The following article is a reprint from my new blog called "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb":
Just one day after doing a story asking the question, "Low Carb Diets Losing Popularity?" we get an incredibly inspiring tale of one man's triumph and unbelievable 300+ pound weight loss success on the Atkins diet from KSDK-TV in St. Louis, Missouri.
The man's name is John Smith. While he may have a generic, unassuming name, his weight loss in just over a year is just about the most incredible story I have heard from anyone regarding shedding pounds in my entire life!
Smith once weighed 647 pounds when he was addicted to food and had to give up his career as a professional cook in 1985 because his weight problem got to be too much for his health. He, like so many of us who are now livin' la vida low-carb, could not eat enough food to satisfy our appetites. We can all relate.
What was the one thing that hurt Smith the most while he was a very large man? I write about this same thing in my book. But it is the constant ridicule that others have for you when you are fat. Flippant comments about going on a diet and being a disgrace for a human being can wear on you. It gets to be too much and it propelled Smith to try everything possible to do something about it.
He attempted the low-fat/low-calorie diets that have failed so many people who are looking for a permanent fix to their lifelong weight problem. But it goes without saying theye didn't work for him either.
And his health was getting worse, as you can imagine, with high blood pressure and diabetes overtaking his body and bringing him to the brink of an early grave.
That was it. Smith knew he needed to do something that would work this time and turned to the Atkins lifestyle to do it.
Interestingly, it was one of Smith's children who said he needed to try Atkins in April 2004. So, after failing on every other weight loss program, he started the low-carb lifestyle.
The results have been so amazing for Smith that his doctor was flabbergasted, stating he had never heard of anyone losing 300 pounds without any surgery. And he did it all in just over a year!
I lost my 180 pounds on Atkins in 12 months, going from 410 to 230. I have held steady at 230 for five months by continuing with my low-carb lifestyle. We need to encourage Smith to keep going and make this his lifestyle from this day forward so he will stay at a healthy weight for the rest of his life. Send him an and let him know just how proud you are of him.
He is a very special man and is already getting the recognition he deserves for this personal victory over his weight problem.
Atkins VP of Education and Research Colette Heimowitz had not heard about Smith's success story on Atkins, but would like to meet him herself. She noted that the 300 pounds Smith lost is the most she had ever heard anyone ever losing on the Atkins approach.
And what about his blood pressure and diabetes problems? The medication he was taking for both are history! He no longer needs either one as his body is returning to optimum health thanks to livin' la vida low-carb. Smith said the Atkins diet was so easy that anybody can do it if they finally realize it is the answer to their obesity problem.
In addition to the low-carb lifestyle, Smith walks a couple of miles a day and feels better than he has in his entire life. I can personally attest to this myself. After losing my weight, I have never felt so energized and alive as I do right now. It's amazing how free you feel when you come out of the bondage that excessive weight places on you. It feels good and I never want to go back to being a slave to food. And I won't as long as I continue livin' la vida low-carb!
Smith said he is still losing about 3-5 pounds a week and says he doesn't have any particular weight to strive for. He's just gonna keep on doing this way of eating for himself and let his body be at the weight is supposed to be. That's what I've done, too. While I'm no longer losing weight at the rate I used to, I have seen the scale move down slowly. I could lose a pound or two every couple of weeks and that's fine with me. Now that I'm lifting weights, I am confident I'm still losing fat while I am simultaneously building muscle weight. I like that!!!
The next step for Smith is skin removal surgery known as an abdominoplasty because he has excessive layers of overlapping skin that need to be taken care of. Doctors want him to get down to 300 pounds before they will perform the surgery. Plus, as I have run into with my weight loss and desire to have the skin removed, it is very, very expensive. I got a quote from a local plastic surgeon who wanted to charge $12,000 to do the "tummy tuck" surgery. OUCH! And my health insurance won't touch it with a ten-foot pole. DOUBLE OUCH!
Thankfully, a plastic surgeon has offered to do Smith's surgery at no charge.
So, there you have it! John Smith is a living, breathing example of what livin' la vida low-carb can do for people who need to lose weight and restore their health. Let his story motivate you today as you are doing this way of eating for yourself. If you ever feel like giving up, then remember John Smith. He did it, I did it and SO CAN YOU!!!
