Frustrating when it’s not made clear what the dish actually comprises isn’t it Jackie? Can make eating out a bit of a minefield for us BSDers. Sounds like you are working around the anomalies though and managing to have some lovely family time.

Enjoy your Christmas at home with family and pets. We are celebrating at home too, which suits me just fine. Have neighbours coming in for drinks on Christmas Eve, a quiet day with just me & OH on Christmas day and a house full of off spring and grandchildren on 26th – then it’s all done for another year!

Starting last Tuesday up to tonight, Christmas night, I have thrown caution to the wind. Three feasts, two parties, wine, eggnog, mince pies, Christmas cake, Dutch gingerbread, etc, later, I am up 8 pounds. Mostly water from all the glycogen packing into my liver, but still.

The thing is, I’m not at all concerned. A couple of weeks back on my new way of eating and it will melt away.

One thing is a bit worrying though. I find that a good feed of sugar and starch is massively satisfying in the way that protein and fat just isn’t. If I could find out how to get that satisfaction without all the calories I would be a happy man.

Jan

That’s the ‘drug’ side of sugar, and the white stuff, and is different to true hunger satisfaction. You will never get that from a healthy diet, but can get similar effects from non eating methods (exercise, laughter etc.) What I have found is that you don’t miss that sugar high that much when you haven’t experienced it for a while though, so as long as you keep mindful of this, and practice moderation on the daily level, that the occasional ‘blowout’ does you no harm in the long term.

So. ……post Christmas, pre-New Year, and just wondering how all my maintainance buddies are weathering the festive season to date?

Thiis has been my first BSD Christmas and we’ve had a busy and over indulgent few days. However, whilst I have stayed off all refined carbs (cooked them for everyone else, but they held no appeal for me – even our obligatory Boxing Day Dauphinoise!!!) I ate and drank anything and everything I fancied – and rather too much of it!! The result? A 2lb gain – which will melt away with one day of careful eating, I’m sure. So atm I am heading into the new year with 6lbs wriggle room. Result, I think, and goes to show how this WOE has become a total WOL.

Looking forward to hearing how all my maintenance buddies have fared?

Hey Theo, I’m still hanging in here. Glad to read your BSD Christmas went well. Had a bit of a scar on the scales on Boxing Day morning, with a blip upwards of 1.6lb, but that has already resolved itself and I have a 3.2lb margin at the moment. Like you, for me this is definitely and absolutely a WOL now.

Planning to get back to basics next week, with the aim of pushing down to a flat 8st, to give me a full half stone margin up to ‘target weight’. Hoping it’s not going to be too much of a struggle to rid myself of those last few pounds, but we will see. Don’t see why it would not be possible and will give it my best shot though, before returning to maintenance.

Have a good New Year everyone.

I decided to go off plan whilst away in Washington. I mostly stayed true to principles and had either yoghurt and blueberries or an American diner omelette for breakfast. We had a vegan Christmas dinner and I did have a slice of the nicest apple pie I’ve ever eaten! I was dreading getting on the scales and decided not to until next week but my curiosity got the better of me this morning and I jumped on to find that I have only put on 1.2 lb in a week! I am amazed and so happy about that! Today I am fasting with water more as a detox and to get my body ready to restart again next week on the reboot thread. I am hoping that by having a week off plan when I get back to basics my body is will shed the excess and hopefully I will get some extra wiggle room. One great think about achieving your target is that you know it can be done and we have confidence that if there is a blip we can sort it out before it gets out of hand. I was convinced I would be about 7lb up this morning!

Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2018 everyone.

Hi – haven’t posted much in December because work was so hectic. Had a lovely Christmas with my whole family crammed into our house. All fell apart on boxing day – when there were some clashes between family members. I suppose this happens often at Christmas – but I found it very upsetting. I have absolutely no idea how to resolve it.

In the past I would have numbed my feelings in a massive carb fest (which it actually doesn’t) I haven’t done that this time. I feel upset – but actually it feels much better than feeling upset and hating myself for giving into a massive carb fest.

