Some observations 2 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.

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sharon227
Posts: 292
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 12:13 pm

Some observations 2 months in

Post by sharon227 » Fri Jul 13, 2018 1:33 am

Some things I've noticed in my No S journey after almost 2 months in, in case they might help any newer folks:

I don’t freak out if I’m hungry before or between meals like I used to. Yes, I still sometimes take large plates and pile food on a bit excessively. But not always. And that's progress! For many meals, I’ve gone back to normal dishes and normal portions, and just stop with that. For breakfast, I've gone from super large bowl, to a large bowl, back to a regular bowl :-)

It’s important to me that my one plate is well balanced and healthy. One little modification I’ve made for myself is that if I have a good nutritional balance on my plate of at least half vegetables and fruit, and I want more salad, I’ll take more salad. Just as Reinhard said no one got fat from eating beets, no one gets fat from having extra fresh salad with oil and vinegar. The key, as he points out, is to make sure that by having more salad off my One Plate, more calorie-dense foods don’t take the place of what should be vegetables and fruit.

I am very rarely “stuffed†after eating a meal. I feel like I’ve gone back to more traditional ways of eating, instead of the 21st-century American version of eating all the time, not paying attention, often feeling overfull. Basically, I’ve gone from being a little anxious when I finish a meal if I don’t feel truly FULL, to not wanting to feel overly full anymore.

I am definitely enjoying my food more. Having only one plate and no snacks means I need to make the plate count. And I almost always pay attention to and savor what I’m eating, since there’s no more unlimited grazing. That really does make me appreciate my food more. As with most things in life, we tend to truly appreciate what's limited more than things that are available all the time in endless quantities.

Much to my surprise, the rule that I’m finding most difficult is no seconds, as opposed to no snacks or no sweets. I am surprisingly fine with no sweets during the week. It’s binary, and that makes it easy: if it’s a weekday, I don’t have sweets. Period. The snacks were a lot harder, and there are still times where small healthy snacks would be useful. But after a couple of months, I have finally managed to wean myself off of needing juice or juice and seltzer every day in the afternoon and on most evenings. Now it’s occasional.

No seconds is a lot harder. I don’t want to pile a ton of food on my plate, but I also don’t want to take too little and then be hungry. I’m still learning just how much I need to feel sated but not stuffed. And I still occasionally take an extra spoonful of something on my plate before I remember that I don't do that anymore. Fortunately, it's rarely too much and it's usually something reasonably healthy.

Weight-wise, I'm down 2 pounds in 7 weeks. And that is with a lot of exercise. 2 pounds a month would certainly make me a lot happier than 1 pound a month. Reinhard was correct, at least for me, when he said this is a much slower way to lose weight than on a typical diet. On the other hand, I’m really happy with the way I experience food now. I hope I will never want to go back to my old ways of eating. (And that I'll be at my goal weight this time next year.)

Soprano
Posts: 1184
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:56 pm
Location: UK

Post by Soprano » Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:23 am

Great post and much as I've found Nos too. My loss has been slow too but I know it will be permanent which is what really matters. Like you I've focused on a year from now and if I'm 9 or 12 pounds lighter in that time I'll be happy.

I'm 8lbs down in 4 months but the first 2 months were very slow.

Good luck

Jx
Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.

sharon227
Posts: 292
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 12:13 pm

Post by sharon227 » Fri Jul 13, 2018 12:02 pm

Thanks, Soprano. It is interesting for me to know that you found similar things on No S. And especially interesting that your weight loss was slow for the first two months but the rate got a little quicker as time went on. Maybe there’s hope for my weight loss rate to pick up a little bit as well :-)

But just as you said, if I am 9 or 12 pounds lighter this time next year, I, too, will be happy!

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