Originally Posted by Neanderpam

Sometimes I talk about how 'lucky' I am to have the rare defect (autoimmune) that I have..lol. I have something called 'Hyper IgE Syndrome' or HIE for short. In a nutshell..my disease makes it possible for me to become anaphylactic and stop breathing (even with things I've been around for YEARS). Most of the things are chemical vapor or perfume (same thing) or things that can be inhaled...but some are foods.

Everyone had the same reaction to ME..until the day I was helping out during a fish fry (for a local charity). They were using a huge kettle and poured oil into it to fry the fish in the kitchen area. I was in the dining area and setting up plates, and placing desserts, etc....and that's when the vapor from the PEANUT and SOY oil drifted into the dining room.

I hit the floor and started turning blue, choking and gasping and throat swelling with hives all over me...the ambulance got there in record time, thank goodness. I spent four DAYS in intensive care and then two WEEKS in regular med/surg.

If I even say 'Eww that stinks'...I get the 'bum's rush' out the door. :)

BTW..corn and corn starch also 'shut me down' fast...so even meds have to be compounded carefully for me. But no one gives me any flak about the 'way I eat' anymore.

Actually, wouldn't you think they would have stopped after seeing me lose all this weight AND keep it off for over 12 years? Hmmm...people!

Originally Posted by 2thinchix

I'm happy for you, but MAN I wish I knew how on earth to lose 3.5 pounds a week! I'm lucky if I lose 1.5!

Originally Posted by 2thinchix

I'm happy for you, but MAN I wish I knew how on earth to lose 3.5 pounds a week! I'm lucky if I lose 1.5!

Originally Posted by Just Jo

Well I lost the first 100lbs by eating 700-800 kcals & 6 grams of carbs a day and the last 21lbs eating 900-1200 kcals & 6 grams of carbs a day. Any pound you lose is a pound closer to your goal! Just don't give up and make sure to follow whatever LC WOE you have chosen -- you'll see results too. Wishing you much success in your journey 2thinchix!!

Originally Posted by Just Jo

Okay here’s my journey to date:
I did a lot of research this time around when I restarted A’72. I thought for like a nanosecond that I might try out weight-loss surgery. I said I thought about it for a nanosecond, realizing of course that it’s not the be all and end all of weight loss. It would still take months to drop the weight and people that have the surgery have no more than about 600 kcals daily from the research I’ve been able to find and usually it’s low carb. And I know all about low carb and their success rate after weight loss surgery in gaining back the weight is no better than any other method of trying to lose the weight. I figured I’d try A’72 again because I’m an old pro at it. My biggest struggle, of course, will be learning how to maintain and no matter which way you manage to loss weight -- maintaining it is the real goal!
With nothing to lose (except for WEIGHT) and plenty of time on my hands (I’m a school teacher, so the summer seemed perfect for my new journey) I decided to try eating 600-800 kcals a day (like the weight loss surgery people) with no more than 6 grams of carbs.

What do I eat:
Coffee with International Delight Liquid Coffee Cream 2 T. = 40 kcals & 2g carbs
One bag (5-6 oz) Butter Lettuce type salad, with homemade garlic vinaigrette dressing = 80 kcals & 4g carbs
So I get my other kcals from:
Tuna, Baked Chicken Breast or Broiled Cod
I take 2 multi-vitamins, calcium and potassium

Sounds pretty boring, but I love it -- I know the night before what I am going to eat the next day and that seems to satisfy me and any cravings.
I averaged 756 kcals daily and 6g carbs from July 5 to Jan 1, 2014 and lost 100lbs by 23 Dec.

On Jan 1, I decided I needed to up my kcals. So every week I’d add 50 kcals daily. I try to do 1200 kcals daily but it’s difficult to eat that much food and I still only have 6 carbs daily. I added the one thing I missed most and that was pork rinds. On average, I do about 1100 kcals daily. Some days I do 1200 other days 900, it depends how hungry I am.

