Two months in

No Snacks, no sweets, no seconds. Except on Days that start with S. Too simple for you? Simple is why it works. Look here for questions, introductions, support, success stories.

Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating

Post Reply
silverfish
Posts: 115
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2005 12:17 am
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Contact:

Two months in

Post by silverfish » Tue Aug 02, 2005 11:25 pm

I've been trying out No-S for almost two months now, and it's the only "diet" I've stuck with this long. Or at all, really. I've always been convinced that eating moderately and healthily, and moving around occasionally, is far better than most weight-loss diets... I've just never managed to keep eating moderately and healthy, before this.

I've always been the heavy one of the family. My Mom's American, so there was never any shortage of good cooking, but I grew up on a cattle property and had plenty of running around. When I went to boarding school in year 11 my weight was 90kg, but 7 years of residential college at uni bumped that up to 110 (220 pounds?). I'm tall, so I can carry it, but it isn't healthy or comfortable and so I thought I'd try this diet, partly as a joke.

So, six weeks in, I've only taken one week off and that was deliberate (I was interstate and half the fun of travelling is, for me, the food... but this time I made sure that if I was snacking it was on something interesting and unusual, not just standard coke or chocolate bars).

I weighed myself on the weekend and had an emotional rollercoaster-ride, as one set of scales said I'd gone from 110g to 105kg and the other that I'd gone from 111 to 109. I'm leaning towards the latter, but still that's what... 4 pounds?

Weight loss or not (and I haven't been getting much exercise), I have felt a lot healthier, clearer and energetic (the good getting-things-done sort of energy, not the nervous, easily-distracted sort). At any rate, I'm now starting to look more at what I'm eating (and what's in what I'm eating!) and to exercise, so I'm hopeful for the future. One day I'd like to be down nearer 80kg (which is above my ideal BMI range, but given height and build I'd be a stick-figure if I got below 75), but mostly I want to live healthily and this has helped amazingly.

This discussion board has been very interesting and helpful - thanks all!

Kathleen.

User avatar
gratefuldeb67
Posts: 6256
Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:26 pm
Location: Great Neck, NY

Post by gratefuldeb67 » Wed Aug 03, 2005 12:21 am

Good on ya Kathleen down under!!!

PS... Scales are *always* and emotional rollercoaster!!!!!!

I think that the "joke" part is actually very helpful... Too many people put too much emphasis on the whole dieting thing... Then when they are somehow dissapointed, it's almost because they built it all up at the beginning... It should feel much more like a game....
Fortunately for us lucky Nossers, this is a game which is, as Reinhard might say, "heavilly optimized" for us to win!!!

Keep it up! Four pounds is right on target with what is considered by *real* food and diet authorities (versus faddists...) a reasonable and healthy rate of loss...
Yay you!

Peace,
8) Deb

jgoddessoffire
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jul 30, 2005 2:29 am

Post by jgoddessoffire » Wed Aug 03, 2005 12:28 am

Congratulations on the two months.
Thanks for converting the metrics into pounds for us ethnocentric American folk who refused to learn the metric system back in the 70s’.
Thanks for sharing your journey thus far.
namaste,
goddess

User avatar
Jammin' Jan
Posts: 2002
Joined: Thu May 05, 2005 2:55 pm
Location: The Village

Post by Jammin' Jan » Wed Aug 03, 2005 12:59 am

For those of us who have not mastered metric, here's an online conversion:

http://www.worldwidemetric.com/metcal.htm

Kathleen, you're doing really well! I loved reading your story. :D

User avatar
snazzybabe
Posts: 103
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 7:44 am
Location: Perth, Western Australia

Re: Two months in

Post by snazzybabe » Thu Aug 04, 2005 7:24 am

silverfish wrote:I've been trying out No-S for almost two months now, and it's the only "diet" I've stuck with this long.

I weighed myself on the weekend and had an emotional rollercoaster-ride, as one set of scales said I'd gone from 110g to 105kg and the other that I'd gone from 111 to 109. I'm leaning towards the latter, but still that's what... 4 pounds?

