Low Carb Success Story: Angela Stark
By
Julie Westly
As
published in CarbHealth Magazine, Feb. 2003
Angela
Stark was born and raised in Culver City, California. She is
5’ 2 inches tall and started the low carb way of life
May 15, 1998, weighing 196 pounds and wearing a size 22. “I'll
never forget it.” Angela said “. I had read Dr.
Atkins’ book and decided to set a date to start. Mother’s
Day was approaching, so that was the date I chose to begin the
Atkins Diet.” Today, Angela weighs 103 pounds, which is
three pounds under her goal weight of 106. She reached her goal
in May of 1999 after just one year of low carb eating. She has
maintained her weight loss and her size 2/4 figure, ever since.
It took Angela a little over 10 years to get to her heaviest
weight. “ I guess it started after my son’s motorcycle
accident in 1987” she said. “After a few years of
brain trauma rehab, my son came home. My son’s friends
and staffing persons would come over and I would be cooking.
We’d all eat together thinking this was good for my son’s
recovery. I was cooking and eating a lot! Not only that, but
eating what was left over too! Being raised in an Italian family,
at mealtime we served a lot of bread and pasta. For many years,
at every meal, my grandmother used say to me "eat some
bread so you'll get full". Hello! I mean the pasta and
the bread! Delicious, they were, but, not very healthy. They
are what Dr. Atkins refers to as “fluff and fillers”.
Now, I just eat REAL foods. No fluffs and fillers are going
into THIS body. I fill up on steak, chicken, salmon, broccoli,
berries and delicious salads. Yum! I eat only the good stuff!”
Prior
to the Atkins Diet, Angela tried the Beverly Hills Diet (mainly
eating pineapple). “I lost 25 pounds,” she told
me “ but as soon as I was sick to death of pineapple,
I gained it all back. I did it for the obvious reasons... I
was as big as a house and nothing else was working, certainly
not calorie counting. Every time I caught a glimpse of my reflection
in a storefront window or a mirror, I'd jump back from fright.
I'm serious. I wasn't seeing "me". It was like I was
looking at someone else. That couldn't be me! I wanted to lose
weight so desperately. The “Pineapple Diet” had
hardly any variety. My duration with it lasted for one or two
months.”
“ My Doctor had me on Phen Fen (the diet drug) for a couple
of months, then took me off as soon as concerns came out about
its safety. I had lost about 20 or so pounds in the two to three
months I took it. I started to gain the weight back again as
soon as I stopped taking it. I felt Phen-fen was awful! I didn't
want to become dependant on the medication and it made me feel
tense and irritable. It made me literally feel crazy! I was
really glad to stop taking it. The only side effects that I
can recall other than above was, I just didn't feel normal,
or what I thought was normal. My heart would start racing and
fluttering. It scared me too. I told the doctor and I believe
that's when he instructed me to stop taking them. He told me
also that there was talk of Phen fen lawsuits that had been
brought up in the news. The only thing easy about it was that
it is easy to swallow a pill. Especially if your doctor prescribes
it and you have visions of yourself, light on your feet.”
Then Angela found Dr. Atkins' Diet. “ Nothing else worked.”
She said. “ To discover this way of life was not only
appealing for the variety of foods you can enjoy but the fact
that it didn't require a lot of physical activity to work! That
was the clincher. I was in a lot of pain. Even the most simple
exercises were not something I wanted do.
“Not only was I obese, I was afflicted with what my doctor
diagnosed as Psoriatic Arthritis. I knew it wouldn't be long
until I needed both knee and hip replacement surgeries. I was
in pain all the time and lived on 500 mg. Naproxen capsules.”
“The medication ate at my stomach. It hurts just to think
about it! My Cholesterol was over 300! The doctor prescribed
Lipitor capsules, which didn't work. He also told me I was borderline
diabetic. My triglycerides were in the high 600's. I was what
some folks referred to as ‘a walking heart attack’.”
“I had no energy and turned into a real couch potato.
Of course, the remote control became an extension of my hand.”
Angela sighed.
“When I started Dr. Atkins’ diet, I told my doctor
I wasn't going to take the Lipitor medication any more, and
to track my results. As Dr. Atkins book recommends, I had him
do a blood test for all of my ailments. My doctor kept warning
me that the Atkins Diet wasn't a healthy diet, and my cholesterol
was going to get worse. But, he agreed to track my results.”
Amazing to me, before I started the Atkins diet, the good doctor
had prescribed the now forbidden Phen-Fen for my weight loss.
If I’d kept taking it, I could have died!”
“ I found the Atkins Diet while seeking information about
ketogenic diets,” Angela continued “which I’d
heard had shown to have great results in the treatment of seizure
disorders. This is what afflicts my son. I found web sites pertaining
to the keto diet and joined an email group of parents from all
over the world. We shared experiences and were able to ask questions
of a wonderful network of experienced people. I kept seeing
Dr. Atkins name mentioned in the posts on the keto boards and
decided to look into it further. I wanted to test it on myself
before putting my son on this new eating regimen.”
