Ages: 36 & 45
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA
When we started our journey to change our diet, I weighed 335lbs, while my wife, Mary, weighed about 165 lbs. Mary was struggling with brain fog, irritable bowel syndrome and general lethargy. I had terribly low energy, no stamina, inflamed joints, and pain in my knees. I was also probably pre-diabetic, based on the amount of fat I was carrying in my midsection. We tried vegetarian and vegan diets, juicing, and elimination diets that removed gluten, sugar, dairy, nuts, etc. Finally, we decided to try a low-carb approach and the results came quickly! Within 2 months, I lost over 30lbs and had enough energy to entertain the idea of going to the gym. In that same time, Mary noted how she rarely felt any brain fog and that her bowel movements had become more regular. Over the following months, I noticed that I was no longer feeling inflammation in my joints and that my knees were no longer sore when going up and down stairs. Mary and I found that our blood sugars were testing normal, and the weight was falling away for both of us. We felt as though we had stumbled upon the world's best-kept secret!
As it stands today, I have lost over 120lbs, and Mary has lost 45lbs, and we have both kept the weight off. There have been battles to be sure, but through it all, the rewards that we have reaped through low carb nutrition are undeniable. We can't bring ourselves to go back to the S.A.D. [“Standard American Diet”] way of eating ever again!
As children who watched the health of our loved ones deteriorate due to misinformation about nutrition, we’ve seen how the recommended dietary guidelines didn't work for our family, and we’ve made new discoveries about diet that have shifted our relationship with food, resulting in more vibrant and healthy lives.