Terrie Kovacevic's Story

After being diagnosed with hypothyroidism, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes, and adrenal fatigue (among other ailments) Terrie Kovacevic was told by her doctor to “try harder” to lose weight.

She tried. It was December 2014 when she noticed her continuous weight gain, although she was working out every day and eating clean. “I was watching and logging every single morsel of food that went into my mouth,” she said.

A few years later, in September of 2017, she worked with a functional medical doctor who put her on an extreme elimination diet with intermittent fasting. Despite her medical conditions and newfound “menopausal hell” she ended up feeling better and losing 20 pounds (9 kg).

But then a weightlifting injury landed her in surgery. Kovacevic got lazy about her eating, stopped the intermittent fasting, and obviously couldn’t work out. Weight gain was inevitable. Shewas deeply depressed and essentially gave up.

“I became so discouraged. “I just broke,” she explained. “I was finally at the point that I was like, ‘Why bother anymore?!’. I’m over 50, fat, sick, injured, and miserable.” But something changed—she doesn’t even know what spurred it—and she decided to try again.

She was sick and tired of being sick and tired and she knew something needed to adjust. The hardest part was getting her mindset where it needed to be. “I truly believe the hardest thing about weight loss is the mental game,” she said. “When you’re not seeing the results that you expected, you get flustered and want to quit. Sometimes it’s comparing yourself to others. I often had to remind myself to stay the course and the results would follow.”

It was this mindset and her determination that led to success. While her husband was a fantastic support system, Kovacevic believes she didn’t need anyone’s support but her own. “Regardless of if I had support or not, I wanted this for me!” she says.

In June  of 2018, she reintroduced intermittent fasting and began to see results. In August 20, she introduced the ketogenic lifestyle and saw even more results. Recently, she’s been going back to the gym and, again, results are continuing to show.

Kovacevic found Dr. Berg a while back, in a low-carb group she belonged to, but she rediscovered his YouTube channel when she first embraced IF. She emphasizes how much she has learned from Dr. Berg and how his advice has helped her with specific problems she was facing. “I watch and re-watch a lot of his videos regarding the importance of lowering Fat Storing Hormone because of all the issues I’ve had with it,” she said.

According to Kovacevic, her only regret throughout this journey was that she cheated on Thanksgiving in 2017, making her sick and derailing her progress until the following June. “Cheating is never worth it and I’ll never do it again,” she said.

So, how did she stay encouraged? For her it’s all about progress pictures and goal clothing. And as she lost weight she was gaining confidence every day, feeling substantially better. Now, most of her health issues are a thing of the past or have been greatly reduced. If that’s not motivation enough, what is?

Since starting keto and intermittent fasting, Kovacevic has lost almost 40 pounds (18 kg) and feels amazing. “My energy and confidence is through the roof!” she exclaims. “I never imagined myself looking and feeling as amazing as I do right now. Not only did I reach my weight loss goals, but I exceeded them! Now in my 50’s I’m wearing a size I haven’t worn since high school!”

Favorite Way to Exercise: Weight training

Favorite Keto Recipe: Air fryer keto fried chicken

Out of all of Dr. Berg’s advice, strategies, and tips, what was the single best thing you learned that helped you the most? “To stop weighing yourself and throw out the scale!”