In addition to no-s...no Speaking about Diets...

[gettheweightoff]

In an effort to live a lifestyle free from an obsession with diets I am also going to try and not Speak about dieting and weight loss (aside from this board of course) with others.

I don't want to be known as the girl who is always trying a new diet (I only hope and pray this is my last one) or talking about losing weight - I just want to do it and live it and become a role model for my children.

When others talk about new diets (be it on tv or right in front of me) I feel a compulsion to check it out. As if their no carb diet is going to be the answer for me. Maybe it will, maybe it won't but isn't staying the course on something for a long enough while the only way to know if it is working. This is why I have decided to stick to the NO S way for at least a few months to see if it's working and then re-examine things instead of abandoning it becuase it makes so much sense to me.

I'm not going to get sucked into conversations or bring up weight with others and suck myself into conversations about weight loss either.

Furthermore I don't want to count calories or be a slave to the scale any longer. I know what is healthy as do most of us. I know what is too much of a portion. I know if I am truly hungry I need to eat more so I don't binge later. I know that clean food is better and so I can eat a bit more (no one gained weight from too many vegetables). I'm not going to be afraid of carbs but I won't eat processed carbs.

Most of all I"m going to look at No S as freedom from dieting and maybe just maybe the weight will finally come off without being so darn obsessive and monitoring everything all the time.

This time I'm going to get on with things and live my life inbetween the three meals and relax just a TINY bit (not all crazy) on the weekend.

Where has all this obsessing got me anyways? I've spent so much time logging points at weight watchers and spending too much money only to give up and gain it all back plus more. I've spent too much time logging carbs and calories and where has that gotten me? Too much wasted time talking and reading about this plan and that plan. Am I thin and in control? NO. But No-S is giving me back control. Can I wait that extra hour to eat? Yes, I did it and I can do it. That makes me feel in control and obviously I am going to eat less if I am not snacking and going for that little bit more or that extra coffee with cream etc. etc.

I think I am making sense. Now if I can just do it!

[Nicest of the Damned]

One of the beautiful things about No S is that you don't have to tell people you're on it, if you don't want to. You don't have to tell anyone who you don't think will be 100% supportive. The changes in how you're eating aren't as obvious as they are on a lot of other diets. I haven't told very many people IRL that I'm on No S.

You can avoid conversations about your diet. Larry Niven once said that other people's diets are one of the three most boring topics of conversation in the world. Some people have weird ideas about diets and weight loss, and if you don't talk about diets with those people, you don't have to hear the weird ideas and try to say something tactful about them.

[Too solid flesh]

Yes, its relative invisibility in action is one of the great things about No S.

Larry Niven once said that other people's diets are one of the three most boring topics of conversation in the world.

OK, now I'm curious. What were the other two, please?

[BrightAngel]

In an effort to live a lifestyle free from an obsession with diets ....

This appears to be a common Theme among members here.

The majority of people just want the problem to go away.
They want to eat like "normal people" and be in the "normal" weight range.
They'd like to lose and maintain their weight without difficulty or much thought.
Some people who are only overweight or just above the border of obesity seem to accomplish this.
Unfortunately, those who have lived with a lifetime of obesity
are unlikely to ever accomplish this...
even when the way of eating is as simple as the No S Diet.

I am one of those people with a history of morbid obesity,
who has lost a great deal of weight,
and I have maintained my weight near my goal for the past 5 years.
I have found it Beneficial to incorporate an obession with diets into my personal lifestyle,
to embrace the devil, and make dieting into an enjoyable Hobby.
With effort, an "obsession with dieting" can be turned from a "bad" thing, into a "good" thing.

[exdieter]

Hi There --

I am brand new, but I hear exactly where you're coming from. I'm 35, and I have been dieting since I was 15 years old and weighed 115 pounds. I've dieted, restricted and obsessed my way into being overweight, as a matter of fact. I stopped dieting because my therapist finally put the cabash on it several months ago after hearing about my family's history of disordered eating.

Have spent the past several months learning to enjoy exercise (which is awesome) reading books on intuitive eating, only to gain more weight now that I am not depriving myself. However, I very strongly believe that there is a way to live my life without obsession and achieve a healthy, "normal" relationship with food.

I think we each have to find our own way, and confront our own habits and ways of thinking that have gotten us where we are. I'm hoping that the No S Diet (and I hate even using that word) is an approach that will help me find the balance between obsession and excess. I'll keep posting to let you know how it goes!

Happy New Year

[Nicest of the Damned]

Yes, its relative invisibility in action is one of the great things about No S.

Larry Niven once said that other people's diets are one of the three most boring topics of conversation in the world.

OK, now I'm curious. What were the other two, please?

