I’m Mark. My wife, Darla and I stumbled into Atkins through the backdoor by way of “The Paleo Diet”. We were not actively seeking a weight loss or health changing diet for ourselves but, as small scale livestock farmers (beef, lamb, pork) were trying to keep abreast of health trends in our effort to develop local/regional markets for our USDA labeled meats.

We specialize in grass-fed beef and lamb so were excited by the “Purdue News” release admonishment in the spring of ’02 to “Eat meat” (particularly grass-fed) resulting from research by Watkins and Cordain. Our first lo-carb book purchases were “The Paleo Diet “ and “Life Without Bread”. An Amazon.com reader review had pointed the way to “Life w/o Bread” commenting on the logical problem of “the Paleo Diet” in ignoring the concept of glycemic index and promoting unlimited consumption of fruits.

Most people would assume that as livestock farmers we’d been eating alot of meat all along. Wrong. We’re in our mid-late forty’s and had been well indoctrinated in the “animal fat is bad/carbs are good” thinking. I can remember as a child my mother hiding the margarine when my dairy farming grandfather and uncle arrived for a visit. Thirty years of collected favorite recipes are hard to discard or modify overnight. Also we just started farming in ’99 and the realities of managing cash flow in a start-up farming operation dictate that the customer/market comes first. We purchased our first quarter beef from the farm in Jan. ’02.

What’s really amazing is the results of our purchase of a whole hog from our daughter’s two-sow pork operation in Oct. ’02. Faced with a recommended 6 month frozen storage life, 150 pounds of pork to eat, and limited freezer space, we set a goal of 6 pounds per week for our family of four. Bacon (or sausage) and eggs for BREAKfast; chops, steaks, or roast for supper. We also consumed other meats and fish so our total protein intake increased substantially. I soon noticed my size 36 jeans fitting more loosely. Note that our daughter’s hogs are not the modern lean-bred variety with cardboard-dry meat. Theirs have a substantial amount of fat. Plug: open-air raised, no fed antibiotics, have a life.

Early spring ’03 we met a couple who had recently moved to our area from NJ and were in Atkins Induction Phase. They commented on the liberal carb allowances of “Life w/o Bread” and the rigors of Atkins Induction. A personal challenge beckoned.

New books purchased and studied: “Atkins New Diet Revolution”, “Protein Power”, “Healthy for Life”, ”How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty Pounds”. Primary method used: Atkins, concentrating carb denial at lunchtime. Some carb cheating but easily forgiven due to activety level.


Darla was much more skeptical and less enthusiastic, partly due to the warnings of an RN friend who claimed to have seen ER cases of kidney failure due to Atkins while staffing a Chicago hospital. She never buckled down and went through Induction. She prepares about half our total meals and, to her credit, has reduced carb portions considerably but continues to fall for big carb sources like bagels and soft drinks.. Egg noodles are a big weakness. Darla will eat her entire portion while I’ll scrape at least a third into the ”pig bucket” we keep for veg/carb scraps. It’s amazing how you actually lose your taste for the stuff.


Results: Darla was 160 pounds, now 155 pounds, with a BF of 25 to 29%. Height 65 inches. Mark was 190 pounds, now 165 pounds with a BF of 13%. Height 70 inches. Body fat determined from measurements and charts in “Protein Power”.

The Induction Phase of Atkins seemed to last forever with mental fog the biggest hardship recalled. More impressive even than the weight loss is the long lasting energy level I now have. I used to get a severe case of mid-afternoon bonk and couldn’t accomplish much. Now I can power through this period with hardly a BREAK. Side benefits include a total disappearance of foot ache that I used to get upon standing for long periods on hard surfaces. Also my occasional horseback rides ( Darla keeps a small breeding/pleasure herd) are alot more enjoyable with a notable reduction in “bounce”. Toughest thing: Forcing myself to drink enough water. Unless hot I never seem to get thirsty.

What works for us:

• Learn to cook meat well (NOT well-done). The ability to prepare a variety of cuts in an appetizing manner is half the battle. Buy “The Complete Meat Cookbook”. Use an instant read digital meat thermometer.
• Buy meats locally, preferably farm-direct in quantity so you have it on hand w/o trips to the supercarbomarket. Get a freezer. We get many comments on the generally poor quality of metro supermarket meats. Watch out for and avoid water-added and starch/salt brined frozen meats.
• Get your life in line with your beliefs. For us it was quitting our office jobs and pursuing a longtime dream of livestock farming. Rather than mitigate our suburban lifestyle guilt through contributions to environmental orgs we chose to practice environmental stewardship on our own patch of this good earth. Also, I’d been involved in the food business since the mid-70’s. Working as an R&D Process Engineer for a major Mpls-based food company I was well acquainted with the never-ending push to cheapen industrial foods and replace authentic ingredients (ie butter) with carb extenders (starch). I wanted to produce real food. As an aside, note that despite lo-carb denial by regional food industry (vestiges of flour milling) and media, results and word of mouth seem to be getting people’s attention. The major regional paper (Startribune) scored only 11 total hits on a recent “low carbohydrate” search, 5 of which were “Atkins for Life” rankings on the local best- seller list. Typical of actual article content level was a fluff piece by Nigella Lawson raving about “Hamburger Holstein”. The most significant stretched way back to June 2000, a single paragraph in a column titled “Food News in Review” announcing government plans to test Atkins vs Ornish diets. They’ve recently begun promoting a “portion control” diet series as a nod to the obesity epidemic. Dream on.
• Make exercise a part of your life. I could never understand “health clubs” what with the expense, boredom and utter lack of a sense of accomplishment. Do something physical that needs to be done. My most reliable form of exercise is a full suspension mountainbike I use to run around the farm checking/moving livestock and scouting field conditions. It’s left by the door of the house and is always ready to go. I probably average 3 mile of hard going a day plus a mile of walking. Heck it’s nearly 100 yards just to the machine shed!

Check out our farm website: www.haycreek.net

Loved your article. I was particularly taken by your use of grass-fed cattle raising as a contribution to the environment. For years we've heard about how bad for the environment meat production is. And that's true in areas where they are cutting down rain forests to make grazing land. But they are also cutting down these forests to make farming land to grow grain! Is this any more environmentally sound, Ornish people? Anyway, I assume you live in Prairie country and don't have to cut a lot of trees to produce pasture land. Raising cattle is exactly how this land should be used.

Anyway, I'd like to see more grass fed beef in the stores but I don't expect it to happen in my area anytime soon. Our local chain supermarkets tout that they sell GRADE A GRAIN-FED ANGUS BEEF. Oh, it's good - but I'd prefer the grass-fed. I pass numerous pastures every day on the way to work. Probably the only way I'm going to be assured grass-fed beef is to buy a cow from a local farmer and have it slaughtered. (But for me, it's different if I see them alive - couldn't do it. Sigh!)

Anyway, thanks for making proper use of the land you have. If we'd all stop fighting nature and the environment and use each unique ecosystem in the way it is suited for, we'd all be healthier and the Earth would be sound.