I can do this! Share your success stories.
VictoryGarden
Posts: 194 Member
I don't know how many of you are like me, but I've tried nearly every diet out there. Portion control, frequent small meals, low fat. eat less - exercise more!, eat more veggies, use a smaller plate, etc etc etc. On any one of those, I have NEVER lost more than 30 pounds before completely giving up. Those diets flip some sort of switch in my body and my head, and ALL I could do was focus on food and how STARVING I felt all the kitten time. I could eat a meal, and be hunger again in a hour. I could not out-motivate months of hunger when food was always just a fridge door away.
Carbs and sugar were my problem. I was addicted, BADLY. I needed some way to break that addiction, and keto is how I was able to accomplish that. I can now look at that stack of Girl Scout cookies, and honestly not crave one. For me to be able to say that is nothing short of miraculous.
Thanks largely to this group and what I have learned from you, today I am down 35 pounds (from a BMI of 39.9 to 34.7). Sure, I have 70-80ish more to go, but this WOE is completely sustainable for me. I don't follow the nutrition world very closely, but after starting keto, I was never hungry enough to eat breakfast most mornings. Heck, some days I only ate once a day because that one meal would make me full, and I now refuse to eat just because the time on the clock means it's lunch or supper time. I eat when I'm hungry. So I started doing various forms of intermittent fasting because keto just naturally led me to it!
If I had listened to all the mainstream advice, I would still be in the same boat, wondering why I never had the same willpower that many of them seem to have. Why I always failed. Why 1200-1300 cal's a day resulted in month long stalls, and I felt nothing but tired, weak, hungry, and awful.
So thank you to this group for being an island of hope in a vast sea of ignorance. I am guessing that I am not alone, and would love to hear everyone else's weight loss stories, or diabetes control success stories, or health parameters success stories, etc. Let's keep each other motivated with our own stories of success!
Carbs and sugar were my problem. I was addicted, BADLY. I needed some way to break that addiction, and keto is how I was able to accomplish that. I can now look at that stack of Girl Scout cookies, and honestly not crave one. For me to be able to say that is nothing short of miraculous.
Thanks largely to this group and what I have learned from you, today I am down 35 pounds (from a BMI of 39.9 to 34.7). Sure, I have 70-80ish more to go, but this WOE is completely sustainable for me. I don't follow the nutrition world very closely, but after starting keto, I was never hungry enough to eat breakfast most mornings. Heck, some days I only ate once a day because that one meal would make me full, and I now refuse to eat just because the time on the clock means it's lunch or supper time. I eat when I'm hungry. So I started doing various forms of intermittent fasting because keto just naturally led me to it!
If I had listened to all the mainstream advice, I would still be in the same boat, wondering why I never had the same willpower that many of them seem to have. Why I always failed. Why 1200-1300 cal's a day resulted in month long stalls, and I felt nothing but tired, weak, hungry, and awful.
So thank you to this group for being an island of hope in a vast sea of ignorance. I am guessing that I am not alone, and would love to hear everyone else's weight loss stories, or diabetes control success stories, or health parameters success stories, etc. Let's keep each other motivated with our own stories of success!
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Thanks for sharing your story. I am sure it will be an inspiration to others.
I am close to goal but check in almost every day to keep on track.0 -
reached my goal weight of 155 this month. It took me 4 months to lose the weight and another 4 months just to lose the last 5 pounds so be patient. Low carb has sure worked for me, I am not nearly as hungry which has been a real plus. I weighed 190 last July and felt awful at 5'4. I ate under 100 carbs a day which was doable. Only problem I had was constipation and got some Fiber 1 cereal and was fine.5
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@brenn24179 Did you count calories as well or only carbs?1
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I am still in progress, and use MFP to mainly track macros, and keep an eye on the calories, but they are not the focus. Just an interesting additional tidbit of extra info.
For me, I am finding that my carb happy place is 10-25 net. I still struggle getting the protein in, however.0 -
Oops, haha, missed that your q was for brenn!0
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Yes, VictoryGarden, you are not alone! I also have tried every diet out there and my weight keep going up. I even tried a Vegan diet and I gained weight! So, my son convinced me to try a low carb, high fat Keto diet and it has been a God send for me. I have only lost 10 pounds so far, but I have lost lots of inches. I am not craving food continually and yes, I set beside girl scout cookies for 3 different 9 hour shifts at work ( a customer appreciation gift the last 3 Fridays) and I was not even tempted to have a cookie! It is great not being driven by hunger.
I am pre-diabetic, my doctor is wanting to put me on drugs, I go next week to have my A1C done, so hopefully I will have pulled my numbers back into the normal range with the low carb and No sugar.
Since I started the diet over 6 months ago, I have recently signed up for MFP to see if my slow loss is to many calories or if I have my macros off.
I heard a you- tube doc say that you had to get well on the inside before you can lose the weight. Maybe that is where I am at! :-)7 -
@brenn24179 Did you count calories as well or only carbs?
yes I logged calories also. Like sherryshields says get well on the inside also, did some journaling about my emotional eating which helped, what is eating me?3 -
Congratulations to all of you! The control over food is what this woe is all about! I’ve sat in front of doughnuts and had no desire for them! Just as you all I’ve passed on the cookies, and cakes too! I don’t see them as food anymore! My thinking about fuel for my body has shifted to completely avoiding fake foods now!
Just the term “fuel for my body” would have been laughable five years ago! I always thought the people who used those terms were talking nonsense. Now it’s part of my vernacular!!
