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| My 160 pound weight loss To see my first post, scroll down to the bottom of the pages |
Study and learning more about health and nutrition.
I was getting around 200 visits a week. Then DietDoctor.com ran my story on their website. My hits jumped to over 2000 a week.
I got lots emails and texts from all over the world. Here are a few:
| Here are a few letters I have received from people around the world. |
Hi Dan. I'm on my 3rd week of lchf. You helped inspire me when I saw about you on dietdoctor.com. Ive lost 13 lbs and 2" from my belly without feeling hungry. I can live with this eating plan and not feel like I'm missing anything good. In 3 weeks borderline hypertensive gone. Last night 122/82. Thanks for your information on your site. Jay This letter message I receive on Facebook: Hello Dan, Although we have never met , I just wanted to thank you for your motivating and encouraging posts. I have been doing paleo since last April and have lost 133 pounds so far. I have a ways to go but I just wanted you to know that I appreciate what you have accomplished and how you also help others ! Thank you again, and continued success , Barry H. Dan I needed to tell you that your web page is fantastic! I really enjoyed reading all those amazing letters you've received. I think you definitely have a calling or talent to inspire real lifestyle changes in people. I'm joining all your fans lol. I'm changing my eating habits, use many of your ideas, read the books you recommend and -next step-I'm shopping for a rebounder! I so admire the way you have turned your trials into something so inspiring... Donna Hi Dan I just read your story, mainly to get some encouragement on my journey. I started on the lowcarb life change about 6 weeks ago. I lost 12 ILbs very quickly then have stayed the same. I find the sugar and carbs not too difficult to give up. I have had a few "cheats" but not much. I do like a drink,but have stopped beer entirely and now drink white wine and soda. I suppose my question is do I just keep going . I have had carb flu for a while ,so I have not felt a lot of benefits yet. I am totally convinced by the arguments of this lifestyle. I have gradually put on weight all my life. Top weight of 19 stones( 19 times 14) . Anyway I wont go on. thanks for your encouragement. Regards Colin G From England Hi Dan, I have a healthcare practice in Cape Town, South Africa, where I work with people with or at risk of metabolic syndrome. I have just read of your remarkable metabolic syndrome journey and I would like your permission to share your story and photos with my patients via my website.... and FB page.... Any other suggestions you might have will also be welcomed Sincerely Peter H Dan, I read your story on Diet Doctor today. Congratulations! I am starting my low carb journey tomorrow. Keep up the great work with your blog. I'm finding it so helpful. Thanks. Sincerely, Sheryl Hey your success story is one of those most incredible ones I have ever seen... I guess my question is simply how did you start, progress, and what do you do now as it relates to nutrition and training? Thanks and keep it up! Ray Dan!!! I left a comment on Diet Doctor's facebook page in the comments section of your story, you're an inspiring man! 4 years, that's so amazing! I've been at it for 2 years with LCHF and haven't looked back. It's like having a real life now, and not just existing! I wish you all the best, you look like a picture of health! Tania Hi Dan Just wanted to say what an achievement. Well done. I am going to try and do the same. I am 63. 240 pounds. Feel horrible most of the time. Thank you for taking the time to document your story. I have a grandchild of three years old soon to be four, and I am not the nannie I would like to be. I just cannot move around like I would want to. You are an inspiration. Kind regards. Heather Dear Dan, I happened upon your blog via The Diet Doctor site. I find your story impressive because, unlike other "before and after" stories, your epiphany came rather late, as mine did. Like you, I'm 57 and a grandfather. Mind you, I was never as hefty as you, but I was overweight and unhappy with myself. After reading Davis' book Wheatbelly, and then other things like, believe it or not Yudkin's Pure White and Deadly, I too purged all this crap from my diet. Unlike you, I was always working out, but, as my younger son teasingly pointed out, I could not lose my paunch. Six months later, my paunch is gone and I'm down to the weight I was in my twenties. I can see you've really built up you muscle mass. I was wondering if you could share some advice on weight training. In closing, I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas, and may 2014 bring health and peace to everyone. Sincerely, James S. Hi Dan! I found your story on the Diet Dr. Webpage and wanted you to know what an inspiration you are! I just started my journey 3 weeks ago, but have never felt better in my life! AND being down 9 pounds is not bad either! You are more relatable to me because you are over 50, and look FANTASTIC I might add! I so appreciate all your tips too, they are very very helpful. Only about 91 lbs to go but taking it one day at a time. Thank you again and have a wonderful holiday ! Cathy Hello Dan, I hope you don't get overwhelmed with emails from everyone congratulating you on your success with LCHF. If so, I do hope this email to you will stand out in some way because I see you as a beacon of light on this journey I am taking, and I feel you and I are coming from a very similiar place. First of all my name is Elizabeth and I am in the Chicago area. I was born in 57 so I guess that makes me 56 this year, Yikes! I lost my husband of 30 years to Pulmonary Fibrosis in 2007 so I can relate to so many of your life experiences. I started