I had yoghurt and blueberries for desert and opened my nut butter to have on my chocolate – which was lovely. I also had – probably too many – hickory smoked nuts which were delicious.

Theo, ClarinetCathy, SunnyB, Congratulations to you all on navigating the
holiday waters with minuscule damage. Holidays done well contribute to
our self confidence, don’t they? I did .5lb damage from an over fondness
for champagne, so I won’t weigh in again until Sat. We should all be able
to return to normal in short order, and water is my favorite tool. Sunny,
you must be very petite!
Krysia, there is nothing worse than family conflict, is there? When children
become adults their problems become so much harder to resolve. When
you are the host, it’s not like you can just get up and leave! I think that it
is a real accomplishment that you didn’t seek relief in past carby distractions.
In the past I might have reached for a glass of wine, but today I bundle up
and head out for a walk. I hope there is a solution to the conflict you are
feeling, very soon. Stay strong, we’re on your team 🙂
Allie

Thank you Allie – I do appreciate your support and I do agree that a walk does work wonders. Am hoping that when ‘the dust settles’ that a solution will be found.

Hi Allie – if by petite, you mean ‘vertically challenged’ you’d have it right, as I come in at approx. 5ft 1inch these days! Being short means there really is nowhere for extra pounds to hide. Well done on only adding 0.5lb and there’s no better way to do it (in my opinion) than champagne. And only 1,2lb in a week is a good result too, CC.

Sorry to read about the family upset Krysia, but all power to you for not reverting to an old pattern of eating in an effort to feel better. I hope that there will soon be a resolution to the conflict and peace will reign again. Meanwhile, be kind to yourself, stay mindful and come and vent to us if you need to – as Allie said, we’re on YOUR team.

As this is my second ‘maintenance’ Christmas I am experimenting a little with letting the carb dog off the leash a little more than last year. I did forgo the roast potatoes at Christmas dinner but had some stuffing and some pud, and I have had, and variously enjoyed (or not so much), some bread, pasta, chips, cake, chocolate and biscuits on many different occasions. 2nd January I will be putting a stop to all that, and in fact plan to fast on 1st January totally Theo style as I am travelling home, so won’t eat until 5pm or so on the Tuesday, after work. After that weekdays will be fully logged low (but not keto/20g, more like 40g) carb 800 days and weekends will be not calorie counted but still low carb/no white stuff. Once a week, on a Saturday I will allow myself one item from the rest of my Christmas foods, so one piece of Turkish delight, or one mince pie etc. Doing this last year I was still eating Christmas stuff in March 😊 My new Wi-Fi scales will be keeping a close eye on my progress as I dump off all this excess water and burn any extra fat over the next couple of months, and I have signed up to the 8 week reboot to keep me focused.

Hey there all, good to hear about your Christmas. Krysia – I didn’t hide my feelings in food this year and like you I am pleased I didn’t.

Overall, great Christmas but a head cold made me very fuzzy. Also diminished appetite so I’ve ended up lighter than ever – 59kg. Had 3 glasses of champagne over entire period but other than that just eaten to low carb appetite. Very pleased! Now just need to shake the cold.

Am going to play with eating more root veg in 2018 and a bit more fruit. Going to take it cautiously but feels right to start enriching diet now, as I assume my pancreas must be functioning better than in was when I began this epic quest. Cautiously optimistic and feeling very in control.

Thank you SunnyB – it does feel good to be part of a team and to have everyones support.

JackieM – isn’t it interesting that this way of eating teaches us not to hide our feelings in food. Hope your cold gets better soon.

I gained 8 pounds over Xmas but I have already lost 6 of them. The feeling of control that you achieve with this way of eating is worth the price of admission.

You can have your cake and eat it too! Literally!

Jan

Hi there, has anyone else discovered sensitivity to other foods since maintenance? I have a head cold and am finding a really bad headache ensues after my morning coffee. Am not sure if it’s the cold/sinuses or my body processing stuff better or what. Am going to be v sad if it’s coffee (although pleased if I can stop the headache).

