Hi Wheezie. Here are my words of encouragement: yes after menopause may be harder, but certainly not impossible. I don't know anything about the LA Weight Loss system, but if you lost weight by dieting alone, I suggest you add in exercise this time.My weight loss 10 years ago was from calorie reduction only. Some of that weight has crept back on, but now I find I need to really stick to an exercise program, which I should have been doing anyway. Good luck!

lydia -- the 100+ food Elisa test sounds very interesting. I may give that a try, eventually. I'm convinced that I have quite a few food allergies. I used to throw up when I was given white milk as a child. Never drank any once my mother figured out the cause. Except in elementary school when I was forced by a teacher and I threw up. Funny how I was able to drink chocolate milk, though. I read later (as an adult) that in fact the chocolate in chocolate milk reduces the allergic reaction. Anyway, regarding food allergies, I know I'm sensitive to wheat though I'm not a celiac. I am also sensitive to dairy. (Ask me why I can't give up my goatsmilk yoghurt, this is the last frontier for me, hope to give it up eventually.) I subscribed to the test at http://www.enterolab.com/ which is where I got the results about wheat and dairly. The test was expensive. I think over $300.00. Glad I did it though. Sounds like the Elisa test may give you the same results plus some. This food allergy thing is tricky, I think. One of our dogs now it seems has food allergies. I asked the vet to test and she said that testing for food allergies is not very reliable (for dogs). I wonder if this is true for humans? A food elimination diet was the only thing she could recommend plus eating only a particular type of dog food that was "engineered to have a small enough molecule size so it doesn't trigger the allergic reactions" (her words). I was amazed and am wondering if raw food has "smaller molecules" than cooked food, HA, HA. Perhaps moite's methods that she got from her doctor about measuring her pulse rate may be the best way. I'm going the simple route with this raw food diet (for now) because it meets many other needs also. I had a great day yesterday. I went the whole day without the "wave of tiredness" that comes over me every day after lunch. I hope it wasn't an anomaly. Bad news is that with the raw food diet, there is a "detox phase" initially where some claim that you are ridding your system of toxins. The detox phase can produce acne which is what I just got yesterday. I haven't had a pimple on my face for many years but I have two now. Oh well. If my energy level stays good, I'll have to add that as one more reason why I'm glad I found this diet. I was craving cooked food day before yesterday but managed to get by without it. Hopefully those days will get less in number. This was kind of like craving a cigarette after quitting, as I remember it many years ago. Keep us posted about your food allergies. I'm becoming more and more convinced that for some of us, they are literally killing us or are reducing our quality of life (for some of us) to a very very large extent producing chronic problems and diseases that mainstream medicine doesn't have a clue. In my case, I definitely feel like I've become a guinea pig for trying out different "cures". I'm hoping that raw food will by my answer. I realize that because there is no definite proof, I could be wrong on this but as my DH says, it's gotta be better than being so overweight and hungry all the time. We were killing ourselves eating cooked food so how could this be any worse.

Imagine - ole joyful speechless (and, in his high 80s - not from running!). Great story, triple A! o j

I was really worried I'd be disappointed hitting the scale since I had three meals out over the last few days with friends in town visiting and a work party for my husband. Somehow, I'm not. I seem to be down 1lb which is fantastic. I'd have been satisfied with no weight gain. I've had to officially switch to my summer workout schedule which is now morning swimming or running and I've managed to get in two lap swims and one run. And I felt great on my run this morning. I need to keep this moment in my head if I struggle to maintain this weight loss since it is incredible how much better I feel running when I'm not carrying all that extra weight. And I need to stick with weight lifting at lunch time, which is easy for me to forget when I'm busy with work. @l pinkmountain I really hate how much food advertising there is on streaming and on the internet. I do ok fasting (up to 36 hours) 2 days per week, but I have to find something other than TV to entertain myself because of the commercials. They just wreck me and make me so hungry. Maybe it's not just inactivity but food advertising that has made weight such a challenging thing for our society. @Funkyart congratulations on the pants fitting! That is seriously such a wonderful feeling when something you wanted to wear and couldn't before now fits your body. @jill302 I am so very sorry for your loss! My heart is breaking for you. I'm glad you gave your dog a wonderful home for 17 years but I know the pain of losing a beloved fur family member. And to add the stress of a MIL moving in at the same time. Wow. That is a lot to deal with all at once. @Sueb20 I'm sorry that you have long covid! That's just awful. I hope you start feeling back to yourself soon. I think walking, at any speed, is such a wonderful form of exercise. And that you're able to keep up with exercising when you feel so crummy is a testament to your willpower and strength. Keep it up. Hopefully the moderate exercise will help your immune system heal your body too.