"Just one more diet"??

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good enough
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"Just one more diet"??

Post by good enough » Mon Jul 02, 2012 5:16 pm

I've just come back to NoS after a long absence. Today I was in one of those hideous changing rooms with the rear view mirror. The lighting made it look like I had cellulite on my ARMS (which I didn't think I had!). I thought I was doing the right thing by trying to be moderate but now I'm not so sure... I just want to blast all this fat off, NOW!! :(

My question is: how do you avoid the temptation to go on "just one more diet"? Right now I'm trying to tell myself that it was dieting that got me into this mess, but it's SO tempting to get sucked back in... Does anyone have experience of this, and how to resist??

Thanks in advance!

wosnes
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Post by wosnes » Mon Jul 02, 2012 5:35 pm

It's easy to resist temptation because diets don't work.. Besides, according to Dr. Oz (and I take anything he says with a grain of salt), cellulite isn't a fat problem, it's a skin problem. I've known plenty of skinny women with cellulite.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."

good enough
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Post by good enough » Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:35 pm

wosnes wrote:diets don't work.
I want to believe you, I really really do. But then I look at the success stories, I know there are only a handful compared to the number of people that fail but I still think maybe, just maybe that could be me... I'm so fed up of hating myself and wanting to be thin but also thinking I am wasting my life on this obsession... Stuck stuck stuck.

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brotherjohn
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Post by brotherjohn » Mon Jul 02, 2012 7:54 pm

McQueen,

If you look at my "join date" you'll see I've been wrestling with this thing for a long time. I've come to the realization in my life that following NoS for the rest of my lives may be difficult (at times), but staying on any other diet or plan is IMPOSSIBLE ! That's why I always wind up back here. (And NoS seems to get a bit easier each time....)

best wishes,

John

r.jean
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Post by r.jean » Mon Jul 02, 2012 11:31 pm

It is easier to curb the temptation to go on a traditional diet after you start to see the losses slowly add up. I have lost 51.8 lbs in 18 months, and I know I can do this plan for life. I am only averaging 1 or 2 lbs a month now. I occasionally push myself to eat healthier, but I never ever count anything or make any special rules. The only modification I use is that I float my S days. I generally use one on the weekend and one during the week. I did not start this until I started my second year of No S.

I also have gradually increased my exercise, and the muscles are starting to win over the fat. I am still overweight but not so much that I cannot see a normal BMI in my future!

So do you want to be patient and lose it gradually or lose a lot quickly and be in danger of just gaining it all back?

My mantra from the beginning is below. It is all about maintaining every small loss!
The journey is the reward.
Maintenance is progress.

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butterfly1000
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Post by butterfly1000 » Tue Jul 03, 2012 12:16 pm

McQueen wrote:
wosnes wrote:diets don't work.
I want to believe you, I really really do. But then I look at the success stories, I know there are only a handful compared to the number of people that fail but I still think maybe, just maybe that could be me... I'm so fed up of hating myself and wanting to be thin but also thinking I am wasting my life on this obsession... Stuck stuck stuck.
I so understand how you feel. I keep trying other diets because I think that if I see quick results I'll get encouraged to continue -- but at the same time I know I can't spend the rest of my life tracking what I eat. So I do the diet for a little while, lose a few pounds, then gain them right back because I get tired of all the tracking. I keep coming back here because I know that if I can discipline myself to actually follow the No S, I will lose weight, it might be slower than other diets, but I will lose.

What I find with No S is that the obsession with food diminishes because it's so simple.

In the last few years, I haven't been able to stick to anything long enough for it to work, but I have hope that No S will be the one that will work ... which is why I keep coming back. Don't give up!

oolala53
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Post by oolala53 » Wed Jul 04, 2012 12:11 am

Knowing the odds is what helps me. Really, the house wins. Is there truly anything about my circumstances that would make me believe I'll be one of the extremely few exceptions, even though they get such media coverage? Not in my case. When I even think of aiming at low calories, I get the jitters. Yet I've had some days that I eat even less than I would get on a diet just because I'm no more hungry than that. But I don't impose that on myself.

How long have you been at No S this time? Have you been compliant? How are your S days? Do you get hungry for your meals?

I know this might not sound comforting but have you read any materials on body image and body acceptance? It is paradoxical how much it can help to not feel that you are at war with yourself. It does not mean that you get sloppy with food.

The only diet I recommend is one that severely limits looking at media images of thin women. Certainly don't look at any pics on purpose. I know that is sometimes recommended but I don't think the researchers look at the fallout from such practices.

Even though weight loss has not been shown to come from exercise, a great feeling of well being does, and that could be more of what you need, plus the skills of fighting those self-deprecating thoughts about your looks. Why not try 14 minutes of something vigorous and some walking on N days? Honestly, if you aren't doing No S and some exercise, why would you be able to sustain something more intense? Give yourself a chance at something moderate. If you stick to it, then see how much tougher you'd be willing to get.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

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Blithe Morning
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Post by Blithe Morning » Wed Jul 04, 2012 11:14 am

McQueen wrote:I want to believe you, I really really do. But then I look at the success stories, I know there are only a handful compared to the number of people that fail but I still think maybe, just maybe that could be me... I'm so fed up of hating myself and wanting to be thin but also thinking I am wasting my life on this obsession... Stuck stuck stuck.
A success story isn't the initial weight loss. It's whether the weight is still off 3-5 years down the road.

Keep in mind that diet programs have a very compelling reason to trumpet their successes: sales. Be it books, or branded food, or fees or what have you. Of course their ads and PR are going to hype the positive. What Mr. Barnum said about the birthrate of suckers (I prefer the term gullible) still holds true today.

Have you noticed how diets trumpet Eat what you want! No hunger! Lose weight quickly! Other than eat what you want (and that is really a matter of semantics since no, you can't eat what you want if what you want is a sweet or snack on a No S day) No S doesn't make these claims. The axiom "If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't" applies here.

I like Oo's idea of a media fast. I was watching a whole row of morning news shows the other day at the Y and I noticed almost without exception the people, specifically the women, on them were better looking than average. This included the "hard news" channels in addition to the magazine format shows. Hair, clothes, weight, makeup looked really good - certainly better than what I can pull off most days. If this is your reference group by which you feel you have to "fit in", then no wonder we get frustrated and depressed about our looks. No thank you.

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