Another fallen no-ser coming back to the fold

Betty · Post by **Betty** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 11:51 am

I'm back!

Here I am at my all-time highest weight: My clothes don't fit, my belly looks like I'm 5 months pregnant, and I have totally lost sight of those good habits I started and maintained until xmas last year.

Sigh. Why oh why did I stop doing No S when it was really working (slowly, but yes, surely)?

I'd love to hear about other people's experiences coming back to No S after quite a long hiatus.

When I think about how far I have to go to get back to a healthy weight, I keep reminding myself that a jounrey of a thousand miles begins with one step. The first few steps are on steep and rocky terrain though. Sigh.

mimi · Post by **mimi** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 12:55 pm

Betty - your story is my story! I was very successful when I initially discovered NoS in 2007. I lived the NoS life for several months, lost some weight, freed my mind of all the negative trash-talking that constantly went on, and was very satisfied. I'd have to go back through my thread to find out exactly what went wrong because I've made several other attempts to come back since then, and fell off the track too. But the story is, I quit NoEssing and the weight came back along with everything else - the *diet mentality*, etc.
I just lived the happy life for a long time, ignoring my expanding body and my scales (which I pretty much do anyway). Finally, one day, I panicked and searched for another *diet*. I tried just cutting back (didn't work past a few days because I didn't know how much was too much) WW (worked-lost about 14 pounds-but found them again) and intuitive eating following that, but that really drove me nuts. I guess I have no intuition when it comes to food and eating! After a few months of writing down everything I ate and counting everything I ate, I just sat at my kitchen table and cried-literally. My husband felt sorry for me, and of course, I felt sorry for me. Then, drying my tears and absent-mindedly looking at my refrigerator, I spotted my NoS magnet (which I had moved to the side to make room for pictures of grandkids!). I knew that's what I had to do - come back to NoS. It's the only *diet* that has ever worked for me and addressed all of the *dieting* issues that I have.
On April 30 of this year, I came back to NoS. I felt like a puppy with its tail between its legs - like a failure returning, but let me tell you, it's been quite the contrary. Everyone is so warm and welcoming - and oh, so supportive. It's been unbelievable!
I did fine the first week back, but the second I really struggled with several red days. Since then, through the posts of others here, the monthly challenges, and making up my mind I was going to do it, I just completed my string of 21 successful days yesterday.
So, Betty - come on back. And feel really good about it. You're worth it, and NoS really works.
I'm here for the long haul.

Mimi

FarmerHal · Post by **FarmerHal** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 3:39 pm

I'm back too, just a couple weeks back in!

I remember you Betty, nice to see ya!

I started Dec. 06, did really well for a year, then went through some 'stuff' and totally floundered around all of 07 and '08. But back on track now, I hope, for the long haul.

I, too, went looking for another diet, looked into WW and jenny craig but the COST, yeesh!

Comes down to (as my dad put it so succinctly) eat less, move more. NoS has super easy rules to follow to make eating sane.

la_loser · Post by **la_loser** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 4:09 pm

Betty, (and Tiff too, although you already know how glad I am you're back!),

Remember Reinhard's challenge--to get in there and get some failures under your belt. It doesn't mention that all those failures will be within a short period of time. We're all human last time I checked and we're not perfect--but we can get in there and take one day at a time!

Welcome back!

~reneew · Post by **~reneew** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 8:32 pm

Welcome back! Don't quit this time. Decide that this is it, no mater what! Quitting is not an option.

Keep reading posts... it helps me a lot!

Cassie · Post by **Cassie** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 2:21 pm

Just wanted to wish you good luck Betty... and please do come here & ask for help or just chat or whatever whenever you feel you need it

That's what we're here for...

(I do agree btw with LA Loser who talked about getting some failures under your belt. That's only human after all).

Betty · Post by **Betty** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:17 am

Thaks for the warm words, everyone! I was pretty good this week but did have a failure last night. Went to my French class (which is from 6-9 in the evening) and thought I'd eat before I went, but came home feeling peckish and just folded. And then folded again. got a good failure under my belt

!

