Inner turmoil....

[ZippaDee]

Ok, here I am. Still around...as I have been for quite a while now.

Have had a busy summer. My daughter is now a married young lady. Happened on July 27th. Will always remember it as one of the best days of my life....the kids were SO HAPPY!!! It was good for my Mama heart to watch! The wedding went so smoothly and beautifully........just good relaxed enjoyment for all!

I detasseld corn this summer. Yes...miles and miles of walking the fields in the heat with the youngins. (I work in a school, so have my summers off.) Guess what? I DID IT!!! It was grueling, hard physical work. I feel good about myself for doing it. Folks were telling me not to do it! Ha!! Proved to myself that this body is still capable of a lot! I am 47 btw.

My NoS habits have NOT been going well for me this summer. I have been ravenous from the physical work. And so I eat. You would think I would lose weight from 8 hours a day of physical labor wouldn't ya? Have actually gained about 5 pounds this summer. It feels like a lot on my 5'1" frame. It just puts me at a weight where I am no longer comfortable!! Pulling and tugging on clothes....just yuck!

So, here I am.....again!! I am NOT giving up! I KNOW that this plan is what I need to be doing. And, I know that it works. It has worked for me in the past when I DO IT! I KNOW for me at this point it needs to be about the habit and not the scale. I honestly believe that once the habit is engrained the weight will follow. But the question is how can I truly TRULY make this about the habit when I am here about the weight. That is what brings me here kwim? I can SAY this is about the habit, but really down deep it is about the weight. I think if I can get to the point where this is REALLY and TRULY about habit for me............well.....it would be a good thing. I just feel that. I need to get rid of this strong feeling inside........what if I put forth so much effort and I still have the weight. I think that deep seeded thinking holds me back from really letting this process work for me!

End of ramble........I guess. lol! Any thoughts on any of that would be appreciated!

I believe in the NO S Diet. It just makes sense! Good common horse sense! It is so simple, but NOT easy.......for me!

[noni]

Welcome back ZippaDee,

I know what you mean about 5 more lbs on a small frame. I came here for the weight problem mainly, to be honest, and I don't think I only speak for myself. My eating was out of control, much of my clothes didn't fit, so I wore a lot of tent like dresses. Even though physically my stomach always felt full and blah, if it weren't for the scale number and heartburn, I wouldn't have done anything about it. But I don't have those kind of genes.

The three plate habit for me was forced at first, but in time became easier (and saner). The weight came off, because even with a year long of wild-eating weekends I was still taking in less food than before with keeping my green days green.

I wish you well, and BTW, is detassling corn the same as shucking it?

[wosnes]

You know the old saying....bad habits are easy to make and hard to break. I think for most of us it takes far more than 21 days to make this a habit. And it's HARD. Part of it is that it's been our habit for years and years and years to snack, eat sweets and have seconds.

I think it takes a long time for this really to become habit -- where it's so much a part of what you do that doing something else isn't even conceivable. So, just keep on plugging away at it.

You know, for a couple of years I've been wondering why I always gain weight during the summer. I eat a lot of vegetables and fruits -- less calorie dense foods -- but there's always a little weight gain. Recently I read that it's not at all unusual to gain weight during the summer. Why? Our bodies are storing extra calories for the scarcity that comes in winter. Problem is, that scarcity doesn't come any more.

[ZippaDee]

Thanks so much for your responses Noni and Wosnes!!

What it really boils down to is I just need to DO IT!! One day at a time....DO IT!! It IS hard to change habits that are engrained in me!!! The only way I can change them is ONE day at a time....ONE meal at a time....ONE plate at a time. I want to just focus on the habit, habit, habit!!!

wosnes said:

Our bodies are storing extra calories for the scarcity that comes in winter. Problem is, that scarcity doesn't come any more.

Interesting!! Wow. My body is so efficient at taking care of itself!

Noni....corn detasseling is actually removing the tassel from the corn plant. A machine goes through and pulls tassels first, but the machine doesn't get nearly all of them. So, we walk the field and check each stalk of corn for a tassel and remove the tassel if it is there. This is done on just the female rows of corn to prevent pollination with the male corn in order to create corn that will be used as seed....not to feed livestock.

Thanks for encouragement!

[oolala53]

It's hard to separate the idea of changing your eating habits without their being attached to weight loss in our culture. I just knew I ate way more than I was hungry for and felt too full too much. Secretly, I would have been very surprised if I hadn't lost weight but I steeled myself. It has come off in fits and starts.

Get the habit down for a few months. Then if you still feel too big, slowly start decreasing dense foods at meals. Up the freggies to keep up or even increase the volume.

In the end, only you can determine what the right amount of food is that will keep you feeling adequately fed for the vitality of your body and mind. It's not usually something discovered, after all our wrenchings, in a few weeks or even months.

