Life Change with No S

mjn · Post by **mjn** » Mon May 10, 2010 9:23 pm

Wow, I have struggled so much with gaining and losing 20 lbs over and over. I am 5'3" and weigh 156.5. I feel the best around 148. I can maintain easily at 152. I know that is still overweight, but that is where I feel the best. I have been doing NoS off and on for the past 3 years and always it works. This last year was a difficult year and I let my weight get up to 170. Wow! Anyway, I am back on NoS and it is working once again. I have lost 11 lbs since Apr. 5th. I do walk most days at least 10,000 steps and use a 9 inch plate. No S is a lifestyle change. I feel so good waiting for my meals and not snacking. It works if you keep going and stay with the rules. (I use the 9 inch plate because that is all the food I need to feel full and I don't lose weight when I use larger plates.)

Graham · Post by **Graham** » Tue May 11, 2010 10:19 am

Hi mjn - I wonder, would you mind saying what it is that throws you off the No S wagon when it seems you are so happy with it when you are on it?

I'm pretty new here and just trying to understand what the issues are for longer-term No S'ing.

Take care, Graham

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Tue May 11, 2010 10:52 am

I think my question is the same as Graham's -- only worded differently. If No-S works, why do you go off the program? It sounds as if you gain when you stop following No-S.

mimi · Post by **mimi** » Tue May 11, 2010 11:19 am

I think I can shed a little light on that question - at least from my perspective. I do not handle stress, drama, and other high-emotional issues of living very well...really, not well at all. My way of dealing prior to discovering NoS was to drown myself in comfort foods and eat until I numbed the bad feelings. I know this is not the way to deal with feelings, but I was raised in a house where you didn't talk about bad things - the philosophy was if you "swept them under the rug," ignored them, and pretended they weren't there, they would magically disappear.
Well, of course, as an adult I know that approach is totally unhealthy and unproductive, but sometimes I am at a loss of how to handle bad things and I revert to the old ways of my childhood. Then I find it increasingly difficult to climb back aboard the NoS wagon. I am in the midst of this very type of situation right now. We are dealing with an aging mother-in-law who is in a nursing care facility and constantly reminds us how much she wants to come home, and both my sisters-in-laws recently diagnosed with cancer. I must admit that it is the cancer that sends me spinning having lost both my mother at a young age and my father a few years ago to it.
Okay, enough about me...but I hope this sheds some light on why I stray from NoS. Presently I'm working very hard on dealing with emotions and not giving up on NoS.
Mimi

mjn · Post by **mjn** » Tue May 11, 2010 9:55 pm

I think that I will get off track for a couple of days at some point and snack or overeat alot and then I just keep staying off track. I have to learn not to do that. I have a hard time stopping that behavior once I get started. I love popcorn and that is a trigger food for me. I have to give it up or I just get back to eating it all the time, with lots of butter and cheese. Anyway, I feel so much better on NoS than any other times. I have to learn self control, that's all..

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Tue May 11, 2010 10:16 pm

May I just gently say that if you are worried about illness, one of the best things you can do for yourself is eat well. I know it is no guarantee, but it's got to be better than eating too much. Although I am far from a vegetarian, I did take macrobiotic cooking classes years ago. Michio Kushi, who introduced this system to the US, used to say that overeating was worse than anything-worse than meat and worse than sugar. And that is saying something because those were pretty much toxins to them.

I hope this helps you when the anxiety munchies start yammering. Do your body and spirit a favor and don't eat! It will go back to being easier, and you will be in better shape to fight illness, if you are unlucky enough to contract something.

mimi · Post by **mimi** » Wed May 12, 2010 10:24 am

Thanks for the wise advice oolala53. I'm sure there is much truth to that...overeating surely plays havoc with all of the body's systems - evident with how badly one feels afterward.
It's not so much that I'm frightened about getting cancer or some other dreaded disease, but I can't stand to watch someone else suffer with it...too many terrible memories...and I don't handle them well.
But, thanks again for sharing your insight.

Mimi