My DH and I have decided that when I'm a normal weight, and he is no longer a functioning diabetic (he's pretty close, I'm not), we will call ourselves "recovering," rather than cured. This way, like anyone who has been addicted to a substance, we will know that we can never go back to our old way of eating, and if we "fall off the wagon," we'll have to go right back OP or do a serious fast -- we'll essentially have to put ourselves into rehab. It's kinda crazy, but hopefully will prevent us from thinking we can ever go back to our old ways -- it's like psyching yourself out (if anybody remembers that old phrase).

In my state (Texas) they have gotten rid of most of the road side parks where people would stop with their pick-nick baskets because there were no such thing as fast food drive thru or people just didn't have the money to waste on prepared foods so they brought their own. So Now, they have announced that the roadside parks are absolute and no longer a need because of all of the fastfood drive-thru all over the state.

Good heavens! What a blatant power grab!

As a bit of trivia, one of LBJ's first prominent positions came from his leadership of the New Deal's National Youth Authority. They had little money and needed a way to help male teens earn money and get work experience. His "think tank" came up with the roadside parks.

And now they are being destroyed. It's wrong.

Wow, That's some interesting history!!!
Yes it's totally wrong. I really think it had more to do with balancing the state's budget because the upkeep expense was probably tremendous with trash removal/dumping, lawn care etc... . Who knows how many there were statewide, some with historical markers. I pass one that's a beautiful overlook, I have such fond memories of going there with my family when I was a kid.

That's just sad.

Never thought about it like that, it's true!
We don't do fast food places as such, the closest we get to that is a seafood chain (no drive thrus) and they are also happy to swap the fries or rice for salad.

Speaking of the environment: The bigger picture is that we are lucky not to live in the States where the carb industry has gone ballistic with so many choices of delicious but bad 'food'. So there are less temptations. i recall taking my kid to Disney world in Florida in the early '90s and finding these long queues of fat people fascinating, much more interesting that the entertainment that was provided. The discrepancy between how americans were 'supposed' to look like (TV) and reality was something I had difficulty getting my head around. :)

Funny, I had just posted this in my journal tonight:

Just thinking about my history of low carbing.

1st - September 2003 - May 2005 - lost 114 lbs (270-156)
2nd - September - December 2009 - lost 33 lbs (243-210)
3rd - August 2012 - August 2013 - lost 90 lbs (264-174)
4th - May 2016 - ?????

How stupid must I be to keep undoing the good weight loss that LC brings?

Sad, isn't it? The first time I lost the weight so easily that I pretty much stayed on Induction and then when I had almost reached my goal I didn't really understand that I needed to slow down and learn how to maintain. And I thought I could just start eating carbs again. That didn't work out too well. The other times - I think I ran into some bad patches and didn't work through it. I'm hoping this time is different and that I've learned from my past mistakes.

When I first started this thread so many years ago during my first low carb attempt, I was on cloud 9, positive I'd found the best w.o.e. for me. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to go back. I've learned since that none of us wanted to go back....life just happens and, unfortunately, we hadn't been lowcarbing long enough for it to be our "don't think, just eat" (aka normal) way of eating.

I think a better question to ask is...

What gave you the courage to keep trying?

Great question.

I don't think it's been courage for me, just the reality that I'm getting older and I don't have as many chances to get this right.

I lost my mother last year, I've had other friends and relatives with chronic illness and cancer, and it just hit me that I need to take care of this obesity, and metabolic syndrome, before I get into my 60's.

I get very discouraged when I don't lose weight, and am not very patient when I work very hard and don't see success. So it may seem like courage to try again, but, for me, the circumstances have changed enough to make me feel like I will successful this time, and won't ever balloon up again.

The addition of intermittent fasting has been my revelation -- the amazing freeing effect of not eating, and not needing to eat, means I always have that tool into the future. It's made me hopeful again.

Interesting thread. I first went LC in 1997, starting at about 350 pounds. By 14 months in I was down to 270 pounds and I just stalled....and stalled....and stalled... I was very active in alt.support.diet.lowcarb newsgroup (familiarly known as ASDLC) and tried every hack they suggested at the time: more carbs, fewer carbs, more fat, less fat, more exercise, less exercise, eliminate dairy, etc. None of those worked so after being stalled nearly 3 years I just gave up!

Naturally gained all the weight back and then some of course, with highest recorded weight of 375 and think I was even a bit higher. I went back to LC at the beginning of 2006 - much slower than first time but my 2009 I was down again to the 270-275 range, and once again stalled...and stalled...and stalled...

In fact I'm still there. Occasional bounces up and down a bit, but rarely moving much from that 270-275 range. So this time I'm stalled 7 years so far. Again keep trying new things with no real success, but figure at least staying here is better than zooming back up to 400!

P.S. I've stayed with low carb as it's the only eating plan I've ever been happy with and could live with. Back in the 80's I lost a TON of weight on a low fat diet, dozens of pounds more than I have evet been able to lose on LC. I stuck with it for a year and was unhappy and miserable every single day of that year, and finally got so bummed and depressed that I decided I would rather weigh 300 pounds than eat like that ever again. I get depressed on LC too occasionally, but never over my food choices. :)

Love this, Kat. I'm not diabetic but I use "recovering carb addict" as my mantra b/c I know I'll never maintain and stay OP if I think I've "made it". I'm a sugar addict, plain and simple. It's a form of mindfulness that will serve us well. Stay strong and keto on!