From my copy of N-Space: How to make money for a worthy cause, and Special Interest Liberation. (I don't know what Special Interest Liberation is)

I have found it Beneficial to incorporate an obession with diets into my personal lifestyle,
to embrace the devil, and make dieting into an enjoyable Hobby.

Making a hobby out of dieting, and talking to others about dieting, are two different things. I've been reading a few diet books lately, but I don't talk about it away from this board. As a kid, I was obsessed with astronomy (still am), but I learned that, if I worked that into every conversation, not many people wanted to talk to me. It's entirely possible to have dieting as a hobby, but restrict discussion of it to certain people or places (like this board).

[Blithe Morning]

OK, now I'm curious. What were the other two, please?

I'm guessing children and vacations.

[gettheweightoff]

woa,

I don't think my post was understood.

I am not saying that my obsession with dieting is good because it goes beyond a hobby. It consumes my every thought and therefore my actions. I tend to talk about my weight with my family and the conversation with friends usually goes there too... either I bring it up or they bring it up and I get too absorbed by it. I tend to read everything about dieting and then think there is alway a better plan and abandon what I'm doing because the weight isn't coming off fast enough.

This is not a hobby or even a fascination.. it is an obsession. It has not got me that far too my goal.

I was saying that because No S is about building a habit and hopefully losing weight in the process -- perhaps my habit of being obsessed with this diet or any other diet will become less a focus in my life. It needs to be because what I am doing now, tracking every morsel and punishing myself if I go over too many calories, weighing myself constantly (which I've stopped for now) and talking about it too much is not good FOR ME.

I feel sort of irritated that when I try to be positive on this board it gets turned around on me and I feel dejected. Can't anyone say "great attitude" or that this type of thinking sounds healthy.

[BrightAngel]

I try to be positive on this board...it gets turned around on me and I feel dejected.
Can't anyone say "great attitude" or that this type of thinking sounds healthy.

It's all Good.
In reality, here we are all individuals,
which means that there are many different points of view.
even on what is "healthy" and what is "unhealthy.
We each share our own ways of looking at our ways of eating,
and our individual eating problems.
One person's Negative can be another person's Positive,
That doesn't make either person wrong.

[wosnes]

I feel sort of irritated that when I try to be positive on this board it gets turned around on me and I feel dejected. Can't anyone say "great attitude" or that this type of thinking sounds healthy.

One thing I've found in participating at various discussion boards is that when I most want to elicit a certain response is when I'm least likely to get it. I think part of it is that people interpret what they read in a way that applies to them -- and it's not what you meant.

It reminds me of something I read about 30 years ago (give or take a decade): I know you think you understand what you think I said, but I don't think you realize that what you heard isn't what I meant. Or something like that.

[oolala53]

I think cutting down or cutting out diet talk is a great tactic to shake yourself up. Just as making all foods "legal" can help one see which ones are really the most satisfying, forcing oneself to give up that topic can help one decide just how much of it she wants to do. I went for a couple of years not getting involved in those talks as part of a way of accepting my body. It's a difficult task, and I'm not completely at peace, but things are better, and I pick and choose my times to participate, just as I pick and choose what I eat. It hardly seems like it will do harm. And you've got us to wallow with.

[Blithe Morning]

Well, I will applaud you for No Speaking. This is a great opportunity to learn as you will have to fill your time and emotional energy with something else. When you think of all the amazing, fascinating topics out there to learn more about, you will be really glad that you freed up this room in your brain.

Other than No S, what else interests you?

[kccc]

Most of all I"m going to look at No S as freedom from dieting and maybe just maybe the weight will finally come off without being so darn obsessive and monitoring everything all the time.

This time I'm going to get on with things and live my life inbetween the three meals and relax just a TINY bit (not all crazy) on the weekend.

I think I am making sense. Now if I can just do it!

Actually, I think this is a WONDERFUL insight.

One of the unexpected side benefits of No-S was how much free time I had once I was not spending it all eating or obsessing about having eaten... or using eating as an excuse to procrastinate.

[gettheweightoff]

Good question!!!

I guess I have been so all consumed by diet and looking after toddlers I haven't had a single solitary interest. How sad is that.

Now that I'm going back to work part-time and the kids are becoming a little more independent and I found No-S and I have decided to make a conscious effort to move away from this diet obsession it is the perfect time to concentrate on hobbies, interests, career and getting other areas of my life going.

I guess it's all happening at the same time.

But really good question because there has to be more to me than just obsessing over my weight and failing all the time.

But I have 8 days under my belt of NO-S and yesterday I stopped myself counting calories, talking about this plan with my mom and finally slept (I guess the anxiety about all of this was cutting into my sleep time too).

I've decided to just trust the plan and see what happens down the road!