Pumpkin checks in

Pumpkin · Post by **Pumpkin** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 7:56 pm

Hello!

I have discovered the No S Diet many years ago, and even though it made sense back then, I wasn't ready to commit myself to it. I've read several times through the message board, but I was sure that I was someone who could lose weight with another diet and keep it off (and that it would be a lot faster).

About 2 weeks ago, I decided to finally leave all the diets behind and commit to this one. I'm now 30 years old and I've been dieting on/off for about 14 years, which is almost half of my life. I'm so stuck in the diet head mentality that it is even frightening to me. When I started dieting I was at a perfectly normal weight (even in the low weight range for my height). Over the past years all I got from the diets: more weight. Now I weigh 97kg, being 1.70m tall (this would be about 214 pounds at 5.7). I'm clearly obese and I would be more than happy if one day I could be "only" overweight with this way of eating. But if I stay at this weight gaining more sanity I'd also be more than happy.

Here is a quick overview of my diet history:

* eat less: lasted about 3 weeks; quit because of cravings, 3 kg down, 4 kg up
* made myself a weird diet plan: lasted about 2 weeks; quit because it was um... weird, 2 kg down, 3 kg up
* several times of eating less sweets/ less in general/ not after a certain time / extremely healthy: quit because of several reasons, lost a few kgs every time, gained more afterwards
* forever young diet: 4 weeks, quit because it was too expensive, don't remember lost/gained weight
* weight watchers (1st time, about 4 months): quit when I made 6-week long trip to the US; lost 4 kg, gained about 5
* weight watchers (2nd time, about 9 months): quit when I went through a difficult emotional time and was sick of counting points, lost about 9 kg, gained back 10
* south beach: lasted about 3 months, quit when I discovered I was lactose intolerant (probably got that because I ate so much dairy while on this plan); lost about 8 kg, gained 9
* weight watchers (3rd time, about 14 months): quit when I got sick of counting points and when I GAINED with their new program, lost about 7 kg, got sick of counting points; gained all back plus more.
* tried several other diets: Paul McKenna's intuitive eating, different low carb versions, calorie counting, different diet plans; they all didn't last long and I gained back all the weight I lost, plus more
* New York Diet: lasted about 4 months, lost 8 kg, gained 4 (this is a first! gaining less than I lost!!) quit because it was too time consuming

I guess that's most of the diets I went on. From my first diet until now I gained about 40 kg (some by yo-yo-dieting, others by simply eating too much). Well the good thing I got from all these diets (especially the New York Diet, which I personally liked best): I learned to drink enough water during the day, I learned to love fruits and veggies, I learned to cook from scratch (and I now have lots of yummy and healthy recipes), I know in general what kinds of foods are more/less calorie-dense, and I found a couple of workout classes that I really like. Oh, and I discovered that I need some protein with each meal to not be ravenous 2 hours after finishing eating. So I hope that I got at least some positive results out of all these diets.
Oh, and did I mention that the way of eating I did before going on all these crazy diets was pretty similar to No S? Oh well, we all go through a learning phase in life - some learn faster, others not so fast

.

I officially started No S on Wednesday, so today is my 4th day of No S - and my first S-day. Yesterday I was really anticipating the weekend. I don't even want to know how much I'll wait for the weekend next week

.

I guess that's all for now.

Pumpkin

Pumpkin · Post by **Pumpkin** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 7:58 pm

My September-record

19: SUCCESS
20: SUCCESS
21: SUCCESS
22: S-DAY
23: S-DAY
24: SUCCESS
25: SUCCESS
26: SUCCESS
27: SUCCESS
28: SUCCESS
29: S-DAY
30: S-DAY

r.jean · Post by **r.jean** » Sun Sep 23, 2012 12:20 am

Here's hoping you find success with No S and an end to yo yo dieting!

Pumpkin · Post by **Pumpkin** » Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:09 am

r.jean wrote:Here's hoping you find success with No S and an end to yo yo dieting!

Thank you r.jean!

