Everyday Systems

Hello, I learned of NoS a couple of years ago…liked how it sounded, lurked on the boards, gave it a whirl, but didn’t stick with it. My backstory… I was always the skinny kid growing up, I am tall (6 feet) and have always been very active until a few years ago when a decades old back injury pretty much sidelined anything but gentle exercise. My weight was in the low 150’s when my kids were little, then creeped up to the low 160’s by the time I was in my early 40’s. When I turned 50 and went through menopause, I worked my way up into the 170’s. Over the years I have tried every diet with very limited success. In my heart, I really just don’t believe in dieting…I was a natural, “intuitive” eater until I got to college… and EVERYONE was dieting. As I put on a few of those freshman ten pounds I thought I needed to get on the dieting bandwagon, and voila! A disordered eater was born. As I have been a failed dieter my whole life, I have used exercise to control my weight. Now, without exercise, and being firmly in menopause I can’t lose two pounds, much less the 20 I would like to.

A visit to my doctor in June 2015 revealed that my cholesterol was sneaking up (not huge, but definitely not the direction I want it to go), and I decided I needed to make some changes. Ended up listening to “Sugar, the Bitter Truth” by Robert Lustig, and watching some documentaries on sugar (fructose) consumption. I recognized my problem with sugar, and decided I needed to remove it from my diet. Over the next few months, I lost 20 lbs! This was the first time in my life I had ever lost any significant amount of weight, and I was the lowest I’d been in 20 years. I thought I had unlocked the secret (for me). I felt great, and for the first time in a long time, felt comfortable in my own skin. Unfortunately, I let sugar sneak in at Christmas time, and the dam broke. I truly do believe that it is an addictive substance….I couldn’t let it go again…even as I watched my weight move steadily upward until June of 2016 when I was right back to my beginning weight from the prior year. All summer I have been saying that I am going to get back to it…and I have for a few weeks…but of course, this time, I don’t see the weight coming off quickly like last time and so I can’t stick with it. And here I sit once again, hating the way my clothes fit, feeling uncomfortable, and watching my cholesterol creep again. It’s remarkable… I am a successful person…I can accomplish just about anything I set my mind to…until it comes to my weight. I want to get back to that weight…to be healthy and to feel good about myself. And now I have been invited by a girlfriend on a trip to Mexico in February…I want to be able to put on a swimsuit and not feel disgusted with myself.

NoS makes perfect sense to me. I know the weight loss is slow, but if I could even get 10 pounds off by February I would be happy. But I wonder…will it work for me? I’ve scoured the boards looking for someone “like me”… someone in their 50’s who’s gotten those last 10 or 20 lbs off with NoS and gotten to their ideal weight. I know there are many who have lost many pounds…and I am not discounting that… but I want to get rid of the inner tube around my middle and feel good about putting on a snug t-shirt again. I don’t want those “last 5 pounds” hanging around. I would love to hear about that kind of success. I am a rule follower, so I love that NoS has rules that are meant to be broken…as demonstrated with my no sugar experiment, once a rule is broken, I decide that I have failed and go off the deep end.

Anyway, sorry for the length of this…if there is anyone who can relate to me and my story, I would love to hear how NoS has worked for you.

Thanks!

I have a different story but your story is very similar to my mother's story. She's 56 now, thin until her late 30s and then she put on some weight, about 40 pounds over where she wants to be (overweight but not obese on the BMI charts). I introduced her to No S years ago, 2008 or so, and she adopted it and kept with it when I did not. She showed me up!

In the first year and a half, she dropped the 40 pounds that she wanted to and actually has to keep her calories up to maintain her new figure. She lost all the weight post-menopause and with a serious health issue that causes one's weight usually to increase. Her problem was snacking and large portions; she was never a sugar addict (like me) but she eats sweets on her S days, usually something from the Whole Foods bakery; she's fond of their 1000-calorie turtle brownie.

She says consistency is the key and that she didn't quit even though she has weeks every year, summer vacation and Christmas time, where she can't string three days together. But she always gets back up on the horse and I think that's why she's kept the weight off when others in our family have not.

Thank you for sharing your mom's story Nantahala! That is exactly the encouragement I needed!

You've given me the boost I needed to start this thing, I so appreciate the time you took to respond! Hopefully others will have some similar stories to share.

All the best!

Wow, Nantahala...your mother's story is very encouraging to me too! Is your mom very active?

Oregongirl, my story is quite a bit different than yours, but I wish you all the best on your NoS journey!

welcome, oregongirl!
even with different stories, lots of nice people here on the forum to give you encouragement!
noS feels so sane!

and wow, nantahala, what a beautiful story of your mother!! i love it!

btw. i also find that noS tends to drive me below my goal weight and i had to add a bit food at one point to stop losing... that moment could be a slippery slope of going off the noS and regaining all back and becoming hectic with eating habits again... so sticking to it and/or coming back to it is important, imho... and your mum is an inspiration...

Thank you, e-lyn and kaalii! I am so ready for sane. And I'm looking forward to being part of the forum instead of just lurking, haha!

Yesterday was a good day, so I am off to a good start.