Everyday Systems

Alright, so I'm totally new at this "diet", after almost a decade of WW, and 20 years of being on some type of a diet.

I really like the concept of the diet, but it really is freaking me out that I'm not counting anything (except the days until Saturday!). I mean, I've tried the whole "just eat when you're hungry thing" before and that always backfired. I realize that this is much different than that, but, I'm still afraid that I'm going to balloon over 200lbs because I'm not used to eating like this.

Is there anyone on here who has been calorie/point/carb counting for a really long time, and then switched to this? How long did it take you to adjust to this? I really don't want to add any food counting rules back in to my life, as I've developed a love/hate relationship with eating that I'd like to get rid of! I'm hoping that someone, somewhere on here has done the Vanilla S and managed to lose a significant amount of weight. Did you gain any weight at first when you started?

Hi Victoria,
Former carb police here. I lost the bulk of my excess weight -- I was 193 lbs at my highest non-pregnancy weight -- via low carb over a couple of years. It worked but was not sustainable for me. I managed to keep about 50 lbs of this off completely through exercise and sheer will. I yo-yoed and struggled with the rest. No S has been a godsend. I'm enjoying/at peace with food again and I'm now at a weight that I'm really happy with without any struggle.

Yes, there are people who gained weight, either initially or in some cases, overall on No S. But there are also many, many folks who have happily lost a goodly amount of weight on No S. Personally, it took me a little time and a few attempts to form habit/find my groove but I've never gained weight on No S.

I think one of the key points to keep in mind is that you can use the wisdom that you gained from your counting days without obsessing or actually counting. My first priority is to only eat food that I love and enjoy everyday but I try to make good, healthy choices, especially on N Days. I pretty much eat what I want on S days but I don't permasnack. It all balances out.

Welcome!

I will admit that I've never counted a calorie, point, carb, or fat gram. I've rarely weighed or measured a portion. In that respect, I can be of no help to you.

But I know that before any of these words became part of the diet culture (shoot, the culture), people ate similar to No-S. That's when very few people were seriously overweight and practically no one was obese or morbidly obese.

It was a time when it wasn't socially acceptable to eat too much, too often and we moved more.

There were variations to what we call No-S in families or communities. Some snacked -- but it was limited to certain times (after school, for instance) and in amount. One didn't eat a bag of Oreos or Doritos for a snack. Servings were far more moderate. And, while processed foods were becoming more popular, we still ate more real food.

I think the moving more is equally as much of an issue is the eating less. We move far less in the course of daily life now than we did even 10-15 years ago. We don't even get up to answer the phone now -- it's always within reach, clipped to our belt or in our pocket or purse. All of the technology and labor-saving devices have significantly reduced our daily movement.

Thanks, both of you. I guess I'm just really nervous. I feel like I'm throwing caution to the wind with this new method here. I mean, of course I'm not, by trying to continue to eat healthy, but it just doesn't feel right because my "norm" is obsessing about what I ate, what I will eat, how many points/carbs/calories were in it...nearly every moment of the day. In fact, I can't remember a time when I wasn't obsessed with what I was eating! I hope that I adjust.

leVictoria wrote:Thanks, both of you. I guess I'm just really nervous. I feel like I'm throwing caution to the wind with this new method here. I mean, of course I'm not, by trying to continue to eat healthy, but it just doesn't feel right because my "norm" is obsessing about what I ate, what I will eat, how many points/carbs/calories were in it...nearly every moment of the day. In fact, I can't remember a time when I wasn't obsessed with what I was eating! I hope that I adjust.

That's what "diets" do -- make you obsess about what you eat.

No-S truly isn't a new method -- it's how we ate before we obsessed about food.

That's what "diets" do -- make you obsess about what you eat.

No-S truly isn't a new method -- it's how we ate before we obsessed about food.

I absolutely agree with Wosnes.

I suspect that if you give it time and focus on building a solid habit, eventually eating in this manner will feel natural. Freeing up that mental space that food obsession previously took up has been one of No S's greatest gifts for me.

wosnes wrote:

leVictoria wrote:Thanks, both of you. I guess I'm just really nervous. I feel like I'm throwing caution to the wind with this new method here. I mean, of course I'm not, by trying to continue to eat healthy, but it just doesn't feel right because my "norm" is obsessing about what I ate, what I will eat, how many points/carbs/calories were in it...nearly every moment of the day. In fact, I can't remember a time when I wasn't obsessed with what I was eating! I hope that I adjust.

