Hello, my name is Phyllis, and I'm a recovering vegetarian.  In those 5
meatless years I watched my weight shoot up 30 lbs, my strength lessening,
and my energy levels drop to nothing.  Why did I keep at for so long, you
ask?  Because it was so "good" for me (I read a whole bunch of books
testifying to that fact), obviously the problem was that I wasn't doing it
right.  I experimented: cut out dairy, eating raw veggies, eating only rice
etc.  I stayed constipated, low energy, constant heartburn, and chronic,
stinky "gas" (sorry, but it's true).  So at the end of 1997, I thought here I
sit, a failure, what is wrong with me!? Why can't I get this right!?

Fortunately, the universe was listening.  I was visiting my parents and my
Father wanted me to look at a diet he was going to try: the Eads Protein
Power Diet.  At first I scoffed, but the science they included in their
program peaked my curiosity.  And, they said you could do this diet as a
vegetarian.  Hey, I was desperate, I'll give this a try.  Instant success! An
idealistic skeptic in search of the truth, I read every trendy low carb book
out there The Zone, Atkins, 40-30-30.  After 2 weeks, I just could not eat
any more tofu (and I liked it!), and I was seriously considering the FACT
that as humans our natural state is not as vegetarians.  Once I hit the
internet and devoured the plethora of info I found there, I knew I had been
living a lie.  I'm gonna have to eat some meat.

It took me 3 days of visiting the grocery store to actually come home with a
bag of meat.  But it wasn't until after more internet research that I started
to get comfortable with my new omnivorous ways.  By perseverance and luck, I
found the paleolithic diet page and Neanderthin.  Yes, yes, this makes so
much sense, eat what we ate when the species was healthy!  No rocket science
(genetically altered or chemical laden food either) here.

So here I am, 3 months later, 16 lbs lighter, without ANY of the above
mentioned complaints!  Everyone is amazed, someone even told me my skin color
looked better!  Of course they want to know "how did you do it?"  When I tell
them the response is "oh, that sounds dangerous, aren't you worried."  Now go
figure, everyone admits I look better and I tell them I feel like a new
person without all the nagging little complaints of old, and they look right
at me and say "This can't be good for you."  But I'm used to naysayers, they
pooh-poohed the veg diet too (I always knew something was wrong with the SAD,
it just took a couple of years to find the right way to eat).  To "enlighten"
them (I try to squash my zealot tendencies, but you know, when you're right,
you're right!) I'll try to explain a bit of physiology, but if they're trying
to understand but attack, I just stop and smile (they say my teeth are
whiter, no coffee I guess), and say I refuse to lead a life unexamined.

So hi everyone!  I hope I haven't bored you, but I know I always love to hear
a good success story!

Phyllis