I lost about 70 pounds pre-menopause, on Atkins. After a disastrous experience and years of inadequate HRT (I don't respond to the pills and they didn't believe me) I lost my remaining excess weight by going carnivore to address my autoimmune issues. Which it did, though it remains a work in progress, keeping that in remission with diet.

All without exercise, because of the illness. It can be done. It's 90% about getting the right nutrients that satisfy our hunger. While many people lowered their fat intake for success, I had to ramp mine up. So it's very individual, and takes some experimenting, but I'd say the most important thing is to be willing to give up anything our culture claims is more important than health.

For many, it's the social issues which trip us up because we all struggle with being the only one eating this way. In conference settings I only eat the guts of a sandwich or the top of a pizza slice, and the pile of discarded bread on my plate always disturbs some people.

Sometimes the biggest challenge isn't changing our food. It's needing to stick with our own food in the middle of a group who finds it... some kind of challenge to accept that we are coloring outside the lines this way.

But it is infinitely worth the effort. As we get older, we need more nutrition, and less junk, to perform as we'd like. And that, along with disease remission, is worth far more than "fitting in."

Yes, I'd like to fit into my PANTS.