Carpender - How I Gave Up My Low-Fat Diet and Lost 40 Pounds..and How You Can Too

To Gayelord Hauser, who started it all

Foreword

I dont think theres any such thing as a coincidence. Its my belief that we get what we need when we need it and sometimes we just get what we deserve. I must have done something right because Dana Carpender came into my life and nothing has been the same since.

I must admit, I dont like to diet, especially if I have to measure, starve, eat things I dont like, or exercise. (I always say Every time I feel like exercising, I lay down until the urge passes.) This has been the first diet I have actually enjoyed. I didntand still dontmeasure, starve, eat things I dont like, or, most importantly to me, exercise. One more point before I tell what happened to me: It doesnt feel like dieting because after all those years of living on that dangerous low-fat safe diet, I always feel like Im cheating, not dieting!

It was Guiding Light that did it, that infamous afternoon soap opera. I met Dana on a discussion list for Guiding Light on the Internet. We were all arguing about foods that are good and bad for us, meat in particular. I was saying how I tried to never eat meat because it was so dangerous healthwise, and everyone agreed except this maverick named Dana. This crazy woman was trying to convince me to eat not only meat, but lots of eggs!

I have serious kidney disease. No protein allowed! Imagine my outrage after eight years of starving and suffering on a low-fat diet. I had worked all those years on a low-fat diet to get my cholesterol down to 413 (from 990), my triglycerides to almost 1300 (from almost 1500), my blood pressure to 140/110, my creatinine (kidney function, normal at about 1) to 5, my blood urea nitrogen to 81, and my HDL to 24. What a reward for eight years of low-fat misery. I was a stroke waiting to happen until Dana completely changed my life.

To prove her wrong (My mission in life: To prove any woman wrong), I told her I would go on this silly diet and as soon as I gained five pounds, I would be done with it. I needed an excuse to eat all that wonderful, decadent stuff. Also, considering that my kidney disease causes outrageous cholesterol and triglyceride readings for which, my doctor informed me, there was nothing I could doI was sure this craziness couldnt help. Dana gave me a long list of items to eat, and proper vitamins as well, carefully working around the limitations of my disease.

As you recall, I dont measure what I eat, so I just ate from the list she provided me. I did not ask my doctor about this diet, which I know is a no-no, but he never would have condoned such a thing. My hindsight and blood work tell me I made the right decision. I started to eat all the things my doctor had told me NOT to eat. I really wasnt nervous because I was certain I would gain the five pounds in a day or two, and the whole fiasco would be over. NOT!

I lost a pound a day for twenty days. Dana labeled me carbohydrate intolerant. (I thought I was intolerant only of people.) I had gotten down to 212 pounds from 250 on low fat over the eight years, but I was stuck at that 212 and couldnt shake it no matter how many fruits and veggies I crammed down. I was ecstatic about the weight loss, getting down to 192 on Danas method. However, I was quite worried about my upcoming blood work in a couple of days. Surely twenty days on a fad diet like thiseating three eggs a day, lots of meat, veggies, and piles of real butter and olive oilcouldnt alter my blood work that drastically, at least not for the better. NOT (again)!

Here are my results after this short period of time: My cholesterol was down almost 100 points to 337; my triglycerides were down more than 50 percent to 606; my blood pressure was normal for the first time since I was eighteen years old; my creatinine, which was up to 6.5 at one time and had remained steady at a horrible 5 for three years, had actually gone down to an astonishing 4.4; my BUN was slightly up at 92; and my HDL was reaching almost normal range at 33. All of these figures got even better in the three months following, but this shows how fast your body changes when it receives the proper foods.

Its been ten months since Dana saved me. (Am I an evangelist?) Ive cheated some, eating that damn cancerous sugar on occasion, but holding my own pretty well. I love this way of eating because its so easy to keep my weight stable. My cholesterol, considering my kidney disease and how it affects my blood work, is quite good in the 300 area. My triglycerides will rise a little if I cheat by eating sugar, but its good to know they drop again quickly when I behave. Theyre still high, but good considering my kidney disease. My BUN is at its lowest in eight years at 65. My blood pressure is normal to low. My HDL is now in the normal range at 41. All this happened after thirty-something years of high blood pressure, two mild strokes by the age of forty-four, and hating diets, especially low fat. Go figure.

I used to take three Percocets and a sleeping pill every night just to get to sleep. My legs are really bad from the kidney disease, and I cant get to sleep. Now Im down to two Percocets and half a sleeping pill, hoping to get down to one Percocet eventually. Between Danas diet and my newfound magnet therapy, my leg pain is virtually gone. I stopped taking my blood pressure pill (again without telling my doctor) after one month on this diet, and also discontinued my strongest diuretic, continuing with just the weaker one. I have always abhorred drugs, and Im now taking fewer drugs than I ever have since the onset of my kidney disease in 1990.

Ive thanked Dana a thousand times since we met on the Internet. Someday Ill thank her in person with a big hug instead of only a cyberhug. Most of the folks on our Guiding Light discussion list still think were fanatics or lunatics eating all of this type of food. I have fond memories of thinking the same thing about Dana a year ago. Everyone I know who has done this diet correctly has had great success, even more for health reasons than weight loss. I read a book many years ago that stated that the largest percentage of illness is actually caused by what we eat, and now I believe it.

Rob Douvres

Cape Coral, Florida

AUTHORS NOTE:Although I support Robs right to take his own risks and make his own judgments regarding his health, I cant endorse the idea of folks with health problems not consulting their doctors before making major changes in their health regimen. Please keep in mind that Rob did get blood work done regularly, to alert him to any potential problems.

Introduction

Hi. My name is Dana Carpender. Id like to tell you about a strange, unanticipated experience I had eight years ago now how I gave up my low-fat diet and lost forty pounds. But first, Id like to share two thoughts:

If you always do what youve always done, you will always get what you have always got.

Definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over, while hoping for different results.

Before I tell you my story, heres a little quiz.

_______ I have been pretty faithful about cutting fat out of my diet and increasing complex carbohydrates.

_______ I have had a struggle to lose weight on a low-fat diet, or to maintain my weight loss.

_______ I think I am addicted to food.

_______ I work out mostly because if I didnt, Id be gaining weight.

_______ I am hungry all the time and dont know why.

_______ I am frequently tired and cranky and dont know why.