Everyday Systems

I liked the way this article helps one visualize
the actual way that the amount of food on a plate
differs between food choices.

http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post ... _look_like

This is a good example of what I've been talking about
when I say it is necessary for many people,
....especially smaller, older women...
to limit the types and amounts
of food they choose to put on their plate.

Some additional Portion Control is necessary
for many women to lose-weight or even maintain their weight.
The No S diet has good basic rules,
but it isn't MAGIC.

That reminds me of Dr. Shapiro's Picture Perfect Weigh Loss. Take a look at the demonstrations and publications.

Sticker shock was one of my intial reactions to calorie counting. The shock is still here even after 4 months of closely counting. I had Thai lemongrass beef yesterday (1/2 portion & 1/2 cp rice), and I have learned to err on the side of high.

As always, a great post.

BrightAngel wrote:Some additional Portion Control is necessary for many women to lose-weight or even maintain their weight.
The No S diet has good basic rules,
but it isn't MAGIC.

Very true ... The question that I'm facing as a shorter, 30-something year old woman, is how much portion control is necessary, kwim? I already use smaller plates (salad/9") and get in moderate exercise almost everyday. I really, really want to lose and maintain by doing Vanilla No S and not have to resort to anything that I wouldn't be able to do happily on a long-term basis. We'll see, I guess.

how fitting you have posted this. After 3 months of restarting NoS, I have had to resort to counting calories cause I have not lost weight. I am 5'3 and weigh 133.5 as of today. Oh yeah, I'm also 38 years old. I only have 13.5 pounds to lose, and it's tough. I do work out also. We'll see how this goes. I'm still sticking to 3 meals a day and staying in habit.

dmarie710 wrote:how fitting you have posted this. After 3 months of restarting NoS, I have had to resort to counting calories cause I have not lost weight.

Same here except it took me a year before I realized I needed something else.

Best wishes on your journey.

Very helpful! Thanks!

I know this is getting technical, but do you know what your bodyfat% is? I just checked your BMI and you are in the normal range, so it is going to be harder to fight your way down, esp. if you are a mesomorph and naturally have more muscle.

Check out this site.

http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/bmi.htm

It includes info on how you compare to your peers in age/ht.wt. If, however, you find you still want to lose, you're going to have to tweak something. Some have suggested fewer caloric beverages. I say look honestly at whether you are actually hungry when you have them. Don't have anything just because you can--just in case that's what you are doing. And/or add more resistance exercise. If your pants are looser, does it matter what the scale says? Ditto on the vegetable/fruit ratio to dense foods on your plate. I often use the "hand" measurement: palm size of protein, fist size of dense starch, two fists of veggie/fruit, one thumb of fat.

I'd recommend Brad Pilon for calorie restriction advice before calorie counting, though.

oolala53 wrote: I'd recommend Brad Pilon for calorie restriction advice before calorie counting, though.

I am a "calorie counter", and
I love the way Brad Pilon thinks.
I've read his e-books and value his advice.

He is very much for the "calories in vs calories out" principle.
His main advice for most people is to "eat less".
He isn't AGAINST calorie counting,
although he, personally, doesn't count calories,
or follow any special food plan, except for a day or two of
EatStopEat 24 hr fasting a week.

My own personal maintenance plan, is based on a combo of
Reinhard's Habit principle, mixed with Brad Pilon's eat less principle,
together with calorie counting,
along with some misc. additional factors.

BrightAngel, you have had an amazing journey and admirable success. You are definitely in the healthy range for your height. I just experimented with your height, weight, and my age on the Halls site. I'd be slimmer than 90% of my peers at your stats. Holy Toledo. I'm just trying to get to the 28%ile, which would also put me at my highest normal BMI. If No S takes me lower, glory be. But that's me.

Just in case I'm confusing anyone, BMI and bodyfat are two different measurements. And so were the percentiles I mentioned just above.

I better get off the boards and do something else productive!

oolala53 wrote:BrightAngel, you have had an amazing journey and admirable success.
You are definitely in the healthy range for your height.
I just experimented with your height, weight, and my age on the Halls site.
I'd be slimmer than 90% of my peers at your stats.

Thanks.
Right now, at this weight my BMI is near the high-middle of the range for "Normal" weight,
and this puts me in the 10th percentile,
which means I am slimmer than 90 of other women my height etc.

Although it takes a great deal of work just to keep it there,
I'm still hoping...in time...to drop it just a bit,
and get it back to the middle or low-middle of my "Normal" range.

Good luck to you in your Efforts.

Brad Pilon makes such a great amount of sense. It seems to me that he had a blog post on calorie counting and said it could be a good idea for a short amount of time, but not to be obsessive about it. It was a while ago when I read it, so I could be mistaken. I also really appreciate John Barban's input.

I wish people would learn this. Calorie counting/healthy eating has taught me so much. It really makes maintaining a healthy weight almost easy! And now it's helping me to gradually gain weight for my pregnancy . 3 lbs so far (11 weeks pregnant)!

Mazel tov, Nichole! So, let's see, you're eating for two, so that means six meals a day, right?

Lol! It means I get to have a serving of OJ in the morning and a couple extra snacks! Yaay! I haven't changed too much of how I eat (I never did strict No-S as I allowed a snack or two), just eating a slight bit more... I don't REALLY have to gain until after 12 weeks.

Nichole wrote:I wish people would learn this. Calorie counting/healthy eating has taught me so much. It really makes maintaining a healthy weight almost easy! And now it's helping me to gradually gain weight for my pregnancy . 3 lbs so far (11 weeks pregnant)!

Yes it is a very good thing. My son who has Crohn's is using his food journal to gain weight as well. There are many wonderful uses for the information from calorie counting.

Congrats on the new baby:-)

Nichole wrote:Lol! It means I get to have a serving of OJ in the morning and a couple extra snacks! Yaay! I haven't changed too much of how I eat (I never did strict No-S as I allowed a snack or two), just eating a slight bit more... I don't REALLY have to gain until after 12 weeks.

If I'm remembering correctly, it takes 300 extra calories daily to grow a baby. Not much, really -- you've probably got it about right!

connorcream wrote:

Nichole wrote:I wish people would learn this. Calorie counting/healthy eating has taught me so much. It really makes maintaining a healthy weight almost easy! And now it's helping me to gradually gain weight for my pregnancy . 3 lbs so far (11 weeks pregnant)!

Yes it is a very good thing. My son who has Crohn's is using his food journal to gain weight as well. There are many wonderful uses for the information from calorie counting.

Congrats on the new baby:-)

Thank you! My brother (24) has Crohn's disease (on top of having a learning disability - they say he shows signs of Aspberger's). So I know how that goes.... My mom and his doctor likes him at a certain weight in case of a flair-up :/ . Last time he lost 15 lbs! But because of the extra padding, he was okay. It's rough. Luckily that doesn't happen too often.

Wosnes: Thank you! Yes, they say 300 calories or so. I think I'm definitely hitting that, lol. But I don't want to "go crazy". It's all about portions and not indulging in too many sweets, like usual, as you know.