losing weight and eating TF

[425lisamarie]

I'm trying to convince my sister to stop eating super low carb and no fat and just eat normal unprocessed foods.

So have you had weight loss success story eat traditional foods? I think it's different than just eating whole foods because sometimes that includes no meat/dairy etc.

I've been steadily losing weight but we've always eaten this way, I just was eating waaaay too much during the baby having years

I'm convinced you can lose weight and maintain it better not starving your body. Any good book you can give a person who doesn't believe in eating fat but is easy to convince?

[spughy]

I don't know if this will convince her, but here's my story:

I am one of the unlucky few for whom breastfeeding does NOT equal weight loss. Since I started breastfeeding my daughter in Nov. 05 I put on 40 lbs. I suffered from PPD and that added to my weight problem because when I'm unhappy, I eat. I couldn't stop gaining weight, even when I got a handle on my PPD and stopped eating emotionally - I still gained weight because I was eating white flour and sugar and other nutritionally deficient foods - my body NEEDED more nutrients so it encouraged me to eat more food, period. When I went back to work in November it got worse because I was sitting at a desk all day, but my body still prompted me to eat more.

In January (new year's resolution!) I got rid of all the refined carbohydrates in my diet. That was the ONLY change I made and I instantly stopped gaining weight. It's been 2 1/2 months, I eat as much as I want (frequently to the point of stuffing myself!) and I haven't put on a single pound, despite still being a lazy desk-bound slob. I can't actually lose weight right now because if I restrict my calories a bit my milk supply tanks and my girl is still nursing, but once she hits 18 months I'm going to start to lose weight and I'm sure all I'll have to do is alter my portion sizes a bit and exercise some. But for me, just not gaining is a win at the moment, and it's been absolutely EFFORTLESS.

Also? I have WAY more energy and am much more cheerful and altogether a better mother, wife, employee and friend. The benefits FAR outweigh the transient joys of a doughnut.

ETA: I eat meat & dairy - organic, pastured meat and raw dairy (cheese) when I can but also some pasteurized dairy 'cause raw is illegal mostly here. I'm not 100% NT but getting closer all the time.

[newcastlemama]

I have taken out my allergy foods (grains except brown rice, dairy, eggs, sugars, many others) and been eating NT. I started out at 175 after I had a 13 week M/C and was on bedrest for a while. I am now 142-145 after about a year (I am almost 5'8 and 26 yo). I have not even excercised because of other health issues, besides chores and walking. The great part is I weigh less than when I was a fat-free vegan and I don't feel like I "dieted"!

I eat a lot of coconut milk/oil. I always make gravy to go on my roasted chicken and eat a lot of grassfed beef. I have so much more energy and I am healing my defiencies! I try and get this point across to all the fat-free dieting women in my life but I guess they think it is too good to be true or are afraid of fat.

Jen

[425lisamarie]

That's great! Sounds like me, I NEVER lost weight BF. I got bigger and bigger up to like 200 pounds and now I am down to around 140 and a size 6. It's weird, my sister can't lose weight for anything. SHe's already pretty thin and kills herself at the gym, she just can't maintain without starving. She doesn't eat white foods or refined sugar. I'm trying to convince her to EAT FAT! I eat butter/cream and meat and lose weight.

[spughy]

Originally Posted by 425lisamarie

That's great! Sounds like me, I NEVER lost weight BF. I got bigger and bigger up to like 200 pounds and now I am down to around 140 and a size 6. It's weird, my sister can't lose weight for anything. SHe's already pretty thin and kills herself at the gym, she just can't maintain without starving. She doesn't eat white foods or refined sugar. I'm trying to convince her to EAT FAT! I eat butter/cream and meat and lose weight.

Get your sister on a bf analyzer scale. She may actually be too thin? Healthy BF% for women is 20-30% - if your sister is below that then she probably needs to put on a bit of weight to get to a stable weight.

Or, if she's within the healthy zone and has problems maintaining - she should put on some muscle. Lots of women "kill" themselves at the gym doing cardio which just convinces the body that it's under stress, causing it to hoard calories. If she ditches most of the cardio in favour of a *heavy* lifting regimen, she will fine she tones up a lot and has an easier time maintaining a healthy weight, because the extra muscle uses up more calories, but doesn't make you starvingly hungry the way excess cardio does. Send her to this site: http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displaysection.php?sid=2 - lots of good advice for getting a HEALTHY body instead of a scrawny one!

[newcastlemama]

I second the lifting weights. It really works better than killing yourself on the treadmill. I am looking forward to getting back into that.

[kallyn]

Low-carb is fine, but the low-fat stuff will kill ya!

I eat mostly TF/paleo-ish and low-carb and at 5'7" I weigh about 135 lbs. I eat loads of fat too, so tell your sis not to be afraid of the good stuff.

[425lisamarie]

Yeah she' s not scrawny or too thing. SHe's like a size 8 and looks really good. She just does the binge/slave at gym or starve thing. She more has an eating disorder than a weight problem. It's harder to get to her because she has an impulse issue I think. I was very anorexic and made myself throw up sometimes all through college and weighed about 115 pounds (size 0-2 and very unhealthy). I don't know how but I got over it around the time I met my husband.

I think she'd talk to someone but I know when I did it made matters worse because I felt like I had an illness, and then the nutritionist had me eating basically nothing!

I'm trying to get her to stick with more whole traditional foods that are unprocessed because I know it's healthy and works! She does it for a few days and reports that she feels great, but falls off the wagon.

Too bad everyone feels that skinny is pretty Some people are just going to be skinny, some not. I am heading toward pretty thin, but it's my body makeup. SHe's a little bigger build and wants to weigh like a hundred pounds. Damn TV and magazines:

[waywardsister]

Low-carb is great, but not when combined with low-fat. You're supposed to replace the carbs with fat! She must feel hungry all the time esp if she's slaving at the gym.

There's a great website called breadandmoney.com run by a formerly obese man and his wife, both of whom lost weight eating a traditional foods diet. Good articles, and he wrote a book as well (A Life Unburdened) that I really enjoyed. She might like it bc it's someone's direct experience...?