Men and women lose weight *very* differently (I love these commercials: my husband and I started eating salads. This is what he lost...cut to slim guy silhouette. This is how I lost weight...cut to woman silhouette with smaller boobs and no slimming anywhere else!) Very, very typical!
I control carbs (all carbs, not just refined ones--as was said, the typical USDA carb ration is about equal to what you'd give a feedlot animal to fatten it up...)
I make sure to get adequate protein, roughly 1/2 gram per pound of body weight (or 1 gm per pound of lean body mass, if you know that number.)
I don't worry about fat intake, except to be sure it's not partially hydrogenated or overused frying oil.
For me, that's 40-50g carbs per day for weight loss, and 80-85g carbs/day for maintenance, along with between 75 and 90 grams of protein per day. That works out to between 1400 and 1600 calories, but I don't usually worry about that number--the difference between the carbs/protein calories and total calories is fat intake. Another online tracking tool is
www.fitday.com which tracks weight, food intake, exerciser and several other things, and has both a website and PC version.
I've been doing that since Feb. 2002, through healthy times and while on chemo treatment. I switch to maintenance levels when I'm on chemo...it's just easier. I lost the original 40 lbs I wanted to lose, the 65 lbs I gained from the steroids used in my second chemo treatment where I was on some version of steroids for 21 out of every 28 days, and now I'm back at 45 grams carbs per day or less to get rid of the 18 extra pounds from the steroids in the chemo I finished just before Thanksgiving. My cholesterol ratios are textbook perfect, my blood pressure is around 110/70, and my fasting blood glucose is around 88-90...exactly the same great bloodwork I had before my cancer dx. Side benefit--unanticipated, but gratefully accepted--is that I no longer have migraines. Ever.
I also exercise--walk daily, and do at minimum yoga stretches every other day. When I'm stronger, I walk and do yoga every day, and do stair work for 10 minutes every other day (still working up to that one....)
If these steroid 18 are like the weight I gained during the last chemo, then I should be at a healthier weight by the middle of 2009, and be able to go back to maintaining. The plain is pretty straightforward, emphasizes whole, minimally processed foods, and can be followed as a vegetarian or even as a vegan if that's your preference. Avoiding dairy is also easy to do on the plan, since nothing is forbidden. You get to choose what protein sources you want to use, and you're encouraged to keep veggies and fruits as your primary carb sources. The plan was designed by and is maintained and regularly updated by a husband-wife team of (now retired) bariatric specialist MDs. More plan info and support is available free at
www.proteinpower.com (yes, that Gaelen is me.)
Hope this helps!