A Blast From The Past About My Present

I graduated high school with Laura Creekmore in 1989

I do a lot of research on various web sites and search engines to find content for my blog, so imagine my surprise recently when I came across a food blog called Fixin' Supper by a woman named Laura Creekmore. Well, THAT name stuck out like a sore thumb to me because I went to high school in the town of Bolivar, Tennessee with someone named Laura Creekmore. And wouldn't you know it, it was the same person!

Laura was the Valedictorian (did I spell that word right, Laura? LOL!) of the Class of 1989 at Bolivar Central High School and everyone knew she would become a great success at whatever she decided to pursue in life. This former high school cheerleader is now a proud mother juggling her duties between work, kids, and oh yes, blogging, too (although expecting someone as busy as Laura to blog as much as me would be a wee bit unreasonable, don't ya think?).

In a post she wrote today entitled "Low-Carb Call-Out," Laura was so kind to give a "shout-out" about me and my weight loss.

"I am so proud to call him a friend and classmate and hope he can say the same about me," Laura wrote. "Jimmy had gotten to be quite overweight -- a problem many people struggle with today. But in 2004, he lost 180 pounds!"

Yep, Laura, I would DEFINITELY call you a friend, although I know my weight problem in high school kept me from ever being as outgoing and carefree as I am today. Believe it or not, I was pretty shy when I was a teenager! GASP! I know it's shocking, but I was. College woke up some dormant cells from within and revealed a new part of me that I never knew existed before. Of course, losing all that weight two years ago has woken up a few more cells and now I'm REALLY alive! :P

Laura wrote, "Jimmy, I am so proud of you! I feel certain that most of what I talk about on Fixin' Supper won't qualify as low-carb. :)"

Hee hee, that's okay, Laura. I understand, although I could never eat as many carbs as I used to in all those "yummy" school lunches they used to feed us. What WAS that mystery meat anyways?

What a nice surprise to have someone from my past enter my present life now. My 20-year high school reunion is coming up in 2009 and I can't wait to show everyone my new body. But I have another one of my high school classmates to thank for being an inspiration to me to begin livin' la vida low-carb and he may not even realize it (if you've read my book "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb," then you know who I'm talking about).

Actually, Laura may even remember this from our 10-year high school reunion in 1999 when fellow classmate Keith Jackson showed up at a social we had at the high school on the Friday night before our reunion and everyone looked at him with their jaws on the floor. Keith Jackson, who had been a rather hefty young man, was...well, SKINNY! He was merely a shadow of his former self and certainly amazed most of us who knew him when he was "bigger."

When he said he did it on the Atkins diet, I was skeptical about the method he chose. As you know, I chose to go on a low-fat diet that year and did well on it, but couldn't keep the weight off. The image of Keith Jackson was indelibly burned into my memory and he was one of my personal inspirations to start my Atkins diet on January 1, 2004. I hope to have the opportunity to shake Keith's hand at our upcoming reunion to THANK him for helping me change my life. And he probably has no idea he did anything!

Laura, God bless you girl for being exactly who you are. I always appreciated how level-headed and bright you were and it looks like those beneficial traits have never left you. Your kids are so lucky to have a mommy like you and I wish you all the best with your life and all that you pursue in it. Please stay in touch...I'm always here at my blog. :) SEE YA and THANK YOU!