^^ This.

Once upon a time my body seemed to do better with an uber-high fat LC regimen, in terms of both satiety and successful weight loss. Then I entered perimenopause. That body ran away from home one night while I was sleeping and this replacement model has been ignoring *The Rules* ever since !

Started taking taurine and pyridoxal-5-phosphate yesterday, as recommended in DANDR for fluid retention. It's only been one day so no instant results expected . In fact, weight is up 0.2 lb today .. this humid weather leaves me feeling like a bloated slug. OTOH, I went shopping for jeans yesterday and had a nice surprise .. my usual size 16's were too big!! I'm now fitting comfortably into a 14. That was a great mood booster and motivation to stay on track.


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Doreen, that's great! Smaller clothes are always more exciting than anything else - even lower scale weight. Heck, scale weight can be a lot of things. But, smaller clothes pretty much means lost fat! Good going.

After a few days of overeating veggies with oil, I'm back to a more strict meat and eggs deal. I went back to it yesterday, and had a good Stillman day. I weighed myself this morning, and there was no damage from the higher fat/carb (from veggies)/kcal days earlier in the week. Of course, it meant I didn't lose any weight this week, but that's okay. I knew I was overdoing it for a few days, so had no expectation of loss. No gain was sure nice, though.

I'm enjoying some eggs and ground turkey for breakfast.

Hello everyone! I just re-joined this board after a long hiatus and I couldn't remember my old username so I just got a new one.

I am new to Stillman but definitely not to low-carb. I lost 100+ lbs on Atkins in 1999, regained it in 2003, then started Atkins again in 2008 and dropped almost 150 lbs in 18 months. Then I stalled/maintained/yoyo'd between 225 - 275 for a couple years going off and on Atkins induction. Two weeks ago I invented my own plan to get back on track and, after doing some internet research, low and behold, it's basically Stillman (minus dairy plus 5 leaves of Romaine lettuce a day, my one indulgence).

I've dropped 10 lbs since 8/1 and although I was hungry the first 3 days, I'm not now. Which is great.

I do have a question though: did any of y'all have a runny nose at first? I don't have a cold or allergies, I feel fine, but my nose runs constantly. Any correlation between this and Stillman?

Hi DCHound. Welcome and congratulations on your successes thus far! It sounds as if you're doing wonderfully. As for the runny nose? No, I can't say I've had anything like that. Sometimes, though, we suddenly develop some sort of allergy, or a "new" allergen enters our environment. So, you just never know. I typically do not have allergies despite living in an area well-known for bringing out allergies is most people. Despite this, on occasion, I do have symptoms of allergies (runny nose, watery eyes) that may last a couple of days. Then, not again for a very, very long time - even years. I figure that something unusual came into the area or that the typical allergens may have been unusually strong at that time, enough to bother even someone who is typically not bothered.

Thanks! I'm pretty sure it's not allergies since it's just runny nose, not any other allergy symptoms which I've had before in reaction to unusual things (like one particular cat, LOL). Hopefully, regardless of the cause, it'll go away soon.

Another question: realistically (given that all people are different of course), how long can I expect the 1-2 lbs a day loss to continue, based on y'all's experience? Any idea? I've been stalled on Atkins so long ANY loss is welcome but I am loving this 1-2 lbs per day thing and I would truly love it if it continued a good long while. My current goal weight is 170, which may be unrealistic given I haven't weighed that since I was a college freshman (and I'm 43), but...sitting here at 215 I certainly feel like I need to lose way more than 50 lbs - which I think should mean the fast weight loss should continue a while, given that my body may think I need to lose a lot more.

Opinions or advice?

I lose about 1-1.5 pounds per week on Stillman when I follow it well. That means, not going over an average of about 1200 kcals per day, also. I know that I stalled after a 60 pound easy loss on Atkins mainly because the kcals I was eating became too high for any further loss. Stillman allows me to fill up on a lot fewer kcals, since it focuses on protein, rather than fat. Fat is very kcal dense, plus it doesn't fill me up the way protein does.

I think that because I'm closer to goal than you, you could possibly lose faster than I do, though. Of course, as you noted, we're all different. But rapid weight loss (like 1-2 lbs per day) typically does slow after a few weeks, so it may slow down some for you. Even so, I figure, as long as we start losing again and see the progress, it's a good thing. Especially after lengthy stalls.

I've gradually gone up 3 pounds over the last few days which has really peed me off. I'm sure it's water as I've not eaten much - not been hungry and I'm really disappointed. I know you can go up and down and this is what frustrated me with Atkins, but seeing as in the book he says if you are strict you will lose every day, and my eating couldn't get any stricter or more BORING, I am annoyed.
I have backtracked a week for nothing. It's not fair! I wouldn't mind if I'd eaten a cream cake or something else wonderful but I haven't and have not even had the urge to.
(I have done and sometimes still do suffer from EDNOS so even though I know scale weight is not the be all and end all it is an obsession I can't kick)

I'm having a little tantrum is all. Feel free to ignore. Just need to get my frustration out.

