How I lost 60 pounds from cruise to cruise

Hi everyone- I'm about to set sail again and it's really finally hit me that I've lost 60 pounds in a year- from stepping off Glory last year at 236 pounds to stepping on Fantasy this month at 175 pounds.

I just thought I would share this info in case any of you are looking for a change.

Let me start by saying that I'm 51 and had five 10 pound babies via c section. I gained 70 or so pounds with each. After my fifth I got down to a way too skinny 135 pounds- I'm 5'9". So- yoyo dieting is my specialty. It should say on my tombstone "her weight fluctuated".

When I started cruising yearly, or sometimes four times a year, in 2005 I began to pack it on. My eating habits on cruises would blow your mind. I start with room service pastries, to lido breakfast, to a snack, to lunch, to burgers, to sweets to keep me awake, to dinner, to after dinner dessert on lido, to room service. Out of control and loving every minute. I would get off the cruise and continue the carnage. By then I was so addicted to sugar and carbs that the spike, crash, and burn of insulin response was like a roller coaster. I am not diabetic and never had GD despite the big babies.

I got to the point where none of my suits fit and I was so far in denial that when I would occasionally get a glimpse of myself in a store window I would be shocked. My sugar came back borderline diabetic for the first time in my life. My knees hurt. I had a nice case of GERD. I was on meds to sleep that I would take early in the evening to get myself into a nice, cookie eating haze all night. I would inhale three packs of fruit snacks just letting the dogs out last thing before bed. Bad, bad, bad.

Here is what I did to get sane and what I recommend for anyone who wants to take off fat, get healthy, develop a healthy mindset that does NOT involve weighing, measuring, going to meetings, restricting calories, living and dying by the scale, shame, or failure:

First and foremost, order a copy of "The Paleo Coach" by Jason Seib. He will drill into your head that you must get healthy to lose fat. One must come before the other. Then get "The Primal Blueprint" by Mark Sisson.

Then, download every single podcast of "Everyday Paleo" by Jason Seib and Sarah Fragoso. Listen to them while you walk. Also "The Primal Blueprint" podcasts.

Cut out all chronic cardio. Get off the treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes. Quit pounding the pavement. Stop the aerobics classes. Get out of your mind that calories matter. If you need more convincing on that, read "Why We Get Fat" by Gary Taubes. In short: insulin causes us to retain carbs as fat. The number one goal must be to keep insulin steady. Carbs provoke an insulin response. The standard American diet is completely jacked up with carbs- sugar and grains.

What did I eat? Meat/fish/eggs/poultry. All veggies grown above ground. Some nuts. Some extremely dark chocolate. Cheese. Olive oil. For the first month or so I added coconut oil to my coffee and cream every morning and whipped it in a blender. For more info on low carb/high fat diets, which are extremely popular in Scandinavia, read the Diet Doctor website. It's Swedish but in English. Also, read marksdailyapple dot com. There are hundreds of success stories on those two sites to give you major motivation.

In the beginning, for the first couple of months, I went very low carb. After the first three difficult days, as my body switched over from being glucose burning to fat burning, I had more energy than I had in years. And guess what? Zero hunger. None. Gone. That ravenous addicted eating behavior that had me going through Burger King while still eating McDonalds was gone.

After the first couple of months I added in berries and plain Greek yogurt with almonds and vanilla extract or cinnamon. At this point, even though I have 10-20 more to lose I am also eating sweet potatoes and occasional carrots. Sometimes I will have a banana.

I really recommend the sources listed above. In terms of exercise, when I was very low carb I did none. I hadn't exercised in years, why start now when I'm losing anyway? Couch time. Then I started listening to Everyday Paleo and read The Paleo Coach. I can't say enough about Seib's super healthy mindset. He will not even use the term "weight loss". He is completely against diets and doing things for cosmetic reasons. Guess what? He's right. As long as you do things for cosmetic reasons you will on some level loathe yourself, your body, your inability to stick to a program. Once you do things for health, and think in terms of health, the beauty will follow. My skin looks phenomenal. ANYWAY: exercise now: I walk the dogs for two miles a day 4-5 times a week. Long, slow movement is best. I also now have a rowing machine and do short sprints three times a week. The thought is: more cardio than that will provoke a cortisol/stress response and keep you from losing fat. I also lift a bit.

I will try to put some pics in the next post but I'm not very good at posting things on CC!

