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A carbohydrate freak went from 501 to 205 pounds on Atkins

Tuesday, November 26, 2002

By Virginia Linn, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

As David Lanz neared his 30th birthday, he realized it was time to do something about his girth.

	David Lanz, now at 205 pounds, (Pam Panchak, Post-Gazette)

That was in August 2000, and he didn't even know how much he weighed; he was too large for a bathroom scale.

A special scale at the hospital revealed the answer: 501 pounds.

"This is ridiculous!" he thought.

His father, a pediatrician, suggested he try the Atkins high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet. Lanz did, and the weight peeled off. After 13 months, he was down to 250 pounds. It took another 11 months to lose the last 50.

"Once I made the decision to lose weight and made it my focal point, it really wasn't that hard to do." But it did entail a lot of effort and discipline.

The 6-foot Bridgeville resident now hovers around 205 pounds. From the start, he incorporated exercise, a practice not stressed by Atkins, although it can help the body go into ketosis, a condition during which the body burns its own fat for fuel.

He shed the first 150 pounds with walking as his only activity. After he got in better shape, he started jogging, and now runs between 30 to 40 miles a week.

"Before, I didn't want to drive that far," he joked.

Lanz, who turned 32 on Friday, said he had been heavy his whole life, although he didn't have related health complications.

A salesman for a Bridgeville distributor of contact lenses and other eye wear, Lanz acknowledged that he didn't follow the Atkins diet to a "T", particularly in the two-week induction phase, but followed "more or less the Atkins approach."

David Lanz, before starting on the Atkins diet.

Before the diet, pasta, pizza and Doritos were his passion. "I was a carbohydrate freak," he recalls.

"I can't remember the last time I had pasta. When I was losing weight, I never let myself cheat. I don't ever eat french fries anymore. I don't ever eat desserts -- never."

But he doesn't go hungry, either. "I eat a lot of food," he said.

About four months ago he started lifting weights to tone his slimmer body. He credits the support of staff and members at his workout club, Fitness Fanatics in Bridgeville, in helping him achieve his weight-loss goals throughout the two years.

Lanz is determined never to regain the weight. He weighs himself every morning, and if he adds a couple of pounds, he immediately cuts back on carbs.

"I would never want to gain weight and hear people say, 'Look, he put the weight back on.' That's a driving force for me."

"It's just an important accomplishment," he said. "I'm so proud of the fact that I did it."