Couple Loses Hundreds Of Pounds On Atkins Diet

wlky ^ | 11-04-03

[wheelgunguru]

Embarrassment, Health Issues Prompted Dieting

Many people have struggled to drop a few pounds, but what happens when you need to lose several hundred pounds?

Several years ago, Steve and Melissa Horstman of Boone County, Ky., decided that they didn't want to live with their weight problems anymore, and they used the emotional pain over being overweight to reach their goals.

Melissa and Steve met on the Internet several years ago and soon learned of their common bond: obesity.

"When you weigh 150 pounds over, you don't go out and socialize," Melissa said.

The couple met, dated and married, but humiliation struck again on their honeymoon when the airline pilot told Steve he would have to buy two seats next time because he was too big for one.

"It wasn't until after we got married that I saw on a daily basis how his weight was on his health," Melissa said. "I was afraid I'd just found him and we were just married, I was going to lose him."

Steve's weight topped out at 571 pounds. He recalls "just standing there in the winter and you're breaking a sweat just standing there because your back hurts and your knees hurt."

Despite the physical pain, Steve said the emotional toll on his health was greater.

"(It hurts) when you walk into a store and a 3-year-old looks up at their parent and says, 'Look at that fat man, Mommy,'" he said.

"It broke my heart every day," Melissa said. "I could see the people behind him. The looks, the whispers, the pointing."

Fad diets failed. Surgery was too expensive. So Melissa began looking into low-carb solutions like the Atkins diet.

Once the couple decided to try to the diet, major life changes were in order. First on the list: Eliminating the junk food that is tough to avoid for most people and irresistible to a 571-pound man.

"I could go to a certain drive-through and get eight sandwiches and four large fries, 10 to 12 cans of soft drinks a day, not the sugar-free kind," Steve said.

Steve weighed himself daily on a large scale in a local drugstore. The scale provided a printout, and Steve saved every one of them.

"At June 19, 1999, I was at 472 pounds," he said as he flipped through the printouts. "I'd lost about 100 pounds at that point."

Melissa dropped her weight, too, but for Steve, the diet was nothing short of a miracle. He was swimming in his size 6x shirts, and his 72-inch waist pants started falling off his waist.

Steve kept the belt he wore at his highest weight and punched new holes in it as he dropped the pounds.

These days, the couple is happy to simply blend in when they go to the mall.

From the time the couple changed their lifestyle, Steve has lost more than 320 pounds, and Melissa is down more than 100 pounds. They're proud of each other, and their confidence is at an all-time high.

"I always kid with her, 'How did that guy get that hot girl?'" Steve said.

"To go from people pointing and making faces and whispering to being hateful, to being mistaken for Howie Long ... He's extremely hot!" Melissa said of her husband.

Steve said he can't imagine going back to the overweight version of himself, and he's working to lose even more. His current weight is about 250 pounds, and he told Cooney it feels like "walking on air" when compared to his old weight.

"It's a terrifying thought," he said. "Just looking in the mirror and seeing the old me is motivation enough."

Redemption for Melissa comes in many forms, including a recent high school reunion.

"Nobody recognized me," she said with a smile.

Before:

After:

[carton253]

Yes, that's plenty. I'm sorry.. I misunderstood.

[Xenalyte]

Eat the toppings off the pizza like I do!

[Huck]

Last coupla weeks I took a holiday from salad and ate cheese instead. I guess I better get back to salad greens. I bet that alone makes a difference. I sometimes do leg circuit at the gym. I have strong legs and I like doing legs. I don't like back and arms as much. I play guitar and any sort of bulk at all in my arms bothers me. I like to be lean and tight. My chest is pretty good. I don't want bulk. Just the good shape, with chest and shoulders tapering to abs. I have a little dough around the middle, and the neck, but not too much. I just want to be tip top. I am goal driven, and 170 is the goal. I will up the water, ,lose the cheese, eat more greens, and see what happens.

[Xenalyte]

Lucky! Any good guest hosts?

[upcountry miss]

This is what I have when I absolutely must have something sweet. It is so simple that I hesitate to mention it but I hate to cook (hubby does all the cooking but frowns on this as he says it isn't really cooking.) Put 1 and 1/2 cup either half and half or whipping cream in a kool-whip container add 1/2 cup cold water. Shake a package of no-sugar instant pudding (Wal-Mart brand is cheapest) over the top of milk mixture, put on cover and shake-shake-shake. Delicious-much like mousse but stiffer texture. I have tried many variations. Today I used vanilla pudding, added maple flavoring and finely chopped walnuts. I estimate less than 10 carbs per serving. Chocolate is my favorite flavor. It might work better in a blender, but I find it sets quickly so I just shake hard and quickly pour into small serving dishes.

Incidentally, my heart Dr. has been trying to put me on a cholesteral-lowering drug but I have resisted. Went on Atkins, didn't mention it to him. My last check-up he was amazed that my cholesteral was fine.

[California74]

and just a reminder - eating no more than 20 grams a day of carbohydrate and the salad greens only is for the first 2 weeks INDUCTION only! Atkins says you can stay on it awhile longer, but never advocates staying on it forever.

