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!