Seventh year

(New!) Read (or post) about people who have stuck with No-S for 10 or more months, lost 10 or more pounds, or 10 or more percent for their starting weight. Periodic updates strongly encouraged -- you can think of it as "Yearly Check In."

Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating

Post Reply
User avatar
DaveMc
Posts: 394
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:28 pm

Seventh year

Post by DaveMc » Thu Jul 21, 2016 1:41 pm

Hi everyone, I'm checking in after another "year on habit" with NoS. Here's last year's post in case you want to see that:

https://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopi ... ht=#162007

(And that one links again to the previous year, so you can follow me back into the dawn of time if you're so inclined.)

Back then, I was concerned that I'd regained 14 to 18 of the 20 pounds I lost way back in year 1.

I can now announce that, although I'm not back to my year 1 minimum, I have lost somewhere between 5 and 10 pounds since last year (depending, as always, on what day you ask). So I'm up about ten pounds above my lowest weight, but I'm back on a downward path!

How did I do it? Childishly simple, here's the plan I've been following:

Days 1, 3, and 5: No carbohydrates of any kind.
Days 2, 4, and 6: Only carbohydrates.
Day 7: I can eat absolutely anything I want, as long as it is gluten-free and has been prepared with silver cookware by a left-handed chef in the light of a full moon.
(Repeat weekly)

I'm kidding, of course. :) What I've actually used is the much less exciting method of eating a little bit less and exercising a little bit more, while following vanilla NoS (no extra special constraints beyond what's on the cover of the book). I also did implement my plan from last year of actually weighing myself once in a while, so I now get about five or six data points a month. Plotted on my phone, the weight-vs-time graph shows a long, slow, smooth decrease over the past year. (Well, except for a big spike in December/January when we visited relatives in Asia, where "I'm on a diet" doesn't always feel like a socially acceptable reason to decline food. They also have this dessert thing that's mostly made of butter and sugar and is insidiously tasty ... It wasn't my finest hour in terms of moderation.) But after that blip, the slow-but-steady decline started right back again.

I think I've succeeded in slightly down-shifting my sense of what's an appropriate portion of food, and I'm just going to stick with my current approach. Seven years in, I'm starting to think that this might just be a sustainable eating style, for me. :)

Big picture, I'm 10 pounds lighter than I was seven years ago ... But I also know I can reduce a bit further if I keep on my current trajectory.

To anyone just starting out, let me say that I do remember how hard it was, getting started. Those first few months were tough, and I came to realize what people meant when they pointed out that "simple" was not the same thing as "easy". But these days (and for about the past six years), NoS requires zero effort on my part, it's just automatic. It's completely accepted by my family as one of my (several) quirks, and it really doesn't create any difficulty in daily life. If you're slogging through that start-up phase, do stick with it: you can do it! And there's a long-term, stable solution waiting for you on the other side.

User avatar
Shuggernaut
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2015 3:30 pm
Location: Vinnland
Contact:

Post by Shuggernaut » Thu Jul 21, 2016 2:05 pm

Wow, great update, Dave! Dramatic weight loss stories can be inspirational, but let's not overlook or underrate tales of successful maintenance! Thanks for sharing 8)

User avatar
reinhard
Site Admin
Posts: 5918
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2005 7:38 pm
Location: Cambridge, MA
Contact:

Post by reinhard » Sat Jul 23, 2016 11:09 am

Congratulations on making it to the biblical span of 7 years!

(you had me scared, though, for a minute midway through your update!)

I love it that instead of freaking out when No S as you'd been practicing it ceased to be quite as effective as it had been initially and tossing it out the window, you recognized that it was still a strong foundation and successfully "rebooted" with only the slightest attentional tweaks.

Reinhard

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Sat Jul 23, 2016 1:38 pm

Glad just the basics are working. It's a delightful way to live.

Not having read all your years of reports, I apologize if you've covered this but have you altered at all over the years what you put on your plate or is it truly just less of the same? Fewer refined carbs or more veggies perhaps?
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

RAWCOOKIE
Posts: 1360
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2015 9:01 am
Location: Cornwall, UK

Re: Seventh year

Post by RAWCOOKIE » Sat Jul 23, 2016 5:36 pm

DaveMc wrote: Day 7: I can eat absolutely anything I want, as long as it is gluten-free and has been prepared with silver cookware by a left-handed chef in the light of a full moon.
:lol: oh great..... thanks for the laugh :lol:

I'm in for the long-haul too - with a slow but definite downward trend, and painlessly diminishing portion sizes

Well done mate!
I love Everyday Systems :3

13.6.15 124.25lbs
11.11.21 101.00lbs

User avatar
DaveMc
Posts: 394
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:28 pm

Post by DaveMc » Mon Jul 25, 2016 2:13 pm

oolala53 wrote: Not having read all your years of reports, I apologize if you've covered this but have you altered at all over the years what you put on your plate or is it truly just less of the same? Fewer refined carbs or more veggies perhaps?
Not deliberately ... But then again, I was already trying to have a reasonable amount of vegetables mixed in with other things, so that wouldn't represent a change. I don't have an official position on carbs, except for the vague sense that an entire plate of mashed potatoes, while technically allowed, is probably a bad idea if it happens frequently.

Too solid flesh
Posts: 639
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 5:22 pm
Location: England

Post by Too solid flesh » Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:13 am

Congratulations, DaveMc! That's impressive.
Be kind, for everybody you meet is fighting a hard battle.

osoniye
Posts: 1257
Joined: Sat May 22, 2010 2:19 pm
Location: Horn of Africa

Post by osoniye » Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:16 am

DaveMc wrote:I don't have an official position on carbs, except for the vague sense that an entire plate of mashed potatoes, while technically allowed, is probably a bad idea if it happens frequently.
I miss your sense of humor from when you used to post regularly!
Glad things are still going well for you!
-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

knitapeace
Posts: 100
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2016 4:57 pm

Post by knitapeace » Tue Jul 26, 2016 12:30 pm

Day 7: I can eat absolutely anything I want, as long as it is gluten-free and has been prepared with silver cookware by a left-handed chef in the light of a full moon.
(Repeat weekly)
I only have stainless steel...and we're all right handed but we lean left politically...can I make this a mod?

:lol:

Thank you for checking in and giving us new guys a standard to hold ahead of us, and a view of what our futures can be.
Everything I need, I already have.

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Tue Aug 02, 2016 4:36 am

RE: the plate of mashed potatoes. Got it. Keep up the good work!
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

Post Reply