Last night I weighed myself, as usual, and afterwards, as usual, I felt depressed.
Then it ocurred to me: if what I'm attempting to do is create habits that will define my eating for a lifetime, why am I obsessed with a number rather than the green on my habitcal? Because the truth is, I have been (after a bit of a relapse last week) been very on track and have felt very sucessful.
Seeing the number on the scale made me feel like a failure.
So from now on I'm not weighing myself.
stay off the scale
Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating
i've stopped weighing myself too. i just do it once a week or once in two weeks. sometimes i go a month without even remembering to check my weight. same reason as you. and i have to say, that it works better for me. before i always got depressed too. and i ate afterwards thinking: oh well, i'm not losing weight, so i might just as well stop trying. but you don't loose something you can notice in a day or two. but in a week you do! even if it's just a pound, it makes you feel a success.
by the way, when i started exercising and jogging , i got more room in my clothes, but when i looked at the scales i even put on a pound in the first two weeks. that's because muscle weights more than fat. so if you started building muscle, you should take the scales even less seriously
good luck and stick to your decision
by the way, when i started exercising and jogging , i got more room in my clothes, but when i looked at the scales i even put on a pound in the first two weeks. that's because muscle weights more than fat. so if you started building muscle, you should take the scales even less seriously
good luck and stick to your decision
-
gratefuldeb67
- Posts: 6256
- Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:26 pm
- Location: Great Neck, NY
Hi Betty!
Congratulations on having a good day.
The scale will not always be a reflection of this, at least not always immediately..
I know how it can psych you out.
NoS takes consistent long term adherence to the rules to really see changes, so try to space out you weighing and do what you said,,,to focus on your great new habits!
The weight will definitely come off if you stick with it.
Peace and Love,
Debs
Congratulations on having a good day.
The scale will not always be a reflection of this, at least not always immediately..
I know how it can psych you out.
NoS takes consistent long term adherence to the rules to really see changes, so try to space out you weighing and do what you said,,,to focus on your great new habits!
The weight will definitely come off if you stick with it.
Peace and Love,
DebsThere is no Wisdom greater than Kindness
Muscle replacing fat
I'm very glad to see this topic featured here.
I'm only two days into the no s diet so it's way too early to talk of weight loss in that context. But I've been very consistent with my yoga for the past nine months and though I find my body contours changing and becoming more structured vs flabby, I don't find that change reflecting in the weighing scales. And I'm a person who weighs herself very religiously every morning after brushing my teeth!! Very, very discouraging and slightly disconcerting since I find my clothes becoming looser and I feel fitter.
And details on how fat is replaced by muscle? Would like to know of experiences others have had with this...
Savita
I'm only two days into the no s diet so it's way too early to talk of weight loss in that context. But I've been very consistent with my yoga for the past nine months and though I find my body contours changing and becoming more structured vs flabby, I don't find that change reflecting in the weighing scales. And I'm a person who weighs herself very religiously every morning after brushing my teeth!! Very, very discouraging and slightly disconcerting since I find my clothes becoming looser and I feel fitter.
And details on how fat is replaced by muscle? Would like to know of experiences others have had with this...
Savita
I have a story along this line.
When I was in high school I was a skinny little thing, and weighed anywhere from 88 lbs-95 lbs or so on any given day. I'm only 5'1.5" so I wasn't anorexic, just naturally skinny. After I graduated from high school we moved and I put on some weight, and was about 112 lbs. (what I wouldn't give to be that weight now!!) I decided to lose some weight because in my book I was at least 15 pounds over what I felt I should be. So I started working out, doing circuit training (weights) 3 times a week and jogging a couple miles 3-4 times a week. In no time I got back down to fitting my old clothes and was actually in a smaller size. But the catch is, I weighed MORE than my highest weight before. I couldn't get below 105 lbs. I was fine with that, of course! Muscle *definitely* weighs quite a bit more than fat. So while your fat cells are shrinking, your muscles are growing, and therefore your scale will sometimes reflect weight gain. But since you are feeling slimmer and your clothes are looser, I have no doubt that you have indeed been LOSING fat and GAINING muscle. Congratulations!!
When I was in high school I was a skinny little thing, and weighed anywhere from 88 lbs-95 lbs or so on any given day. I'm only 5'1.5" so I wasn't anorexic, just naturally skinny. After I graduated from high school we moved and I put on some weight, and was about 112 lbs. (what I wouldn't give to be that weight now!!) I decided to lose some weight because in my book I was at least 15 pounds over what I felt I should be. So I started working out, doing circuit training (weights) 3 times a week and jogging a couple miles 3-4 times a week. In no time I got back down to fitting my old clothes and was actually in a smaller size. But the catch is, I weighed MORE than my highest weight before. I couldn't get below 105 lbs. I was fine with that, of course! Muscle *definitely* weighs quite a bit more than fat. So while your fat cells are shrinking, your muscles are growing, and therefore your scale will sometimes reflect weight gain. But since you are feeling slimmer and your clothes are looser, I have no doubt that you have indeed been LOSING fat and GAINING muscle. Congratulations!!
