What I've learned from NoS
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:24 am
I've been on NoS for about two and a half years. And I thought it would be nice to just learn a few things I've learned.
First of all, if you've recently started and are NOT losing any weight, here are the common reasons why..
1. Really big N day meals. I found this at the start. I got so overexcited that I was allowed to eat anything I wanted without guilt (fries! cheese! burgers!), that I just went crazy with all my meals.
2. Crazy S weekends. I used to end my weekends vowing to never eat again. Sunday night..I'd be lying on the couch with my tummy full from all that over-eating.
3. Binge eating if you screwed up. This might not apply to everyone but it applied to me because I've always had a tendency to binge out of guilt. If I accidentally happenned to consume..say a cookie, I'd feel SOO guilty then try and compensate by having ten more cookies, two bowls of cereal, some ice cream...you get the idea.
4. Not enough exercise. Exercise is not strictly part of the NoS system, but it helps. Even something as small as twenty minutes of walking after dinner will help.
The upside of NoS is that hopefully all these problems should correct themselves in time.
1. A lot of other people have said this, and I had the same experience. Which is that after a while you get sick of all the unhealthy rubbish you're putting in your body. You start craving some green, some fruit. I guess it depends on the way you ate before all this as well I guess. I know some people naturally hate veg and fruit and all that. If so, maybe take baby steps. Try and fill a quarter of your plate with fruit/veg. After a while maybe aim for half. Or vow to eat at least one/two kinds of veg/fruit with every meal.
2. Crazy S weekends took a LONG time to go away. I still have the occasional S weekend depending on whether there is some dinner to attend, if I'm hungover and need greasy food etc. But hopefully after numerous weekends of feeling sick from overeating, your body will tell itself to chill out and relax a bit. Some people have suggested putting restrictions on the number of S-events each weekend. I find this to be counter-productive as for me, it leads to guilt and bingeing if I exceed this number. But everyone will be different.
3. I know from experience it is SO SO hard to STOP when you've eaten one small cookie, or taken one small extra helping. It's so much easier to think I've screwed up, what's the point? Some people try to counteract this by having a set number of NWS events they're allowed to have each week. (I'm trying this at the moment). So maybe give yourself some breathing room. If you must, tell yourself that if you've been forced into it (like a coworker forcing you to eat those cookies she brought in), give yourself a yellow or something instead of a green. Or maybe if the 'screwup' is really small, like a couple of chips, give yourself a green. Be less harsh on yourself because you've been so good the rest of the time.
4. Exercise. Like Nike says..just do it! I know regular exercise is so hard to keep up. Depending on your starting weight, it is possible to lose even without exercise. But eventually you get to a plateau..and it's a give or take..either you exist on salads all the time or you have the occasional treat and exercise. Put on your ipod, run for twenty minutes, just get out of the house. I find it easier to exercise before midday because once I've had lunch, I get all lethargic then once the sun goes down, so does my motivation. But that's just me.
Right I need to get back to revising for finals now I hope this helps. All this is based on my personal experience so feel free to disagree. I guess this is as much for me as for anyone else..it's nice to consolidate things I've learned over the last two years/organize my thoughts. I'll write more later when I'm bored of revision.
First of all, if you've recently started and are NOT losing any weight, here are the common reasons why..
1. Really big N day meals. I found this at the start. I got so overexcited that I was allowed to eat anything I wanted without guilt (fries! cheese! burgers!), that I just went crazy with all my meals.
2. Crazy S weekends. I used to end my weekends vowing to never eat again. Sunday night..I'd be lying on the couch with my tummy full from all that over-eating.
3. Binge eating if you screwed up. This might not apply to everyone but it applied to me because I've always had a tendency to binge out of guilt. If I accidentally happenned to consume..say a cookie, I'd feel SOO guilty then try and compensate by having ten more cookies, two bowls of cereal, some ice cream...you get the idea.
4. Not enough exercise. Exercise is not strictly part of the NoS system, but it helps. Even something as small as twenty minutes of walking after dinner will help.
The upside of NoS is that hopefully all these problems should correct themselves in time.
1. A lot of other people have said this, and I had the same experience. Which is that after a while you get sick of all the unhealthy rubbish you're putting in your body. You start craving some green, some fruit. I guess it depends on the way you ate before all this as well I guess. I know some people naturally hate veg and fruit and all that. If so, maybe take baby steps. Try and fill a quarter of your plate with fruit/veg. After a while maybe aim for half. Or vow to eat at least one/two kinds of veg/fruit with every meal.
2. Crazy S weekends took a LONG time to go away. I still have the occasional S weekend depending on whether there is some dinner to attend, if I'm hungover and need greasy food etc. But hopefully after numerous weekends of feeling sick from overeating, your body will tell itself to chill out and relax a bit. Some people have suggested putting restrictions on the number of S-events each weekend. I find this to be counter-productive as for me, it leads to guilt and bingeing if I exceed this number. But everyone will be different.
3. I know from experience it is SO SO hard to STOP when you've eaten one small cookie, or taken one small extra helping. It's so much easier to think I've screwed up, what's the point? Some people try to counteract this by having a set number of NWS events they're allowed to have each week. (I'm trying this at the moment). So maybe give yourself some breathing room. If you must, tell yourself that if you've been forced into it (like a coworker forcing you to eat those cookies she brought in), give yourself a yellow or something instead of a green. Or maybe if the 'screwup' is really small, like a couple of chips, give yourself a green. Be less harsh on yourself because you've been so good the rest of the time.
4. Exercise. Like Nike says..just do it! I know regular exercise is so hard to keep up. Depending on your starting weight, it is possible to lose even without exercise. But eventually you get to a plateau..and it's a give or take..either you exist on salads all the time or you have the occasional treat and exercise. Put on your ipod, run for twenty minutes, just get out of the house. I find it easier to exercise before midday because once I've had lunch, I get all lethargic then once the sun goes down, so does my motivation. But that's just me.
Right I need to get back to revising for finals now I hope this helps. All this is based on my personal experience so feel free to disagree. I guess this is as much for me as for anyone else..it's nice to consolidate things I've learned over the last two years/organize my thoughts. I'll write more later when I'm bored of revision.