Trish Z. From Buffalo’s Low Carb Success Story

Trish Z. from Buffalo, New York, is 5′ 1″ tall. “That is, on a good day,” Trish laughed. Trish began her low carb journey following the Atkins plan, but for the last twelve months has primarily been following the Stillman program. “I bounce back to Atkins for a weekend here and there for my sanity,” she explained with a smile.

When Trish began low carbing she weighed 321 pounds and was wearing ‘tight’ 5X clothes. Currently, Trish weighs 206 pounds and is wearing a size 16. Trish’s goal is to weigh 185 pounds and wear size a size 12.

Trish has many medical conditions that hamper her weight loss. She suffers from hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism, PCOS, fibromyalgia, hyperinsulinism and mercury poisoning. She is currently taking a prescription medication thyroid hormones, Lasix, and progesterone cream.

“Up until I was 5 years old,” Trish began, “I was a stick and underweight. Then it was like a switch turned on and I started blowing up. When I graduated from grammar school (at 12 years old) I weighed 250 pounds! Everyone in my family is fat, and we all seem to have similar medical problems, so I know at least part of it is genetic. Why couldn’t I have been born to a skinny family?”

“I have tried just about everything to lose weight,” Trish recalled. “When I was younger I tried many things, including a doctor recommended Medi-Fast liquid diet for five months. It was nasty tasting and I craved chewing something. I was hungry all the time and would cry myself to sleep at night. It gave me horrible stomach problems.”

“I did the Richard Simmons program after seeing one of his commercials. I actually got a phone call from someone on his staff and free diet products after I’d written a desperate letter to Richard. I asked him to help me like he’d helped all the other people I’d seen on his commercials. I stuck with it for about eight months. It was easy to follow for the most part, because of the cards and such, but I was still hungry most of the time.”

At the recommendation of family and friends, Trish gave Weight Watchers a try. “I made it for about 12 months,” she noted. “It was super easy. I primarily followed their fat and fiber program. I actually lost 50 to 100 pounds many times over,” she winked, “but it always came right back on. I was hungry a lot, dizzy, my hair was falling out, and my skin was terrible looking from not getting enough fat in my foods.”

In the course of the last 18 years, Trish has yo yo’ed between different weight loss solutions.

“On and off, because of the repeated suggestions from my doctor, I kept reverting back to the 800 to 1000 calorie-a-day restriction diets. These were horrible! I was hungry all the time, and I would sit crying inside as I would watch other people eat. There was nothing good about it at all! Additionally, it restricted me to three meals per day, so my blood sugar was always out of whack.”

Trish also tried the pill route, using doctor-prescribed amphetamines on and off for 10 years, as well as a six-month use of Phen-Phen and a month-long try with Meridia. “The amphetamines,” Trish explained, “a whole rainbow of them, made me feel horrible. I was dizzy and nauseous all the time. I also did not get a job I wanted because the drug test I had to take showed them in my system. And to add insult to injury, I never even really noticed much weight loss using these. The only good side was that they gave me a ton of energy, although it was short-lived.”

“Likewise, with Phen-Phen, I had the same problems, and never really lost much weight. I used this along with low fat eating, and found I lost no more or less than I would have without them. Only my wallet lost weight on that venture! I just thank God that no physical damage has shown up yet from using Phen-Phen.”

“With Meridia, I didn’t lose any weight either. It made me feellike an air head. I would forget to eat all day, and then around 7 or 8 PM I would be so hungry that I would actually cry. By that time, I was TOO hungry, and I would binge in the evenings.”

“Let’s see,” Trish continued, “there was the egg diet, and oh, yes, the low fat diet. I had a ton of food to eat, got to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, but that was about it. Nothing tasted good, and I was always craving meat and other high fat foods.”

“Oh, and I forgot to mention six months of trying to be bulimic. My family put an end to that once they found out, thank goodness. They all followed me around to the point of even sitting in the bathroom with me!”

“I did lose weight with all these attempts initially. But then it was as if my metabolism would say ‘Nope, no more,’ and I would slowly start to gain back any weight I had lost while still struggling to try to remain on the diet. I have tried every pill and potion out there only to make me feel terrible physically and not work! Like I mentioned before, only my wallet lost weight.”

“I spent numerous days crying and wondering, ‘Why do I have to be fat?’ My doctor even suggested surgery, and I’d gone so far as to speak with a surgeon about it. Then my husband suggested Atkins. I thought he was nuts!” Trish laughed.

