Moved to LivinLaVidaLowCarb.com/Blog

Please Update Your RSS Feed To The New Blog

2008-08-29T22:20:00.003-04:00

Just a reminder, if you are reading this in a feed, we have moved the blog to:

LIVINLAVIDALOWCARB.COM/BLOG

THANKS for updating your bookmarks and RSS feed to the following:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/llvlcblog

Moved To LivinLaVidaLowCarb.com/Blog

2008-08-13T16:57:00.000-04:00

It took me a couple of weeks to work out all the kinks, but today it is official:

MY NEW BLOG ON MY OWN SERVER

I have enjoyed the WordPress format immensely and this new version of the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog will implement the WordPress tools on my own server. This move cost me a pretty penny, but it was worth every dime I am spending on it to make it happen. You'll notice the new blog has some ads from sponsors on it which is something WordPress did not allow me to do on their format. I appreciate your continued support of those who support the work I am doing.

So come on over to LIVINLAVIDALOWCARB.COM/BLOG to join the fun. We're gonna be there a while, so make yourself at home. :D

It's Over! I'm Finished Blogging Here...GOODBYE FOREVER BLOGGER!

2008-08-03T18:51:00.004-04:00

I've sat at my computer for hours on end posting to Blogger

I've put this decision off for a very long time because I wanted to be absolutely sure it was the right thing to do. As much as I love blogging, you just knew the time was gonna come for me to hang it all up, call it quits, and take this show elsewhere--and that's exactly what I'm doing today. See ya, adios, and so long Blogger!

You may recall my blog post from Friday when fellow low-carb blogger Regina Wilshire was the latest victim of Blogger's overaggressive robot identifying her blog as "spam." This follows just a few short months after my blog right here at Blogger was locked by the Blogger robots as a "spam blog" and all the frustration that came with that followed by a second locked blog just three weeks later. Doing this to good blogs is bad public relations and has ticked me off enough that I've decided I'm done with Blogger forever. They've done this to themselves and I am usually very loyal to companies over time (which is why I stood with them for as long as I have).

But today it is good riddance to them. Out with the old and in with the new! Does this mean I'm finished blogging about the healthy low-carb lifestyle? Not by a long shot! You can check out my new blogging home RIGHT NOW at LivinLaVidaLowCarb.wordpress.com. I worked all weekend on it to make it look as good as it possibly can and I am so thrilled with the way it turned out. All of your favorite posts and comments have been moved over to this new blog as well as some new bells and whistles that will bring a smile to your face.

A few of my testers have commented how much faster this page loads than the Blogger blog, so I am happy about that. Speed of loading was one of the major problems people complained about with this old blog. The new one is like lightning it's so fast! You'll also notice the layout is very clean and the look is much more precise than Blogger. My favorite feature of the new blog is the fact that you can click on "Next Page" at the bottom of each page and see the next set of blog posts. So now I only have to post 5 blog posts instead of 15-20. WOO HOO! Just click on that link and you'll get 5 more blog posts on the next page...SWEET!

Along the top of the blog are seven clickable links to important information. "Home" will always take you back to the front page of the blog. "Before & After Pics" shows my photos from 410 pounds, pictures from right after my 180-pound weight loss, as well as a new feature showing current photographs in the years since. "Contact" allows you to reach me with your questions and comments. "Disclaimer" explains I am not a doctor, so use the information at your own risk. "LLVLC Sites" lists the various web sites I am affiliated with. "Meet Jimmy" is a brief bio of who I am and why I started the blog. And finally, "Our Sponsors" is a grouping of all the companies that are lending their financial support to the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog so I can keep doing what I'm doing.

On the left-hand side panel, you'll see some more new additions: a Subscribe To Feed link, the most recent comments on the blog, the most popular clicked pages on the blog, some weight loss links, the full archives all the way back to April 2005, the MyBlogLog widget box, and the total traffic at the blog which I transferred the numbers from my Blogger account over these past 3+ years (currently at over 3.5 million pageviews!).