Weight loss or not (and I haven't been getting much exercise), I have felt a lot healthier, clearer and energetic (the good getting-things-done sort of energy, not the nervous, easily-distracted sort). At any rate, I'm now starting to look more at what I'm eating (and what's in what I'm eating!) and to exercise, so I'm hopeful for the future. Kathleen.
No S is helping you with not snacking and to develop a better relationship with food. Like you said, now its time to look at what you are eating. 4 pounds or 2 kilo loss is great but when you start looking at the food you are eating you will drop more weight. As you say your goal is to get into the 80s. Its no secret that I'm a believer in the low-carb way because I do believe that it works and that it is healthy. I'm not saying you should low-carb but try cutting out or cutting down some high-carb items like white bread, pasta, potatoes (sugar (sweets) you already are cutting down) and I'm sure you will see a positive effect.

User avatar
gratefuldeb67
Posts: 6256
Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:26 pm
Location: Great Neck, NY

Post by gratefuldeb67 » Thu Aug 04, 2005 2:31 pm

Here's my take on this issue...

Low carb is depressing!!!!!!!
Sorry... :lol:
Moderation of all foods is not.... :D

No one will ever see me scrutinizing how many carbs are in anything.... It's interesting from a biochemical standpoint, but horrible to have to make your everyday choices based on whether something has
23 grams of carbs versus 15...
This is seeing the trees, not the forest! It's eating too much of the stuff that's to blame......

I eat what I enjoy, and I balance that with regular exercise...
I would rather take longer to get slim, than feel like I'm in a biochemical war with my food.... I love it all....
Silverfish... It's almost my first year anniversary with NOS and I have lost about 17 lbs... Keep in mind I've been a bit lax about the rules in terms of my own issues (eg: night time snacking...) Not by choice, but just because I've had those habits since early childhood... They are really tough! So to get to my goal, it might take another two years...

I don't care! I will never ever switch from this life plan... It is foolproof...

It also encourages us to be happier with less...
Not in a martyr style, but just in comparison to when we were pigging out... I am thrilled that when I have a bad urge for some cheese doodles or some other "craving" food... Or any food, for that matter, I don't need to go hog wild to be satisfied now... What other diet can say it does that?
How is cutting out a food group going to better your relationship with food?
I just can't buy into that.... It seems ridiculous...
Now keep in mind, I don't consider soda or candy, etc.. to be a healthy thing, but even that has its place... Why exclude it?


Because NOS tackles overeating itself and cutting down on the "egregious" offenders (Reinhard quote...) like soda, and candy etc... it is
LIVEABLE.....

Any diet which excludes any food group on a day to day basis, is doomed to fail somewhere down the line....


I hope you are enjoying your experience here so far, and hope you enjoyed my rant!!! :wink:
Love,
8) Deb

*Post script edit:
I'm not trying to say be mindless about eating here... I think that is what you meant about "looking at your food".... Am I right?
Please, by all means "look at what you eat"... Make healthy choices...
But don't go insane worrying that a potato or rice will make you into a blimp... It wont!
PPS... 4 pounds is AWESOME!!!!! Don't let crazy fad diet's with their unrealistic goals of losing fast, sucker you into thinking that your loss is anything less than stellar!!!! The trick is maintaining your losses over time!!!!! That's the hard part, but just stick with this great plan and you will do it, and reach your personal goal!
Woo hoo you!!!!

User avatar
doulachic
Posts: 435
Joined: Sat Jun 18, 2005 8:02 pm
Location: Idaho

Post by doulachic » Thu Aug 04, 2005 7:49 pm

Deb, i agree. :D I used to eat high carb stuff all the time and i never gained. But once i had kids and became a stay at home mom, food became my friend. I remember my hubby and i eating large amounts of food late at night because we just didn't have the money to do anything else; food was our recreation. it took a long time to come out of that thinking (we still eat recreationally once in a while...when we go out on a "date" :D but not EVERY night.)

I did Atkins and lost weight, but i also did calorie counting, exchange diet, and low fat...and lost weight on all of those too. but i couldn't stay on any of them because of the deprivation feelings and strict rules...and they didn't teach me how to eat my PORTIONS correctly in a way that made any sense. ok, eat a portion shaped like a deck of cards???? it's easier just to eat one plate of a variety of foods.

I love No-s because it is simplicity at it's finest. even though i have had my setbacks, i can honestly say that i am no longer "obsessed" about food the way that i was on a diet. No-s has helped me to conquer my overeating.

