Reader Story – Jane F.

“Last year as I made my rounds of medical check-ups, I asked each physician (my primary care, gynecologist and endocrinologist) what he tells his patients who want to lose weight. I further explained that I was “always hungry” and that it was very distracting to feel this way, to the point where I felt that it was affecting my quality of life (experiencing hunger pangs, always thinking about what low fat/artificially sweetened item I could consume next, assuring that food would be available when I got hangry, etc.).

My primary care physician gave me a strange look and said, “Well, I guess you could limit your calories to 1500 a day.” None of them had a good answer.

I retired in January 2016 after 40 years of desk jobs and thought, well now I will be more active so I will lose some weight. I was eating the same way, exercising and moving around much more, and I was gaining weight! I was nearly in a panic when I saw Always Hungry? on the New York Times Bestseller List and I thought, yes, that’s me. So I bought the book.

The science made sense, I loved what I read In the personal stories, and I was IN! I will admit that all of the prep and cooking for Phase 1 was overwhelming at times, but I believe the investment paid off in breaking the cycle of cravings for both my husband and me. (I am fortunate and proud that at almost 70 years of age my husband was willing and able to change a lifetime of poor eating habits.). We were addicted to sugar and didn’t even know it. We have been free of cravings from nearly day one.

We started on March 7 (23 weeks ago). My husband has lost 30+ pounds and has exceeded his goal. I am down 19 lbs, with 10 to go to reach my goal. Most of the weight loss occurred early on. He has gone down from a 38-40 inch waist size to 34. I have lost 4 inches from my waist, as well.

My husband and I are committed to the AH style of eating. We have always enjoyed eating out (you’d be amazed at the number of fine dining establishments tucked into our little corner of South Carolina) and that is proving to be somewhat of a challenge. But we are getting pretty good at navigating the menus and are seeing more and more AH-friendly options recently and that is encouraging! And cooking at home has become fun again as we try new tastes and experiment with AH-friendly ingredients.”