I’m happy to hear that I’m not the only one who hasn’t picked up a thermometer or refractometer throughout this process. I don’t even weigh myself anymore. For me, doing those things would just lead to another form of food/health obsession. I have found, however, that monitoring the frequency and color of my urine is a really reliable way to tell if what I’m eating is working for me, and I’m getting better at recognizing “crashes” from low metabolism/adrenergic syndrome/whatever Matt calls it. I think what I’m doing is closer to the protocol from Intuitive Eating (http://www.intuitiveeating.com/) in that I’m learning to listen to my body to the point where I have a better idea of what types and quantities of foods it wants and I’m developing stronger hunger and fullness signals…but I’m also utilizing what they call “gentle nutrition” by choosing a wide variety of healthful whole foods when I can. If I want cheesy mac or pizza or ice cream I have no qualms about eating it, but I also stock my cupboards with lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains, and full fat dairy and focus on getting enough of each of these things. Also, like David, I’m getting a LOT of physical activity every day, which means I can easily eat 3,000+ calories a day and still lose weight.
My new philosophy is eat hard, exercise hard, sleep/relax hard, and enjoy life to its fullest. I’m still about 15 pounds overweight if you compare me to a BMI chart but I’ve really truly come to believe that it is important to learn to accept and love your body pre weight loss. Doing so is the ONLY way I’ve been able to stop obsessing over my diet, which was the key to learning to listen to my body better and giving it what it REALLY wants. And since that has happened, my health and energy have skyrocketed and I’m losing weight. It sucks and it is hard, I know, but there is SO MUCH VALUE to learning to love your body as is. Otherwise, we are just on this site looking for more magic weight loss pills just like everyone else on all the other diet sites out there. It won’t work.
And also…not to minimize the concern of others, but a number of people that I’ve read about on this site are at or close to a “healthy” BMI already and I understand that it is frustrating to not be able to lose weight but I’m guessing at least some of these folks have an unrealistic goal for themselves in the first place. They might not be losing weight because they are close to where their body needs to be…and a better approach might be to go kick some ass in the gym to convert that weight into more muscle, or to learn to accept it and go flaunt it!