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  #31   ^
Old Fri, May-13-16, 03:24
cotonpal's Avatar
cotonpal cotonpal is online now
Senior Member
Posts: 5,283
 
Plan: very low carb real food
Stats: 245/125/135 Female 62
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: Vermont
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Bintang - I continue to track my food intake just to keep me honest. I've got so used to doing it that it doesn't feel obsessive but just like something I do. I don't weigh myself every day but that has never been my way. I have even gone for long stretches of time not weighing myself at all, in fact having no scale in the house, and still have lost weight, putting my faith in my food choices. I've been doing this a long time, the better part of a decade or more. A little obsessive about food sure beats being fat and sick. We each have to find our own way, what works best for us individually. I saw your picture. Clearly what you are doing works for you.

Jean
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  #32   ^
Old Fri, May-13-16, 04:55
Bintang's Avatar
Bintang Bintang is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 258
 
Plan: MyOwn:CHO<90g/d
Stats: 207/149/150 Male 169 cm
BF:40%/17%/18%
Progress: 102%
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cotonpal
I've been doing this a long time, the better part of a decade or more.


Jean, that's impressive and reassuring. How long did it take you to reach your goal weight and how long have you been in maintenance?
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  #33   ^
Old Fri, May-13-16, 05:10
cotonpal's Avatar
cotonpal cotonpal is online now
Senior Member
Posts: 5,283
 
Plan: very low carb real food
Stats: 245/125/135 Female 62
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: Vermont
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Bintang - I don't keep the kind of weight records that many here keep and I went into this changed eating with more of a focus on general health improvement rather than weight loss per se. That said here is a synopsis of my 10 year journey. I started at 245, over a few years I went down to 155, lost my way a bit and went up to 175, threw my scale out in disgust and just concentrated on eating right. Two years later, at the doctor's office, I became aware that I had lost 30 pounds and weighed 145. That was 2 years ago. I was content to stay there if that was what happened but then I started walking every day and my weight fell to its current level of 130. Up until then I had done no dedicated exercise. From the very start of this process I had some major gastrointestinal issues that I was able to clear up by discovering multiple food sensitivities. I believe clearing up these sensitivities was a major factor in being able to reach the place I am in now. I am so used to this way of eating that going back to carby junk is simply not an option for me.

Jean
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  #34   ^
Old Fri, May-13-16, 07:23
khrussva's Avatar
khrussva khrussva is offline
Say NO to Diabetes!
Posts: 8,671
 
Plan: My own - < 30 net carbs
Stats: 440/228/210 Male 5' 11"
BF:Energy Unleashed
Progress: 92%
Location: Central Virginia - USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bintang
Weight loss for me is so slow now that I guess I must be in maintenance.
I can't quite believe how far I have come in 12 months and am slightly apprehensive that the wight loss will reverse.
So I keep weighing and tracking daily as a means to stay on top of things but all the tracking/data recording, though interesting, is also hard work (some people might think obsessive).
I really would like to stop but I get the impression from reading this forum that doing so greatly increases the chances of gaining weight again.

If we are going to have one thing in life that we obsess over, I think our health is the most important. I remember scoffing at the obsessiveness of 'health nuts' when I was younger. I thought they were crazy. The world told me that food was food and moderation is the key. That is what I chose to believe and that was clearly wrong. The health nuts were right -- even if they did have bad information about what was healthy. I've become a health nut. I am a little obsessive. EVERYBODY who slides back into old SAD eating habits regains the weight. So if we want to keep what we have accomplished, do we even have a choice? We have to stick the the program that got us here.

My daughter just came home for a week long visit. Since birth she has had the same issues with food as I have always had. She too has been heavy her whole life. She joined me on this WOE 2 years ago and she has made some good progress. When she was more obsessive about the diet - (i.e. counting and tracking) she had steady success. She has struggled over the past year, though and has regained some of the weight. She eats the right foods, but is much more lax in her tracking. Even OP foods can be a problem if you eat too much of them, so not tracking has not worked so well. She plans on going back to tracking what she eats everyday. I hope she sticks with it.

I am falling into a pattern of eating roughly the same ratios of carbs and calories each meal from one day to the next. I have two different breakfasts (eggs & meat or flax muffin & meat), and a lunch consisting of a meat, a veggie, and some standard 'sides'. I'm even starting to do my standard lunch on weekends. Dinner is the one meal that is all over the place. My hope is that I won't have to track every meal if I already know that the meal I chose is within the range of what I've tracked 100 times before. I will only need to track those things that are new or unusual combinations in a given meal. My hope is that practicing eating right will form good habits and I won't need to track every item I eat every single day. If I do lighten up on the tracking, then the scale will have to be the gauge. Daily weighing would be required. A little movement in the wrong direction and I will be back to tracking every bite.

