CarbSmart Book Signing Was A Blast

I just got back to Spartanburg, SC from my trip to Huntington Beach, CA over the weekend for a book signing at CarbSmart. Whew, Christine and I are just plumb tarrrrrd (that's Southern speak for "tired!"), but we were so happy to travel to the West Coast on the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" book tour. A special THANK YOU to Andrew DiMino from CarbSmart for granting us more hospitality and generosity than I am even accustomed to being from the South! :)



WOW, what a time it was meeting all the wonderful folks who were kind enough to come out on Saturday to say hello and meet me in the Southern California area. It was an awesome time meeting so many people who I have only previously known through the Internet because of my blog. A special thanks to Jason from LO-CARB U FOODS, Rosanna from VIVA LOW-CARB, and Steve from LOCARB LIFE for coming out in support of Andrew for his book signing with me and Jan McCracken.



Speaking of, I was so thrilled to be sitting next to Jan McCracken who is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing people you will ever meet. An author of 40 (yep, that's FORTY!) books, mostly self-published cookbooks in just the past 10 years, Jan is a very funny lady who you just have to meet in person to appreciate what a special creation of God she really is.

Her new book Healthy Carb Cookbook for Dummies is an absolutely wonderful and easy to follow book for anyone who dibble dabbles in low-carb cooking. YOU'LL LOVE IT!!! Plus, Jan has agreed to do an exclusive interview for my blog soon. Stay tuned!



Something pretty neat happened during the book signing on Saturday. A lady walked in and looked like a woman on a mission. She headed straight towards the Atkins 14-Day Starter Kit section and picked it up and started looking around with a bit of a puzzled look on her face wondering what she was going to get next. I walked up to her and asked her if she was starting the Atkins diet and she said she would be starting the next morning.

I congratulated her on her decision to start livin' la vida low-carb and told her about my success story. She was so excited to meet someone who lost weight with the Atkins diet and asked me what I would recommend she get to help her lose 15 pounds by Christmas. I told her she first needed to pick up Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution book to help get her started off the right way. She purchased many of the low-carb products that will get her started right and I am confident she will reach that goal of 15 pounds lost over the next six weeks.

What was really funny is she said she found the store after reading Low-Carb Energy magazine listed the Low-Carb Freedom blog in their latest issue as a top low-carb blog in 2005 and saw a link about the book signing. Of course, that's the same issue that named my blog among the top three as well. She then said she had visited my blog as well and was quite surprised to meet me in California. Small world, eh?



I was so happy to have my wife Christine with me on this trip. Neither one of us had ever been to California, so it was a really good time for us both.



Christine and I were amazed by the low-carb offerings at CarbSmart and were like kids in a candy store looking at the wide selection of foods available.



Oh my goodness, I was blown away walking through the store. There were low-carb snacks...



Low-carb (actually ZERO carb!) breads...



Scary, I know. But this stuff is GOOD! And my absolutely favorite item in the store was the Flax Snax...



If you have never tried this stuff before, then you need to click RIGHT HERE and order some right away in cinnamon, cherry, or cranberry. They're THAT good!

We got a few minutes to visit the Pacific Ocean for a few minutes to watch the surfers in the 62 degree water.



Huntington Beach was beautiful. But we found a creature that could stand to start livin' la vida low-carb...



The obesity rates among seals is at an all-time high. They really should consider the low-carb lifestyle. Isn't fish low-carb? LOL!

Again, let me publicly say THANK YOU to Andrew and everyone who visited his CarbSmart store for the book signing this weekend. I'm still getting used to all the attention, but I am proud to wave the low-carb banner high to the sky. People ARE being successful losing weight and keeping it off with low-carb. No matter how hard the media and so-called health experts may try, they will never be able to take my success away from me.



I brag on her quite a bit in my book, but I also want to give a quick shout out for the love of my life, Christine. She puts up with me by granting me time to spend promoting my book, writing at my blog and just about every other activity that keeps me away from her. She is and will always be the best thing that happened to me. THANK YOU, baby! You da best!

By the way, I signed a few extra copies of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" for CarbSmart, so be sure to get your autographed copy by clicking here.

I'm off now for another book signing in Spartanburg tonight at Pic-A-Book and on Tuesday night at the YMCA in Duncan, SC. Hope to see you out on the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" book tour soon! SEE YA!