Everyday Systems

A bit of a rhetorical question this one. First of all, I am happy to say that I am now starting to get well-established on my 2nd round of No S and regardless of whether or not I've lost any weight, I feel much, much better inside, and the relief of not panicking about diets etc and what to eat is just wonderful!!!

But what on earth made me stop No S in the first place? I somehow found myself asking this question this evening... since I am feeling so happy now that the N Days are starting to become (almost) automatic and I feel so positive within myself.

So turning the clock back to December 2009 when I first started on the No S Plan seriously after a series of half-hearted attempts over the years. It took me about a week to get into the No S habit and conquer the food cravings but I was determined and I stuck with it and after all the other failures/failed diets in the past plus piling on the pounds etc. I was happy to report after about a month on the plan, that I had lost 10 lbs. I remained on the diet for a full year (first time around) but I think it was about 4 or 5 months in when my weight had stalled, that I began to get antsy. I also was disappointed in my lack of control on S Days, tending to binge on sweet foods and feeling out of control. I guess if I had just given it some more time, i might have got a hold on my S Days...one of the great things about No S is that 'problems' like this are easy to spot and can be curtailed if necessary. Anyway - back to the story:

Then one month or so after that, I noticed a gain of a few lbs. nothing drastic but unfortunately, I lost patience and instead of just sticking to the plan, i thought I'd be 'smart' and went on a bit of a crash diet to see if I could get things moving again. Needless to say, the crash diet didn't last long. I managed to lose the few lbs i had gained for about a week and then as soon as i started back eating 'normally', the weight came back on and then some. Before I knew it, it was Thanksgiving/Holiday time and what better 'excuse' to throw in the towel and just basically eat what I wanted? Now I'm not writing this to rake over old coals and dwell on past mistakes, its more or less a reminder to myself and perhaps to serve as a 'cautionary' tale to others that slow and steady does indeed win the race. Crash diets are just a waste of time and in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if i have upset my metabolism in the process.... although I've read conflicting reports on this. Some scientists say its impossible to mess up your metabolism with crash diets etc. but I personally am not so sure. Okay well, i think I'm back up to my starting weight when i originally began No S, but I haven't been weighing recently (another habit i am trying to curb) so I'm not exactly sure. Who knows? Maybe I will put on a few lbs. but the peace of mind I have gotten from No S and not worrying about food is second to none. I could dwell on the past and say, if I hadn't messed up 1st time around, I could be ____lbs right now, but that would be pointless and depressing.

Sorry if I'm rambling but I just felt I had to write this down tonight for my own reference if anything. However, if it helps anyone else reading this who may identify with some of what I've written, well, then that's even better!!

Thank you for writng this. I identify completely.

You went off of no-s in hopes of a quick fix and now you realize there is no such thing... it is like signing a deal with the devil (quick weight loss) but the devil always wins (rebound weight gain).

I did the same thing exactly.

Instead of staying the no-s course... we freak out.

BUT this time you are not weighing yourself so you won't get all crazy on yourself and panick. If you don't know what you weigh you can't get nuts and worry. You will know by your clothes, how you feel, how strong you are getting mentally and physically.

You are going to get through your S days better over time and you are using the board and your friends here to help you.

You sound determined and strong and you are helping others here too, like me!

You are going to SUCCEED for life this time around!

Rhetorical Answer: I don't know, for the life of me I have known about and tried noS off and on since Dec 2006. I am recently coming off a low carb attempt to melt off pounds quickly, which backfired again causing me to binge and gain a bunch of weight back very very quickly!

So here I am again, attempt # i'velostcount.

It is sensible, sane and sustainable- how'ts that for s's?

Shamrockmommy

Rhetorical Answer: I don't know, for the life of me I have known about and tried noS off and on since Dec 2006. I am recently coming off a low carb attempt to melt off pounds quickly, which backfired again causing me to binge and gain a bunch of weight back very very quickly!

So here I am again, attempt # i'velostcount.

It is sensible, sane and sustainable- how'ts that for s's?

Shamrockmommy

Thanks for posting this thread - I've been having similar thoughts and posted this on my own thread a couple of days ago:

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:09 pm Post subject:
I've been thinking a bit lately about why I fell off the NoS wagon before. The first time around I was doing very well, but I hit a long plateau - I think caused by bingeing on S days. The second time I only did NoS for a few weeks and my head wasn't really in the right space. I was also trying to juggle being gluten free, which was a mistake (I couldn't manage both habits at once...)

Despite the psychological triggers, what happened in practice is that the Sday bingeing began to erode my N days. Instead of my N Days forming a barrier around the S days, the opposite began to happen. I also dropped the exercise because my work became uncontrollably busy.

This time around, I want to be aware of the dangers in advance and keep those N days iron-clad. And get back into regular exercise.

Thinking in terms of NoS events should help. And keeping my treats to meal times when that fits with S day social life. What I find is that once I start snacking on an S day, it spirals out of control, so I just want to watch that and find ways that work for me to keep the S days within their proper boundaries.

It's great to read about other people's struggles and their solutions for coping and making NoS work for them.

I guess I'm now thinking along these lines:
- the overriding principal/goal is moderation.
- it is okay to adjust NoS to suit you as an individual in order to achieve that goal.
- it's okay to experiment with tweaks, but if they don't work, then return to vanilla NoS and try again.
- it's important to be in the right head space - if you panic and/or start to use NoS to obsess about nutrition, diet, weighing and weight loss, then stop what you are doing, take a deep breath, identify and deal with whatever the underlying issue is that you are most likely avoiding - and start again on vanilla NoS.

For me....it's good to focus on habit, but otherwise forget about NoS and stop thinking about food/nutrition/exercise, etc. That's how I managed to give up smoking - I just refused to let myself dwell on my desire to smoke (though I did munch away on sweets as a substitute - big mistake). That may mean backing away from the boards for a bit.

Anyway, my plan this year is to develop such strong habits with moderate eating and exercise that it is painless/effortless for me to follow a healthy lifestyle. I want to work at having food/diet/NoS itself all take up absolutely NO brain space, beyond what I need to do to plan the shopping and cooking for the week (which I enjoy anyway).

Just my 2 cents.
fun
x

Well said, girls! Thanks for popping in ! I feel better already thanks to the continual great advice and support from you all on this wonderful forum and even if I don't post from time to time you can be assured I am checking in and reading everyone's supportive and helpful commments. Thanks again!!

My N Days seem to be coming along pretty good. I haven't been eating between meals/snacking and no bingeing or nibbling either. But some of my choices aren't so 'great' or are bigger portions than I would eat on a regular basis. I seem to have re-discovered bread in a big way - not that I was on a low carb diet or anything but for a while, I never really ate much bread. Seem to be making up for it now though! I had two thick slices of toast with bacon for dinner (not very nutritious but filling and satisfying) however as mentioned, on No S you can eat ANYthing (within reason on N Days, of course) and still be on the plan so I guess I am doing okay and I know I can work on those along with my S Days but take my time and do it gradually this time around! Yes, Nicole - I have not been weighing myself so I have no idea where I am right now, body-wise. That too, has helped relieve some of the stress....I guess I will have that little devil on my shoulder, urging me on every now and again but I seem to be ignoring him for the time being!