I had this abdominal pain for a few weeks that just kept getting worse. I went to my "female" doc and went thru test upon test with ultrasounds and everything with absolutely no answer, except "it's not life threatening, whatever it is". They gave me an absolute diagnosis of polycystic ovarian syndrome (which explained ALOT, and was also semi-expected), and said my insulin was pre-diabetic. She said "you need to go low carb. I suggest Atkins."

Well, a couple of my bandmates had been on it and done well, but the one time I tried it, I didn't read the book and didn't stay on it.

That day I was in Walgreens and there was a stand with a cookbook and the original Atkins book, so I bought it and the rest is history. I feel great, and it's only a matter of time! That's amazing to me! I'm just living my life and being a little careful, and the reward is spectacular! Being my fun, spunky, wild, beautiful self again! AMEN!

I was tired of TOM getting tougher and tougher to endure, due to the cramps. If I didn't become useless because of the cramps; I became useless because of the drugs to combat them.

I was tired of sounding like a saw mill every night. It was no longer funny to keep my husband awake, and I wasn't getting very good sleep, either.

I was tired of feeling like a sausage being stuffed into my clothing - although I hadn't noticed it as much until just around the same time as I started LC.

Finally, I moaned a bit to my chiropractor about the cramps (actually, again - because it seemed like my appointments often coincided with that time), and he said to try cutting back on the carbs.

Well, I figured it certainly couldn't hurt. Couldn't be worse than what I was currently enduring.

I cannot believe the health changes. So, although originally I hadn't noticed the way the weight had sneaked up on me (I didn't have a scale), I certainly noticed when my clothes started fitting better.

My husband noticed that I wasn't snoring.
I noticed and appreciated an absence of the horrid cramps.
I noticed better sleeping patterns, and more energy.

So, now, I'm committed to this for life - because I never what to go through that agony again.

My sister, an on and off dieter throughout her life, asked me to go on Atkins with her since we live together and it would be easier for her to stick with it if I joined her...so I did reluctantly. I've never dieted in my life, nor have I suffered from low self-esteem or other weight-related confidence issues...despite my size. I joined her, nearly quit a few days into it due to incredible headaches- this forum helped me to stick to plan even through those terribly difficult first few days...

And I'm so glad I did- the difference b/w how I felt before and after Atkins WOE is amazing. I have lots more energy, feel healthier and even through spring (my worst when it comes to allergies), I've had nary a symptom. I love it! My skin looks so much healthier now that I drink lots of water, rather than soda. I feel like a completely different (shrinking!) woman!

My dad has suffered a serious stroke. He would just say whatever came to mind. His politeness filter was gone. I saw him in March of 2003 and he kept saying over and over again that he had never seen me that big. I hadn't realized how much I weighed until then. I went home and weighed and was shocked to see that I had passed the 200 mark.

It wasn't until May of the same year that I started low carbing though. I am so glad I did. Now I see what I truelly looked like in the pictures. I don't know why I didn't see it before.

For me it was putting on my favorite jean skirt one day and I could hardly zip it up. Now, this is a skirt that has always (even when I "felt fat") ALWAYS fit, even felt a little loose sometimes. I was so horrified. The next morning I weighed myself and got another shocker; I'd put on close to 20 pounds in the last 7 to 8 months.
I did Atkins before and it worked so well, but we moved and I let it go. So here I am, determined to get down and STAY down!
Julie

I appreciate these kinds of threads because I believe there is a "hitting the bottom of the barrell" incident that happens to everyone before they really get serious once and for all. Sometimes it is an actual incident and sometimes it is a psychological/emotional "break".

I remember my wake up call perfectly. For business I had to fly from Orlando to Seattle then come home and fly from Orlando to Colorado Springs the next week. I hadn't flown in several years.

I had to ask for a seat belt extender! I was so embarressed that I stole the extender from my first flight and put it into my purse when the stewardess wasn't looking so I could avoid asking again. I was stealing pure and simple.

Not only did I need the seat belt extender, but I was terribly uncomfortable from being crammed in the seat. One flight was especially rough and I was in physical pain the last couple of hours.

And the worst part - a woman and her daughter were seated next to me and she looked at me while pointing to some empty seats and said "perhaps you would be more comfortable up there, my daughter is claustraphobic".

I started Atkins for the second time soon after that! I have to fly again in July and I think I will be okay .

Orchid

Well for me I was diagnosed as being Diabetic with high BP and obese (245lbs)

The doctor advised that I should quit smoking lose weight and put me on medication for hypertension, the diet she recommended was the diabetics diet that is advised by diabetes UK.

So I quit smoking (honest it was easy) ate the crap, BP went up so the medication was doubled and in 6 weeks I weighed 268lbs, not good,

As with all of us I have a computer, so I put this machine to work and spent a good week researching diets, what food does what and realised the evils of manufactures and their processed “food” how and why sugar is just as unhealthy as arsenic to some folk, then I discovered and obtained the Atkins plan, and the rest is history.

