Lots of Thank-Yous and Some Attempts at Answering Your Questions

First, thanks so much to all who wrote nice emails and comments. I really do have the most incredibly supportive CR brothers and sisters in the world!

Also, a warm welcome to my new readers, especially Jeff, whom I haven't seen since before I started my CR journey. It's great to hear from you, and I hope you're well. Did you enjoy reading Walford's book?

Meanwhile, I've gotten a very exciting question, and I did a little archive searching for you. There are some suggestions in a post here http://lists.calorierestriction.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0006&L=crsociety&P=R11488&X=7F62950E6E916ADAA9&Y and it seems that other folks may have experienced hair loss when losing weight too fast, much as some lose hair due to stress.

I lost weight rather fast, about five pounds per month in the beginning (for those of you who don't know, I started at 137 in March and now weigh 104.) I didn't experience abnormal hair loss, but all my life I've had tons of hair that is always shedding, leaving long red hairs all over everything. This can be a problem for a cold CR girl who frequently borrows others' jackets: when they are returned covered with long red hairs, it can raise unnecessary suspicion. One funny thing about hanging out with other CR'd folk: you'd better bring your own jacket, because they're just as cold as you are.

But back to your question: are you using nutritional software to track your food? If you're not, you may not be eating as much protein as you think. I aim for 60 - 70 g per day, on a diet of around 1100 calories. And I don't get it if I don't pay attention. Also, how attached are you to those fish oil pills? After I read some Barry Sears books, I did some searching on the list re: fish oil, and some of the people I most respect think it's not a good idea. Try an archive search and see what you think. One thing I've noticed since including olive oil and nuts in my diet is that for the first winter in years, my skin is soft and not cracking or chapped. Every winter of my lowfat years, my hands would get rough and red from lots of handwashing (you wash your hands a lot when you work with nurses) and exposure to the elements. Now my hands are soft and I hardly ever need lotion. This would come as a shock to those who knew me when I lived in Vermont and developed an addiction to Victoria's Secret Heavenly Angel Touch lotion... this weird stuff that is so slippery that you can't get it off once you put it on. My skin was so dry in the Vermont air that it actually hurt if I didn't keep a coat of moisture on at all times. It's so much better now. I think my hair is nicer, too, but that might just be the genius of my hairstylist and not CR-related at all.

So to the questioner: might you be losing weight too fast? Check out your protein and fat levels, and maybe check for allergies? Have you changed any of your hair products? Just some guesses... hope that helps! Congrats on your progress, and hang in there!

So far today I haven't eaten much... still in that not feeling very hungry phase. I did eat half of the egg salad sandwich, and it was delicious! There was nutrition info on it, so I felt confident that I could eat half for 235 and still stay at calorie target today. That's all I've eaten so far, and I'm cooking a nice dinner for CR friendly dinner company tonight, so I don't plan to eat until dinner.

I'm not sure what I'm going to make for dinner... I think I might just go to the market and see what looks fresh. An off-blog conversation with one of the sisters in which we discussed a CR friendly dinner party we plan to throw in the near future inspired me to play the "What would I make if I were having my CR friends to dinner?" game. I'll let you know how it goes.