The first 4 months of the No S Diet has been a journey. I have lost 10% of my weight, and my outlook has changed incredibly. I am more fit and less tired. I am optimistic. I am taking care of myself more now.
It is a good thing that this site is anonymous or I would not be posting my numbers.
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
THE NUMBERS
AGE: MID 50’S FEMALE
HGT: 5 FT 6 IN
STARTED 12/20/10
STARTING WGT/BMI: 224 LBS/36.2 BMI
CURRENT WGT/BMI: 200.6/32.4 BMI
PRELIMINARY GOAL: 185/29.9 BMI
FINAL GOAL WGT/BMI: 154 LBS/24.9
MONTH 1: -7.8 LBS
MONTH 2: -7.4 LBS
MONTH 3: -0 LBS (BUT NO GAIN!)
MONTH 4: -8.2 LBS
TOTAL 4 MONTH LOSS = 23.4 LBS
I weigh myself once a month.
HABIT CAL AND POSTS
Habit Cal calendars are key for me. I hate to track what I eat which has always been a problem with conventional dieting. The calendars are an easy regimen, and they really tell you everything you need to know.
I have three calendars: No S Diet compliance; Exercise; No alcohol. My Exercise goal is 30 minutes a day of any type, and it can be broken up into short spurts of exercise if I am having a hard time fitting in 30 minutes straight. I give myself one floating exempt day a week for exercise, but I do not always use it. The no alcohol calendar goal is to restrict alcoholic beverages to 2 days a week (any 2 days).
I post on my daily check in one or more times a week but not every day. I tried daily check ins for awhile, and it was too much. I do visit the site daily, do my calendars, and read a few posts from others.,
NO SWEETS
This has been one of the amazing successes. Once I quit eating sweets, I stopped craving them. I do not even eat sweets that much on weekends. When I do have sweets, it is usually sherbet or something fruity. Chocolate used to be a daily binge. I rarely eat chocolate now.
SECONDS
This is my downfall. I sometimes unconsciously go back for more and have already eaten seconds before I realize it. However, there is tremendous improvement in this area compared to pre-No S.
NO SNACKS
This is easier than I thought it would be although I have to watch myself here as well. Friday nights are the hardest. The week is over, and I want to celebrate.
S DAYS
My S days were sometimes wild at first but are pretty mundane at this point. I continue to eat like I do during the week, but I give in to temptations at times. I sometimes eat four times a day. I sometimes have a dessert or a snack. I read someone’s post saying that they start their S weekend at 5 pm Friday and end it at 5 pm on Sunday. This would be dangerous for me. I am pretty sure I would seriously overeat every Friday evening.
EXERCISE
This is probably my greatest success. I had gotten pretty sedentary before No S. I am building back up slowly, but I am starting to run again which is exciting. I usually exercise at least 45 minutes, but I leave the goal at a minimum at 30 minutes with an optional day off each week.
ALCOHOL
After starting No S, I found myself having a drink more often instead of having a snack which was kind of self defeating. This is the reason for the no alcohol calendar with 2 special exempt days each week. I have also taken a liking to no alcohol beer and found one I like that is only 58 calories. It is a good substitute.
BODY IMAGE
My clothes fit better, and I feel better. I have already started to get rid of some of my biggest clothes. However, I avoid the mirror without clothes on. My rolls have become saggy rolls. I have hope that this will get better. My husband lost quite a bit of weight several years ago, and his skin eventually firmed up.
MONTHLY OBSERVATIONS:
In the general discussion posts, there is a sticky by KCCC called, “The phases of No S…As I see them.†This is a great post. I can identify with the phases described. I am in phase III as defined by KCCC.
MONTHS 1 AND 2 (12/20/10-2/20/11):
Months 1 and 2 were pretty smooth. Using Vanilla No S, I lost weight easily even though I felt like I was eating quite a bit. I had a few reds and a few wild S days, but overall I did well enough to lose 15.2 lbs in 2 months. I gradually started making healthier food choices without even trying.
Exercise: When I started, the only thing I was doing was walking the dog for about 10 minutes twice a day. I started right away adding Leslie Sansone’s Walking Away the Pounds DVDs a few days a week. By Jan 1, I set my goal at 30 minutes of daily exercise (not counting dog walking), and I gave myself one exempt day a week. At first, I had some reds on my calendar and did the minimum to get by.
MONTH 3 (2/20/11-3/20/11):
This was the problem month. I started the month recovering from bronchitis. The residual cough went on for a couple of weeks. I was hungry all the time. Somehow I got it into my head that I should not eat more even though my body was obviously telling me that I needed a little more nutrition to fight this sickness off. I tried to restrict my plates to very moderate amounts with very healthy food choices. Of course, I was feeling totally deprived, and my weekends became more wild. Also, there were weekdays that I was compliant but crammed as much as I could onto my 3 plates. I started a cycle similar to my past cycles of trying to lose weight. I would deprive myself, then overeat, deprive myself, then overeat again. At the end of the month when I weighed in, I was exactly the same. This made me stop and think about what I was doing.
During month 3, I just forgot to stay with Vanilla no S. I thought that I was still doing it because I was not counting calories or carbs or anything else. However, I was slipping back into the old diet mentality. I was trying to make my meals too perfect and not listening to real hunger. This would make me fall off the wagon and overeat. I started going back and forth between perfection and overeating.
MONTH 4
My self awareness improved greatly during month 4.
Food: Although I will continue to tweak my habits as time goes on, I reached the point this month where I can continue what I am doing for the rest of my life. I am sticking to plain vanilla No S, and I am more relaxed about not being perfect in what I eat.
Exercise: I will always keep my exercise goal the same (30 minutes), but I am exceeding it most days. I still allow one exempt day a week, but I only used one exempt day last month and two so far this month. My exercise is slowly getting to be more intense as well. I am starting to run again even though it is only short intervals during my walks. The dog walking is more brisk and walks are longer now that the weather is better. I now count the dog walking as part of my exercise.
Alcohol: I gave up alcohol for Lent. There were a few slips, but the lower consumption probably contributed to the good loss this month.
My weight loss at the end of Month 4 was more than I expected and is the highest monthly loss to date. I attribute the Month 4 weight loss to pretty good Vanilla No S compliance, low alcohol consumption, and putting more time and intensity into exercise.
I hope I can come back in four months and report my second 10% loss.