First month – 27lb second month – 28lb third month –10lb. Today I weigh 196lb that my friends is 70lb gone in 5 months or so, I have had my stalls and weight gains I’ve been fed up with counting carbs I don’t think I could eat another egg but and it’s a big BUT I will never go back to eating the crap recommended by the fools in government.

Lez

PS.
I’m off medication for high BP fasting glucose is 5.5 the extra weight I carry will come off in time and I still don’t smoke

I lost my Mother to diabetes & heart disease. I promised her before she passed away that I would lose weight & get healthy. She is my strength & she keeps me going one day at a time.

What I have read so far is so inspiring!!! After being married to the "wrong" person for 9 years and having 3 children, my body was in sad shape. I was hovering at 190, threw my back out a couple of times (quite embarrasing to be stuck on the bathroom floor after simply bending to pick up a robe, then having to hold on to my ex's ankles and inch my way into the living room in horrible pain), but kept on eating. I ate very emotionally!

When our marriage ended, I lost 30 lbs from stress (never could sit still during that time) and hardly eating. I really was happy with the loss though and I looked better than I had in years. Promised myself Id never gain it back. We know how well starvation diets work !

Met my current DH, got very happy, started eating again, gained it all back! Struggled with my horrible appetite and lost everytime. A good friend bought DANDR and did not have time to read it. I told her I would and Id explain it to her. That was last August and Im so thankful to have read that book. I will never go back to my former way of eating. Ive had ups and downs, stalled out, and backtracked a few pounds here and there, but this is just like life, you learn as you go and try not to repeat your mistakes! Im so very thankful for learning how to eat and control my appetite, without starving.

It's always so interesting to hear other peoples' experiences! Last year I had reached the end of my rope with Gall Bladder problems. When I went to the doctor for it I was shocked when I was weighed and weighed in at 239! I thought I was just hovering around 200. Ha! They also drew blood for cholesterol testing and while I was just borderline, my triglycerides were high. I then had my GB removed and initially lost about 15 lbs. after surgery. Well, almost a year went by and I wasn't weighing in, but I knew my clothes were tight on me. Even my turtlenecks this winter seemed tight around my neck and I knew I had to do something. But the clincher came when I stepped on the scale after Christmas and it read 242!. I just wanted to die. I knew I had to do something. I was ruining my health, just two years away from 40, and had a 3 year old daughter that I wanted to stick around for. I started researching diet plans knowing I had to do something I was going to be able to stick with. I didn't want to starve the weight off this time. That's how I lost my gall bladder -from low calorie dieting. I was paranoid. I was hearing so much about Atkins and found out that my uncle and cousin had done Atkins and were feeling great and had kept the weight off for 2+ years. I picked up the book and read it and thought "I will try this for the two week induction period and see what happens." What happened was I found the perfect WOE for me and have not looked back since.

Vicki B.

Last December we decided to ride our horses over to the neighbors to give them some Christmas presents. Now granted, I was dressed in layers of warm winter clothes and my horse is half draft (very tall) but I COULDN'T GET ON MY HORSE! I finally had to lead him over to a little hill so I could get on. In January we took a trip to Arizona and when the pictures came back I could clearly see just how heavy I was. I started Atkins right after getting those pictures developed.

seeing this picture http://forum.lowcarber.org/gallery/...16_2002_lrg.jpg

I cried and cried after seeing it... I never wanted to see myself that large again... (I ended up even larger than that because a week after that pic was taken, I became pregnant, LOL)

I've only been married less than a year. One day not that long ago, my husband and I were cuddling on the sofa and things started getting heated and suddenly I wanted everything to STOP because it was so light in the living room and I was embarrassed about how I was going to look -- like a big fat whale on a black leather sofa.

Suddenly, I couldn't think of anything except how fat I was, and it sucked all the pleasure from the moment (terrible for me and certainly terrible for my husband you has never been anything other than wonderful and loving towards me). From that day on I was horribly aware of being overweight and terribly down on myself -- which is NOT the recipe for having a happy life. I realized I was no longer the person I used to be and that I didn't like this new unhappy, uptight, overweight, lazy person at all. That's when I went and took the spandex pictures in my journal and decided that I had better get on the with business of living the life I wanted to live -- the HEALTHY way. I wanted the old me back.

I was a little overweight to begin with--I was at 170 pounds when I was previously at 150--but what really got me into Atkins was gaining some 70 pounds over the course of 4 months or so when I went on a mood stabilizer to deal with my bipolar disorder. I've changed medicines since then but I'm still dealing with the aftermath. I've never been this big before in my life but I think it's taught me to appreciate how thin I really used to be.