“Thank goodness I did this!” Angela exclaimed, “
Now, with over four years of living the Atkins lifestyle, along
with taking glucosamine, chondroitin and other vitamins, my
arthritis is gone COMPLETELY! NO MORE PAIN! My GOD!! My doctor
had told me there was NO cure. Plus, I no longer have psoriasis!
My cholesterol is around 150, my triglycerides are 60 and it
takes the edge off of menopausal symptoms too. Besides maintaining
my weight at 103 lbs, my energy level has increased tenfold.
I feel terrific! I have no time for TV, and am living an entirely
NEW life. Actually, I should say "I now HAVE a life!"
It healed my brain as well as my body. My body feels like it
operates more efficiently somehow. Dr. Atkins diet has shown
me that sugar was the evil to all of my prior ills. It's in
everything! Everything! And, I believe it keeps us all a little
sick or worse yet, a lot.”
At Angela’s last doctors visit, some time ago, her doctor
made a statement in jest. “I thought it was in jest but
it caused me to stop and think. He said, "With patients
like you, I'm going to go out of business!" Uh... okay...
Then I wondered, what would happen if the entire population
stopped consuming sugars? I mean, what's the bottom line? Besides
everyone feeling a lot better, what would happen to the medical
profession, The Diabetes Foundation and the FDA? Think about
it. The Atkins diet did miracles for me. I enjoyed incredible
side effects that healed my body. Things I wasn't planning on
or expecting. I was happy just to think I could lose weight
eating all the foods that I love. But, to have it lower my cholesterol,
triglycerides, eliminate my painful arthritis? You have to agree,
it is a real miracle!”
“I was in pain all the time. I used to have to cushion
my hips with pillows every night just to sleep. I was never
comfortable. That's ALL gone. I had large scaly patches on my
elbows, knees, scalp and eyelashes. Oh! It was awful! I can't
believe it's ALL gone. This diet was perfect for me, in the
condition I was in. When I bought the book one of the first
things that caught my eye was "a lot of exercise is not
necessary" I knew then and there, that I was going to love
this diet! This was for me!”
Angela believes that Dr. Atkins is a genuine, caring, human
being and professional. “He's not like most physicians,
eager to write a prescription and send you on your way. Today,
physician’s common mottos seem to be "let me give
you something" or 'let me prescribe something for you".
Dr. Atkins is concerned about really healing what ails you.
He had the answers, the cure that worked for me.”
“This is no longer a diet, it’s more my WOL (way
of life). It's been a wonderful experience. I am so enthusiastic
about it. I tell everyone. I also share a lot of my experience
with new Atkins dieters via e-mail. This diet has changed my
life so much. I have to share it with everyone!”
“There are no bad parts to this lifestyle. Nope! Not a
one! Well, maybe one small thing. There is little convenience
to the diet. You can't dine at a fine restaurant and have a
piece of sugar free cheesecake, or any type of sugar free desert
as a choice on the menu. You can't find anything at the supermarket
that is prepackaged, and is totally sugar free, not yet anyway.
With my current lifestyle and businesses to operate, I don't
have the time to cook. I dine out a lot. But if you have the
time to prepare most of your meals, that's best. It's the only
way to be absolutely sure, what you're eating, contains no sugars.”
“I am in this FOR LIFE! For a healthy life! This diet
is the easiest diet to stick to. You get to eat all the wonderful
things we've been told not to eat. I even felt a little guilty
at first. It’s funny, prior to the Atkins diet I was eating
barely any fats or red meat (the big no-no), or proteins and
I got very heavy. When I started eating fats and proteins (and
loving it!) I lost weight with no effort. So, you ask me, can
I stick with this diet for life? Definitely YES!”
“The family all thought I was crazy when I started. They,
my doctor and friends told me it was not healthy. All I knew
was that I was doing everything I “should be doing”
according to conventional diets. Counting calories and watching
what I ate... Well, that certainly didn't work. That's what
made me gain weight. I proved them all wrong.”
Angela whispered, “Don't tell Dr. Atkins but, I cheat
every year starting with Thanksgiving, then, my birthday in
December, then Christmas. I might put on a few pounds, but come
the first of the year, I'm back to the Atkins lifestyle. The
Atkins Diet has taught me how to be in control of my weight.
I only cheat these three times a year.”
“As far as advice, just remember, absolutely no sugars
and no high carb foods. None. Zip. Nadda. Bring your own salad
dressing to restaurants because they don't have any that's sugar
free. Some do not carry plain oil and vinegar.”
“ The Atkins Diet is THE most beneficial way to eat. It
teaches us the correct foods to eat for a truly healthy body...
the way we are meant to eat. Dr, Atkins says "eat like
a cave(wo)man" If you can do that, and only eat things
that a caveman would eat, you'll get healthy. No rice, Beans,
Pasta, Bread, Potatoes, etc. Everyone could live a lifetime
on this diet and should.”
Angela has and maintains a wonderful website for low carbers
at:
www.SugarFreeLowCarb.com
- Monthly shipment