From Fat to Skinny by Going in Reverse

One day six years ago, I woke up and decided to do exactly the opposite of what I had been doing my whole life. Up until that point, I had spent most of it struggling with a weight problem. I yo-yoed between bingeing and fasting, eventually tipping the scale at 292 pounds on a 5’8” frame.

My weight fluctuated for many years. I tried everything, including starvation and just about every fad diet, all of which failed miserably. Ultimately I gained more weight than I lost. Nothing seemed to work. My family tried to convince me that I was “big-boned” and that there was nothing I could do about it.

Bingeing and starving became my two best friends. I ate too much during stressful times and nothing after I had done something wrong. I was a perfectionist and an overachiever in all aspects of life except where my weight was concerned. That was the one thing I felt I couldn’t control.

Then on August 28, 1999, everything changed. That morning all of the issues I had been dealing with—my weight, my appearance, my lifestyle—came crashing down on me. I suffered a major panic attack. At first, I thought it must have been something I ate or drank, so I refused to eat and barely drank even water for the rest of the day. This kept on for the next three days. On the fourth morning, I woke up and knew that I couldn’t keep starving myself. I looked into the mirror and for the first time didn’t hate what I saw, because I was beginning to realize I could change it. I knew that everything I had done up to that point with my weight and health had been wrong. I knew that I couldn’t keep living the way I was living. I had to reverse course—to flip-flop everything—to change my life. That was the beginning of The Reverse Diet.

Some of the changes to my lifestyle I just fell into. It started with me focusing on using the fewest ingredients for a light dinner. I chose cereal (shredded wheat), but I didn’t want milk. I used to drink orange juice every morning, so one day I just decided to mix it in. I know shredded wheat with orange juice sounds weird, but I really liked it and it satisfied my sweet craving. Other aspects of the plan took research and experimentation—and teaming with renowned nutritionist Heidi Skolnik for The Reverse Diet book has really helped me fine-tune the diet.

By New Year’s Eve 1999, just over four months from when I started the Reverse Diet, I went to a party wearing a size 9. I had gone from 250 pounds in August down to just 150 pounds. I had set a goal weight of 130 pounds and knew that I could reach it. By March 2000, I was at 130. I even got as low as 112, but that was too thin for my build. I went back to 130 and have stayed that weight ever since.