Krysia – I’m fascinated how a WOE can have emotional effects and link to feelings. I would have been sceptical about that a year ago but the link seems clear to me now.

Jan – Amen to that! 😀 😀 😀 I do love cake!

Nearly one month in to my second year on Maintenance. A one pound gain over Christmas – which I am happy with because I did eat too much and didn’t log onto fat secret nor weigh myself since mid-December.

Very interesting that I have actually got out of the habit of thinking that eating sugary and starchy carbs is normal. I wonder if it is partly due to having lost the gut bacteria that love sugar and starch – it would be nice to think that was the case. Of course there is the view that it takes a whole year to change a habit so that it becomes automatic – and I did reach that milestone on 10th December.

Just want to wish all my ‘friends’ on this thread a very Happy New Year and hope all your wishes for 2018 are fulfilled.

Thank you V – and a very happy and healthy new year to you too, and all our maintainer buddies.

It seems as though we have all managed to negotiate the festive season rather well, with no carb fests and very little increase in weight. Big pat on the back to us all.

Sunny, you’ll be hitting 8st in no time at all, I have every confidence, you’re not far off after all.

Cathy, only gaining 1.2lbs whilst spending Christmas in the States is totally awe-inspiring, well done you. So pleased you had a wonderful time – back to reality now!

Krysia, so sorry to hear about your family conflict, how upsetting for you all. I do hope it is all resolved quickly and amicably, but well done for not finding comfort in a carb-fest. Just goes to show how ingrained this WOE is becoming to us all. One pound is neither here nor there, and could be seen as a simple daily fluctuation (which it probably was). I don’t know if gut bacteria has made a difference to us, but I agree, the sweet sugary stuff really isn’t doing it for me any more either. Wasn’t even tempted by cake, mince pies, chocolates etc over Christmas – but probably had a bit too much in the way of delicious cheeses and nuts!

Allie – only 0.5lbs? That’s barely even measureable, and totally amazing. Bet you enjoyed the champagne!!

MnM – how did the Theo-style travelling fast go? Hopefully well?

Jackie, sorry to hear you were struck down with a nasty cold, and really hope you are now getting back to full health. Really hope it’s not the coffee affecting you – as far as I’m concerned, a life without coffee is no life at all – but then I am a total coffee addict!

Jande9, 8lbs is quite a gain for a few days over-indulgence but, as you have proven, we now have the tools to deal with these gains if and when they happen, so well done on losing it so quickly. I’m sure that dealing with these little gains immediately is the key to keeping the weight off long term.

Now all guests have gone (finally drove my mother home yesterday, rather a gruelling 8 hour round trip) and both Christmas and the New Year celebrations are behind us, I am heading into 2018 with a gain of approx. 4lbs, which I am pleased about as I dropped a few too many in December due to some turmoil and worry, and was looking and feeling too thin (some might – and did – say scrawny!!). But I have 6lbs wriggle room, which is more or less what I have averaged since entering maintenance last May, so am very happy with that, and hope to continue much the same.

Happy maintaining everyone.

Theo! I was just thinking about you yesterday hoping all was well with you. I’m delighted to see you back and in fine form. How’s the family? May your New Year be full of recovery and renewal. (And maybe a sequined jacket and mini-dress or two. 😀 )

Thank you Essie. Good to be back, though still having a few family issues (mostly, but not exclusively, health related) but things do seem to be improving, albeit slowly.

Funnily enough, I recently treated myself to a new little mini-dress……

https://s9.postimg.org/tunhrqf3z/20171215_122239-1.jpg

Nice dress

Glad things are improving for your family Theo and that you have managed to gain a few pounds to put you in a more comfortable position weight-wise. I’m feeling good about taking control again with the 800/20 and 16:8. Had an excellent day yesterday and things are looking good today as well. Not posting any results until weekly weigh-ins, even though I weigh daily – like things to settle and consolidate before I make anything public!

Well done to all those maintaining successfully.