My first S-Day is over. It was weird when I thought in the morning, that this is the first day since I remember, that I was actually "allowed" to eat sweets. Since I was almost always either dieting, or having a phase in between where I "shouldn't" eat sweets. I way overdid it with candy yesterday, but I guess that's okay. I'm glad that I'm reading again and again that the S-days will take care of themselves as long as you watch your N-day habits. So I guess that's what I will focus on. Off to my second S-day today

!

Pumpkin · Post by **Pumpkin** » Mon Sep 24, 2012 10:21 am

Well, I'm already on day 6 of this diet, which didn't feel much like a diet until now - especially since 2 out of the 5 days were S-days. This will be my first full week of No S and here's hoping I will make it until Saturday.

This past weekend I was arguing with myself if my S-day starts at midnight, or when I get up on Saturday. I decided for "getting up" because midnight might be a slippery slope for me. And I'm writing this here to hold myself accountable, even though I might change it some time in the future.

I made some pumpkin cake yesterday and I was glad that we had a theater rehearsal last night because I took the remaining cake there in order to reduce temptations for me. Since I come off a quite healthy low carb diet I don't have any sweets at home - unless I eat the sugar straight out of the jar. And I almost don't have any snack-food at home, which also helps reducing temptation. I'm just trying to set myself up for as few red days as possible.

Pumpkin · Post by **Pumpkin** » Wed Sep 26, 2012 4:37 pm

I'm through more than half of the week already being green. Woohoo!

But I can tell you that the smell of a fresh loaf of bread really tests my willpower

Glad that dinner isn't too far away!

So far I realize what really helps me, is not having temptation-food hanging around in my apartment. I don't have sweets or snack-type food here, and whenever I feel like eating something I would have to fix a real meal first. I guess snacks and sweets are the two "S"s that are my weakness. I don't care about seconds at all. I simply put enough food on my plate for the meal and until now I didn't leave the table hungry. Today was even the first time that I couldn't finish my lunch because it was simply too much.
But sweets and snacks - that's a whole other story.
Just these past two days I could have eaten:
- chips that my tutoring student offered me
- as well as some peanuts
- a sweet (that also would have been a snack) offered by my babysitting kid
- some cookies that a neighbor made
- and finally something from the bakery (snack and maybe also sweet) when I went there with a friend

The hardest time for me is in the evening after dinner. I would really like to eat sweets and snacks all the time then. These past days I went for lots of tea when I wanted to snack. That's a solution that is not the best option for my sleep

(because I have to get up in the middle of the night at least once), but right now it's better than having lots of red days.

Pumpkin · Post by **Pumpkin** » Sun Sep 30, 2012 10:31 pm

I'm already through 12 days with No-S. So far it feels really good. Right now I have to be really conscious around food because even though the No-S rules make lots of sense I know that I have a loooong way ahead of me until the rules are habits. But I really really want to be a member of the 21-day-club

My second weekend with No-S was already a lot better than the first one. Even though I had lots of sweets and snacks and seconds, it was less than the first weekend. But I didn't decide to have less of them, it just happened.

I have a relatively easy week ahead of me: Wednesday is our national holiday and even though we don't celebrate as intensely as everyone in the US, I'll still take a S-day. I have plans to meet with friends for a brunch and watching movies and it will be insanely easier if I just call it an S-day. Maybe I'll manage to have a separate breakfast and lunch, then I'll just keep it green, but I want to have all of the options available

There is also something that I stumbled upon in TunaFishKid's check-in:

TunaFishKid wrote: That really hit home, but for me, dieting has been the coverup for my life-skills problem. When things get tough, I get online and start reading about how perfect "fill-in-the-blank" diet will make my life.

THIS! That is also exactly my problem. Whenever there is a problem in my life that I don't want to solve: I go search for another diet, and spend all of my free time researching, etc. so I "don't have time" to solve the problem. I didn't realize this until I read what TFK wrote, it was really eye-opening and gives me a lot to think about.

Pumpkin

Amy3010 · Post by **Amy3010** » Mon Oct 01, 2012 8:37 am

That is really profound - I'll have to go look at TFKs thread...

You've been doing really well so far! I'm back on No-s after an unintentionally long time away... I can relate to your first post, and I think No-s truly offers the long term permanent solution we are all looking for.

