Everyday Systems

I've been no s'ing -- just vanilla - for 5 months and have gained five pounds! I know it's a real five pounds, too, I made sure before I posted. The great news is, with No S I can at least see what the heck I'm eating without having kept a diary or anything, so I can now tweak without freaking. A frealkess tweaking should, hopefully, take care of it. For instance, I've fallen into the habit of putting lots of milk in my several cups of coffee each morning, I do no exercise, and I "slip" and have seconds at least 1-2 days a week (I make an excuse if it's pizza or something, but there's no good excuse for wanting to eat tons while hiding it from yourself by putting it on multiple plates.)

I am keeping the faith -- because this still makes more sense than any other "eating plan" I've ever seen, and I crave the sanity and peace of mind that it offers. Wish me luck!

(P.S. I lost 13 pounds a couple years back doing no s plus calorie counting, so I know it can work well. Problem was I gained it back and then some when I got tired of counting, so I'm searching for that happy medium!)

I think your attitude is great! You see what you need to do without blaming the NoS plan.

NoS does seem the most common sense plan out there, and one that we CAN tweak to fit what we need without freaking out.

Keep on keepin' on!

Cathy B

Ive been on NO S for close to 4 weeks and I have started gaining too. I am counting bites now with No S (like calorie counting only easier) to make sure Im not getting too much food.

The basic principle of No S...like the habit of mealing- 3 meals a day I think is GREAT, so I am combining the mealing and habit principle with counting bites. My DH is doing it with me.

Sometimes you just go up and down. I gained a few lbs over the last week and I was really bummed about it... but it was a combination of things, and I know where I "failed" and I understand that the human body is going to respond differently to different food, drink, and excercise... individually or in combination.

The number is a number. It's so hard to remember. The scale went up, but my pants still fit okay. What does that tell you?!? No S offers a very good framework for control. You should be able to get on the scale and instead of a number you see a green or red light to match the habitCal. : )

true, the scale is faulty at best, but my clothes are telling me the same thing. I've only had a handfull of red days (and not wild, either) in five months. What I do know is that what I'm eating is more than I need (might be explained by my "finallyfull" name, huh?) so I can figure out what I can live without for ever, and what I need to be happy and healthy. Fortunately no s allows me the structure to do that without beating myself up, depriving myself, or swearing off everything good forever. Phew! I predict eventual success.

Yeah, it stinks when that happens and I have been there. I don't count calories but I am aware of them. I try to stagger my meals so some night I have healthier leaner meals and maybe two higher cal meals a week on n days. So tonight is roast chicken, potatoes and veggies but planning a really yummy casserole wed that involves noodles sour cream and cream cheese. Both are tasty dinners and I know that I will only have one reasonable portion of that casserole instead of two thirds of it
It sounds like you are honest with yourself about your eating....I wasn't when this wasn't working and I left on a self pity snit.

Well done, finallyfull. I've dialed back my portions so I do eat less than a plateful at breakfast and lunch. Just because you can eat a plateful doesn't mean you should. A plateful is the max and a good place to start mastering the habits. Once you get those down you can start tweaking your personal plateful so you arrive at a weight you are happy with.

Your approach and attitude strike me as exactly right! You've given it enough of a run that considering changes isn't premature, and you're wisely looking for ones that you can sustain, rather than panicking and lurching into huge changes that would probably never last.

Best of luck! (EDIT: Y'know, thinking about it some more, I'll wish you luck, but I'm sure you don't need luck.)

finallyfull wrote:true, the scale is faulty at best, but my clothes are telling me the same thing. I've only had a handfull of red days (and not wild, either) in five months. What I do know is that what I'm eating is more than I need (might be explained by my "finallyfull" name, huh?) so I can figure out what I can live without for ever, and what I need to be happy and healthy. Fortunately no s allows me the structure to do that without beating myself up, depriving myself, or swearing off everything good forever. Phew! I predict eventual success.

I like your attitude, I've only been on no S one month, and the scale went down, but then it went up again. I have to learn to control my amount of food. I am trying smaller plates at breakfast and lunch, and trying to have more control on S days. Wishing the best for you. I like your prediction!!

I've been on No-S for *years,* and periodically have to recalibrate. Sometimes it's because of life changes that result in less exercise or more eating out or something of that nature. Sometimes I've started ignoring little cheats.

Whatever it is... the structure of No-S lets me SEE the problem and address it before it's a big deal. With attention, I can stop the cheats or make "painless little changes" that add up to enough of a difference.

And it takes just a LITTLE attention, and NO panic. Gotta love that.