Last summer I had been lowcarbing for two years, and lost a total of about 45 lbs, most of which came off the first year. So that would be a "stall" of about a year. I don't like calling it a stall, I'm just preparing for maintenance :-)

Let me preface this with saying my reason for eating low-carb is that I feel great eating this way, more energy, no heartburn, all those things we all know and love about our WOE... along with my history of dieting (mostly low-fat, ultra low-fat, WW, etc)... knowing that when I "diet" I never make "goal" and needed to simply change my eating habits forever and not get hung up on weightloss... This is a psychological thing for me and has worked to keep me from those terrible binges that come from feeling deprived or feeling guilty.

Anyway, last summer, after reading a lot on the Texas LC list, I decided to see if dropping dairy would have any effect on my year-long "maintenance practice." Up till then I would have a protein shake every day for breakfast (Caroline's famous shake -- cottage cheese, cream, protein powder, eggbeaters... and I added instant coffee and SF vanilla syrup for a frozen latte-like shake).

I gave those shakes up, stopped buying cheese, and started eating a chicken breast grilled w/ olive oil every day for breakfast... started having "paleo punch" -- recipe in Protein power -- mostly frozen blueberries, raspberries and strawberries blended up with some water and a little sweetener. Lunch was usually another chicken breast and a red bell pepper cut into strips (or a can of tuna w/ mayo). Dinner was the usual... a hunk of meat and salad or some kind of veggie.

The scale moved significantly for the first time in months! According to Fitday, I was eating an average of about 1700 calories a day, about 500 less than my average before the experiment.

Eventually, however, dairy made its way back in to my life, and although I have cut down quite a bit, I have bouncing around the same 6-7 pounds for months.

What have I learned? If I really really want to lose weight I need to cut out the dairy and processed meats, and probably cut calories down to about 1700. Do I want to? I don't know. I think about it a lot, I make little attempts to start... but this WOE for me must be something I can do for a lifetime. I'm not sure I can live without cheese and some half and half in my coffee for a lifetime. I guess I need to decide if I can be comfortable at my present size or if I want to go "all the way" -- but that brings up those old diet monsters I described above.

Meanwhile, here I am, maintaining as usual, enjoying my dairy...