My Evolving Success Story
 

I've been on this forum for a year and a half, and have yet to post a success story, so here goes.

I'm putting the pictures at the end, because they don't tell you what was going on. They're not dramatic at all.

My strained relationship with food started early. From childhood, I've been a carb and sugar junkie. I grew up with poor, yet hardly abnormal, eating habits. I started struggling with depression in my early teen years, and I self-medicated it with either food or the lack thereof, in cycles. Whether it was junk food or "healthy" carb food, I was never able to moderate. Like many women, I morphed into the typical "professional" dieter - moody, isolated, obsessed with food, never in particularly good health, and perpetually cold.

My first clue that I had a carb issue was around 1996, at age 23. I began to notice heart palpitations, and soon after that, noticed that they tended to happen after I ate carby foods. Clue number two was measurable hypoglycemia: I knew that everyone has sugar highs and crashes if they eat too much sugar, but I once had a glucometer check (courtesy of a diabetes presentation at the hospital where I worked) two hours after eating a bacon and egg sandwich, and it was 2.9 (about 50 mg/dL). :exclm: The nurse said, "wow, are you feeling okay?" I felt no crappier than I usually did. Frankly, I wasn't concerned enough about it to take any action. Life was busy and I ran on caffeine and adrenaline.

In late 2001, I found myself in very sorry shape from taking Depo-Provera. I gained over twenty pounds in only two or three months, my depression was worse than ever, and my acne worsened severely. My hands (and probably the rest of me) were markedly swollen. I had never had intestinal problems or PMS in my life, but both struck me suddenly and seriously, occurring for a full two weeks before TOM. The heart palpitations and hypoglycemic symptoms were happening constantly. To sum it up, my hormones were totally wrecked and so was my body.

I had heard of low carbing through a "Depo disaster" support group. The concept was that Depo can impair your glucose tolerance. I was skeptical, since I considered this a hormone problem, not a diet problem, but I was at my wits end and willing to try anything.

I found this forum in early 2002, and started out by eliminating "the white stuff:" obvious carb sources like flour, sugar, rice and potatoes. I started eating more protein, fat and vegetables. This alone eliminated the heart palpitations. I decided on the Protein Power plan, borrowed the book from the library, and away I went.

Within a few weeks, I felt incredible. I had more energy than I had had since I was a kid! The longer I did it, the better I felt: my moods and acne improved dramatically, and the PMS disappeared within a few cycles. My hair and skin looked healthier, and my nails now *grow*. I'm not perpetually cold anymore, and the food obsession is gone: if anything, I forget to eat sometimes.

My immune system is amazing: the only colds I've had since LCing have been breif and bearable. Colds used to knock me on my butt for at least a week - now, they last only for a few days and I still have energy.

So: that pesky Depo weight is gone. It took a few months. But as you've read, that's not the success story. Success for me has been taking control of my life for the first time, and being healthier than I've ever been while eating *incredible* food!

Maintenance, for the most part, is a breeze. I eat anywhere from 30-80 g of carbs per day. I could probably handle more, but I simply don't bother. I'm happy with the food I eat at that level. My key to maintenance success is settling into a routine with respect to my favorite foods, while still having enough variety that I'm never bored. I'll never stop learning and experimenting. I've since read several other LC books, including Atkins New Diet Revolution, Atkins for Life, and "How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet..." by Dana Carpender. I've also gone from not even knowing how to boil an egg, to being a whiz in the kitchen!

Success didn't happen on one particular day. I technically still haven't hit my ultimate goal weight, since I'm too lazy to work out and really crack the whip on myself. I've fallen off the wagon a couple of times, and had all of those hormonal symptoms come crashing back down on me. But the course of my life took a sharp turn when I started low carbing, and even though I'm sure I'll struggle sometimes, I'm still an evolving success story. :thup:

My advice for others:

- Be sure to literally remove all barriers to your success. Get the junk food out of the house and have strategies for dealing with potential temptations. Learn to say no to others.

- Prepare and plan ahead. Cook ahead of time and keep lots of snacks on hand.

- Say goodbye to the junk food, even LC junk food - don't try to recreate it. It's expensive, it's a hassle, it maintains the cravings, and it's almost universally disappointing. Instead, embrace the fact that LCing is meant to consist of whole foods wherever possible. I have the occasional Atkins bar or treat, but it's definitely not a habit.

