[SamAdams76]

This diet (and other normal-carb diets like it) are becoming a juggernaut. Whenever I go to a restaurant and mention that I'd like to have vegetables instead of rice or celery sticks instead of bread, the waiter immediately understands that I am on a normal-carb diet and the rest of the meal is a breeze.

I was a skeptic of this way of eating until about the end of March when I finally got disgusted with myself for getting fatter and fatter year after year even though I became much more careful about what I ate.

The food pyramid was killing me but I just didn't know it at the time. I dutifully ate the 6-11 servings of grains a day and thought I was making wise health choices by eating tons of bagels, glass after glass of orange juice, heaping plates of pasta, rice, potatos and so on.

But I kept getting fatter and fatter. On April 1st of this year (No April Fooling), I weighed a tad over 300 pounds. It was out of control and getting ridiculous. My waist size 48 pants were now too tight on me and I was starting to get the 3XL shirts and the inevitable "elastic waistband" trousers.

So in early April, I decided to go "normal-carb." Now this wasn't the Atkins plan but something very similar. I cut my carbs down to under 100g a day (the average American eats 425g a day and I was easily having over 600g a day). I eliminated all processed foods from my diet and started buying only from the outside perimeter of the supermarket (meat, fish, vegetables, cheese, yogurt, nuts, berries). No more refined sugar. No more white flour. No more juices or snack foods. Just good plain food in its natural form.

The weight immediately started coming off. I was amazed. This normal-carbing really does work! Suddenly I was 285, then 280, then 275, and then people started noticing. My pants were falling down around my ankles. I was cutting new notches in my belt. My face started losing it's "double chins."

By the end of June, I was down to 260 and there was no turning back then. I started shrinking out of my clothes so fast that sometimes I didn't even get a chance to wear them. Let's just say that I made the people at Goodwill very happy this summer.

Last Sunday I was at 220 and I now wear size 38 trousers - soon going down to a size 36. Eventually, I will be at about 185 pounds and a waist size of 34.

This normal carbing works. Just to prove it, I will post the following pics of myself, something I never thought I'd do on this forum:

This is me about a year ago last September with my sons Brian and Christopher. This is in front of Nathaniel Hawthorne's house near the North Bridge in Concord. At the time, I was in the neighborhood of 285-290 pounds and I remember that day well. I was hot, tired and hungry. Right after this picture was taken, we stopped at an ice cream stand and I had a huge ice cream sundae. A few months later, I would be at 300 pounds.

This picture was taken about three weeks ago during a fishing trip as we were approaching Gloucester Harbor. I had a vigorous 5 mile walk that morning and I am just full of energy in this picture. I was down to 228 pounds that morning and has just gotten down to a waist size 38 (10 inches less than it was before). I am already almost 10 pounds less than that today.

[Martin Tell]

Good for you, Sam! But can you drink beer?

[MonroeDNA]

I've seen it work for many, many people. And the funny thing is, their cholesterol goes down.

[Partisan Hack]

Great Job Ken!!! You look great. Just printed out. My wife always wondered what you looked like!

Congratulations!

[Delphinium]

It's a great diet, and I recommend Dr Atkins anti-aging diet books too.

I could tell many success stories, but will only tell this one:

My 61 year old sister quit smoking and went on this diet 3 years ago. She lost from size 20 to size 7, and has never gained it back.

[Delphinium]

And I like the fact that this must infuriate the left, especially the animal rights wackos. They always try to destroy the cattle industry.

[metesky]

I gotta say you look like a young guy again, eh? How old ? Late forties?

[CARTOUCHE]

Great before and after Sam. I too have taken to the low carb regimen and I eat a fair amount of cheese, eggs, bacon braunschweiger and meats. My cholesterol load is the best it's been in over a decade. My cardiologist has commented very favorably on my bloodwork the past 6 months and I too am thrilled that I have dropped from a 46 to a 40 and continue to shrink. Best to you on your continued success.

