Letters From Readers

Busy weekend.  With the last of the electrical work done (I hope) on the house, we were finally able to put the rugs on the floors, move our furniture back against the walls, and unpack (mostly, anyway) the rest of the boxes.

It’s a treat to have some real space again.  In the apartment, my office was a table in our bedroom.  No filing cabinet, no shelves … I didn’t even have room to hook up speakers to my computers.  My other two computers were in storage.

To fill orders, we took supplies out of a closet, printed labels, then put together the packages on our bed or on the floor.  Sometimes the packing tape picked up a strand of hair from the floor, and I wondered how the Fat Head fans would feel about receiving a DNA sample with their orders.  I had to constantly remind myself not to commit any crimes.

As of yesterday -– after a trip to Costco for some industrial-strength shelves –- my office in the new house was at full working capacity.  I’d write in a closet if need be, but I feel more creative when I have some space around me … and when Chareva isn’t sleeping five feet away.

Other than unpacking and arranging, I didn’t do much over the weekend.  I finally caught up on emails tonight, which gives me an opportunity to share more letters from readers.

A Reader Update

Back in March I heard from a woman named Gretchen:

I am a 42 yr old mother of 2, and when I was 35 I was diagnosed with stage 2b breast cancer, I beat it! Then 24 months later I was diagnosed with Uterine cancer. I beat that too, but in the meantime I kept gaining weight. My oncologist had told me to eat fruits ! Tons of fruits, a lot of blended fruit drinks. I was also then put on a low fat diet, which I followed faithfully for 2 years.  I gained almost 200 lbs!  In a 4 year period, I was always tired, I was always starving! I didn’t know if it was really worth living anymore. Even though I beat 2 cancers, all the excess weight and starvation was killing me slowly, I could barely walk, my hips just killed me. My gums receded, my hair was a mess. I kept getting odd sores all over.

Then one day I woke up and said enough is enough, and I went online and guess what I found? I found you! I ordered your movie, and from that day forward, I finally feel like I am getting  ME BACK! I now know why I am FAT, why I will always be FAT if i keep eating carbs. I gave up carbs that day, I am following Atkins, and on there Forums I am always telling people to watch your movie. I tell everyone about your movie.

I can happily say that not even a full 3 months later, I am down 51.8 lbs, I have dropped 4 sizes. I can walk again with no pain, I can work out and I have gone back to work. I still have a long way to go. But now that I know what I learned from your movie, I know there is no stopping me now.

Thank You , Thank You, Thank You! You always have a place in my heart. Which will be beating for  a long, long time now because of you.

Sincerely,
Gretchen

Yesterday, I received a progress report from Gretchen:

I thought I would give you a follow up! I have now lost a total of 164 lbs in less than a year. Omg can you believe it?  I can’t, and I see myself every day… lol.

Once I got it into my head that this is a lifestyle,  it all fell into place so wonderfully. I have not cheated once, not at all, and have no desire to.  In fact, on the few days I felt weak I actually re-watched your DVD and the weakness went right away.

I wanted to share with you my Journey on Atkins. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

I happily accept your thanks, Gretchen, but you’re the one who lost 164 pounds in less than a year.  Outstanding!

Lose the Wheat, Lose the Rash

Mr. Naughton,

I wanted to write and thank you for all of your many efforts to spread the word about eating a low carb, high fat diet.  Growing up I didn’t struggle with weight, but once I hit 25 I started packing on the pounds.  I also had this pesky eczema on my scalp.  It got so bad several times that I needed a prescription for antibiotics because it got infected.  I spent a lot of time feeling self conscious because I had such horrible dandruff, and the puss from the infection on my scalp made my hair look like I’d never washed it in my life.  (Sorry, that’s really gross I know)

When we watched Fat Head about a year ago it was like a gong going off in my head.  I knew that sugars were bad, I’d cut them out several times, but keeping them out of my diet constantly was always problematic.  When I realized that the grains I was eating were just as bad if not worse I made a huge shift in my eating habits.  Going low carb was easy, doing the high fat was a little bit more of a struggle until I realized that my skin was feeling better than it ever had in my life.  Over the past ten years alone I’ve tried countless remedies, medical and holistic to attempt a cure for the rashes on my scalp (and occasionally my face and neck) nothing worked.  Suddenly the itchiness, flakes, oozing and pain were gone, almost overnight.

I initially attributed this mostly to the added fat content in my diet.  As I started reading some of the books on your recommended reading list I realized it was just as much that I had taken out the harmful grains, especially the wheat.  Some of the other health benefits that I wasn’t expecting when I started this diet: insomnia gone, tooth pain gone, energy out the wazoo, depression a distant memory.

I don’t think I would have ever stumbled onto this diet on my own.  Thank you for presenting the information in such a straightforward, entertaining format.  Having this diet has changed so many things about my health and outlook on life.  I initially started because I was over 200 lbs and couldn’t stand to look at myself in the mirror anymore.  I haven’t actually lost that much weight, about 15lbs.  But my jeans are huge on me now, my body has changed soooo much.