After induction, you start the OWL (Ongoing weight loss) phase, where you add carbs- based on your metabolic resistance, which you figure out by how much you lost in the 1st 2 weeks. For example, if you are a woman and have over 50 lbs to lose, and you lost 8 lbs in the first 14 days of induction, you have average metabolic resistance (page 158 of paperback Atkins book), your critical carbohydrate level for losing would be 15-40 carbs a day. (page 173 of paperback Atkins book).

In OWL, you can eat foods like cottage cheese, nuts and seeds, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cantaloupe - in addition to the induction foods.

I'd urge anyone who hasn't read it, to buy or borrow the Atkins book and read what the diet's all about before going on it or criticizing it.

[California74]

That sounds WONDERFUL- and rather inexpensive! I am going to try it. Thanks!

[SWake]

This is not a cheap diet for me (I bought a $6 carton of "LeCarb" reduced carb milk this morning ... very good stuff!), but my sister and her family are all reducing their carbs and still making their budget work. Freepmail me if you want me to put y'all in contact. She will probably have some good ideas.

[California74]

Not really, yet. I am hoping more will be confirmed as the event draws closer.

[Redleg Duke]

Try the Adkins Diet. I have been on it going on 5 weeks and have dropped about 25 lbs. The change is incredible. More energy, stamina and self-esteem.

Just remember, the nicest sound in the world is a donut or pastry crying all alone in the box...and you are the one rejecting it! :-)

[Redleg Duke]

"The Atkins controversy deals with excessive protein intake which produces strain on your renal system."

That is why you need to drink lots of water. I have been and haven't had any problems. Just have to go alot. My acid reflux has virtually disappeared as well.

[Xenalyte]

Maybe it'll help if instead of weight, you make a body measurement your goal. I'm talking about (say) waist size or clothing size, 'cause I know you deves are out there. ;)

I have "marker" outfits for each size. When I can get into my hot-pink miniskirt, I know I'm a 10. The black velvet Marilyn Monroe means I've hit 8. And the silver glitter cocktail dress signifies a 6.

Clothing size is for me a more consistent (and heartening) measure than poundage. After all, if I turn my surplus 30 pounds into muscle, I'll probably lose 10 net - but I'll have gone down three sizes.

[Redleg Duke]

According to the book, you can stay on the induction phase for six months, max. The whole idea is to discover how many carbs per day your body really needs...not how many carbs your taste buds demand. :-)

[Huck]

Maybe it'll help if instead of weight, you make a body measurement your goal

I pretty much agree. I am goal driven, so I like to track progress some way. I realize weight isn't fool proof, but it's fairly reliable. Obviously, if my pants are falling down but the weight isn't what I expect, I'll adjust my expectations of what my weight should be. But, for the most part, I know what weight is going to coincide with what pants size.

[Grit]

From the website:

Eat no more than 20 grams a day of carbohydrate[zero is acceptable = salad optional],

most of which must come in the form of salad greens and other vegetables. [such as green beans, spinach, brocolli, cauliflower, celery, eggplant, zuchinni,etc (you've got to be able to stomach one of those :)]

You can[not must] eat approximately three loosely packed cups of salad, or two cups of salad plus one cup of other vegetables.

Everyone likes brocolli, right?

[CDHart]

Thanks for the explanation. My husband had a bout with atrial fib about three weeks ago. Definitely got his attention. He is now on the treadmill every day, cut out all caffeine, and swears he will lose the 40 pounds that he's overweight.

Carolyn

[Ditter]

Good for this couple!

I saw a program recently on the health channel about people who had lost huge amounts of weight. They looked fine in their clothes but they had skin hanging on their bodies like drapes. The program shows them having surgery to have the extra skin cut off.

It was something I had never thought of before.

[California74]

Thanks, I was looking for that in the book!

[Mamzelle]

Induction is pretty strict, but it's my belief that it functions more as cold turkey than weight loss. You're coming "off" the carb habit. And one of the reasons that Atkins says "if you're hungry, eat" is that carb addicts are always ravenous. When I started, I ate a lot more than I eat now--enormous breakfasts of steak, eggs and mushrooms, chicken salads for lunch, etc.

Now I can't believe I ate that much--but I think it was the carb cravings. You won't lose weight that fast if your caloric intake is high, but you'll lose the carb cravings which will set you up for future weight loss. No one loved taters and homemade bread more than I did--and now I can leave them alone, or have a small portion as a treat.

Make sure you've cut out all the sugar. When I stopped putting a teaspoon of sugar in my morning coffee, I dropped three pounds in one weekend. This after a month-long plateau where I lost nothing.

[California74]

People should not go on the Atkin's diet based on the website only. There simply isn't enough information. If you've read the book (which I did before starting the diet), you'd know that zero carbs is not an option because you're not getting proper nutrition. You NEED the salad to be healthy. Atkins is not a "CRASH DIET" to go on to lose the weight and then stop it. If you're doing that, you're not doing Atkins! You're doing a low carb crash diet.

The induction phase you can have 1/2 an avacado, sour cream, a couple of tablespoons of heavy whipping cream, 3 to 4 oz of cheese too... Stay away from ketchup, bbq sauce, etc. that have sugar. Is that listed on the website?

Atkins is a multi-phase lifestyle change. It totally changes the way you look at food. That's why it worked for the couple in the article this thread is about. They changed their lifestyle. And they'll probably keep it off!