"It all started with a podcast. I'm a geek, I can't deny it, so I spend a lot of time listening to the podcast's from Leo Laporte's TWiT network (http://twit.tv/). On one particular show called Windows Weekly the co-host Paul Thurrott mentioned a book he'd read called 'Why we get fat, and what to do about it' by Gary Taubes.

Paul was very complimentary about the book and had used the knowledge found inside to lose weight. I was intrigued to say the least, as a long time unsuccessful dieter I was desperate for any help. Over forty years, I'd tried all the fad diets alongside the official diet as set out by the NHS (National Health Service in the UK) dietitian. Nothing worked, at one point I was down to 400 calories a day and walking up to 10 miles a day and loosing almost nothing.

So I bought the book and read it in one sitting. I was astonished, why had I never heard about this before?, it all made sense. Gary Taubes is a fantastic writer, he was 
able to explain in layman's terms how the body works and how it deals with the foods you eat. I was angry, really, really angry. I thought, if this is true why have I been lied to by my health care professionals all these years.

Based on the information in the book I cast around for a low carb diet to follow (I'd heard of Atkins, but had never followed up on it). After much research on the internet I came across the Atkins Diet Bulletin Board and all the useful material there in. I bought the DANDR book as recommended and started my journey on 24th January  2011. My starting weight was 336lbs. (At my heaviest I was over 410lbs, but I'd lost weight on a low, low calorie/low fat starvation diet for a gallbladder removal three years ago. I managed to get down to 294lbs but of course had put weight back on as soon as I stopped the diet).

I was lucky, I didn't get the Atkins 'flu'. Probably because I was inadvertently already eating low carb as a result of the low amount of calories I was allowing myself (around 1000 a day at that time). I followed Induction to the letter, extending it for 22 weeks because I was happy with the amount of food I was eating (in hindsight, I wouldn't have done it).

How did I do?

Weight loss over 22 weeks: 6, 5, 5, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 6, 4, 6, 3, 3, 1, 1, 6, 5, 2, 3, 4, 1, 4. = 76lbs

Since then I've moved to OWL 3 and lost another 52lbs. Not once in the year of living the Atkins lifestyle have I been hungry, or looked to eat off plan. All I can say is, Atkins works. Follow the plan and you will lose weight. No question."

CHALLENGES: 
Eating more food than I was used to eating. I've lived my life as fat man on a low calorie/low fat diet.

ADVICE: 
You have to commit to this as a lifestyle change, not a diet otherwise you will regain any weight you lose.

I was diagnosed T2 diabetic at age 23 on October 1st, 2010.  My diagnosis levels were 275 mg/dl fasting and 11.7% hba1c and ~345lbs.  Today I am ~250lbs (lowest weight of 240lbs) 95 mg/dl average fasting and 6.1% hba1c (hba1c as of April, 2011).  Typically after meal numbers are under 110 mg/dl and usually fall in the 80-90 mg/dl range.  At 345lbs I was a size 46 pants, now I'm a size 38 (and they're getting loose).

The year leading up to my diagnosis I was lethargic, sick a lot, and slow to heal.  6 months before my diagnosis I broke 300lbs and decided to begin doing something about it and signed a gym membership.  6 weeks before diagnosis I was 345lbs, going to the gym 5 days a week for 1.5 hours a day, ravenously hungry all day long, and still gaining weight.

Being diagnosed as Type 2 diabetic and reading Gary Taubes and Dr. Bernsteins books literally saved my life.  

CHALLENGES: 
Doughnuts.  I still lust after a good boston creme doughnut. In all seriousness, the biggest challenge was getting rid of carbs because my wife was not following the diet.  When she began following it after reading Gary Taubes book it became much easier.

ADVICE: 
It REALLY helps if anyone living with you also follows the diet!  
Experiment at restaurants and find some places that are quick and easy (Jimmy Johns, Hardees, Greek take out places[we both love getting chicken alfredo without noodles]) where you can get low carb meals on the go.  Also, find about a dozen places that serve awesome salads, you can never have enough salads!  

I did Atkins years ago and lost 40 pounds, but sadly didn't finish the diet and gained all of my weight back plus more. However I always remembered how good I felt when I followed a low carb diet. Last year, while at my heaviest I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Obesity is generally one of causes of it due to all of the excess estrogen stored in my fat.

​Thankfully it was caught very early and after surgery I was considered cured. However my oncologist told me I may now be cured of cancer, but my chance of an early death was still possible due to my high risk of a heart attack or a stroke due to my weight. My doctor recommended Ideal Protein to me as she lost a lot of weight on it and so have many of her overweight patients. I started Ideal protein in September of 2011 and as of February 2012 I have lost 65 pounds so far. It is a low carb, low fat, low calorie diet.

​I have never lost so much weight on a diet, have never felt so good (thanks to ketosis)and in the 5 months I have been on the diet I have not cheated once and have no plans to. I still am only 1/2 way to goal and hope to be at goal by the end of summer with a total loss of 135 pounds. 
​

CHALLENGES: 
Going through carb withdrawal that first week felt like going through a drug withdrawal. After that it really hasn't been difficult this time around.

ADVICE: 
Committing yourself to the plan. When I started I told myself this was a life or death situation and I could do anything for a year. I knew this would take about a year to loose all of my extra weight.