Everyday Systems

This has kind of been on my mind. Why are we drawn to the NO S Diet? What are our expectations? What can the No S diet really do for is if we really keep our N days GREEN?

There are not that many of us on the boards who have been struggling with weight issues for less than a year. Most of has have been dealing with food and weight for much longer than that.

Weight loss IS what we want, but the No S Diet is different and it seems to me that it has a lot more to give us along the way than JUST weight loss. I FIRMLY believe that if you give the NO S Diet one full year it will give you back more than you ever imagined, that would be weight loss and more.

That's why I say "give it a year ... what do you have to lose?"

Blueskighs

This is the approach I'm constantly trying to remind myself to take. Just commit for a year and really settle down into it. I may have to stop weighing myself to really stick to that commitment.

Gingercake --

Re giving up weighing yourself, Reinhard said on a different thread recently:

"I'd go one step beyond not counting calories and carbs -- stop counting pounds. Just focus on behavior. Moderate your eating and your (lack of) movement and you immediately, unambiguously solve two big problems. And the pounds will eventually get the message. I don't think counting any of these things is absolutely terrible in itself (just a little boring), but if they derail you from thinking about behavior, they're counterproductive."

That really struck me ... I'm only into month 3 of No-S-ing, and have been successful at losing weight. I tell myself that I am truly appreciating the benefits of living the No-S way (freedom from food phobia, perma-snacking, etc), but I had to ask myself: bottom line, am I really defining success based on the numbers on the scale?

As blueskighs says: "Weight loss IS what we want, but the No S Diet is different and it seems to me that it has a lot more to give us along the way than JUST weight loss. I FIRMLY believe that if you give the NO S Diet one full year it will give you back more than you ever imagined, that would be weight loss and more."

So thanks, Reinhard, gingercake, and blueskighs for your postings ... they are making me think quite a bit more deeply about what I'm really doing here ... it would be difficult for me to give up my daily weigh-ins and Excel spreadsheet with the rolling average YTD weight (I am a bit of a stats freak), but giving it up is exactly something that I should consider -- it's really in opposition to what No-S is all about. And having glimpsed the possibility that No-S will "give you back more than you ever imagined", in addition to weight loss, I think I need to investigate to what extent my weigh-ins are "derailing me from focusing on behavior".

Lots to think about ... another thing I appreciate about No-S is this wonderful forum ... helpful with specific tips, but also with encouraging me to step back and take a somewhat more thoughtful approach. Great thread to start, blueskighs!

Blue, all I have to say is: There you go being reasonable again!

That's a joking line that my husband and I use when the other is being so sensible that you just can't argue. (Usually said in a mock tone that implies that it's somehow cheating to be THAT obviously right.)

Reminds me of when I was contemplating graduate school, and I said "It will take four or five years! I'll be at least XX years old when I finish!" To which my (too reasonable) husband replied "So how old will you be in four or five years if you don't do it?"

No-S is just like that. It may take a year (or more). But what else are you doing with this time?

winnie96 wrote:
... it would be difficult for me to give up my daily weigh-ins and Excel spreadsheet with the rolling average YTD weight (I am a bit of a stats freak), but giving it up is exactly something that I should consider -- it's really in opposition to what No-S is all about. And having glimpsed the possibility that No-S will "give you back more than you ever imagined", in addition to weight loss, I think I need to investigate to what extent my weigh-ins are "derailing me from focusing on behavior".

That is exactly it. I've dealt with the fear of weighing by doing it every day and trying to just be an observer of data, and having the spreadsheet. I think that might have been a good instinct at the time I started, after years of eating my way through life and pretending I wasn't gaining a size every six months it was good for me to deal in numbers and data at that time. Now, I'm in a different place and trying to recover from years and years of dieting. Funny to recover from something that's been successful (in terms of pounds lost), but I really do feel like I'm in a new phase now and need new tools.

Eating crazy and being in denial for years was not helpful. Then numbers and dieting were helpful for a long time to be in whatever the opposite of denial is. Now I just need to treat myself like the normal, reasonably emotionally and physically healthy adult I now am and stop meting my life in numbers. I think putting away the scale would be a good discipline.

blueskighs wrote:Weight loss IS what we want, but the No S Diet is different and it seems to me that it has a lot more to give us along the way than JUST weight loss. I FIRMLY believe that if you give the NO S Diet one full year it will give you back more than you ever imagined, that would be weight loss and more.

That's why I say "give it a year ... what do you have to lose?"

Blueskighs

All that time!! LOL! Sometimes it seems so easy to me to have that long-term perspective, and then other days I get so frustrated that the pounds aren't melting off quickly and effortlessly! We do need to keep encouraging each other to really try this over the long haul. Thanks for your post.

Merry

gingercake wrote:Funny to recover from something that's been successful (in terms of pounds lost), but I really do feel like I'm in a new phase now and need new tools.

This phrase totally resonated with me. I was successful for decades in keeping weight off through strict monitoring. I weighed daily, and if the numbers drifted up, I went on a "deprivation diet" immediately.

It worked. At least in terms of weight control.

But that approach also screwed up my relationship with food. I couldn't eat anything high-calorie without feeling guilty. Food with a side order of guilt is not enjoyable. Food was the enemy, that I always had to guard against.

My old tools had stopped working anyway, but I like these new tools SO much better. I feel I'm finally learning to appreciate food in a healthy, moderate way... I've "made peace" with it. And that approach is spilling over into the rest of my life.

I can relate to everyone's comments. The reason that I'm so interested in the No S Diet is the additional things it brings to my life other than losing weight. What I'm looking for is peace and contentment with food.

Yes I would like to lose some weight, but when I look back over my life what has really controlled me and driven me crazy, was not so much the weight, but how I let food control my emotions. When I felt bad because I ate something I didn't think I should, how one bite would make me feel I blew it and start a free for all. Then the extreme guilt afterwards. I just want to feel like I can handle food like a normal person and not use it as a numbing device for situations I don't want to deal with.

That is the main reason I'm doing the No S Diet. So I find it encouraging when someone says give it time. It has been a struggle because I just got started, but I can really feel I difference in how I handle food and how it handles me.

Linda

What do you have to lose? LOTS!

For starters... self disgust because of "failures", frustration, food issues, food obsession, social isolation because of restricted diets, higher than average grocery bills because of buying specialized foods and mood cycling depending on the scale.

And let's not forget all the high fructose corn syrup and sodium that you will lose by limiting snacks.

Oh, and maybe some weight too.

Blueskighs --

I certainly agree in principle -- but a year is a very tough sell to people who haven't even tried it yet. A month is a tough enough sell to people accustomed to the glossy magazine time horizon of days or "2 weeks!!!!"

Still, there's no question, months are the minimum scale on which you can reasonably expect good things from no-s -- but years are the best, that's where it really shines (it's possible decades are even better, but I haven't quite gotten there yet ).

KCCC, gingercake -- your observations are right on the money. Even "success" on most other diets is sort of an awful thing. You may have succeeded in locking up your appetite in a cage of iron will, but the energy and attention required to keep that cage securely locked takes a heavy toll. Your appetite stays profoundly unhappy, scheming to escape. I don't want to make light of your efforts, it's certainly impressive -- but it's not fun.

Reinhard

I have enjoyed everyone's responses ... thank you,

Blueskighs

I can hardly believe my yearly anni will be coming up in March (or was it April??). I haven't followed No-S to a Tee, but it has really helped me maintain my weight.

Thanks Reinhard.

As usual, I think your comments are fabulous! Besides...I WANT to eat this way the rest of my life....and thinking about this in terms of one year is a great way to focus on the future....

Thanks Blueskighs!!!

janie