After one year of low carb: “I am 70 years old today and have never felt better”

April 1 2018 by , medical review by in Cholesterol, Diabetes stories, High blood pressure, Intermittent fasting, Keto, Success stories

Thanks to low carb, everything has changed for Maria in only one year. She has reversed pre-diabetes, improved her fitness significantly and lost 76 lbs (34 kg).

This is how she did it and what she eats:

I started my journey on March 13th, 2017 and as of March 13th, 2018 I have lost 76 pounds (34 kg). I am 70 years old today and have never felt better.

A year ago, everything in my body ached… my hands, my knees, my hips. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, on numerous medications and also pre-diabetic with an A1c of 5.9. I couldn’t walk 50 feet (15 m) without stopping for a breath. Today my A1c is 4.8. I’m not on any blood-pressure medications or statins.

Now at 70. I can walk three miles (5 km), without stopping to catch my breath. I purposely park at the far end of the parking lots and walk as much as I can.

I still work full-time, so meals are quite simple. Eggs, meat, cheese, butter and some vegetables.
I still work full-time, so meals are quite simple. Eggs, meat, cheese, butter and some vegetables. Have tried recipes on this site and I do enjoy them when I have time to cook.

I would still like to lose at least 10 more pounds (5 kg), so I am now fasting, drinking only bone broth, for 48-72 hours.

Above is a picture taken one year apart.

With regards,
Maria

Comment

Congratulations and thank you for sharing, Maria! :-)

Get started

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

Alternatively, use our free keto low-carb guide, or for maximum simplicity try out our keto meal planner service with weekly delicious keto menus and shopping lists – it’s free to use for a month.

Low carb for beginners

Intermittent fasting for beginners

How to lose weight

Low carb

Keto for beginners: Introduction
08:02
Learn how to do a keto diet right, in part 1 of our video course.
Cereal Killers
1:00:07
What if you could – in fact – break records without eating massive amounts of carbs?
Low-carb tips with team Diet Doctor
07:20
How do you stay low carb when dining out? What restaurants are the most low-carb friendly? Watch this episode to find out.
How to do an LCHF or keto diet
1:00:45
Dr. Eric Westman explains how to do a well-formulated LCHF diet.
"I sort of wanted to save the world"
22:22
How can you give back to the low-carb community after achieving great results on the diet? Bitte Kempe-Björkman explains.
The cause of obesity
38:45
What is the real cause of obesity? What causes weight gain? Dr. Jason Fung at Low Carb Vail 2016.
7 tips to make low carb simple
09:41
The star of the BBC series Doctor in the House, Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, gives you seven tips that will make low carb easy.
The 5 common mistakes on LCHF
09:25
Is it hard to reach your goal weight, are you hungry or do you feel bad? Make sure you're avoiding these mistakes.
Everything in moderation?
05:44
What’s the point of low carb, shouldn’t we all just try to eat everything in moderation? Top low-carb doctors answer this question.
Living low carb with Caroline Smale
07:30
Caroline Smale shares her low-carb story and how she lives low carb on a daily basis.
What is the main benefit of low carb?
02:52
What exactly is the greatest benefit of low carb? Doctors give their top answer.
Q&A with Franziska Spritzler
09:52
Questions about how to formulate an optimal low-carb or keto diet.
My Big Fat Diet
42:31
What would happen if an entire town of First Nation people went back to eating the way they used to? A high-fat low-carb diet based on real food?
How to formulate a low-carb keto diet
48:32
Low-carb pioneer Dr. Eric Westman talks about how to formulate an LCHF diet, low carb for different medical conditions and common pitfalls among others.
A global food revolution
34:30
The mistakes behind the obesity epidemic and how we can fix them together, empowering people everywhere to revolutionize their health.
Does the brain need carbohydrates?
05:56
Doesn’t the brain need carbohydrates? Doctors answer common questions.
Why a low-carb diet and other questions
16:59
Dr. Jeffry Gerber has a long history of treating patients with low carb. What are the benefits and the concerns?
"A more pleasurable way to live"
10:51
Franziska Spritzler talks about what turned her into a low-carb dietitian.
Konvincing kids that kounting kalories is kooky
27:41
Watch standup comedian Tom Naughton deliver the best talk of the 2015 Low-Carb Cruise.
The latest science behind a keto diet
13:17
What is the current science in support of a low-carb and keto diet?
Are there potential dangers with a low-carb diet?
09:30
Can a low-carb diet potentially be dangerous? And if so – how? Top low-carb doctors answer these questions.
Saving lives and healthcare dollars
30:52
In the world of life insurance, could low carb help save both lives and money?
Low-carb living
27:26
What do you need to know to successfully eat low carb for life?
Women's questions introduction
01:36
In this video series, you can find expert views on some of your top questions about low-carb and women's health.

