Introducing myself

dharma8040

Hi everyone, I have just joined this group. Good to read through your stories, thanks for sharing. I'm 55, stopped having my periods about 4 years ago, and have spent 4 years trying to accept I have to do things differently now! I too have had the frustrating experiences where I thought I was doing everything right and have not lost any weight (I'm probably about 15 kgs heavier than what I want to be). I have changed my expectations: I will probably have to track forever (this is not a diet), I've set MFP to a 0.25 kg loss / week (and am relaxed if I don't achieve that), and I'm tracking my calcium and macros. I feel so much better for just being accountable and at least I have something to show a health professional should I want to. I don't have a sweet tooth, but have to watch the carbs and make sure they're complex. Also trying to watch the fat (love my aioli and sauces). This is going to be a slow journey. Anyone else struggling with joint pain? The most random things. Suddenly my feet hurt. Then my hands. Then my back. Just seems to be inflammation everywhere, even down the side of my hips and legs (that band that runs down there). And I'm soooo itchy and my skin is very very dry and thinning. The doctor says that apparently I'm Vitamin D deficient: weird, I live in NZ (ozone hole) and spend a lot of time in the outdoors. Very annoying! But am taking supplements. Have not noticed any difference. Happy to share and swap notes. I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who feel that their body is really inflamed.

dharma8040

An update: I'm pleasantly surprised I've lost 1.8 kg in my first two weeks. This is huge for me, believe me. The only real thing I've changed is a commitment to track everything going into my mouth apart from water and walking every day / doing 15 minutes of some resistance training / 15 minutes stretching. I eat pretty healthily anyway, just too much. I've also become disillusioned with all the different eating plans out there, keto, WW, FODMAP, bladebla. I can never stick to it, it's too far removed from what my family eats and I'm a family girl. I wonder if they just create a level of stress that prevent me losing and hanging onto stuff. I've been trying to do a bit of research on setpoint weights and how your body has a tendency to hold onto stuff. I think I might do this strongly. So I wonder if that's why I'm losing now because I've tricked my body into thinking there's nothing going on. The whole cooking the frog thing!