'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb' Anniversary Memories - February 2006-April 2006
This is the fourth in a four-part series looking back at the highlights of the first year of this blog. This post looks at the blog posts from February 2006-April 2006. Click here to read the post about April 2005-July 2005, click here to read the post about August 2005-October 2005, and click here to read the post about November 2005-January 2006.
After the New Year's resolution rush in January where I had more than 35,000 pageviews in one month, my new record, I was expecting the numbers to fall off dramatically as people stopped thinking about this low-carb thing. Boy was I wrong because the hits just kept on coming! More of that in a minute.
One of the things I enjoy doing is providing education about low-carb for my readers who may not know about the ins and outs of this amazing lifestyle. I don't pretend to know everything, but I have some very smart friends who do. :)
For example, what to do about that post-pregnancy weight loss? Who knew it's not a good idea to low-carb again if you are going to breastfeed? Or that being on low-carb would prolong your period. EWWWW! Of course, I'm a guy and WOULDN'T NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS! LOL! But if it's important to talk about it, we will!
February 7, 2006 will forever be remembered as the day the low-fat lie was exposed for all the world to see when a landmark 8-year study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found the way of eating that had been forced on us for decades did not prevent disease as we have been told. This low-fat letdown has opened the doors wide open now for people to find out about the healthy benefits of low-carb living.
But this grim news about the low-fat diet unfortunately has not discouraged those businesses that rely on "low-fat" remaining viable because they are only in it for the money and nothing else. Too bad all those "low-fat" foods are close to being finished!
Even still, low-fat activists like Dr. Dean Ornish tried to "explain" the low-fat study for us with little success I might add. I even issued a challenge to him to recognize low-carb as an alternative nutritional approach. He declined. Ornish had help defending his cherished diet from a health writer at Time Magazine, but she didn't make it any better. Low-fat is definitely on its way out now. Good riddance to the low-fat lie!
Even worse than the low-fatties were the radical vegans who started picking a fight at my blog. I often wrote about the extreme members of the vegan activist movement, such as Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine, who would conduct useless surveys like this to try to further their cause. But I called their bluff and showed what a fraud they are. This didn't sit well with the natives, especially after I reviewed a book called "Skinny Bitch" which the authors described anyone on the Atkins diet as "a moron." Hoo boy, here we go!
I stirred up a hornet's nest of vegans who attempted to defend their way of eating. I explained that it wasn't about how they ate but rather what was said derogatorily about low-carb living. Nevertheless, I even had one vegan threaten to sue me for slander. Yeah, right. Stand in line. Even as I tried to move on from this subject as one of them pleaded with me to do, the vegans kept on their attack mode.
Of course, those vegans can't be too happy about one of their most famous supporters making the statement that the Atkins diet is the "worst ever." I personally don't care if somebody chooses to eat a vegan diet or not, but don't lecture me about what is good for ME! I don't care how many golf balls you have hit!
But Gary Player looked pretty sane compared to this loony vegan! I finally said good riddance to the vegan era of my blog after this vegan chick got ticked about my support for the Atkins diet. Get over it already because I'm not changing my diet. :)
When March 2006 rolled around, a new word that I had never heard of was introduced at my blog: shirataki! These amazing low-carb pasta noodles from Japan have grown in popularity faster than a Ricky Martin song about a crazy life! I tried and reviewed both the Konjac brand and House Foods brand of shirataki and was quite impressed. I believe this will be the breakout product of 2006 in healthy food products. Keep watching it and try it for yourself!
Even as studies like this one showing the benefits of eating fat for mental health, we have the same old criticisms of low-carb we've always had and debunked. Are these people ever gonna come up with something valid to complain about? Not likely!
Despite popular belief, you CAN low-carb and be a vegetarian, too. Are you writing this down, journalists? It's amazing how most of the opposition to low-carb has to do with meat and yet there are many who enjoy the healthy benefits of low-carb living WITHOUT eating meat. As a variation of what former Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings from South Carolina used to say, "There's a whole lotta assumin' goin' on out there!"
In addition to educating people about low-carb, I also try to encourage those who need to lose weight because I KNOW how hard it can be. Most people just need to persevere with their low-carb plan to see the results they are looking for.
Something else that I discuss at my blog is the propensity for our doctors to turn to drugs as the FIRST solution to a health problem rather than as a last resort. I was quite disturbed after reading this study about statin drugs. Of course, this became personal to me when my doctor wanted to put me back on a statin drug because my March 2006 blood work came back with elevated LDL cholesterol levels. He has given me four months to lower my LDL before we start talking about the "s" word again.