I love what this low carb/Keto/carnivore woe has done for me! I don’t ever plan to eat any other way again!4 -
Best of luck to you Sherryshields at your upcoming doc appt!0
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@VictoryGarden I totally agree with your assessment. I have seen better results with Keto than all other diets combined. It’s the first time I don’t feel hungry all the time. I also have incorporated IF and still count calories. It has really been an eye opener how addicted I was to processed high carb foods. I’m still trying to understand the astounding negativity that has been placed on “ keto diet”; in the media and even MFP; I’ve never seen or heard another diet get this much backlash. It may not work for everyone but it definitely has for me 😃3
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I think the backlash it there because it actually works. Not just works but it is sustainable in my opinion. These freaks out alot of "health experts" because what do you need them for lol. Its funny to me how weight watchers is so big. They keep making switches to there plans all the time "Eat all the Fruit you want no points" LMAO. Now its "Eat all the chicken you want no points" Next they well be do KETO no points5
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I tried on a benchmark dress yesterday. It is a very unforgiving summer dress that shows every single curve. I had to put it way last summer because I gained weight. Tried it on last night and it looked good. This was great for my brain because I am losing weight so very slowly. I guess, however, if I had to pick, I would take inches over pounds any day. When I was trying conventional dieting last year, I didn't lose at all and I was much fluffier.7
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WoooHooo! I am back in the normal range on my A1C! That is healing on the inside!!!! Keto has been wonderful for me!13
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sherryshields wrote: »WoooHooo! I am back in the normal range on my A1C! That is healing on the inside!!!! Keto has been wonderful for me!
Keto got me off diabetes meds. I told the nurse I was going to get my A1C down with diet, and she said she did not want to discourage me, but no one ever did that. I might be able to slow the rate at which things got worse, but diabetes was a progressive disease where I would add drugs and not stop taking them. I would be on insulin before it was over.
My last couple of A1C's were mid 5's with no meds.
Stick with it...9 -
80 Lbs of fat lost in 21 weeks then another 12 lbs more of fat lost in 4 weeks after that. Since then I've been concentrating on putting on lean muscle mass. I've now put on around 8 lbs of lean muscle since losing all the fat. I haven't been around the forum in a while so my thread hasn't been updated in a while but that's the update so far. I'm still following low carb and drop to keto carb levels if I feel a bit of fat is getting on me again. My energy levels have never been so good in all of my life living this way. All of my health markers are now perfect (have been for quite awhile now) thanks to changing my eating habits and getting all that fat off of my body.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10678145/80-pounds-lost-in-21-weeks/p17 -
Sidetracking my own thread - What are the various methods of measuring body fat?
Calipers are an old school way IIRC, but I see people sometimes talking about a "Dexscan" (sp?). Where do you go to get one of those, and how much do they cost?
Are there other ways?0 -
VictoryGarden wrote: »Sidetracking my own thread - What are the various methods of measuring body fat?
Calipers are an old school way IIRC, but I see people sometimes talking about a "Dexscan" (sp?). Where do you go to get one of those, and how much do they cost?
Are there other ways?
Dexa scans can be pricey to do them often. Do a Google search for a facility that does them in your location. You may find sporting, rehab, bodybuilding, fitness facilities etc may do them. At some locations they may do a membership to lower the price on how many you do in a given time etc.. If you are going to use that method I recommend you read up on how water in your body can affect the reading of the scans though.
I used calipers until most of my fat was gone and got a membership to do Dexa scans as my fat mostly dropped off and I started also concentrating on building lean mass.
Calipers are good but they are also vulnerable to the person using them. If you are consistent on how you measure and where you measure exactly on your body you can find differences in the measurements. It's a bit harder to do if there is a lot of fat to measure and if there is a lot of bloat. Sometimes you may not be able to very accurately get a grasp of the amount of fat in that area you are measuring. Overall though I like the method. You will need another person to help you do certain areas of your body. There's calculation formulas on line to get your %.1 -
Keto got me off diabetes meds. I told the nurse I was going to get my A1C down with diet, and she said she did not want to discourage me, but no one ever did that. I might be able to slow the rate at which things got worse, but diabetes was a progressive disease where I would add drugs and not stop taking them. I would be on insulin before it was over.
My last couple of A1C's were mid 5's with no meds.
Stick with it...
Thanks for the encouragement! I plan to stick with it.
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Glad to have you back on the forums @PaulChasinDreams.... can I assume you will be adding to our dinner photos thread sometime soon? 3
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canadjineh wrote: »Glad to have you back on the forums @PaulChasinDreams.... can I assume you will be adding to our dinner photos thread sometime soon?
Hi @canadjineh Not too sure how often I'll be on here and posting. Time is spread so thin right now. Bought a cabin on one of the Gulf Islands over here and have been clearing land, cleaning up, prepping for reno's and starting up a charter business so very swamped right now. But will be popping in and out. Nice to see you're still on the forum! Cheers Eh! 2 -
I have to confess that my carb intake is not consistently low, but the "Working toward Low Carb" lifestyle has improved my skin, given me a way flatter belly, and totally turned off cravings for sugary foods. I can make deserts for family without even wanting to taste. And finally, saving lots of money because I don't get ravenously hungry on my commute home. I used to stop at fast food or Wawa for junk during 90 min commute.1
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Love all the success stories! I’m a week in and 7 pounds down. I know it’s water, but I’m still thrilled!
I had the cookie battle as well- two giant platters delivered to my work. AND I’m a Girl Scout leader, so my garage was full of cookies.
Keep the good stories coming! 😀🥰2 -
Thanks, everyone. I am only 3 months, minus 25lbs in. I have a ways to go still to even reach my overweight stage. Over the last 2 years, I crept up to extremely overweight. In the past doing CICO, I could barely drop 10lbs over a year. So, with low-carb, I am thrilled to have lost what I have and have hope that I can actually get to a healthy BMI for the first time since my childhood. I still have cravings, though sometimes I am not hungry at all. I am looking forward to the day my brain is rewired and sugar isn't a temptation any longer.3
