Only 2 weeks in, and oh the lessons I've learned

worth it · Post by **worth it** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:30 pm

I came across No "S" while searching for Intuitive Eating (IE) success stories online. A blog post on sparkpeople.com discussed how No "S" was essentially IE with "training wheels". After going from binge eating to dieting (low carb, WW, calorie counting, etc.) to IE, I found myself at the heaviest I have ever been. I have been struggling with my weight for the past several years now, and while I thought the problem started because I began to restrict my eating (a trigger to being overweight discussed in IE), I now realize that I was simply eating too much food. We know that diets are based on restriction, so I was really drawn to IE because it is based on the premise that you should eat when you are hungry, be totally present while eating and eat whatever you want, and your body will "tell you" when it's done (AND eventually you will get to your natural weight). I felt like this is how my relationship with food and eating was like before I got fat. For whatever reason "listening to my body" this time, was making me bigger and bigger (+25lbs.) rather than getting me closer to my natural weight. After two weeks doing No "S" I believe I have solved the mystery-I could not identify TRUE hunger anymore! I remember when doing IE, I would feel pangs in my stomach and think I was hungry-sometimes after only 1.5 hours after eating. IE would say that if you are hungry, you should eat and not worry about it- so I did. Now, after doing No "S", I have to wait and be patient between meals and I am forced to REALLY listen to my body. This is how I started to realize that many times those "pains" in my stomach were related to other things besides hunger- digestion, thirst, gas, etc. With this newfound patience, now I feel I can really identify TRUE hunger and I actually think it is an awesome feeling! At first it was scary to feel it again (after all this time), but in this 2nd week I am learning to embrace it for the following reasons: 1. My meals taste AMAZING! I feel like I am eating everything for the first time and my taste buds are brand new. 2. Once I eat, that particular feeling is gone, because the hunger is satisfied. It doesn't linger or come back until just before my next meal. 3. It helps me realize and feel an accomplishment that I didn't overeat during my previous meal. 4. I love the feeling that I am now able to read my body's signals again and makes me more confident and in control of my own needs. 5. I like the "flattened" tummy feel it gives me during that last 1/2 hour before I eat again. : - ) So, after years of disordered eating, trouble with binge eating, and trouble with Intuitive Eating, I now feel like there is hope! Not just with weight loss, but with the obsessive behaviors I have had around my relationship with food. It also doesn't hurt that I've lost 2 lbs so far. I look forward to the time when I can post my year results. By the way, I never did find any IE success stories through my online research...

jw · Post by jw » Wed Oct 09, 2013 7:01 pm

Welcome aboard, wirth! Yes, No S is very helpful in restoring the things that used to come naturally -- appetite, hunger signals -- and keeping things like craving and binging under control within a very gentle, doable structure. It's a real place of balance for me! Glad you are having a similar experience so far!

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:34 am

Hi Wirth7,

What a delightful post to read!

I had similar experiences with IE before NoS and even now I find my body "naturally" wanting chocolate more often than not (after years of intense chocolate training that is) but thankfully I now have a system that let's me enjoy it guiltfree on S days

Welcome and keep us posted on your check-in thread!

Kookie · Post by **Kookie** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:31 am

Welcome! I'm relatively new to NoS but also finding it exciting and really working for me. As you say, it is IE with training wheels - it is the perfect balance of structure and freedom. I am totally sold on it. I feel free for the first time in a long time. IE also didn't really work for me over the long term. I found it really confusing because I would feel hunger but not know what I was hungry for so I was eating really strangely and it felt like it encouraged food obsession for me. It definitely sustained emotionally eating for me because eating was always an option. Now with NoS, if I want something between meals I am forced to feel my feelings and let them flow through me. that's why it is helping me to feel more in touch with my true hunger.

bit of a ramble but basically, welcome! Great to have you - I always feel comforted knowing I'm not the only one with a background of disordered eating.

automatedeating · Post by **automatedeating** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 7:48 pm

It's really fun how requiring moderation (as NoS does) helps us learn so much about ourselves. I have done Weight Watchers and Low-Carb eating in the past, and I never learned as much as I have about myself--and I'm only 6 weeks in.