I have been stuck at about the same weight for the whole year to date, so I have been looking for a way to break out. maybe I will give this a try.

Dita, I can understand your frustration as my own pattern of loss is definitely up and down. Are you drinking 8 glasses of water every day? Remember the water is required in addition to any other calorie-free beverages you consume . Hope this isn't too personal, but are you perhaps constipated? This can bring on a surprising amount of water bloat .. trust me on this . Both Drs. Stillman and Atkins suggest a dose of milk of magnesia if necessary.

When you say you "couldn't get any stricter", are you trying to do a fat-free version of the diet? This can actually worsen the problem. Here's why: Bile is released into the small intestine in response to the presence of dietary fat. Bile helps to emulsify the fat so it - and the fat-soluble vitamins A, D & K - can be absorbed and used by the body. Bile also serves to flush waste products out of the liver so they can be eliminated via the bowel. In addition, the presence of bile in the stool has a mild stimulant action in the colon, which helps move things along. No fat in the diet = no bile to flush the liver and no bile to stimulate the bowel motions. Result .. constipation and sluggish liver (and also a sluggish gall bladder). People who follow a vegetarian fat-free diet have to consume huge amounts of fiber to counteract this lack of bile stimulation . As well, fat-free diets are notoriously linked with gall bladder disease and gall stones!

If you think this might be a problem, try to incorporate a few servings of protein foods that also have a small amount of fat .. whole eggs, lean red meat, skinless chicken thighs instead of breast meat, ground turkey and/or oily fish such as salmon, sardines or mackerel (which will also provide good omega-3 EFA's ).

hope this is helpful


Doreen

Best of luck if you decide to have a go with Stillman's QWL.

Hello everyone! I just had a fantastic fun weekend - but disastrous as far as my eating plan is, lol. So today, back on mainly protein, limited fat. Damn.

Thanks Doreen. I didn't know that.
Nothing is too personal, don't worry.
I go every day and have never suffered with it at any point, not even while pregnant etc so I am quite lucky.
I eat whole eggs every day and at the moment am probably having more red meat than I should as it was on special offer.
I'm on the water too - around 4 75cl bottles a day - its a habit now.

A typical day is 2 eggs for breakfast.
Chicken or tuna for lunch with usually one egg.
Lean beef patty with 2 eggs for dinner.
Black coffees, water and if I feel like it, Pepsi Max, though not every day.

Maybe too many eggs? I don't know. I've done a lot of reading of other people stories and some at up to 12 eggs a dayso I thought 5 was tame. I never get egged out - I love them.
I thought maybe I had too much fat?

Anyway, I am back down a bit this morn, though still up a little so it was water, plus I hadn't eaten enough for it to be anything else. Can't think what caused it though. My body is so odd.

Double Damn. Not that moving the DD was fun, but an exhausting and busy weekend, which lead to 2 glasses of wine each night, but yesterday was back in the saddle. Early water aerobics, shorter eating window, all protein. Goal is to stay on track until the 24th, lose the 2 pound re-gain and maybe some more?
Congrats to all who did stay on plan through the weekend, alas, I was not one of them

Welcome DCHound and Bob. Wishing you success with lower fats, though as I found, the diet is still 30-40% fat just from the eggs and meats. If there is any magic, it is more likely as Lab has written, that the protein is more satiating.
Bob, I checked your blog and only ask this because of your product list, but how much diet soda do you consume?

Dita, the number on the scale doesn't always show the true picture of what's happening on the inside. Check out this post .. Why the SCALE CAN LIE .

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It seems the additional supplements of taurine and bioactive B6 (pyridoxal-5-phosphate) are helping to relieve my long-standing fluid retention. The last two days I've made quite a few visits to the porcelain throne . The scale shows a net loss of 1 lb, but more importantly the edema in my feet/legs and hands .. and face .. is markedly less. I can actually see ankle bones, and some of my rings are fitting again.

Yesterday I craved FAT in a big way. Made egg salad with one whole boiled egg plus the yolk from another, mustard, s & p, plus a cup of hot chicken bouillon. Seemed to do the trick .. and so far today I'm on track, no cravings.

Planned food for today includes boiled eggs, salmon, leftover chicken soup (broth, chopped chicken breast, bit of parsley and green onion), lean pork loin, diet jello w. scoop low-fat cottage cheese. Beverages .. 1 coffee w. bit of light cream, plain green tea, water, water and more water, plus supplements. Approx. 1050 cals, 150g prot, <10g net carbs, 45g fat (= 38%)


Hope everyone has a great day. Onward and downward

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Good morning. Doreen, glad to hear that the supplements are helping with the water retention.

JEY, good for you getting back on track so fast. Stillman is a rigid plan, and I think that most of us find that we have days where we simply don't stay on so well. But, I'm working to make most days good Stillman days.

Like Doreen, I really craved fat yesterday. I'm learning that when I get a craving like that, I just need to take care of it and move on. So, I made myself some yummy bacon and indulged in it and a little cheddar cheese, as well. And, I, too, am having no cravings today. Guess I just needed to take care of that. Hopefully, the rest of the week will be easier in terms of those cravings.