How long until you saw a loss?

[April]

Hello fellow no-ser's. I am feeling very discouraged but still truly believe NO S is the best option for me. I am not losing, but not gaining either. So it has been great for weight maintenance. I have been (mostly) on plan for about 4 months after "diet hopping" for YEARS which resulted in slow weight gain

I want to ask if there anyone out there that did NOT see losses for several weeks (or months) but stayed the course and eventually started losing???

I know I need to work on having less calorie dense meals, but if I make meals to "light" I am tummy-growling-hungry between meals and end up snacking or having seconds resulting in a red day. I can't seem to find a happy medium. Advice on this appreciated as well!

[gingerpie]

I want to ask if there anyone out there that did NOT see losses for several weeks (or months) but stayed the course and eventually started losing???

Yes, but I did eventually have to admit that I had to adjust my choices. I would encourage you to make note of whether or not you are seeing benefits other than weight loss and to focus on those for now. Eventually you'll probably decide to make dietary changes for the sake of weight loss but there is no reason to rush the process. Honestly, what are your options? Go back to "dieting" and you'll probably go back to gaining. Isn't it better to sit back and enjoy the freedom of not worrying about it?

As for meal size - I have no good advice except that I think that as you settle into 3 meals, you'll also settle into the right size. And just because your tummy growls a bit it doesn't mean you have to fill it immediately, just be sure to fill it with 3 wholesome, delicious and nutritious meals a day and it will adjust.

Best of luck to you and kind regards,

[oolala53]

I wish I could say I fit your criterion, but I lost relatively early, though not a lot and not fast. But I also went through many plateaus. Eventually, loss would come after I actually ate a lot less on S days, sometimes even less than on N days because if I went out for a rich meal, I would sometimes skip the next one because I never got hungry again that day. I guess that's not canonical, but I didn't purposely plan to eat fewer meals, just respond to the day. I figured since it was an S day, I had permission to alter the program. Also, since I liked my eating life so much better than my binging life, I stuck with it. It took at least two years for me to lose 21% of my weight, which took me into my normal BMI range.

If I may, I think you may need to exercise some further restraint for the sake of curiosity to see if it really stays as painful as you imply to get hungry and then still stick to no snacking and regular portions, slowly savored. If you keep going with instinct, you may never find out that it is possible to eat less and still actually feel satisfied an hour later after the food has "settled." You might not do it every day for awhile. Just test it out a few times.

As has been said, I agree that No S is a great holding pattern.

[April]

Thanks for your replies!