I have lost over 300 pounds. Ok, so I have lost 30 pounds more than 10 times! I have been dieting since 1963 when my mother first took me to The Diet Workshop. I was 11 years old...and I have been hungry all these years! I have faithfully followed a low fat diet and have successfully lost weight when "on a diet". And I always gained it back again, plus a little more each time. 

I have been on most every diet, including Stillman's Diet (all protein), Weight Loss Clinic ( 500 calories a day), but generally stayed closer to the moderate low calorie diets of The Diet Workshop and Weight Watchers plans. I stayed clear of Atkins, being a nurse, it seemed outrageous and so heart unhealthy given the current research. I have made a life long study of nutrition and weight loss for personal and professional reasons and followed the current literature. I read Good Calories, Bad Calories and Gary Taubes' NYT article, "What if it's all a Big Fat Lie?" and started to re-think the low fat mantra. When I read "Why We get Fat" and finally understood that it was all about the insulin, things started clicking into place and I understood the answer to the question, "What happened over the past 30 years that has produced an obesity epidemic?" and the answer is, "too much sugar in our food supply". NOT too much fat. 

So in Jan. 2011, I changed my thinking from low fat to low sugar and cut out all sugars and starches. It was hardest to wrap my head around the idea that I could eat fat, low fat was so ingrained in my way of thinking and way of life. Fat has always been "bad". I did not count calories and generally followed the Duke University Weight Loss Clinic Diet that Gary Taubes recommends in his book. The best part was I wasn't "dieting". I learned very quickly that fat actually is "satisfying" and I was not hungry between meals, had no cravings for sugars or starches once I got them out of my system... which took only about 2 weeks. 

I didn't eat any fruits for about 3 months, but enjoyed 1-2 glasses of wine each evening with my meals. In 6 months I lost 36 pounds and have maintained it now for 8 months. I am the best weight I have ever been, I feel great and energetic. The best part is I don't "diet" by restricting calories. I have reintroduced an occasional fruit (2-3 per week) and starchy vegetables like beets, carrots and sweet potatoes. I find this way of eating very easy day after day. Best of all, my satiety gauge has been re-set. Funny how fat works! 


So after more than 40 years of dieting and being hungry, I now eat what I want (because I don't want sugars and starches any more), I am at my ideal weight, and I feel great!!

CHALLENGES: 
Getting the low fat mantra out of my head.

ADVICE: 
I do try to keep in mind the diet that humans were designed to eat. That makes it easier to stay away from processed foods and stick to what nature provides. Shop the "walls" of the grocery stores to find foods closer to nature.

I first did a low carb diet called a cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD) back in 2005 after reading Lyle McDonald's book on the ketogenic diet. I also read the book Natural Hormonal Enhancement by Rob Faigin which discusses CKDs. McDonald's is not a dietary guidance book but rather explains the scientific basis for why the diet works however it does include enough information to help you make it work.

Anyway, I stayed on the diet for about 9 months and had great success with strength gains while doing a lot of squats, deadlifts, and other free weights regularly. I also got down to under 15% body fat in my mid 40's and dropped some weight to get me back to where I'd been 20 years previously.

The CKD imo was difficult for me to stick with long term because of the regular carb up periods. They are nice at first but after a while they became tedious to me and played havoc on my family's meal planning. I had two preteens and an understanding wife but there was only so much I was willing to put them through. There may be a place for it somewhere in the future but for now I feel so good keeping my carbs under 50 grams per day all the time I'm not sure I want to try it again.

I reentered the world of low carb dieting in March of this year when I joined a team at work which was competing in a state-wide program whose goal was for each team member to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks. Everyone in my group made great progress and after about 8 weeks they'd all met their goal including one guy who had lost over 30 pounds in that time. As I found out later he was doing Atkins! In an effort to not let the team down as we all had to lose the 10 pounds to qualify for some prize drawings, I started low carbing again with less than two weeks to go. Before that I had tried calorie counting, getting more exercise, and avoiding certain foods/drinks for eight weeks and had lost a big fat nothing.

It was close, and I had to sweat off a couple of pounds on the day of the weigh-in but I managed to lose 11 pounds in less than two weeks doing essentially a low carb induction. Surely some of the loss was water weight but clearly as my continued regular measurements with a Slimguide caliper have shown, I lost and have continued to lose body fat as well. 

I'm now just doing a generic low carb diet developed from reading various books including Atkins, Eades, Taubes, Bowman and the two previously mentioned books plus a lot of website research. I don't do carb ups like with a CKD, in fact I try to eat no carbs at all other than vegetables, and I feel absolutely great and have had great results in body composition and blood profile. 

In July, 2011 I had some blood work done and the results were good:

Blood pressure: 117/77 (in normal range and unchanged since starting the diet)

Total Cholesterol 131 (under 200 is desirable)

HDL 65 (over 60 is desirable)

Blood Glucose 82 (up to 100 is normal)

Bodyfat: 18% (down from 20%)

BMI: 24 (down from 26.4, normal range is 18.5 - 25)

Weight: 177 (down from 195) 

I've lost another 3% body fat and about 7 or 8 pounds since then as of this writing. The icing on the cake is that this diet is much easier for me to stick with and for my family to accommodate. I'm loving the diet and it is loving me right back. 

