This looks like a good place to say howdy! My first post :) But by way of introduction I can give a simple history of diets I’ve done.
1) Age 12-14 First began to feel “fat”. Doctor prescribes some sort of insanely addictive amphetamine painkiller pill for my horribly painful periods and VOILA! they are anorexic as heck and I discover a fun and easy way to lose weight. It was great until I was about 16 and he stopped letting me take them. Bummer.
2) Second time I attempted to diet was about 2 yrs after the birth of my daughter. While breastfeeding and living on Food Stamps for part of her infancy, I gained weight massively until finally someone suggested Weight Watchers. I gained Weight on their then newly-touted Quick Start Program. A counselor told me that unless I was a lying, self defeating cheater, I must have a medical condition and get thee hence to a doctor to get your thyroid tested. I did and I was hypo thyroid – badly. On to Synthroid for about 15 yrs.
3) After about 3 yrs on Synthroid (which I know now did nothing good for me) I tried Diet Center. Worked. Lost about 35 lbs and looked good. Was working out, living the single life and all was good til I remarried in 1988.
4) More years on Synthroid, weight steadily working upwards, tried a few quick crash diets (you know, like SlimFast for 2 weeks til you puke, or the Cabbage Soup diet until you can’t be in public due to well….you know and a few other stupid Lose 25 Lbs in 3 Day diets), until in about 1998 I and my mom went on The Cambridge Diet, I think it was – all liquid all the time. Errrrgggh. Lost about 10 lbs and quit. Hated it.
5) In 2000 & 2001 I did a more sane thing: Body For Life Challenges, 2 back to back. Did well, learned a lot more about healthy eating and exercise. Was well into my second 12 week challenge, looking fantastic and feeling awesome til I had to have a hysterectomy. Buh-Bye BFL. Tore my rotator cuff the next year at work, never got back into it.
6) Gained it all back plus another 20 lbs and hit my lifetime high weight of 200 lbs by about 2007. Was diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome. Discovered natural thyroid therapies, Dr. Brownstein, Stopthethyroidmadness, etc etc. and, last but not least in my panic over my weight, a precious diet not a lot have heard about, KIMKINS. A low carb, low fat starvation diet that actually was run online by a 300+ lb alcoholic sociopath who ended up being sued by a class action…but I digress. KIMKINS was my intro into the LC lifestyle. When I about kilt myself trying to stick to her recommended 600-800 calories a day (“a finger-pinch of lettuce and cheese stick”) I tried Atkins. I became a devoted Low Carber. Yanno how much I lost with both diets combined? less than 25 lbs. before I hit the wall.
7) 2009 brought me cancer. Not a diet I’d recommend, but the chemo & radiation did take some weight off. But I’m a survivor. That was the year I became a food fanatic and learned everything I could about alternative medicine, nutrition, supplementation, vitamins, you name it. Read Gary Taubes, every Brownstein book, learned about the WAPF and good fats, began following Jimmy, and the Eades and the HeartScan Blog by Dr. Davis, posted constantly on the big low carb forums and so on.
8) Segued from Low Carb to VLC and then finally to cheese/cream/butter/meat/eggs only aka Zero Carb. Didn’t feel too well after a few months on that, and began to CRAVE vegetables. <<sigh>> From there to Mark’s Daily Apple forum and Paleo.
9) Still fighting hypothyroid battles, most likely burnt out adrenals, Hashimotos, old age, diet burn-out and a divorce in 2011, I lost 35 lbs living on apples, coffee, coconut oil, salads and intermittent fasting for about another year.
And that brings me to now. I’ve gained back all but about 10 lbs of the 35 I lost. I’ve remarried, am happier and healthier (I think) than I’ve ever been in many ways, but the WEIGHT!!! :( I really don’t want to weigh 185-200. I’ve been insulin resistant for a couple years, and they put me on Metformin to try to avoid me heading into full blown diabetes. At 58 and as a cancer survivor, that is all I need!
I found Matt’s 180 blog, and read the Kindle version of “Diet Recovery” last week. I admit, it’s shaken me, but intuitively I feel this is probably what I need. I began taking morning temps and found I was at 97 most mornings. I have tentatively begun his RRARF plan for about a week now, and also added Thytropin PMG to my daily regimen of supplements in the hopes it will heal my poor Hashimoto’s battered thyroid gland and maybe help my adrenals too.
I have a LOT to learn and I’m happy to have found this forum. So hi ya’ll, and I’ll go back to reading now :)