Thanks again,
Moselle

Moselle’s story is a reminder of why I don’t even own a scale anymore:  this diet isn’t about losing weight.  It’s about health.  Losing weight is a nice side benefit.  But if Moselle’s jeans are huge on him after losing 15 pounds, I’m guessing he’s seeing a shift in body composition, with less fat and more lean body mass.

Fifty-something and feeling good

Dear Tom:

Being 50+ (1961 model) I’ve started to come to terms with the annoying little concept that I might not be immortal after all. I think that you might guess what brought this to my mind: being tired all the time, feeling woozy after a meal, excessive sweating, thirst, weight gain and loss of anything slightly resembling physical endurance.

And then came your movie, which I watched in Israel on the YES SatTV network. To be honest, I thought I was going to watch a parody on “Supersize Me” – because that’s how it was advertised in the TV guide. I was completely floored and then I smacked myself on the head because I’ve been working for close to 30 years in the field of medical diagnosis and while knowledgeable enough to recognize the symptoms of the Type II Diabetes creeping on me I never gave any thought to what might be causing it.

Your movie led me to reading Gary Taubes “Good Calories, Bad Calories” and Kendrick’s “The Great Cholesterol Con”. Getting these books through Amazon was the best on-line purchase I ever made since the invention of the Internet.

Fast forward the last two months and I’m now 7Kg lighter and boy…you wouldn’t believe what other changes cutting the carbs and going high fat did for me. The wooziness after meals? Gone. The tiredness that led me to become a couch potato? Gone. The general doom and gloom attitude? Also gone. The only thing that is thing that is marring the general happiness is the anger I’m feeling toward myself for buying the official party line lock stock and barrel and accepting all the BS I’ve been force fed by the medical establishment during the last 15 years.

So thank you again for the work and effort you put into getting Fat Head done and published worldwide. You got yourself another admirer.

Claude

Don’t be angry with yourself for buying into the official party line, Claude.  Most of us bought into it.  Heck, when I worked for a little health magazine, I not only bought the party line, I repeated it in print.  The good news is that it’s now easier than ever to find those all-important opposing views.  Thank heaven for the Internet.

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt

We had a little PayPal mixup on an order for a Wheat Is Murder t-shirt, so I wrote to the buyer to straighten it out.  Garth, who ordered the shirt, confirmed the order and mentioned that he and his wife had watched Fat Head and it changed their lives.  His wife Rhonda emailed shortly after to expand on that statement:

This is the wife back at home base.  I can’t contain myself any longer, I have to elaborate on “Changed our lives.”

We don’t feel hungry anymore.

We don’t have to weigh portions or feel guilty about eating.

We don’t feel this sense of panic that we might miss a meal if we’re not close to food ALL the time.

We actually understand now what it means to feel full and put down the fork when we’re satisfied.

We’ve lost weight, but know that even when we plateau that we’re healthier on the inside and that is what is important.

We have a physical and mental sense of better health.

We’ve never felt so right, so righteous about an eating style before.

Our oldest daughter has always been ‘busy’ and as soon as she was in preschool it became apparent that something wasn’t quite right. By the end of the year she was referred to a developmental clinic and we were just waiting for the appointment, waiting for the diagnosis of ADHD or something like that. Nothing severe, but symptoms were there.  But then we saw your film. And then we read Taubes and Wheat Belly and took our family off of wheat/grains. Within a couple days she became ‘present,’ started conversations with us, and became more focused on tasks. One month later she had her appointment and the doctor does NOT have concerns of her having ADHD.

Thank you, Tom. Loved the movie. Changed our lives.

Rhonda, you just gave me a fabulous Christmas present.  I’m going to pass the present on to Dr. William Davis as well.

Why I can never run for president …

I checked my Facebook messages over the weekend and saw one with this heading:

Ummm Tom – thanks for getting me pregnant!

After a moment of panic, I remembered that I haven’t been a blackout drinker in a long, long time …  and one of the benefits of being fifty-something is that if you are stupid enough to out-drink your memory, you can’t possibly get anyone pregnant in that condition without medical implements being involved.  So I read on:

Thanks to seeing your Fat Head documentary and starting to eat low carb, we have managed to get pregnant, and I am 41! We only found out a few days ago and the baby is due in about 7 weeks! I didn’t even realise I was pregnant, it has been such an amazingly easy pregnancy! So thank you from my husband and me – we owe you deep gratitude – you and your documentary are not only changing lives, but helping create them!

If the baby is a boy, I hope they’ll consider naming it after me.

We’ll be leaving town this week to visit the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, the Younger Sister and the Older Brother for Christmas.  I’ll check comments when I can, but I doubt I’ll have time to write a post.

Happy Holidays to all of you.