She lost half her size

Skimming her calendar, Amy Eiges stopped on March 14. Bariatric surgeon, 9 AM, it read. An instant surge of panic made her stomach turn and her skin prickle. She took deep breaths. It's your only way out of obesity prison, she reminded herself. At 410 pounds with a laundry list of health problems, every day was hard for the New York native. And every night, she worried her heart would give out. Doctors had long pushed for gastric bypass-but it was only after her mom, Bunny, died from diabetes complications that Amy, a prediabetic, relented. Because nothing else had ever worked. Not fat camp as a kid. Not calorie counting, medically supervised shake plans, pills or therapy. She'd joined Weight Watchers a mind-boggling 35 times. Surgery was her best hope. Yet Amy's instincts still screamed: It's not the right choice for you!

-  Allison Nemetz

This top doc's burger trick is so powerful, it can even help food addicts like Amy Eiges melt off up to 12 pounds a week* 

Dread building, Amy found herself searching the internet for nonsurgical options. As expected, nothing new came up, certainly nothing that was a match for her nonstop urge to eat pizza, fries and baked goods. Nothing except maybe…the keto diet. Experts over the years told her Dr. Atkins was a kook, so she never tried keto. But none of those ‘experts’ helped me, she realized.

A new beginning

Amy clicked one keto link after another. It’s not kooky. It makes sense, she thought. Cutting carbs meant her blood sugar would drop and her body would fuel itself with ketones made from fat. The process was slimming and would give sugar damaged cells a chance to heal, restoring normal function. Plus ketones helped kill appetite. I should try it, she decided.

Amy found a free app to help her limit carbs to 20 grams a day. I’m supposed to focus on fat to manage my hunger, she reminded herself. It would be hard after decades of hearing that eating fat made her fat. But she was going all in: Eggs and bacon for breakfast, cold cuts and pickles for lunch, meat and buttered veggies for dinner. This feels different than my thousand other attempts. I’m already less hungry, she realized on day one. Losing 12 pounds a week also gave her hope. I’m a food addict, and surgery won’t fix that. If keto can help, I’m doing it. She canceled her surgery consultation.