Most of you gave me excellent advice about my cholesterol issue and recommended that I avoid statins (which I am doing regardless). I'm going around the traditional cholesterol tests because they may not be valid for someone like me who is on low-carb. In fact, I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to have blood drawn for the LipoScience particle test. I'll share the results when I get them back.
In mid-March, it seems those who oppose the low-carb lifestyle were bored and decided to create a major news story with the release of a study about ONE patient who got a condition called ketoacidosis allegedly from being on the Atkins diet. You would have thought the world was coming to an end by the way the media reacted to this story.
When I confronted this researcher about his suspicious study, he asked me for "any alternative explanation" for his patient's condition, which many of you so eloquently offered. We even stirred up a Yale professor with this topic. Leave it to someone who actually worked with Dr. Atkins for decades to assure people that the Atkins diet is safe and effective.
There has been a move to get away from using the term "low-carb" for some reason nobody can explain to me recently. I'm not running from the term anytime soon because it is how I lost weight and got healthy. This is the "Livin' La Vida LOW-CARB" blog and always will be! I think this is why my blog had nearly 50,000 pageviews in the month of March alone because you all appreciate my defense of "low-carb" even as others shy away from it. THANK YOU for your support.
And that brings us to this month, April 2006. Although it has been two years since he was taken from this world too soon, the death of Dr. Robert C. Atkins remains a topic of discussion among those who oppose his life's work. These kind of comments from anti-Atkins people seems to bring all sorts of strange characters out in the open. :)
But I'm encouraged by people like Dr. Fred Pescatore and Richard Morris because they prove that we are making a difference as long as we never forget that there are millions of people out there who need to hear the good news of healthy low-carb living.
WOW, what a first year online at my blog! I cannot thank you all enough for making my blog what it is today. Your readership, which has accounted for 250,000 pageviews in just the past year, has been faithful and involved.
My gratitude to you will be shared in the form of some great giveaways on Friday that I hope you will come back to see what you can win. If you haven't entered yet, then you still have time. Click here to find out what you need to do to enter your name in the giveaways.
I've got one year under my belt now, but I honestly believe the best is yet to come! There's no doubt in my mind that we'll continue making many more memories in the coming months and years as the message of livin' la vida low-carb grows and grows despite what the media and the so-called "experts" say about it. God bless you all!
After the New Year's resolution rush in January where I had more than 35,000 pageviews in one month, my new record, I was expecting the numbers to fall off dramatically as people stopped thinking about this low-carb thing. Boy was I wrong because the hits just kept on coming! More of that in a minute.
One of the things I enjoy doing is providing education about low-carb for my readers who may not know about the ins and outs of this amazing lifestyle. I don't pretend to know everything, but I have some very smart friends who do. :)
For example, what to do about that post-pregnancy weight loss? Who knew it's not a good idea to low-carb again if you are going to breastfeed? Or that being on low-carb would prolong your period. EWWWW! Of course, I'm a guy and WOULDN'T NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS! LOL! But if it's important to talk about it, we will!
February 7, 2006 will forever be remembered as the day the low-fat lie was exposed for all the world to see when a landmark 8-year study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found the way of eating that had been forced on us for decades did not prevent disease as we have been told. This low-fat letdown has opened the doors wide open now for people to find out about the healthy benefits of low-carb living.
But this grim news about the low-fat diet unfortunately has not discouraged those businesses that rely on "low-fat" remaining viable because they are only in it for the money and nothing else. Too bad all those "low-fat" foods are close to being finished!
Even still, low-fat activists like Dr. Dean Ornish tried to "explain" the low-fat study for us with little success I might add. I even issued a challenge to him to recognize low-carb as an alternative nutritional approach. He declined. Ornish had help defending his cherished diet from a health writer at Time Magazine, but she didn't make it any better. Low-fat is definitely on its way out now. Good riddance to the low-fat lie!
Even worse than the low-fatties were the radical vegans who started picking a fight at my blog. I often wrote about the extreme members of the vegan activist movement, such as Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine, who would conduct useless surveys like this to try to further their cause. But I called their bluff and showed what a fraud they are. This didn't sit well with the natives, especially after I reviewed a book called "Skinny Bitch" which the authors described anyone on the Atkins diet as "a moron." Hoo boy, here we go!
I stirred up a hornet's nest of vegans who attempted to defend their way of eating. I explained that it wasn't about how they ate but rather what was said derogatorily about low-carb living. Nevertheless, I even had one vegan threaten to sue me for slander. Yeah, right. Stand in line. Even as I tried to move on from this subject as one of them pleaded with me to do, the vegans kept on their attack mode.
