I've made it under 200 pounds. I decided to wait until I had 10 consecutive weigh-ins under 200 pounds before I posted.

When I first started low carbing in January 2008 I was losing weight so fast and it was so easy, I figured onederland was right around the corner. I'd see other people come here and post their success, and I'd congratulate them heartily, thinking my turn was only a few months away. But it never happened. I had one weigh-in of 201 and another of 201.8 in April 2009. That's as close as I got. Then I started heading back up. I'd still congratulate others. I'd use the same words I had before, but I wasn't feeling it. Eventually I was so jealous I stopped saying 'congrats,' Then I was so bitter I stopped reading the success stories altogether. It was never going to happen for me.

So here I am in onederland. I weighed in at 195.2 this morning. It's simultaneously very exciting and somewhat anticlimactic. I think I'd be happy if I never lost another pound, but of course eventually I'll start wanting more. I've already set my new goal at 188.4 which would put me just under a BMI of 30 (and it sounds so tiny to me! )

I wish I had some words for the person out there who is in the position I was in 3 or 4 years ago - feeling hopeless and bitter and like she or he just has to accept being over 200 pounds for life. I can't think what I could say that would have made me feel better in the mindset I had then. Just know there's someone out here who made it after 4 years of trying all kinds of things that didn't work. It's been a long 4 years. I feel your pain.

WOW! Congrats to you Costello!

That is a wonderful milestone. Perhaps you should explain what you changed to make this happen for you.

For me eliminating dairy seems to have been the key. I learned in February that dairy is insulinotropic. I eliminated it, and I'm losing weight.

Recently I reduced my caffeine intake greatly and saw an immediate dip in my blood sugar, and my weight dropped even more quickly for a week and a half. I should say that I've tried eliminating caffeine while low carbing before (because Dr. Atkins recommends it) and saw no change. That's interesting to me and suggests that sometimes multiple changes need to be made for any one to work. For example, I doubt eliminating dairy would have helped, if I weren't also low carbing. In fact, I know it wouldn't because I was a vegan for four years, and I gained 50 pounds during that time.

One thing I experimented with was a very high fat diet. That was a disaster for me. I lost some weight, but I was miserably hungry the whole time. Looking back, I see that much of my fat was coming from dairy. I wonder if I'd have had a different experience if I'd tried a different fat. I'm not interested in trying it now, because I'm happy with my current diet. The point is, just because something hasn't been helpful in the past doesn't mean it might not help in the future under a different set of circumstances.

For me right now success seems to be LOW CARB DIET + DAIRY FREE + (maybe) LOW CAFFEINE

An interesting side note: I'm actually eating more carb now than in past times when I was losing on low carb. Not a lot and not every day, but I do occasionally eat a little rice or potato or even sugar. Apples and pears. Things like that. I'm staying gluten-free for now, but I'm open to trying to add back various foods when I get back closer to a normal weight.

Another point I think is important: Not seeing an immediate change to a particular change doesn't mean it won't work. Unless a change is making you ill, it's worth sticking with it for a while. I lost 12 pounds my first four weeks dairy free. Then 2 pounds the second four weeks. Then zero the third. I figured this was another failed experiment but decided to stick with it another four weeks. I'm glad I did, because I lost 8 pounds that month. It's important to me, though, that I was not hungry, weak, etc. Had I been I likely wouldn't have continued.

Congratulations! I know you've been working hard and deserve this wonderful success. Good job on figuring out the key for you!

Thanks, Liz. I hope others who are discouraged will find their keys too.

ETA: I also fervently hope that I have found my key and that this isn't some sort of horrible trick being played on me by a cruel universe.

Yeah, trouble is sometimes the locks are changed and we have to find a new key. Keeps life interesting, no?

Keeps me fat!

One thing I hate is that I like to advocate for low carb, but I wonder if people look at me and wonder why I'm still fat if the diet is so great.

Great post on a lot of levels.

I've been intermittently stalled since March, been down a few failed paths and coming to my wits end. It never occurred to me to eliminate dairy. Last week I had an odd reaction to eating whey protein (it put me asleep) and since reading your post I am now wondering if all the decaf I drink with 1/2 & 1/2 is a problem. I had the same reaction as you to eliminating caffeine and now wonder if I accidentally reduced dairy by eliminating caffeine but then increased my dairy by switching my home supply to decaf a few days later.

Something else to try. Thanks.

I hear you on that one. What I tell myself is that without this WOE, I'd easily be 30, 35 lbs heavier. Or as cnmLisa would say so much more eloquently: Progress, not perfection.

So happy for you, Costello
Good for you for sticking with it. I'm so impressed


That is exactly how I felt and how I still feel every time I get to a new goal. I'm happy/excited for about a minute and then it's over. I barely even think of it afterward. I'm still doing the same things I do everyday, wearing the same clothes I wore yesterday, and stuff like that so nothing has really changed. There's no magic moment where you're suddenly the "after" picture.

Hooray! So glad to hear it is working for you. I wish I could find the key to unlock my puzzling lack of weight loss, and weight regain.

It hadn't occurred to me either until I happened across a mention of it in Wheat Belly. It's the fact that it seems to raise insulin levels more than would be predicted by the sugar and protein content that caught my attention. Reducing my insulin level is high on my list of priorities.

Btw, it's the whey protein that they suspect raises insulin levels. For that reason I'm not convinced that butter is a problem. Nevertheless I eliminated all dairy.

If your current weight is accurate, you're a far better spokesman for low carb than I!

Yeah, that's where I am. Well, I have to admit I'm still pleased with getting under 200. It's been a goal for so long, and I've been so thoroughly convinced I would never reach it. I'm finding it a little hard to believe. I'm between pinch-me-I'm-dreaming and now-I-can-die-happy. I'll be discontented pretty quickly here I'm sure.

I hope you do too, Nancy. It's so frustrating feeling like there's nothing you can do about it.