Everyday Systems

Hi there,
I've been doing No S for about 6 weeks. Really loving the sense of control it gives me and the feeling that the habit is set... However my weight is exactly the same now as when I started. I would love to be 5 - 10lbs less then I am now and I would not be underweight at this weight there is definatly a little fat to lose, but not tonsl. I already exercise regularly yoga and cycling, physical work..and I wonder what kind of mods if any those with small amounts to lose have used. My clothes don't feel any loser and I did get closer to my ideal weight earlier this year using intuitive eating but found it difficult to sustain.
Also I eat a very healthy high raw food diet (have for several years)
X Nosnos

I think mods too soon (less than a few months in) may keep you focused on food and weight, which defeats the purpose of moving into a more natural way of eating that doesn't include obsessing and therefore eating more. That's my experience anyway.

I think if you've lost half a pound, that might not show up on a scale because water weight, etc. fluctuates. In a year, that's six pounds, and by year two, you could be permanently and happily at around your ideal weight, without ever having to skip a meal, skimp on a meal, eat diet food, trim your Christmas meals down, eating those sad little 100 calorie cookie packs, worry about fitting into next season's clothes that you put away, saying no to something delicious without knowing there's an immediate reward for that "no" this coming weekend, and knowing that you greatly enjoy every meal, that your keyboard doesn't have cheeto dust on it, that your weight has nothing to do with what your office mates bring in, etc. etc. For those with little extra weight, this is slow. As with financial investing, the smart money is on LONG TERM. If after a year you're the same weight, then you can evaluate whether the sanity was worth it.

Hi! Welcome and congratulations on 6 successful weeks on No S. That's fantastic!

Reinhard has a fantastic podcast series on Mods & Tweaks which I'd highly recommend giving a listen. The recommendation, and I think it is a wise one, is to pick one tweak, if needed, and give it a try for awhile to see if it makes a difference. He also recommends adding a tweak only if your N Days are very solid, you've been doing No S for a time and you are not making the progress you'd like. Some tactics that folks have used, among others:

* Using smaller plates for meals at home.
* Devoting a bigger portion of your plate to fruits and veggies.
* Taking one S Day a week.
* Limiting the number of S's you take on an S day.

Personally, I use the smaller plate mod, exercise everyday and generally opt not to permasnack on S Days (mostly because I don't like the way I feel when I permasnack) ...

It sounds like your diet and exercise habits are already very strong. The key is to see if you can find something that feels unobtrusive/that you can live with but helps to create a larger calorie deficit. If you are currently maintaining your weight on No S and are close to goal that's a fantastic start ...

you sound like a good healthy eater and a person who worksout regularly. My only concern is if you lost another 10lbs would that be maintainable??
I had to change the no s to fit me better. To keep a trim figure with no s (which I'm preggies, so I'm not trim right now) I have only one s day and I keep it very moderate. I also have a breakfast of a bowl of bran type cereal, not a plate of stuff.
My advice would be to maybe do a mod for awhile and see how that goes.

I'd like to lose 15 pounds, but mostly I'm just working on returning to better eating habits.

I've been sick a lot lately, so I've been pretty sedentary. Are you getting exercise, moving around? I think that has to be part of the equation.

Thanks for the replys, I read them all carefully I went over my food diary and saw a few fail days and also lots of days where I niblled while making dinner. So I have decided to tighten up my habits before tweaking anything. Also I am going to do 20 mins of yoga per morning in addition to my other exercise and longer yoga practices on days off to make sure I am toning up consistently as I may well not need to lose 10lbs, maybe 5 and toning would be enough?
It has been good to eat more normally so I don't want to play with it too much but my job does require I remain reasonably thin and I'm at the higher end of the spectrum.
However that was the first time I weighed myself in a while and it was right after two s days... Reasonable s-days but still more then normal. In the light of that I will stay vanilla for another few weeks and then reassess. Thanks again for the input guys.
X nosnos

I didn't think weight requirements for employment was legal. May I ask what you do? Fashion model? Crash test dummy? Ladder tester?

Who Me? wrote:I didn't think weight requirements for employment was legal. May I ask what you do? Fashion model? Crash test dummy? Ladder tester?

Not to derail the thread, but weight discrimination is actually completely legal. The only real exceptions are if you are obese enough for it to be considered a disability (in which case the ADA kicks in) or if the weight discrimination is not applied evenly between men and women, as in a place will only hire thin women, but is okay hiring fat men (in which case gender discrimination rules kick in - I imagine something similar would also apply for other protected classes like religious or racial discrimination, but I'm not familiar with any cases).

Otherwise, it is completely fine to hire or not hire someone based on their weight. And in terms of firing, as long as employment is at will, you don't really need a reason anyhow (as long as you aren't violating discrimination laws). There are people working to change the rules, but it's not the type of change that happens quickly.

nosnos: I agree with your comment about 5 pounds and toning. Or even 0 pounds and toning. Because muscle is denser than fat, sometimes toning plays a much larger role in how you look than the weight on the scale. Depending on the specifics of your job (if you need to be light or simply thin), you may find that toning will get you where you want to be - even if the scale doesn't budge. In terms of toning, you might consider adding in some resistance work. But in terms of diet, I think tightening up the rules and avoiding mods - at least for the moment - is a great strategy. This plan can be slow, but that's part of what keeps it so sustainable.

Tightening up those N Days and focusing on toning sounds like a great plan. No need to add mods unless they are really necessary.

It sounds like you're on the right track! I agree with the others, who have suggested tightening up on your eating, and possibly adding in some resistance training.

I've been weighing daily for several weeks to see just exactly how my weight responds to No S and my weight always goes up after S days. It then drifts down over the week. I track my weight by averaging weekly weights. And even though I wasn't seeking to lose weight, my weight has been inching down, although I can't really feel it in my clothes as my clothes are on the looser side.

I don't recommend daily weighing unless you can view your weight as data and not some magic number that will affirm or derail your self esteem for the day I merely give this example to show that a single weight measurement isn't really indicative of anything. I think your plan is sensible and sustainable.