6 years, still not there but oh so close
 

I just want to share my story with the board. It has been a long haul but one that has been very, very educational. I have learned more about health and good nutrition thanks to staying commited to low carb. My commitment lead me to a near 30 ( ish ) lb loss within a period of about 2 years. I founght the naysayers and ignored the warnings of damaging my health. I had lab work done which proved that my health was improving along with my weightloss. I began experiencing a marked decrease in joint pain, which had nothing to do with my weightloss. I will explain why further down into this post. I also became aware that my skin stopped itching and my migraines vanished. Oh yeah, one more thing, my grey hair was not as grey...I'm not kidding.

After being on my low carb regimen, I began gaining weight. Yes, gaining while sticking to my low carb diet. I continued sticking to low carb even though I was gaining because I refused to blame my diet for the gain. At the age of 48 there had to be other things, namely my body, working aginst me. During the next 2 years of gaining, I badly injured my knee wich required xrays. The xrays showed that my knee was alright despite the insane pain that I was suffering. Also xrays revealed healthy bone mass. This was something the doctor did not expect. So not only did I have no injury to the knee, due to my healthy bones and tendons...I also had some healthy nerve endings ;)

My doctor advised me to eat more fruit and vegetables to lose weight because my gain was caused by my lifestyle. This was an insult because she had no idea what my lifestyle was. I ate plenty of fruit and veggies and if I were to list all that I ate, she would have said nothing about my inadequate diet. So I ignored the advice to alter my diet. That wasn't needed. She did advise walking more which I do feel was good advise.

Well, now as I reached my fourth year of low carbing and gaining, I read something in Dr. Eades blog about intermittent fasting. I read a lot about it in other blogs as well and began implementing it in my lifestyle as a healthy addition. And now, nearly 2 years late, I lost 22 lbs. In 2007 I made my New Years Resolution to lose 10 lbs a year. Ten lbs ain't much so it should be a doable thing right? Thanks to intermittent fasting I have been able to stick to my ongoing new year's resolution to lose 10 lbs a year until I reached my goal. Right now my stats say that I am 136 lbs. Well this has been going up and down between 143 and 136 lbs. What I find to be more amazing is that I am actually smaller at my present weight than when I weighed this much 4 years ago. My measurements are smaller and I look so thin. :wave: Yet, today I weighed in 143 lbs. My waist is now 28 inches and it was 30-32 inches the last time I weight 143 lbs.

Along with LC and IF, I have increased my fats considerably. Not only have i increased the amount of butter I use, I also began using lard, coconut oil, MCT oil, flax oil, krill oil. Noramlly I eat between the hours of 3:00 and 7:00 PM ( give or take ). This equals 2 meals a day. Sometimes, I kick it up to just one meal within a 24 hour period. My husband will be in the hospital fo about a week in April and I plan to do a strict 1 meal a day regimen. It might seem difficult but it isn't once my body adjusted to the gradual changes that I have made. I should achive my goal weight soon.

Thanks for posting. You are such an inspiration to me. I'm almost finished reading through your journal. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your ups and downs and what worked for you. I feel your story has helped me discover what seems to be helping me along and feeling better this time around.

That is wonderful and inspiring. You probably are smaller at a heavier weight because you are preserving lean muscle mass, which is a good thing. Congrats on your progress!

Good stuff.

Black57 - it's so awesome that you figured out what works for you regarding your health and weight loss! You are an encouragement to me. As a fellow IFer, I love to hear how successful you've been with it! Thanks for taking the time to post this.

Ipioch, 27Peach, Bexicon, ElizabethB. Thanks for your comments. I hope that my discoveries can help others. I think that we are all more similar than we might think...especially us goyles. ESPECIALLY as we age, I believe that we should eat, not less food, but less frequently. Take care everyone.

Wow, congrats on your perseverance. And that is so cool to be smaller now even at a weight you were previously. I've been just starting to incorporate IF into my own routine, but I don't find it easy. Today I finally managed a 24-hour fast for the first time. Last Sunday I made it to 22 hours. Prior to that it seemed I could only make 15-18 hours. And right now Sundays are the only day I seem to be able to do it! Can I ask how often you fast? Sounds like you are doing it much more often than I think I could manage. :)

Merpig, I IF everyday. I have a 20-23 hour fast. In-other-words, most days I eat at least 2 meals /day. Some days I eat only once. It took time but I worked up to IFing with a 20 (ish) hour fast alternated with a 4 hour feeding window...give or take. I am not a stickler to an exact, schedule however, I do not eat more than 2 meals a day. I would prefer to eat more on a 1x daily regimen. AND, realistically, I prefer to eat grass fed, organic meat and I would like to begin using raw dairy products. Eating less oftem makes these foods more affordable me-thinks.