Hilary
_______
"Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity."-St Augustine
"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."-Thomas Jefferson
_______
"Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity."-St Augustine
"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."-Thomas Jefferson
Very reassuring to have this perspective from you!!
The irony is that just last week I went in for an annual physical examination and was sternly warned by the doc that I am overweight and must lose 10 kilos ASAP. This after having lost 15 kilos in the past year with just yoga and walking every day. After this visit I realised that keeping just that arbitrary weight number in mind and trying to bring it down is not the complete answer and have now stopped obsessing about the number my weighing scale shows me every morning.
It's far more important to me that I'm now eating mindfully (thanx to No-S) and that I'm feeling fitter. My next aim is to be more consistent nutritionally so I don't see a low Iron result the next time. I need to tweak my diet which is totally vegetarian.
Savita
The irony is that just last week I went in for an annual physical examination and was sternly warned by the doc that I am overweight and must lose 10 kilos ASAP. This after having lost 15 kilos in the past year with just yoga and walking every day. After this visit I realised that keeping just that arbitrary weight number in mind and trying to bring it down is not the complete answer and have now stopped obsessing about the number my weighing scale shows me every morning.
It's far more important to me that I'm now eating mindfully (thanx to No-S) and that I'm feeling fitter. My next aim is to be more consistent nutritionally so I don't see a low Iron result the next time. I need to tweak my diet which is totally vegetarian.
Savita
Hi Savita,Savita wrote:My next aim is to be more consistent nutritionally so I don't see a low Iron result the next time. I need to tweak my diet which is totally vegetarian.
I'm a strict vegetarian / vegan and also have low Iron levels sometimes. I've personally found spa-tone to be the best iron supplement http://www.spatone.com/en.php?section=home (I don't take it all the time, just certain days or if I'm feeling run down, but I'll usually take it for several days straight until I feel ok again). I've noticed that when my iron levels are low my appetite increases substantially which obviously isn't helpful when trying to loose weight! So maintaining iron levels seems to help keep my appetite under control.
That's very interesting - I hadn't made the connection before between low Iron and increased hunger.
I'm not sure which exact Iron supplements are avbl in India. However, since I've started to research the subject in depth especially in the context of Indian vegetarian fare, I've discovered that traditional South Indian veg food (which is what I've grown up on) minus excess oil and coconut works just fine. I've made changes to include more raw salads and cereals with less rice . As well as including more Iron rich veggies like spinach.
It's only recently dawned on me that it's a life-long process and I've to be mentally prepared for the long haul. Taking it a day at a time like I read on one of the no-S forums will be less overwhelming than thinking of the larger picture which is too much to handle.
Savita
I'm not sure which exact Iron supplements are avbl in India. However, since I've started to research the subject in depth especially in the context of Indian vegetarian fare, I've discovered that traditional South Indian veg food (which is what I've grown up on) minus excess oil and coconut works just fine. I've made changes to include more raw salads and cereals with less rice . As well as including more Iron rich veggies like spinach.
It's only recently dawned on me that it's a life-long process and I've to be mentally prepared for the long haul. Taking it a day at a time like I read on one of the no-S forums will be less overwhelming than thinking of the larger picture which is too much to handle.
Savita
Hi Savita,Savita wrote:I've discovered that traditional South Indian veg food (which is what I've grown up on) minus excess oil and coconut works just fine.
South Indian vegetarian diet sounds very healthy - I certainly find that Indian cuisine usually offers the most variety in terms of vegetarian and vegan dishes. (European veggie cuisine tends to be fairly cheese oriented, which is a problem for me as a vegan).
As far as I know, most dark green leafy veg are good sources of iron, such as spinach and kale (both of which can be eaten raw too if you don't mind the bitter taste!). A simple spinach dish I make often is washed spinach cooked together with some brown rice on a low heat in a covered pan (ideally, no extra liquid is needed as the rice can cook in the spinach water, but usually I add a little more water when it starts to dry out). once cooked it can be flavoured with anything, but I usually add lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt, lots of oregano and some finely chopped raw onion - it's a recipe my late father-in-law taught me to make (he sometimes used this rice / spinach combi as a filling for a pie made with very fine filo pastry - which is very nice, but I'm not good at making pastry!).
Hi Bonnie,
Thanks for the Spinach recipe. It sounds good - I will try it soon.
I've decided to go off rice (one of the basic grains in my diet) for most of the winter and instead explore other cereals especially Ragi (also known as African Millet or Finger Millet) and Barley. Whole wheat and Oats are long-standing staples of my diet and will continue to be so.
Since I am allowed only three meals on the No S Diet and will have to make them last, these cereals seem to help along with the usual veggie and fruit component. They don't digest fast, are very protein-rich and are quite delicious once you get used to the taste.
Savita
Thanks for the Spinach recipe. It sounds good - I will try it soon.
I've decided to go off rice (one of the basic grains in my diet) for most of the winter and instead explore other cereals especially Ragi (also known as African Millet or Finger Millet) and Barley. Whole wheat and Oats are long-standing staples of my diet and will continue to be so.
Since I am allowed only three meals on the No S Diet and will have to make them last, these cereals seem to help along with the usual veggie and fruit component. They don't digest fast, are very protein-rich and are quite delicious once you get used to the taste.
Savita