Frustrated

[NoelFigart]

I've been doing strict vanilla No-S for ten days and have gained 2.5 lbs.

GRRRR.

The thing is, I KNOW I'm not eating more than before I got back on No-S. My S-days were hardly excessive. I know my plates aren't excessive, either. This feels frustrating.

I'm going to give it a month before I re-assses for any possible tweaks or mods, though. This could be a weird few days fluke. I sure hope so.

The point was that I wanted to get my eating habits in order and stop stressing about my weight, but I really cannot afford to gain more or we'll be getting into clinically scary issues.

[oliviamanda]

The scale sucks, but alas I get on it every day. If I weigh myself when I get up, I can be 2.5 lbs less if I weigh myself a half hour later without eating or I could even weigh 2.5 lbs more for no reason. Water weight?

Don't get frustrated. It's only numbers. If you eat right and follow No S, it may take time but you will lose... and you will always be plus or minus a few pounds... it's probably water weight anyway!

[kccc]

I'm going to give it a month before I re-assses for any possible tweaks or mods, though. This could be a weird few days fluke. I sure hope so.

I think you're doing exactly the right thing... but I TOTALLY understand your frustration.

[mimi]

I'm going to give it a month before I re-assses for any possible tweaks or mods, though.

Very wise Noel! The scale can be such a deceiver - don't trust it as your sole metric for NoS success! Judge also by how clothes are fitting, energy levels, changes in how you look to yourself in the mirrior, measurements, and overall feelings in general.
I had the same experience this month upon weighing - and this is the start of my fifth month with NoS! I knew it was impossible for me to have gained. I think my scale needs to be replaced, but given my reaction to the situation, I'm not sure that I want another one. I'm much happier not weighing.

Mimi

[Shirls]

Noel, it is truly annoying, but I have noticed that whenever I change my eating plans it takes at least three weeks before weight comes off. My trouble is I keep "peeking in the oven" and throw in the towel too soon. C'mon, this time we're going to hang in there

At least I did the exercise thing this morning which is a huge step forward for me. And it was your advice on exercise that got me moving.

[gratefuldeb67]

Noel, I can fluctuate up or down 2 to 3 lbs in any given day.. try measuring your waist once a month for an extra way to stay focused.
I actually went up in weight the other day by about 1 or 2 lbs, but my waistline and arm measurements both decreased because of my recent addition of 14 mins every day of light weights and squats.
Reinhard didn't weigh for the first two months he was doing NoS..
Stay focused and be patient!
Debs x

[Nichole]

I've lost all the weight I want to lose (and then some) and I still have fluctuations from time to time. Just keep going

[guadopt1997]

For myself, I'm trying to focus on habits. My S days are sometimes terrible. My plates are sometimes a bit big. But I'm not having snacks and I'm not having sweets and I'm not going back for more (just sometimes starting out with too much to begin with .

I don't know if I'd be able to chill about my current lack of weight loss if I hadn't taken almost half of the amount I needed to lose off in the first few months on No-S though, so I understand your frustration.

[reinhard]

I'm sorry to hear this, Noel...

It does sound like it might be a fluke, though, from what you describe.

I've had much bigger meaningless fluctuations than 2.5 pounds myself.

Reinhard

[NoelFigart]

Thanks Reinhard. I've been weighing every day and plotting a moving average curve. I don't have enough data to know for sure, but it is looking more and more like a fluke. I think a minimum of a week moving average is necessary to get a better view. Possibly a month is better.

Even so, I think part of the problem is that I do need to exercise a lot more than I'm doing at present. I mean, the way YOU do Urban Ranger, you're looking at at least five hours of walking a week, and I bet you really do more than that, THEN the 15 minutes a day of shovelglove.

That's over six hours of working out a week, even if it's built into your life sustainably.

Now, I'm not going to jump right in and go hammer and tongs at six hours of working out a week. That's not sustainable and at my present fitness level I'd hurt myself. But I can hit the gym every morning before I work and put in some time in the pool or at the weights, then make an effort to specifically walk places.

[DaveMc]

Thanks Reinhard. I've been weighing every day and plotting a moving average curve. I don't have enough data to know for sure, but it is looking more and more like a fluke. I think a minimum of a week moving average is necessary to get a better view. Possibly a month is better.

Let me put in a plug for exponential smoothing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_smoothing

It keeps track of all past data points, with a single number defining how quickly the influence of past values falls off. I find it pretty elegant, and it's very simple to implement it in a spreadsheet. You can also play around with the "alpha" parameter to see how much smoothing you want to do. (I use a value of 0.125, which skews things towards long-term trends rather than daily fluctuations.) (Or I should have used the past tense, there: I *used* a value of 0.125 before I stopped weighing myself every day on the grounds that it was just irritating me. I can tell that I'm losing girth, and for now that's enough of a metric for me.)

[Jammin' Jan]

That's over six hours of working out a week, even if it's built into your life sustainably

That's what I'm looking for..."sustainable exercise." I like that phrase.