Wow! I don't think I'm *quite* ready to go there yet. I typically have an early dinner (no later than 6 PM) and then don't eat again until 10-11 AM the next morning - but I'm not *quite* ready to go 20-23 hours every day! Maybe I'll change my tune if I don't start seeing more weight loss soon. :)

I was with you, Merpig.
I think it was my reading and following Black57 that I first really heard of IFing. I thought like you did...NO WAY!
But at the same time, I knew I didn't need to eat at 8am...and could often wait until 10 or 11.

Following Black's journal, I found out that she was either using MCT oil or putting coconut oil in her coffee. I read up on the benefits of those, and bought some coconut oil. Once I put even just a teaspoon of coconut oil in my coffee (You have to start SLOW!), I could make it to 1pm pretty easily.

Then as I upped the coconut oil (I'm to 4 tsp in the morning now)...I can make it to 3pm easily. I'm just now sitting down to my "break fast" and it's past 3:30 and I'm only getting the notion of hunger. I will eat until about 6:30 or 7pm tonight. So I've worked fairly quickly to a 20 to 21 hour fast with a 3 to 4 hour window of eating. But for me, the key was the coconut oil that really kills the hunger for a number of hours.

Before, if I skipped breakfast and didn't eat until lunch, I'd have severe headaches, shakiness, and irritability. Now those are gone. I'm really impressed, and I really enjoy eating this way. I feel it is really helping me to utilize food for what it is intended - a source of fuel - instead of the other emotional issues I may have had with food.

So, thanks again, Black57!

Congratulations! Thanks for the update.

Very interesting. I *do* have coconut oil and love it immensely, use it for all sorts of things. 4 tsp would be easy for me even right now. But I never just had it all by itself. Another tip to check out. Thanks. Though not today since friends are taking me out to lunch for my birthday! We are going to a lovely teahouse that we went to last year for my birthday too:
http://www.teaberrys.com/TeaberrysTeaSelectionMenu.pdf

But this year I'll be having the chef salad rather than the scones, tea sandwiches and cake! :lol:

Hmmm, nice to see so many posts here. I also use coconut oil but I prefer MCT oil as a supplement and I include coconut oil in my cooking. I began using MCT oil, which is derived from coconut oil, in my coffee and in my drinking water. I give it a lot of credit in helping me to lose weight. I am sure that is because to its ketogenic. It goes directly to the bloodstream and causes a surge of ketones. I feel that I have more energy in the morning when I am taking it plus, since I have been out of MCT oil, for about a week...I notice that my weight is creeping back. That health food store should be calling me soon.Here is something I found interesting on a blog that I subscribe to called "Mark's Daily Apple":

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fasting/

I want to especially point out the latest comment entry dated March 28th, 2009.

I enjoyed the blog link, thanks!

And I would like to look further into MCT oil. I'm finding a decent amount of info out there, but it is tought for me to put it all together.

I begain IFing only a week before I began the coconut oil. I'm losing steadily a pound a week and inches are dropping off. This is SO SO SO SO different than my past experiences (which would always get reversed with another pregnancy) where I would be LUCKY to lose 1 or 2 pounds a MONTH.

I'm not sure if it is the IF or the CO (or the combination). But if MCT oil is even better than CO, I would like to give it a shot.

So my question for you is: Why do YOU feel MCT oil is even better than CO? I cannot quite piece it together from all the pieces I'm trying to read on both CO and MCT oil.

It's not so much that I think it is better. I use both and MCT oil is in both. I just feel that MCT oil , being more concentrated, is more ketogenic than coconut oil. I also feel that coconut oil is very important also so I didn't mean that I prefer one over the other. I use both. I especially think coconut oil is very good for healthy immunity levels. I begin my work day at 7:30 in the morning. When I have my morning cuppa joe with MCT oil I am not just energized, I feel a sense of renewal. I really need to take a second dose at noon, I think. In a couple of weeks I will be on Spring break and I intend to do a serious experiment that I will post in my journal. I plan to eat only once a day for a week of April 12th. I will be using 3 tablespoons of MCT oil a day but I will also use my coconut oil