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:

[warchild9]

I don't think anyone's thought of it, but might I reccomend martial arts as an exercise program? I weighed 194 pounds when I began studying karate in 1988, and was down to 175 within a year--and that was an extremely fit 175. (I split a lab coat across the back one day, where previously my belly had just heaved out the front. Surprised me to no end.) I'm still at 170-180, and work out 30-60 minutes every day, sometimes not strenuously at all (pushing oneself isn't as important as self-control in working out in soft form karate).
One doesn't have to go berserk with most martial arts, and the feeling of self-confidence that goes along with even a little expertise is a real rush.

[CindyDawg]

Yeah, I'm not really a meat eater though. I just don't care for it (unless it's battered or between a bun :'). I was just looking thru an Atkins carb book and I know this sounds bad but I was trying to figure out how many bites of a roll or baked potato I could have instead and stay under 20. I have cut the diet sodas to 20 oz a day (best I can do right now)and it has cut the sugar cravings a lot. I don't really miss them much anymore.

[RedWhiteBlue]

You might have an easier time on the South Beach Diet. Low carbs, but no carb counting -- foods are just identified as "good carbs" and "bad carbs." Ketosis is not encouraged. It is slower than Adkins, but it does work well. I've been on it for a few weeks now, have shed many pounds, am not hungry, and have never had that "bad feeling" that alot of people describe with Adkins.

[CindyDawg]

You have a link, so I can read about it?

[wheelgunguru]

People like you are an absolute waste of time. You jump into hysterical rants and remain, as always, clueless.

My post, einstein, said to check the links to get both sides.

[redangus]

Started at 282 and am down 20 since Sept. 11th. Started strictly Atkins, but for the last 4 weeks have been eating more fruit and veggies. I am still losing about 2 lbs/wk which is fine. I am hoping to be below 260 before Thankgiving and have only 2 lbs to go. Ultimate goal is 200 lbs which is still more than I would like to weigh, but I am trying to be realistic. I would love to get down to my HS weight of 165, but I'm not sure at 52 and with my present activity level that short of chemotherapy that is going to happen. I would be pretty happy at 6ft/200lbs. I think the greatest thing that Atkins, SB, The Zone etc. do is break the addiction of the ultra-high refined carb diet so many of us eat. Once that is done settling into healthful, natural, meat, fruit, veggies diet becomes easier. The success stories from FR helped motivate me to go on the diet.

[SamAdams76]

Please give me an example of "hysterical rants" in my postings. I'm intrigued.

[carlo3b]

You are listed on my Ping list.. welcome.. :)

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

(except pizza...I want pizza.)

Get the lo-carb tortillas, (11 grams of carbs but 8 are fiber so you can discount those) spread em with sauce add toppings, bake. Yum yum!

You can fold them to make a pazzon sort of thing or leave them flat.

[steveo]

I'd rather saw off a leg than give up Diet Coke.

Was the same way with me until I started drinking Diet Rite cola (and other of their flavors). It's made with a blend of Splenda and Sunett and has no caffeine. Tastes pretty dern good too.

[FrogMom]

Plus, any meat-intensive menu is going to raise your cholesterol level significantly.

Went to the doc. He said my cholesterol was too high (245). He wanted to put me on medication. I talked him into trying diet and exercise. He said that I had to come back in three months.

I started Atkins the next day. Bacon, eggs, ribeye steaks, buttered steamed veggies, salad with olive oil and spices or sour cream as dressing... YUM!

Went back to doc in three months. Had lost 20 pounds and cholesterol was 208. Feel good, sleeping great, knees no longer hurt constantly, more alert, no afternoon blahs, heartburn MUCH less.

Needless to say, I disagree with you.

[Saundra Duffy]

I guess it works.

[Twinkie]

That's the way my body is doing. Just insisting on being
at between 177-179 lbs. & shows signs of wanting to go on
up to 180. Bread really ruins my eating regimen and will
pack on the lbs. real fast. However, I've tried the low
carb diet and get real tired of it and fall off the wagon.
Med side effects. Fluid retention & stomach irritation due
to meds. Seems like every new one you try has its own side
effects. Wish I could find something natural that would
control my blood pressure & get my weight down.

[dennisw]

I'm the party pooper. Eating such a carvivorous diet may be great for some people for losing weight for a year or two. Continued for a lifetime, I predict more chance of cancer. The human body cannot tolerate diets so heavily laden with meat, protein and fats.

http://www.rense.com/general40/atkun1.htm

I agree that avoiding carbohydrates can help if you substitute salads for them. Example: at a buffet try to eat proteins and salads instead of meats (proteins) and bread (starches)

[CindyDawg]

I did a search. It looks a lot like Atkins the first two weeks. What happens after that?

[wheelgunguru]

You could also go to Google and type, "Conservative Republicans dangerous", "GOP bad for America" and "Ronald Reagan is the Antichrist" and come up with scores and scores of websites telling you how bad we all are. Good thing most of us are smart enough to sort through the chaff and use our own brains to decide what is best for us.

You're using absurd analogies that have nothing to do with the point of the post. You can find anything, anywhere.

I said, The resulting webs sites will give you plenty of info on both sides of the issue.

You missed that part. Surprise. Surprise.

[CindyDawg]

I quit working and my blood pressure went back down to normal. Of course my husband, said I made his go up when I did :')

[Crispy]

Huck - If you don't have much weight to lose, it will not drop off of you at the same rate as someone who is very overweight. Just stick with low carb (whichever plan you choose) and it will eventually come off. If it doesn't then you are either not eating *ENOUGH* or you are at your ideal weight already.

I started Atkins about a year ago. I have not lost at nearly the rate as a lot of others. I started at 210, I am at 175 now and I still have a good 10 pounds left to go. I have hit many plateaus. I have been in the 175 - 178 range for the past month in a half. But I have been on the plan long enough to know that one of these weeks, I will be at 171 - 172 all of a sudden.

I know by this next summer, I will bet at 165 or under, and that is good enough for me. I plan on eating the way I do now for the rest of my life so I am in no hurry. I know once it comes off, it is never going back on.

[SamAdams76]

So if that's your example of a "hysterical rant", I kindly suggest you don't hang around here too much for health reasons. You might have a coronary if you read too much more!

You're using absurd analogies that have nothing to do with the point of the post. You can find anything, anywhere.

It's actually the perfect analogy to what you were saying. You suggested to search Google with phrases like "Atkins Diet Dangerous" and I was merely retorting that it was a meaningless exercise as you could just as well type in "Ronald Reagan is the anti-Christ" and come up with scores of websites saying he is. So how is that an "absurd analogy." It's a perfect analogy to what you were suggesting. As you say yourself, you can find anything, anywhere. So what does it all mean? What does it all mean?

[wheelgunguru]

It's actually the perfect analogy to what you were saying.

No, it is not. Read my post. I was responding to numerous people who were wanting the links to adverse publicity re Atkins. I simply told them, i.e., how to do their own homework.

Then I said, "The resulting webs sites will give you plenty of info on both sides of the issue."

I wasn't slanting to one side or the other on the posts.

Then some moron criticized me for an "ominous" blessing. He then relegated the entirety of his proposition to a personal attack on me. What an idiot!

If this is your caveat , viz., that I'll have a coronary if I continue to read from this forum, then I would have to agree.

After all, if a political action forum is this juvenile, you're right, it's not worth my wasting my time.