Pauline From Pennsylvania’s Low Carb Success Story With The Stillman Diet

It Started With The Stillman Diet

Pauline from Pennsylvania is 43 years old and 5′ 3″ tall. Pauline began the Stillman Diet (The Doctor’s Quick Weight Loss Diet) program two years ago when she was at her highest weight of 297 pounds. At the time, she was wearing size 30/32 clothes. Today Pauline uses a combination of the Stillman Diet and the Atkins low carbohydrate program, and currently weighs in at 174 pounds. She has shrunk to a size 12/14.

Pauline’s goal is to weigh 140 pounds. She hasn’t set a goal size yet. “My weight problem started when I was a little girl,” Pauline began. “I was a very fat child. Of course, I got teased a lot about my weight, which would make me mad. I’d eat to console myself. My family ate a lot of potatoes every day. They are also homemade bread makers and big bread eaters. Additionally, there were a lot of baked goods and treats. This was my diet as a child.”

“I have struggled with my weight for my whole life. I’d lose a few pounds on this diet or that diet, but I could never keep it off. I had four pregnancies that put weight on me also. I went through two bad marriages. Those two negative experiences helped put A LOT of weight on me.”

I Tried Those Other Diets

“I’ve tried low-fat diets and Weight Watchers,” Pauline continued. “I even tried using Slim Fast. All of these weight loss regimes would help me to take a few pounds off, but I did not feel satisfied and I couldn’t stay on them for very long. Any weight I lost on them always came back on – plus more. I didn’t exercise; I’d get shortness of breath if I walked too far, so I was not able to exercise at that point.”

“I wanted to lose weight SO badly!” Pauline exclaimed. “I knew I really needed to for health reasons. And I hated how I looked in the mirror. I felt very unattractive and ugly; I didn’t like how my clothes looked on me. All of this drove down my self-esteem. I became very shy and didn’t want to participate in anything.”

“I felt frustrated by every diet I attempted. Sometimes the scale only showed a pound lost for the week, and even when I had tried so hard to stick to the diet. I felt like, ‘What’s the use?’ I feel they didn’t work for me because I never feel full; I was always hungry, and always wanting more food. And the weight loss was SO slow that I quickly became disheartened.”

“I take medicine for diabetes, and this is one of the main reasons I wanted to lose weight. My fasting blood sugar was over 300! The doctor told me insulin was the next step. I did NOT want to have to go on insulin. I was taking eight pills a day when I began low carbing. Soon after beginning a low carbohydrate regime I was able to drop down to four pills a day, and now my fasting blood level is between 65 and 100! I’m only talking about 1/2 a tablet a day now, and I am also on high blood pressure medication. Before I lost weight, my blood pressure was sky high even with my medication; it was well over 200. Now, however, it’s 130!”

“I am doing mostly the Stillman Diet program,” Pauline explained. “Now, I also have incorporated some of Dr. Atkins’ program. I went back on these programs on January 5, 2003, weighing 218, after having taken a break during the summer and over the holidays. (But I was still trying to watch what I ate somewhat, during that time off.)”

Low carbing was and IS a lifesaver for me.

I love it! It has made losing weight fun, quick, and easy. When I originally decided to try low carbing, it was because I had read about all the food you were allowed to eat. I thought to myself, ‘Now this didn’t sound so bad.’

“I have, for the most part, found only good things about the low carb lifestyle. I love it; I love the wide range of things I can eat and still lose weight, and I feel great! I have a lot more energy now, and I am looking better and feeling better. And I have lost over 100 pounds!” Pauline laughed.

“I guess the only bad parts I can find about this way of life are those times when I go to a party or family dinner. It is difficult trying to get people to understand that I can’t eat the food they have prepared. Maybe I should rephrase that, I WON’T, not CAN’T eat it. I won’t even a bite unless it’s low carb. Very few people cook low carbohydrate things, so that’s probably the worst thing I run into. But I have started to carry low carbohydrate foods along with me to events such as these so that I can have something to eat. I’ve taken care of that problem myself!”

“I plan to always live the low carbohydrate way. I have bought Atkins For Life and Suzanne Somers’ Fast and Easy. I have plans to buy more low-carbohydrate cookbooks as time goes on. I have gotten a lot of low carb recipes from my support online group, and I am learning to convert some of my old recipes into low carbohydrate versions.”

“I have had so many health benefits from low carbing. My blood sugar count speaks for itself, as does my improved blood pressure. My energy level has increased. I feel great! My legs don’t hurt me when I go walking anymore. My back doesn’t ache every day. The discomfort from my periods is milder. I just don’t have all the pain and discomfort I used to!”

The Greatest Support From My Family

“Since I’ve starting low carbing, I have had the greatest support from my family. They keep telling me how great I look. My daughter Jada told me ‘Mom, you are so much fun to be around now! You’re not always complaining that you don’t feel good, and you look so good! I’m so proud of you!’ My husband John says I look great and that he’s so proud of me. Just two weeks ago, he started low carbing himself and has lost about 14 pounds so far. He says ‘You know, this low carbing really works!’ My neighbors tell me I look great. I had one neighbor ask another if I was sick. I’d lost about 50 pounds. He was told ‘No, she’s trying to lose it.’ Friends I’ve not seen in a while don’t even recognize me! Low carbing WORKS to get those excess pounds off and keep them off.”

The Best Advice From Pauline

“I asked Pauline if she had any advice to offer our readers about low carbing.

“If you are thinking of cheating even just ONE little bite, think of how that one bite will make you feel after you eat it,” Pauline responded. “It’s just not worth breaking your diet and most probably gaining back some of the weight you have already worked so hard to take off!”

“Stalls happen to us all of us,” Pauline continued. “They are normal, but I know they are very frustrating. If you add a small extra walk each day it sometimes helps to break a stall. If you are already exercising, try to change what you’re doing just a little. Sometimes the tiniest changes make all the difference!”

“The most important thing to remember is that you are doing this for YOU! Don’t let friends, family, or coworkers talk you into going ahead and cheating on your diet – ‘just this ONE time’. Remember, if you give into temptation just ONE time it will just get easier for you to do the NEXT time. The ‘next times’ will happen more and more often, and pretty soon you will lost control completely. It’s just not worth you blowing your diet for.”

“One more thing,” Pauline added. “If you buy a new pair of jeans or outfit in the next smaller size, it helps to motivate you to continue on plan and be able to get into it.”

Pauline loves the Stillman Support Group at Yahoo groups. “The people are all so helpful! They are very friendly, caring, and most of all supportive of each other. We share low carbohydrate recipes and information. It really does help to know you are not out there doing this all by yourself. It’s so good to know that you have friends that are doing it right along with you, and that you can talk to them and ask questions if you need help. It’s awesome! When you’re running low on willpower, it’s wonderful to know where to go for support and help.”

“I have to say that thanks to low carbing I have been given back my life. I thank God for all the wonderful people out there helping us low carbers get our lives back,” Paula concluded.

We’ll update our readers on Pauline’s progress when she gets close to her goal!

To get Pauline’s success, read The Doctor’s Quick Weight Loss Die by Dr. Irwin Maxwell Stillman and Samm S. Baker.

More Low-Carb Success Stories.