Dear David,

I have been sugar free now since the end of July and am getting frustrated as I read how well other people are doing and I havn't lost an ounce but gained.  I am following the Quit Plan to a T but am still finding that I don't know when I am full and probably overeating.

I am checking the nutritional information on everything I buy and have even read the Sweet Poison book for the third time and will start the Sweet Poison Quit Plan today for the third read.

On a positive note though I do feel less bloated and I don't know if it is my vivid imagination but think I look a bit less round, my husband agrees with me but I feel he just likes to keep the peace.  I am aiming for 15/20kg loss.  Does age have anything to do with all this as I am 67 and perhaps my metabolism has slowed??????

Thankyou for the terrific information in both books, I have amassed a wealth of information from these forums from others so will soldier on.

Cheers and have a nice day

Margaret

Hi Margaret

I'm not an expert on the fructose free way of eating but there are some common mistakes that I see my clients make all the time (I'm a personal trainer for mainly older women). So this is what I ask them to check:

Write down every morsel of food and drink that passes your lips for three days. (Food diaries are great but who wants to fill them in for more than a few days? Remember not to change the way you eat until the three days are up - we want to find the problem so you can avoid it.) It makes you very aware of the amount of food you're eating and if your problem lies there. Get someone else to cast an eye over it. Something you think is fine may be blaringly, obviously wrong to a fresh set of eyes.

Check that you are eating enough protein. Older women seem to have some sort of idea that its not lady-like to eat decent amounts of protein. Oh, and don't just stick to steamed skinless chicken breast (bleh).  Dark meat is dark because that's where all the goodies are (iron, etc.)  Meat also takes more calories to digest than other sources of protein - up to 45% of the calories can be used up digesting that steak you just ate!

Don't buy low fat anything. David mentioned this in his book - eat the full fat version. It tastes better and is more satisfying. You'll always feel, well, not hungry but "unfull" on low fat.

Drink your water. As we age we lose the thirst response and we can be dehydrated and not know it. This will stall your weight loss faster than anything. So check that you're doing your two litres daily.

Hope this helps. I hope you don't mind me putting in my two cents worth but I hate to see people doing the work & not getting the results they deserve.

Donna

You're very welcome! :-)

Good luck with your medical procedure.

I agree with most of the advice above, however, I am reluctant to agree with the suggestion "as we age we do not recognise when we are thirsty", and so we must continue to down "2 litres of water/day".  

Recent studies in the US have once again proven that it is only necessary to drink water "when you are thirsty", and that this "new age" idea that we ALL have to get through 2 litres of water EVERY day is in fact 'unhealhy'.

On days in mid winter when the temp doesn't rise above 9 degress C, it's also very difficult to drink even 200mls of water let alone 2000mls.  However, it all balances out because when the temperature rises again, (along with our metabolism), our water intake enviriably rises with it. 

Our bodies have been beautifully created, our job is just to nourish them 'adequately' when we are hungry and 'thirsty'. My grandmother lived till she was 94 and no one ever forced her to drink 2 litres of water every day.  Her daughter (my mother, now 82), after 8 children and still driving her own car, drinks water only when she is thirsty.  On some days she might drink only 500mls, on warmer days she may have up to 1500mls, depending on her level of thirst! And this is what I also do, drink water according to my level of thirst.

Suggesting people over 60+ have to drink 2 litres of water EVERY day is unnecessary. EVERYONE should drink water according to what their own body and brain signals are telling them, not according to some random "new age research".

cheers,

Colleen   

My goodness, I've stirred the possum, eh?

I'm sorry to burst your bubble folks but the reduced thirst response is as much a fact of aging (of course that's generalising) as slower response time and macular degeneration.

I agree that thirst is a great indicator of hydration level but it's a sensation that often diminishes with age.  Think of it as someone with no sense of touch being able to pick up a hot poker. They are feeling no pain but totally unaware of the damage being caused. So encouraging older people to keep up their water intake is a precautionary measure, not a fad.

I'm no spring chicken so I will continue to drink water even if I'm not thirsty - not always two litres, sometimes only a litre - because what I drink is way below the danger level for someone my size.

And the symptoms of dehydration in the older adult can be mistaken for dementia.  I'm nutty enough as it is without adding that to the mix. :-D