TheNaturalState's Journal, 23 May 2016

Bodies are mysterious! Keep up the good work and the scale will reflect it. Sometimes is just takes a while to adjust to changes. Are you journaling and weighing food? 

Good news is you didn't gain. Maybe kickstart your metabolism into ketosis? As long as you don't give up, you will win : ) 

If the one day's food diary you have posted is indicative of your normal eating pattern, I wonder if you may need to increase what you are eating a bit. 977 calories per day may be making your body think it needs to hold onto the weight because it's in starvation mode. I would suggest adding some protein, and I know some here would say to cut the carbs. However, your percentages are not "way out of whack," so I would try making some small adjustments first and see if it helps. Good luck! 

^ This. You need calories. 

I haven't found a good routine to post my meals, so I just write them in a journal. I guess I need to put something on my phone, so I can start posting them them with my phone. It would be more convenient for me instead of logging on my computer. At 1,200 to 1,300 calories a day I maintain my weight, so that is why I was trying to decrease to a 1,000 calories a day to see if I could experience weight loss. I am going to work toward less carbs though, to see if that helps.  

I know it sounds crazy but if you add in some good fats and decrease your carbs, keep your protein at where it is, you will drop weight. I know it goes against what we have heard over the years but we, as a nation are getting heavier and heavier. What we grew up with didn't work...maybe it's time to try something new? Tweak your plan. You can do this, just keep going! :) 

Does not sound crazy to me Becca. :) Careful not to Anger the Gym Bro's lol 

Drop your carbohydrates to 20g/day for a couple of weeks and see what happens. If you still want to limit your calories only eat when you're hungry and stop eating when the hunger is gone. Eat at least two avocados a day in addition to whatever else you're eating.  

Agree with Becca P and Philmck: Don't increase the Protein, increase the Fat. It has 2x more energy than Protein or Carbs, and will not convert to carbs as will 58% of Protein. Some good fatty bacon or Avocado will get you going. 

The exact breakdown is 9 calories per gram of Fat. And 4 calories per gram of Carbs and Protein. Fat is naturally the better fuel source. And fat doesn't turn into sugar like protein and carbs do. It really is the best fuel. If you need actual fuel, dip some string in honey and another string in bacon grease. Then light them on fire and see which one burns better. Its the same thing in the body.  

Some great advice, thanks!! This whole aging process has made me rethink much of my eating habits, so I am open to tweaking my food intake in various ways until I see what works best for weight loss, but also gives me energy.  

I looked at what I ate yesterday, not many calories, but lots of carbs. Its hard to see until I journal my meals and look at the totals.