Hi Wendy,

First of all, let me assure you in no uncertain terms that I didn’t find anything you were asking me or observing as even remotely offensive. So, let’s just get that out of the way.

I’m not really sure, but I don’t think I’m a carb addict—if you mean addict to mean as unable to stop, like some with cigarettes, some with alcohol, and some with other chemical substances. I’ve never had a problem or issue with eating carb based foods, or high sugar foods for that matter. Until now, I’ve never had any kind of diet ideology or any kind of eating philosophy whatsoever. Basically, all of my life, it’s been, “well, I’m hungry. Let’s eat.” And, I’ll just eat whatever fancies my whim at the moment. Up until about 2 years ago, I’ve never been overweight. All my childhood and after college, I had always been slender eating whatever I wished and whenever I wished and felt it a waste of both time and effort to give diet and nutrition a second thought.

Then suddenly about two years ago I started to steadily gain weight. It wasn’t something that happened overnight, but a very consistent and slow gain—the steady but sure kind of weight gain. And, after two years, I had ballooned up to about 185 – 190, much to my horror especially since my weight had been stable at around 155 – 160 lbs after college all the way up until about two years ago. Initially, I had no idea what the hell was going and couldn’t understand why suddenly I was becoming obese. I hadn’t changed anything in my life and still eat the way I had always eaten. In retrospect, the time passed has allowed me to more critically and honestly assess what might have happened to me, I’m pretty sure several things happened to me as I had grown older. One, undeniably, my natural metabolism must have slowed. Secondly, I must have been eating more since the last several years I’ve had more leisure time than ever before. And, finally, I was living a much more sedentary life than I ever have before. I think the combination of those 3 had caused my weight to balloon upwards uncontrollably.

My typical eating pattern before I started dieting and embracing an actual nutrition philosophy was quite sporadic. I’ll give you a few examples. For instance, one day I’d wake and, say, eat cereal (Kellogg’s SmartStart is my favorite since it’s so sweet) with full fat milk, and a glass of orange juice. Lunch, I’d have sometimes fast food, pizza, or some kind of sandwich. For dinner, usually I’d opt for pasta, steak, or other cuisines, which I was in the mood for. In between, I’d have coffees, milkshakes, occasional fruit juices and smoothes, and lots of chocolates, especially chocolate ice cream. However, if I had pasta one day, the next I’d have to have something else. Rarely can I have two things in consecutive days without getting tired of it, except for ice cream of course, which I had everyday. That was typically how I had eaten before adopting low carbing. Ever since college, I’ve never had veggies or fruits, unless it were in a salad, burger, or crushed in a Jamba Juice. That was how I had eaten for the last decade.

Before I started low carbing, I felt very good. Actually, I felt better before I started than I do now. My only concern was my clothing getting tighter and my ever-expanding girth. It has gotten to the point where the thought of my getting larger was intolerable. So, that is why, more so than any other reason, which I have turned to this diet.

Regards,

Frederick