Reader Story – Laurie M.

“I may not “look” like a success story for Always Hungry? but I’d like to say that, yes, indeed I am.

I’ve struggled with carb cravings my whole life and with stress eating. By the time I was 39. I weighed about 255 pounds. But that year (1996), I started to make some very gradual changes in my eating and in my activity level. Even simple things like parking my car on the far side of the parking lot from where I needed to go. It was a start, and I did drop about 10 pounds that first year.

Fast forward about 20 years. I was down about 40 pounds over my all time high weight, but that meant I was still obese. I was walking about 3 miles a day but I wasn’t loosing any weight. Every time I really cut calories, I had ferocious carb cravings, which meant I ate a lot of junk.

I heard Dr. Ludwig on the radio and ordered the Always Hungry book. While I’d been on high protein diets a few times, the combinations of protein, fat and unprocessed carbs in Always Hungry? made a lot of sense. Once I got the book, I got started with the eating plan and in 5 months was down about 20 pounds. The cravings got MUCH better, and I was eating a lot of things like roasted cauliflower and sauteed zucchini that I typically had not eaten. Snacks tended to be honey roasted soy nuts, peanuts and jerky, and I would frequently have fruit and yogurt smoothies for breakfast.

I’ve been somewhat stuck this summer due to a very stressful life situation (my mother’s illness and death) which also involved many 10-12 hour drives. That said, I can think of other times in my life when I’ve gained 10-20 pounds in a couple of months due to stress eating. I increased my walking to about 4 miles most days, generally had a smoothie or eggs for breakfast, and when I ate too much, it tended to be better foods (“sensible stress eating”). So I do believe I will get back into a full Phase 1 of Always Hungry pretty soon. I have about 45 pounds to go; which means I’d be at the “high end” of normal, which is fine by me. I am not, by nature, a size 0 kind of woman.”