OK, first:
Even with the Keto my weight has stabilized. I am 149 which is fine for my height (I am 5'6") but I have it in my head I want to get back to 129 or at worst 139. My body does not want to budge.
Your body has decided this is your set point. Could you get lower? Maybe, but it's dicey - lower your calorie intake too much and you just mess up your metabolism, and then get into the yo-yo pattern. This is really unhealthy. They have shown that people who go on extreme diets to lose weight have a permanently lowered metabolism - so they are never able to handle as many calories as they could before the yo-yo started.
More importantly, why? You're at a healthy weight, and the science actually says its better to have a little extra as we get older. Maybe our bodies know this and this is why they hold on so much harder as we get older? I too would love to lose more. I'm 165 on a 5'5" frame. I seem to carry a lot of muscle, and the extra padding is pretty evenly distributed, so I think I carry it fairly well. (I think it was Mae West who said "I still have my hour-glass figure, but now it's closer to 90 minutes.") At my heaviest, I was 215. I would LOVE to be back in the 140s. I don't think anything under 145 is realistic or even healthy for me. But I also seem to be at this set point where my body does not want to budge. And yes, it bugs me sometimes. But I've had a couple epiphanies. I took care of both of my maternal grandparents as they aged and died, and saw up close and personal what time does to our bodies as we age. But it didn't make me love them any less. I don't love my aunt any less because she's obese. My children don't love me less when I'm heavier than when I'm smaller. I didn't love E less when she was heavier. My partner isn't complaining and doesn't love me less. And for all those strangers in the world who may be judging me for my body size - why do I need their approval, anyway? I know it is inevitable, if I'm lucky enough to live so long, that my body will end up much like my grandmother's. So what I am focused on now is how I FEEL and how I FUNCTION. Weight is part of that - my grandfather's final days would have been easier, and he would have retained mobility longer, if he were at a healthier weight. But the man still lived to be 99, so there you go. I'm not kidding myself that I'll get my youthful body back or retain it forever. I'm just focused on health, mobility and function as I age here. I am going to trust that the people who matter to me will love me even if I'm not perfect.
I got what was diagnosed as peripheral neuropathy 10 months ago. It happened one day to the next. To the point I got sent to a neurologist was tested and FOUND TO NOT HAVE IT. But I have all of the symptoms. I am at the point of believing it is either autoimmune or trauma-related. I am going now to a Somatic Experiencing/Rolfing practitioner and after the first treatment the pain was greatly reduced,
Almost ALL of the health issues we've all mentioned here - psoriasis, interstitial cystitis, IBS, arthritis, peripheral neuropathy, MS - come down to inflammation and autoimmune function. Which often comes down to diet. Keto helps here because you're getting rid of a lot of inflammatory carbs. Paleo and Wahls do the same thing. I've really come to see inflammation as the key to a lot of health problems. Eating to reduce inflammation is my main focus. I've come to view sugar and other simple carbs the way I do alcohol - they taste good and are fun every once in a while, but I eat them knowing I will pay for it in how I feel later and make my decisions accordingly.
I would love to know more about your Rolfing experience!
I've always needed to do strength training to keep my back 'in its place' and keep the weight off. I think adding muscle helps me lose weight, although I know that's controversial but it does get things kicked off for me - although it takes a month of no results on the scale but seeing muscle definition.
I think building muscle is also really important for those of us who are ...uhem...not as young as we used to be. (Right there with you on the perimenopause thing!) I don't notice a big difference on the scale, but I do notice a difference in the way clothes fit, in how I feel. Most importantly, I know it will help me retain function as I get older. I'm not as good at the weight training as I would like to be. I almost always look at the weights and choose yoga or kickboxing instead, which I tell myself also build strength in their own ways. I don't know why I hate weights so much.
I also struggle with severe back pain, partly from stenosis and partly from neuropathy. Yoga has really helped me here. For anyone with Amazon Prime, there are some great ones on there. I really like Yoga for the Inflexible. (That is definitely me.)
My problem will be the dairy. Elsi. Do you have any ideas? If I could hold onto the cream and maybe a cup of yogurt a day, I think I could do it.
Like I said above, experiment here with an elimination diet and see if it even applies to you. It may not. I can only handle a couple teaspoons of goat cheese on a salad on an average day. We have switched to almond milk for coffee (well, R has - I don't do coffee - caffeine triggers some of my neurological problems) and other basic milk-related needs. (Don't do soy - it's also inflammatory.) Almond milk is a bit problematic environmentally, but we don't use a whole lot. I gave up yogurt, which I used to eat a lot of. But I do better without it. I tend to do peanut butter on an apple or celery in place of what used to be my yogurt time. (Strict paleo doesn't do peanuts or other legumes, but I seem to be fine with them.)
If I concerned myself with organic or grass fed meat, there would be the huge expense. I am not in a position to buy $50 steaks or chickens. I choose not to be.
We can't afford that either. That's partly why we've just eliminated most meat. (I also just prefer not to eat cows and pigs, because I have known a few and gotten attached.) We do a little poultry, but not often, and buy from farmer friends or farmer's market rather than grocery. We're considering raising chickens. Maybe next year! (Though I don't think I could eat one I raised - eggs would be good though!) The reason grass fed vs. grain fed matters is related to the Omega 3 vs. Omega 6 ratio in the resulting meat, which again gets back to inflammation. We eat tons of fish, especially salmon, wild caught when we can. It's not a cheap way to eat, but we look for sales and grow our own veggies in the summer. And I see this as an investment in my future health. It's cheaper than medications. Or physical therapy.
What kind of spiralizer do you use?
Right now a cheap $10 manual one from the grocery store, but it hurts my wrists. I think I'm going to invest in one of the ones that goes on my KitchenAide stand mixer.
I have been curious about bone broth but where do you buy the bones?
Butcher or natural food store. When we do poultry, I get the whole bird and make my own broth. R also does beef broth (I don't). She picks up those bones from a natural food store when we head in towards the city - it's like a Whole Foods but just local here I think. If you buy meat from the farmer's market, you can also ask them if they will sell you bones.
Look at Romney's wife. I have always been interested in how she used that specialized kind of horsemanship, I forget what it is called, as a form of treatment. I am interested in equine related activities, mounted and not, and how they help in body-mind centering, for trauma and health challenges in generally.
I would love to be able to get my sister into something like that! Sadly we're not on a Romney budget for therapies...
I think I also have issues like your daughter, Elsi. And I have to decide to up my game for health. Mental and physical.
That's the key - focus on HEALTH and overall WELLBEING, mental and physical. Don't let your self-esteem get tied up in the scale. E is really struggling with that right now, and I have fallen into the trap at times as well. I am a perfectionist. I don't just want to lose weight, I want to lose weight in the most efficient way possible! And I want to be at the PERFECT weight for my height! Letting go of that perfectionism has been hard. But our value as people can't be measured with a scale. I've decided to measure my life in other ways. My relationships. My professional skills. The value I can bring to other people around me.
