Low Carb Success Story: Karen Rysavy
By Karen Rysavy
This
is me at age 15, saying "No, I will NOT pose
outdoors in this ridiculous outfit, I am WAY TOO
FAT!" I didn't speak to my future sister-in-law
for weeks after she snapped that picture - WHAT
A JOKE!! I wasn't fat then, I only thought I was. Now, in the second picture, taken in January 2000,
less than one month before my 35th birthday, well,
yes, I am fat. "Morbidly obese", to
be precise. And as I had always considered 70
years to be an average life span, this particular
approaching birthday made me stop and reflect
on lots of things. Like the fact that my life
was more than likely at least half over. And that
since I had started smoking at the ripe old age
of TEN it was pretty unlikely that I would live
to my idealized "average" age, anyway!
I had quit smoking at least a half dozen times,
once for all of five months. But each time, when
I gained weight, I gave up and started puffing
again. Better to be fat and be smoking, than to
quit and get even fatter, I figured. Either condition
is supposed to be a death sentence..... I knew
that my cholesterol had been seriously elevated
for several years. My weight had been increasing
steadily since the birth of my first child in
1985, after a toxemic pregnancy. Successive efforts
to lose weight (long term) by dieting were unsuccessful.
Attempts to treat my dangerously high triglycerides
(over 400) with medication resulted in triglyceride
levels of almost 900. I was informed that they
couldn't even measure cholesterol accurately at
levels that high. The doctor then suggested adding
another medication (since the first one had worked
so well??) I quit going to that doctor - and I
quit taking the medications. I cut calories down
to no more than 1000-1200 per day, and exercised
regularly, and I shed 25 pounds in five months.
But my cholesterol was STILL high, (though slightly
improved) and just about then I realized that
my quality of life really SUCKED! I began to have
an occasional beer or cake/cookie, and BAM! Not
only did I gain back all the pounds I lost, I
packed on an additional 20 pounds on top of the
originals. (Again. This was just the latest repeat
of an all-too-familiar pattern.) Four times losing
weight and gaining back MORE and I had landed
myself in the "morbidly obese" category.
So I determined not to EVER do that to myself
again. I mean, my butt barely fit in the seat
of the Mind Eraser roller coaster at Six Flags
as it was!!! I couldn't afford another "diet".
Not ever. So I gave up trying to quit smoking
and lower my cholesterol, and I gave up trying
to lose weight. And then I realized that I was
about to turn 35. Wait a minute! I am not done
living! I am not ready to start the downhill slide
into old age and infirmity. I can still out-ski
my skinny friends! I still cut quite a swath blazing
down the highway in black leather on my big bad
motorcycle! I don't look that bad .... Do I? So
I really started looking. And I realized that
Yes, I looked that bad. And all any of this soul
searching did was depress me. Because the basic
facts hadn't changed. I didn't think I could live
on 1200 calories a day for the rest of my life.
Not without ending up divorced and friendless.
And what good would that do? I sank deeper into
my funk.
And
then one day, my husband came home and changed
my life forever. Just because he doesn't like
to read ~ and he decided he wanted to lose some
weight. He had run into a friend who had lost
45 pounds on the Atkins diet. "But that's
not supposed to be safe" I protested. "How
do you know?" he asked. I realized that I
really didn't know enough about it to have an
opinion. So I agreed to purchase and read the
book on his behalf. After all, I loved to read,
and if he was going on a diet, I, as the cook,
would have to be briefed.
By the time I finished the first chapter, I was
in tears. Dr. Atkins was describing ME. What's
more, he swore there was an easy, healthy way
to regain the old me. I finished the book, and
I read it again. A few days later, three days
before my 35th birthday, I started a low carb
diet combining principles from Atkins and Protein
Power. Five weeks later, I smoked my last cigarette
ever. My cravings for food had gone away. Why
couldn't it work for nicotine too? I don't really
know if it was the diet that helped me get over
my cravings for cigarettes, or the fact that the
diet eliminated ALL my food cravings, which meant
that I could safely quit the cigarettes without
pigging out, but either way, I have not had a
cigarette since March 4, 2000.
Eight
weeks into this diet I had my cholesterol tested.
It was within "norms" already! This
is not a diet. This is a life change that this
yeast bread baker and worshiper has found incredibly
easy to commit to. Once you give up refined carbohydrates,
and find a hidden well of energy you NEVER knew
existed (even as a child) once you see your own
always-lackluster and weak hair and nails begin
to grow out luxuriously strong and healthy, once
you begin exercising not out of any sense of obligation
or guilt but out of sheer enthusiasm for how good
you feel, why, you find that sugar and flour do
not tempt you. Not that I will never eat any again.
Don't misunderstand me. It is just that I will
never blindly eat either one again. I am now aware
of the deadly chain reaction they cause inside
my incredibly efficient body. And I am losing
weight that I will NEVER gain back. And as God
is my witness, I WILL NEVER BE HUNGRY AGAIN. I
have never once been hungry since I went lowcarb.
Not once. This is nothing like every other time
I tried to do the right thing for myself and my
body. This is different. It is unthinkable to
me to ever go back to the way I was. I have no
doubt in my mind whatsoever that I WILL reach
a "normal" weight. It may take a while,
but it will happen. It is a side effect of my
new way of life, you see. An unavoidable, very
pleasant side effect! If you need to lose weight,
lower cholesterol, control diabetes, high blood
pressure, or acid reflux, quit smoking, rid yourself
of migraines, heartburn, or allergies, ease the
pain of arthritis or gout, or you just want to
feel generally better, then I strongly urge you
to investigate the low carb way of eating for
yourself!
Visit
Karen's web site at www.trulylowcarb.com
Order her cookbook here.
- Monthly shipment