A great system!

[sk8rgirl]

I've been lurking here for a while and am impressed with the system and the comments-there seem to be a lot of nice people on this board. I've been following the No S plan for about three weeks. I like it because before this I had absolutely no self control when it came to food. I used to be one of those lucky people who thought they could eat whatever and whenever they wanted and not worry about weight because I was never really overweight. Unfortunately, the pounds have been steadily creeping on over the years and now it's to a point where I have to do something. The No S plan is simple, has specific rules, and has something to look forward to. I've been really good about keeping to the rules since they're so cut and dried. The only thing is... I haven't lost an ounce so far. I think it's odd because I've really cut down on the amount of food I eat since I used to snack almost constantly. My activity is about the same as before. I think this is really odd. Any helpful hints?

[david]

sk8rgirl,

Welcome to the forum!

No-S can be frustrating because there are weight-loss plateaus. If I were you I would stick with it as strictly as possible for 21 days and don't hop on the scale until then. I would also get waist and hip measurements now and then re-do them after day 21. If you stick to the rules (re-read the main No-S page every day if you have to) then I'm sure you will see improvement.

Also, don't discount improvement in food control. That aspect may actually be worth more than weight loss.

I would love to read updates on your progress!

thanks,
david

[reinhard]

Welcome, sk8rgirl.

I'm sorry to hear it's been slow going in terms of pounds lost, but that's not unusual on no-s. Because its approach is so moderate (this is a big plus for the long term), you're unlikely to experience a quick drop up front.

Are you eating less? With your new limited input opportunities, it should be easy to tell. If you're confident about this, relax. The weight will come off. If not, you're still in a better position than you were before. The habits you've established should make it easy to identify any remaining excess. Is it enormous firsts? Crazy weekends?

Let's say you don't notice anything obvious and your weight is still the same three weeks from now. I wish you and expect better than that, but let's be pessimistic, for argument's sake. That's still an improvement over the status quo of "weight creeping up on you." Stopping movement in the wrong direction is progress.

Tipping the movement in the right direction won't take much at this point. You might even want to approach it from the exercise angle rather than putting all your eggs in the diet basket. Moderate effort from both these angles is much more pleasant and sustainable than extreme effort on just one.

Hope something here helps (or even better, that the scale mysteriously starts cooperating),

Reinhard

[sk8rgirl]

Thanks for the nice welcomes and the good advice! I am definitely eating less than before-mostly a lot less junk food like cookies and other snack food. So that's another benefit, in addition to winning control over food. It's a good point that this way it's easy to keep track of what I am eating and reduce portions if needed. And on the weekends I do enjoy a few treats, but find that I still use moderation since I don't want to "spoil" any benefit I might get from all the self control and hungry moments that I experienced during the week. I haven't gained anything in the last three weeks so that stopped a bad trend. Now that I think about it more, I remember that I usually gain weight in the summer since during the school year I walk five miles a day just going around the school and in the classroom (I hardly ever sit down). Good advice, I will get out and skate more often and I just bought a fancy jump rope for rainy days. I really like this approach because it seems to be possible to actually do it long-term. It's the first eating plan that I've actually followed for more than a week or two. Thanks again.

[Donna O]

I am so glad that you posted this comment-- i am in the same place

that you are in right now !

as a matter of fact, i even tried for a couple of days to "diet" again-
and it backfired miseraly !!!( for me, dieting ALWAYS leads to binging)

thanks for the post, and thanks reinhard for your ever sane advise

Donna O

[krs]

sk8rgirl, when I started doing no-S seriously (and exercising just as seriously), the scale initially went UP instead of down. I wanted to throw something out the window--myself, or the scale. I'm here to tell the story, so guess what went? My recommendation? Get a piece of clothing you've outgrown (non-stretch jeans are great for this). Keep going and stay off the scale until you can fit back into those jeans. Then and only then hop back on the scale. Alternatively, use a tape measure, and get someone to measure you, once a month. Active folks like you often build muscle and retain water, which queers your weight measurement. That's my 2 cents, hope that's helpful advice.

(p.s. changing the type of exercise you do also helps. if you do one kind of cardio, you might want to switch to another kind. and i can't say enough good things about resistance training--either shovelglove, or calisthenics, or weights--especially for women.)