Hi from a newbie / Surprises

Lhmlean · Post by **Lhmlean** » Thu Aug 14, 2014 12:37 am

Hi everyone,

I've been at NoS for about 5 weeks now. I'm loving it. Makes so much sense! I've reading/lurking on this board for a couple of weeks now and I'm just thrilled by the vibrant, welcoming, helpful community here. Thank you to everyone who participates. Such wonderful information and support here.

I'm one of those folks who "needs to drop 10-20 lbs" and have been cycling through these same pounds for the last 20 years or so. Dropping excess weight is not about getting skinny, but rather finding my optimal wellness which includes a sustainable and healthy relationship with food and my body. For the past 4 months or so I've been heavily into working on having a more positive body image and I'm definitely seeing some progress in that regard. I feel an incredible amount of peace and also sadness that I've put my body through pointless hell and abuse. But god love her, she keeps on going!

After feeling unfocused with the whole intuitive eating thing, I am so so glad to find NoS. I read a post the other night about rules = freedom and for me that is so true. I need structure and this seems to provide the right amount.

A few pleasant surprises for me:
1) Not eating sweets has been a lot easier than I expected. Most shocking to me has been how easy it's been to forgo my after dinner dessert which had been an embedded ritual and completely unnecessary. In fact, so many times I would say to myself, "why am I eating right now? I'm not even hungry?" or "what should I make myself for a dessert?" or some crazy head-hunger talk like that. I think I needed the framework of NoS to give me the solid reason to stop all that nonsense.

2) I'm taking much, much longer to eat meals. I've been trying to follow my son's lead--most children--who eats a few bites, put his utensil down and then maybe 5 min later resumes eating again. I've also been consciously trying to really chew my food well and slow down the whole shovel-it-in-my-mouth routine. It's working! And I'm enjoying it.

I'm still in the phase of overfilling my plates for fear of hunger between meals. I eat normal healthy foods because I like them but I just eat too much of them. That's always been my problem. And despite being the largest I've been in years (after rebounding from a Paleo stint earlier this year), I am determined to go with the flow with my body and in natural time discover where my appetite leads me. I am determined to be patient even though it's difficult at times. But I can't imagine doing anything differently now and no way in heck will I ever, EVER go back to diet world again.

aspencer27 · Post by **aspencer27** » Thu Aug 14, 2014 12:28 pm

Welcome! Glad to hear you've been doing so great at this for 5 weeks now, that's awesome! I've found that NoS has actually helped with my body image, too. I don't think I've really lost much weight, if any or really seen any changes, but I am definitely not as hard on myself - it feels so much better.

I agree about the lack of focus through intuitive eating - it's just so abstract. I do like the concept overall, I just need some rules on how to get there. I like how you're taking longer to eat your meals. This is something that I want to focus on next, but I'm not really sure how to implement it.

Lhmlean · Post by **Lhmlean** » Fri Aug 15, 2014 7:37 pm

Thank you, aspecner27. I haven't lost any weight either but I feel so much better mentally.

What's helping me with eating more slowly is trying to thoroughly chew my food. And also using a little free app called Eat Slow for which you can set up a time interval between bites. I am not counting bites. Tried that and for me was just too obsessive and joyless. But that's just me. I know others who enjoy counting bites. Toward that end the Eat Slow Pro is all about counting bites so if you're just looking for something help with slowing down the rate at which the fork goes to the mouth, the free version is best.

gingerpie · Post by **gingerpie** » Sat Aug 16, 2014 11:55 am

Hi, welcome to the No-S lifestyle. I'm glad to hear it is going well for you. For me, no-s provides a handy framework of structure and routine. I hope it works out for you in the way you need. In any case, I'm sure you will learn a lot about yourself along the way.

vistech · Post by **vistech** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:49 am

Well come to you i agreed I do like the concept overall, I just need some rules on how to get there. I like how you're taking longer to eat your meals.keep it up