Hey Theo, good to see you back. It’s just sinusitis, not coffee. Phew! 🤪

DON’T GIVE UP
After completing my 8 weeks last January I continued to check the carb and sugar content of all the groceries I would buy from my local supermarkets. I found it very educating reading the nutritional values and soon realised where I was previously going wrong.
After losing 12 pounds have only put 2 pounds back on I feel like I am in control of my diet.

I however am at a point where I feel like getting on my soap box and screaming when I see how many people are in the biscuit and sweets/chocolate isles are in my local supermarket. I wish the government would do something about sugar in foods which contribute to so many hospital visits, the NHS needs beds. Sugar addiction should be taught in school along side of drugs etc.

Sorry for ranting, one the best things I have done is follow the posts on this site. There are some great girls on here who are here to help and give advice to you if you are struggling.

Why I have decided to write this is that my brother has just asked me why I drink unsweetened roasted almond milk. After a while I remembered that I was struggling at one point on the diet, and found i could not drop and further pounds. I was advised to look at my milk intake from one of the girls on here…(and I was putting a lot of semi-skimmed in my tea). However, I did not realise how many calories it added up to throughout the day(please measure yours). The carb and sugar levels were quire high also, unlike almond milk which has zero carbs and sugar content well Alpro unsweetened doesn’t haven’t checked other brands.Please note I do not work for Alpro.

Good luck everyone ..keep going..its not a diet now to me…its the way I eat to stay healthy

Chris

Well done everyone on getting through Christmas and New Year. I too have just made this way of eating part of my life and don’t ever intend to return to being fat. I still sit on/around 60kg with a BMI of 21.3 and simply do a 24 hour fast if I’ve indulged in too many nuts, Greek yoghurt, cheese or cream. My ‘secret’ if you call it that, of maintaining this weight is to keep the carbs low (20-30g per day? I don’t measure anything anymore) and if I want to indulge, I do it with fat, not carbs. I check my ketones via a blood test every week or so just to make sure I’m still on track.

I now wear a bikini when I go swimming, can you believe it! I haven’t worn a bikini since I was in my late teens and now I’m nearly 58😳.

Someone on this forum once said ‘Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’ and I’ve never forgotten it. I think about it every time someone offers me sugary or carbs food and it really helps. In saying that, I just don’t have the cravings any more.

We drove 13 hours from Sydney to country Queensland for Christmas lunch in 2017 and no one questioned my way of eating, no one ‘forced’ me to eat what I didn’t want, in fact they were so busy shoving crappy food into their mouths no one even cared.

I had a conversation with one of the adults who runs a school canteen about the availability of sugary drinks in schools and although they no longer sell soft drinks (soda, pop), they still sell juices. When I suggested that juices had as much , if not more sugar in them as soft drinks I was reliably told that fructose was an essential nutrient for children in order for them to get their energy! My husband gave me the look that said ‘shut up now’ so I didn’t pursue it, but I was sorely tempted. Both this woman and her husband are overweight. I do preach this way if eating to everyone that will listen, but I didn’t want to start a fight on Christmas Day!

Thank you so much everyone for your continued support, I don’t post often any more but I do read everyone’s posts and I find it an essential tool for keeping on the straight and narrow!

I hope everyone enjoyed their celebrations and continues to live life to the fullest!
Cheers
Linda

Well the Theo style travelling fast worked until I got to my destination when olives, smoked salmon and houmous beckoned, still, quite a light day by comparison with what had gone before. On the reboot now and 2 pounds of my extra water weight is gone already in one day. Hopefully the rest will soon follow… I was under 700 calories yesterday, but over 900 today when the planned menu went out of the window, still okay on average. I have been keeping the fat macro very high as the keto sites recommend, as my body fat is still low enough at around 25% that to go much below 50g would mean likely muscle loss. KOKO everyone 😀

Linda I think it was the model Kate Moss who said “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!”

