we KNOW what to do in order to lose weight

Yes, we KNOW what we have to do:  we just have to make ourselves do it.  We have to turn ourselves into fat burners, and when you've reached this age, it can get tricky. 

Most middle-aged women have damaged their metabolisms by trying to adhere to what we THOUGHT were valid recommendations for a healthy diet, and then -- when that proved not only to be empty rhetoric, but downright harmful -- we restricted calories time and again, in order to try to combat nature.  A lot of us MADE OURSELVES into carb burners through decades of a low-fat diet, which effectually turned off our fat-metabolizing enzyme production.  Dr. Wong tells us that we begin lowering production of ALL proteolytic enzymes at age 27 ... so at age 57 it may be darned hard to start making the "right" ones again.  Dr. Donaldson doesn't say the same thing in so many words (i don't believe that the action of systemic enzymes was well-understood in his day), but he wrote about the magical age of 33, when he started seeing the effects of aging accelerate.

Changing over from burning carbohydrates for energy to primarily burning fats, then, is going to be WORK.  If the individual has a rigorous schedule already, and struggles to find the energy to meet it, s/he may experience difficulty in "getting over the hump," which is generally known as the "low-carb flu."  Some people, in fact, take an extended time to get past this , indicating that their metabolisms are the more screwed up.  However, look at it this way:  would you prefer to spend a couple of days (best case) to a couple of months (worst case) with lower energy reserves, or would you rather restrict calories FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, in order to avoid the damage which results in diabetes, NAFLD, senile dementia, heart disease, Parkinson's, etc etc etc....

When i was 30, i wouldn't have HAD to commit to either a glucose-based or a fatty-acid-based metabolism -- at that age i seemed to have pretty robust metabolic flexibility, compared to a lot of young people we see nowadays, who grew up swilling quantities of sodas and fruit juices.  When this flexibility fails, however, one's choices become far more limited.

I'm sure my readers will have observed that every succeeding attempt at weight loss is more difficult and less productive than the one before it.  What it boils down to is, we don't have time to waste in accomplishing what we want.  In order to be able to do the everyday tasks that life requires, we need to create the strength and agility NOW.  We have to make sure our bodies are not overburdened with fat, weight-damaged joints and deteriorated tissues NOW.  Trying out the techniques which younger people swear works for THEM may put us so far behind in the race that we'll end by giving up in despair (e.g., the "leptin reset" protocol which a certain young woman said finally worked for her ... AFTER she put on a dozen pounds!) -- that just ain't gonna cut it.

I -- WE -- know what we have to do.

another challenge

Oh, i was BAAAD last night -- too much sake, which led me to get into the cashews.  BAAAAAD tess!!!

So now i'm going out of town for a week again, this time with no scale to help keep me honest....  I vow i shall stick to Donaldson's program when i'm "in" and Kresser's when i'm "out," with a little Roberts thrown in for insurance.  I would HATE to waste all the great progress i made last week because of carelessness.

California, here i come -- wish me luck!

being able to ensure appropriate intake is important

What with one thing and another, i haven't been eating very "cleanly" the last day or so.

My mood is distinctly impaired, and i blame my diet.  If you ever read Dr. Emily Deans' blog "Evolutionary Psychiatry," you'll find many instances of documentable (because, God knows, she's a Harvard-trained and -approved "limb" and dares not break the old lockstep...) effects of nutrition (or lack of it) on mental function.  Don't get me wrong -- i think well of Dr. Deans' work and respect her intellect and ability, and i understand why she has to cover her ass, but i deplore the good-ol'-colleagues' system, and she DOES belong to it....

If my experience with the Personal Paleo Code has taught me anything, it's that "clean" eating makes me feel exceptionally good, and that consuming an inferior diet makes me feel bloody awful.  Most of my acquaintance doesn't believe this.  My best friend, although she is also convinced that diet is important, doesn't share in my rejection of grains.  I'm sure she doesn't think the same of dairy as i do (forgoing it with regret), either, and nor is she inclined to abjure aspartame.  I think i've corrupted her a bit, though:  i'm pretty sure she's already ordered "Paleo Comfort Foods"!  :-)

Even when my husband is in town and we're eating out, i make every attempt to eat a diet that does not contain things i know are deleterious.  That's not good enough for optimal nutrition.  One can't be sure of what is in restaurant food, even in the best places.  I have to do my own cooking -- and if that's not easy for me, it's got to be INCREDIBLY difficult for most other people. 

But again, it's time to take things into my own hands once more.  For the sake of my health and well-being, nothing less is good enough.  Tomorrow is Day One again, and i will be deleting even more -- because self-indulgence only delays achieving what i know to be worthwhile, and indulgence isn't THAT rewarding, after all.

three week point

...and the weigh-in was as bad as i expected it to be.  Up 1.2# from last week, and i've been PERFECT.  It's water -- there's no delusion about that part -- i can feel it all over my body.  It's still discouraging, though.

This is where temptation creeps in.  Not temptation to quit, but to TWEAK.  I considered having today as a water-fast day, or a fat-fast, and not recording my weight till tomorrow.  I considered dropping the coconut milk because of the big calorie load -- and i don't "believe in" calories!  (That's a figurative expression, because of course they exist....)  I was tempted to add in sucralose ahead of schedule, because i'm quite sure it has minimal impact on me; then i could drink tea instead of coffee (and i must have it sweet).

Time to get tough with myself.  I'm going downstairs and make myself a big bacon-and-egg scramble.  I'm not going to change a bloody thing.  The coconut is IN, and two full meals a day are IN, and sucralose, nightshades, etc. are OUT.  I'm GOING TO force myself to drink more water throughout the day (i thoroughly dislike water-chugging).  The bad numbers are going in the record, and with any kind of luck, next week's will seem far more impressive than they would have looked otherwise.

here. NOW.

Well, i did it!  Although i don't believe in new years' resolutions, I'm committing to a "path", my journey for ... as long as i bloody well feel like it!  Correction -- as long as i think it holds promise.  :-)

Lots of spurs led me here, not least of which was the book i began reading last night, The Flinch, by Julien Smith (thank you for introducing it, Richard!).  I realize how much my life has been formed by "pain avoidance".  My biggest character fault, i believe, is a lack of self-confidence, keeping me from leaping whole-heartedly into a lot of different things, from hobbies to life-significant pursuits.  I won't go into details about how i think i LOST said confidence....

Suffice it to say, i'm ready to leap NOW.  This blog is part of it.  Another part is, i started Chris Kresser's Personal Paleo Code program this morning.  I'm going to be PERFECT for a solid month.  No dairy, no liquor, no soda....  I suspect that cheese will call my name the loudest.

So i'm committing myself publicly, here.  NOW.