It's been a month on the No-S

[reubenthetadpole]

And I've actually gained two pounds.

What's THAT about?


And no, not two pounds today from water weight or dinner, but when I average out my weight over the past months, the mean is actually going up.

[BrightAngel]

And I've actually gained two pounds.
What's THAT about?

And no, not two pounds today from water weight or dinner,
but when I average out my weight over the past months, the mean is actually going up.

Sad to say,
but usually that means you are taking in more calories than you are burning.
i.e. You are eating too much food or too much of the wrong kind of food.
No S doesn't change scientific laws,
it's just a method to reduce your calorie intake without counting calories.

[reubenthetadpole]

Not likely. I've calculated it before and I rarely eat more than 1,200 calories/day on an N day, if that.

And last weekend when I was on vacation and had less control over what I ate and ate more than usual, I didn't gain any weight.

So I'm thinking that for me No-S stands for No-Success. LOL

[Mavilu]

Last weekend, you say?, well, it does take sometime for your extra calories to show on your body, you just don't gain weight the day after you consumed extra calories.
Your extra weight comes from somewhere, chances are it's what you consumed last weekend or that you moved less or both things combined.
Remember: it's calories in versus calories out, not how or when or what from those calories are, so, it's not that you gained weight just because you ate the NoS way and nothing else, it's because at some point you ate more calories that you needed or you moved less than usual.
Just take a hard look and see what it might be the culprit, we can't tell you what it is, only you can.

[reubenthetadpole]

Well, I also have PCOS, so is it possible that this diet is not meant for those of us with hormonal issues?

[Dawn]

I didn't lose an ounce the first 10 weeks. I did however get the No-S habits nailed down during that time. I thought I was doing so great with my 3 meals, but after closer inspection I thought maybe I could cut back a bit more. I did and it was actually easy. I wouldn't have had the strength to do that earier on. Then I kicked up the exercise - just a bit. Even with somewhat crazy S days, I am down 8 pounds, and I am one week away from my 4 month anniversay on No-S. 2 pounds a month is what I was hoping for and it sure didn't look like it would happen in the beginning.

Of course I don't have health issues like you do and we all lose differently.

This plan has changed my life - it really has. I wish everyone could feel the peace of mind that I feel. If I could put it into a box with bow on it, I would send it off to you. Please stay with us for a bit longer.

The problem is that you are comparing this to other plans. On most other plans you would have lost 10 pounds by now huh? But we all know how those other plans end, and begin again, and end, and, well, I think you know where I am going with this.

No-S in not a quick fix, it's a permanent solution. It's worth the wait. Take a deep breath, a step back, re-assess and make small changes.

[Remy]

I echo what Dawn said. Because everyone is different with different body types, different weightloss histories, different starting weights, different amounts of fat to lose, different eating habits, styles, likes and dislikes etc etc etc - I can only talk about me and see if anything resonates with you. That is how I started on this diet. What Reinhard said resonated with me.

His message made sense to me, and so I have decided to do this for the long term. With that decision made I decided not to have the same expectations that I had with previous diets. So I have accepted that I may not lose weight quickly ie so many pounds in so many weeks.

I am using this time to get back in touch with normal eating patterns so I am not afraid of food or obsessed by food or ruled by food. This could take a while so I realize I will probably not get to my goal weight (not quite sure what that is at the moment) for some time. It could take one, two or ten years. Frankly, at this stage of my life I don't care. At least now I can live like a normal person. I am not counting this, missing that, excluding whole food groups, etc. I just eat three meals a day and if I feel like a treat I wait to have it on the weekend. There is such a freedom in that for me I can't explain it.

This diet might not help you if you do have very specific weightloss goals in mind within a certain time frame. But if you are anything like me and your previous dieting has left you confused, struggling, unhappy, feeling powerless and still overweight you might like to join me (and everyone else!) on this journey and see where it takes us.

PS Hope this doesn't read like a sermon, it is just that I have had such a light bulb moment that I can't help but be a little (a lot) enthusiastic.

[CrazyCatLady]

I gained 5 pounds right off the bat...now 5 months later I'm down 15. Focus on habit, and sticking to the habit, and don't worry so much about one or two pounds. I am telling you that the changes this has made for me have been unbelievable.

I never felt "full" before. I just kept eating. Sometimes I was uncomfortably full, but never had a point where my belly told my mind "ok...enough...stop eating now." Now, that happens.

I would urge you to give this more time. I honestly think that this is the most sensible eating plan, and over the long run easier to maintain, than anything else I have heard about. Please don't give up!

[blueskighs]

No-S in not a quick fix, it's a permanent solution. It's worth the wait.

Dawn,
I love that...!

I gained 5 pounds right off the bat...now 5 months later I'm down 15. Focus on habit, and sticking to the habit, and don't worry so much about one or two pounds. I am telling you that the changes this has made for me have been unbelievable.

CrazyCatLady

Congratulations and that is so inspiring!