Intermittent fasting

How to maximize fat burning
03:52
Dr. Fung's fasting course part 2: How do you maximize fat burning? What should you eat – or not eat?
The top 5 tips to make fasting easier
05:19
Dr. Fung's fasting course part 8: Dr. Fung's top tips for fasting
The top 5 myths of fasting
08:23
Dr. Fung's fasting course part 5: The 5 top myths about fasting – and exactly why they are not true.
Breakfast! Is it really that important?
07:08
Dr. Fung's fasting course part 6: Is it really that important to eat breakfast?
The most common questions
05:38
Dr. Fung's fasting course part 7: Answers to the most common questions about fasting.
The cause of obesity
38:45
What is the real cause of obesity? What causes weight gain? Dr. Jason Fung at Low Carb Vail 2016.
How to fast - the different options
06:47
Dr. Fung's fasting course part 3: Dr. Fung explains the different popular fasting options and makes it easy for you to choose the one that fits you best.
The 7 benefits of fasting
07:33
Dr. Fung's fasting course part 4: About the 7 big benefits of fasting intermittently.
The 2 big lies of type 2 diabetes
42:54
Why is the conventional treatment of Type 2 Diabetes an utter failure? Dr. Jason Fung at the LCHF Convention 2015.
Therapeutic fasting
46:09
What if there was a more effective treatment alternative for obesity and type 2 diabetes, that is both simple and free?
The perfect treatment for diabetes and weight loss
45:20
Do doctors treat type 2 diabetes completely wrong today – in a way that actually makes the disease worse?
The power of a 7-day fast
03:34
How do you fast for 7 days? And in what ways could it be beneficial?
What to do instead of counting calories
16:02
Why is counting calories useless? And what should you do instead to lose weight?
Achieve ketosis through fasting
19:58
What is the best way to achieve ketosis? Engineer Ivor Cummins discusses the topic in this interview from the PHC conference 2018 in London.
How to get started with fasting
02:30
Dr. Fung about what you need to do to start fasting.
Q&A about low carb & fasting
38:17
Jonny Bowden, Jackie Eberstein, Jason Fung and Jimmy Moore answers questions related to low carb and fasting (and some other topics).
Diet Doctor Podcast #23 – Dr. Jason Fung
59:15
If fasting has been around since the beginning of time, why is it so controversial? Dr. Jason Fung has a different perspective.
Can fasting be problematic for women?
05:54
Can fasting be problematic for women? We'll get the answers from top low-carb experts here.
Clinical use of therapeutic fasting
44:18
How do you help patients get started with fasting? How do you tailor it to suit the individual?
What is fasting?
05:21
Dr. Fung's fasting course part 1: A brief introduction to intermittent fasting.
Understanding and treating type 2 diabetes – Dr. Jason Fung
59:44
In this video, Dr. Jason Fung gives a presentation on diabetes to a room full of medical professionals.
Diet Doctor Podcast with Joseph Antoun
48:22
In this episode, Dr. Joseph Antoun talks about fasting for health and longevity.

