Greetings, fellow warriors. It occurs to me that I have been on a diet for 50 years. I'll turn 69 next month and I am still facing the same weight issues I had when I was freshman in college. Then it was 20 or pounds to lose, today it is 50 or more. The road was slow and steady, about 15 pounds a decade. Stop smoking plus 10 extra, hit menopause, 15 extra, hurt my back, 10 more.
I have learned sugar in any form does not agree with me. Starch, grains, flour I crave, but eventually add their hardy dose of fatigue, loss of energy, depression and hopelessness. I have succeeded at times, lost 20, 30 even 40 pounds, but I never lasts.
So with the number 70 looming, I try again, motivated by a sudden unexpected and horrible encounter with a 3-way mirror in a department store.
It occurs to me weight has been the single most destructive element of my life, I wonder if there is any point to giving it yet another Monday morning effort. But it's better than a slow descent into a permanent Barcolounger.
So 4th day, 3 pounds of water. and I'm off. Kgm

Welcome, kgm!

You'll find lots of support here, and lots of good information if you want to check out the different areas.

I've been successful in losing weight in the last 15 years, but haven't yet found the key to keeping it off. I'll be 63 in a couple of weeks, so I felt I should give it another try and see if I've learned enough about myself and how to keep the weight off this time.

Thanks Suzy for the welcome, I'm taking baby steps but off in good spirits. Kgm

Welcome, Kgm

Since you have lost before you likely know all rules, foods and limited amounts, but if this is a restart it doesn't hurt to refresh. Dr Eades wrote about restarting. https://proteinpower.com/drmike/201...w-carb-dieters/

There are many good success and milestone stories here, but some inspirational stories for us older folk are in this separate forum.
http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=141

All the best,

Welcome, kgm. Slow and steady wins the race. It's progress that matters, and, when there isn't progress, it's the feeling of wellbeing, as well.

Many of us here are in our 50's, 60's and 70's. I'm 65. It's taken me three years, one of them in this forum, to lose 34 pounds, so far.

But I continue to make progress, and I appreciate the feeling that I'm HEALTHY.

As Janet pointed out, restarting can be different than your first, second or even 10th time. The best thing you can do for yourself is commit to this for the long term.

Every day I tell myself, no matter what the scale says, that THIS is the way I want to eat for the rest of my life. And I've been sticking to that. It feels good to keep a commitment to oneself, yes?

I hear 'ya. I feel like I've been on a diet since puberty when I really started putting on weight. Boy do I wish I had "only" the 20 pounds extra I had back then. I think I've been on every diet and lost hundreds of pounds, only to put them back on.

I'm 58 now and something just feels different now. I have done a lot more research, read a lot more, and seen a lot more videos. I understand what happened to me, and I feel like persistence will get me to a normal weight in the first time of my adult life. I definitely feel like a fellow warrior.

Good luck and welcome!

Thanks so much, You keep pluggin' away, and so will I.
kgm

To all who sent welcomes and good wishes.
Thanks so much, You keep pluggin' away, and so will I.
kgm

Salutations to all:
I can't say if it was related but I had a 3 day hiatus with stomach issues (distress of the lower tract). Probiotics,tea, and Greek yogurt finally did the job. i was on program all but one tea and toast day. From my highest, i've now lost 8 pounds. Am motivated to continue. Once you see actual progress, it helps a great deal. I also bought a $79 used recumbent exercise bike. My doc say it's the best for bad knees (bone on bone arthritis in both). So on somewhat of a high. Early days yet, but right direction. My 69th birthday next week. How can that be? Aging isn't for sissies. Best to all, Karen

The digestive stuff was probably carb flu. Your body figuratively stamping its feet and saying "I don't wanna!" to your change from a carb based metabolism to a fat based one.

NP. You may have had a small setback from the toast, but if you stay away from it for the duration, you'll be fine.

Grains are some of the worst carbs, because they CAUSE digestive inflammation, all the way down the digestive tract.

Aging sure isn't, is it? I haven't yet figured out how I got this old.

in reading some posts it is clear that many of us are in the same boat. It used to sink but I think now it will sail on smoother waters. Today is my once again new beginning and will hopefully be the last new beginning. I am not a kid and life has not been a walk in the park. No excuses for or from me. I am happy to be here and get some good information and support. I will be happy to see 20 pound loss and hope to see 30.More may be a dream but the rest is doable.

Yes. Yes, there is!

My suggestion: visit dietdoctor.com Just start with the Success Stories. I've been at this for a long time, pretty good maintenance. But I can tell you it takes continual revival of that energy.

Best wishes.

I definitely second bkloot's endorsement of dietdoctor.com! I go there every day for inspiration and motivation. The videos are full of great information and advice, and the recipes are great also.

I've only been doing LCHF for 3 weeks now and am totally sold on this WOE. I have so much more energy and the weight is coming off pretty well for a post-menopausal, over-55-yo person!

You can do this.

Hi there,
It's sort of helping me not to see my weeks in terms of being good starting Monday. I hate Mondays and actually I sometimes lose better at the weekend. i can control my eating more than I can at work and in the evenings when I come home from work (5 days a week) and also I move more (tennis on Sunday mornings and lots of running up and down stairs). I decided to make Wednesday evening a (LC) evening out (just dinner with my husband and the girls if they are around). We also go out Saturday lunchtime. It's a nice ritual and we go places I know I can eat OP, but I do allow myself a couple of glasses of wine. My husband is LC too, since he read Wheat Belly. I have nearly 3 years to go till retirement and I really want to have a good routine in place by then! Forming good habits is not so much harder than forming bad ones really! :-)

Good attitude, Lulumae!

I'm probably older than you, and the hardest part of this whole thing for me was patience. When you don't have, relatively speaking, a whole lot to lose, it can be frustrating to watch people lose 30 lbs in a month, right?

So once I got below 160, I decided that I would eat, every day, as if I was in maintenance. And I have. And made it to 150, so...