After being on a low carb diet for about 7 months I decided to incorporate Intermittent Fasting (IF) into my diet. I have hit my goal weight area (171 +/- 3 lbs) and now I'm trying to both lose fat and build muscle at the same time. However, according to the reputable fitness sites I've read that is a pretty difficult thing to do. My journey eventually led me to Martin Berkman's leangains.com site where I learned about Intermittent Fasting (IF) and about Brad Pilon's Eat Stop Eat IF plan. Berkman has an IF plan as well but after considering it I didn't think it was the right one for me.

Essentially Eat Stop Eat is a 24 hour fast done either once or twice each week. My version is to eat breakfast, then not eat again until the next breakfast. The plan also recommends a strength workout during the fast so I try to do some body-weight lifting that day along with some free-weights. 

The first few fasts were hard and getting through dinnertime can be a challenge but I've done at least 5 weeks with at least one fast per week and feel really good. After kind of splurging at Thanksgiving and picking up a few pounds and an extra bit of bodyfat, all it took was one fast to bring me back down to where I'd previously been. 

The Eat Stop Eat plan allows you to essentially eat whatever you want but I find it works particularly well for me on my low carb diet since that tends to keep hunger in check. 

My goal, which I'm putting down in print for the first time, is to have visible abs for the first time in my life by the time I turn 53 in 3 months. To accomplish that I will need to get more disciplined about my abdominal and strength workouts and stick to my diet pretty closely but I really think I can do this despite the holiday season.

CHALLENGES: 
Finding or making good reasonably priced low carb food and getting cooperation from family members.  

ADVICE: 
Be flexible with your family.  Don't dictate to them what they'll be eating.  Instead try and work around their choices, or better yet get involved in food preparation so you can accommodate yourself and your family's preferences.

I was always a sickly one, coming down with the weird diseases and symptoms that made no sense to anyone.  Finally, when I turned 30, the doctors diagnosed me with Multiple Sclerosis.  

At that point, I was terribly unhealthy -- overweight, not sleeping, in constant pain, daily migraines, having difficulty focusing, asthma.  You name it; I had it.  And to top it off, I just kept getting fatter and fatter, no matter what I tried.

I finally decoded to go gluten free in desperation as a way to dal with MS.  I had read Atkins, so I combined Atkins with gluten free.  The weight melted off.  And I immediately felt better.  It took about six months before I really felt "healed," but I knew immediately that gluten free low carb was the answer to everything -- my health issues, my weight, my headaches, etc. It has been six years, and dropping gluten was the single best decision I ever made.

CHALLENGES: 
Travel for work, that included meals that were already set.  I travel quite a bit, and while I can usually manage to eat out if i am in control, it is much harder when meals and snacks are all planned banquet style.

ADVICE: 
Do not fear fat.  Eat when hungry, but not on a schedule.  Give it a month before you even touch the scale for the first time.

My A1C tested elevated and my doctor told me to lose 10 lbs. I tested again in 3 months and it was better, but 3 months later the 10 lbs were back. I knew I needed something different. I had tried Jenny Craig (lost 40+ lbs), but was always hungry and the weight came back. I had never liked vegetables so dieting was hard. 

Then I read Gary Taubes why we get fat on Jan 30, 2011 (weighing 313.4) I began my journey. 67 days later I was 10% lighter. Before thanksgiving I clocked in at 230.2 (a loss of 83.2 lbs). this morning (2/13/12) I weighed 231.2  MAINTAINING. 

Over the last 3 months LIFE has happened, but I have stuck with the basics of my diet (meat, cheese, very little carb) and many friends at work have also asked me and started eating low carb. Now that winter is over, I plan to do a lot more walking and I believe that my hibernation will re-start my weight loss. I plan to lose another 50 lbs and then will be at about 180 where I last was 20 years ago. Maybe I will lose more, but I will NOT gain it back. All of my blood work has improved. My fatty liver immediately was gone. Early on I had some issues with lethargy. It turned out my blood pressure no longer needed my meds so I stopped taking those as well as weaning myself off of most of my meds. 

CHALLENGES: 
The hardest part for me what the financial output. Not knowing if i would stick to it, the food was a bit more expensive at first. I was eating nearly 3000 calories daily and while i can buy in bulk, that made it cost more up front. since then it has been very easy for me to maintain my diet especially since I have always liked a routine.

ADVICE: 
For me, my weight melted off. I have inspired others at work to try and their results have not been identical, but i was very adamant about sticking with what was working for me. We scoff about tracking what we eat, but that is probably the most important thing. Find a way to write down everything you eat AND BE HONEST and you will be fine. I use an app for my phone - and i eat similar menu items. so once it is entered it is easy to just "click to add to today".