Cape woman loses almost 140 pounds and counting after family health battles

After Terri Leist's father, Nick — band director at Jackson High School for 30 years — passed away in 2015 at the age of 75 from an enlarged heart, she made the decision to drop her weight so she did not face the same fate. She has now lost almost 140 pounds.

At the age of 47, Leist weighed 338 pounds. Along with being on multiple medications for blood pressure and depression, Leist said she would binge on junk food during the weekend, two or three times a month.

"In that two day span, I would have two bags of family-size candy, three bags of chips, a jar of salsa, container of sour cream, a jar of queso cheese dip and at least one box of mini doughnuts," Leist said. "I was truly addicted to sugar and processed foods. My body was no longer able to process sugar like normal people. If I ate a cupcake or candy, my friends would say I acted like I was drunk. My brain would no longer recognize the difference between hungry and full. I would eat until I was ready to get sick every day."

Leist tried multiple different diet plans, including Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem and Herbalife. She said she would always put the weight back on after trying them. Leist then discovered ketogenic, or keto, diet and decided to implement it into her daily life. According to WebMD, ketogenic is a term for a low-carbohydrate diet, similar to the Atkins diet. "The idea is for you to get more calories from protein and fat and less from carbohydrates," according to the www.webmd.com.

Leist lost 26 pounds using keto and then switched to a carnivore keto diet. The difference between the two diets is, keto limits the amount of carbohydrates an individual eats and the carnivore keto diet eliminates carbohydrates. Individuals who practice the carnivore diet only eat meat, eggs some animal products and exclude all other food groups.

"I'm a minimalist in the kitchen, so I got to the point where I would cook ground beef in the crock pot on the weekends, and eat that during the week. So, for 22 months I only ate meat, and by then I had lost a total of 92 pounds," she said. "I decided to change things up, so I switched to a meat-focus keto diet. I had about 1,500 calories a day and 20 vegetable calories a day. Now I'm down 138 pounds."

Leist said she keeps her hands and mind busy to avoid thinking about food. She enjoys crocheting dolls, taking her four dogs she rescued on walks and playing video games on her PlayStation. Her favorite games include adventure and open-world exploration games.

Leist, who is now 50 years old, weighs around 200 pounds and hopes to reach the 175 pound mark. She no longer is required to take blood pressure medication or antidepressants and avoids processed foods so she is not tempted to binge.

"I have more energy than ever and I'm overall happier. I've got more confidence and I have to be proud of myself. I went from a women's size 30 to a size 16," Leist said. "One thing I have always read in the diet forums is that weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise, so now I have the 80% down. In the near future, I am going to incorporate the 20% of exercise."

Leist said the advice she would give to anyone trying to lose weight or live a healthier lifestyle is to focus on whole foods such as meat, dairy, vegetables and to stick to the food on the outer aisles of the grocery store.

She hosts a YouTube channel, which includes videos about her diet and crocheting, which can be found by searching her name. She also has a crochet-focused Facebook page titled "Yarn Diversions."