What I find is that no snacking is definitely the hardest S for me. Even with a SOLID breakfast (at 7) I'm hungry long before my work breaks for lunch at 1:30. Milk helps, but I find I lose concentration at 12 or so... any tips for that?

One thing I just remembered as I write, I used to have a "no binge failure" tab on my habit cal as a safety net for nights like last night. If I had stopped at the 1/2 a sandwitch I had after class I could have had a "sucessful" failure, at least.

Thanks again for the warm welcome,
Betty

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:04 pm

Welcome!

The no-binge habitcal sounds like a good plan.

You're already in problem-solving mode, which is great.

Seven to 1:30 really is a long time. Have you tried drinks? Milk is filling, and I love coffee au lait (essentially just coffee and milk).

If you give it the 21 days and are still having trouble on a regular basis, consider a fourth "mini-meal" with "bounded choices" (only fruit, for example). Or, you might try that as a "weaning" strategy - I did that with my afternoon snack until I finally was able to give it up.

At any rate, glad to see you and wish you the best of luck.

Post by **reinhard** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:07 pm

Welcome back, Betty!

One thing I think that might be helpful in guarding against complacency, that feeling you might get once you feel like you've got no-s basically down and can "afford" to slack off, is to keep on marking the habitcal. It may seem like a pointless effort ticking off one green day after another, but it's not much effort, and it's a great extra incentive to keep in top form.

I still keep a habitcal for no-s, even though I'm pretty sure, barring some major life catastrophe, that I've got it down for good. Because I'm tracking not quite as deeply ingrained habits as well, it's barely any extra effort, because I'm updating the habitcal for them anyway.

What I find is that no snacking is definitely the hardest S for me. Even with a SOLID breakfast (at 7) I'm hungry long before my work breaks for lunch at 1:30. Milk helps, but I find I lose concentration at 12 or so... any tips for that?

That is a rather long stretch. Do you have any flexibility about moving your breakfast later or you lunch earlier?

If not, it might be worth considering adding a "hobbit" style "second breakfast." Just remember that hobbits are very small

If you pack a lunch, for example, maybe decide that some portion of that lunch, say the fruit, is to be consumed at this "second breakfast."

Also, habit does really make this easier. I sometimes now forget to eat till 1:30 or 2 if work is really busy. You've only started no-s again for a few days -- not much time for habit to kick in yet. You may feel besieged by temptation now, but reinforcements are on the way, if you can just hold out a little longer.

The most famous quote of the [Siege of Bastogne] came from the 101stâ€™s acting commander, Brigadier General McAuliffe. When confronted with a written request from German General Luttwitz for surrender of Bastogne, he replied â€œNUTS!â€ (the commander of the 327th GIR interpreted it to the German truce party as â€œGo to hell!â€).... The siege lasted from December 20 to December 27 when the besieged American forces was relieved by elements of General Patton's Third Army.

Reinhard

Gia · Post by **Gia** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:02 pm

Wonderful inspiration!!! I hope all is going well with the Original poster.! I had the same problem with falling off the bandwagon with exercise. I have this problem called "domino effect failure " where if I mess up on one thing, it triggers a failure on several others. Skipping exercise used to lead me to drop no s altogether..... Now I have some resistance and even if it is a red day or week, I keep marking it on the habitcal until reinforcements arrive! I made it throguh 3 weeks of no exercing but still managing to stay on no s. Remember that failures are contained! If you stray, tomorrow is Always Always a fresh start!

oliviamanda · Post by **oliviamanda** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:45 pm

Welcome back Betty! I did so well on No S when I started. I also walked a whole lot back then because I could with my job. It all stopped when I went to a job where I didn't walk much and had bad choice food at my fingertips. Then I got pregnant, gained all my weight back and then some more.

This time around it's much harder because my pregnancy weight is coming off super slow. I was so unhappy about it that I went out and bought a Wii (no excuses that I can't walk in the winter) and I work out just about every day. I used to keep a food, weight, and exercise journal during my old days. Right now I just keep an exercise blog, which I put myself on a 40-day challenge. I have to exercise somehow, some way for at least 10 minutes and if I do more than 10 minutes and do different stuff then I get to write more and praise myself as I see results.