This week I’ve had several days in a row of craving fat like crazy. I ate ounces of nuts, cheese, yogurt, toasted coconut flakes and cacao nibs (unsweetened, of course). I just rolled with it, trusting that my body was communicating a need. I was nervous about it, but I don’t have cravings like this very often so I thought it was significant. Besides, I figured even if I gained a few I could correct with a quick 24-hour fast. This morning the scale told me, to my amazement, that I weighed 116.3 pounds.

I found it oddly moving. I put my body through a lot in the last couple of decades and vice-versa. For so long there was a diconnect between my will and my biology. Now it feels like we understand each other, that body and mind are working together seemlessly.

How lovely, Essie.

I do think we are all learning to listen to our bodies on this WOE, which can only be a good thing. Funnily enough, I had the munchies yesterday too, and yes it was fat (though until your post, I hadn’t actually analysed that fact) but I craved, and allowed myself to have, extra yoghurt, cheese and nuts. Lo and behold, my scales registered a 0.5lb drop this morning. So I feel as though, like you, just listening and taking note was the right thing to do – and you and I are obviously in synch!!😉.

That’s so cool, Theo. We’re like roommates whose menstrual cycles have aligned. 😆 You know what, I bet it’s all about this blasted Frigidaire weather. You and I both suffer the cold terribly. I think our bodies must have registered that we needed to up our fats to survive the tundra.

It is interesting that your bodies are telling you “fat” is what you need. I do find that when I am especially hungry that I often post a nice weight loss the next day or two….so I have come to almost look at it as both a challenge and a positive sign.

I think it is wonderful that you both now feel you and your body are in sync and working together versus at odds as many of us have felt in prior diets when despite our best efforts our bodies refused to give up the extra weight.

Harmony is such a beautiful thing.

Funnily enough, Essie, I nearly wrote exactly that in my previous post, about roommates and menstrual cycles, but sadly I haven’t had one of those in almost 20 years😄

And you may well be right, about it being the cold – we don’t have snow and ice here atm like you do, but the temperature has dropped quite dramatically over the last 36 hours, and is set to continue that way for the weekend. Oh, dear, I may have to have a bit more cheese (and I do have some very nice stilton left from Christmas)😜

Thank you LTC – and yes, harmony is a beautiful thing.

Haha, Essie and Theo! Feramones (sp?) in synch??? I had that self same
experience in college, when my room mate and I were constantly together
apart from the time we spent in classes. This winter is chilling me to the
bone! Digging out again after 8-10″ of snow yesterday…Is there any prospect
for a Jan. thaw so that I can abandon this self imposed lockdown? It feels
like “house arrest”!

Oh dear, poor you Allie. I hope you get a thaw soon – don’t think we have any snow forecast, and this far SW, with our maritime climate, it tends to fall as sleet or rain anyway – hence the appalling mud we have at the moment.

BTW, I obviously meant that I hadn’t had a menstrual cycle in almost 20 years. It’s been even longer since I had a roommate😉Not a female one, anyway – that was way back in college🤓

PS – think it’s spelled with a “ph” – at least on this side of the pond. Over there, you seem to have all sorts of weird spellings, so who knows?😜

Blimey, Essie and Allie – just watching on the news the conditions in New York, Boston and the Eastern Seaboard. No wonder you’re craving fats, Essie, and praying for a thaw, Allie. 😱

Stay safe and warm if you have conditions anywhere near approaching those. Well, stay warm and safe anyway. Xxx

Theo, we’re generally weird in ALL ways, not just our spelling and general
butchery of the English language 🙂 The blizzard is past, sun is shining
today, but the college is closed until tomorrow. Consequently, O/H is
hanging about, interrupting me constantly from the far more serious task
of talking incessantly to my soul sisters…How can he be so inconsiderate??
Doesn’t he know that this occupation is critical to my continuing mental
health? Glad to hear that the civility of having your own bathroom looms
large on the horizon! 🙂 🙂 🙂

XOXO
Allie

I am planning to run some tests on myself to trying to increase my resistance to carbs.

