I want to add my welcome to Tanya, Wildfire and Miss Donna. You really can eat until full -- in fact, you need to eat until full -- and still lose weight. My experience was much like Ollie. I didn't really plateau ever, while losing my weight. I added exercise -- cardio (walks), strength building (free weights and the Total Gym) and now I'm adding sprints for some anaerobic exercise. It is amazing how I've gotten my life back with shedding 50 lbs. I'm gaining a little back (about 5 lbs.), but realize that muscle weighs more than fat and I'm working on gaining muscle. I'm in 4s and 6s! That isn't changing.
Wildfire -- your sister has some thinking that most of us have from years of dieting. Women especially get wrong thinking about weight loss. I had to renew my mind for sure. We slow down our metabolisms by not eating enough, that is why we have to eat until full. Like building muscle too -- some women don't want to gain the weight from having more muscle, but you are replacing the fat with the muscle and that is what makes you look slimmer. Actually, you can be slimmer even if you gain weight. My niece has never had a weight problem and she is 130 lbs. but looks like she'd be around 110 lbs., but she just is so toned and has no fat -- but has muscle. People don't believe she is 130 lbs. -- about 5'5". We have to realize that muscle is 5 times as dense as fat -- 5 times! Imagine a pound of lead and a pound of feathers -- which takes up more space? I would think that seeing is believing for your sister, though. She'll eventually give it a try, after you and your parents are happily at goal weight!
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My neighbor started LDL when I first started losing. She wasn't losing fast enough, so she found a horrible looking diet that really got the weight off fast. She got off the diet and gained the weight back and then some. Since then, I've reached goal and have happily maintained. She told me she'd have to get out her book again and re-read it.
Miss Donna -- my name is Rhonda and my older sister is named Donna. Therefore, I've been called Donna all my life!
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I'm still called Donna sometimes, even though she lives several states away. That's funny that you didn't know any other Donnas. I've found Rhonda to be a name that is sort of rare and have become instant friends with others who have that name. Oh, a funny name thing happened a month or so ago. My husband's name is Gerard and some friends accidently put our names together and called us Gerhonda -- so we named our Garmin GPS voice Gerhonda. Well, one day I was in a dressing room at a store and I heard someone call out to someone named Gerhonda! I had to step out and meet the lady with that name.
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Tanya -- you will not only lose the weight, but you will find that your health will improve so much. I used to have so many aches and pains and really I don't anymore. I thank Jesus all the time for leading me to this way of eating. I call it a LIVEt, instead of a DIEt -- because it has let me LIVE again!