Lisa N

Congrats on your success! You raise some great points, and I am interested in your responses....

> First; how long have you tried to stick it out with the brain fog problem?

The longest I have lasted on 20 g a day, is for about 4 months straight. The brain fog never went away for me. The best I can do is minimize it, as I explained above. I read that most peoples brains burn ketones very effeciently for fuel, even Atkins states its the brains preferred fuel. However, there is a certain % of people whereas this is not true, I must fall into this category, because a good dose of carbs brings me right back to normal. But I am open to listening to other possible causes.

> Second; how much water do you consume daily?

On a normal day, when I work out, I consume between 1 - 1.5 gallons a day. On a non work out day, .75 - 1 gallon a day. I do monitor my ketones, and I do urinate often, so I do not beleive the high ketone count is a result highly concentrated urine, but occasionaly this can happen. My ketone count seems to correlate very well with my weight loss. I know this is not true with everyone.

> Another option, and honestly one that I think is a better way to go, would be to slow down the weight loss; slower weight loss would result in less ketones being produced from fat burning. A pound a day is pretty extreme weight loss and your body may simply be telling you that it doesn't like it even if you do. Just because you can lose 30 lbs a month doesn't make it a good idea to do so. It could even be more dangerous to your health than carrying those extra pounds for a few more months.

I do agree with your comments above, and this time, I think I will take it a bit slower. Now that I am in my 40's, my body is not quite as resilant as it was just a few years ago. I appreciate these comments.

> Third; do you take any supplements on a regular basis?

In the past, I used to take many supplements, many of them Atkins. However, when I experimented by not taking them, I felt no better or worse. This time I am taking a green powder drink called super food, by Garden of Eaten. It consists of a ton of greens and is highly nutritious... I felt this would be a more natural way to get nutrition. BTW, if I was to add supplements to this, which ones would you say are most critical when loosing weight?

> Fourth; is it possible that you have a sensitivity to arachidonic acid? This is found in red meat and eggs and those who are particularly sensitive to if find that it can make them feel miserable.

I have read about this before, but have not paid enough attention to it. How can I find out if this is the case with me? Is there a test? Chicken does not bother me at all, but red meat and eggs do..... is this an indication of this condition? Hmmmm.....

> The solution to that would be to either avoid foods that contain arachidonic acid or to take fish oil with every meal that contains those foods.

Does the fish oil negate the arachidonic acid? Any paticular type? What about Flax oil, I take a TBSP of it everyday?

> You mention that with low carb you are forced into a high animal products intake. That doesn't necessarily have to be the case.

Can you please suggest some foods that I can eat, considering I just may have this sensitivity to arachidonic acid, allergic to seafoods and feel wrotten when I eat Soy, or any bean products? Other than a few types of nuts, I just can't think of much else? This is why I struggle so hard with this WOE, long term.

> Whatever you do, you will need to find a method of getting your weight to a good level and keeping it there. Losing large amounts of weight only to regain it takes a large toll on your body and your health and eventually you'll find that you can't lose 30 pounds a month

You are so right.... It kills me emotionaly that I somehow allow this to happen througout my life. I am not proud of it and I know its very unhealthy. After I acheive my goal weight, which seems a mile away right now because I am just starting again, I have a new game plan for maintenance. I have learned a lot about what does not work in the past and now I think I can approach the maintenance more sensibly. And you be very right about the weight loss, the older I am getting the less likely I will be able to loose weight so fast.... this go around, I may unfortunately find this to be true. Although I have been lucky in the past with 30 lbs a month average weight loss, I will not be dissapointed if I only loose 20 lbs a month this time. That is still considered fast by most peoples standards.

BTW, I would also like to mention something.... in my experience, the ol adage, that men loose fat easier than woman seems to be very true. I have been on this diet with many woman, we eat the same foods, except I eat way more than they do (its nice to have a team mate in these endeavors). Even woman in their 20's who had to loose a substantial amount of weight never lost weight at my pace and yet we were on the same program of diet and exercise. Most would average 8 lbs a month after the first few weeks. This is still considered excellent weight loss, but many of them got discouraged and bailed early. (Its a shame everyone wants a quick fix, but I guess its just human nature, specially for the younger dieters) Since I have a fair amount of muscle and am pretty tall, I think this provides more opportunity to burn fat.