Hi! Finally ready to give this a go!

[HealthyMommy]

Just wanted to say Hi! I've been a lurker off and on since last year, started a couple of times, didn't stick with it. I've done weight-watchers more times than I remember!javascript:emoticon(':shock:') Keep going back and forth between that and no-s. I'm a TERRIBLE emotional eater!! So my problem is I numb myself with sweets, feel horrible and guilty, then get desperate to lose it NOW! So starts the vicious cycle of talking myself into weight watchers... again, then while looking at their site the dreaded prison feeling of "counting" points creeps in and I feel hopeless. That sends me running to this No-S site, where it feels SANE, but then I fail and tend to "wreck the whole car", so that sends me back to weight-watchers site feeling like I deserve that "sentence"! javascript:emoticon(':roll:')I just need to find a balance and start this process. I know there is NO WAY in this world I can count points for a month, much less my whole life. Well, after all this babbling, I just want to say I'm here to start my journey, I think this is what I needed- to get it out there and be held accountable! Thanks!javascript:emoticon(':)')

[HealthyMommy]

Umm, sorry I guess I don't know how to do the emoticons right? I don't know how to get the javascript stuff off.

[clarinetgal]

Welcome! I, too, am a mommy, and I'm in your same boat-- except I go back and forth between No S and tracking my calories on My Fitness Pal (which I agree, it feels like a prison sentence). I, too, would love to lose the rest of my pregnancy weight from last year, without feeling tethered to counting calories. You will find this to be a great and supportive site (which is why I keep coming back!).

[milliem]

Welcome! I think wanting to get weight off NOW and to do it all perfectly is pretty common, unfortunately from most people's experiences it doesn't really work! Be kind to yourself and remember that failing is actually ok, it's all part of the learning process Any habit takes time to build and get solid, the habit of sane eating is just the same.

[threewhales]

I have spent the last year on No S, WW, sparkpeople, fitness pal, fitbit tracking every morsal...I am done, I am ready to do No S. someone once told me that I should aim for 80% compliance for the week, she has lost her excess pounds and looks great all with just No S principles. I am ready, are you?

[HealthyMommy]

Thanks for all the kind, encouraging responses!

[Nicest of the Damned]

I'm a new mommy, had my baby girl 8/5/12. As of the last time I weighed, I'm down 30 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight. You can do No S as a new mom, and it can help you lose your pregnancy weight.

One thing I like about No S, as a mom, is that I know, when Nicest Baby gets a bit older, she will be watching how I eat, and it will affect her relationship with food. No S is so much saner than all the diets I watched my parents try in the 80's. I learned from those diets that you can either do everything right, track every single thing you eat, and never eat anything unhealthy, or you can just throw up your hands and eat what you want, when you want. The former was way too hard (even my parents never managed to make it work for more than a few months at a time), so I went with the latter for most of my adult life, and had the extra weight to show for it. I'm hoping Nicest Baby gets a better model of how to relate to food than I did. I don't blame my parents for dieting the way they did, though- they didn't know any better.

[ironchef]

I'm also a (fairly) new mother, my son is 7 months old. Vanilla No-S has been a great fit for me, and I'm now slightly lighter than when I got pregnant. I love that there is no phases or changes for "maintenance", it's just one simple plan for the rest of my life.

I agree with Nicest, one of the biggest motivators for me is wanting my son to grow up with a healthy relationship with food.

Good luck as you get started on your journey!

[oolala53]

You can look up my testimonial. Binge eating was my issue. It's been a long road but the view has been very pretty a lot of the time in between some crappy weather. I hope you will commit to this process. Just keep going. Keep eating good, full meals on N days. Keep experimenting with eating better quality foods, i. e. less processed ones, over time. I ate a lot of pizza and burritos on my plates to start. I still eat processed foods sometimes, but I really don't want them as much. I don't fear them and just try to make the best choices I can when I'm out and about.

This is really about just eating three meals a day while you figure out what foods at your meals are going to make you feel content. It isn't over in a few weeks or months. In fact, it's never completely over. But it sure is more fun getting there than anything else I'd done in the previous 38 years.

[HealthyMommy]

Thanks everyone! It is SO good to know there are other mothers of little ones working at this and succeeding! I just had my 3rd Baby at the end of July. So, 3 under 5 years feels so overwhelming at times.
Oolala, I LOVE your posts! You have so much insight and I find myself looking for your replies in others posts, you've been down this road and we can glean much from your experience!

[oolala53]

Shucks!

Moms in France and Italy do the 3-meal thing most days. And they LOVE their food. They just prefer to either anticipate it or enjoy it at a meal. You can become very continental.