I'm post-menopausal for several years, dealing with health issues since, and have never "exercised" during this whole ordeal. While I maintained at 150 for years, I caught a virus early this year, and since DH was even further down with it, I was exhausted and relying on low carb frozen foods.
I didn't gain more than 10-15 pounds, but this created a serious flare of my auto-immune disease.
I fasted for three days (it was easy with green tea and sea salt) and then got Very Low Carb. Fatty meat, eggs, heavy cream in my coffee, small portions of cheese, and a dollop of guacamole. That was IT.
And it worked incredibly well. Lost another forty pounds, all the autoimmune issues cleared up, and I felt so much better. This also eliminated nagging cravings which had persisted even when all seemed to be going well.
My point is that it turns out just
keeping my carbs low wasn't helpful
enough because I had food issues with things even though they were low carb. I was at 150 even eating low carb because I was still eating things like a spoonful of black beans on a salad (I'm horribly reactive to lectins, as a SINGLE cashew made me sick for two days recently) or a heaping portion of broccoli (I don't need fiber and my guts don't like it either) with that "sensible" portion of protein the size of a deck of cards (part of the reason I was dealing with hunger was because I wasn't eating enough MEAT).
This regimen also eliminated seed oils (canola, sunflower, etc) which I am sensitive to. That had crept up with the frozen food, compared to cooking the same things for myself.
I already knew dairy was okay with me, and meat is usually the least allergy triggering food we can eat. Hidden food allergies can trigger weight gain and inflammation
all by themselves. By the numbers, I was doing great. But feedback from my body told another story.
Fasting was crucial for keeping my insulin low, which keeps my inflammation low, which keeps me healthy. I still try for an Eating Window of no more than 5 hours, and if I can access proper food, that's easy, too. At the beginning I was eating a whole pound of hamburger at a sitting, and that's okay too. THIS was what my body was craving, and for a change, giving in was the right thing to do
After a couple of months, it stabilized, but here we are a year later, and if I'm hungry, I EAT.
As Dr. Fung says, "Fasting is easy. Just don't eat!" For me, green tea and lots of salt works great. Others swear by bone broth. Try a fast of whatever length feels comfortable, then add just ONE food and see how it goes.
So many of us on the forum have discovered hidden food allergies this way. It can be the final piece in the puzzle. Foods we don't get along with
make us hungry instead of satisfying.
This way of eating seems terribly restrictive, but that is
NOTHING compared to being fat and sick. Maintaining is effortless, and that wasn't more true than me trying some TINY indulgences during the holidays. No big deal in terms of carbs, but it turned out, a big deal in terms of WHAT I was eating.
I am happy and grateful to go back to what I know works, which includes my beloved sandwiches; only on coconut wraps or as omelets instead of bread. It's even tastier this way
Knowing I can handle deli meat and cheese, small portions of greens, and a handful of berries covers all the food groups I KNOW agree with me.
That was crucial for my current success. Might be the hidden element in yours.