Hope this helps. Just eat real food. "Healthy whole grains" are a myth.

I swear to god I'm the only person on CC who can't load pics. I have them on photobucket but they won't attach. Oh well, this thumbnail is me a month ago.

And this microscopic thumbnail is me on Carnival Glory exactly one year ago. I just want to add that I never counted calories or tried to restrict my eating in any way. In the beginning I was adding fats. I ate sausage over chicken breast any day. My blood pressure has dropped to very low, my HbA1c level much lower, triglycerides down, fasting glucose down. I won't bore you with exact numbers but as my English husband would say, "it's bloody fantastic!"

Thanks for the tips! You look awesome!

I've heard tell of the Paleo diet before, but didn't follow up on it. I've checked the books you mentioned out from the library and will be reading up on it.

I think you look amazing! Thank you for telling your story. I just ordered the book.

I only need to lose 10 pounds, but I can't seem to get it off.

Thank you both. True Paleo eschews dairy, which I eat. It's more Primal (there are of course warring factions within these groups, lol).

As I said in the beginning I was low carb, what would be considered very low carb (20-30 a day). So I was basically Atkins. I have to give credit to Atkins for starting the entire low carb movement. But within the Atkins community there are some very unhealthy patterns- Atkins bars and products, for one. I hit an extended stall- 6 weeks with no loss. Believe me, I was so disheartened. On the very night before beginning a "steak and egg fast" as recommended in many low carb/Atkins forums I magically came across the Paleo Lifestyle and Fitness podcast. OMG. Bye bye to the whole idea of a steak and egg fast. I mean- does that sound unhealthy or what??

So out went the Atkins bars, which I rarely touched anyway, the SF FF cool whip, the diet jello, the diet coke. When you think about the things we stock up on when we diet it's amazing- weight watchers products alone are the farthest things from healthy....

At any rate, it was at that time that I went Paleo-plus-dairy. I followed the Paleo Coach. I put the scale in the farthest part of my closet. I started eating sweet potatoes and berries here and there. I lightened up on myself and eased my mind. The problem was that for every pound lost an inch of denial left, too. So I was horrified that I was 210 pounds and looked it- when I should have been thrilled that I lost 16 at that point. I hit the 100's and felt huge. It was messed up. Soooooo as I said I listened to those podcasts- 2 or 3 a day. I started to give myself a break. I started walking.

Ten pounds flew off in ten days. Honestly the next time I weighed myself I was ten pounds lighter. I think I needed the extra carbs at that point. But I was also so happy. I had dialed in my sleep and consciously tried to lower my stress levels. I hydrated myself and stopped hating myself. Far, far gone were the days of being on the verge of a steak and egg fast and scarfing down diet jello like it was an actual food item. In actuality it had only been like two weeks!

Anyway, if I can ever, ever be of help to any of you, please ask away. And I must admit that I fear this upcoming cruise- a B2B, no less. Obviously Paleo will be left on the dock with the luggage carts and ticket agents. I have a strategy and I hope Bad Carla doesn't resurface. :cool:

 

I only need to lose 10 pounds, but I can't seem to get it off.

 

A friend of mine was struggling to lose her last 10. She was instructed to cut out all dairy. Cheese was her weakness, but she did it. Within a couple of weeks of cutting out dairy, she lost 8 lbs. and looks very toned. This has me reconsidering the amount of dairy (specifically cheeses) I consume .

A friend of mine was struggling to lose her last 10. She was instructed to cut out all dairy. Cheese was her weakness, but she did it. Within a couple of weeks of cutting out dairy, she lost 8 lbs. and looks very toned. This has me reconsidering the amount of dairy (specifically cheeses) I consume .

I gave up cheese a couple of months ago. I have to say that it was critically important in the beginning to be able to eat Brie, or have some Swiss in an omelet, or just quickly eat a string cheese and a couple of almonds. I was still losing very well. When I hit my 6 week stall I was so desperate that I gave up the cheese. Nothing happened. Not one thing. Still hovered between 188-186, day after day. When I added the sweet potatoes I also added plain Greek yogurt, which is my crack cocaine. I eat it three times a day. Boom, I lost ten pounds. Was it putting the %#€£$ scale away for ten days? Was it adding the carbs until I was up in the appr 75 gram zone? Was it adding the dairy? Was it magic? Who knows. But the dairy didn't hurt. I would say it has zero effect on me.

YMMV. And I haven't been on the scale since.