For now, I don't mind tracking and I'll continue to do it for the foreseeable future. I've got the rest of my life to figure out how to do maintenance and I know one thing for certain... I will always have to work at it.

Last edited by khrussva : Fri, May-13-16 at 07:29.
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  #35   ^
Old Fri, May-13-16, 07:48
cotonpal's Avatar
cotonpal cotonpal is online now
Senior Member
Posts: 5,283
 
Plan: very low carb real food
Stats: 245/125/135 Female 62
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: Vermont
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I think because we live in an environment which is filled with junk food everywhere and often people who will try to encourage us to eat it then there is no other choice than to be obsessive about what we choose to eat and what we choose to avoid. If we lived in an environment where the only foods available were real foods, no carby junk, things might be different and perhaps we could be less concerned with what we chose to eat because there would be no truly bad choices. But that's not the world we live in.

Jean
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  #36   ^
Old Fri, May-13-16, 10:13
MickiSue MickiSue is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 8,006
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 189/148.6/145 Female 5' 5"
BF:36%/28%/25%
Progress: 92%
Location: Twin Cities, MN
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I agree. The idea that we can conquer our addictions and our sensitivity to carbs, and start eating "normally" (whatever the heck that is) is just a pipe dream.

The way we got overweight and/or sick was from doing just that. So who in their right mind would want to go back it? But so many do, and then come back, 6 months, 6 years later, sicker and at a higher weight than they first started.

I don't count calories. But from decades of doing so, I can pretty much discern how many I'm taking in on any given day. What I DO count, always, is carbs, and will continue to do so.

I'm lucky enough that I can trust my satiety meter--IF I keep the carbs very low. If not, all bets are off. So they are, and will stay, below 20, for me. Because that's what works!
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  #37   ^
Old Sat, May-14-16, 11:03
Bintang's Avatar
Bintang Bintang is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 258
 
Plan: MyOwn:CHO<90g/d
Stats: 207/149/150 Male 169 cm
BF:40%/17%/18%
Progress: 102%
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by khrussva
I am falling into a pattern of eating roughly the same ratios of carbs and calories each meal from one day to the next ....... I will only need to track those things that are new or unusual combinations in a given meal.

Sounds like a good approach.
Most of my meals have also become standardised but not intentionally. It's more because I just enjoy particular foods so much. But it has taken many months of experimenting to get to that state.
Anyway it's good to know that others here are long term 'trackers' and I'll persevere because I am really curious about what will happen during maintenance and how stable things can or cannot be.
What I do know already is that losing weight on a low-fat calorie restricted diet is like compressing a coiled spring. As soon as you let go, even for a fraction of a second, the spring launches like a rocket back to its starting position.
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  #38   ^
Old Fri, May-27-16, 12:09
Jonahsafta Jonahsafta is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,304
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 248/149.2/148 Female 69 inches
BF:
Progress: 99%
Location: Las Vegas
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I don't write down....but I keep an internal counter...I eat a lot of the same things for breakfast and lunch....protein.........dinner is a meat and veggie or salad..Im perfectly content...

I still need to keep on top of emotional eating...weighed this AM 135lbs!
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  #39   ^
Old Fri, May-27-16, 15:13
MickiSue MickiSue is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 8,006
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 189/148.6/145 Female 5' 5"
BF:36%/28%/25%
Progress: 92%
Location: Twin Cities, MN
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I don't write it down, either.

But that's kind of the beauty of staying very low carb. "Under 20 is not hard to track, mentally. Now, if it were 50 or 60--yeah, I'd probably have to write things down to keep score.

OTOH, like you, Johna, I eat a lot of the same things, over and over.
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  #40   ^
Old Thu, Jul-28-16, 23:15
jmh6251's Avatar
jmh6251 jmh6251 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 906
 
Plan: Keto
Stats: 190/155/145 Female 5ft 3.5 in
BF:
Progress: 78%
Location: Kitsap County in Wa
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I'm not at goal but like to peruse the maintenance section because I need to know how to proceed when the time comes. Thankyou all for your great advice. I believe that I will be able to maintain this time. I think I will have the tools to spot trouble before it turns into 60 extra pounds.