my own LCHF journey after seeing the video THE FOOD REVOLUTION by Dr. Eenfeldt while on the internet one day. I was initially frightened by the HF part of the plan but after four more months of doing Paleo I realized I needed to try to find something that was similar but worked for losing weight. I took the leap of faith on Sept. 22, 2013 and have not looked back. I have also been losing about 2 pounds each week so far for a total of 23 pounds. I have done much more research during the time I have been relearning about LCHF and I am convinced I have found the solution to what has been such a problem for me for most of my adult life. Both my Mother and Father are in a nursing facility now. Mom with Alzheimer's and Dad having Diabetes having had two strokes within weeks of one another. He is now totally dependent and unable to walk or talk. I can tell you I do not want that for my future and even more than the weight loss I am excited to think I am making a stand for better health in my senior years. I hope that you and I can keep in touch, as I hope you will mentor me as someone who is deadly serious about making a lifetime commitment to the way of life. Congratulations on paving the way for those like me that are finding this new lifestyle. Cheers, Eli ... Dear Dan, You do not know me, but I thought I should write a note to you, for you have changed my life. I am a 58 yr old Swiss housewife, and I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism some 6 years ago, as I lived in Saigon. My weight had started increasing at about the time I turned 40. I lived in Taipei at that time, and was very active - I had three young children, was exercising three times a week, walked miles every day - but no matter what I did, my weight was going steadily up. It took a turn for the worse in 2005, when my weight ballooned to an incredible 187lbs - a 20lbs gain in less than three months. I am not tall, just 5'3". That's when they told me my thyroid was not functioning properly anymore. I managed to stabilize my weight, but it was a struggle - I went as high as 197 lbs in 2010 - and I had resigned myself to being the shortest but heaviest member of the family. I was fit though, and active, and even managed to climb the Kilimanjaro at age 55, in 2009, carrying my 180 lbs all the way to the top. One night, I was desperate for answers and motivation. I was tired of losing weight only to regain it with a vengeance. Tired of feeling deprived all the time, tired of counting calories... I searched the web for weight loss success stories, and your blog was the first site I found. I read your story, I visited the Underground Wellness site, downloaded the Dark Side of Fat Loss, started using the Gabriel's Method, watched the many videos and films you suggest, and on the way found others ("Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead", "Hungry for Change", "Crazy, Sexy Cancer" etc...), and discovered there was a whole set of information out there most of us never hear about. I have lost 10kg (22 lbs, sorry, I think metric) since I first found your blog, two months ago. I have dropped bread, and all starches, refined sugar, and processed foods. I have been eating loads of vegetables, fruit, delicious juices and smoothies, and not counted another calorie. I now make my own ghee - with our delicious Swiss butter - and eat meat - from our wonderful grass-fed happy Swiss cows -, wild fish, and organic eggs, without worrying about cholesterol. My hands and feet do not hurt anymore when I get up in the morning, and I am now full of hope, because I KNOW I will lose the extra weight I am still carrying. I have started going to Pilates classes with my daughter who has also changed her eating habits, and who will never have the problems I had, all thanks to your blog. She is slim and athletic, and has the slight frame she inherited from her father, but I now know it would just be a matter of time before she hits the same wall I did. My husband has also lost weight, and is feeling much better now that I feed him healthy food. Our two sons and my daughter's boyfriend play rugby, and they naturally embraced a diet rich in proteins, and I have good hope they'll increase their intake of vegetables once they see all the good it does to the rest of us. My daughter's boyfriend has started eating salads he never touched before, and has seen his eczema diminish dramatically. Of course, it is a bit easier for us Europeans, as we are still eating more natural foods than your average American, but it's changing rapidly, as fast and processed foods become more popular. You can see obese people - especially youngsters - in the streets now, something totally unseen before... This is a long post, with more information than you might wish about me and my family, but I thought it would please you to know you made a difference, and that all the time you spent sharing the information you found hasn't been lost. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I wish you a long and happy life. It is sad understanding came too late for your wife, but I have learned something of Buddhism after all the years I spent in Asia. I do believe we all come to this life with a purpose, and that what happens to us is not always for our own benefit, but is also for the benefit of others. My husband and I have also been together for 37 years - we were both born in 1954, almost on the same day, and will turn 58 in October. Maybe that is why your story touched me, and why I decided to read your blog. As I said, it changed my life, and that of those I hold dear, and I will always be grateful to you for that. All the best to you, H Schaufelberger Hi Dan, Recently I downloaded the audiobook, "Why We Get Fat." I'm about 8 chapters in and am inspired to start a low carb diet (mostly because I'm 75 lbs overweight and I just saw some pictures