First week. Three pound gain.

[busymebiking]

How long do I need to stick with this before I start seeing results? My first week was a disaster! I followed the plan perfectly, which seemed extremely easy, but still had a three pound gain!! This week I'm going to work on having smaller portions. I didn't have huge portions, but had more on my plate than usual since I didn't want to be hungry later.

[Blithe Morning]

Three pounds isn't a disaster especially since some of those three pounds is water weight. To gain three pounds of fat, you would have had to overeat by 10,000 calories, highly unlikely in a week.

I don't know how long it will take before you see results since I don't know how you were eating before hand or what you weigh now.

Generally, the process goes like this:
1. Establish habits.
2. Realize I had better focus on nutrition because I couldn't eat "healthy snacks".
3. Gradually reduce amount of food eaten.

[Who Me?]

Three pounds isn't a disaster. Three pounds is just three pounds.

This is *not* a crash-diet. This is a way of improving eating habits, which will help manage over-eating. Many folks on the forum have given themselves the challenge of not weighing themselves for 30 days, to try to break the obsession of jumping on the scale all the time. Perhaps you could join this challenge?

[Clarica]

I didn't check for results before a month and a half went by, and since I didn't know where I started from, I have no idea what really happened for that month and a half.

I did NO S for a year and a half on faith. And because I got some, slow, results. Which totally made it easier.

But 3 pounds up? Frequent and common fluctuation. Which I totally still find frustrating. And totally ignore as I stick to this plan which is easy for me. And gets results. Slowly.

Or maybe quickly now that I am using it to remember to eat three times a day. Because I am totally forgetting, for whatever crazy reason.

[M's sick of dieting]

I know that's discouraging, that happened to me at first too. I don't know what you've been eating for your meals but for me personally if I eat out a lot it's the kiss of failure if I'm trying to loose. I personally do better if I prepare my own meals, (most of the time anyway) even if it's fried chicken.

Also, I personally found if your coming off a strict diet, it takes a little time for your body to adjust. Make sure your drinking lots of water, maybe drink a few cups of Green Tea, that always helps me if I'm retaining water.

I find with No S, you really need to focus on the long term eating habits and finding your own personal balance with food, and focus less on numbers on the scale, just know it'll come off eventually. You'll be happier and have a healthier relationship with food.

[DaveMc]

How long do I need to stick with this before I start seeing results?

A lot longer than a week, I'm afraid. I'd urge you to give yourself time to establish the habits firmly, before you worry too much about weight loss. Months, anyway. The more you can think long term, the better this will work -- maybe think about the following question: "Can I maintain this for the rest of my life?" A lot of us have found that the answer, for NoS, is "yes", and that's not something a lot of faster-results diets can claim.

[busymebiking]

Want to thank everyone for their support! I got on the scale today and I've already lost two of the three! Yes, I'm addicted to my scale so I might need to think about going on a "scale fast." I've tried just about every diet out there and I'm so hoping this works because this is the only diet I can ever see myself living on forever! I started a week and a half a go and haven't "cheated" yet. So far, it seems very easy!!

[Too solid flesh]

Have you seen Rose's graphic on the testimonials page?

http://nosdiet.com/testimonials.html

Individual weight readings are all over the place, but the general trend is down.

[reinhard]

Two answers:

Little picture: When I bother to weigh, I frequently (usually, in fact) see greater than 3 pound shifts within a single day. So I wouldn't be greatly concerned about this number.

Big picture: yes, no s is slow. Expect maybe half a pound a week, in fits and starts. And don't expect to be able to see that on the scale as it's happening. This is a months and years and decades diet.

Caveat: it is possible that no-s won't work for you as is. And I that's a frustrating possibility to keep in mind while you're waiting for results that may never come. But one thing that will certainly come is a much healthier relationship with food. Who cares? Well, I think you will once you experience it. And even if you don't care or think you'll care, getting a structure around eating in place puts you in a much better position to make any further tweaks you might need to get quantitative results. Three single plate meals is a lot fewer avenues of entry to monitor than whenever. You've now got a controlled border. Adding a sentry or a little bit of barbed wire in one spot is easy.

Reinhard

[r.jean]

I second that Reinhard! It is not that I have not been successful in the weight loss department. After 8 months I have lost 38.2 lbs...about 4.8 lbs per month averaged. HOWEVER...the biggest success is that I am developing habits that will last a lifetime. I no longer obsess about food or my weight. I am learning that it is okay to indulge sometimes but also learning to have better eating habits most of the time. The longer I follow the plan the more relaxed I am. I still want to lose weight, but it is no longer an obsession. It is a natural result of better eating habits and a lot more exercise. Thank you!

[oolala53]

How are you doing, busyme? Do you believe us? I did actually start losing right away on No s, but I had already gone through some stages of eating many foods I had previously forbidden and some other things that helped me go pretty close to very moderate meals right off the bat. However, I've stalled for more than a year on the S days. Yet I love what I've learned and experienced with No S. As Reinhard said, you can't have the experience until you have the experience. And you've got to live it to do that. Just be honest with yourself. No S cannot allow your body to defy the laws of physics. As time goes on, be honest about what you really need to satisfy your hunger.

I guess if I really believed I could have been a lot stricter with my eating and been done with trying to lose weight, I'd be mad, but I believe it would have backfired. I know when I'm really ready, my S days will become tame or I'll whip them into shape, but until then, it's probably an exercise in futility.