Anita, thank you for the good wishes for my success! From your mouth to ___'s ears! But with the genes I've inherited from my mother, it's a long haul--and even eating so many wonderfully decadent,
legal foods, I have to watch myself like a hawk for discipline in number of cals/carbs I take in (shades of something NancyLC said once, about how she too has to watch cals in order to lose).
For me personally, weight loss stubbornness doesn't represent a stalled metabolism, I don't believe. Carb ups do work to keep my metabolism revved, it's true, which enables me to
maintain at a particular weight, but for me, it's the longer carb downs that are the primary
weight loss mechanism.
For instance, if I worked gradually
now to up my cals for longer and longer periods, I think I could eventually maintain on 1500 (maybe even 1600) cals/30ish net carbs/ day--but I'd be maintaining at
115 pounds. If I want to get to 105, ever, I've got to carb/cal down slowly but surely (and the majority of the time).
Then, if I ever get there (okay, guys,
when I get there!
), I'll have to stay there for a while--which might mean a mini-carb up cycle (like 1350 cals/20ish net carbs)--and then, ever so gradually, begin the regular longer carb up/shorter carb down cycles that'll lead me to maintenance at 105 lbs.
I guess I've taken the chatty way to offer my plan, as Anita suggested we all do!
I'm intrigued by the cal up phase discussed in this thread. Who is doing that--? I can't remember. The idea being that when I segue to carb up, it's more like 1500 cals/20ish net carbs, to see if I retain less water via fewer carbs. And, of course, if the carbs remain lower, the fat percentage can be higher--which, in turn, may continue to stimulate some sort of weight loss...who knows!
*Sigh* Why oh why didn't I inherit my
father's metabolism?! He remained lean all his life--and when my mother gained to the point where she was fat (certainly to me), I remember her making deep chocolate pudding and literally pouring heavy cream all over the top of it and serving that to my father (don't think "lc," because this would have been after a dinner of fried chicken with biscuits, mashed potatoes with heavy cream, and all sorts of other goodies!). He never, ever gained an ounce.
Instead, I have my mother's body, metabolism, and appetite--a triple threat! But I have one thing she never had--and I developed it all on my own: willpower and determination.
Bye, guys~!