“My whole life I’d felt terrible. I was always tired and worn down, constantly anemic, and suffering with body pain due to my poor low fat diets. My skin was horrible!” Trish exclaimed. “I had bad acne all over my face and neck. In fact, it was so bad, thatI wouldn’t wear a necklace since it would draw attention to that area of my neck! I was sad and depressed. I would walk with my head hanging down and would never make eye contact with people. I was even a mean fat person! I was so upset with myself for the shape I was in that I would take it out on everyone else. I don’t know how I had any friends. I hated my self, and when I look back, I can’t believe anyone wanted to be around me.”

“I cried all the time. I would rarely go out to parties or gatherings. I was so ashamed of my self! My hair was blah and lifeless. It would hang straight and wouldn’t hold a curl for anything. That was strange, because I was born with red curly hair. But from all the years of low fat dieting, it looked like my hair was always dried out and burnt-looking.”

“Being hungry all the time made most of these attempts very hard to stick to. I’m not a quitter, so I stuck them out for as long as possible until, while still on each plan, I was back to where I started and the doctor would tell me to give up. I was even accused of cheating, although I never did. One doctor even told me to stop lying. It was horrible! My life was not easy for all those years.”

“I now know my other weight loss attempts didn’t work because of the swings in my blood sugar and my physical inability to process carbs. The change in diet worked for a while to jump start my system but then it adjusted and I would gain. The same also happened when I was doing Atkins. However, bouncing between Atkins and Stillman seems to be the answer for me so far.”

“I started low carbing on July 14th, l999 after my husband told me that I was going to die unless I did something. I had been in the hospital with my cardiac enzymes elevated, and I was having chest pains. I was told that I needed to immediately lose weight or I wouldn’t be around much longer. My seven-year-old, overheard him and came out of his room crying, ‘Please, Mommy don’t die!’ That would make anyone try anything! It even makes me teary now, just remembering it.

I had heard about low carb eating for years but thought it was crazy. I thought my husband was nuts when he suggested Atkins, but I agreed to start it the next morning. But when I started reading the book (Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution), it all made sense. I couldn’t believe how satisfied I was and how great I was feeling. I even had energy! By the end of the second week, I was down several pounds and could feel the weight loss in how my clothes fit.”

“There isn’t anything bad about low carbing; it’s all good. I have developed wonderful friendships with fellow low carbers, the likes of which I have never known before. I have invitations to go and visit people all over the world, and am seriously considering doing so! It is amazing considering I never even wanted to leave the house before. Now I am usually the one organizing gathering for everyone to meet in other cities.”

“The only bad part I can think of would be the ‘advise’ people try to give you, warning me that this will damage my health,” Trish laughed. “If only they knew!”

“I feel great, I look great, and even at 207 pounds, if I didn’t lose another pound I would be happy. I am a totally different person. I am outgoing and love having my picture taken now. I walk up to people in public, total strangers, and carry on a conversation. Low carbing has totally changed my life for the better.”

“I have stuck with low carbing for 4 years, and will continue to low carb for the rest of my life. I have gone off plan for a weekend, and there is no way that I can ever go back to feeling like that, it was horrible. Every ache and pain, every emotion of feeling bad, floods back with each nasty sugar carb that I ate. Never again, low carb is too easy to not follow.”

“My son (who was overweight) and my husband also low carb with me. My son is like my little carb monitor. He looks at every package I put in the cart for carbs,” Trish smiled.

“I’ve had no problems with low carbing, only benefits. My cholesterol has dropped from 270 to 117; my LDL cholesterol dropped from 210 to 18; my HDL cholesterol has risen from 60 to 99. My doctor actually had it rechecked because he thought it was an error!”

“My fibromyalgia pain is almost gone and my migraines and sleep apnea are gone. I’m a healthy person, which is wonderful. Since my fourth month of low carbing, my hair has returned to its once-healthy appearance. It is shiny, healthy, and my curls are back. Everyone comments on how beautiful it is. Most importantly, I am HAPPY for the first time in my life.”

“In the beginning, my relatives were all for my way of eating and were doing it with me. They liked it, but they never lasted more than two weeks. It turned into an evil diet according to them. While they continue their old eating habits and continue to gain weight, I am losing and they hate it!”

“Now all I get is praise. My doctor and local health food store tell people how well I have done and go so far as to refer peopleto me if they want information. I still get people that want to tellme how bad all the meat I have is for me. I look at them and I tell them how much I’ve lost. Then come the questions; it is so funny.”

In conclusion, Trish shared the most important thing to remember is to drink half your body weight in ounces of water every day and steer clear of the low carb bars.

Trish is already a low carb success, but we’ll be looking forward to further updates from her as time goes on. Congratulations, Trish, for taking your life back!