Weight loss

How to maximize fat burning
03:52
Dr. Fung's fasting course part 2: How do you maximize fat burning? What should you eat – or not eat?
Living low carb with Yvonne Lane
05:51
Yvonne used to see all those pictures of people who'd lost so much weight, but sometimes didn't really believe they were real.
Living low carb with Valerie Mugridge
04:01
Valerie wanted to lose weight by cutting calories, giving up things she really loved, like cheese. But this did not help her with her weight.
Diet Doctor Podcast #33 – Dr. David Unwin
43:25
Dr. Unwin was on the verge of retiring as a general practice physician in the UK. Then he found the power of low carb nutrition and began helping his patients in ways he never thought possible.
"I'll do this or I'm going to die trying"
19:23
Kristie Sullivan struggled with her weight for her whole life in spite of trying every diet imaginable, but then she finally lost a 120 pounds and improved her health on a keto diet.
My success story with Chuck Hicks
02:39
At nearly 500 lbs (230 kg) Chuck could barely move at all anymore. It wasn’t until he found a keto diet that thing started to change.
My success story with Kenneth Russell
02:52
When Kenneth turned 50, he realized that he wouldn't make it to 60 the way he was going.
Part 8 of Dr. Jason Fung's diabetes course
05:21
Dr. Fung gives us an in-depth explanation of how beta cell failure happens, what the root cause is, and what you can do to treat it.
How to do an LCHF or keto diet
1:00:45
Dr. Eric Westman explains how to do a well-formulated LCHF diet.
Pie-making champion goes low carb
03:23
Learn how this pie-making champion went low carb and how it changed his life.
The pathways of insulin resistance
30:41
Are we chasing the wrong guy when it comes to heart disease? And if so, what is the real culprit in the disease?
Living low carb with John Holding
04:57
John used to suffer from a myriad of aches and pains which he simply dismissed as “normal”. Known as the big guy at work, he was constantly hungry and grabbing for snacks.
How to motivate your patients
50:25
In this presentation from Low Carb Denver 2019, Drs. David and Jen Unwin explain how physicians can finetune the art of practicing medicine with strategies from psychology to help their patients reach their goals.
The cause of obesity
38:45
What is the real cause of obesity? What causes weight gain? Dr. Jason Fung at Low Carb Vail 2016.
Are all calories the same?
20:04
Are all calories created equally – regardless of whether they come from a low-carb, low-fat or a vegan diet?
The 5 common mistakes on LCHF
09:25
Is it hard to reach your goal weight, are you hungry or do you feel bad? Make sure you're avoiding these mistakes.
My success story with Jim Caldwell
02:23
Jim Caldwell has transformed his health and gone from an all-time high at 352 lbs (160 kg) to 170 lbs (77 kg.
The hidden costs of medications
44:51
Can medications prevent or hinder your efforts to lose weight and become healthy? Jackie Eberstein at the Low Carb Cruise 2016.
Insulin toxicity — Dr. Jason Fung's diabetes course
09:03
Dr. Fung looks at the evidence on what high levels of insulin can do to one’s health and what can be done to lower insulin naturally.
Insulin resistance and sexual health — Dr. Priyanka Wali
23:24
Is there a connection between insulin resistance and sexual health? In this presentation, Dr. Priyanka Wali presents several studies that have been made on the subject.
Living low carb with Sue Acres
04:33
Sue used to be 50 pounds (23 kg) overweight and suffered from lupus. Her fatigue and pain was also so severe that she had to use a walking stick to get around. But she has reversed all this on keto.
80 pounds lighter and no medications
09:12
Is it possible to reverse your diabetes with the help of a strict low-carb diet? Definitely, and Stephen Thompson did it.
Is obesity caused by too much insulin?
25:27
Is obesity mainly caused by the fat storing hormone insulin? Dr. Ted Naiman answers this question.
200 pounds lost and a health journey for the family
15:05
Larry Diamond has transformed his life and lost 125 lbs (57 kg) on a low-carb diet, and here he shares his insights from his journey.