[Kittykat150]

It's hard to separate the idea of changing your eating habits without their being attached to weight loss in our culture. I just knew I ate way more than I was hungry for and felt too full too much. Secretly, I would have been very surprised if I hadn't lost weight but I steeled myself. It has come off in fits and starts.

Get the habit down for a few months. Then if you still feel too big, slowly start decreasing dense foods at meals. Up the freggies to keep up or even increase the volume.

In the end, only you can determine what the right amount of food is that will keep you feeling adequately fed for the vitality of your body and mind. It's not usually something discovered, after all our wrenchings, in a few weeks or even months.

That is excellent advice. I will put this in my daily thread to keep in mind. Thank you!
Kat

[bonnieUK]

My NoS habits have NOT been going well for me this summer. I have been ravenous from the physical work. And so I eat. You would think I would lose weight from 8 hours a day of physical labor wouldn't ya? Have actually gained about 5 pounds this summer. It feels like a lot on my 5'1" frame. It just puts me at a weight where I am no longer comfortable!! Pulling and tugging on clothes....just yuck!

I know how you feel, the same thing happened to me this year! I have been renovating a house and overeating, partly from the stress of living in a building site and partly because the physical work gave me such an appetite. I had weeks when No S went out the window and I ate chocolate and nuts all day for energy, and dinners were lots of bread and cheese because it was quick.

Things are better now though, most of the work is done and I'm being strict on getting back to vanilla No S, and this time with no kidding myself that the spoonfuls of honey and handfuls of dried dates I added to my yogurt aren't S foods

I also have a light frame/bone structure so a few pounds really show. I either look like Gwyneth Paltrow or look 5 months pregnant, there's no middle ground of being nicely curvy all over (grr!)

Good luck, and congratulations on your productive summer!

[Over43]

Keep at it. Pulling tassles on corn does seem a bit tedious though. As well as being physically able, that was quite a mental feat as well. If you can do that you can knock out the No S.

[ZippaDee]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!! Have spent the past several days at the beach with my family letting the waves wash away some stress. The waves are soooo good for the soul! Feeling so much better and stronger.

Over43 said:

Pulling tassles on corn does seem a bit tedious though. As well as being physically able, that was quite a mental feat as well. If you can do that you can knock out the No S.

That is true isn't it? I CAN do this!!

[Hippy Dippy]

ZippaDee:

Hello!

YOU.CAN.DO.IT. Like the rest of us, it does take time.
I'm 46 going on 47 year old pre-menopausal woman at 202.2 pounds on a 5ft 5in frame. Got what I like to call my "3 stomachs" (which is that nasty pouchy thing that hangs under my belly button, the mid-section, and that fat that bows out under my breasts. Yech. Thank you Mother Nature!! Anyhoo, all the advice here is really good. It is a slow process and as Oolala says, eating right and weight loss seem to be inextricably intwined in our culture. But I guess nothing really matters more than feeling fat, awful, and the clothes getting too tight. I tell you, panic sets in for me and then the mental imperative sets in: MUST LOSE NOW!!!!! It's a horrible thing.

Well, yesterday I did not eat my default breakfast of 2 eggs, 3 bacon strips and sliced tomatoes. Normally I do this at 7am and am good to go until my next meal at Noon or Noon-thirty. Instead I had oatmeal with butter, Half and half, some honey, some peanut butter and walnuts. Ate it at 7:30 am. Was absolutely starving at 10 am. My guess: I needed some decent protein to go along with the oatmeal. So, I ate "lunch" at 10:30 am. It was my default salad with some chips and cheese-dip. Did not eat again until dinner at 6pm. And yes, I did get hungry in the later afternoon. Drank water and then went hair-shampoo shopping (try finding a "clarifying" shampoo amongst the shelving of, like, thousands). Took about an hour and helped distract me.

I guess what I am saying is there is lee-way with 3 plates. Mostly we assume one has to go a certain time frame between meals...but, if we totally missed the boat on the amount of our last meal, we can always move up our next meal.

Decades of previous myriad diets have certainly ingrained some issues for me and No S is slowly helping me to overcome these.

What is great is that this website has so many of us here to help each other. Welcome to the Sisterhood of the Sane!

Hippy Dippy

[oolala53]

Or you can have coffee with creamer of choice or mocha. I've used that many times to get through a morning or even afternoon. That and some diversion can get me through a couple of hours.

[Hippy Dippy]

Oolala:

I've seen "mocha" mentioned quite a few times now. I am going to have to try that!

Thanks,
Hippy Dippy

[oolala53]

When I can, I make mine with 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup coffee, 2 t. cocoa, and some stevia. I'm not a purist, so I cobble something when I'm out. And a latte will do.

[ZippaDee]

Thanks for the encouragement Hippy Dippy!! Slow and steady wins the race!!