All is standing still on the Western Front (this post is probably too long)

I am a northwest LC newbie. I have reformed my ways(!) radically for the past 3 weeks. Not a single candy bar, piece of bread, cookie, Pepsi have crossed these virtuous lips.
Result “big fat ‘0’” weightloss on the scales. I also have increased my walks—about 4 to 5 miles/day at the beach the last 3 days. I feel somewhat lighter—or more compact—but since the scales say otherwise, I suspect it is a “pigment”(sic) of my imagination—as I used to say when I first came to this country eons ago. I am 56 forever menopausal—but immensely relieved from the monthly torture of 30 years—not on HRT (1 month on it “back to the future” convinced me it wasn’t for me). I am small-boned and I know I will feel much better when I go back to 20 less lbs. I am not traditional medicine oriented and I rarely take drugs….except now when I am taking a stacker hoping it will help. Also the elimination process seems rather stalled. This body seems to absorb with eliminating.
I started psyllium 2 or 3 days ago…and it is still slow. I may in fact not be eating enough.

I really wanted to lose significantly enough so that the coming weekend would not depress me into backing off. I am invited to friends’ cabin in WA. It has been 2 years and if I don’t go with the flow of her excellent cooking, I’m afraid it will put a large
dent in things. I have already told her as tactfully as possible that I would have to stay from sugar/desserts and starches and she said…”But what CAN you eat then?” She is indeed a good cook and fixes great meals and looks great at 67. She just doesn’t need to be a low-carber as I feel I do. When I went on this diet to lose about 10 lbs many years ago it worked extremely well. I never had a speedy metabolism but it is so sloooooooooow these years.

I won’t flood you with e-mails, especially as long as this one--although writing is indeed one of my passions. I just need not to lose my resolve. I generally rely pretty much upon me myself and I to get over hurdles and crises, but this time I feel I need to depart some and huddle with LC kindred-spirits…so here I am. Reading your posts has already helped. Thank you. Claire de Lune

Hi Clair de Lune,

I can sympathize/empathize with you on both losing slowly and being menopausal!

Feeling lighter/smaller may not be a "pigment" of your imagination. Have you measured yourself yet? If not, get out that tape measure and measure yourself. You may well be losing inches if not pounds. Very common in the early stages of low carbing.

What happens is that you are eating more protein (I hope?) and exercising more and you've grown some healthy muscle, which weighs a bit more than fat and takes up less space.

So you are probably doing really well!

Do feel free to post here as often as you wish. In fact the best way and place to post regularly is in your own journal.
The journals are kept in alphabetical order according to user names, so you will need the M to Q section of the My Journal/Bootcamp forum. To find the Journals M to Q, either scroll down the main page or use "Forum Jump" at the bottom of this page and scroll down.

Cheers.

Rosebud

A big second on the need to measure yourself - the scale doesn't tell the whole story and is very frequently being very misleading.

As for what to tell your friend. I know how well-meaning people can sabotage your efforts without meaning to. They want you to enjoy yourself and firmly believe that "one bite" or "a little bit" won't hurt. So you need a means of being firm with an explanation that they will accept as giving you a need to be firm and them a need to abide by that firmness. So try something like this: I am going through a dietary regime right now for the purpose of testing my body's insulin resistance. Unfortunately this means that for the next couple of weeks I have to each no carbohydrates at all beyond two or three cups of green leafy vegetables a day. But the good news is that I get to eat pretty much all of the protein and fat as I want as that won't effect the outcome of the test.

So they have a reason to respect your wishes (after all, you are taking part in a medical test), you aren't going to be bombarded with a bunch of commentary on fat being bad for you (after all, it's just part of a short term medical test) and you aren't lying to them - you ARE eating they way you are for the next few weeks (plus a few decades after that) for the purpose of learning about your body's insulin resistance (plus a few other things).

Enjoy the time with your friends!