I have just started low-carb diet. All post-menopause women please give me your advise! I have not lost much weight after 2 weeks. I see sudden increase of hot flashes. I need to loose about 10lb. Thank you for your help
(Prior to that i only used Shangri La Diet)

I eat cheese more like a condiment just enough for added flavor not enough for a cal. bomb

Stop eating dairy for a while and see if it makes a difference. If you feel better/lose weight more easily, then stay away from it or minimize it.

Excellent advice. I cannot eat dairy proteins (they cause me cravings, hunger, itchy eyes, and are insulinogenic and caused me to hold on to those last 15 lbs of fat) but others have no problems with them. Going without for 30 days is the best way to tell if or how dairy affects you.

Incidentally, I never had any symptoms of menopause or peri-menopause when I was eating vLC with no dairy. Years later I started eating a lot of cheese and had night sweats, that stopped when I got rid of the dairy proteins, especially milk products with added "casein" or "milk solids", which have a higher than average insulin index:

https://optimisingnutrition.com/201...-and-net-carbs/

Thank you all who responded.
I think i will try to avoid cheese for a while. Sadly cheese is one of my favorite things. I am in ketosis, according to ketones testing strips,yet i do not seem to lose any weight. I imagine that cheese is the reason

Deirdra,
I have never had problem with dairy. I only eat hard cheeses like cheddar, and aged cheeses like Brie. I also add heavy cream to my coffee. I added cheese for the sake of fat. I am not sure what to replace it with. What is your primary source of fat?

My primary sources of fat are in meat/fish/poultry, nuts & mayonnaise, olive oil & coconut oil. I do have up to 2T of butter or ghee each day since there is only a trace of dairy protein.

I use olive oil and coconut oil every day.
I will try to use more of them and will add butter.
Thank you for your suggestions

I do coconut oil in coffee.
and i believe what i have read about hot flashes increasing during low-carb weight loss -- your body may be reacting to teh estrogen that is being released from fat cells. Each time this year that I have lost a few pounds between stalls, i have had 5 - 6 hot flashes throughout the night. When i am stalled, not so much.
So now, when i have hot flashes I embrace them as being indicative of fat loss...although it can take a long time for it to show up on the scale.

Blue Ruby
That is very interesting. I noticed hot flashes too. I guess i should not be annoyed but grateful

Avoid artificial sweeteners, or even Stevia. They all cause issues for me and when I first went on induction years ago, nothing happened until I got rid of them, then all of a sudden scale kept moving. I hit goal years ago, kept it off for years than gained back last year bc I got sloppy -literally only 2-3 servings of non sugary carbs (ie sweet potato, brown rice pasta) a week was all it took to gain 15 pounds. I am now older (49) so I haven't lost anything either going Keto so will be interested to see the what ends up working for you.

Going without dairy could take me to a dark place!

Hi Cleveland
I am slowly moving now, although i discovered that i have kidney stones just yesterday. I do not know if it is related to Atkins or not. (Teaser thinks it may be) I still eat cheese, because i just cannot find anything good to substitute. As far as sweeteners- I have 1 small spoon of Xylitol with my coffee in the morning.
I have used Xylitol for years and never had any cravings.
I am having difficulty with regularity so i take Psyllim capsules.
My Atkins diet is modified a bit. I still have wine with dinner, however now wine does not trigger cravings anymore.

I use Source Naturals Estrogen & Progesterone cream - you just rub on a little per day. It has helped with the hot flashes tremendously! Paxil is what derails my weight loss.....I gained 15 pounds in the past year on it. Hence.....here I am after years gone from the forum.

I think it's important to remember that every BODY is different and responds uniquely to our food and environment. Also to medications.

Against what practically everybody says, I continue to take estrogen and have for the past 30 years. I have no uterus, no cervix, but both ovaries. I'm 72 and in perfect health. Through this way of eating, I'm at normal weight.

I have to watch how much dairy and nuts I consume. Also, since I don't have a lot of extra fat to burn, the fat I eat is used for my daily body maintenance. If I eat too much, I can gain.