Kim in Ohio

Karen · **Posted:** Thu May 01, 2008 1:45 pm

Autumn Edition, 2004

Kim Hardie from Eastlake Ohio, writes:

I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia when I was a teenager, but I was able to keep it under control most of the time. Every once in a while I'd go thru a phase where it would plague me, but I'd just cut out sweets if I was eating any, and up my protein content as my doctor instructed me all those years ago, and that would take care of that.

But for 20 years, I was plagued with exhaustion, chronic sinus infections, strange swellings and inflammations of various body parts, constant headaches, and aches and pains in my hips, knees, feet, and every bone and muscle in my body, as well as Irritable Bowel Syndrome and a hiatal hernia.

I went from doctor to doctor to doctor...all of them saying "If there is anything wrong with you... we'll find it". I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a follow up visit, only to hear the doctor tell me "Good News!! The tests are negative... There is nothing wrong with you." And so I can't tell you how many times I'd go sit in my car after a doctor's visit and bawl my eyes out because I knew there WAS indeed something very wrong with me. I felt like death warmed over! I couldn't figure it out ... but I didn't want to live this way. It was horrible.

In July 2002, I quit smoking and went on a very structured American Medical Association-referred diet - and gained 20 pounds in 3 weeks! I quit after that because I knew it just wasn't the diet for me...it made me feel horrible. That year, I had been to a podiatrist because of nerve damage, a rheumatologist to see if what I was experiencing was indeed arthritis, and an endocrinologist because I was 99% symptomatic for almost every auto-immune disease on the face of the earth. Also, I was going to my regular DO for constant sinus and bladder infections.

The rheumatologist told me I had a very small amount of arthritis between my shoulder blades and that was it. It had to be something else causing my constant pain. The endocrinologist tested me for every auto-immune disease he was familiar with, and all the tests came back negative. He did tell me that he knew there was something wrong with me, because he saw many, many people with the same symptoms I had every day, and the tests always came back negative. He felt quite sure I had a disease called Celiac Spru Disease (an allergy to wheat), but again, I tested negative. It was suggested that I had hypochondria, chemical depression, fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, SAD disorder and every other disorder that the medical community loves to "give" us when they don't KNOW what the problem is. He was about to send me to another doctor, this time a neurologist, to be tested for Multiple Sclerosis, when I decided to take action on my own. I had been hearing and reading a little bit about low-carb diets and what a wonderful job they were doing for a lot of people. I decided to check them out and see how they worked.

I read The Fat Flush Plan, Protein Power, and a host of other low-carb books. I finally found Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, and when I read that book "the light bulb" went off. I realized then that I had been eating the way Dr Atkins suggested prior to a weight gain of 40 pounds that occurred after moving to Ohio. I had changed my eating habits then, to accommodate my new family. As I reflected on my past, I realized that during those periods in my life when I was thin, I was cooking and eating to please myself, and the times I was heavy, I was cooking to please others in my life. I ate low carb naturally when I was eating to please myself, but never realized it before.

I began Induction on March 28th,2003, and truthfully only lasted one week on that stage. After that first week, I moved directly to OWL (Ongoing Weight Loss) and slowly started adding more carbs as the Atkins book instructs. I lost 20 pounds between April and Thanksgiving of 2003 and can't tell you how much better I feel.. After that though, I started adding "fakes" into my eating plan - and began to stall. I also splurged at Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.

I spent the next year trying different products and finding out what my body would tolerate and what it wouldn't... what I could consume occasionally, and what I shouldn't. Now, after a year and a half, I think I have a pretty good idea of what I can eat on maintenance, and what I need to do to continue to lose weight, if that's what I chose to do.

I never did get tested for MS. I started Atkins Induction and within 3 or 4 days I was 100% symptom-free! It was unbelievable. All those years, all I had to do was cut sugar and flour out of my diet and I could have been free from the pain, the swelling, the aches, and the exhaustion that constantly plagued me. That realization alone, in and of itself, is enough to keep me on this way of eating for the rest of my life.

My blood lipids and blood pressure have always been extremely good, and continue to be so to this day. My cholesterol did rise a little bit at first, up to 212, but it leveled itself out eventually. My cholesterol now stays in the 180-200 range. My fasting blood sugar is 92. My sinus headaches and infections are gone, as are my bladder infections. My hiatal hernia doesn't bother me anymore. They used to keep Alka-Seltzer in the medicine cabinet at work for me, but I don't touch it anymore. I don't have to. Prior to low-carb, I lived in a state of constipation my whole life, but I am now "regular" in every sense of the word... truly amazing! Low Carb Eating is indeed a miracle in my eyes.

It was suggested that though I may not show up on the formal tests as allergic to wheat, that I have a very extreme sensitivity to it. I agree 100%.

I lose weight steadily when I keep my carbs at or near the 20-25 per day limit. Once I start adding more than that, which I usually do in the form of nuts (very high in calories), my weight loss stops. On occasion I'll eat or drink something that isn't really blessed on the Atkins program, but to lose weight successfully (and feel good), I have to exclude nuts and eat very cleanly (purely). I typically consume about 30-50 carbs a day now, including fiber. On occasion, I will go higher, but I try to keep it in this range most of the time. I am working on losing about 15 more pounds, all the while experimenting so I can really learn the science of my own body - I want to know even better what to do, and what not to do.

My favorite thing about Low Carb eating is that I can eat lots of wonderful, flavorful foods. Fat isn't my enemy, so I can eat the tuna and chicken salads that I absolutely love. I love everything about Low-Carb Eating, actually... especially that I'm not afraid to eat anymore!! Also, there are so many hundreds and thousands of low carb recipes out there, that there is NO WAY you could get bored eating the same old thing... unless you just weren't looking for anything new.

Quote:

Sharing Success Strategies

Kim says:
My best advice to others is "Keep on Keeping On." No matter what... no matter if you derail and have a donut or two... eat them.. then get back on the train....
Don't beat yourself up... Love yourself, understand yourself, and get to understand your body.... Notice how you react when you eat new things. Remember how you feel. Each one of us is different... what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another, so when someone tells you that you should or shouldn't do something, remember that it's not absolute ... even if it worked for them.
Lastly, always keep yourself informed!! Knowledge is power, and this is a powerful way of living if you live true to it!!

Kim’s Mexican Chicken Soup
4-5 chicken breasts, cooked & cubed (1 pound analyzed)
3-4 cups chicken broth (4 cups analyzed)
1 packet of taco seasoning
8 ounces cream cheese
2 cups Mexican-style shredded cheese
Combine the first three ingredients, and heat well.
Add the cream cheese and when it has dissolved, add the shredded cheese. Remove from heat, and serve with a side salad

Nutritional Analysis by Karen - salad not included in analysis - At four servings, each serving: 677 calories; 44 g total fat (26 g saturated); 8.2g carbohydrates (0.6g fiber); 59 g protein.

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Kim in Ohio

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