Lifestyle change shouldn't be excruciating

joasia · Post by **joasia** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 3:09 am

I read somewhere that lifestyle change (e.g. diet, exercise, etc.) should serve to improve and make your life better, not make it miserable. And I think that is so true. If your diet makes you nuts and obsessed every minute of the day, it is not worth it. I have had brief flirtations with returning to weight watchers. I know the pounds would come off fast. But I know they would come back even faster. And last weekend I went to a barbecue. I had a plate of food, no stress. The same time two years ago, while on WW, I would have obsessed the whole afternoon. How many ounces is the chicken, how much does the bread weigh, how much fiber does it have because the more fiber the less points, did I have 1/2 cup of potato salad or 3/4 cup, or maybe a cup because the point's value is very different for each of these servings. And you are not going to whip out your food scale and measuring cups at the barbecue. It is bad enough being fat without having to explain to people what you are doing with your measuring devices. You can't sustain this. I did for one year and it still didn't stick. And I really tried. Lost 50 pounds, gained 70. And I HATED it.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:47 am

I agree 100%. By the way, I left you a PM.

pangelsue · Post by **pangelsue** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:49 am

I also totally agree. The only thing we have to do here is learn to control freedom. Other diets are like oppressive dictatorships and no one is free. This is a total democracy. But like in a democracy, it is possible to live and love controlled freedoms, abuse them or throw them out. So there is only one real task here on No S. We need to be responsible for our behavior. Reinhard gave us the constitution and bill of rights and we are in charge of the behavior modifications. On this board we have the far right who still want to restrict everything. We have the far left who want to throw out the even these simple rules because we have a thing with rules (this would be me) . And we have the middle of the road people who flourish and do well.
I'm learning to control freedom but it is not easy. I keep thinking freedom means being able to do whatever I want. It should mean freedom to do what I know will make me flourish and be strong. I rhink it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks, it just takes longer.
Have a good day, guys and love the freedom. You know, of course, we can never go back to those old days, right?

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:56 pm

Milczar, I so totally hear you. I did lose weight on WW, but it took SO much attention. And I could NOT maintain on it. Just couldn't... the pounds would creep back on, and I'd feel like a failure. And I'd feel overwhelmed at the thought of going back "on program" because it took SO much energy.

Now... well, after the first quick loss, I've been in the same "range" for a while. About 5 lbs over what I'd like, but within healthy BMI range. I'm starting to think it's where my body wants to be and that my brain needs to do the adjusting.

But the wonderful part is simply hat I don't obsess about food. I maintain effortlessly on No-S, and I enjoy both food and life. It is a major change for me. It is almost miraculous that I can have a bag of Kisses or Dove's chocolates in the house (I put one in my son's lunch each day) and NOT eat them up immediately. Yes, I'll have some (and maybe too many once I start) on S-days, but it used to be that I could not keep them in the house because I'd eat them the minute I got home with them.

Normal eating - a new pleasure.

florafloraflora · Post by **florafloraflora** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 2:07 pm

Thank you all for posting here. I really needed these reminders of how sensible No-S is. I just hit the 21-day mark last week and I feel solid in my No-S habits, but I'm also having a hard time with how slow my progress has been, given how much I have left to lose. I am progressing, but soooo slowly!

I'll be meeting some online friends in person for the first time in a little over a month. It's really tempting to start piling on restrictions to speed up my weight loss so I'll look better for this occasion. But I like my newfound sanity too, and I know this is a truly sustainable change in my eating habits if I can just get through the need to shed lots of weight in a hurry.

joasia · Post by **joasia** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 2:43 pm

Thanks wosnes. I never check my messages because I didn't know how or that I even had any. So much for thriving in the technology age =)

navin · Post by **navin** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:21 pm

I agree about 80%. Most of the time, lifestyle changes shouldn't be excruciatingly hard. That being said, when I first heard about No-S, I thought going a whole day - let alone 5 in a week - without snacks or sweets would be excruciatingly hard! But I went and tried it anyway, and it really wasn't that hard after all.

Sometimes the consequences of NOT making lifestyle changes are even harder. If I were older and had were much more overweight, and thus at a much greater risk of a heart attack or other maladies, I'd be more apt to take more difficult measures (such as Weight Watchers or something like that).