Don't forget to today and welcome him to the wonderful world of livin' la vida low-carb!
The man's name is John Smith. While he may have a generic, unassuming name, his weight loss in just over a year is just about the most incredible story I have heard from anyone regarding shedding pounds in my entire life!
Smith once weighed 647 pounds when he was addicted to food and had to give up his career as a professional cook in 1985 because his weight problem got to be too much for his health. He, like so many of us who are now livin' la vida low-carb, could not eat enough food to satisfy our appetites. We can all relate.
What was the one thing that hurt Smith the most while he was a very large man? I write about this same thing in my book. But it is the constant ridicule that others have for you when you are fat. Flippant comments about going on a diet and being a disgrace for a human being can wear on you. It gets to be too much and it propelled Smith to try everything possible to do something about it.
He attempted the low-fat/low-calorie diets that have failed so many people who are looking for a permanent fix to their lifelong weight problem. But it goes without saying theye didn't work for him either.
And his health was getting worse, as you can imagine, with high blood pressure and diabetes overtaking his body and bringing him to the brink of an early grave.
That was it. Smith knew he needed to do something that would work this time and turned to the Atkins lifestyle to do it.
Interestingly, it was one of Smith's children who said he needed to try Atkins in April 2004. So, after failing on every other weight loss program, he started the low-carb lifestyle.
The results have been so amazing for Smith that his doctor was flabbergasted, stating he had never heard of anyone losing 300 pounds without any surgery. And he did it all in just over a year!
I lost my 180 pounds on Atkins in 12 months, going from 410 to 230. I have held steady at 230 for five months by continuing with my low-carb lifestyle. We need to encourage Smith to keep going and make this his lifestyle from this day forward so he will stay at a healthy weight for the rest of his life. Send him an and let him know just how proud you are of him.
He is a very special man and is already getting the recognition he deserves for this personal victory over his weight problem.
Atkins VP of Education and Research Colette Heimowitz had not heard about Smith's success story on Atkins, but would like to meet him herself. She noted that the 300 pounds Smith lost is the most she had ever heard anyone ever losing on the Atkins approach.
And what about his blood pressure and diabetes problems? The medication he was taking for both are history! He no longer needs either one as his body is returning to optimum health thanks to livin' la vida low-carb. Smith said the Atkins diet was so easy that anybody can do it if they finally realize it is the answer to their obesity problem.
In addition to the low-carb lifestyle, Smith walks a couple of miles a day and feels better than he has in his entire life. I can personally attest to this myself. After losing my weight, I have never felt so energized and alive as I do right now. It's amazing how free you feel when you come out of the bondage that excessive weight places on you. It feels good and I never want to go back to being a slave to food. And I won't as long as I continue livin' la vida low-carb!
Smith said he is still losing about 3-5 pounds a week and says he doesn't have any particular weight to strive for. He's just gonna keep on doing this way of eating for himself and let his body be at the weight is supposed to be. That's what I've done, too. While I'm no longer losing weight at the rate I used to, I have seen the scale move down slowly. I could lose a pound or two every couple of weeks and that's fine with me. Now that I'm lifting weights, I am confident I'm still losing fat while I am simultaneously building muscle weight. I like that!!!
The next step for Smith is skin removal surgery known as an abdominoplasty because he has excessive layers of overlapping skin that need to be taken care of. Doctors want him to get down to 300 pounds before they will perform the surgery. Plus, as I have run into with my weight loss and desire to have the skin removed, it is very, very expensive. I got a quote from a local plastic surgeon who wanted to charge $12,000 to do the "tummy tuck" surgery. OUCH! And my health insurance won't touch it with a ten-foot pole. DOUBLE OUCH!
Thankfully, a plastic surgeon has offered to do Smith's surgery at no charge.
So, there you have it! John Smith is a living, breathing example of what livin' la vida low-carb can do for people who need to lose weight and restore their health. Let his story motivate you today as you are doing this way of eating for yourself. If you ever feel like giving up, then remember John Smith. He did it, I did it and SO CAN YOU!!!
Don't forget to today and welcome him to the wonderful world of livin' la vida low-carb!
