Naturally Slim Program

I know this is an old post, but it's showing up in my recent post section. So, in the event it's still active...

I've tried to do this program twice, both times through work at a hospital. it was free both times. And both times I tried to do it, I couldn't make it through the first few weeks. The concepts are not that difficult - and they make a lot of sense for me. I know I don't have a good relationship with food. I know I don't eat mindfully. the point of the program is to learn NOT to rely on calorie counting etc, and to learn just how to eat until you are satisfied and then be done. Which makes perfect sense, really. In my head, I wanted to like it. It is well supported with data, it is supported by medical professionals - it's good for diabetics (the orange juice thing, which I know people have problems with is likely a non issue. The ratio of OJ to water is so small...it mostly just tastes like weird water). I know people have been successful with it long term.

BUT....
The videos are the most irritating videos Ive ever had to sit through in my entire life. I didn't find them helpful, they seemed too long and just drug on and on and on. The second time I tried to do it was after the "new and improved" version came out - still boring, still annoying. As I'm typing this I can hear the voice of the creator (who is in most of the videos) and it just makes me cringe. I couldn't keep up with watching the videos every week - they are not really that long, but I'm a single mom with a toddler and I work full time - by the time I was able to view them, I was exhausted. I didn't find the community to be particularly helpful. And the whole H2Orange thing was just terrible. There is nothing about diluted orange juice that is enjoyable - at all. It left a gross taste in my mouth all day. I think it works - it did help me feel better throughout the day without snacking, but its sort of awful. I did start adding some flavoring agents to it (the no calorie powders) and that helped, but I'd rather just drink water.

It was really difficult for me to get behind the "only these things for hunger savers" concept. I get it, but it didn't work for me. Some of the options are just like, triggery foods for me (peanuts and I are not friends) strawberries were difficult to keep around without them going bad.

I had a really hard time (as others have posted) eating one food at a time. Again, I get it - pick your favorite, even if its dessert, and eat as much of it as you want. But once you eat something else, you can't go back to it. For those of us who really struggle with portion control, it's not a bad idea - It just makes you think really carefully about eating and enjoying it, rather than gorging and binging. But, It was difficult to do that in my life - with kids and meals with them and just truly having a difficult time sitting and focusing that much on a meal. It also became sort of nerve wracking for me to not log my food, but that's just me.

I also think that it is a program that is sort of easy to take the wrong way - especially for those of us (myself included) who may live on the fringes of disordered eating. Like...the idea of the program is just to learn to eat "normally" - and I totally get that and appreciate it's goals. But there were definitely times when my slightly disordered eating brain was like "what you really want is pizza. So just eat only pizza, because that's what they're saying. Skip the veggies. You don't want them" And that's not really the point - it's the Konmari of food - don't eat certain foods because you're supposed to - eat what you enjoy and ACTUALLY enjoy it. I get it, I like it, I believe it...be also, no. lol. Sometimes I CAN'T eat the things I REALLY want. Sometimes we have to learn to like salads, and learn to like to eat things without so much butter on them, etc etc etc.

All that being said, I do still try to do some of the things - NS is big on not eating until you're hungry, regardless of what time it is and learning what your hunger schedule actually is. And that's actually super helpful. Turns out, I'm not actually hungry in the morning until close to 11. I do try to pay attention to why I want to eat - am I bored? thirsty? having a bad day? or am I actually hungry? I do try to chew more slowly and actually taste what I'm eating. I do try (and frequently fail) to actually stop eating once I'm not hungry anymore vs. always finishing what's on my plate.

All in all, it's like a lot of other things - its a great program, if you have the time and you're able to fit it into your life. But if it doesn't fit well and you can't make it fit (or you just simply cant tolerate the ladies voice and the irritating videos) its probably not for you. If you can get it free through work, it's definitely worth a shot (and hey, I got a free wireless digital scale out of the deal, so there's that. lol) but if not, its SUPER expensive, and make sure you know what you're getting into before you pay for it.

Being on programs where someone told me how and when to eat, for the last 40 years, is what brought me to mfp as an obese adult.

I've learned more in the last 4 months here than I did in all those years on all those plans. I'm down 35 pounds, eating in a sustainable way and have adapted to a calorie deficit easily.

Some of the rules on your current plan sound ridiculous to me, one of them being not to combine flavors. That's just plain dumb.

mjohemme wrote: »

I feel this thread is opinion skewed from the get go. I'll admit my work just started offering this and we started the program yesterday. I am definitely skeptical, but not going in to it scornfully. I'm open to learning what I can that will work for me. I'm not trying to lose weight as much as changing how I eat so I don't gain weight. I'll find a different, more neutral fact based thread to follow for others checking the program out, though.

Well, there aren't any other current discussions, so I'll just have to swish a grain of salt around in my mouth and follow here, lol.

If your employer signs you up for my "I will make you smarter program", you know the one I will start running soon where I will be smacking each participant for 10 minutes at a time upside their head (in a non permanently harmful manner)... would you stick to it and also feel that my program should be given a fair shake and not be reviewed too negatively?

Just wondering...