By the way, I'm in Belgium - where in Europe are you?

Pumpkin · Post by **Pumpkin** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:10 pm

My October-record

1: SUCCESS
2: SUCCESS
3: S-DAY
4: SUCCESS
5: SUCCESS
6: S-DAY
7: S-DAY
8: SUCCESS
9: SUCCESS
10: SUCCESS
11: RED

Pumpkin · Post by **Pumpkin** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 10:42 pm

Amy3010 wrote:That is really profound - I'll have to go look at TFKs thread...

You've been doing really well so far! I'm back on No-s after an unintentionally long time away... I can relate to your first post, and I think No-s truly offers the long term permanent solution we are all looking for.

By the way, I'm in Belgium - where in Europe are you?

Thanks a lot! I'm actually surprised myself about how well I'm doing with No-S. It might help, that this is very similar to the way I ate when I was little - before I started all of the diets.

I am from Germany. Since you're from Belgium: I looooove belgian waffles

.
I wish you just the best with No-S! I hope to read you again!

Amy3010 · Post by **Amy3010** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 7:34 am

LOL! Yes, one of those waffles got to me last night...

Getting back on track has not been easy... Thanks for the encouragement and good luck to you, too!

TunaFishKid · Post by **TunaFishKid** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:35 pm

Hi Pumpkin! It's nice to know there are other people out there facing the same struggles, isn't it? I'm glad something I said resonated with you. Best of luck to you.

Pumpkin · Post by **Pumpkin** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:26 pm

Amy3010 wrote:LOL! Yes, one of those waffles got to me last night...
Getting back on track has not been easy... Thanks for the encouragement and good luck to you, too!

Amy! I hope things are going better for you now!

TunaFishKid wrote:Hi Pumpkin! It's nice to know there are other people out there facing the same struggles, isn't it? I'm glad something I said resonated with you. Best of luck to you.

Thank you! And I'm really glad that you wrote that in your check-in. It not only opened my eyes to my problem, but - as you said - it really is nice to know other people who face the same things as I do.

On another note: Today is day 21 for me!!! And since it is already late in the evening here, I can proudly say that I am a member of the 21-day-club!!! Woohoo! When I started I never thought that I'd make it through 21 days on my first try.
What I've learned during those 21 days:
- I will not starve without snacks.
- My meals are still too big.
- I don't have to buy sweets for S-days just because I can have them, when I don't really want them.
- When I get a craving after dinner, a cup of tea helps a lot.
- A "treat" for me involves chocolate 90% of the time.

Next goal: make it through the next 21 days with only green and yellow!
The challenge: I'll be visiting my sister next week from Wednesday until the following Monday

Well, I'll see how that goes. I've read about many people that allow themselves one S-event per day during vacations, don't know yet whether I want to do that or not. But I have enough time left to decide.

In order to reduce the size of my meals I decided to go back to some tracking of my meals. Since I still have most of the WW-points in my head, I decided to track those. But instead of writing down exactly what and how much I ate, and tracking veggies/fruits, healthy fats, etc. I made myself a chart where I simply cross off how many points I already used. Right now it seems easy enough for me to keep doing it. When I feel too restricted by doing it, I'll go and find another solution.

So far for today,
Pumpkin

Pumpkin · Post by **Pumpkin** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:20 pm

I had my first red day yesterday. It was all due to my lack of planning. I went to my favorite workout-class in the evening (7-8), then came home and wanted to start dinner immediately, but I got sucked into internet, and when I started to make dinner it was already about 8:30. Then I quickly showered and before I realized it, it was 8:50. Since my theater rehearsal started at 9 pm I had to eat something else in order to make it through rehearsal... so I had a bowl of cornflakes and a banana. And then after rehearsal I was still pretty hungry so I finally made the dinner I had originally planned. Oh well, that's life. I learned from it to plan a faster dinner and start it immediately when I know I have little time to cook and eat a meal.
Unfortunately it was an unplanned mini-meal. I sometimes plan a mini-meal somewhere during my day when I know that going from one meal to another will be too long of a time-stretch. But yesterday's bowl of cornflakes was completely unplanned... On a good note though: I still stayed within my WW-points.