[July 4th]

Good deal! Nice job.

[Revolting cat!]

Great! (Memo to self: Sardines for lunch tomorrow!)

[Angry_White_Man_Syndrome]

read this

[Tribune7]

Good job, Sam!

[Sloth]

Awesome pics. I started a low-carb effort just yesterday, along with my wife. I have more weight to lose than you did. I would probably be a candidate for bariatric surgery, & I know several who have lost a lot that way, but I intend to make a serious attempt to do it naturally... I tried a few years ago & lost about 25 lb, but got off the diet for whatever reason - I expect it'll be more convenient now, due to wider low-carb product availability. I have even found some no-carb BBQ sauce.

[Bella_Bru]

When Unilever PLC, the British food giant that owns Slim-Fast Foods, announced in July that U.S. profits had dropped 23 percent, it quickly pointed an accusing finger at the Atkins diet,

A nice way of saying: Unilever began whining, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaa...people have figured out that our sugar laden beverages will not help them lose weight, just make them fatter."

BTW, Sam, you're looking good!

[Loyalist]

Congratulations!

Lowering carbs works wonders. Just by reducing carbs and going to the gym three days a week, I've gone from 205 to 193 in three weeks. My goal is to reach 180, which is about normal for a man my height and build.

My oldest sister and her husband are both doctors, and they thought I was nuts for considering even a modified form of Atkins.

But it seems to be working so far.

[Rebelbase]

Good for you! I'm 5 weeks into this low carb diet and have dropped about 22 lbs so far.

[au eagle]

Congratulations and may you have continued success. I've been on a "modified" Atkins for a year after being diagnosed with Type II diabetes. Because of the diet, my glucose levels have returned to normal, so I do not have to take meds. Slowly lost 20 pounds but enjoyed my Mick Ultra during the whole time!

Economists at the National Bureau of Economic Research and University of Chicago persuasively argue that one of the biggest reasons for the nation's current obesity epidemic is that food is now so much cheaper and easier to prepare. "Forty percent of the recent growth in weight seems to be due to agricultural innovation that has lowered food prices," write Darius Lakdawalla of the RAND Corp. and Tomas Philipson of the University of Chicago.

That and government free food programs. Juvenile diabetes is an epidemic and we can blame the government for it.

[Fred Mertz]

The food pyramid was killing me but I just didn't know it at the time.

It's good that you've seen the light about gooberment advice. Aren't you about 6'4"? Didn't we meet in DC about 5 years ago at the MFJ?

Keep up the good work and thanks for the enlightening story of your battle of the belt-line.

[Pylot]

Well congrats on controlling your weight. Like you I was raised on the old food pyramid and its a killer.

The hallmark of America is overweight people.

I have lost about 45 pounds over the last year or so but have only discovered the low carb aspect of dieting in the past 6 months. It makes keeping the weight off easy.

The fun part for me is that I was always too vain to throw away my "skinny" clothes so I am recessing back through a whole new wardrobe of forgotten things. Many of my 265 pound clothes are now gone for good.

Go Adkins!

[jellybean]

Entrepreneurs are rushing to join the party. Atkins Nutritionals Inc., the food company started by Atkins before his death this year, sold $100 million worth of 90 low-carb products last year. Weight Watchers is introducing a low-carb pasta. Michelob hawks its new beer Ultra with the slogan, "Lose the carbs. Not the taste." (Michelob refuses to specify how the beer is selling but says it has "exceeded expectations.") And in California, New York, and, improbably, Texas, you can get freshly prepared Atkins meals delivered hot to your door. No one can specify the size of the Atkins market, but experts estimate it's at least $1 billion per year.

Lookin' good, Sam!

As the evidence continues to mount that low-carb eating is a healthy lifestyle more and more companies will jump on the bandwagon and begin marketing low-carb products. I predict within 6 months this market will explode.

[krunkygirl]

Bravo!