Menopause Gone Wild
 

Hi,
Never had out of control weight problems until mid 40's. I found myself in a weight gain free for all. I successfully lost weight on the South Beach Diet, 35 pounds. I also found I had a serious intolerance to Sucralose and Sugar Alcohols. I think if I would have stuck to the basics instead of searching for those food unicorns it would have been a WOL. Instead I spent significant time searching for low carb chips and low carb chocolate treats and trying to concoct my own. Eating some of those things was my downfall. That intolerance to sugar alcohols got worse to the point where I felt like I had a 10 lb bowling ball filled with firecrackers lodged in my abdomen. I switched to lots of activity and just "watching what I ate." You know how that goes, so at 177-178 pounds, groaning knees, and a feeling of lumbering vs walking, I had enough of watching. My daughter is a dietician and suggested I get an Instapot and cook at home. I bought one with a few low carb cookbooks with meal plans, nutrition information, and calorie guidelines. I have stuck to my low carb meal plans in the 1200-1400 calorie range and in 8 days lost 5 pounds. I so far have stuck to the 30-40 gram of carbs per day and I feel it. I have a chemical taste in my mouth, very dry mouth, and thirsty all the time. I did not originally intend for Ketosis to happen but it seems to have kicked in as my plan is pretty low carb. I think accountability and support are important so that is why I'm here.

Welcome,
You have found a great forum for a range of Low Carb plans, though I have not seen an Insta-Pot version before :lol: If you are in the RDU area, there is a long-standing Low Carb support group run by Dr. Eric Westman at Duke, free, meets monthly. The Wake County library goes bonkers over any and all cookbooks for Low Carb, Keto and now Insta-Pot. If you need more recipes, Maria Emmerich has a new Keto InstaPot one, and she provides the adjustments for Slow Cookers too. There are other ways to stay low carb and not cook too. https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/without-cooking

You can join buddy groups and challenges here, some weigh in daily for accountability. https://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=106 Look all around the sub-forums and find what will work for you.

All the best,

Welcome Keylime. Sounds like you have a plan!!
Menopause - no fun.

I am in Northeast NC close to the OBX, a little town of about 800 people! Thanks for all the info. I certainly will look into the links. So far the Instapot is saving me so much time that cooking is not the burden it used to be. It is nice to have a break once in awhile, though.

Welcome Keylime! I got an Instapot for Christmas but haven't used it yet. I'd love to hear your favorite (easy) recipes. I find low carb keeps my hot flashes away.

p.s. We vacation in the OBX every summer. Our dream is to retire down there.

Welcome Keylime! I’m excited for you that you found us. This forum is a wealth of information. I have a Cuckoo Multi Cooker, which is like an Instant Pot. It’s made in Korea. I love it. Any good recipes you find I’d be interested in looking at them. Enjoy. I have my java each morning with the friends here. :wave:

This collection of 35 recipes from many bloggers is helpful because it includes the basic ones people rave about InstaPots...making perfect hard boiled eggs, cauliflower mash, spaghetti squash, etc. Mellissa posts good round-ups of recipe types, her list of InstaPot: https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/35...nt-pot-recipes/

Welcome! Sounds like you are on the right track. And yeah, menopause needs some special handling.

I love the OBX; it's one of the places I miss now that I'm back on the other coast.

I'm post-menopausal myself. Sometimes I feel like I can hear my hormones screaming at me "You can have those extra pounds out of my cold, dead hands!!" It's almost like they're invested in us being fat.

A couple of tips:

• Give yourself a few weeks to adjust. Your weight loss will slow down and you might still fight cravings until you're "fat adapted" (used to burning fat instead of glucose/carbs for fuel).
• Use a program or app to track what you eat. I use Joy, other people like CarbManager. Focus on max carbs and sufficient protein. However, sometimes menopausal or PM women need to keep an eye on their calories a bit more than other people. This can also be true of people who have less to lose. This doesn't mean significant calorie restriction. I'm 5'8" and currently 233--I'm okay around 1700-2000, maybe a bit higher occasionally. But I won't lose if I eat much more than that every day. See how it goes for you.

Welcome and happy losing!

Thanks for the warm welcome and chuckles, I can certainly relate to my body getting rid of the "extra pounds out of my cold, dead hands." I like the Instapot because I can cook a little faster and prepare multiple meals in my spare time. I did feel intimidated at first but it's easier than I thought. For low carb I mostly use sauté, manual, and the meat stew option. For releasing the steam I just use a long handled spoon to move the valve. The steam is hot! I did have to order the silicone egg mold separately.