Theresa From Florida’s Low Carb Success Story

Theresa from Florida is 5′ 4″ tall and 43 years old. She has been following the Atkins program since mid-September of 2001, and already lost 40 pounds, dropping from her high weight of 260 pounds down to 220 pounds. Last September Theresa wore a size 26, but she is now wearing 18/20s!

“My cholesterol dropped from 225 to 162 in only six weeks,” Theresa told me. “After seeing the results. my doctor told me to keep it up!”

“I have had a weight problem since my early teens,” Theresa continued. “While I carry the weight well, it has always been high unless I keep to a very strict diet and exercise regimen. I have tried calorie counting without success.”

“In my early 20’s, my mother decided we should both join Nutri-System 2000, but we hated the programmed meals and having to buy all our food through them. It was not only expensive, but we lost only a few pounds. And, typically, we immediately regained the all weight we had lost – and more! – once we stopped the program.”

“A few years later, I shared a two story townhouse apartment with a friend in Orlando. We both went on a very strict diet consisting of plain salad, occasionally a small bowl of rice, and tuna. I was eating less than 1000 calories a day, and I lost 100 pounds during the course of a year. Yet I still had to work out more than an hour a day to keep the weight down! When I moved, I started back on my old eating habits of fast food because I was living alone and rarely had or made time to cook, so I regained that weight, too.”

“About two years ago, I tried Weight Watchers. While I was losing weight with the program, I felt too restricted and missed the foods I really craved. I lost about 30 pounds, but quickly put it back on as I started cheating on the diet.”

“In the fall of this past year, on of my coworkers had stomach surgery to lose weight. She weighed well over 400 pounds, and she had to go on a very strict dietary regimen to even qualify for the surgical program. She will have to go through a series of surgeries in the next few years before she’ll be done, she will never be able to eat normally again! I decided that I never wanted to get that bad. It was defiantly time to do something.”

“My boss has both diabetes and heart problems, and had been using Atkins to help control his both his health and weight problems. Even when he would cheat he was able to quickly get things under control, and this impressed me. I went out and bought the new Atkins diet book, read most of it, and decided that this might finally be the lifestyle change I needed to get control over my weight.”

“I went through my cabinets, cleaned out almost everything and headed to the store with a list and a goal. While some people may find the changes expensive, I’ve actually found that I save money over my ‘old’ grocery bills. I no longer buy convenience and snack foods like I used to. I’ve learned to make the time to cook at least once a week, and will cook several dishes at once. Since I live by myself, it’s easy to make sure I don’t have anything around that would tempt me. Of course, since I’m able to eat meat, cheese, eggs, and even low carb bread occasionally, I’m not really tempted to cheat.”

“During the holidays at the office, everyone would bring in special treats. I would just make sure I had a few low carb bars stashed in my desk and used my imagination and research on the net to come up with great recipes for my own low carb goodies to share at the office.”

“People can’t believe how great I’m looking and how much weight I’ve lost! It really astonishes them when they see me eating salad with home made blue cheese dressing, salmon steak, and fresh asparagus or some other great meal for lunch. When something fantastic is being served that I know I cannot have, I just think of getting on the scale and how happy I am to see the weight steadily going down. Even when I have plateaus I just tell myself I need to take an extra walk every day and that usually does the trick.”

“I have had to cut out all NutraSweet and saccharine products as it was slowing my weight loss. I find that after six weeks without a soda, I don’t mind anymore. I had a Diet Coke one day because I had a case of the hiccups and I hated the taste! I had been Diet Cokes those for over 20 years, but I buy bottled water now. I find I can even tell the difference between different brands. Water does have taste after all!”

“My boss has even complemented me on how my attitude has changed in the last few months. He asked if it was the diet. I realized that it was! I used to feel really sleepy after lunch and would frequently be dozing off at my desk. After a few weeks of low carbing I stopped having my ‘sleepy attacks,’ and now I find that I am more alert, don’t feel so drugged out at the end of the day, and have the energy to exercise more.”

“I especially love using the increased energy level for scouting out the best buys while I look for new clothes to show off my weight loss. A real thrill recently was going to a young friend’s wedding and reception. I knew there would be a lot of people there, many who would be 10 to 20 years younger than I was. I had a friend who is 10 years younger than me agree to go as my escort if I would introduce him to some of the young ladies. He’s a very handsome and personable guy with his own business. I was glad to have him along. I danced with him twice and didn’t have time to dance anymore with him after that. It wasn’t that he was too busy dancing…… I WAS!! Everyone was exclaiming how great I looked and asking what I had done to lose so much weight. I had a 20-something-year-old trying to flirt with me all night! What an ego boost!”

“I remind myself of that when I get a little discouraged or tempted, then think ‘If I get that reaction after 30+ pounds, what will happen as I get closer to my goal?!’ ”

“I feel better, look better, and am healthier than I’ve been in years. My cholesterol levels have always been between 210 and 225 since I first started checking them in the late 1970s. Even though my doctor tried to tell me how unhealthy this type of diet was, I told them to do their test and let’s see what happens. They got back the blood work and shook their heads. My tests were the best they had ever been. My cholesterol is in the 160s, and all the ‘slightly off’ numbers I had always had are now great. They agreed that I should stay on the diet and they would like to keep monitoring me to see how things go.”

“I have three sisters who are all now low carbing since the first of the year, and that keeps me competitive. We have a monthly pool, $20 each, that goes to the winner each month for the most weight loss. Two are on Atkins and the third is on CAD (The Carbohydrate Addict’s Diet). The one on CAD is actually gaining weight because she’s on the older version, even though I have told her they have changed the diet because the 1 hour magic window idea has proven very unsuccessful. One sister on Atkins has lost 32 pounds since the first of the year, and the other has lost about 20 pounds. Between the three of us, we have already lost a whole person!”