Peace and Blessings
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  #41   ^
Old Sun, Jul-15-18, 10:54
Enomarb Enomarb is offline
MAINTAINING ON CALP
Posts: 4,838
 
Plan: CALP/CAHHP
Stats: 180/125/150 Female 65 in
BF:
Progress: 183%
Location: usa
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Hi-
today is my 15 year anniversary of starting CALP. It has been a wonderful 15 years. I did the first 6 months or so before I found this site and this community. I have been posting since then, for my own accountability and to pay it back and pay it forward.
Maintaining is really hard- I have felt very alone except for this site- there is almost no support and no information. This site has been my source for so much of what I know and live in my 15 years of LC. I can't thank you all enough- thank you. I am still 100% committed to my LC life, but daily posting or checking this site is no longer something I'm going to do.
It's time for me to step away- thanks for everything. I'm going to repost my 10 year anniversary post. It still is as true today as it was 5 years ago. I also posted this on the CAD/CALP thread.
Thank you again-

Wishing you all health, happiness and peace.
E

From 7/14/2013
hi-
tomorrow is my 10th 'planiversary' on CALP/CAHHP. I can't believe it has been 10 years! I'm going to mark the occasion by talking a bit about my experiences, and how things are for me now.

I found LC as a direct response to my continued worsening cholesterol and CRP tests. The straw that broke the camel's back was the "off the scale" CRP I had in the winter of 2003. My (then) MD wanted me to eat lower fat (Pritikin levels), double or triple my statins, and go off estrogen. He basically accused me of lying to him about my eating, saying no one who ate as low fat as I did could continue to see rising lipids.
I went home scared and angry. I had been eating low fat, and lower fat, for at least 15 years. I drank the low fat coolaide- believed it all. I said to my DH- if what I am doing is not working I can do it harder or do something different. I then started researching LC, starting with Atkins, Eades, Heller, Schwartzbein, Agatston and more. I remember telling my DH that I KNEW I was insulin resistant and had metabolic syndrome- and that was why I was fat (and getting fatter every year) and my lipids were so bad. I told him that while my kids were not home that summer, I was going to do LC. I asked him to support me and he did.
I chose CALP/CAHHP because it would fit my lifestyle and my personality. I hate measuring or weighing, I like eating and cooking unprocessed foods, and I value eating dinner as a family and going out with friends.
After 2 weeks on CALP it was a miracle. I felt "NORMAL" for the first time in 15 years. Then the weight began to melt off- like magic. And I felt great- lots of energy. Then my skin cleared up, my swollen ankles cleared up, my sleep got better- just everything felt better.
I lost the first 20 lbs by the end of August- and went to a new MD! He told me to keep doing what I was doing- but that my cholesterol was genetic.
I lost 30 lbs by December. I stayed on plan, because I felt great and I knew this was for life.
I started losing again that spring, and lost another 25 or so pounds. Plus my liver enzymes normalized (no more NASH for me!) and my CRP started going down while my trigylcerides were normal for the first time ever.
Since then I have stayed OP. I balance my RM, but admit I eat more carbs at RM now than that first year or two. It is my new normal- and I think I look better today than I did before starting CALP that July 2003.
I will always have the underlying metabolic issues, which eating LC manages. I believe I am insulin sensitive now, and also believe that a few days off plan will push me back to insulin resistance. So I STAY ON PLAN.
The people who I have met on this site, and the amazing wealth of info and resources about LC, has been incredibly important to me. Thank you!
I thank God everyday that I found LC, found CALP, and have been able to heal my life.
E
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  #42   ^
Old Mon, Jul-16-18, 13:23
SilverEm SilverEm is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,081
 
Plan: LC RPAH/FailSafe
Stats: 137/136/136 Female 67"
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: Maintenance since 2001
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Hi, Eno. Congratulations! I wish you continued success.
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  #43   ^
Old Sat, Dec-01-18, 14:33
jmh6251's Avatar
jmh6251 jmh6251 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 906
 
Plan: Keto
Stats: 190/155/145 Female 5ft 3.5 in
BF:
Progress: 78%
Location: Kitsap County in Wa
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Finally made it to my first goal weight. Actually 5 pounds under. I am currently working on 5 more pounds. I will be at my happy weight.
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  #44   ^
Old Sun, Dec-02-18, 21:09
Enomarb Enomarb is offline
MAINTAINING ON CALP
Posts: 4,838
 
Plan: CALP/CAHHP
Stats: 180/125/150 Female 65 in
BF:
Progress: 183%
Location: usa
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Congratulations Judy- and thanks for posting.
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  #45   ^
Old Mon, Dec-03-18, 09:24
bluesinger's Avatar
bluesinger bluesinger is offline
Doing My Best
Posts: 4,924
 
Plan: LC/CancerRecovery
Stats: 170/135/130 Female 62 inches
BF:24%
Progress: 88%
Location: Nevada Desert, USA
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Great success stories, and more proof that each of us requires different "tools" to reach our health goals. I tried CAD and failed miserably because I'm an Abstainer. Can't have that reward meal, not I! Gobble-ville.

I find Maintenance hard. Maybe because of my age or maybe it's just my personality. Yes, I'm a Carb Addict, but can't hack that route so I stick with '72 Atkins. We all have to find our own way, right?

Good luck to all of us going forward.
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