Ken~ I love your new thread. What a wonderful accomplishment you have achieved!!!
Congratulations to your long life of happiness ahead.

You can do anything now!

I remember your camping trip last year and can just imagine how much you'll be able to enjoy yourself when you go back to that beautiful place.

WOW! Simply BRILLIANT!!




On your milestone post and your overall success! BRILLIANT!


Thank you for all of the effort it took to put all this into words and images for the rest of us. You are an amazing man! :rheart:

:clap: :clap: :clap: The most wonderful success story ever, and even better, an inspiration to everyone who finds it on this forum. Whether they need to lose 200 or only 20, you have shared the "secret to success". An awesome road to health from an awesome person!

Ken, you already know I think you are pretty amazing ... but this post is just AWESOME! You have been and continue to be a shining light to so many. This is a great testimonial to your inner strength and perseverance - but it's also an informative, motivational guideline for anyone trying to find their footing. Thank you for sharing this! As always, I am inspired and uplifted by your wonderful words. Congratulations, friend. I am so happy for you!

This is a perfect example of how we learn from one another and use our experiences for the lessons provided. Thanks, Ken, for sharing this detail. This is a post I'll read more than once, as there are many beneficial things I can learn from it.

Ken, what a wonderful story. I am going to send it to my son who is where you were...thinking a for-real goal weight is a fantasy. Come to think of it, I'm there too. Like Rob, I know I'll read this again and again. Thanks for sharing. You look fantastic!

Ken, beautifully written, as always.

And from the heart, again, as always.

Just lovely.

VERY inspirational. Thank you for sharing! You're looking great!!!

I noticed there was a point that your LDL skyrocketed. You and your doctor were concerned and you immediately made a plan to get it down without taking medication. I'm currently reading "Eat Fat, Get Thin" by Dr. Mark Hyman. I'm learning a lot about fat, healthy fat and unhealthy fat, cholesterol and much more! Dr. Hyman says that eating a LC diet will raise your LDL and thereby raise your total cholesterol. However, there's no reason to be concerned about this. There are two types of LDL. There's a small, dense, heavy kind, and a big, light, fluffy kind. The small, dense, heavy kind are the harmful, dangerous kind. It turns out your liver makes this kind of LDL when you eat sugar, carbs and processed food. The big, light, fluffy kind come from eating healthy fat. They are harmless. Your total LDL will be higher when you have more of the big, light, fluffy kind because anything big, light and fluffy takes up more space than something small, dense and hard. Think of the space a pound of golf balls take up. Then think of the space a pound of beach balls takes up. The beach balls are higher in number and take up more space than the golf balls, but they weigh the same.

To test for LDL particle size, you should ask your doctor for an NMR lipid profile. This test determines the particle size and number of LDL, HDL, and triglycerides. You should have fewer
than 1,000 total LDL particles and fewer than 500 small LDL particles.

I don't know if all labs will provide this test, but Dr. Hyman says you can get it through Labcorp.

Dr. Hyman provides a great downloadable pdf entitled How To Work With Your Doctor To Get What You Need. Just search the title on the internet and you'll find it.

Ken, I know you've got this! You have it all under control. I thought this a good place to mention the LDL thing for anyone else that finds this thread and has issues with high LDL. NEVER, EVER get on statins to lower your cholesterol. Another thing Dr. Hyman says is that there is no medical evidence to show that taking statin drugs reduces the risk of heart attacks. It's true they lower cholesterol, but there is also no evidence to show that high cholesterol leads to a greater risk of heart attack.

Again, thank you for posting this. I'm going to come back to reread this whenever I'm having a tough day. My story is almost identical to yours. Getting on low carb, falling off, giving up and gaining all the weight I lost back plus more, trying again, and again. It's all too familiar. Your 2-year milestone post will help me through the tough days. I'm ready to be at that place where it's easy and I don't feel tempted. Temptations have eased, but there are days they come back pretty strong. I will remember that I can't cheat, not ever!

Ken, a hearty congrats to you. :thup: :thup: You look fantastic. Thank you for sharing your pics, your story, and your no-nonsense honesty. Although there are many of us who did not start out with triple-digits to lose, your story is an excellent one for anyone to absorb, regardless of how many pounds they want to lose.

I particularly admire your refusal to just go on statins as an easy way to cure a lab number that isn't even a disease.

...and dude, no, maintenance isn't hard. You have two years experience. You just keep on doing what you've been doing, for the most part. You just stress less about a few extra nuts, berries, peanut butter, traces of added sugar, a little too much coffee, etc. 90% of the meals I eat are induction-friendly. 14 years in the books for me. :thup:

Thank you for sharing your LC journey. Brilliant inspirational story. You really have seen the light!! :)

Congratulations Ken. What an amazing journey. Your milestone is inspirational. Your opening paragraph couldn't be more on point.

Ken you are an amazing man! Thanks for sharing your incredible and inspirational story.

Ken, yours is truly an inspiring story--in part because what you have done is so, well, simple. Not easy. But simple. The journey of a thousand miles, one footstep after another. Thank you for taking time to write it all down. This will be a guiding light forever for those who find their way to this forum.

This post is fantastic. Your accomplishment is fantastic.


Yeah, I know, right!?! I don't even care. I don't care that I don't care. I'm bored with the idea that I don't care.


More would be nice. Yet, if I get more or less it is such a difference from where I was that's all that matters.

I had a church sponsored health screening two weeks ago. My BP was 117 / 87. I turned to my wife and said, "Not bad for a fat man." The nurse said, "Oh you're not fat." I thought, "Oh you don't know......"

PS - Where were those hiking pictures taken? Upper James River area?

UH-MAZE-ING!!!

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D