People Magazine's 'Half Their Size' Story Features Low-Carb Weight Loss Success

Low-carb success on cover of January 8, 2007 issue of People magazine

I suppose I now owe the editors at People magazine an apology. Last year about this time, I openly berated them at my blog for ignoring all the wonderful livin' la vida low-carb weight loss success stories in their annual "Half Their Size" column that comes out during the first week of the new year. They had printed story after story of people who had lost weight on virtually EVERY OTHER DIET out there, but not low-carb. In fact, there wasn't even a single example of someone who had lost weight following what is arguably the hottest diet out there today--the low-carb South Beach Diet program!

In fact, here's a quote from that blog post I wrote about this subject:

If I was your average Joe reading this People magazine article, then I would conclude that NOBODY is doing low-carb to lose weight anymore or else they would have shown at least a singular example. But it wasn't in there. Was it a simple act of omission by the People magazine editor or did they purposely avoid any and all low-carb weight loss successes for whatever reason?

Yes, I was just a tad bit upset about this because people who regularly read my blog get to see some truly remarkable transformations that have resulted from the low-carb lifestyle all the time. In fact, you can read any of the OVER 30 low-carb weight loss success stories that I have posted at my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Links" blog. They are just as inspirational and motivational as the ones People magazine printed.

Well, I guess the editors got the message for 2007 because they actually featured a woman who lost weight using low-carb to do it, too. But they did even one better than that--THEY PUT HER ON THE FRONT COVER!!! WOW! Now that's an "I'm sorry we forgot about you" if I ever saw one! Our low-carb weight loss champion is the lady on the right side of the front cover of the January 8, 2007 issue of People magazine.


First Atkins, then Kimkins helped Mary Smith shed 110 pounds

Her name is Mary Smith and she looks absolutely fabulous at 40, doesn't she? This 5'3" tall woman had been fat for nearly three decades since her childhood when she decided to go on the Atkins diet in 2002 after her weight climbed to over 250 pounds and her doctor told her she was pre-diabetic. That's when she went on the plan I used to lose over 180 pounds--the Atkins Diet. As most low-carbers will tell you, this way of eating is quite literally the perfect diet for people with insulin resistance and diabetes. The scientific evidence continues to support this as a proven fact.

Mary did her homework about the Atkins low-carb lifestyle by actually reading the book and quickly lost 70 pounds in one year. By getting rid of pasta and bread in her diet and replacing it with meat and green leafy vegetables, she discovered how the healthy low-carb lifestyle could change her life forever. Mary made sure to steer clear of sugary and starchy veggies, though. That's livin' la vida low-carb, baby!

But when she hit the dreaded weight loss stall that befalls even the best of us when we are losing weight, Mary turned to the Internet to see if she could find some support to lose those last few pounds. I don't know if she stumbled on any of my blogs or web sites, but somehow she found EXACTLY what she needed to reach her ultimate goal.

Mary Smith scoured the World Wide Web to look for something (ANYTHING) to help her get past the wall and in just a little more than a year, Mary was able to shed those final 40 pounds to reach her goal weight of 128 pounds that she is today. What a testimony of endurance, perseverance, and determination to lose weight for good! WOO HOO! You go on with your bad self, Mary. I'm so proud of you for winning at losing weight. Awesome!!!

You really need to pick up this special issue of People magazine with Mary's gorgeous picture on the front of it. Turn to page 68 and you can read all about this incredibly inspiring low-carb weight loss success story featured in a major national magazine. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!

Then, you'll definitely want to turn to page 72 of the magazine to read the "Food Confessions" where each of the people in the "Half My Size" feature talk about what the difference is between being fat and thin. It's quite enlightening and mirrors many of my own thoughts about being a former obese man who has gotten skinny--still feeling fat, in disbelief about how much better I look now, being steadfast to avoid the wrong kinds of food, realizing that thin shadow really is you, etc. The floodgates of emotions flow in this article, so don't miss it!

Finally, on page 77 there is a chart with the heading "How They Did It" that shows exactly what each of them ate in a typical day to lose their respective weight. Not surprisingly, Mary had an omelet for breakfast, parmesan chicken and salad greens for lunch, a ribeye steak and salad greens for supper, and pork rinds as a snack. For exercise, she regularly does one-hour hikes with her husband about 4-5 times per week. Now that's what I call LIVIN' la vida low-carb. And she's livin' well, too!

Kudos to People magazine for getting it right this year including a low-carb success in the annual "Half Their Size" feature article. The influence Dr. Robert C. Atkins has made on our culture concering carbohydrates is something worthy of recognition in any discussion of weight and health management. Mary is merely one of the millions of us who have had our lives radically changed for the better because of low-carb.

If a major magazine like People can do this, then why can't our government and health agencies get their act together for the purpose of educating the public about how to best manage their weight problem? Just put all of the plans out there on equal footing side-by-side with those who have done well on each of them and let individuals decide which one is best for them. What are we so afraid of in this country that we feel the need to conceal information that could actually lower obesity rates? It doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Let People magazine know how much you appreciate their inclusion of Mary Smith's low-carb weight loss success story by dropping them an e-mail at editor@people.com.

Perhaps you struggle with your weight and you have a question about how the livin' la vida low-carb can help you, I'm available anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net to answer your questions, provide encouragement and advice, and most of all listen to what you have to say. Don't be a stranger, let me hear from you. I'm happy to do whatever I can to help you become a success like Mary Smith, too!