supports. My knees are fine, and I think I lost a couple more pounds in the past 2 weeks! Yes!!! So that's the plan, it helped me to think this out, hope it helps someone else.
I love No S! Even though I have 20 to 25 pounds I still could lose, and the weight is coming off s l o w l y, I am heading the right direction, and my relationship with food is much better. Before I started No S I was very discouraged, thinking the only way to lose weight was a strict calorie counting mode, because that's the way I had lost weight before. I had gotten down to almost my ideal weight a few years ago, lost 20 plus pounds, but the weight crept back on a few pounds a year, even though I was conscious of eating healthy and avoiding sweets most of the time. I always felt guilty about eating sweets. Now I enjoy my sweets, just only on the weekends. I ate a lot of snacks before, now I enjoy being hungry for each of my 3 meals a day. I rarely have that sickening overfull guilty feeling that was so common to me before NoS.
One thing I LOVE about NoS is that I know I can easily maintain my weight if I just stick to the simple habit, and the habit is not hard! You can't say that about any other diet that I know of.
The boards, the encouragement of others who have walked this path is so valuable. So many success stories! I feel like I'm not alone on the journey.
Right before Thanksgiving I started a running program (C25K) and gradually worked my way up till I could run for 35 minutes straight. I love the way my metabolism kicked up and I have more energy. I'd like to run further and faster but I'm having some knee issues. I was also faithful to The No S habit and for the first time in my life I lost weight over the holidays. I did this while allowing some extra S days and events, and enjoying sweet treats. YESSSS!
January this year was quite stressful, I flew home to help my family for 3 weeks as my Mom had an apparent heart attack. I was able to stick to habit most days, and didn't relapse or gain weight. I stuck to my running schedule, every other day, running outside whenever it was above zero Fahrenheit, even right after snow, they plow the walking paths there... a couple times I ran indoors in a shopping mall. I was proud of myself!
I look forward to sticking with the NoS habit as a way of life. Why would I want to give up freedom! Thanks Reinhard for sharing your wisdom with us!
March 23, 2013 update:
As soon as I wrote my testimonial, I thought I should have explained what happened when I relapsed. I'm writing this for my own benefit, because I may soon be in a similar situation as last year, also it may help someone else to avoid the same mistakes I made.
When I started No S, i was quite motivated to lose weight, because i was alarmed at how much weight had crept back on. The first few weeks i was in Minnesota, we are busy there but it was the honeymoon period with No S and I lost about 3 pounds. I usually have a more laid back style of life here in Mexico. When we came to Mexico, it was nice to have the boards for encouragement, because when we first get here in the fall we usually are NOT busy, and I feel a little lonesome. I did well, settling in to a routine here with No S, but didn't get into much exercise, I kept loading my plates pretty full and didn't lose and maintain any more weight loss the six months we were here. When we got back to the states in April, I was So busy right away.... Working 30 plus hours a week, plus 15 to 20 hours of ministry work, along with conferences, helping my folks and trying to get together with friends. I actually maintained for a couple months even without posting here on the board. I took 5 trips in July and August, and didn't gain weight, but without accountability, September and October I just lost the habit... And gained 7 pounds!
So here is my plan for success this summer. I will keep up with my "daily" thread. I don't have to post daily but must account for EVERY DAY. Accountability is the most important key to success on the no S habit for me. I decided I won't work for pay more than 20 hours a week, the ministry and family must take priority. I'm also going to make a rule that if I have more than 4 reds in a month, I have to do a 21 day challenge to get back on track. Those have always helped me, and I can do them. I've done 3 this winter. I'll also keep up with the running at least 3 times a week. So far this habit has been self motivating for me, i missed only once since I started, and thats this week, the hotel had no place to run, and it was too dangerous to leave the grounds. I just love the way I feel when I run and afterwards, and it's key to losing weight. By the way, I think I found the secret to not hurting my knees. I had been running on concrete, because all the streets are concrete here in my neighborhood. Now I walk to the soccer field, and run on the grass and dirt around it for 30 to 35 minutes then walk back... 55 minutes total workout. I also wear knee supports. My knees are fine, and I think I lost a couple more pounds in the past 2 weeks! Yes!!! So that's the plan, it helped me to think this out, hope it helps someone else.