Hi Everyone!

I'm new to the TDC. After 25 days on a low carb diet, I am averaging a weight loss of about 1 pound per week. I started at 300 and am now 296.4

I will be 65 years old tomorrow, and figure, if I'm lucky and I work at it, I might have 10 to 15 good years left. My goal weight is about 170 pounds. When I reach that, I will see what to do next.

I am amicably divorced with no kids. I live in Toronto, Canada.

I have read a lot and watched a lot of videos from Dr. Peter Attia, Gary Taubes, Dr. Jason Fung, and others.

I lost over 120 lbs on Atkins about 10 years ago, but gained it all back.

I am hoping that the new science that has come out recently will help me stick with it this time. Now that I am older, the weight does not seem to come off as quickly as before.

I wish everyone of you the best of health and good fortune in your weight loss efforts.

Welcome Sara! Sounds as if you are in a great frame of mind or success! This is a welcoming forum. I think you are going to do great things.

Thanks for the wonderful words of encouragement!

Hi Sara! I also just turned 65 in January and live in Edmonton although I'm moving to Vancouver Island in May. So glad you decided to join us here on our road to health.

Welcome Sara! Best wishes as you restart your journey down to a weight that you want to be.

I've done the lose and regain thing many, many times. But I think I finally figured out what I was doing wrong. I see what I am doing now as a permanent change. What will get me to goal is also what will keep me there. I can't go back to eating the junk again or the regain will happen again. In the beginning, it seems like a depressing notion that I will never go back to eating many of the foods that I loved. But the longer I go, the longer I stick to eating only the foods that "work" for me - the more I understand that this is how I need to be eating. I've put enough distance between me and the junk that I don't even miss it much anymore. I'm happy with what I eat and my body is happy, too.

Thank you Ken, you are indeed an inspiration! I started on the Keto diet about 3 and a half weeks ago, and I am averaging about a 1 pound weight loss per week. My carb intake has been about 35 grams, but my protein intake has been about 100 grams and fat about 71% of calories.

Do you have any suggestions for me? Do you think my protein intake is too high?

Thanks, and keep up the good fight!

Hi Hellistile!

I see you have lost 30% of your target. I seem to be a bit stuck at losing about 1 pound per week. Perhaps I should add intermittent fasting to my schedule. How do you do it?

Sara, the 30% was over a long, long period of time but lately I've decided that I want to bump it up a bit by intermittent fasting (at least 18 hrs between meals), no snacks and NO cheats ever. I'll see if that helps. This is a learning process for me too.

About the protein... I'm no expert, but that does seem on the high side for you. I'm currently just above that at about 115g per day. What I think is most important at this stage of the game is to focus on sticking exclusively to on-plan foods and eat until you are satisfied. Plan ahead for situations where your LC food options may be limited. Don't let your head play tricks on you and talk you into a cheat. Get clear from the pull of the carby junk, emerge from the 'fog of carbs', and then you should naturally want to eat less food. Worry about your ratios, and frankly - even the weight loss, later -- after you get firmly established in this WOE. Start thinking of this as eating for your health, first and foremost. Then once you are firmly established eating LCHF, you can start tweaking your plan and try to figure out what works and does not work for you. I ate like a horse for weeks -- then I actually found I didn't want so much food. Later, I worked on cutting back even more. But again - this all came later. It took me several months to completely shake free from the desire for carby junk -- and even today I have 'flashbacks' that sometimes catch me off guard. But it is soooooo much easier now. It was staying ON PLAN that did the trick.

Hi Katie,
Thanks for the advice and encouragement. It means a lot .

Thanks for the advice and encouragement, Ken. Both you and Katie have been very kind and generous. Staying On Plan is hard and I did fall off the wagon yesterday by eating a muffin. But I'm back on track today.
I will do as both of you suggest.

I do have another embarrassing issue, which. is constipation. Have either of you had to deal with this problem? They say that eating enough fiber and drinking lots of water helps. I am concerned about taking laxatives and would rather deal with this problem naturally.

Thanks again for all your helpful advice.

The transition period as you adapt to being a fat burner does upset the apple cart a bit. It takes a while to adapt to the new diet. To answer your question - yes, I had some issues with constipation early on in the process. My daughter did, too when she went LC. When you don't go poo for 3 or 4 days it can be a little alarming. I don't remember what I did, to resolve it (if anything). I may have ate more salad and raw vegetables -- but I always eat these things anyway. The good news is that this problem passed (haha - an unintended pun). I am regular - for the most part. I don't visit the loo as much as before. I eat less (a lot less, actually) and don't need to. It is not an every day event as it was before. I hope your problem resolves itself just as easily.

Hello and Welcome to the best LC WOE site on the planet!! And Happy Belated !!

There are experienced, supportive and very knowledgeable people on this site who have been very successful at not only losing the weight but keeping it off too, some for decades.

If you have any questions, just ask, someone will have an answer or point you in the right direction!

Wishing you much success on your journey!

Onward, ↓ DOWNWARD & MAINTENANCE 4ever!

Jo

Hi! My name is Jo and I’m a recovering morbidly obese carb addict!

Thanks Ken!

I once had a problem with a new medication I was put on. The situation did resolve itself. I'm sure this will as well over time.

Thanks, Jo!

Congratulations on your weight loss and maintenance!
Yes, I have come to realize that. There are many very helpful and knowledgeable people on this forum. I'm glad I found it