Amazing Ride In 2005 For This Low-Carber

It's hard for me to believe that the year 2005 is almost over now, but we're now knocking on the door of 2006. Whew! What happened to this year?! Did it fly by for you as fast as it did for me?! You know, they say that's a sign of getting older. Yikes! :-O

Anyway, I would be completely remiss if I didn't think back and ponder about all that has happened to this average, everyday Southern boy over this past year. When I lost 180 pounds in 2004 after making it my New Year's resolution that year to lose weight on the Atkins diet, I had no idea what an experience I was in store for.

And that story continued and grew in 2005.

It was one year ago today, on December 30, 2004, that I wrote a CommonVoice.com column entitled Make Atkins Your New Life Resolution when I first realized that my weight loss success story could give people hope and inspiration to lose weight for themselves by following a low-carb program like I did. The response to that column was overwhelmingly positive, so it got me thinking about what I could do to help people even further.

As January and February rolled around, I noticed something peculiar happening to me: I found myself repeating over and over and over again my story about how I lost nearly 200 pounds in 2004. If I had kept track, I'm sure it would have been at least a couple hundred times that I told the abbreviated version of what happened to my life in 2004 that helped me lose so much weight.

Isn't it a little silly to go up to someone who has lost a large amount of weight and simply ask, "How'd you do it?" Unless that person has several hours to stand there and let me provide a complete dissertation of HOW I did it, then the answer provided will fall way short of the complete story.

Because of that, several people urged me to write a book about it. While I enjoy writing immensely (can you tell?), I had never written a book before. The longest paper I wrote was my thesis for my Master's Degree for graduate school and that was only 50 double-spaced pages. But a book would have to be bigger than that. The wheels were turning as I considered it and began researching what it would take to make that happen.

In the meantime, I kept writing columns on CommonVoice.com which included comments about the government's new dietary guidelines as well as my experience being on low-carb beyond one year.

Then in April I made two very important decisions that played a major impact on my life in 2005.

The first was to begin a brand new blog to help encourage and educate people in their low-carb lifestyle. That blog I created was called "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" and is still in existence for the same purpose today that it was in the beginning. I have to thank my friend Mike Green who had created a blog just before I created mine and it looked like a lot of fun. Would you say I have fun writing at my blog? LOL!

With all the negativity about low-carb in the media and from the "experts," I thought it would be an excellent way for me to express my opinions about how livin' la vida low-carb has changed MY life so it could help others in their own weight loss journey. The response has been utterly remarkable.

The first month, I had 5000 pageviews. Then, 7500 came the next month and 10,000 in the month after that. In November, I reached in excess of 20,000 pageviews and the momentum has continued to build. I would have never imagined in my wildest dreams that this blog would become as widely read as it is. What is most amazing to me is that the potential to grow even MORE is certainly there. What a blessing you all are to me to grace me with YOUR presence each and every day.

Besides beginning this blog, omething else happened in April, too. I decided that I would write that book that people were asking me to write. Plus, it gave me a great response to people when they asked, "How'd you do it?" referrig to my weight loss. I would respond, "Read about it in my book!" LOL! You gotta love it!

I did ending up writing that book and it released in late October through Booklocker.com. It appears on Amazon.com and in many other places all over the Internet. Again, the response to that 188-page pouring out of my soul regarding my weight problem has been mindboggling. Every week, I hear from people all over the world wanting to thank me for so openly telling my story. THANK YOU for allowing me to be as open and honest about what happened to me and I pray it continues to touch the lives of many.

So what now? Was 2005 all there was for Jimmy Moore and now it's back to "normal" life again? Not hardly! I'm still out on my book tour sharing with people my story of success, including going to Milwaukee, Wisconsin next weekend and to Brooklyn, New York for a HUGE low-carb conference a couple of weeks later.

I'll keep blogging away and providing you the very latest information in the wonderful world of low-carb living. Also, be sure to check out the April 2006 issue of LowCarb Energy magazine which will feature my low-carb weight loss success story and where I will be introduced as a new contributing writer for the #1 low-carb magazine on the market! Pretty cool, eh?

This past year has been an amazing ride indeed for this low-carber. But I truly believe the BEST is yet to come! Happy New Year and great health to you all as you start or continue livin' la vida low-carb! God bless you!

12-30-05 UPDATE: Two of my reader who have been with me at this blog since the very beginning wrote e-mails to me that I would like to share with you:

The first one wrote:

I just wanted to cheer you on! Keep up the good words for Low Carb. I've been livin lo carb for over 3 yrs now. I have my diabetes under control and have maintained a 50 lb weight loss for this long. I will continue for the rest of my life. God willing. We have reason to be proud.

Love your columns. Keep standing up for low carb!!! I will also.

The second one wrote:

Hey Jimmy,

Just wanted to wish you a happy new year and tell you how much I enjoy reading your blog. We corresponded briefly some time ago while I was in the throes of my first time around with Atkins. I've since had a baby and am now back on the low-carb bandwagon, and feeling better than ever!

I'm even taking a page out of your book (so to speak) and blogging about low-carb myself on my [Yahoo!] 360 page.

You really are an inspiration. God bless you!

THANK YOU both for your encouragement! It's nice to know that people are changing their lives and sharing their success with others. That's what makes this endeavor all worth it to me to hear about the influence many of you are having on those people within your spheres of influence.

Whether you know it or not, you ARE making an impression on a lot of people. Don't ever think livin' la vida low-carb is just about your weight loss. It is so much more than that because of all the eyeballs that are watching you, waiting for you to fail. When you don't, then you have a powerful testimony that is told without saying a single word. :)