From my experience working with horses which have previously had a high sugar diet and now suffer from an excessive responses to the smallest amount of sugar in their diets it is possible to reverse this situation. So I plan to buy one of the testers for checking on blood sugar levels, and test what my levels are with different foods, and then after a period of adding coconut to my diet re run the tests.

I have three theories on why coconut has this effect.

1. The bad bacteria which flourish on a high carb diet will die back a little when you reduce carbs, but as you can’t eliminate carbs completely you probably will still have a higher percentage of these bacteria in your guts than if you had never had a high sugar diet. There is an ingredient in coconut which is particularly successful in killing the bacteria linked with the processing of sugar.

2. There is a lot of articles about ‘leaky gut’ published on the internet, these articles talk about yeast infection in the gut from a high sugar diet and the yeast makes the gut wall more permeable, so larger partials can pass through from the gut to the blood stream.

3. There is a link between the PH of the gut and the range of bacteria which thrive. I have seen research which shows that a 10 day high intake of coconut results in a neutral ph in the gut.

I don’t know which theory is right, but what I have seen in practice is horses who had to be kept in a very restrictive arrangement, kept in small bare yards so that their food intake could be carefully controlled to prevent the pain of a repeat attack of laminitis could return to being free to graze in a field after supplementing their feed with coconut.

I know there are options of feeding fermented food to encourage the development of ‘good’ bacteria, but I think it would be also advantageous to reduce the levels of ‘bad’ bacteria. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life avoiding bread, and counting carbs, so I would like to try to be as proactive as possible in controlling the bacteria which raise blood sugar in response to carbs in the diet.

JGwen that’s facinating, keep us posted. How much coconut are you going to add? I’m starting to use coconut oil but only sporadically, so would be interested to hear how much you are planning to use and for how long. I agree with you about the gut flora, if there’s a way of correcting it I’m all ears!

JGwen and JackieM, I agree, and after I read your post, I went and opened my bag of shredded coconut and waded in! I’d also be interested on how you’ll approach it, in the meantime it’s a great reminder to add some to my meals, so thank you!

I don’t know about quantity of coconut. When I worked with horses I could use their rate of growth of their hooves as a clear signal of when we had got the levels right. I thought I would look in more detail into the research being done by the people in Israel first and then try to gather more information on what ‘normal’ blood sugar levels should be in response to specific foods, and test where I am. Its also a few years since I researched reports on coconut and diabetes, so I will look into the current research and then make a decision.

In some respects I wish I had got hold of one of the blood sugar home testing kits before starting on the diet, so I could compare what changes had occurred as a result of going low carb, but it didn’t occur to me.

First thing to do is ask for the advice of those on the list who use a home blood testing kit on which one to purchase.

I would be rather wary of the ‘research’ on health benefits of coconut and really check into who funded the study. My understanding is that most of it has been funded by the coconut industry as a marketing ploy. I worked for a while with a group that was trying to increase consumption of domestically grown agricultural products, and coconut was held up as an example of “this is how we can get people to buy more of our products through clever marketing without having to do any credible research to back up our claims”. Not saying it doesn’t have health benefits, but just that there likely hasn’t been much credible research done on it yet and we need to keep a critical mind.

Thank you for your concern articfox. There has been formally run research into coconut feed with animals and the benefits with regard to gut ph. There has also been formal research into the changes of the gut bacteria following sugar in the diet for animals. As I am not a vet it wasn’t possible for me to test the blood sugar level changes which were occurring when coconut was added to diet of horses struggling with blood sugar levels, I could see the changes which occurred in the rate of growth of their hooves and the strength of the connection. Obviously its a bit difficult to work out from the amount which you feed a horse or a sheep, how much coconut a human would benefit from. to have the same effect, and what format, but I will be searching for formal research rather than depending on the word of people selling coconut products.

