I recently came to the conclusion that I haven't been eating enough. Seems a bit silly for a 280lb woman to say, but the evidence has been overwhelming. After a 40lb weight loss, my weight has been stable for about two years, with less than a three pound flux. Yet when I was paper tracking, it really seemed like I wasn't eating all that much. I've been averaging about half my TDEE or less, with the occasional day at my TDEE. Not on purpose, that was just how things went when I just ate what I wanted whenever I was hungry (I work from home, so I had this luxury). I also haven't been very active, and have a three-hour nap every day that I just can't shake. If I don't take it, the rest of my day is completely shot, and I'm less productive than if I had just taken the stupid nap. All signs were pointing to this being due to a major energy deficit.

I started researching in earnest, not planning on making immediate changes. While I was reading I decided to experiment with cutting sugar out of my coffee to see if I could do it. I hit on the magic formula right away and I immediately ditched my habitual 4 shots of espresso in 16oz of milk with 1/8c sugar every morning--and sometimes a second one in the afternoon--for 2 shots of espresso with cream. I also made a concerted effort to be eating a bit more, but all the food I added was low-carb and I started feeling SO much better in just a couple of days. And I lost four pounds--of water weight, to be sure, but this immediately broke my weight plateau. From eating more. And cutting sugar out of my coffee. Something was definitely changing, and since I already had one foot down the rabbit hole, I decided to jump.

I'm heading into day four of roughly 20 net grams of carbs, and it's been... surprisingly easy. I decided to jump start with keto as a baseline and am feeling my way forward. I had heard that some side effects of the transition can be alleviated with broth, and as I'm prone to low-salt headaches anyway I recognised them immediately and dealt with them. It's already better. I am not really craving anything, though I do really miss fruit and carrots. I'm a produce nut and love to garden, so I'm looking forward to testing my tolerances as things go forward to see where I go!

Mostly I just want people to chatter at while things are happening. People whom I can swap recipes with, and commiserate and celebrate with.

I'm glad to be here.