Support

Do you want to support Diet Doctor and get access to bonus material? Check out our membership.

Start your free trial here

PS

Do you have a success story you want to share on this blog? Send it (photos appreciated) to andreas@dietdoctor.com, and please let me know if it’s OK to publish your photo and name or if you’d rather remain anonymous.

It would also be greatly appreciated if you shared what you eat in a typical day, whether you fast etc.

15 comments

1
Karen
April 2 2018
Congratulations. You look healthy, strong and beautiful.
2
Keith
April 2 2018
Great work Maria an exceptional success story and an inspiration to others. So glad you found the DietDoctor.
3
Mary Boles
April 2 2018
Congratulations, you look great. You're dedication paid off.
4
WarblingLisa
April 2 2018
Congrats, Maria! What a wonderful birthday present to give yourself. You look fabulous. No doubt you'll reach your weight goal!
5
janet
April 3 2018
Well done! It's never too late to become healthy. This is a great inspiration for us older folk! I'm late 60's and also never felt better.
6
Andrea
April 4 2018
You go girl! You look fantastic and are radiant. You can really tell from the pic how good you are feeling. Such an inspiration! Thank you for sharing
7
Terri
April 4 2018
Maria you are an inspiration, and I have the luck of being inspired daily! ;) t.
8
Sue
August 8 2018
Did you have problems with loose skin? If so, did you find a solution? Thanks
9
Kathy
August 24 2018
Omg! You look fabulous..I just turned 60 and only 12 days into this awesome way of eating and living..you are a true inspiration..thank you for sharing and congratulations!
10
Mary Catherine
March 20
Thanks Maria. I'm 71 years old and have worked hard on the low carb high fat diet for a couple years. So many unfortunate things have happened in the last couple years and I have found it hard to maintain. I have lost about 50 lbs on my small 5'2" frame. Already I have my abdomen and arms hanging. Called a clinic that looks after post weight loss patients. It will cost about $15,000 Cdn to have the surgery. They recommended to lose another 20-25 lbs before they do anything. Did you have surgery? Are you in Canada? Are you somewhere that the cosmetic surgery is partially covered for seniors in a province? You need not answer these questions if you prefer. But thank you for your story.
11
Kim
April 5
Congratulations Maria, you look amazing. Thanks for your inspiring story.
12
Jane
April 5
Thank you, so inspiring! I've been struggling, mainly due to lack of time to be organised to cook. You've reminded me to keep meals simple.
13
Jeri
May 17
Thank you so much for sharing your story and congratulations on your success. You do look wonderful; trim and fit. It's such an inspiration for me to see that being a bit beyond the "ideal" age to lose weight is no hindrance. I'm in my mid-60's and have been following this way of life for 6 weeks. It really gets me down to see the general negativity attached to losing weight in older stages of life (though this website is a breath of fresh air). 34 kilos in a year is a massive achievement and you really give me hope that I can achieve something similar.
14
Carol S
August 30
I wonder if you lose slow and daily do exercises that focus on those fat loose areas - would that help to keep loose skin from forming?
I haven't started yet. I am about 175 and want to go to about 140. I haven't been able to shed a pound so far. I am 72 female.

Reply: #15
15
Reply to comment #14 by Carol S
Kristin Parker Team Diet Doctor
August 31

I wonder if you lose slow and daily do exercises that focus on those fat loose areas - would that help to keep loose skin from forming?
I haven't started yet. I am about 175 and want to go to about 140. I haven't been able to shed a pound so far. I am 72 female.

Welcome Carol! You may find some good information in this guide on our website.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/top-tips-lose-weight-low-carb-women-40

After one year of low carb: “I am 70 years old today and have never felt better”

Comment

Get started

More

Low carb

Intermittent fasting

Weight loss

Support

More success stories

PS

15 comments

Leave a reply Cancel reply