That's what "diets" do -- make you obsess about what you eat.

No-S truly isn't a new method -- it's how we ate before we obsessed about food.

Thanks Wosnes, that's reassuring.

I'm a former WW life member who needs to drop 10 lbs. If it is of any comfort, it will take a while to find what works for you portion wise.

I use a luncheon sized plate for my meals. Though I will confess that both yesterday and today I ate too much during a meal, even though the meals were "legal" for No S. So I still count is as a success and learn from it.

scgal wrote:I'm a former WW life member who needs to drop 10 lbs. If it is of any comfort, it will take a while to find what works for you portion wise.

I use a luncheon sized plate for my meals. Though I will confess that both yesterday and today I ate too much during a meal, even though the meals were "legal" for No S. So I still count is as a success and learn from it.

scgal...I can totally relate. I've been having the same thing happen. I think we have to teach our minds how to do this first before we'll see a significant loss on the scale.

leVictoria, I know exactly how you feel, to stop counting and just be. For myself, I haven't entirely let go. Not because I feel lost without counting calories, per se, but to see if no s actually works.

By the way, I'm near the end of my third week, so I haven't seen much of a result in the mirror. But my clothes are starting to fit better!

Anyway: Several times, I've counted the calories for the day in the past few weeks. Only this time, I reversed the usual system. I put my food on the plate based on what I wanted, then counted those calories. I didn't remove or add food to fit what I felt was 'correct', as I had before, I just recorded the calories as is and ate the food.

Now, I'm not going to get into specific numbers (that's why we're all doing no s, right?) but what I will say is that my no s eating habits fall right into the 1-2 pounds/week weight loss, with calories eventually fitting right to my goal weight.

Well, that's exciting, isn't it?

My next question was about s-days. I'm coming up on my third weekend. The first two featured some hog wild gorging. Are my s-day binges enough to offset my good work during the week?

Good news! Not so much. In order to eat enough calories during the s-days to maintain my current weight, I'd have to eat nothing but donuts, oreos, and beer, pretty much all day long.

So, don't worry about the calories. If you follow no s, get a bit of exercise, I think you'd actually have to work at it to maintain your current weight, let alone increase it.

The last 10lbs for me after having a baby is the hardest, but I'm doing it with no s instead of WW, because I'm tired of points etc. It is happening slowly for me but I'm at 128 and wanting to get to 123 is if possible. I think you will be surprised by what happens when you don't eat snacks and when you don't eat after dinner. I suggest trying the regular no s and from there make mods if you really need to. I have to watch portions and take one no s day a week. I also run, so that does help.

ctopherrun wrote:leVictoria, I know exactly how you feel, to stop counting and just be. For myself, I haven't entirely let go. Not because I feel lost without counting calories, per se, but to see if no s actually works.

By the way, I'm near the end of my third week, so I haven't seen much of a result in the mirror. But my clothes are starting to fit better!

Anyway: Several times, I've counted the calories for the day in the past few weeks. Only this time, I reversed the usual system. I put my food on the plate based on what I wanted, then counted those calories. I didn't remove or add food to fit what I felt was 'correct', as I had before, I just recorded the calories as is and ate the food.

Now, I'm not going to get into specific numbers (that's why we're all doing no s, right?) but what I will say is that my no s eating habits fall right into the 1-2 pounds/week weight loss, with calories eventually fitting right to my goal weight.

Well, that's exciting, isn't it?

My next question was about s-days. I'm coming up on my third weekend. The first two featured some hog wild gorging. Are my s-day binges enough to offset my good work during the week?

Good news! Not so much. In order to eat enough calories during the s-days to maintain my current weight, I'd have to eat nothing but donuts, oreos, and beer, pretty much all day long.

So, don't worry about the calories. If you follow no s, get a bit of exercise, I think you'd actually have to work at it to maintain your current weight, let alone increase it.

This is great to know. Really. Have you gotten on the scale at all?

When you measure your calorie input for a long time, you could now be able to make your body calorie constant as your body needs them. We should always be reminded of the fact that calories are very important for us to maintain our energy and healthy diet. Our health is really our greatest treasure in life.