Activity:
I exercise every weekday morning for 2 - 2.5 hours. I have a stationary bike that I’ve rigged with my computer keyboard so that if I have to be on the computer, I have to peddle. Being a school teacher, I do a lot of lesson planning etc on the computer. And now that I’ve found all of you -- I peddle as I blog. LOL I’m an early riser so I do this before I go to work in the am.
On the weekends, I can log up to 4 hours depending how much work I have. Okay, I’m not sweating bullets as I peddle, but I am peddling constantly for 1 hour at a time (my behind needs a break every hour). I also weight train every other day for 15 mins. I have a Galaxy Gear watch (goes with the cell phone) and I track how many miles I walk as I teach -- I rarely sit at school (I teach Guitar, Family and Consumer Sciences “Home Ec for those of my generation” and Technology). I can log around 5 miles each day just at school.

So that’s how I got to my 120 pound loss. I've charted my monthly weight loss, so as of March 5 (Month 8) I weighed 133, as you know I've lost 3 more pounds. From size 24 pants (3XL tops) to size 6 (M/L tops).

There's something really weird -- in my mind's eye I'm still "Fat Jo" -- I don't see myself as thin -- maybe that's helping me to stay with this WOL and WOE, I don't know...



I have a motto that I live by that I call SEAL:
Stay Committed 100%
Eat & Exercise Properly
Accept the things I cannot control & change the things I can.
Live my life to be Successful!

Originally Posted by hysteria

Congrats - I think...
So, unless I am misunderstanding "kcal", you were eating approx 750 calories per day, and, with 2+ hours on a stationary bike per day, burning an additional 800 - 1,000 calories (per myfitnesspal - stationary bike, light effort), plus, once you returned to your job, walking an additional 5 miles per day.
So now you are still exercising, but eating almost enough that you are no longer running a calorie deficit.
I really am sorry for being a "Debbie-Downer" & I'm not a doctor, but is it safe or healthy to run that large of a calorie deficit for any length of time? Wouldn't you basically be eating your muscles (including your heart) to produce enough energy to exercise the amount you say you are?

Originally Posted by ICanDoThis

Congratulations!! I'm wondering if you watched levels of fats and sodium?

Originally Posted by Just Jo

I'm under the care of a doctor that I see every 3 months since I started this. I don't trust those fitness apps overmuch -- they are predictions and don't take in to account individual metabolisms etc.

Originally Posted by Neanderpam

And,...on the other side of the 'kcal/carb' fence...I staggered my calories throughout my loss (and still do...my high day is around 1800 and my lowest day is around 1200). BUT...my fat percentage has always been around 70 to 75%.

The 'secret' to 'my' stabilization in maintaining my weight for so long is the fat. And I had a doctor who 'got it' about low carb...it's not high protein, and it's not low calorie..it's high fat, low carb. Even now I have some doctors and a LOT of friends/family asking me 'Aren't you going to add more carbs back in? Aren't you supposed to do that?' Well, nope, not if you are me you aren't, lol.

My carbs on a daily basis are around 18 to 22 net carbs...and many days, on a high day staggered, they will be very close to 5net to 8 net...and the majority of the day will be 'fat' with some 'protein thrown in for fun'. :)

Originally Posted by Maori

Inspiration!!!!!!!! Congratulations!

Originally Posted by Menou'smom

Wow! Congratulations Jo!
Can someone please tell me what A'72 is? I'm guessing Atkins 1972? CCL and WOE are a mystery to me also. Yes, I'm blond. :-D

Originally Posted by hysteria

Thank you for clarifying this & forgive me, but from personal experience, I found mixing low carb / low fat / low calorie / high exercise to be ultimately dangerous and wish I could turn back the hands of time & undue the damage I did to my body. Maybe it WOULD have been different under the care of a physician.

Originally Posted by Kristine

Hi Jo. Congrats on your success. I do, however, have to chime in on the Debbie Downer side. ;) I'd be a hypocrite if I tried to deny ever hyper-dieting here and going for pounds-lost, everything-else-be-damned... but Hysteria is right. Low carb AND low fat AND low calorie is not Atkins and is rarely sustainable. You may be under a physician's care, but will s/he be able to predict nutrition deficiency diseases before you get them? One day, you can wake up as I did quite a few pounds heavier, body temperature in the basement, and half the hair on your head is gone.

If I were you, I'd forget about CCL/M and start adding FAT and lots of it, and looking at exercise as something to protect your bone density and keep you strong, not something to burn off food.

Good luck.