Theo, HELP! I’ve lost another 3 lbs since Christmas, down to a BMI of
21.22. The last time I was at this weight I was in my 30’s, and at least
10 lbs of it is loose skin now. Maybe I should schedule a physical?.
Who would ever of thought that being too skinny would ever be a problem!
O/H keeps shaking his head, and tells me THIS is a PROBLEM….Time to
start weighing and measuring everything again, so I’m completely
accurate on what I’m consuming each day.This doesn’t feel good.
I’m 15 lbs under target!
How are you doing with your weight?

xoxo
Allie

Hey, Allie – 15lbs under target is WAY too much (unless your target was very conservative?) Are you doing anything differently? Were you particularly strict over Christmas perhaps, to avoid putting on pounds, and have not relaxed afterwards? Or taking more exercise? Or maybe not eating up to TDEE?

I do think that o/h is right, and that if you continue to lose or, indeed, cannot recoup a few pounds, maybe you should make an appt and have a physical? Certainly cannot do any harm and may set your and his (and come to mention it, my) mind at rest.

I’m doing ok – think all that sudden drop before Christmas was caused by stress and I am now back up to 7lbs under target, which I am pretty happy with. But I agree with you, who in a million years would have ever thought we would be worrying about being too skinny?

PS If it’s any consolation, my BMI is even lower than yours, at 20 (was as low as 19 before Christmas), but I don’t have loose skin (or at least much) to take into consideration. Maybe it’s time to have a glass or two of wine?😝

Allie, you have me worried too.

Can you keep your carbs at 25 and up your calories? How many calories are you eating now? Averaging up to 1800 yet?

Theoretically you should not gain weight with the extra calories if your carbs (and proteins) are low enough not to stimulate insulin. Your body is simply incapable of putting on weight without something stimulating the insulin (the lesson from the Type 1 diabetics).

You need to be drizzling some olive oil on veggies and eating more madadamias. With a glass of wine.

We can’t afford to lose you love….gotta fix this.

Hi Allie — you might need to eat more and more carbs too. I worry that this is the flip side of weight loss — now we get too comfortable with the low carb and low calorie and it just goes too low.
To fatten up African women for marriage, they eat sugar (molasses) and milk and grains — maybe a bit of all (in any form) for a few weeks to find some balance? (All are powerful insulin activators).

Thank you, Theo, my friend! I think I’ve been having a bit of an anxiety
attack after this morning’s weigh in. A normal BMI for my height is
159.5. I set my target at 150lbs. This coincidentally is the figure
that my internist recommended as well. I’ve been holding steady at
138 lbs., supposedly an ideal weight for me. Now I see 135lbs on
the scale. And I haven’t been teetotalling either 🙂 🙂 🙂 Weight loss
was easy compared to this! Tomorrow will be a better day. I used
to dread the scale…now I do again! So glad that I’m not alone with
this 🙂

Have a good evening!

Allie

Allie, my friend, I really do feel for you. As you know, I have been where you are now (and may be again one day, who knows?) and you have worried about and supported me. It is a really difficult balance – we have all worked so hard to reduce our weight, are desperate not to allow the pounds to creep back on, and also find our appetite has shrunk. I don’t tend to count calories much any more, keeping carbs low, but eat to satiety on BSD friendly foods. But sometimes I consciously have to eat when I really don’t feel the need in order to keep my weight steady now – and that is a bit of a conundrum too, as I (and I am sure you) really do not want to teach my body that it needs more food than it does (which is what made us overweight in the first place). But SURELY there must be a balance somewhere?

And, of course, the danger lies in seeing the low weight as the new “normal”. My target was 8st 7lbs, something I never thought I would manage (I started with a target of nearer 10st) but once I dropped into the 7s, I started thinking of 8st being my new “normal” and 7st 7lbs as my “wriggle room” figure, and I am still fighting with myself to accept that this is actually too low for me, and 8st must be my lowest weight. But it is hard, particularly when our bodies seem to have a mind of their own.

Please be careful – you may find that you are needing more fats atm because it is sooooooo cold in New England at the moment, although I hear you may reach a balmy minus 10 tomorrow? Hopefully, you are just using up far too many calories just to keep warm and, please God, things will even themselves out when the weather improves. Please keep us in the loop, my friend, we worry about you. xoxox