Hi,
I'm Chloe and have lurked here for quite awhile. I enjoy reading the success stories and sympathize with everyone's struggles.
I'm 51 (almost 52) and gained weight after I got married. My husband and I were living in Texas and became addicted to Tex-Mex food. Also, we drank too much wine. Additionally, I began eating three meals a day whether I was hungry or not.
In high school, I was slim at 118 pounds and 5'3-1/2". Back then, I skipped breakfast because food made me gag that early; school lunches were horrible. I'd come home, eat some cookies and watch Dark Shadows. Then, it was time to eat supper. I'm from the south and we ate large suppers - lard biscuits, fried chicken, fried potatoes, gravy, etc. None of us were overweight. In fact, there were only two overweight girls in my high school! Times have changed. Only if we knew why we're getting fatter. No one really knows. There is no solid science to say why.
There sure is science to prove why so many of us are prone to diabetes though. Our ancestors did not eat all day long nor did they eat every day. For some of us, we need less fuel for our mitochondria cells because we are close to our hunter-gather ancestors. The excess fuel causes inflammation and hence diabetes. So, the solution is to eat less but it's very difficult when food is available 24/7 for most of us. We are wired to eat when food is available. I have a theory that the more we eat, the more we eat. And the less we eat, the less we eat.
I have tried many diets, even zero carb. Physiologically, I can't stick with most diets. My body rebels (usually) after a few days of calorie reduction. I'm a martial artist but I can tell you exercise will not make the fat go away necessarily; intense exercise can make you eat more. We burn 500 - 1,000 calories in my classes. I should have disappeared by now if exercise was that great for weight loss.
I finally decided to go back to the way I ate in high school - one main meal a day. I did a lot of research. I wasn't too surprised to find that the 5 - 6 meals a day thing is not based in science. It works for some people though. But I would have to count calories if I were to do that and I'm done with the dieting mentality. No more counting calories, no counting carbs, no portion control or eating small amounts, or grazing, or whatever.
So, I snack on some protein when I get hungry during the day. The hunger is very mild. Sometimes, I just get a gurgle at the times I would normally eat. But not real hunger. No nausea. In fact, my hypoglycemia went away. According to the Warrior Diet, it is recommended you eat fruit or veggies when a little hungry, but also protein shakes if you want. It's the big guys that can down a 300 calorie shake for breakfast and call it a snack, lol. I will say that fruit made my hunger worse, so I stopped doing that and now eat a cheese stick or a low-carb Slim-Fast (because they're convenient)
I use a lot of good fats in my evening meal, eat some whole grains, 2 - 4 oz. lean protein, about 2 cups of steamd veggies, and dessert. I take in about 1400 calories in that one meal, sometimes it's less. Sometimes, I do eat fast food and choose a cheeseburger, fries, and a frosty. I don't do that too often because I want to maximize my nutrition.
I worried about my metabolism slowing down. That's so dumb. I plan to stay on this diet forever. And there are studies (animal, including primate) that show a slower metabolism may be better for health and longevity. However, no one on the diet has reported a slower metabolism. People are getting cut and lean on it. Me included!!!
If the slower metabolism/starvatin mode (two different things) were true, the prisoners at Auschwitz would have blown up like refrigerators. Those dear people starved to death on 600 - 700 calories a day. I haven't seen any photos of fat concentration prisoners.
I have more energy during the day, too. I guess that's because my body is not busy digesting food and is accessing fat stores for energy.
It took about two weeks for me to stop thinking about food all day. But the body is amazing and can be trained to just about any eating pattern.