I started low carbing in July, after a miserable visit to the doctor. My blood pressure had shot up to 162/93 (and that was at the end of my visit -- it was higher when I walked in the door) and I was feeling miserable. The doctor was unable to weigh me because her scale only went up to 350 and I was above 350. I had a serious discussion with the doctor about weight loss surgery (she thought it was a good idea and was unable to offer any viable alternatives), but I was terrified about the side effects and the risk of dying. However, I had been unsuccessful on every lowfat diet I tried (I could only stand being hungry for a week or two before giving into cravings), so surgery seemed like the only option.

I came home and read a story in the New York Times magazine that weekend about low carbing and decided to give it a try -- what did I have to lose? It was the only thing I hadn't tried before because I had always bought into the media assessment of Dr. Atkins as a quack. I won't tell my whole story here (I have a journal if anyone wants to read it), but Atkins is the first diet I found that I could stick to because I am not hungry all the time. I have been steadily losing weight since July. As my weight has gone down, I have found it easier to exercise, and I now walk for about an hour most evenings. Before losing the weight, I was huffing and puffing on small hills and my back and knees always hurt.

I still have a lot of weight to lose (I'm in the 290s now), but I just came from a doctor's appointment and my blood pressure was 117/74 with no medication. The doctor was impressed! I am a 45-year-old peri-menopausal woman, so my blood pressure should naturally be rising at this time in my life, not falling. Twenty years ago my blood pressure was consistently 110/60 (I weighed about 180 then -- I'm 5'9-1/2" tall and big boned). I think I may actually get back to that blood pressure level as a middle-aged mother of two.

I feel a little funny posting under success stories when I still have so much weight to lose, but I want to make sure that people realize that you don't have to get all the way down to your goal weight to have your health benefit from this way of eating. I am in this for the long-term and I intend to eventually get below 200 pounds. However, I do think it is important for all of us to celebrate each success along the way.

Liz,
Congratulations on your loss! That is quite an accomplishment. Although you haven't met your goal, I am impressed, I know your success so far will inspire you to keep going. Keep up the good work!

Awesome Liz!!!

Liz, that's awesome. Good for you. You took control.

Congratulations! Your courage and perserverance are impressive, and your progress is inspirational. Thank you for sharing it with us. Speaking personally, it's what I need to keep me on track with this program. Keep up the great work!

Great job, Liz! I have no doubt that you will reach your goal.

Last night I walked 3 miles, and I was reminded of how much my back ached just a year ago. I could barely walk from my office to my car in the parking lot without experiencing sever lower back pain. I don't know where it went, but it should stay there!

Donald

Liz, congratulations!

>>"I feel a little funny posting under success stories when I still have so much weight to lose, but I want to make sure that people realize that you don't have to get all the way down to your goal weight to have your health benefit from this way of eating. "

AMEN. I wish more people felt that way. I know weight loss is still the main reason most people start eating this way, but weight is just one health factor that *improves* with it.

Keep up the good work!

You are doing great and have made such positive changes and you are already a success story. We forget how far we have already come and what we've accomplished sometimes when we are focused on how much further we have to go......I do it all the time.
Thanks for sharing what you have done to take good care of yourself and make your life what you want it to be~

You rock, Liz!

Your story sounds very familiar to me.

At my BookCrossing meetup this evening, I met a doctor who has been low-carbing since 1999. At our meetings, I'm usually the person who mentions dieting, health, Atkins, etc. Tonight, she brought it up to me and was quite pleased to hear that I was diligently working to control my blood glucose, etc. She is a BIG fan of Dr. Bernstein, was once one of his patients.

Anyway, it was a novel experience for me to encounter a doctor who was adamantly for low-carbing. She says she has a nickname here, but didn't tell me what it was. I'm looking forward to talking with her again, even if only by email.

She said our stories, yours and mine, were like hundreds she had already heard. Although she lamented that doctors, in general, were not more informed about low-carbing and the dangers of low-fat eating, she was firm about not dwelling on what might have been. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say that physicians were not to blame for the situation - yet agreed that too many people have died because of the horrible error of low-fat dieting. (More will die before it is laid to rest.)

I cannot yet shrug my shoulders and forgive the doctors who killed my mother young and ruined my health. It is still too heavy a burden. But, I think I am beginning to heal emotionally, too. Guess I needed more than one kind of heart treatment.

I hope your health continues to improve. Even Count Rugen agrees that health is everything.