About Mary Jo Kringas Expertise I can answer questions about how to lose weight, specifically weight loss on a low-carb eating program. I can address the advantages of eating naturally, without sugar or artificial sweetners and I can provide dietary tips on creating a varied, tasteful and healthy menu on a low-carb lifestyle. I can also address questions on creating emotional support to support and maintain weight loss.
Experience I have lost more than 300 lbs., since a high weight of 475 lbs. in high school, which was 25 years ago. My most recent weight loss was 100 lbs., which I have maintained for four years.
Publications Livin la Vida Low Carb, Melting Mama
Education/Credentials BA and MBA, neither degree is in nutrition.
Awards and Honors I am the creator of the ChocoPerfection, naturally sugar free and high fiber chocolate bar.
Question hi i am 20 years old and i weigh 208 pounds and i want to get down to 145 by my 21 birthday party in June how can i do it? also if i lose 65 pounds will i have loose skin?
Answer Hi Ericka,
Greetings and thank you sincerely for writing to me.
In my weight loss journey, I weighed over 300 lbs. (twice actually). What I learned is controversial, but the best truth I can tell you. Food matters; exercise does not. Exercise is possibly ok for weight maintenance, but during the weight loss phase, exercise actually worked
against my weight loss goal.
What I suggest is the following. The first four weeks of this will be the most difficult of your life. Please do not give up after the first four weeks.
Although I do not know you, I strongly suspect that three things are present in your life now.
1) You place the needs of others above the needs of yourself.
2) You beat yourself up for being fat, whether you see this or not. Signals that you have an internal conversation that you are bad for being fat include: eating low-fat foods, drinking diet soda, struggling to meet calorie restrictions, getting on a scale, limiting your portions, eating salads in public, binge eating in private.
3) You likely have a raging yeast (candida) infection that you may be able to spot through vaginal discharge. The yeast infection causes you to crave sugar or artificial sweeteners that spike your insulin and then cause you to want more.
If you look at this objectively, you have done nothing wrong to be overweight, yet looking at this objectively is a conversation that few will have. Society has given us the message that we are lazy, selfish, gluttons for being fat when nothing is further from the truth.
This is the hard part... the eating program below. Truly take this on for one week and I guarantee that you will get weight loss results (this would be the only time I suggest getting on a scale).
1) Absolutely nothing but proteins, good fats and vegetables. Choose:
meat, fish, eggs, poultry, nuts, olive oil, real butter, any vegetable you want (except potatoes of any type), unsweetened yogurt and coconut cream you can get this in Asian grocery stores).
2) Do not limit your portions. Eat until you are full.
3) DO NOT EAT LOW-FAT. Eat as much fat as you can stand.
4) Completely avoid: bread, fruits, rice, potatoes, pasta, artificial sweeteners, sugar, jams, pastry, cookies, cake.
5) Desserts will be the most difficult at this stage. You need something that will taste good, but that will not sabotage your efforts. I suggest you look at the products on my website: www.lowcarbspecialties.com. I
created an all-natural low-carb, high fiber chocolate bar, and I also sell the sweetener, SweetPerfection (which was recently named by Men's Health Magazine as the best sweetener available). If you cannot afford these products, and they are expensive due to the natural ingredients, you can do the following:
create your own desserts from unsweetened yogurt or coconut cream and add stevia (it has a bad aftertaste, but you do NOT want to use Equal, or Splenda, or Maltitol, or any artificial sweetener because it will spike
your insulin levels and bring you back to where you started.) You can also add cocoa powder or vanilla to make the yogurt or coconut cream taste better. Another good dessert is cooked carrots basted in butter and sprinkled with SweetPerfection or stevia and some cinnammon.
6) Other than the ChocoPerection chocolate bars or the SweetPerfection sweetener, I strongly suggest that you avoid all other "low-carb" products which say "low-carb" but are made with artificial sweeteners that will halt your weight loss efforts.
If you have the yeast infection that I suspect you do, the first day will be sheer hell. The 2nd day will not be much better. By the 3rd day, your body has started to figure out what is up and it will be hell, but you
will have moments of feeling very good. By the end of the week, you will likely still feel fatigued and with some depression (this is the yeast leaving the body.) You will, too, have likely lost at least 4-6 lbs. of body weight in one week.
The trick at this part is to continue, and to continue, and to continue. And, if you slip and eat a box of donuts, to start right back up again. If you can master this eating program, you will be able to lose 65 lbs. in about a year, as you desire, and you can keep your weight off for life.
Will you have loose skin? Not much. Especially if you use lots of olive oil in your cooking, your skin will keep elastic. The unsweetened yogurt also helps the skin tighten. Skin reduction surgery is not something I would suggest your concern yourself with unless you have sustained a weight above 350 lbs.
Please consider seeking to avoid birth control pills, or any other presription medication, as these will support the growth of any yeast infection you may have.
And, if you can create a budget for taking care of yourself, I would strongly suggest that you find a nearby NET therapist (Neuro Emotional Therapist) who can help you get rid of the yeast infection using tools in which they
specialize: emotional release, allergy release, release due to environmental factors. You can find your closest practitioner at: www.netmindbody.com. Expect to pay about $200 to $250 an hour for the treatment, but it will be one of the best investments of your life.
May all the kindest spirits in the universe be with you on this journey.
