90 pounds...and a new attitude

[Qjakal]

It's weird being on this side of a success story. I'm one of those people who would have constantly been "restarting" in the past.

I've gone from 278-ish (who wanted to weigh at that point?) to mid 180-s over the last 2+ years of LCing.

At first this was just another thing to try. I've struggled with my weight since college. Up and down like a roller coaster ride...happiness at the low points and despair as I spiraled out of control and out of pants sizes. The cycle was viscous and addictive and I was oblivious to the true fact that I was doomed because I was trying to force my body into compliance using a poorly constructed plan. Portion control and willpower and exercise and peer pressure and self loathing and all the other myriad forms of motivation were woefully inadequate when faced with actual biochemical processes of ones metabolism in the long run.

While in my 20's, 30's and I could manage to hit a reasonable weight zone with a few months of dedication. Early 40's and it became a year of slow agony and eventually it crushed me...my spirit and will to diet were literally broken on the wheel of crappy information. I let it slip...further and further into the abyss. At some point you tend to just accept your fate. Like a beaten boxer I staggered through life existing and taking pleasure from many things, but NOT my own state of well being.

What a horrible thought. Of all the things in life you can enjoy, the ONE thing that is always with you,literally, is yourself. The finest automobile in the world sits in the garage for at least 1/2 the day or more. The fanciest clothing gathers dust nearly all the time. A magnificent house, lovely children, good friends, happy family, sufficient food and on and on and on goes the list of our "treasures" for the most part.

And yet my greatest possession and the one I carried 24/7 was not one I cared for and avoided whenever possible.

At nearly 50 I decided, with some urging from my DW that we might as well take a stab at Atkins. Oh, the horror stories we had heard! We were truly desperate and grabbing any shard of hope now, weren't we? The biggest motivating factor was that we had decided to adopt a child from China and we were (correctly) concerned that our health would become a concern before she would achieve adulthood.

I devoured the literature, reading DANDR at least 3 times...each one with growing amazement and a touch of skepticism.

Could we really have been THAT wrong about food? How could this possibly work? It totally repudiates the governments RDA and food pyramid structure that we had been taught were the gold standard of health and nutrition.

Surely we would fail.........

But hopeless crushed spirits have little to lose, so we soldiered on into induction and ketosis.

Wonder of wonders...weight came off. Eggs? Bacon? Red meat? Pepperoni and cheese? Forbidden foods everywhere and plenty of it. What was going on?

Back to the literature and associated biology works. Fat as a fuel while I was exercising? It was working. And it continued working. Slowly and surely the weight came off and I began to feel better. Not just physically better either....energy level and overall mental awareness were way up.

I had always been an exerciser so the adjustment there was simple. Do more...for a longer period of time. And the weight continued to go...slowly and surely.

I had a few stalls and I've tweaked the things I eat a bit as I climbed the rungs. I'm back to about 120 carbs a day and I track my %'s on ****** even now...aiming at a 40-20-40 setup that seems to make all my systems "purr".

It wasn't that long a trip. I had a lot of company on various forums and boards. I highly recommend it! All you have to do is believe and execute the system as it should be per proven methodology.

Hope springs eternal.

Q

[Madbuffalo]

Nice to hear of your success.

[ArmyWife04]

Very well written and very inspiring. You speak to both genders and I think we all can relate to the feeling of hopelessness at being overweight. Thanks for sharing your story and congratulations on your success!

[KATIEW]

thanks for shareing and givinghope!!

[Qjakal]

Btw, here's my angel and I. I intend to be able to keep up with her and it keeps me focused on staying in shape. I highly recommend the process...lol.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/178/3...d1ed66.jpg?v=0

[marybeth67]

Great story, congratulations! Beautiful baby girl!

[12yrslater]

CONGRTULATIONS!!!!!

[pinkpetals]

How inspiring Congrats

Your daughter is absolutely beautiful!!

[Edwards20]

Thank you for sharing. Congrats on your loss, you are truly an inspiration.

[Sweetpea]

Good Job - you are an inspiration

[Parisfox]

Great job....you certainly are an inspiration. I'll bet you are a wonderful Dad to that adorable child.

[Qjakal]

Originally Posted by Parisfox

Great job....you certainly are an inspiration. I'll bet you are a wonderful Dad to that adorable child.

So far...so good. But I keep hearing horror stories about those teen years...<<<<shudder>>>>>.

Q

[healthy lady T]

I'm very happy for you and hope to be there someday as well. I too have never had a problem with exercise, because of my years of playing sports. I never really had a big problem with my weight until I was unable to stay as active. Forutunately I then learned of Atkins and how processed carbs affect the body. It's funny how once we all decided to educate ourselves things become clearer. I have lost of this plan before and then expierenced some health issues that sideline me. I'm fighting back.

[boopieboop]

That's a wonderful success story; thanks for sharing.

[Jeska]

Q - Congratulations on your success!!! Your daughter is beautiful (and you're not so bad yourself )

I love your signature... I actually kinda stole it for my AIM profile :blush:

Anyway - thank you so much for sharing your story! You are an inspiration!

[Qjakal]

Thanks Jeska...got a good feeling that you'll be writing yours in about...hmm...6-8 months (hunch) and I'm looking forward to reading about your journey.

Feel free to spread the siggy quote...it's from one of Robert Heinleins novels. He's my alltime favorite author and his books have a lot of common sense interspersed with great storylines.

I *really* have to get some updated photos of myself online somewhere, but it's hard to break all those decades of camera ducking habit.

Q

[Queen_SB]

thanks for the inspiration!

[iamcrazy]

Wow, what an inspiration, thanks for sharing!!

[Qjakal]

Updated...moved back up about 10 pounds over the last few years...but still not cycling as I used to...

Hope to be reading more success stories here soon.

Hi to everybody I haven't "seen" in awhile!

Q

[Kellys]

Qjakal,

What a great story... very inspiring-thank you