I have struggled with my weight my whole life.  In high school, I weighed 165 during soccer season and 185 out of season.  By the time I finished my freshman year of college, I was at 210.  I yo-yo’d thru the years, losing 20 or 30 pounds here and there, then gaining it all back and some more.  I topped out at 278 pounds.  I found Albina and with the luck of God (I’ll explain that). I am at 186 as of this morning.

 At 53 years of age, and 35 years of struggling, I have finally done it!

THANKS TO ALBINA AND IDEAL PROTEIN!

 Now, the God part.

 In June 2018, my family and I had a wonderful opportunity to travel to Israel and the Holy Land.  It was a trip of a lifetime.  The religious sites, the people, the culture, the architecture, the ruins, and the history.  And I learned about Ideal Protein.

 We traveled there with a church from south Texas. As we walked through Galilee, a woman I did not know told me about her pastor, Father Michael.  Pointing him out, she said he had lost 150 pounds on a diet.  She was so proud of him.

 What did I hear?  “Patrick, you are fat.  You need to lose that much weight too.”  She did not say that, but that is what I heard.  I had to buy travel pants for the trip.  I had been squeezing into 42 inch pants and had to get a 44-inch waist for the journey.  It was a bit tight, but I wasn’t getting anything larger.  My shirts were XXL and XXXL.  Lots of walking, steps, and climbing in and out of buses.  I felt my weight.  But I was mad at this lady.  Who is she to tell me I’m fat?

 A few days later we had the opportunity to renew our wedding vows in Cana.  The sight of Jesus’s first miracle, where he turned water into wine at a wedding feast.  My three teen daughters took pictures of mom and dad.  My wife, as usual, was looking good.  There I was.  In my 44 inch pants, XXXL shirt and looking not so good.

 The rest of our days in the Holy Land were spent stewing a bit.  And thinking about Father Micheal and what he had done.  Did he really lose 150 pounds?  If so, how?  But I could never do that.  I could not get the courage up to ask him.  And even if I did, I’d fail at it anyway.

 After sitting on the tarmac for 3 hours, stuffed in a coach seat, our flight out of Tel Aviv was canceled.  We spent an extra night in Israel.  I finally got the courage.  Father Micheal shared his Ideal Protein journey.  His enthusiasm encouraged me.  I went back to my hotel room and downloaded as much information as I could on Ideal Protein to read on the plane.  We arrived back in the US on June 18, 2018.  The next day I called Albina.  I started the diet on June 29th.

 I completed phase 1 in January 2019 at 188 pounds.  In just under 7 months I lost 90 pounds.  I am wearing 34 inch pants and large shirts.

 With Albina’s help it was easy.  I am 3 months into phase 4 and have not gained any weight back.  Albina tells me phase 4 is the tough part.  I have to re-learn how to eat, so the weight does not go back on.  I still see her two times a month.  She keeps me accountable.  She is 8 years (correct?) into her journey and has not gained her weight back.  Father Micheal is 2 years into his journey and holding steady.  And I will too!

 One last thing.  I am a physician.   I know about obesity personally and with my patients.  I know the biochemistry and how a body handles carbohydrates and stores fat.  I understand why I could not lose weight.  It was what I was eating.  Albina knows all this science too.  She was the missing link.  She was why I succeeded.

-Dr. Patrick