Lost my obsession already?!

Divahat · Post by **Divahat** » Fri Apr 09, 2010 12:37 pm

Hello all- I've been lurking for a while, but I just have to post. Since I was in college and gained the freshman 15, I've been trying to diet. I've had some mild, initial success with WW, but counting points, restricting myself, drove me half-insane and I ended up with a secret eating/binging problem. You can guess that the dieting made me heavier in the long run. Every new diet I'd try, I'd think that maybe, just maybe, this was it. But all I truly want now (besides, let's be honest, to lose some poundage, but at this point, that's truly secondary) was to be a NORMAL EATER- I am so sick of obsessing about food, planning binges, feeling guilty about eating- I was obsessed.
I stumbled across No S a few weeks ago, and have been following the system for about two weeks now. It is so simplistic and REAL. I've downloaded and listened to all the podcasts (LOVE them!). I am simply amazed that it seems to have removed all the guilt I used to feel about eating! IN ONLY TWO WEEKS?! I've been fighting this battle for 18 years! Sure, my S days are somewhat wild, but I'm concentrating on ingraining the habits right now. I truly believe that this is it- what I've been searching for for years. My N day plates have become less piled-high. I am satisfied with less food. Even on S days, I get uncomfortably full is I eat too much- on Easter I actually turned down dessert because I was too full (hello??? WHO AM I?).
I am planning on some nice treats this weekend- pancakes for breakfast tomorrow and some Easter candy. And I don't feel one little twinge of guilt.
I am calm. Even getting dressed in the morning is no longer difficult. I have accepted my size as I am now, and feel more confident that I have in years. I am in control, and actually feel that I'm on the 'Normal" (whatever that is) Road.

Thank you so much for No S!

Divahat

scgal · Post by **scgal** » Fri Apr 09, 2010 12:46 pm

Great post! You're right: it is simplistic and real!

dmarie710 · Post by **dmarie710** » Fri Apr 09, 2010 3:41 pm

welcome Divahat. Your are so right about this way of eating. I hope to see you around alot more on the board. So glad your here.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 12:24 am

Okay, I don't mean to be a downer, but let me give you my experience. I have been No S-ing since Jan. 1, and was sailing along with almost no problems. It was easy! I just wasn't getting the urges to eat or pig out that I used to. It was like magic. Just in the last 3 weeks, the urges to overeat have returned and I can't relate it to anything. I had been able to have candy and all sorts of crap in the house for nearly 3 months with no problem, but last night I found myself talking myself into eating some chocolate. Then this morning there I was in a supermarket before work almost buying a bag of 50% off Easter chocolate mini-eggs that I was planning to tear open and eat by the handful before 7:30 a.m. Miraculously, I walked out without getting them and have stuck to No S today, but it has been hard. I don't know why, but I'm suspecting it may be the aftermath of a Zen intensive I went to. I know vegetarians might be upset with my saying it, but though I was eating just 3 (starchy vegetarian) meals a day there, and getting to do an hour or more (when added up) of walking every day, I was about 3 lbs. up when I got back. And I've been plagued by urges off and on much more since then than before.

So, I'm saying this because you just may not have hit a wall yet. But, I'm still committed to No S, and this may never happen to you. I'm thrilled for you feelings of liberation and hope they live on-and that mine return.

marygrace · Post by **marygrace** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 5:31 am

oolala53 wrote:Okay, I don't mean to be a downer, but let me give you my experience. I have been No S-ing since Jan. 1, and was sailing along with almost no problems. It was easy! I just wasn't getting the urges to eat or pig out that I used to. It was like magic. Just in the last 3 weeks, the urges to overeat have returned and I can't relate it to anything. I had been able to have candy and all sorts of crap in the house for nearly 3 months with no problem, but last night I found myself talking myself into eating some chocolate. Then this morning there I was in a supermarket before work almost buying a bag of 50% off Easter chocolate mini-eggs that I was planning to tear open and eat by the handful before 7:30 a.m. Miraculously, I walked out without getting them and have stuck to No S today, but it has been hard. I don't know why, but I'm suspecting it may be the aftermath of a Zen intensive I went to. I know vegetarians might be upset with my saying it, but though I was eating just 3 (starchy vegetarian) meals a day there, and getting to do an hour or more (when added up) of walking every day, I was about 3 lbs. up when I got back. And I've been plagued by urges off and on much more since then than before.

So, I'm saying this because you just may not have hit a wall yet. But, I'm still committed to No S, and this may never happen to you. I'm thrilled for you feelings of liberation and hope they live on-and that mine return.

I think lots of us have experienced ups and downs with NoS. For some people, it clicks immediately (Divahat, maybe this is you!). For others, even those who find initial success (like me), there are roadblocks. The important thing is that we stick to it.

So you think the starchy vegetarian meals have caused your cravings to return? That's interesting--are you still eating this way? I'm a vegetarian, so my diet probably is higher in carbs than an omnivore; some days I have cravings and some days I don't. Of course, I don't really know if or how this would be different if I ate meat, but I have a feeling it'd be pretty much the same. When I eat more healthful foods (whole grains instead of refined, lots of vegetables, minimal sugar) I have fewer cravings. When I choose something on the less-healthful end of the spectrum (like pancakes, which I felt like having for lunch yesterday) I had sweets on my mind in the afternoon and evening.

janieb · Post by **janieb** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 9:25 am

Good for you, Divahat! I am also new to no s, and though I haven't gotten to the place you are yet, it sure is a very reasonable way to live and eat. I agree that there may be times when your resolve is not as clear as it is now, but forarmed is forwarned, right?

As for the vegetarian meals, oohlala, were they salty? I've noticed that if I have a stirfry that is heavy on the soy sauce, I weigh a couple of pounds more in the morning...

But what I've also found is that to be successful on N days, I like to have a LOT of control over what I eat. If I have a lunch that someone else prepares that I think might not get me through till dinner, I get kind of squirrly and often end up snacking out of some weird, unreasonable fear.

Could eating meals you didn't control be part of your backlash reaction, oohlala??

Jane

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 11:41 am

Congrats on your success, Divahat!

I'm not sure why anyone expects never to be tempted, to slip up or to have small weight gains due to a change in diet, etc. There are extremely few people who are never tempted by things -- and I don't understand them at all. I just know they exist!

Starla · Post by **Starla** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 12:59 pm

Welcome, Divahat! You're describing the way I felt when I started No S. And after seven months I still feel the same. The physical effects of No S are wonderful, but it's the mental change that makes me believe I can do No S for the rest of my life.

oolala53 wrote:So, I'm saying this because you just may not have hit a wall yet. But, I'm still committed to No S, and this may never happen to you. I'm thrilled for you feelings of liberation and hope they live on-and that mine return.

oolala, I have defintely been through ups and downs with No S. There are times (most of the time now) when it's very easy, and everything goes exactly as planned. And there are times when it's a real struggle not to eat food I don't even want! So I think what you're going through is absolutely par for the course. Fighting through this period is crucial, because the easy times will come again.

cescadarling · Post by **cescadarling** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 5:27 pm

hi divahat...
our plights sound similar. i am beginning no s today so that i may break the cycle you described in your post... best of luck to you and to me!