- Get the right attitude. Have patience and a sense of appreciation for the high quality of food you're eating, and the respect you're now showing to your body. This isn't a crash diet, and there's no reason to believe that the weight is just going to slide off. Plateaus, even gains, will happen and it's normal. Get on with life in the meantime. If you're frustrated, perhaps you need to improve the quality of your food and exercise. There's no reason to dislike either of those things. If your food is great and you feel better than you have in years, it shouldn't make any difference to you whether or not the scale stalls for a while.


Here are the pictures:

Before/after:

Woo,Hoo,hey it's about time you posted your success story! what an inspiration it will be to others :yay:

You look fabulous :thup: :agree:
Cheers Kathy

Great post Kristine :thup: We always knew you were an amazing success ;)

~Michelle

Very inspirational story Kristine. The before/after picture is fabulous! I hope you are very proud of your success because you definitely deserve it.

I am curious when you stopped the Depo in relation to starting LC.

Great work!!

OG

Hi all! Thanks a lot! :blush:

OG, my last shot was in April of 2001. A lot of women get nasty symptoms with the depo, but I got them shortly after the next shot would have been due, once I quit. It hit me like a brick wall. I started low carbing in March of 2002. It may seem coincidental - perhaps it was the depo wearing off, not low carbing - but I disagree. Like I mentioned, I've fallen off the wagon more than once, and had it all come back. :( The drug is long gone from my system. I do believe it's permanant. I wouldn't be the first woman to come out of depo with PCOS.

Very Inspiring!!! Your after pic is fabulous!

Hey Kristine. I just had a gut feeling you were so marvelously gorgeous!!! Tres magnifique ma jolie!

Wow... Kristine.. that story was soo touching to me.. and a great inspiration. Thank you bunches for posting it.
And yes... you can see a huge difference in your pictures.. you look absolutely stunning...

What a GREAT, and well written success story!! By the look of your "after" pic, you seem at goal, (an ideal) weight already!

Hee hee - thanks, ladies. Edie, confession time: that picture is old, from when I was on my way up. ;) I don't have any recent ones. I was definitely under 130. That would be my ultimate goal again, but like I said, I'm too lazy to bother. :D

Hi Kristine,

I just posted you to you and then promptly lost it. Darn! I wanted to thank you for your comments in my gallery, and to say that I enjoyed reading about your success story.

I think sometimes it's easy for those of us with more weight to lose to look at the stats of those people who've only had to lose 20 or 30 pounds and dismiss their struggle as a very minor one - but you've shown me how important low carbing can be even for someone without much to lose, and how much these things can affect your life.

I'm so glad for you that you've managed to cure your health problems. I had chronic fatigue badly for about a year, and less severely for a couple more, so I know how debilitating illness is firsthand.

Congratulations!

Deborah

hey Kristine :wave:

congrats on your sucess! not only do you look great, but you feel great too :agree:

Hi Kristine,

Thanks for sharing your success story and letting us publish it, it is now on our website's success section.

Wa'il

What a great story!!
 

:cheer: :cheer:

It is so awesome to read stories like yours. It is amazing how much junk food and medications can totally put our bodies out of whack. Your pictures are fantastic. Congrats!!!

Congratulations...

What a great story, thanks for sharing. Yet another inspiration for me.

WOW! You look great:)

thanks Kristine
 

Your success story has inspired, reassured and motivated me... I too have had the heart palpitations/sinking feeling, which has panicked me in the past but like you I discovered a link with the consumption of a big bowl of pasta/sunday dinner - that sort of stuff. I no longer feel like a head case!
Thankyou!

You look great! Congrats!

Thank you Kristine!
 

Thank you for pouring out your story. It is incredibly inspiring and I thought the photos were a very striking comparison. I'm on day 2 of Atkins induction and really appreciate reading the stories. Again, thanks for sharing. TriciaH

Great story! wow I think you have described how I feel too before low-carbing. thanks!

Great to read your success story. You've given me some new things to think about. Keeping your faith in the low carb way combined with exercise has paid off well for you.

Good for you.

I've copied and pasted this to a small file of quotes I read each day. Thank you so much for sharing your story (both here and through your posts).
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You Did it!!
 

Beautiful success story, thank you for sharing it. What a transformation. It's really amazing how good low carb is for several aspects of our health. Preparation and planning ahead is everything, I agree!

Hi GR, thank you!

I REALLY need to update it. :o I've been here for 21 years now!