This site is dedicated to you -
for making the decision to change your life, get healthy and lose weight.

MY STORY:  I am a 46 year old eye doctor in Orlando, FL who has had hypoglycemia for 30 years.  I was never overweight, but always weighed a little more than I wanted to weigh.  I was not too successful in a regular exercise program, and could not stick to any kind of diet for more than a day or two.  I loved food!  And with the hypoglycemia I was eating about 5 times a day.  While I avoided most sugar, I ate a lot of bread and pasta.

At 26 years old, I went back to school to become an eye doctor.  When I started school, I weighed about 130 lbs. and was a size 8/10 at 5'5".  I had ranged up to 140 in the past few years, but I had been line-dancing several times a week.  Once school started, I no longer had time to line dance and was not someone who was in the habit of exercising.  When I graduated school 7 years later, I weighed 160 lbs. and was a size 12/14.  I didn't mind the weight too much since I had always had a "pear" shape and was used to being somewhat wide.  Now I was just a little wider.

I was also very busy with my practice.  As time passed, I found myself getting about as thick as I was wide.  At 45 years old, I was trying to eat healthy but was 173 lbs. and a size 16/18.  I was not happy with my weight, but just sort of avoided thinking about it, weighing myself, looking in the mirror, or having photographs taken of me.

In 2007, my dog groomer and good friend Pam went on a supplement called Km and a diet made by a Canadian company called Matol.  The supplement helps create a more alkaline environment in the body and she thought it would be good for my friend who is a cancer survivor. 

So in June of 2007 we went to a presentation at a health food store about the Km and the presenter also talked about the diet.  It made total sense to me because the basis of the diet is that the pancreas is the source of weight gain and retention for many people.  The pancreas releases insulin in response to the breakdown of carbohydrates in our diet to its component sugar molecules that are used by our body for energy.  Insulin also causes the excess sugar molecules to be stored - as fat. 

Since the American diet is heavy in sugar and carbohydrates, after years the pancreas can start to release chronic low levels of insulin.  This causes everything you eat to be more likely to be stored as fat, whether it is a brownie or an organic apple! (I went to see an MD in Tampa who routinely measures fasting insulin levels as well as the typical fasting glucose.  He found that many people have elevated insulin levels even when there is no food in the system!)

My friend signed both of us up that night.  At 6'2", he was 235 lbs. and a size 36.  But you know how guys are - no hips or butt.  So his pants size was a little misleading as the fat on his stomach and sides hung over the too tight waist.  But he had started wearing XXL shirts instead of XL. 

I already knew my pancreas was dysfunctional because of the hypoglycemia.  But I was scared of the diet.  How would it affect my blood sugar?  Would I experience crashes?  I went to see an MD in Tampa who practices alternative and holistic medicine and uses this diet to treat everything from Type II Diabetes to High Blood Pressure to Fibromyalgia.  He laughed at my fears and told me that not only would I not crash on this diet, I would feel so much better and have improved blood sugar control.  The food arrived and sat in our kitchen for two months while I wrestled with starting.

Then one night in August, Pam came over to my parents house for dinner looking slim and fabulous.  She talked to my 67-year old mother about the diet.  My Mom wanted to lose 10 lbs. for her upcoming 50th high school reunion.  Pam told her she could easily lose the 10 lbs. in 6 weeks and I told her about what the doctor in Tampa had said about the diet's affect on the pancreas and hypoglycemia since my mom has also had hypoglycemia for 30 years.

The next morning August 23, 2007 my mom, my husband and myself all started the diet.

Four months later, my friend had lost 50 lbs. and was a size 32 - with very little hanging over. 

Six months later, my mom had gone from 163 lbs., size 14 to 125 lbs., size 8. 

And I had gone from 173 lbs., size 16/18 to 127 lbs., size 6/8.  None of us exercised.  We all felt great, had plenty of energy and my mom and I felt that our hypoglycemia was improved from a symptom-based standpoint.  (I intend to get another 6 hour Glucose Tolerance Test to measure it clinically.  My mom is happy to just not be at the mercy of her fluctuating blood sugar.)  As an added benefit, my mom felt that her arthritis was improved, her hips did not hurt as badly, and her 10-12 migraines per month had dropped to 2-3 per month!

Since we stopped the diet in February, none of us has regained any weight despite eating normally including dessert 1-2x a week.  My friend and I did go on vacation and "pig out" for two weeks and we gained a few pounds.  But when we got back, we followed the protocol for stage 1 for several days and the weight went away and has stayed away.  We have stayed on the supplements and 1-2 foods a day on average because they are so quick and easy!

There are many reasons why people gain weight - physical, mental, and emotional.  Whether you can stay on the diet or maintain your weight loss afterward is based on your mental and emotional relationship with food.  There are plenty of places to turn to for help with all of those factors.

But I am here to tell you that if you follow this diet exactly, you will lose weight.  If you are a man, woman, post-menopausal woman, on medications, or not especially active - you will lose weight.

Finally, I am in control of my body and how it uses the food I put into it.  I never have to be overweight again.  The Matol diet is truly your "Last Diet."  It is how you will gain control so you can enjoy Healthy Eating for the Rest of Your Life.