of myself from my sister's wedding last weekend, Yikes!). I think I've tried every diet on the planet except for low carb. It isn't uncommon for me to lose or gain 30-40 lbs a year. I've even had lap-band surgery and haven't had much success. It makes me sad to think I've altered my body permanently, when the solution might have just been to give up carbs or even just wheat at a minimum. My surgeon recommends I eat 900 calories a day. While that was very successful at first, I found it hard to be starving all the time, and I was so tired and weak. I actually did pretty well last year, losing 30 lbs, by avoiding processed foods and going vegetarian. Unfortunately, living meatless made me drained of energy and worsened my depression. I started eating meat again with no noticable gain in weight. Then I tore a disc in my back. I started eating sugar, lots of sugar, and bread and white rice and pasta- many of the things I didn't eat before - and was bedbound for about two months. I have gained 20 lbs since the beginning of April. Now my back is healed, I walk two to three miles about every other day, but the weight doesn't budge because of my eating habits. At 31 I have a whole life to live and I don't want to do it at 5'3" and 195 lbs. Anyway, my point is that since I've started listening to, "Why We Get Fat," I went online and started searching for information about low-carb dieting. I discovered your blog through your before and after post on about.com or some such website (it came up in a google search for low carb success stories). It is about 3:00 am here in California and I've been up for hours reading your blog. My, how time flies when you are absolutely spell-bound with information! Thank you for posting so many valuable resouces. Also, I recently read a book that you might find an interesting read. It is called, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," by Babara Kingsolver. While it doesn't promote a low-carb diet per se, I found it a fascinating read (and it inspired me to make my own cheese and dream of living on a farm). Do you eat dairy? If so and you are interested in how to make homemade mozzarella and ricotta, let me know. Also, the book encourages eating locally and in season. If these are ideas you haven't yet considered, you might find them interesting. Well, I hope all is well with you. You are an inspiration! Thank you. :-) Best, H. Johnson Hi Dan You make a great point about listening to podcasts. I subscribe to about 10 of them, including both of Jimmy's! Listen to them on my phone, in the car, in the kitchen whilst doing chores etc. I find they help to motivate me and inform me, in a way that is quite different to the written word. I've been low-carbing for about 2 months now. Like you, we had a clear out of carb/junk food. It's so much easier to stick to this diet if the stuff isn't in the house. Anyway, best wishes with yout journey Rob - from Wales, UK Wow, amazing, you are an inspiration! I've lost 100 now and I can barely believe it, I've got 50 more to go, family friends, doctors are thrilled, but none so thrilled as me. No more heart palpitations, I also had pain in my right side, gone. Off statins and on one less BP pill. I'm walking on the treadmill daily and lifting small hand weights for upper body. I kick myself to think that it took me this long to discover this way of eating, so many wasted years. Allie Hello my name is Amanda I am a 26 yo mother of 2. I saw your blog about your weight loss and i thin k it is wonderful that u r willing to help others who sruggle with thier weight. I was 312 pounds at one time i have managed to get down to 270. I feel as if i am addicted to food. That i just cnt stop! i back slide time and time again what is this advice that u recommend? congrats on ur success i totally admire u! Amanda C. I came to your story backwards...I already know the ending from the "Active Low Carbers" website. You are an inspiration as I start low carbing (again). I previously lost about 85 lbs and kept it off for 4 years but I stupidly thought that I could "splurge" and then reset...for me it was disaster. I went off the wagon and gained all my weight back...my stats are almost identical to yours; 6' 1" tall and 300 lbs. I hope to look as good as you in a year or two. God bless, bob Tiffanie S. has left a new comment on your post "ONEDERLAND": Hi, my name is Tiffanie. i am 22 years old, and I have been overweight virtually my whole life, the only time I ever saw significant weight loss was when I was on a low Carb diet. I just wanted to congratulate you on your amazing story. You have really inspired me to start over and keep the results this time. pollyanna1 You are a model dieter! Your website is a marvel, too! Thank you for all of the wonderful information! LilyB ^^THIS^^ Made my whole day. Thanks for the giggle. Lily- who used to bounce on Grandma's feather bed... MizKitty I've been to your blog. It's very good. I just don't want to spend $300 on something I don't know if I will stick with it, and wondered what would be the harm in starting with a $50 piece of equipment while I tried it out. Sounds interesting. Thanks for your help. prplang14 It was your blog and reading all the entries that helped me to eat healthier, not harm my body with frankenfoods simply because they were "low calorie" or "low fat"...I've eaten smarter and feel so much more energized and better because of it! Thanks for your contributions!!! Kell_Smurthwaite That's an awesome achievement! You're an inspiration! :) I found your photos on here and just want to say how inspirational your story is. I watched the Wheat Belly videos from Dr. Davis and then downloaded his book. It all makes sense. Thank you! I started writing a blog about 6 months after my wife died. My journey continues. I will be adding more pages and information to this site. |