Of course, those vegans can't be too happy about one of their most famous supporters making the statement that the Atkins diet is the "worst ever." I personally don't care if somebody chooses to eat a vegan diet or not, but don't lecture me about what is good for ME! I don't care how many golf balls you have hit!
But Gary Player looked pretty sane compared to this loony vegan! I finally said good riddance to the vegan era of my blog after this vegan chick got ticked about my support for the Atkins diet. Get over it already because I'm not changing my diet. :)
When March 2006 rolled around, a new word that I had never heard of was introduced at my blog: shirataki! These amazing low-carb pasta noodles from Japan have grown in popularity faster than a Ricky Martin song about a crazy life! I tried and reviewed both the Konjac brand and House Foods brand of shirataki and was quite impressed. I believe this will be the breakout product of 2006 in healthy food products. Keep watching it and try it for yourself!
Even as studies like this one showing the benefits of eating fat for mental health, we have the same old criticisms of low-carb we've always had and debunked. Are these people ever gonna come up with something valid to complain about? Not likely!
Despite popular belief, you CAN low-carb and be a vegetarian, too. Are you writing this down, journalists? It's amazing how most of the opposition to low-carb has to do with meat and yet there are many who enjoy the healthy benefits of low-carb living WITHOUT eating meat. As a variation of what former Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings from South Carolina used to say, "There's a whole lotta assumin' goin' on out there!"
In addition to educating people about low-carb, I also try to encourage those who need to lose weight because I KNOW how hard it can be. Most people just need to persevere with their low-carb plan to see the results they are looking for.
Something else that I discuss at my blog is the propensity for our doctors to turn to drugs as the FIRST solution to a health problem rather than as a last resort. I was quite disturbed after reading this study about statin drugs. Of course, this became personal to me when my doctor wanted to put me back on a statin drug because my March 2006 blood work came back with elevated LDL cholesterol levels. He has given me four months to lower my LDL before we start talking about the "s" word again.
Most of you gave me excellent advice about my cholesterol issue and recommended that I avoid statins (which I am doing regardless). I'm going around the traditional cholesterol tests because they may not be valid for someone like me who is on low-carb. In fact, I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to have blood drawn for the LipoScience particle test. I'll share the results when I get them back.
In mid-March, it seems those who oppose the low-carb lifestyle were bored and decided to create a major news story with the release of a study about ONE patient who got a condition called ketoacidosis allegedly from being on the Atkins diet. You would have thought the world was coming to an end by the way the media reacted to this story.
When I confronted this researcher about his suspicious study, he asked me for "any alternative explanation" for his patient's condition, which many of you so eloquently offered. We even stirred up a Yale professor with this topic. Leave it to someone who actually worked with Dr. Atkins for decades to assure people that the Atkins diet is safe and effective.
There has been a move to get away from using the term "low-carb" for some reason nobody can explain to me recently. I'm not running from the term anytime soon because it is how I lost weight and got healthy. This is the "Livin' La Vida LOW-CARB" blog and always will be! I think this is why my blog had nearly 50,000 pageviews in the month of March alone because you all appreciate my defense of "low-carb" even as others shy away from it. THANK YOU for your support.
And that brings us to this month, April 2006. Although it has been two years since he was taken from this world too soon, the death of Dr. Robert C. Atkins remains a topic of discussion among those who oppose his life's work. These kind of comments from anti-Atkins people seems to bring all sorts of strange characters out in the open. :)
But I'm encouraged by people like Dr. Fred Pescatore and Richard Morris because they prove that we are making a difference as long as we never forget that there are millions of people out there who need to hear the good news of healthy low-carb living.
WOW, what a first year online at my blog! I cannot thank you all enough for making my blog what it is today. Your readership, which has accounted for 250,000 pageviews in just the past year, has been faithful and involved.
My gratitude to you will be shared in the form of some great giveaways on Friday that I hope you will come back to see what you can win. If you haven't entered yet, then you still have time. Click here to find out what you need to do to enter your name in the giveaways.
I've got one year under my belt now, but I honestly believe the best is yet to come! There's no doubt in my mind that we'll continue making many more memories in the coming months and years as the message of livin' la vida low-carb grows and grows despite what the media and the so-called "experts" say about it. God bless you all!
posted by Jimmy Moore at
4/20/2006 05:42:00 PM
1 Comments:
Viva Livin' La Vida Low-Carb, Jimmy! You go, buddy! Congratulations, and, as you said: the best is yet to come! Greetings from Korea, I'm off to a lovely low-carb breakfast here :)
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