Hi from Southern California!
 

Hi everyone, :wave:

Female, 49 years old, starting a very low carbs diet. I'm 5'8" and 1/2 and I hope to get to 150 lbs eventually. I was 207 lbs a few months ago.

I started recently with a modified Paleo Diet (with fruits rarely). Doing OK on it. I also incorporated working out 3-4 times/week. I Usually do cardio, Qi-Gong, Yoga or Pilates and then twice a week I lift weights. At home. I also like to walk or hike outside once/twice during the weekend.

Have a lovely transformation everyone! :)

Welcome :wave: This is a wonderful place to learn and make friends on your journey of a new WOE. Lots of great information among the threads and posts.

Welcome, Meli!

You'll love it here.

The people are the best, and there is info on every aspect of LC living.

WELCOME!
Julie

Thanks everyone, nice to be here!

Welcome! This is a great place to be!!

Welcome, stay true to the WOE and don't let anything stop you from getting healthy. This is overall the best site to be on. very good help here.

The last few days have been great, I had a good diet, less carbs, clean eating. Less calories too. I also worked out every other day. I'm very happy about it. The only thing is that I gained 2-3 pounds! So...I'm not going to use the stupid scale anymore, at least not for a month or so. I'll take my measurements once or twice a month and that's it!

Working out can really lead to gain. I have a terrible time with that.

I find that NSV is what is important too. How you’re cloths fit. I do both and weigh each day. It is a barometer for me. I reached my goal a few days back but now heading up. It’s ok. My body needs to find its way on this woe just like I’m doing.

Yes, I lost one centimeter from my waist in the last week or so. Not bad!

I didn't lose any more weight but maintained. Actually I went up and down but now I'm 205 again. I started to eat very little, something like 900 -1100 cal/day but could not sustain this too long. I got hungry and frustrated. So now I eat more and try to eat less only twice a week. Something like 5:2 diet but also low-carbs.

I was able to keep my workout routine so I'm happy about that. That cm. from my waist is still gone, didn't come back. :)

I'll continue with this WOE and hopefully I'll lose weight. I have to admit that I do have some hormonal problems and it's very hard for me to lose weight this time. But I'm optimistic, I'm doing all I can.

If you would like the members on this forum to comment on your diet, maybe you can share exactly what you are eating. You note your plan as Paleo, but then it is "modified". You did not read any Paleo books, so we don't even know what version of "paleo" you are doing. Answers about exactly how many carbs you eat, do you include nuts, alcohol, sweet potatoes, rice, etc. could help us give suggestions if wanted. Are you on any medications? Hormonal ones can hinder weight loss. Maybe check a Keto diet and see how your plan compares? All the best,

Hi and thanks for your comment.

I don't count my carbs. I just try not to eat too many. I eat nuts only once a week and maybe 100 cal a serving (very little), no alcohol (never), sweet potatoes once a month (backed), rice 1/2 portion once a week (brown rice) and fruit only one serving a day (usually: apples, berries, pears and peaces).

I think my diet is OK but the problem is that I'm on a certain medication (for sleep) that has weight gain as side effect. It's hard to lose weight being on this particular medication but not impossible. I did it in the past, a few years ago. I followed the same Paleo Diet (got the information from Mark's Daily Apple) and lost about 18 pounds in 3.5 months.

Now I try to follow the same diet and hopefully I'll be able to see some changes.

I can not follow a Keto Diet, I tried but I could not do it, too much meat and fat. I got sick of it after a few days.

I also eat only chicken, fish and turkey, no red meat. Dairy products rarely (once a month some hard cheese). And no sugar or processed food. I would have some dates (no sugar added) sometimes or raisins (no sugar added) or black chocolate but only a little and only a few times a month.

I might need to increase my fat intake. I'll buy more avocados. And I really need to drink more water but it's difficult to do it, have to make a greater effort.

Thank you again. Sure, if you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment.

(English is not my first language).

Your English is perfect, I would never have guessed it is not your first language.
And your diet is quite perfect too. That is really quite low carb for a Paleo plan, some can over do the starches or nuts and you are not. So other than the medication...maybe talk to your doctor about an alternative? And being in peri-menopause, I am stumped for any suggestions to help weight loss, but DietDoctor had some to consider:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/top-tips...w-carb-women-40

Hope other members have suggestions for you.


Keto does not have to be meat heavy...you can even find Vegetarian plans easily. https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/vegetarian If you don’t like the taste of meat fats, avocado, olive, etc oils are great. If you have weight to lose, your intake of dietary fat should just be enough to satisfy. Also check some of Maria Emmerich's cookbooks, our library has many of her Keto books with little dairy and meat.

Thank you for the information, you've been very helpful.

I think you've gotten some good advice to check out vegetarian low carb options.

While there are some people who can lose weight on a paleo diet, such as the one suggested by Mark's Daily Apple, it isn't a "very low carb diet." It's at least 100g of carbs per day, possibly much more. If you are happy eating a paleo diet and getting the results you want, I think it's a great option. For most people though, this is more of a maintenance level. Many people can't lose weight with this level of carbs, and I think that may be what you're experiencing.

Very low carb (aka, "keto") is under 50g of carbs/day (most people are even lower at 20–30g).

The fruit you are eating is easily 20g–25g per day alone. And if you add one of the other items you mention on a daily basis (rice, sweet potatoes, dates, raisins, etc.) that's easily another 25g. Plus the veggies you're likely eating and incidentals (nuts, cheese) are easily another 20–30g, depending on what you're eating and how much.

This is a guess and you won't know what you're eating until you track every single thing you eat for several weeks. Once you are armed with this information, you can make changes to see how they affect you and you get the results you're looking for. I know people often think tracking is too much of a hassle, but if you're not getting results, you need to get serious rather than vague about what you're doing.

Hi and thank you.

Indeed, I suspect that I eat more than 50g of carbs daily. You are probably right, I do have to track everything. Yes, it will probably be harder in the beginning but I presume that I'll get used to it. I'm not going to do it for the rest of my life anyway.

Thank you again.

I'm doing good, I lost a few pounds quite fast these days and I'm very happy about it. I started to follow IF 16:8 every other day; to exercise almost daily; to eat more fat and to drink more water.

Hi again, :wave:

I'll do my best to experiment with 2 days/week following a 2 meals/day and IF 18:6. I'll skip the breakfast and only have lunch and dinner 2 days/week.

I'm 202 lbs this morning, was 201 lbs two days ago but I worked out with weights like crazy these days. I always gain a little weight when I lift weights.

My diet is really good and I'm very active so...doing very well. Hopefully I'll lose some more and hit 199 lbs sometime at the end of this month.

Was not able to eat only 2 meals/day. I got hungry. I'm not going into extremes anymore for now. Plus I do work out almost daily so I need to eat when I get hungry.

I'm in the process of reading Chris Kresser's book: "Your Personal Paleo Code". I realized that I did make a few mistakes regarding my current diet. I'm not done with the book but I've learned some new things.

I'll start fresh tomorrow with 14 days of clean and correct Paleo plus IF 16:8.