DIETING

Eva did it, and so can YOU

My sister in law, Eva, began eating a low-carb diet in February and has lost 46 pounds! She only has 4 more pounds to reach her goal. She looks great, feels great, and says she’s different inside. You’ve probably heard that before from people you know who have lost weight, but do you wonder what finally put them over the edge? What it was that finally brought on that “conversion” that it takes to do something this huge?

I’ll let you in on our conversation the other day:

• What made you decide to begin eating low-carb?

It was a lot of things that happened at about the same time. For years I’d talk to my friends, Jeri & Cliff, and we’d wonder how we can want something so bad and not just make ourselves do it? We’d all commit to keep trying. Then we went on this cruise in February and I was miserable trying to find anything to wear. Soon after some friends asked us to go on a trip over spring break, but I just thought, “No way could I go with you, you’re too thin, I’d feel like a whale next to you on the beach.” I’d watch Biggest Loser and pray, “Lord, help ME lose weight so I can feel good, too.” You just come to the end of your rope and decide it’s time.

• Why do you think some people never seem to get to that point?

They stay in denial, they don’t want to give up that favorite treat that they think helps them through their day, but instead it’s just a 5-minute pick-me-up. They have no idea how good this feels.

• What do you like about eating low-carb, rather than some of the other diets out there?

Many reasons: 1. There are just so many things you can eat, I never feel hungry or deprived at all. I eat meats, healthy fats, and lots of different veggies – they’re so full of flavor. 2. With low-carb, weight steadily comes off. When I tried cutting back on overall calories, I was always hungry and I’d lose a pound or 2 every couple weeks, but with low-carb it just comes off fast. 3. In the past, every month I’d have a big fluctuation of emotion depending on where I was in my cycle, but all that is gone now – no more extreme highs and lows, things just don’t bother me like they used to.

• Do you exercise?

I walk 2-3 miles every day and I LOVE it – I can hardly wait to get out there, I plan my day around it. I have so much energy and can’t wait to get going. I’ve even added a little bit of running. It’s also a great time to pray. (Note, I asked Eva if she would run a 5K with me in the spring and she said, “maybe”!)

• Do you miss bread or sweets?

If someone would have told me that after only a couple weeks of not eating carbs I wouldn’t crave them or care if I had them at all, I wouldn’t have believed them. But now a typical sweet dessert tastes just too sweet. Sometimes it might smell good, but I tell myself that I’ve eaten enough of those sweets my whole life, I know what it would taste like, but instead I want to be healthy enough to make it through the 2nd half of my life!

• What have been other’s responses to your weight loss?

For some it makes them uncomfortable, especially other women, because deep down that is what they want – which is how I always felt, too. I just keep telling everyone that you have to get your head straight before you start, figure out why you want it, and then give yourself a year. Tell yourself, “I’m going to do it, whether it takes me all year or not.” Give yourself time and be patient. I had to remind myself of that over and over. Doug (her husband, my brother) asked me, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” He helped me be patient when I’d go through a plateau.

Other people try to make you feel like you’re going to put it back on as soon as you’re eating a regular diet again, but they don’t understand, I don’t plan to ever eat that way again. I don’t want that stuff, I feel so much better now. (Although soon I do plan to slowly try to add in whole grains.)

Then there are those who are so excited for you, and want to support you or even lose weight with you. My friend, Jeri, has lost 11# in 2 weeks on low-carbs. My friend, Cliff, who is also eating low-carbs, has lost 58#.

• Is it tricky getting used to being thin?

Someone called me skinny the other day and I couldn’t even believe they were talking to me! For years I felt so miserable, now it makes me cry, it can’t even sink in that I finally did it.

We talked about all the ways she feels better about herself:

• Spiritually, because denying yourself is good for the soul, and so is connecting daily with the One who made you. (She prays daily on her walks.)
• Emotionally, because self-discipline is empowering. Eva’s words: “Self-loathing really wears on you.”
• Physically, for obvious reasons. When a flight of stairs is easy again, it’s no small thing. There’s nothing like moving your body, and the feeling that, “I can really do this!” That’s how I feel when I’m running – even through the pain, I feel very alive out in God’s world, seeing and smelling all His gifts around me.

My thanks to Eva for letting me share her inspiring story here.

• Lifestyle changes – and how they’re all the same (there will always be people who just aren’t ready to make those same changes)
• Mark Sisson from Mark’s Daily Apple on FOX News talking about which diet really works
• Low-carb dieting - many ideas here for what to eat if you want low-carb!
• Eva is taking her cod liver oil daily, are you?
• Tips on making exercise happen - how I got into it
• My running saga…pathetic!
• Have you seen my other blog yet, Christianity 101? (It’s help for those who don’t “get” the whole “Christianity thing”, which is how I always used to feel.)
• Many more topics along the right in the sidebar

SUBSCRIBE ANY WAY YOU PREFER!
Subscribe in a reader or Subscribe via e-mail for free blog updates.

Learn more from the COMMENTS BELOW - join the conversation!

Icky small print stuff: privacy policy, disclaimers, terms & conditions.

{ 17 comments }