The only thing I am finding is that I am toning up like crazy and the scale isn't moving down so much. But my clothes are loose and I have bought new pants in a smaller size and they are already getting loose. All this is in conjunction with No S. I have to admit that I have some red days on my habitcal, but I also have a habitcal for exercise and it is all green, all the time.

I think pinpointing the reason you stopped No S in the first place is important. Mine was willpower due to environment. Glad that environmnent changed. But if I was back in that environment, I believe I would lose my willpower once again. Sugar is so highly addictive, you can only say no for so long while it's in your face. (Yeah, I worked at a bakery.)

cowfishpro · Post by **cowfishpro** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 2:02 am

Betty, thanks for your post. I am also coming back after 4 or 5 tries. I remember even going for several months during one of my attempts and feeling really good about my weight.

When I reflect about reasons I stopped, there are a couple. One is the one you mention, getting too hungry. I eat at 5:30 am and won't eat lunch until around noon so I can make it to dinner, which sometimes isn't until 7:00 PM. If we go out on a Friday night for with other people, sometimes dinner doesn't occur until 9 or 10 at night. I guess in retrospect, I could have had a healthy snack, called it a yellow day, and continued NoS the next day, but rumbling stomachs can cause one to make impaired decisions.

Another reason for stopping is arrogance. I never had a lot of weight to lose, so as I would get closer to a comfortable poundage, and I would think, I could maintain or continue loss by just cutting back. I didn't need to be so structured. As you can guess, that "control" didn't last too long.

I appreciate your suggestion to continue with habit cal Reinhardt. I think that is a good idea to prevent the feeling of complacency with NoS. I try to drink a lot of water and tea between meals to help with the hunger. I would like to eat breakfast later, maybe when I arrive at work, but than can be tricky.

Anyway, I am completing my fourth day of restarting. Right after this post, I paln to check off another green day on HabitCal.

I'm glad to have you all for support.

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 6:31 pm

I started No S in 2007 and lost around seven or eight pounds pretty fast, and then just drifted off. I don't even know why it happened! I think a big reason was that I just wasn't willing to pack lunches, and so I'd eat out all the time and they were not really one-plate meals so my whole approach was kind of half-hearted. But whatever the reason, I did stop and put on a bunch of weight afterward.

I came back in January of 2009, and at this point my "second try' has lasted 15 months and this is just how I eat now. Blowing it, even repeatedly, does NOT mean that you can't succeed the next time.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 8:08 pm

cowfishpro wrote: I eat at 5:30 am and won't eat lunch until around noon so I can make it to dinner, which sometimes isn't until 7:00 PM. If we go out on a Friday night for with other people, sometimes dinner doesn't occur until 9 or 10 at night. I guess in retrospect, I could have had a healthy snack, called it a yellow day, and continued NoS the next day, but rumbling stomachs can cause one to make impaired decisions.

If my meals were that spread out with dinner being that late, I think I'd have a very small fourth meal in the late afternoon regularly. We assume that it's "only" 3 meals daily, but that's not written in stone anywhere. If four meals is your norm, you don't have to call it an S day.

khristal23 · Post by **khristal23** » Fri Apr 02, 2010 9:03 pm

I'm back, too. No matter how you look at it, this is pretty much the only way of eating to help you lose weight that is practical, and you can actually see yourself doing it for good. Everything else is just too complicated!

cowfishpro · Post by **cowfishpro** » Fri Apr 02, 2010 9:24 pm

It's good to read further responses. I"m sitll doing well, and am on day 9. I'm doing a little better with hunger, so I think in the past, I wasn't eating enough. However, now, sometimes I feel like I'm eating too much. I feel that I will find the balance though.

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. And I'm very motivated about hearing a 15 month continuation after "returning" to NoS. That's very inspiring.

Everyday Systems

Another fallen no-ser coming back to the fold

Another fallen no-ser coming back to the fold

Got some failures under your belt? No problem!