I feel like my appetite is a toddler---happier with structure (and thriving with structure) but without structure, would completely run the house! And, just like a toddler, I can't expect my appetite to "appreciate" the boundaries I have fenced around its "exploration".

OK, I am way too esoteric today.

worth it · Post by **worth it** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 10:49 pm

Hi All-I am loving your replies! Thank you so much for giving me some of your words of wisdom and also for your kindness. I felt better after hearing about the experiences with IE and also enjoyed the clever analogy that No "S" provides us with boundaries that we need...similar to a toddler! So true. I'm wishing ALL of us continued success, happiness and most of all healthiness as we continue our journey together.

jcourtney · Post by **jcourtney** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:59 pm

I feel like my appetite is a todder---happier with structure (and thriving with structure) but without structure, would completely run the house! And, just like a toddler, I can't expect my appetite to "appreciate" the boundaries I have fenced around its "exploration".

I just LOVE that. It's so true too.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 7:02 pm

There are some IE success stories, if you count the authors of books insisting on it, and a minority of lucky people in our culture. I found I couldn't make it work after decades of trying. Of course, I wasn't faithful to it. I actually knew I wasn't actually hungry many times, but I found I did not have the patience to wait long enough for my next meal. I knew I rarely wanted sweet things when I was truly hungry, but I "wanted" to eat them often. I also was confused about trying to eat the exact right thing when I actually was hungry. I needed to be able to pack a lunch long before I was hungry. Plus, it was so hard to try to time my hunger so that I could eat with others, and I felt I couldn't put off meals once I was hungry, so I couldn't wait to eat in company. OA had recommended 3 meals a day years before, but I was so confused between IA and the idea that we should eat more often, etc.

I finally surrendered to the wisdom of No S around Christmas of 2009. I had 3 months of perfect compliance and lost 10 lbs., then many rocky times, but I could never really take anything else seriously, including going back to consistent overeating. I'm still here, having slowly lost 40 lbs. in fits and starts, the last phase in the last four months. I've said all along it is a wonderful balance of structure and modified IE, in that I still don't often wait until I'm hungry to determine the perfect thing to eat. Most slim cultures don't do it, and we don't need to, either. What they DO do is to have a similar makeup of their meals and small-to-moderate portions. And really normally only one major meal a day. Their breakfasts are often tiny by Denny's standards!

But it's been mostly fun all the way, with some despair over S days for quite awhile, but N days were so good, I didn't give up. I still don't meet perfect IE standards, and don't intend to. I'm not even perfect at N days. I'm in my "during." Only time will tell if it's permanent, but it looks good.

Keep up with us!

noni · Post by **noni** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 3:25 pm

I had oolala's problem of timing on IE. I would eat a tiny breakfast so I would be hungry for lunch. Then I would worry about eating too much lunch to be hungry enough to eat dinner with my family. What about dessert, which I always indulged in? Did I have to eat it directly after dinner (which I didn't like to do), because if I waited for hunger again it would be hours. No S simplifies it. NO dessert until the weekend and eat it whenever!

I do appreciate IE in that it taught me to put away diet foods. It also helped me keep my weight down in my last pregnancy. It just takes too much thinking, otherwise.

bonnieUK · Post by **bonnieUK** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 8:57 am

I love the terM "IE with training wheels"!

Since I stopped being a sugar addict in my late teens (15 or so years ago!) I have been able to intuitively eat the right types of food food, but the intuitive eating thing doesn't seem to work for me regarding when to eat. This is where No S came in and saved the day when I was in my late twenties.

I'm now in my mid thirties and No S stopped that creeping weight gain thing that seems to happen from age 28 onwards.