Why I love 3 meals a day the NoS way...

[vmsurbat]

I've been following Nos now for 2 1/2 months. I am using the first of every month as a weigh/measure day (because I ultimately DO want to lose weight and inches), but on a daily basis I am trying to focus MORE on habit-building and adopting "Moderation, Moderation, Moderation" as my mantra.

The simplicity of 3 meals a day has been wonderful. It took the whole first month to get a good idea of consistently reasonable portions--I'd alternate between reasonable, fill-the-whole-plate-to-the-max (somehow afraid of "starving" before the next meal), and diet-plate mentalities.

In the second month, I have actually gotten in touch with eating according to real needs, just like a little kid. Little kids eat more when they are getting ready to spurt up or are involved in extra activity, less when they are not--they are not controlled by how much fits on their plate. With three meals a day, I've rediscovered that on days when I am not nearly as active, I feel uncomfortably full with "reasonable" portions and can actually choose to eat less---not because I'm on "a diet", but because it MAKES SENSE and I FEEL BETTER.

Also, with three meals a day, it is easy to see that in my case, moderate eating (good, reasonably healthy food) will REQUIRE moderate "moving about." The old calories in vs. calories out applies to NoS, too, but it is easy to see that I have only two choices: eating less or moving more if I want to lose weight. Since I don't want to limit myself to "rabbit food" or "diet recipes", I must increase my activity level. This is a good thing to know!

And, even with a focus on building habits (which was challenging in Aug. as much of the month was spent on holidays, birthdays, etc), I did manage (I'm amazed) to lose 10 pounds on the past 2.5 months. But I know that won't continue now that summer is over and my "normal" amount of activity has gone way down. But rather than searching for diet recipes, I am learning how to increase my activity level

NoS--A SANE way to eat, drink, and be merry.

[wosnes]

It's too bad that Susan Powter copyrighted the phrase "Stop the Insanity" -- because to my knowledge, this is truly the least insane way to eat and lose weight.