My Story:
In the spring of 2004, I was at the highest weight of my life – 325 lbs. I was only 33 but I was finding I couldn’t breathe walking up a simple flight of stairs, my knees hurt all the time, my back hurt and I was constantly tired. While I’d always been overweight, I never thought it was a problem. Now, I couldn’t help but put two and two together to see that my weight had become a problem. Because diabetes runs on both sides of my family, I knew I was at high risk. I had to do something.
One of my aunts (a diabetic) on my dad’s side lost 80 lbs. using Atkins. She recommended I try it and gave me information about it. But I couldn’t see it working for me because I loved bread and my sugary treats way too much.
Then an aunt on my mom’s side (also a diabetic) lost weight on the Atkins plan, as well. I finally thought, “I’ll give it a try for two weeks. I can handle two weeks.”
So in April 2004, I began the Induction phase. I began seeing such dramatic results so quickly that I kept up with it. Within six months, I lost 80 lbs. I was finally at a weight that I could start exercising without it being painful! Within the following six months, I’d lost another 40 lbs.
After two years, I’d lost an additional 20 lbs. – for a total weight lost of 140 lbs! I got down to 185 lbs. – the lowest weight I’d been since I was 13 years old. My doctor said he never knew anyone personally who was able to lose as much weight as I did on my own without surgery. He was astounded! I would run into people I hadn’t seen in years and they didn’t even recognize me. People in my family didn’t even recognize me! They all asked how I lost the weight. I told them Atkins!
My Goals:
My initial goal was to lose enough weight to feel healthy. I couldn't believe I was able to get down to what I weighed when I was 13 years old!
How Atkins Helped Get Me There: As a Native American woman, I believe that the plan closely ties to more traditional whole and unprocessed foods. In a lot of ways, I feel as though this is how I was MEANT to eat. I grew up being called ""a bottomless pit."" No matter how much I ate, I was never satisfied. I'd eat huge meals of breads and potatoes followed by sweets, and then would get extremely tired afterwards. I found I was spending most of my life eating and sleeping. Who knows how bad I would have gotten if I hadn't started on Atkins? Atkins showed me that all I had to do was substitute the foods I was eating with low-carb choices and I could eat as much as I wanted without getting tired or bogged down afterward! Low calorie or low fat diets never worked for me. NOTHING WORKED other than ATKINS! I feel the most comfortable with the Atkins program and its products – and am committed to living Atkins for Life.