Now, I have nothing against diets per say, but i think it is irresponsible to say that one diet or another is the only way to lose weight...everyone is different. If you want to diet (low-carb or otherwise) along with the no-s principles, then go ahead....but you won't catch me on that merry-go-round again! :D
***GRINS***
Tricia

"When you are in a jam, a good friend will bring a loaf of bread and peanut butter..."

User avatar
gratefuldeb67
Posts: 6256
Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:26 pm
Location: Great Neck, NY

Post by gratefuldeb67 » Thu Aug 04, 2005 8:08 pm

Brava Tricia!!!!
That deck of cards portion made me laugh!!!!
Glad things are going well for you! :wink:
Peace and Love,
8) Deb

User avatar
snazzybabe
Posts: 103
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 7:44 am
Location: Perth, Western Australia

Post by snazzybabe » Thu Aug 04, 2005 11:09 pm

Silverfish its up to you to do whatever you feel is best for you.

You don't cut out one food group completely only bits of it - the crappy bits.

But its only my opinion.

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

Post by reinhard » Tue Aug 09, 2005 4:03 am

Silverfish, congratulations. Sorry for the long delay... it's so distracting being a real person.

Deb is right, slow loss is fine. There's no rush. Enjoy it, make it a habit, you'll get there.

Snazzy is right that what you eat does matter, obviously, but I don't find it helpful to get systematic about this. Serving up your meals on the platter of limited opportunity should be enough to prompt a little extra nutritional seriousness without extra rules. It also let's you look at the nutrition issue in a more positive way: not "what do I cut out?" but "here's my limited chance, what do I squeeze in?" You won't always make the most nutritious choice, purely gustatory considerations will often (and rightfully!) prevail, but you will often enough.

Where I would consider adding extra system is exercise. As with no s, keep the emphasis on sustainability. Just a little pressure from the exercise "output end" will get you much better results for substantially less effort and misery than doubling your efforts on the diet "input" end. Be strict about actually doing whatever you decide (a stopwatch can work wonders here), but be modest in how much you set out to do. And realize that it might take some experimenting to find what's right for you. Keep us posted,

Reinhard

silverfish
Posts: 115
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2005 12:17 am
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Contact:

Post by silverfish » Wed Aug 10, 2005 6:51 am

Thanks all, for encouragement and tips.

My aim at the moment is to eat some of everything in moderation. For me, this means cutting down on bread a little bit but not so much that I'll miss it, and definitely increasing green vegetables. It helps that I love brussel sprouts and broccoli and spinach - this just makes me eat them regularly.

I definitely don't want to get too systematic, but nutritionally I'm trying to stop once or twice a week and say "have I had fish?" or "I don't recall seeing anything green on my plate lately". I'm also learning more about what is in prepared food so that while my choices are gustatory (I've never used that adjective - thanks Reinhard!) they are also informed. We prepared pretty much everything at home when I was growing up, so I knew what went into bread, sausages, jam or a cow. It still sometimes surprises me what's in pre-prepared food. Doesn't mean I won't eat it, just that I know what I'm letting myself in for!

I've started walking again, fairly regularly. My biggest problem has only ever been getting out the door. Otherwise, I love walking and having long legs I've never had to struggle to keep up with people (I'm usually being told to wait up). I keep seeing ads along the lines of "In 6 weeks we'll teach you to walk 5 kms". It isn't hard walking 5km! Sometimes it's hard stopping if I don't have to be home for something else - and that's even unfit as I am. (Don't ask me to run, though - on a main road I can just about manage the distance between three street lights :)

I don't mind losing weight slowly - it's healthier and hey! it's going! Even when I don't see a change, I do feel better and a little hunger between meals is a sign everything's operating as it should. And it's nice not to feel guilty about an occasional fast-food meal (though I've now cut out the soft drink and usually downsize any extras).

And I got my first "You've lost some weight," comment today (unprompted) :)

User avatar
Blondie
Posts: 309
Joined: Fri Jul 08, 2005 6:36 pm

Post by Blondie » Wed Aug 10, 2005 1:19 pm

Hey Kathleen, you sound pretty sensible about food choices and exercise--keep up the great work and congrats on your weight loss compliment!

Mandy

Post Reply