I've been lowcarbing since Mar '93. Originally, I sort of fell into the Carbohydrate Addict'sDiet. I had no intention of even dieting (since, at 330 pounds I felt I was a totally hopeless case) but saw the CAD book and knew...just by the cover, that these people were talking about me. I bought the book, read it, and laughed. It sounded so ludicrous that I decided I had nothing to lose by trying the plan for 3 days. The first day was hard. I lost weight. The second day was easy. I lost weight. The rest of the week, a total breeze. CAD was like that for me...day after day, week after week, month after month--I found the diet plan very easy to stay on. It was easier for me to maintain the CAD plan than it was for me to cheat.
Some questions people have asked.
Others have been successful --see some pics!
I experienced short and long plateaus interspersed by whooshes with a net total of 100 pounds. Eventually, I hit a plateau of 10 months that didn't break by adding cardio or switching to the most restrictive level of the plan, so I switched to Atkins and dropped the cardio. I *never* would have had the motivation or ability to try the Atkins diet, except for the 2 years training I had on CAD and Barbara Pollack's discussion of the plan on the original lowcarb-list.
I made the switch to Atkins' in May '95...actually starting the diet with the Fat Fast immediately following extensive periodontal surgery. And started losing weight just as fast . Atkins was never as easy for me as CAD...and the first weeks were tough, mainly because (duh!) I didn't think it was important to follow the recommendations for supplementing minerals...but eventually I muddled through the transition and regained some energy, while experiencing weight loss.
I've been very, very fortunate to cyber-meet and work with some extremely knowledgable people on-line regarding my diet. I followed plans devised by Dr. David Oliver and Lyle McDonald at different times. Both of those were successful. I also followed some real dogs...Ezrin and the Fat Fast come to mind immediately on that score.
Eventually I reached my goal of 160 pounds...that's 170 pounds lost (Feb '97) and have maintained in the 165-175 pound range since then. But along the way I discovered that, like most severely overweight individuals, I had various layers of onion to peel away.
Leveling my blood sugar/insulin response system did the most to achieve weight loss in my particular case...but I also had to become very aware of the foods that cause a metabolic suppression (iow, using less calories than normal) These are the foods that I consider myself to be sensitive to. In my case, the major culprits are wheat, nitrate-containing foods and pork...dairy to a lesser extent. I also had to work with improving certain nutritional deficiencies (ie: zinc and phytoestrogens and omega-3 oils) to allow for optimal calorie burning.
Along the way...and along with losing the excess fat, I lost my irrational anger, my cracked-to-dry-bleeding hands, my idiopathic lymphedema, and long-term daily indigestion. All signs of less than optimal health, if not symptoms of definite, diagnosable medical disorders.
I began lifting weights in Feb '96...a hobby that I still continue on a regular basis. I also do cardio, but don't claim to like it as well...although I have completed the 5 mile road race on turkey day the past two years (something my town does)
I've been an RN for about 20 years, and currently am pursuing a degree in the biochemistry of nutrition...briefly I considered the RD program but...well...that just didn't seem as exciting. This degree thing is going to take a while...I'm going part-time and have to do all my sciences over again. It's a boatload of fun, though...I joined the newly formed chemistry club.
I also have 3 boys ages 10-18 and a daughter age 20. I also have a husband...guess I should mention him...he restarted the Atkins diet on Jan. 1, doing pretty well on it so far.
There is so much that I've learned over the
years...partly by reading solid research and books, partly by
personal experie
nce and mostly by tracking various people's progress.
It's been an interesting experience. During the first few years
on-line, the lowcarb community was small . There were few places to
obtain specialized lowcarb products. Since then, the growth of the
sheer numbers of people who are committed to lowcarbing for health
reasons has been incredible! I hope to be able to continue to be a
member for the next 10 decades or so.
thank you for taking the time to read this,
Lynne
As a nota bona...that picture up there? That's one before shot. I'm the one on the right.
There's Mom on the far left. Hi Mom!!!
