“It was amazing and the weight just started to drop”

Before and after

The amazing low-carb success stories on Twitter keep coming – and here’s another one.

If you want to know what Landon did to drop a lot of weight and feeling great without going constantly hungry, keep reading. He was kind enough to send us an email with more details.

The Email

So lets start out by stating that having a wife who is a research scientist comes in handy. She taught me how to find research documents and journals, how to read them, what to look for (funding, conflicts of interest, etc.) and told me that if you want to know the TRUTH… You start there; and so I did.

My name is Landon Veitch. I am a 36-year old I.T. manager who lives in Millersburg, OR. After I left the U.S. Air Force in 2007 due to an injury, I found it hard to sustain exercise and just general life interest as I felt like my life had disappeared. From 2007 to 2012, I did absolutely NOTHING to better myself and just packed on the pounds. I then decided to go back overseas to Afghanistan as a civilian to serve my country again. While here, the food needless to say was less than stellar. I ate spinach salads and some meat with TONS of blue cheese dressing (I eat it on almost everything!). When I returned, I had lost like 45 lbs (20 kg) (roughly 300 lbs (136 kg) down to 255 lbs (116 kg)) in a little over 6 months. I felt great, confident, more energetic, etc… But then regular real life hit.

My wife was not happy, was a stay-at-home mom with our son, in a state she didn’t know anyone and was becoming unhappy with me as my mental state had changed and the weight was packing back on. So we moved back to Oregon and in January 2013, I decided to follow in the footsteps of Drew Manning (aka Fit2fat2Fit), who did what I wanted to do… Drop like 75 lbs (34 kg) in 6 months. I bought some home gym equipment and started. I gave myself the 6 month timeline as well and I dropped weight just like Drew (roughly 300 lbs (136 kg) again down to 251 lbs (114 kg)). I was happy this time, was back home and thought nothing could stop me. But then I started noticing I was hungry ALL THE TIME! I mean I could eat 3 cups of broccoli, 2 large chicken breasts and maybe some grapes and literally be hungry a few hours later. I always struggled with food my whole life as I used to eat a lot and all the time but was never ‘fat’ in the traditional sense. So what happened AGAIN? You got it! I put the weight right back on and then some. By this time life was even more hectic as I had my son, my daughter, selling my home, work transitioning, etc. and I got all the way up to 330 lbs (150 kg). The heaviest I had ever been. I had to almost buy 50 in pants… I freaked. I went to my PCP and got my full blood work-up:

• Liver Enzymes (ALT and AST) were 4-6 times higher than normal (228)
• BP – 160/92
• TC/HDL – 6.2
• TC – 220
• HDL – 31
• LDL – 171
• Non-HDL – 160
• TRG – 284

I was not in the normal ranges for any of the tests. I was pre-diabetic, fatty liver disease but no insulin issues. I told him I feel hungry all the time and we tried all the classic remedies of calorie restriction, changing what I’m eating to filling foods, eat timing, workout pre and post foods, etc. and nothing worked. One day he said since I like research I should look into leptin since my focus was always on insulin as I thought that was my issue. I didn’t know what it was, thought it was a drug like a statin or something. Found out through the wife it’s a signaling molecule. She explained the whole breakdown to me and I was jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe it… Could this finally be my answer? But how to I change my Leptin issue?

So I started researching and I found a video on youtube of Dr. Daniel Pompa. I then went to his site and listened to a podcast with Dr. Dominic D’Agostino. I followed his work which led me to you Dr. Eenfeldt. I was shocked to find you were a family physician whom looked into LCHF which I was always told was called ‘Atkins’ and was only good for a small period of time, bad for long run, we NEED carbs to function, fat is bad, etc. But you stated that there was research to back this LCHF so I went looking and thats when I found the ketogenic diet. I heard it from Drew Manning, Dr. Pompa, Dr. A’gostino and on other research documents as well however I had not looked into what it was exactly (thought it was a science term).

Then I found what I call my life changing moment. Low Carb USA. There are world renown physicians, researchers, teachers, dietitians etc. that live and swear by LCHF. So I said ‘Hell I have tried everything else, why not?’ So Oct 15, 2016, I started keto and boy it was so tasty but so hard because I love fruit and not having any was like a damn cigarette to me. I couldn’t help myself at times. I stayed strong, got through my mild keto flu which was only a day or 2 and then BAM! Like a ton of bricks hit me at about the 1 month mark. I was fresh, I was clear, I could think, I wasn’t tired, I wasn’t hungry, I didn’t crave anymore. I mean it was amazing and the weight just started to drop. 22 lbs (10 kg) the first month. Of course I knew this was only water weight but I was like ‘no way I can sustain this’. but I did. I lost another 20 lbs (9 kg) and then another 20 lbs (9 kg) and before I knew it, I was 4 months into Keto and 65 lbs (29 kg) down. The killer part of this was I didn’t even work out any. This was just my body working for itself for once instead of against it. I know I have to start working out and that is the plan otherwise I will taper off, make excuses and get off the Keto train but no way! I love this train for it has given me my life back. This is a lifestyle for me now. Not a diet and I share this with everyone I know and meet because if it can do this for me. Maybe it can do that for someone else.

My blood panels now:

• Liver Enzymes (ALT and AST) – PERFECT (28)
• BP – 120/80 (like a poster child)
• TC/HDL – 2.8
• TC – 125
• HDL – 48
• LDL – 56
• Non-HDL – 83
• TRG – 126

PERFECT ACROSS THE BOARD! But I am not stopping there, I plan to continue this train down to a respectable 210 lbs (95 kg) for my height which is considered to be an optimal weight for me and keeping my panels in amazing spots :-)

Landon

Comments

Congratulations Landon – simply put an amazing story!

Get started

Do you want to try what Landon has done? Sign up for our free 2-week keto low-carb challenge!

More

A Low-Carb Diet for Beginners

How to Lose Weight

Share your story

Do you have a success story you want to share? Send your information, plus before and after photos, to success@dietdoctor.com. It would also be greatly appreciated if you shared what you eat in a typical day, whether you fast etc. More information: