Connor's Conundrum: Should A Child Be Removed From His Family For Being Fat?

8-year old Connor McCreaddie is pushing 200 pounds

Have you heard the story about the 196-pound third-grader in the UK? Yep, you heard me right! This kid is almost TWO-HUNDRED POUNDS right now! Jeepers creepers!

His name is Connor McCreaddie and this 8-year old little boy ain't so little anymore--he already weighs as much as many full-grown adult men do. And now child protective services has issued a warning to his mother for Connor to lose weight or else they will take him away from her on grounds of neglect.

Nicola McKeown, Connor's mother who lives in Wallsend, North Tyneside in Great Britain, says she realizes Connor is four times the weight he should be for his age. To her credit, she has tried to help him lose weight through an unknown diet program since December when he weighed in at a whopping 218 pounds (that's almost what I weigh!).

Despite losing 21 pounds over the past couple of months, though, McKeown recently got an official letter representing child protective services, Connor's school principal, and the local health agency requesting her to appear before them to determine whether she is really doing enough to help Connor lose weight or not. If not, then they have already threatened to remove Connor from her care to give him the help he needs.

Let me just interject my comments about this here for a moment. While I agree Connor didn't balloon up to 200+ pounds instantly and overnight, I definitely wouldn't describe what McKeown has done as neglect. Maybe you can call it bad parenting or if you wanted to get extreme with it--child abuse--but definitely NOT neglect. If anything, it sounds like Connor has been getting TOO MUCH attention.

Actually, it sounds like he runs the household.

Although his mother has to help him get dressed and take him to the doctor a lot because of obesity-related health complications (has her pediatrician NEVER said a word to her about Connor's weight?!), she says Connor refuses to eat any fruits or vegetables and will only eat processed junk foods. Plus, she said Connor cries for food virtually every hour on the hour until he gets what he wants.

See, that right there is the crux of the problem. In her attempt to show love to her son, McKeown has actually been an enabler in Connor's weight problem by refusing to be the parent. A mother most of the time has to go against the will of her child to do what is best for him whether he understands that it's for his own good or not.

If Connor refuses to eat fruits and vegetables, then McKeown should refuse to serve anything but those foods. No, that's not being cruel to him, but rather it is showing him there is a right and wrong way to eat. Clearly, the junk food is not helping him at all, so removing those foods from his diet altogether will begin to m make a big difference. At some point he'll get hungry enough to even eat these foods McKeown thinks he'll never eat.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid that's not what McKeown will do for her son. Instead, she'd rather let him sit for hours upon hours in front of a computer screen playing games (why isn't he outside running around like most other 8-year olds?!) with an endless supply of all the garbage food his mother provides him, including curries, sausage sandwiches, biscuits, burgers, potato chips, and French fries. EWWWW! Wanna guess what most of those foods have in common? Can you say carbs, carbs, and more carbs?! UGH!

When a child like Connor is coddled too the extent that he is, then it can lead him to believe that he really is in charge and calls all the shots. From a nutritional standpoint, that is devastating because most kids don't have a clue what is good for them. All they want is food that tastes good no matter what it's made of because there are no consequences for doing so.

Usually the food most kids prefer is highly processed, carb-loaded, sugary junk foods--something his mother apparently is providing in great abundance. Caring parents who want their child to develop into strong, healthy, and fit adults will do whatever they can to provide the best nutritional options by setting the right example for them early enough in life so that child will make good choices for themselves in the future.

Wanna know what McKeown's excuse is for letting Connor's weight to get as high as it has? She believes she has not received enough help to know how to raise her kid properly. Ya know, that sorta begs the question--why did you have a child back in 1999 if you couldn't take care of him in the first place? Gasp! Nobody is supposed to ask that question, but I just did!

Needless to say, we can't turn back the clock now, but Connor does need some serious help. He is at risk at this moment for major health problems beginning at a much younger age than he should, not the least of which is the onset of diabetes, heart disease, and morbid obesity by the time he reaches his 20's which could end his life before he turns 30. That's some heavy stuff to think about, but it is Connor's reality right now.

Nobody is gonna argue that Connor should be left to continue down this path that his mother has chosen for him which for all intents and purposes is destroying his life if left unchanged. But what concerns me about this story is the not-so-veiled threat she has been given to make Connor lose weight or else they'll take himaway from her. What's up with that kind of intimidation and on what authority can they issue such a warning to McKeown?

The government, school, and anyone outside of McKeown's family doesn't have any business telling her what she needs to do about Connor's weight. This is a personal issue that needs to be hashed out by the family. From all accounts, Connor is not being physically (other than allowing his weight to explode) or emotionally (except by the teasing of his classmates in school) abused, so such a drastic measure as removing him from her care is irrational. What are they gonna do with him once he does lose the weight in the custody of the government, hmmm? Foster care? Adoption?

This is one of those unintended consequences of promoting the same old low-fat, low-calorie, portion control dietary recommendations that we've been forced to endure for generations by our government and health leaders. How many parents have tried to put their overweight or obese child on one of these diets only to have their child reject it because it wasn't the right diet for them? Too many to count, I'm sure!

You know, Connor would do very well if he started livin' la vida low-carb and I would venture to say he would not balk at the delicious choice of foods he could eat while bringing his weight back down into a healthier range. Scrumptuous and yummy cuts of meat, cheeses, low-glycemic fruits, non-starchy vegetables, eggs...the list goes on and on. McKeown could start feeding him that way immediately and see real results.

Unfortunately, she will likely never hear a word about the amazing low-carb way of eating from these people threatening to take Connor away from her. But it sounds like exactly what he needs to do to lose weight as soon as possible. I don't know what McKeown is doing to help Connor shed the pounds since before Christmas, but she should consider putting him on a program like Atkins, South Beach, or Protein Power.

What do you think about Connor's conundrum? Do you think the UK authorities have the right to threaten McKeown and take Connor away to a "fat farm" somewhere to get him back into shape again? Or do you agree with me that this is a personal matter that needs to be handled within Connor's family and it's nobody else's business to tell McKeown how to raise her child?

There should be lots of varying opinions about this, so don't be bashful! Let me know what you think!

3-1-07 UPDATE: Now here is a unique take on why Connor may be as obese as he is:

My daughter is a caretaker of several retarded adults and she works for an adult day service that provides daycare for adults in need. When I first read about little Connior McCreaddie, I immediately thought of the adults in her care who suffer from a syndrome called Prader-Willi. Patients with PWS cannot stop eating, her clients eat vast amounts of vegetables to satisfy this insatiable need and this is the only way to somewhat control their weight. Their entire focus daily is obtaining food and these patients need to be closely monitored.

Here is a press release about Connor that I found on the Prader-Willi web site. It seems others have had the same thought that I have! I do so hope they complete the hormone studies before they disrupt this family! Nonetheless, I KNOW that low-carb is the ONLY way to save this little boy in the meantime as these studies are being made.

By the way, I really enjoy your "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog!

THANKS for sharing about Prader-Willi. I hadn't heard of it before, but it could be what Connor is dealing with.

I've Been Cast As A Football-Playing Extra In New George Clooney Movie

Remember when I blogged about trying out to be an extra in a movie written, directed, and starring Hollywood superstar George Clooney back in mid-December? They're filming his latest flick "Leatherheads" a few miles down the road from me here in South Carolina.

I decided to attend the open football-playing extras tryout in December for the novelty of the experience and it really was a lot of fun joining over 1,000 other men of all shapes and sizes from the Upstate of South Carolina attempting to grab a taste of some cinematic magic for themselves.

But I knew from the get-go it was going to be a very long shot that I would ever step on the set of "Leatherheads" since they could only choose 50 men total to make up the various football teams in the movie. I held out hope for the best, but was bracing to be rejected.

They were specifically wanting Caucasian males 20-35 years old, between 5'9" and 6'3" tall, and weigh 160-250 pounds to fit the prototype of the 1920's football players. While playing football in high school or college was not required, the applicant must have been considered athletic.

I qualified on all fronts (although barely since I'm 35 and 6'3" tall), but never seriously expected the producers to call me since I didn't play football in high school or college. This wouldn't have even been a remote possibility before my 190-pound weight loss on the Atkins diet in 2004 when I started out at 410 pounds. But good things happen to people in the strangest ways sometimes.

When January came and went with nary a word from anyone about the "Leatherheads" movie, though, I just assumed the opportunity had passed me by this time and honestly had forgotten all about it by now.

So, imagine my surprise when my cell phone rang around 5:00pm on Tuesday afternoon from a "Private Call." I always wonder if I'm gonna get a telemarketer when that shows up on my caller ID, but this time I decided to take the call anyway. I'm so glad I did!

On the other end of the line, the very nice lady said, "Hi, I'm from the 'Leatherheads' movie and we'd like to know if you are still interested in being an extra in the film?" Um, let me think about it...YES, yeppers, yip-yip-yippee! I couldn't believe I actually got the call two days shy of March because they've already started filming a couple of weeks ago.

Even still, here was the call I had been waiting for but not really ever expecting. WOW!!! She said I needed to come by the set in Greer, South Carolina on Thursday morning around 9:00am to get fitted for my football gear that I will wear (similar to what Clooney is wearing in the picture at the top of this post) in the movie. She said they didn't have a size 13 black-laced shoes for me to wear, so I should bring some if I have them. Well, it just so happens that I DO have a pair of black shoes!

She also asked if I was available on Sunday for filming and I asked what time. "It will be all day long," she responded. Oh, okay...er, yeah! I'm there, baby! This is the movies, the "chance of a lifetime" that I previously blogged about. Yee haw! What an extraordinary opportunity to experience something I can tell my grandkids about someday. Although the funky looking football uniforms will take some explaining. :)

Pinch me right now because I can't believe I'm gonna be in a movie with George Clooney and Renee Zellweger! How many people can actually say that?! Can you tell I'm just a little bit excited about this right now? I know I need to calm down and focus on what they will have me doing and I will. Consider this my little celebration party for getting the part. Wheeeeee!

I'll be sure to provide blog updates on my "Leatherheads" experiences as they happen so you can know how it's going. At this point, I don't know how long they will need the extras. But filming should be finished by May. I'm gonna enjoy this while it lasts and do my best to make everyone proud. THANKS to everyone who wished me well in this dream of mine. Now, it's a dream come true!

2-28-07 UPDATE: I just got back from getting fitted for my costume for the film and found out at that time that I WON'T be a "football-playing extra" as I first blogged about. Actually, it turns out they liked my height and broad shoulders, so I will be playing the part of a doorman of a hotel in the 1920s.

This is actually even better because I am going to be the ONLY doorman in the film which means I should end up in the final cut unless they don't use my scene at all. I'm still scheduled to be on the movie set all day on Sunday, so forgive me if my blogging that day is skimpy. This is literally ONCE IN A LIFETIME and I'm gonna enjoy every moment of it! THANKS for all of your well wishes and I will continue to update you about this unique experience.

Low-Carb Blog Linked On Wikipedia...Again!

Well, well, well. It looks I've been honored with another Wikipedia mention of a post I have written here at my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog! Awesome!

Remember last year when I blogged about first being featured on the Atkins Nutritional Approach Wikipedia page with a column I wrote? Well, it's happened again.

This time, it's a more controversial blog post I wrote about the Academy of the Sierras "fat farm" best known for feeding obese kids an extremely low-fat diet. It's criminal what these people are doing and I said as much.

Here's a portion of what I wrote in July 2006:

"But isn't it borderline child abuse what the leaders of this program are doing to these poor kids? With new research PROVING the theories they are using to induce weight loss in these children--namely an extreme low-fat diet--is false, then why would they still insist on using these tactics when there are much better ways to bring about the same results in a healthier manner? They wouldn't need to change their program radically to make it just as effective for weight loss AND be more nutrient-dense."

Apparently someone liked what I had to share and provided a link to my blog post at the Aspen Education Group page on Wikipedia. Incidentally, Aspen is the parent group for the Academy of the Sierras.

On the Wikipedia page next to the Academy of the Sierras listing, here's what is written:

The facilities runs a weight loss program. In order to admitted, the participant must be overweight by at least 15 kilograms. The diet is criticized by some lay observers,[4][5] but such a very-low-fat diet is supported by the World Health Organization [6] and the American Diabetes Association [7].

If you click on the [4] on that page, it takes you to Extreme Low-Fat Farm Abusing Obese Kids (Jimmi Moore). Other than misspelling my first name (who spells "Jimmy" that way?! LOL!), I thought it was cool to be listed on Wikipedia...again!

With over 1600 articles floating around out in the wonderful World Wide Web, I guess the odds were a few of them would eventually end up on Wikipedia. Sweeeeeet!

Rhea Calls It A Day As Host Of 'Biggest Loser'

Caroline Rhea out, Alison Sweeney in as host of "The Biggest Loser"

After three seasons on the most popular weight loss television show in history, the original host has said she's had enough and wants "to pursue other interests."

Caroline Rhea, who has been the one and only host of NBC's hit reality show "The Biggest Loser" for the past three seasons, has decided to leave the show and continue her career elsewhere.

As a self-described BIG FAN of "The Biggest Loser," I've always wondered about the choice of Carolina Rhea as the host of that show. Why? Well, she ain't exactly skinny herself (that photo at the top of this post was from a few years back when she was thinner) and it seems like such a waste of talent for a comedian to play host of a show with a bunch of fat people on it. I kept waiting for Rhea to bust out with a crude joke at some point, but she was always so stoic (although the "it's time to cut the fat" line she used in the elimination room always made me cringe when I heard it).

But, she's leaving now and may feel the best days of "The Biggest Loser" have already passed. I'm not so sure about that, but she wanted to do other things. I don't think losing her is going to harm the show at all.

What about the replacement for Rhea as host of "The Biggest Loser?" Who's it gonna be? According to this St. Louis Today column, the answer to that question is daytime soap opera star Alison Sweeney. This 30-year old beauty has played Sami Brady on "Days Of Our Lives" since 1993 winning several Soap Opera Digest awards including best supporting actress in 2005. She has also appeared on such NBC prime time show as "Friends," "Las Vegas" and "Fear Factor."

"The Biggest Loser" executive producer Ben Silverman describes Sweeney as "an incredible talent" who he hopes will bring her "huge, loyal fan base" to the show.

Although she doesn't have a weight problem now, Sweeney revealed in her 2004 autobiographical book entitled All The Days Of My Life (So Far) that she has struggled with her weight.

I'm always suspicious of these Hollywood types that claim they understand a weight problem when they've never been more than 10 or 20 pounds overweight their entire life. But I sincerely hope Sweeney does understand the plight of carrying around extra weight and the physical as well as the emotional scars that come with it.

The contestants on "The Biggest Loser" could stand to feel a little empathy from the host of this show. I think Sweeney can bring that where Rhea fell short. However, I do see a challenge that Sweeney will need to somehow put to rest like Jillian Michaels and Kim Lyons have been able to master.



Because she is so beautiful, the guys may feel embarrassed to show their "man boobs" in front of this hottie while the women could be intimidated by her. Again, if she can parlay her history of dealing with being overweight and relax the contestants, then she could be a more effective host than Rhea was with an actual contribution to make.

Brand new episodes of "The Biggest Loser" Season 4 are coming up in a couple of months and are expected to air on NBC in the Fall. Sweeney will continue her role as Sami on "Days Of Our Lives" in addition to her new role as host of "The Biggest Loser."

One more suggestion for NBC: UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE on the past contestants. As the years pass by, people want to know if they have been able to keep the weight off for good. Even if it's just a quick blurb at the end of each show, I think we'd love to know how Ryan Benson, Big Mo, Matt & Suzy, and all the rest are doing in 2007. It's one thing to lose weight on national television for a pile of cash. But it's another to actually keep it off forever. How about it, NBC?!

What's Your Long-Term Weight Loss Reward?

Man, I've gotta tell you right now, I am absolutely pooped out. These past few days, I've hauled more shingles that we ripped off the roof of my house than I care to think about. Of course, I can't help but think about it because of the excruciating aches and pains in every crevice of my body.

Ahhhh, but despite how I feel right at this moment, I have an important message that anyone and everyone who desires weight loss needs to hear. In fact, I dare say this subject matter I will discuss with you today is the one thing that will determine whether you are ultimately a success or failure in your attempts to lose weight.

What is it?

In a word, it's all about the reward. You heard me right, finding the ability to bring about lasting and permanent weight loss requires you to see the light at the end of the tunnel that you can work your way towards.

As if getting thin and healthy isn't reward enough, most of us need an ego boost from time to time to let us know what a great job we are doing on our diet plan. Come on, be honest, you know you like hearing people tell you how good you are looking after a modest weight loss. That's one form of reward that works for people and can motivate them to great success.

There are other rewards people can use to help change their habits and help them live the coveted "healthy lifestyle" once and for all. Click here to read more about the reward concept and how it has propel you to amazing long-term weight loss and weight maintenance success. YOU CAN DO IT!

Clearing The Air On The Kimkins Controversy

The post that appeared here has been removed for not promoting the low-carb community in the professional manner I have come to expect from myself. THANK YOU!

Read this blog post for more information.

Study: Brain Cancer Tumors 'Significantly Smaller' On High-Fat, Low-Carb Diet

Dr. Thomas Seyfried says low-carb starves cancerous tumor cells

This Medical News Today story shares yet another positive health benefit to livin' la vida low-carb as a way to fight cancer cells that are causing life-threatening tumors which up until now has meant painful chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

But we've already seen a series of research studies provided over the past year confirming the low-carb treatment option for other areas of the body that cancer inflicts, including the pancreas, the esophagus, and the kidneys. This latest study confirms the use of a high-fat, low-carb diet on brain cancer, too!

Research supervisor Dr. Thomas Seyfried, professor of biology at Boston College, overlooked this study featuring a product called KetoCal. Looking at their web site, the nutritional label for each 100g serving of this powder drink product shows it contains 90 percent fat (72g), 15g protein, and just 3g carbohydrates. It is also heavily fortified with all the essential vitamins and minerals for a nutrient-dense diet.

Although this product has been primarily marketed to children with epilepsy, another health ailment that has been found to improve on a low-carb diet (with all these improvements in health just by switching to livin' la vida low-carb, why aren't we hearing more recommendations by our health leaders to have people switch to this way of eating, hmmm?), now Dr. Seyfried and his team of researchers wanted to test to see if KetoCal could improve the condition of people suffering from brain cancer.

While KetoCal was used in the study, they did not pay for this study except to donate the products that the mice involved in the study consumed. But the results of this study were not so much about any particular product as much as it was about the remarkable findings of how health improves dramatically on a high-fat, low-carb diet.

The researchers implanted into the brains of male laboratory mice two kinds of malignant tumors and then divided them into three distinctive dietary groups:

GROUP 1--Low-fat, high-carb mouse chow
GROUP 2--Unlimited amounts of the high-fat, low-carb KetoCal
GROUP 3--Restricted amounts of the high fat, low-carb KetoCal

What were the results of the study?

GROUP 1 and GROUP 2 did not see improvements in the brain cancer. However, GROUP 3 saw a 35-65 percent reduction in the growth of the brain tumors and extended their life survival rates longer than the control groups. Moreover, the overall health of the high-fat, low-carb GROUP 3 mice was enhanced compared with the low-fat, high-carb GROUP 1.

The results of this study were published in the February 21, 2007 issue of the scientific journal Nutrition & Metabolism.

Describing the high-fat, low-carb diet as a "novel alternative therapy for malignant brain cancer," Dr. Seyfried believes the results his team found should lend credence to finding a more natural, just as effective, and economical way to fight this devastating condition.

"While the tumors did not vanish in the mice who received the strict KetoCal diet, they got significantly smaller and the animals lived significantly longer. And compared to radiation, chemotherapy and surgery, KetoCal is a relatively inexpensive treatment option," he said.

Since brain cancer is a leading killer among the cancers in both adults and children, researchers have been looking for less invasive ways to provide long-term management that will reduce the size of tumors by using the knowledge we already have about what feeds the cells of this cancer.

What the high-fat, low-carb diet does is basically starve tumors from getting any glucose (sugar), something we have learned from other research actually feeds cancer cells. Yikes! So, despite the low-fat diet that GROUP 1 ate, it was the high-carb content that prevented their brain tumors from seeing improvements.

Interestingly, although opponents of livin' la vida low-carb have made a mockery of ketosis and the ketone bodies that are produced on a low-carb diet, the truth of the matter is tumor cells cannot effectively metabolize them and, thus, cannot grow. Do you think you're gonna hear that on the 6 o'clock news anytime soon?! Yeah right!

What's most revealing about this study is the fact that it shows a positive step in the right direction with health as a result of going on a low-carb diet. We always hear the naysayers talking about how unsafe and ineffective this "dangerous fad" diet is for people to go on. But clearly the evidence from the research that is coming out is showing just the opposite is true.

There will come a day sometime in the future when livin' la vida low-carb will be the preferred and quite possibly recommended dietary approach to treating obesity and disease in the United States of America. It won't happen soon, but I honestly believe that day is coming. I only hope to stick around on this Earth long enough to see it happen in my lifetime. It could happen in the next 50 years. Wait and see!

You can e-mail Dr. Thomas Seyfried about his outstanding research at thomas.seyfried.1@bc.edu.

2-27-07 UPDATE: I heard from Dr. Thomas Seyfried in an e-mail today regarding my blog post.

Dear Mr. Moore,

Thank you for your interest in our brain cancer research. While the impact of the calorically restricted diet on brain cancer is significant, there is still much we don't know on the molecular mechanisms of action. Providing this kind of information will eventually hasten the adaption of the diet for general clinical use.

It is also important to mention that the anti-tumor benefits of the diet are observed only when given in restricted amounts to lower total caloric intake. Our previous studies showed that we could get similar results using a calorically restricted high carbohydrate/low fat diet. The phenomenon basically involves a complex series of metabolic transitions following reductions glucose and elevations in ketones. Ketogenic diets simply provide somewhat more circulating ketone bodies than restricted high carb diets, which is healthy for normal brain cells.

Sincerely,

Professor Seyfried

Well, I certainly appreciate the correspondence Dr. Seyfried. I'd be interested in seeing the side-by-side comparison of a calorie-restricted low-carb diet with a calorie-restricted low-fat diet to see what the difference would be on cancer and other health markers. That would be a fascinating subject to study. THANKS again for your e-mail!

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 29: Low-Carb Takes Care Of Metabolic Syndrome

Listen to Episode 29 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" today for the second part of this special week on diabetes research. Hear all about it RIGHT NOW by clicking on one of the links below:

 "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 29 [12:16m]: Play in Popup | Download

This is the final show in my "Fact-Filled February" series today and we go out with a bang. There is a study using fruit flies that confirms WHY the Atkins, low-carb approach is so effective for weight loss and treating metabolic syndrome. Episode 29 gives you all the details about this particular research as well as some supporting research from two of the biggest names in low-carb science--Dr. Richard Feinman and Dr. Jeff Volek.

Tell us what you think regarding the subject of metabolic syndrome. It's funny, while I was recording this podcast on this topic, a reader wrote me the following e-mail over the weekend about her current circumstance looking for help with it:

I just stumbled on your Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show and it sounds like what I need. I have metabolic syndrome and I am pre-diabetic with high cholesterol. I am 5'6" and I weigh 229 lbs. I take 1000 mg of Metformin per evening. I'm currently taking fish oil supplements and chrominum picolinate supplements. I need a book, a diet, a menu or something so I can lose this weight and get off this medicine. I do and will exercise. I like DVD programs. I'm starting a 90-day exercise routine on Monday, its calesthetics, light hand weights and some yoga moves. I just finished a 10-week cycle of exercise about two weeks ago, it included yoga, ballet and hip hop dancing. Can you please give me some direction?

I sent her a transcript of Episode 29 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" and encouraged her to find a low-carb plan to get on and stay on. It will help her metabolic syndrome, obesity and diabetes all in one swell foop! :)

Looking for ways to listen to the show? Here's how you do it:

1. Listening at the official web site
2. Going to iTunes
3. Calling (818) 688-2763 to listen via Podlinez
4. Subscribing to the RSS feed

Share your reaction to this study and let us know what you think. Do you have metabolic syndrome or any of the symptoms of it, including obesity, insulin resistance, high cholesterol and heart disease? How are YOU treating these conditions? If it's low-carb, then how's that working for you?

Come back and listen to the podcast show on Thursday as I will very likely ruffle some feathers (yeah, so what else is new?) among the overweight and obese community with my opinions about the "fat acceptance" movement happening in America. You WON'T want to miss it! THANKS so much for listening and be sure to leave me feedback about the show. Or you can call the listener comment line anytime at (206) 203-4192.

10 Healthy New Diet And Weight Loss Blogs

After featuring these five new low-carb blogs and then these five more in the past few weeks, I have received many requests from my readers to keep doing this from time to time with the new diet and health blogs I come across. I'm always happy to oblige a reasonable suggestion like this!

However, today I want to focus on some new blogs that may or may not have a "low-carb" tilt to them. While it is certainly helpful to people who are livin' la vida low-carb to find sources of information that help them in their specific lifestyle choice, there's a lot that can be learned from other weight loss and fitness bloggers as you will quickly find out with the blogs I have for you today.

Hopefully they can say the same about my blog whether they are on a low-carb diet or not. Sure, the title of my blog has "low-carb" in it, but I write posts that are applicable to virtually any healthy lifestyle. Let me know what you think about each of these!

1. Body Recovery

Despite the CSI-like title of this intriguing new health blog, you'll be pleased to learn that the "Body Recovery" blog has nothing at all to do with a fatal crime scene. Instead, blog author Donna R is about to finish up her tenure at a Boston, MA-based graduate school with a Master's Degree in journalism (hmmm, Donna, is that like the public policy graduate degree I earned in 2002 and NEVER used?! LOL!). Anyways, this blog of hers is about her day-by-day journey to get back into pre-college shape to help both her looks and her health improve. She looks like a portion control, low-calorie supporter, but I like her attitude about the current state of health in America. You won't want to miss her spot-on comments about the ever-changing American Heart Association dietary recommendations. I love this blog already! :)

2. He's Almost 1 And I'm Still Fat

If you've ever been pregnant (no, I haven't been and I'd worry about any of my male readers who say they have!), then you have undoubtedly dealt with the issue of justifying your weight gain because it's only "baby fat." But as newlywed and first-time mom Denise reveals in her aptly-titled blog "He's Almost 1 And I'm Still Fat," it's a whole lot easier putting on the weight than trying to take it off. She is now in a "fight to slim down" and sharing a few of her "joys, sorrows and frustrations" of being a new wife, parent and dieter. She certainly has an interesting take on the whole Tyra Banks is fat debate. Check it out!

3. Healthy Low-Carb Living

This isn't a blog, but it is one of the best-looking low-carb resources I have seen in a very long time from one of my most faithful readers--Sparky's Girl! "Healthy Low-Carb Living" organizes just about everything you could ever want about livin' la vida low-carb in one lovely package. You can read her and her husband's weight loss success stories, see pictures, find low-carb tips and links, see the myths addressed, and so much more! Check it out along with the companion "Healthy Low-Carb Living" blog.

4. The Constant Well Of Guilt

Not your average, ordinary blog or blogger, "The Constant Well Of Guilt" blog is run by someone calling herself Constance Guiltwell. If that's indeed her real name, then it's a creative play on words with her name. Regardless, it captures your attention, doesn't it? This blog is dedicated to the subject of guilt which sounds pretty depressing if you think about it. But Constance pulls it off well with personal stories and other assorted tidbits of information to keep you entertained and informed about what she's thinking about. Oh yeah, she addresses dieting, so be sure to check in on this blog often. She even got upset at me over my blog post about Diet Pepsi MAX. Read it to believe it!

5. Diary Of A Fat, Angry Woman

Okay, remind me not to make FatMom mad at me. Don't blame me, that's what she calls herself at her "Diary Of A Fat, Angry Woman" blog. This 30-something California mother of two is "trying to literally save my life and my marriage by losing the excess weight, but first I have to find out WHY I overeat." Boy, don't we all wish we knew the answer to that question! With all the brutally honest sincerity of someone who dares admit she's got a "crappy self-image," FatMom keeps it real and isn't afraid to ruffle a few feathers along the way. In a sicko sort of way, I like this blog. If you thought my writing style was "in-your-face," then you ain't seen nothin' yet!

6. Mark Sisson's Daily Apple

Even before I knew what this blog was about, I was drawn to it by the following quote at the top of the page: "Doing my part to piss off the self-righteous health establishment." ROTFL!!! I don't care what he advocates, there's no doubt I was gonna love this Mark guy! Wanna know where Mark stands on livin' la vida low-carb? Just click on the link of his name and read the interview questions about what he believes--WOWsers! What an amazing health philosophy this dude has! See a sample of what Mark's news blogging is like. I think you're gonna like "Mark Sisson's Daily Apple" blog...a LOT!

7. The Low-Carb Life: A Diabetic Diet

This online magazine from OOAK Dollmaking (don't ask, I haven't got a clue what that is!) is from a former 300-pound Type 2 diabetic woman who changed her life forever thanks to low-carb living. I say former because she has since dropped 100 pounds and keeps her blood sugar in check by livin' la vida low-carb. Disappointed by the lack of good low-carb recipes, she decided to come up with a few of her own, including a Chili and Beans recipe at "The Low-Carb Life: A Diabetic Diet" page. Check back often as this page is expected to include information about how to subscribe to this low-carb magazine.

8. Weight Loss HD

Other than the fact that it looks like they plagiarized my recent blog post about the new Diet Pepsi MAX (see for yourself and compare their post with my post), the "Weight Loss HD" blog (don't ask me what the HD stand for?!) seems to focus on low-carb topics for the most part. But with all the multiple and glaring grammar and spelling errors throughout this blog, it can be difficult to take the message very seriously. No wonder they felt they needed to steal content from my blog (more on this subject in a moment)! :)

9. Low-Carb-Bloggen

I so wish I could read Swedish! This "Low-Carb-Bloggen" blog from what I do understand is run by someone who has been livin' la vida low-carb since the Summer of 2006. The person who runs the blog has lost 20kg on a very, very low-carb ketogenic diet made up mostly of meat products. I noticed he links to my blog and has even posted about some of what I have written about here. How do I know? Well, "Jimmy Moore" sticks out like a sore thumb on his blog. LOL! If the author of that blog reads this, then I invite him to leave a message introducing himself to all of us in the comments section below...English, even if it is a little broken, would be helpful! Hee hee!

10. Diabetic Resource Center

Finally, I want to highlight a blog for no other reason than to expose yet another person who thinks they can take what I have written and make it their own (remember this guy) who tried it)! Read this "Diabetic Resource Center" blog post for yourself and then read my recent post about the same subject. While it's not a verbatim copy of my article, some of the phrases I used were repeated without any change on this blog. In case you haven't noticed, I don't like it when this happens and rightfully so--because it is pure, unadulterated STEALING!

I know I'm not the only blogger who deals with this (I've heard from MANY others!), but I for one will not take it. What really gets me the most is the fact that this particular blog includes many links to a diabetes supplies commerce page, so they're making money off of my writing skills (not to mention, I have a similiar diabetes links blog). ARGH! Also, since they used my trademarked "La Vida Low-Carb" phrase, technically I could sue them over this violation since I own the exclusive blogging rights to that phrase. Let's see if they'll do the right thing first and change or remove the post before I take the next step. Don't think I won't file the legal paperwork if anyone else takes what I've written again. You have been fairly warned and you know who you are. Don't make me release my posse on you! :D

There you have it, more great health and diet blogs to munch on for a little while. As always, if you have a blog or know about a blog that is worthy of being mentioned here, then simply drop me an e-mail about it and I'll check it out! THANKS for reading and please leave a comment on these various blogs letting them know you are visiting. I'm sure they'll appreciate that! ENJOY!

2-26-07 UPDATE: I did hear back from the Swedish low-carb blogger today.

Hi Jimmy!

Thanks for promoting my blog! My name is Arne Andersson. I'm living in Sweden. Last summer I faced problems getting into my pant and shirts. My wife and I made up our minds to do something about it. There was a notice on the news on TV telling about a doctor of the north of Sweden. She cured people with diabetes (Type 2) by changing their diet to a Low Carb High Fat diet (LCHF). We started at once.

We didn't know much of a program but started checking up a LCHF-breakfast. Then we read some books and faced the starting problems connected with a ketogenic diet. Soon I lost weight without problems. From July til now I have lost 20 kg which is just great. I have to buy pants and shirts now and then ;-)

On my other site I write down exactly what I eat everyday and what it gives me according to carbohydrates, protein, fat and calories. In order to communicate to people I started my current blog later on.

I have linked to your blog and Dr. Eades' blog because I think they are great and I want more Swedes to visit them. I originally thought you and Dr. Eades were more fond of protein than the Swedish low-carb movement, but I was wrong. Your post "Hunger On Low-Carb Means Something's Wrong" was very nice because you pointed out how important fat is. Many, many people are afraid of fat and they eat too little fat and they don't lose weight (and then they think low-carb doesn't work). Dr. Eades' "Protein Power" is good but something like "Fat Power" would be a more
adequate name, wouldn't it?

Indeed it would, Arne! THANKS so much for writing and keep giving your fellow Swedish citizens the truth about livin' la vida low-carb.

Girl Scouts Finally Have A Sugar-Free Cookie

Now the Girl Scouts offer a sugar-free cookie called Little Brownies

Give yourself a big pat on the back because I think we may have had an influence with the decision makers at the Girl Scouts after something I blogged about last year. Long-term readers will remember this blog post I wrote in January 2006 about Girl Scout cookies and how they were teaching little girls that it's okay to push a product that is loaded with sugar and excessive carbohydrates.

I said a few more things in that post that stirred the pot a bit, but the basic theme of my column was about encouraging them to come up with a sugar-free cookie for diabetics and people on a low-carb diet to enjoy since we can't or don't want sugar in our food.

Last year they heralded the fact that they removed the trans fats from their cookies (which I applaud them for doing), but I asked them to take their initiative to make healthier cookie offerings one step further by removing the sugar.

Here's what I suggested:

Why don't they offer some SUGAR-FREE versions? I was disappointed in the politician-like answer provided by the Girl Scouts organization regarding concerns that both diabetics and low-carb supporters have with their cookies:

"The ingredients and nutritional elements of all cookies are listed on the order forms and the side of the cookie box so those concerned about carbohydrates can make informed choices. For more information, check the bakers' Web sites."

I did that and it wasn't a pretty story. As we have already seen from the carbohydrate totals, you're pretty much out of luck when it comes to eating Girl Scout cookies if you are staying committed to livin' la vida low-carb. This clear lack of concern by the Girl Scouts disturbs me and it should you as well.

That's why I urged my readers at the time to e-mail the Girl Scouts directly with their concerns regarding the absence of any kind of Girl Scout cookie for diabetics and low-carbers and to encourage them to make a sugar-free cookie available next year.

Apparently, they listened to us! :)

Here's a statement released about the demand for sugar-free cookies:

"In response to consumer requests received received by the hundreds of thousands of Girl Scouts who visit with consumers each year during Girl Scout Cookie Season, we have worked diligently to produce great-tasting brownie treats while eliminating the sugar content."

YEAH! WOO HOO! Party time! Can you tell I'm excited?! :)


Little Brownies are the first sugar-free Girl Scout cookie

To meet the demand of sugar-free consumers, including diabetics and low-carbers, the Girl Scouts commissioned one of their vendors Louisville, KY-based cookie manufacturer Little Brownie Bakers to come up with a delicious, bite-sized chocolate cookie without the sugar. The result was a brand new sugar-free cookie called Little Brownies.

I came across these cookies just yesterday when the local Girl Scouts troop were parked directly in front of my local grocery store selling away to the people passing by. When the cute little energetic girl asked me if I would like to buy a box of cookies, I responded, "Do you have any that are sugar-free?" She surprised me when she enthusiastically retorted, "Yep, we sure do!"

This took me back a little since I hadn't heard that they made a sugar-free cookie beforehand, so I asked the adult who was with her if she knew what the cookies were sweetened with and if they tasted good or not. She didn't know about the sweeteners, but she let me look at the box with the ingredients list. Also, they were also very curious about how they tasted and opened up a package to try. I was offered one to try for myself.

When I first bit into it, I was bracing myself for that disappointing "wang" you get when you eat something low-quality that is sugar-free (generally made with inferior ingredients). But, to my delight, these "brownies" were remarkably tasty and actually resembled a real cookie, but without the sugar. WHOA!

Don't let the name Little Brownies fool you, though. They're not soft and chewy like a brownie would be. But these are still minature cookies that had flavorful little chocolate chips in them, too! If you have a hankering for something chocolately and sweet, then this would certainly be your fix.

As I was licking my tongue around in my teeth enjoying this new sugar-free Girl Scouts cookie, I continued reading the label. A serving size of 4 Little Brownies gives you 130 calories, 8g fat (4.5g of saturated fat), 2g protein, and 18g total carbohydrates. Of course, although there is no sugar in these cookies, they do have some sugar alcohols and fiber in them. There are 4g sugar alcohols and 1g fiber for a net carb count of 13g.

This is not a completely terrible option for people who are livin' la vida low-carb at a little more than 3g net carbs per cookie (but you wouldn't want to eat more than 1-2 of these if you are in the earlier stages of your low-carb weight loss plan). I'd still prefer to see them try to get rid of the flour as the #1 ingredient to make them even lower in carbs and still taste just as delicious. There are ways to do that, but this is a VERY good start on their part! KUDOS!

What about the sugar alcohols, you ask? Well, with only 4g for 4 cookies, that's just 1g sugar alcohol per cookie. Unless you down the whole box at one time (which is quite possible if you aren't careful because they taste so good!), you should be okay. For those of you who are wondering, the Little Brownies include a blended mixture of a little bit of all the popular sugar alternatives: polydextrose, maltitol, sorbitol, isomalt, ACE-K, and Splenda. There is no aspartame in these cookies (Thank God!).

Incidentally, that listing of sweeteners is in order of most to least--sucralose (Splenda) was dead last as usual. But don't you know they heralded the fact that it is "sweetened with Splenda." No, it's actually MORE sweetened with everything else. Nevertheless, for all intents and purposes this cookie has not been a problem for me even after having 4 at one time. That's my personal limit despite the temptation to eat more than that.

Each 5.5-ounce box of Little Brownies sugar-free Girl Scout cookies contains around 22 cookies and they are designed specifically for people with diabetes and who are watching their sugar intake. Just be sure to stay within the portion size and you should be fine whether you are a low-carber or diabetic. Ask your healthcare professional if you have any specific concerns about eating this product.

By the way, here's the complete ingredients listing:

Enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [vitamin B1], riboflavin [vitamin B12], folic acid), vegetable oil (partially hydrogenated soybean, cottonseed and/or palm oils; coconut oil; TBHQ and citric acid to preserve freshness), semisweet chocolate (maltitol, chocolate [processed with alkali], cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural flavor), polydextrose, cocoa, maltitol, sorbitol, contains two percent or less of isomalt, gum arabic, natural and artificial flavor, maltodextrin, cocoa processed with alkali, malted barley flour, whey (milk), salt, chocolate, caramel color, leavening (monocalcium phosphate, baking soda), soy lecithin, modified corn starch, acesulfame potassium (ACE-K), sucralose (Splenda).

Has anyone else tried these new sugar-free Little Brownies from the Girl Scouts yet? If you did, then what did YOU think about them? I'm really interested in your feedback, questions, and concerns so please leave a comment.

Maybe you want to share a compliment with the Girl Scouts about their new cookie offering for diabetics and low-carbers this year. It's a bold move on their part considering virtually every food company in the United States is completely ignoring the diabetic and low-carb market of consumers right now. I highly encourage you to let the Girl Scouts organization know how much we appreciate their efforts to cater to our desire to enjoy cookies without the sugar.

E-mail them and let 'em know what you think!

3-5-07 UPDATE: A registered nurse was concerned about what she believed was my endorsement of these Girl Scout cookies in an e-mail to me today.

Hi Jimmy!

I applaud your weight loss efforts and your success in doing so. However, I am very concerned about your excitement about Girl Scout Cookies having aspartame and artificial anything in it!

I feel that Americans would be much better off eating "real food" instead of all this additive-laden junk that is so widely advertised. I am also very concerned about children ingesting all of these chemicals.

I hope that you find it in your heart to start researching these chemical additives before you applaud them. And don't just take the company's word for it either.

I was a huge Diet Coke drinker and now know that I was terribly addicted to it! This was 3 years ago right before being diagnosed with CNS lupus. Aspartame is a neuroexitotoxin and just isn't a good thing for any living creature.

I hope that you think long and hard before you applaud such efforts of businesses who are only making money off of poisoning the population. This is why studies have been suppressed as they have. Too much money is being made in the sweetener industry.

I wish you the best, Jimmy!

THANKS so much for your e-mail and expressing your concerns about my apparent "excitement" over the new sugar-free Girl Scout cookies. But I think you were mistaken to think I was endorsing this prouduct.

I could not agree MORE with your assessment about aspartame. It is something I have hit hard and hit often in my writings and I STRONGLY urge my readers to avoid it at all costs.

Sure, I still support Splenda, but I am vehemently opposed to sugar alcohols like maltitol as well as NASTY-tame. My column was more an applause to the Girl Scouts and their cookie manufacturer for moving in a POSITIVE direction. Sure, it would be great to have the kids eating more whole foods, but the reality is they're not gonna do it overnight.

I'm a big believer in incrementalism, so sugar-free, low-carb options to popular foods like Girl Scout cookies is what truly excites me because we can get them to start thinking about eating healthier and healthier. It's a lesson I wish I had learned when I was their age.

Again, THANK YOU for sharing your comments! I'm right there in agreement with you. :)

Dr. Richard Bernstein Still Preaching Low-Carb As Means For Controlling Diabetes

Many diabetics live a better life today thanks to Dr. Bernstein

There are certain people within the wonderful world of livin' la vida low-carb who you absolutely MUST learn know more about because of the amazing contributions they have made to this awesome permanent lifestyle change we know and love.

A few "big" names stick out above the rest, both among the living and those who have since passed on: Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins, Dr. Michael Eades and Dr. Mary Dan Eades, Dr. Barry Sears, Dr. Jonny Bowden, Dr. Mary Vernon, Dana Carpender, and too many more to even begin to list them all (and I'll get myself into trouble if I try to name too many more...go to my low-carb links blog to see more of them!).

These are the real giants who we now stand on the shoulders of when we tell others about the amazing low-carb lifestyle. The best way to honor them is by continuing to pass on the lessons they have taught us to the people in our lives who need that message.

But for people who have either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, there's another superhero out there who advocates and supports livin' la vida low-carb not just for weight management but also for controlling a disease that is quickly reaching epidemic proportions--DIABETES! His name is Dr. Richard Bernstein.

If you have not yet had a chance to learn about this remarkable man, you really should. A Type 1 diabetic since the age of 12, he took his health into his own hands when the recommendations by the so-called diabetes experts (like the American Diabetes Association) failed him time and time again as his condition got worse. Eventually, he began doing something revolutionary at the time to help control his disease--monitoring his blood sugar through low-carb dietary changes that really work. The rest, they say, is history.

He went to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and has been helping patients for nearly a quarter century in his medical practice near Mamaroneck, New York. Patients literally line up at the door to see this man who practices what he preaches regarding the treatment of diabetes and his life serves as an example to any diabetic who feels they can never live a "normal" life again. Dr. Bernstein has proven just how wrong that kind of thinking really is.


Dr. Bernstein has revised and updated his classic diabetes book

Today, Dr. Bernstein is THE authority on low-carb diets and their impact on controlling blood sugar levels and diabetes. It's hard to believe it's been a decade since he first published his wildly popular bestselling book, Diabetes Solution, but it has become the personal instruction manual for diabetic on how to best manage their disease. Even non-diabetics have learned a lot from this book!

I'm excited to announce the release of a newly revised and updated version of Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars available right now to place on pre-order at Amazon.com. It will be releasing in March 2007 and will include some added information and commentary from Dr. Bernstein about the advancements made in the realm of low-carb diabetes research and methodology. As soon as I can get a copy of this new version of Dr. Bernstein's book and read it through, I'll post a review of it here at my blog. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, though, you don't have to wait for his book to come out next month to have YOUR questions about diabetes answered from the man himself. That's right, you can ask Dr. Bernstein any question you want on this subject by using this special link and he will answer it during a FREE LIVE TELESEMINAR CALL this Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 8:00PM EST.

He wants to know the following from even the deepest skeptics:

What is the single most perplexing question that you would like to ask Dr. Bernstein?

If you have ever wondered about the low-carb approach to treating your diabetes, then Dr. Bernstein is the man you want to ask. In fact, when I attended the Nutritional & Metabolic Aspects of Carbohydrate Restriction conference in Brooklyn, New York in January 2006, Dr. Bernstein was there as a spectator, not as a speaker. But guess who they all turned to when a question about diabetes came up during the question and answer sessions? Yep, it was Dr. Bernstein because he knows what he is talking about even amongst the brightest minds in the field of health and nutrition. Now that's what I call respect!

To participate in the one-hour teleseminar call with Dr. Richard Bernstein, here's what you need to do:

1. Send him your best question
2. On Tuesday evening, dial 712-338-8900
3. Enter the passcode 4838#
4. Call about 10 minutes early to insure your spot
5. Teleseminar limited to the first 800 callers

You can rest assured you will receive the very latest developments surrounding the natural treatment of diabetes. What a rare opportunity to hear from the best in the business of low-carb diabetes treatment! Don't let it pass you by!

If you have any questions, send an e-mail to info@diabetes911.net.

Hunger On Low-Carb Means Something's Wrong

Whew, what a day this was for me! After more than two years of praying, saving up money, and a rather fortuitous miracle of the right set of circumstances, today I was able to get my roof worked on to try to stop the many leaks coming through the ceiling of my house. We didn't get finished with the job before sunset and there is a big thunderstorm coming on Sunday, but we should have it completed by Monday afternoon! WOO HOO!

Right now, though, my body aches so much from hauling about a bazillion shingles today that I can barely type this post without some sort of pain radiating throughout my entire body. Nevertheless, it's been worth every minute of sacrifice of blogging and energy today to make it happen. YEAH! Can you tell I'm happy? :)

Anyways, I've been meaning to blog about a recurring topic that keeps coming up from time to time among many of my readers. In fact, it shows up in my Statcounter keywords that people use to find my blog via Google and other search engines virtually every single day.

What is it? Here's an e-mail illustration to explain it:

"Hello there. Congrats on your weight loss success. I have a question for you. I am doing the high protein diet but I am ALWAYS hungry and eat all the time. I eat all protein and A LOT of it. Was it the same for you? How can I fix this? I feel like at this rate I will gain weight not lose it."

Sound familiar anyone? It simply amazes me how people can claim to be livin' la vida low-carb and be in CONSTANT hunger. This is one of the major reasons why low-fat and low-calorie diets fail, not the low-carb ones people. The key difference between those failed diet plans and livin' la vida low-carb is the satiety factor. Satiety equals NO HUNGER!

In fact, studies have shown satiety, or the ability to be satisfied after eating, to be the secret to low-carb diets and why they work so well for so many people. I was absolutely miserable in 1999 when I was on my low-fat diet and I could not keep it up despite losing a lot of weight. Why? H-U-N-G-E-R!!!

But what's with this hungry thing on low-carb, hmm? I have to be honest with you and say that just totally baffles me because it has not been my experience on low-fat. Ask my wife Christine, I do NOT like feeling hungry. It's one reason I started livin' la vida low-carb in the first place. Actually, I previously blogged about how waiting for hunger is awful and it's so true!

Being the ever-so-curious (okay, I'm nosy!) person that I am, I just had to ask my hungry, protein-eating dieting reader to share with me what she eats on her "high-protein diet." The answers she provide were quite illuminating.

Check out this list of foods she typically eats:

- Boiled chicken breast with tobasco sauce
- Turkey
- 4 oz cheese
- Egg whites with tobasco sauce
- Turkey bacon
- 2-3 cups lettuce with vinegar
- High-protein puddings
- Cheese-flavored bars
- Soy jerky

EWWWW! Can you see why this person is "ALWAYS hungry" on her low-carb, high-protein plan? It's pretty obvious to anyone who has been livin' la vida low-carb for any length of time and been successful at it--she's doing low-carb the wrong way which is the best one-way ticket to becoming a crash and burn weight loss failure.

This is PRECISELY what happens when you don't read a reputable low-carb book before attempting to start livin' la vida low-carb. I feel like a broken record saying this because I repeat this message so often until I get blue in the face. But apparently the message is not getting through and I'm happy to KEEP repeating it until it finally sinks in.

I've seen it happen a million times before from many well-meaning people, but it totally breaks my heart when I see it happening again and again. Even when people sit down long enough to read a popular low-carb plan like Atkins, Protein Power, or South Beach, they always seem to think they know how to make it healthier themselves by cutting the fat, too! UGH! Why do people do that to themselves?!

Heed this message: Don't mix low-carb with low-fat!

When you do that, you simply negate the positive benefits that fat can have in your body when carbohydrates are significantly reduced. In a high-carb diet, fat is destructive to your body and will lead straight to obesity and other health ailments. But with a low-carb diet, fat (even saturated fat!) is your friend and you NEED it to provide your body with energy as well as fighting hunger!

Yep, that's right! While protein is certainly an important element in keeping your full and satisfied throughout the day, fat also prevents the body from becoming ravenously hungry as well. This is one of the major elements that my reader has lacking in her current diet. Just about everything she eats is much lower in fat than it needs to be (boiled chicken, turkey bacon, and soy jerky?).

Here are a few suggestions I have for her to improve her diet:

- Add non-starchy veggies like cauliflower, broccoli, and green beans
- Include more salad greens (spinach) with tomatoes and cucumbers
- Avoid the processed cheese bars that aren't real cheese
- Start eating the egg yolk because that's the healthiest part
- Enjoy the naturally healthy low-carb foods God created

There are many more suggestions about improving her diet, but these are an excellent start. The bottom line is there is absolutely NO reason why anyone should EVER be hungry when they are livin' la vida low-carb. That's one of the major benefits of this permanent lifestyle change that helps people get on it and stay on it! It's worked for me for over three years and counting now.

Have you experienced hunger at some point on your low-carb lifestyle and figured out ways to avoid it? Please feel free to share your insights and wisdom with us in the comments section below. When people who are on low-carb tell me they're hungry, my response to them is, "Then go eat something!" Make it low-carb, of course! :)

Pepsi Takes Diet Energy Drinks To The 'MAX'

The "invigorating" Diet Pepsi MAX drink arrives June 2007

In what is an obvious response to The Coca-Cola Company's hip and hot new low-carb energy drink product called Enviga, Pepsi-Cola North America today announced the creation of a brand new low-carb energy drink of their own called Diet Pepsi MAX.

There is very limited information available about this new Pepsi product releasing nationwide in June, but we do know it has zero calories and is fortified with extra caffeine and a little bit of ginseng to help "adults to get through the day." Pepsi has high hopes that this product will compete directly with Enviga and other similar energy drinks that have dominated the beverage market in recent years.

Nicknamed the "invigorating cola," Diet Pepsi MAX, which has done very well in test marketing with real consumers, is a product aimed at the 25-34 year-old demographic as well as anyone who is transitioning from sugary soda to diet soda. Even before I saw what it was sweetened with, I already knew Pepsi would be using a version of the ACE-K blends that have become popular with their current product line, including Pepsi One (made with Splenda) and the brand new Diet Pepsi Jazz (which has aspartame in it).

Rather than continue expanding their Splenda product line, Pepsi has stuck with their tried and true aspartame/ACE-K blend that has become the mainstay of products like the overhyped Coke Zero (which recently expanded their line to include Cherry Coke Zero as well). This is too bad since many low-carbers would prefer a Splenda/ACE-K blend instead, but the soda companies just haven't gotten that message clearly enough yet. Will they ever realize we don't like aspartame?!

Ever since I ended my recent diet soda embargo, I have been looking for more variety in my choices and Diet Pepsi MAX may provide that. But the jury is still out on it right now.

I contacted the corporate office for Pepsi today and left a message with someone there about conducting a taste test and blogging about it. I'll blog about it if I get the opportunity to try this product before June. Otherwise, I'll do a review as soon as it comes out in June.

One of the reasons Pepsi decided to make this new product at this time (aside from the heavy marketing presence of Coke's Enviga everywhere) is in direct response to a survey they conducted that found 8 in 10 people say they have trouble maintaining their energy during the day and 6 in 10 feel they can't get everything done that they need to get done in their daily activities.

Diet Pepsi MAX is being set up to meet the demands of that market of consumers with a delicious, calorie-free diet soda. Pepsi marketing spokesperson Cie Nicholson believes this is the right product at the right time for busy Americans.

"Adults have told us that they're constantly looking for the right balance to get them through their day and Diet Pepsi MAX is uniquely formulated to give the mind and body a boost," Nicholson contended.

You will see Diet Pepsi MAX coming in 20-ounce bottles, two-liter bottles and 12-packs of 12-ounce cans. This is a widespread product release that Pepsi is banking on being a viable product as will be evidenced by some pretty heavy-duty marketing and advertising when it comes out. Diet Pepsi MAX becomes the 13th cola product under the Pepsi name.

Stay tuned soon hopefully for my review of Diet Pepsi MAX if I hear back from them about the taste test. What do you think about the concept of a higher caffeine, ginseng-infused diet soda?

Saying A Final Farewell To Eat Well Be Well

Low-carb manufacturer Eat Well Be Well has closed its doors for good

I'm gonna report on a news story about low-carb pretending I am a member of the traditional media for just a moment.

HEADLINE: The Low-Carb Fad Is Fading Fast
In a move that puts the final nail in the coffin of the dangerous Atkins diet, struggling no-carb business Eat Well Be Well couldn't find anyone who is still on this harmful and risky diet plan anymore so they were forced to permanently shut down their operations. This comes as no surprise considering all the controversial health problems that this ridiculous high-fat diet is believed to cause. Frankly, it's surprising that there are any low-carb business still in existence today!

You might be laughing at my little mock news story, but you know that's EXACTLY how they would report a low-carb business that has decided to shut down. It's gotta be a sign that low-carb the diet is dead, something that we often heard about right after Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. filed for bankruptcy in 2005 (they have since survived the bankruptcy and back prospering again as Collette Heimowitz said in my interview with her last year thanks to some of the bestselling high-protein bars on the market today).

But the sad part about this mock story is that the manufacturer Eat Well Be Well really has been forced to go out of business. If you go to EatWellBeWell.com right now, then you will see the following two-sentence announcement from the company:

"We regret to announce that as of January 31, 2007 Eat Well Be Well Foods, Inc. is no longer in business. No products are available for sale from us."

I heard about this today from someone who did a Google search on "Eat Well Be Well" looking for information about the company and their low-carb products and she was concerned about what happened to them.

"Did you know they have gone out of business? I am so disappointed. I loved their products. I went to the website today after reading about getting coupons on the box and learned their fate. I am going to my grocery store tonight and cleaning the shelves!"

Yeah, I noticed my local grocery store a few weeks ago had the entire Eat Well Be Well product line discounted like they were getting rid of it. Now I know why these products are going away and it's really kinda sad to think about because they really were superb for people who are livin' la vida low-carb.

Last March, I blogged about the Eat Well Be Well sugar-free whole grain products and just a few months back I told you about their sugar-free chocolate chips. But now they're gonna be gone forever. BOO HOO!

An industry insider said the reason Eat Well Be Well has gone out of business didn't have as much to do with the popularity of their products (which was at an all-time high), but rather the financiers who pulled their funding from the company altogether. They are currently discussing selling the recipes for their products to another company, but no word yet on who will purchase them and when that will happen.

You know, the more I think about this, though, this story really doesn't surprise me at all. A few years ago, the company used to be called CarbSense back when livin' la vida low-carb was all the rage by every opportunistic food company in the world. They were VERY successful and rode that tidal wave just like everyone else did whether their products were truly low-carb or a part of the garbage that flooded supermarket shelves.

Sadly, most of those products were not really low-carb the wave quickly came crashing down on anything labeled "low-carb." As a result, many of the legitimate independent companies providing low-carb products were pushed out of business--like KETO, for example--and the people at CarbSense thought they saw the handwriting on the wall. That's why they changed their name to Eat Well Be Well.

This was a contentious topic I blogged about last year with all these companies and individuals in the low-carb community jumping ship on the term "low-carb" trying to be accepted by people ignorant about what low-carb was really all about. This was something I just couldn't let pass by without comment and here's what I wrote at the time:

While others have purposely backed away from using "low-carb," I have actively embraced it with every ounce of resolve within me because it is the plan that made me skinny for the first time in my life and it is what will keep me fit and trim for the rest of my life. Why would I call it something different now? Perhaps I am being naive about my decision to use the term "low-carb," but I don't think so. If it weren't for "low-carb" being a part of my life, had I not learned more about what "low-carb" living is all about, and if the principles of "low-carb" could not be communicated to the masses of overweight and obese people who need to understand what it is, then where would I be today? 400+ pounds, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, breathing problems, or quite possibly, six feet under!

So what happens when you capitulate and give in to the temptation to dance around telling people you are all about "low-carb." You merely water down your message until it becomes so irrelevant that people stop paying attention to what you have to say because there's nothing unique about you. I think that's exactly what happened to Eat Well Be Well. While they were a fantastic company with amazing sugar-free, low-carb products, they caved pure and simple and paid the price.

In hindsight, I bet they wish they had kept the name CarbSense because it only made "sense" (all pun intended!) for the kind of products they were creating. Look on store shelves today and you still see products like Breyer's CarbSmart ice cream selling very well nationwide, so there's no reason why CarbSense could not have experienced similar branding and marketing success had they stuck to their guns with their original name. I guess we'll never know now, will we?

Speaking of CarbSmart, my newfound reader wanted to know where she could find some good high-fiber healthy sugar-free whole grain products to help her build on her nearly 100-pound low-carb weight loss. That online low-carb retail store is a great place to start and there are many other excellent low-carb stores ready to serve you with those kinds of products. Visit my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Links" blog to find a complete listing of low-carb retail stores.

With this post, I'd like to say a final farewell to Eat Well Be Well and wish everyone who helped make that company the success that it was all the best in their future careers. Maybe the lessons learned from this experience will serve the interests of other low-carb companies who may be contemplating a name change or product modification. If Eat Well Be Well is any indication of what happens when you do that, then perhaps you might want to rethink that strategy and keep doing what got you where you are today. Something to think about.

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 28: The Low-Carb Answer To Diabetes Part 2

Listen to Episode 28 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" today for the second part of this special week on diabetes research. Hear all about it RIGHT NOW by clicking on one of the links below:

 "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 28 [15:32m]: Play in Popup | Download

My "Fact-Filled February" series is about to wrap up for this month, but don't miss out on Episode 28 continuing where I left off on Monday on the relationship between low-carb diets and diabetes management. You get THREE MORE STUDIES today in this podcast show proving livin' la vida low-carb is the real CURE to diabetes. It's true!

Share your feedback about the indelible connection between diabetes and low-carb. The evidence is mounting and will be very difficult for organizations like the American Diabetes Association and other so-called health "experts" to keep on ignoring!

There are many ways to get this podcast show:

1. Listening at the official web site
2. Going to iTunes
3. Calling (818) 688-2763 to listen via Podlinez
4. Subscribing to the RSS feed

Once again, I want to hear from real people who are currently diabetic and using a low-carb diet to manage your disease. Talk about it and help other diabetics who may be hearing the truth for the very first time realize what a miracle this way of eating really is, especially for people who are insulin resistant and feel like they are stuck injecting themselves the rest of their lives! It doesn't have to be that way and the science is showing that quite clearly.

Come back on Monday for our final "Fact-Filled February" podcast show on the subject of metabolic syndrome. Would you care to take a wild guess at which way of eating has been shown to treat this health ailment the best? I think you know already! :D

This is your last chance to take our podcast poll, so please register your vote about what you think about the show. We'd LOVE to hear from you. THANKS for listening and keep on livin' la vida low-carb!

Atkins Hater Says He's Sorta Sorry...Er, Maybe

Columnist Robert St. John says he enjoys tormenting Atkins dieters

One of the things I like to do here at my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog is to point out columnists who write articles in the media that I find are either outright lies or a gross display of ignorance about livin' la vida low-carb. I suppose since I have been so successful on a low-carb diet losing nearly 200 pounds on it that I feel like it is one of my duties to defend it and gladly so.

I've done it many times over the past two years that this blog has been around and I'll keep doing it every chance I can get because people deserve to know the truth rather than the almost-always jaded opinions of these so-called journalists. If these people would simply take a few hours and just read a low-carb book for once in their life, then I don't think we would see all the constant negativity that pops up in the media so much. Don't hold your breath, though.

You might recall a syndicated food columnist by the name of Robert St. John who I featured not once, but twice in blog posts last month after he proved to the entire world what a complete numbskull he is about the Atkins diet. In this blog post, I noted how St. John described Atkins as a "sadistic slow torture method of carbohydrate deprivation."

Here's what I wrote about St. John's column at the time:

"The only 'sadistic slow torture method' that I've ever been on is when I went on a low-fat diet in 1999. The FAT 'deprivation' I experienced during those ten months that I willed myself into losing 170 pounds was just too much to take and I gained every bit of that weight back within five months! But with livin' la vida low-carb, this has literally been the easiest way to eat and lose weight for good in my entire life. St. John doesn't know what he's missing!"

Not to be outdone by himself, St. John again tried to be cute seeing himself write about his version of low-carb living in this blog post where I featured him slamming the Atkins diet yet again:

"I once tried Dr. Atkins' torturous method of carbohydrate deprivation, and three weeks into the diet wrote this paragraph in my journal: 'Everyday I get an afternoon craving for a Milky Way bar. 'Just eat some pork rinds or beef jerky,' they say. I tried that. Pork rinds are smelly and greasy, and it takes approximately 37 hours to chew one single piece of beef jerky. Note to future Atkins dieters: 50 pounds of dried beef or fried pig skins can't come close to one tiny bite of a chocolaty, silky, heavenly, wonderfully delicious Milky Way bar - Pure joy in a brown wrapper."

Pure unadulterated idiocy is all this was and I called him on it! Take every myth you've ever heard about low-carb and hyperbolize it. That's precisely what this dolt St. John apparently enjoys doing in his columns with no concept of discovering what the facts really are. What he doesn't realize is just how retarded that makes him look to people educated about livin' la vida low-carb when he pretends to know what this way of eating is all about when in reality he hasn't got the first clue!

But in his latest column this week, we catch a glimpse of what appears to be an apology of sorts while he reveals that supporters of the Atkins diet (translation: READERS OF MY LIVIN' LA VIDA LOW-CARB BLOG!) often call his bluff and contact him directly when he criticizes our healthy lifestyle change.

Talking about the "hate mail" he gets from various groups when he has "stirred up controversy," St. John did have something pretty funny to say about the mail he gets from those radical vegetarian members of PETA.

"PETA sends e-mail frequently. It is an easy target, especially in this part of the country that hosts more hunters per capita than any other region. I never have been intentionally cruel to a domesticated animal, but my love for foie gras and veal has filled my inbox with some of the more hilarious hate mail a columnist could ever receive. Vegetarians send e-mail quite frequently. But what they don't understand is: I like vegetables, too. I just prefer that they taste more like meat."

HA! Now that's just TOO funny! Not a bad wit for someone who doesn't understand what the Atkins diet is all about. Speaking of that, here's what St. John had to say about those of us who support low-carb.

"The Atkins Diet people must remain on alert 24 hours a day scanning the Internet for journalists who dare contradict or make fun of the late doctor's tortuous carbohydrate deprivation methods. They fill their e-mails with a lot of medical mumbo-jumbo and technical jargon. On the occasions that I do reply, I go into great detail extolling the joy and beauty of bread, rice and potatoes."

Hardy-har-har...yuck yuck yuck! I'm sure St. John just gets one big ole belly laugh out of doing that. Yippee freakin' skippy! You bet I scan the Internet looking for lamebrained idiocy like yours, Mr. St. John, because you are the exact epitome of what's wrong with our society these days. While you are off typing away thinking you are being smart and funny about all these negative stereotypes of low-carb, the obesity and diabetes twin epidemics just keep getting worse and worse and we scratch our heads wondering why. I mean DUH!

If honest journalists (not pretenders like this St. John fool!) would simply crack open a copy of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution for themselves and actually read it, absorb the REAL message, and share what they have learned with their readers, then perhaps we could curtail the downward spiral that has happened with the rising weight and declining health of tens of millions of Americans. No thanks to the Robert St. Johns of this world, that ain't gonna happen anytime soon!

Where's your journalistic responsibility to your readers, Mr. St. John, hmm? Grow some kahunas and try exhibiting a little bit of testicular fortitude for once rather than simply repeating what you heard about the Atkins diet from a friend of a cousin's friend who went on it and hated it. Perhaps you should actually read some of that "medical mumbo-jumbo and technical jargon" that my readers have sent you about livin' la vida low-carb. You might actually learn something for a change!

Keep on eating all that bread, rice and potatoes, too! When you get sick and obese from overloading your body with garbage carbs, then don't come crying to us that you didn't know any better. You've been exposed to what is right and now you are just choosing to foolishly ignore it. That's certainly your choice, but the truth is out there for everyone to see. It's no secret anymore because the positive and uplifting low-carb message is getting out there whether you like it or not.

While St. John said e-mails from people responding to his anti-Atkins columns "don't bother me in the least," I think we should all give him a nice resounding shower of e-mail contact today thanking him for at least attempting to apologize and say he is sorry...er, maybe.

E-mail Robert St. John anytime 24 hours a day while you are on watch for negative columns about low-carb at Robert@robertstjohn.com. I know his sadistic and self-absorbed self would just LOVE to hear from you today. Let's give him feedback today that he'll NEVER forget!

MSG: Hidden Health & Weight Loss Killer

Whenever you hear people talk about health and weight loss, generally the discussion focuses on the kinds and amounts of food consumed, how much exercise the person does or doesn't do, mustering up the necessary willpower and determination to stay on a diet, and other such ideas you typically hear from the "experts."

While all of those things are certainly an important aspect of dealing with an obesity problem, they tend to neglect something else that very well may be one of the biggest unknown factors explaining why people gain weight and keep gaining weight in the first place.

Even those of us who have committed ourselves to livin' la vida low-carb can fall victim to this hidden health and weight loss killer. What is it? I'm referring to monosodium glutamate, aka MSG.

Have you heard about MSG before? I've known about it personally for several years because of a former co-worker of mine named Mary who was always talking about how she has to strictly avoid this ingredient at all costs because it caused all sorts of health problems for her. As a result, Mary voraciously reads food labels looking for this hidden ingredient that is becoming more and more difficult to identify (more about that in a moment!).

According to this Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Backgrounder on MSG, which acknowledges the controversy surrounding the impact it can have on people's health, it is defined as "the sodium salt of the amino acid glutamic acid and a form of glutamate."

"It is sold as a fine white crystal substance, similar in appearance to salt or sugar. It does not have a distinct taste of its own, and how it adds flavor to other foods is not fully understood. Many scientists believe that MSG stimulates glutamate receptors in the tongue to augment meat-like flavors."

People who enjoy Asian food have very likely consumed MSG at some point whether they know it or not and quite possibly could have experienced what has been referred to as "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" where diners have such symptoms as flushing, tightness of the chest, trouble breathing, and even worse. This is why many Chinese restaurants are now advertising the fact that they are MSG-free.

MSG is often used as a food additive to enhance the flavor of primarily higher protein foods like cheese, milk, and meat, which are coincidentlly some of the more popular foods on the low-carb lifestyle. I'm not trying to alarm you, just inform you. Keep reading.

Although the FDA declared MSG "generally recognized as safe" back in 1959, the questions surrounding the health implications of this additive still remain strong in 2007 (as my story about Mary and her experience represents).

So what does this have to do with the obesity epidemic that exists in the United States and around the world today? Plenty! Imagine this--MSG is being used by food manufacturers every single day to get people addicted to their products so they will keep on buying more and more of it.

Conspiratorial, you say? Some think that's EXACTLY what is happening and nobody is sounding the alarm about it. When I interviewed low-fat diet guru Dr. Dean Ornish last year, I asked him as a sidebar question about what he thought of the theory by some that food companies were putting secret additives in foods to make them more addicting such as MSG. He said he doesn't buy into that notion since food is addictive enough without anything being added to it.

Fair enough, but how do we know it ISN'T the gobs and gobs of MSG that have been sneaked into foods without our knowledge that could have the tens of millions of Americans dealing with obesity staying that way? Even worse to think about are all the billions upon billions of dollars that have been raked in annually by the food industry giants who have resorted to putting MSG and other additives in foods just to turn a profit. If it's even remotely true, how sicko is that?!

And, think about this. If it is true, then every red-blooded American should be livid and demand better from those entrusted with providing the best quality food for our families to eat. Of course, they'll simply snub their noses at us and keep on adding not just MSG, but sugar, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and other such nutritional garbage into our foods without any regard for the health implications of these actions (something Michael Pollan has been railing against in recent years).

The bad thing about MSG as opposed to HFCS, though, is the fact that it is completely tasteless and undetected by the human senses when being consumed. But the intense stimulating effect it can have on the nerves and the brain when it is ingested can cause an uncontrollable reaction to happen in your mouth.

Have you ever found yourself eating something and suddenly you start taking bigger and faster bites than you were before? Does it feel like you have lost all sense of control over the amount of food you are putting in your mouth and you mindlessly keep eating and eating long after you are full? I'll admit it, I've been in that situation in the past and it feels so helpless. What is happening to me and why am I doing this? AAAAAAAACK!

Could it really be the MSG, though? That's something you need to ask yourself. It has been found to create a false sense of hunger even when the biological need for food does not exist. Some say MSG causes damage to the hypothalamus while others believe it lowers blood sugar necessitating more food consumption. Either way, we cannot overlook the negative impact that MSG is apparently causing on our weight and health as a society.

Incidentally, the warnings over MSG are not just some minority group of crazy people espousing their opinions about this. There is a wide body of research out there already showing MSG causing all sorts of health problems in otherwise healthy individuals. This includes lab rats being fed MSG becoming obese while an MSG-free control group fed the exact same diet without the MSG remain at normal weight.

What about human studies, you ask? Well, this is where it gets tricky because researchers are reluctant to expose humans to MSG because of the toxic effect it causes on the central nervous system and other essential bodily functions. In fact, neuroscientists have been known to use MSG specifically to kill nerve cells in the lab. YIKES!

My co-worker Mary used to talk about some of the side effects of MSG she had to deal with whenever she accidentally consumed it: mood swings, fatigue, feeling flush, turning as red as a beet, headaches, and various other strange, unexplained health ailments.

Oh, there is ONE study that has been conducted showing MSG is completely safe and not harmful for human consumption. However, this rather flawed research was paid for in full by a multi-billion dollar industry that has a vested interest in the existence of MSG. Hmmm, would care to take a guess who it is?

Most disturbing about MSG is the fact that the FDA completely allows food manufacturers to put this chemical in foods without ever using the word MSG on the label. That's right! They don't want you to know it's in there, but it is. You may recognize MSG in any number of euphemisms on the product packaging, such as "flavors," "natural flavors," "yeast extract," and more.

And don't think your favorite low-carb foods are immune from MSG just because they are health foods. Protein bars, protein shakes, and other such products are notorious for having this substance in them using the aforementioned terms for MSG. Doesn't this just make you sick?

Why haven't we heard the obesity and health experts out there decrying the role of MSG as the biggest health epidemic of our generation? Sure, the Standard American Diet (SAD) is indeed bad enough with such a heavy focus on sugary, processed junk foods and fast food, but is it even worse because of MSG? You can't help but think about it!

Could this be the next major class action lawsuit to come down the pipeline in the coming years? Some think it will be just as big as the tobacco liability lawsuits a few years back and will account for literally billions of dollars in damages while radically altering the practices of the food industry.

Don't be surprised if it happens sooner than you think!

If you are interested in learning more about MSG and the ramifications it could be having on the weight and health of Americans and unsuspecting people around the world, then be sure to check out the web site TruthInLabeling.org.

2-22-07 UPDATE: As is prone to happen in the wonderful world of blogging, this exact same topic is also being discussed on the great Dr. Michael Eades blog today. I agree with him that MSG in small quantities will probably not harm you. But you should try to avoid it whenever possible.