Staying off the scale and recovering from noncompliance

[Happy Cooker]

Did you catch the New York Times Magazine interview with Susan Orbach, author and psychoanalyst, March 8? She has written about women and body image and so on. She reports that she has NO IDEA WHAT SHE WEIGHS. The last time she was weighed was 1988, after her daughter's birth--and she looks quite slim, especially so for one of those dreadful Times' pores-and-all photos.

I report this for anyone looking for motivation to stay off the scale.

Also want to add that January was a bad month for me; no idea why, it just was. Many screw-ups per week, and some obvious weight regain. (When that happens, I don't weigh myself; it just seems like further punishment when I'm already feeling bad.) I never lost the feeling that No S was the way to go, though, and I'm happy to report that time has healed whatever the difficulty was. I'm back on track with No S and also back to my previous low (162 lbs or so), pants are loose again, and I'm feeling chipper.

I suspect the difficulty was an inner-child sort of problem: I picture a toddler stamping her foot and pouting, chafing at not being able to eat whatever she wants whenever she wants. Certainly being in a different place was a factor, since we were on a semi-vacation, cat-sitting for a friend of ours in another town. Little snacks here and there, more alcohol than usual, nothing too terrible but obviously enough to set me off. Weird because I got thru the challenging holiday season with good compliance.

Overall, the whole experience was heartening. I found that I could "go off" No S and yet come back, returning to the same feelings and the same success I'd had before. It's been 9 months since I started, and 3 months since my husband began (he's also lost weight, about 15 pounds). We both feel like this is something we can stay with indefinitely.

[kccc]

Glad to hear that you're "back on track."

I think that's one of the best aspects of No-S - re-starting is not NEARLY as daunting as re-starting an accounting-type diet.

[Hunter Gatherer]

Good job getting back on track. Little slips happen to us all (it's that pesky humanity). Realizing that the failure was not catastrophic and does not need to be met with more catastrophe (the dreaded cookie punishment!) is a step in the right direction.

Go you!