Blueskighs

[gingercake]

Just chiming in to agree with the last few posts, especially agree with Remy. Over the last 7 years, I've lost about 50 lbs doing various things. I've got about 25 to go to get myself on the high end of the charts/BMI, and I've spent the last year dieting and counting and measuring and restricting, and have not lost one pound. (I don't count the three pounds I lost and gained over and over.) As a bonus, I was miserable. I've decided that if I could stick with that kind of life for a year with no results, I can certainly stick with this for a year before making any final judgment. And, I won't be a sad, fearful, guilty mess.

Now, if you start steadily gaining and gaining and there's a constant upward trend, yeah, that would worry me. But two pounds is nothing. For me, my pants getting tight is a much better indicator of real gain.

Edited to add: hormonal issues definitely make it harder to lose weight, but I actually think No S is a great fit for someone with PCOS. It's a lot about stabilizing your system and blood sugar and your body starts releasing predictable levels of insulin, etc. I think the quality of the meals you eat is extra important when you have hormonal stuff going on. I don't have PCOS but when I weighed more I had some of those symptoms.

[Jaxhil]

Thanks, for these inspiring posts! It's so nice to know that others' bodies also have a long wait to lose any weight (lol-no pun intended!). I tend to get discouraged easily and give up, but hearing it took Dawn 10 weeks to show a loss, and CrazyCatLady GAINED 5 lbs, yet is now down 15, in 5 months-that is Awesome.

Thanks so much for posting (YAH~clapping and cheering for you!)

Remy, thanks for your wise words too-how great that you have lost 50 lbs, the right way-I have no doubt NoS will get the rest off (no matter how long it takes )

[fkwan]

This diet might not help you if you do have very specific weightloss goals in mind within a certain time frame. But if you are anything like me and your previous dieting has left you confused, struggling, unhappy, feeling powerless and still overweight you might like to join me (and everyone else!) on this journey and see where it takes us.

Amen.

This ought to be the first sentence in the book and the first thing you see when you enter the site.

This is a system to change the way you behave, not a weight loss diet. I managed to happily lose a healthy 8 pounds only to gain two back and negate all my efforts for an entire month, about which I am not happy. However, in two months I only binged once and am making great strides in dealing with self-hatred, anger and addiction which threaten to destroy my life, and meeting a bunch of wonderful people besides.

IF you are female and IF you have ANY kind of endocrine issues at all, you must be extra stringent on this plan to lose weight, and it will take twice as long as you think it will.

Hugs,

f

[rose]

So what's your decision Stef?
Diet-diet?
No-S + tweaks?
Basic No-S and que sera sera?
Or just que sera sera?

Also if you want more precise advice, it would be helpful to remind us of a few details about:
your gender,
your age,
your height,
your weight,
how much you've gained and in what time frame, (err well you said your average weight increased by 2lbs during your first noS month)
how long you've been on NoS, (ditto, I just repeat to try build a standard questionnaire)
what you did (food plan/diet/exercise) before NoS,
whether you are exercising and how much,
whether you have trouble following the NoS rules,
whether you have moderate or wild S days,
how many Non-Weekend S days you typically take in a month,
an example of the food you typically eat on N days,
whether you get hungry between meals or not,
how you feel after meals (light as a feather/comfortably full/uncomfortably full/ready for a nap?)

Perhaps listing such details will give ppl some ideas about how to help you. Perhaps listing such details will give you some ideas about what to tweak to make NoS work for you.
NoS does have steps/stages that a lot of people seem to go through i.e. first build habits, then reduce portion size and/or eat more healthy food, then try to curb down S-day wildness...
But, in order to succeed, some people need nutritional advice such as the plate method, some need to count calories at least a few times to get an idea of what they eat, some need to exercise more, some need to make a specific trigger-food an S-food etc...
No one has the exact same NoS...

[reinhard]

reubenthetadpole,

Sorry the scale hasn't been more cooperative, but as you can see from some of the responses here (thank you Dawn and CrazyCatLady in particular!) this isn't an entirely unprecedented way to start what turns out to be a long term success on no-s.

It sounds like you feel confident that you are in fact eating less, so my guess is that more time on habit may be all you need. I'd be stunned if you can do successfully do no-s, be confident that you are eating less, and gain wait over longer periods of time.

If anything extra is in fact required (perhaps you are eating a touch more than you think?), it should be pretty minimal. Are you doing any exercise right now? If you need it, that may be the better angle from which to add extra effort (exercise is a good idea in any case).

Sorry about this initial frustration and best wishes in getting past it,

Reinhard

[Amyliz]

thanks everyone for the encouraging posts!

the ups and downs are happening for me too:
end of the first 4 weeks i had lost 5lbs.
end of the second 4 weeks i regained 3lbs.

looking at my habitical for the past 8 weeks i've been on No-s, in the second 4 weeks I have had 2 special S days on top of regular ones, AND 3 failures. I've also tracked my morning workouts and resistance workouts, and habitical is proof that those went down in my second month compared to my first. Being 100% honest with myself, i can see that I behaved differently, so the small weight gain makes sense.

I spent the past weekend with my family, who are all smaller than me but always dieting. AND I noticed a huge difference between they way my sister was eating and the way I was eating. even though it was sunday, I had NO desire to keep picking at food all afternoon. we had a big lunch, and i was done. watching her snack and snack, made me realize how far i've come.
i may have re-gained a few pounds overall, but I'm much happier about eating in general than i've ever been!