On the right-hand side panel, there's a link to my About page connected to a picture of me, a list of the latest blog posts, a link to my book, a link to my before and after photos, an RSS feed of my Low-Carb Menus blog, a list of "LLVLC Quicklinks" that will help you find what you need in a flash, my latest photographs on Flickr, a Meta list, and a link to audio podcasts of my blog posts courtesy of Odiogo.

Finally, in the upper right-hand side of the new WordPress blog is a search box that is unbelievably fast and accurate. If I have ever blogged about it, then you'll find it with this search box. It's located right beneath the blog logo and you should use it early and often to find what you need. Of course, if you need help, then I'm always happy to assist. :)

So this is it! My days at Blogger have come to an end and that's just too bad. I appreciate having them as my blogging tool for over three years, but it's time to move on to bigger and better things at my new WordPress blog. And I'm not alone: Regina Wilshire has also set up shop at WordPress at her new WeightOfTheEvidence.com blog. I'm sure many more current Blogger blog owners will be making the move soon...or they should lest the robots shut down their blog as "spam," too!

Don't forget to change all of your bookmarks to the new blog and resubscribe to the blog feed here so you'll never miss a single post at the all new and improved "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog at WordPress! THANK YOU so much for your support for the work I am doing over the years and I look forward to continuing this for many years to come over at the new blog.

Gaining Stunning Health Improvements Because Of Low-Carb Living

2008-08-01T20:34:00.004-04:00

It is always important for us to share about people who are gaining stunning health improvements because of low-carb living. For all the talk about low-carb diets that happens, the subject is generally exclusively focused on weight loss while bemoaning the long-term health effects of this way of eating. But it's hard to argue with real life stories of positive changes.

That's why I am always interested in hearing YOUR low-carb weight loss and health improvement stories so I can feature them at my blog. You'll recall a couple of months back I penned the post "Testimonies Of Real Life Stories Of Low-Carb Transformation" with a few of these stories. Now today I have a lot more encouraging health stories of livin' la vida low-carb to uplift you and get you excited about this amazing way of eating.

Hi Jimmy,

I have been low carbing for about 6 months now (you linked to my blog at one point – thanks!) and just got my cholesterol numbers checked, and compared them to last year.

Last Year
Total: 187
HDL: 103
LDL: 65
Triglyceride: 94

This year
Total: 217
HDL: 97
LDL: 107
Triglyceride: 67

Of course, my doctor told me since my total is over 200 and my LDL is over 100, I should eat less saturated fat, and get tested again in a year. I didn’t have a breakdown of my LDL to tell me what size my LDL particles were. I’m wondering if I should have this done. Also, I’m not sure if my HDL going down is bad, or unimportant.

But I was happy to see my triglycerides down, even though they weren’t terrible before. I feel like I was pretty healthy when I wasn’t low-carb, but now I’ve gotten healthier. I definitely feel better overall! I haven’t lost any weight since I started, but I’ve been lifting weights for the past 2 years and I think I’ve gained muscle, so perhaps I’ve lost fat. But my triglycerides going down tells me I’m doing something right!

The only thing I’ve noticed is now that I am low-carb, I never really feel hungry, which is good, but my face and neck does start to tingle if I haven’t eaten in a few hours. Have you ever experienced that? I’ve had my thyroid tested and they said my levels were normal. So that’s the only disconcerting thing I’ve noticed after going low carb.

Love your blog!!!
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Hi Jimmy,

This article was on the front page of Yahoo this morning and I thought it was good. I read your blog everyday and am inspired by you. I am down 24 pounds livin' la vida low-carb. I still have 64 pounds to go but I know this is the way to do it. My boot camp exercise class instructor is blown away by my progress.

Have a great weekend!
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This is the first time I send an email to a blog and I cannot thank you enough for your blogs and YouTube videos. They have helped me tremendously to keep going on my weight loss. I have been doing Atkins for a little more than two months and I have lost so far a total of 50 lbs. I now weigh 316. I have 121 more lbs. to go. Please continue what you do and thank you for being around.
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Jimmy,

You have really helped me. After being on low-carb for only 6 days I already feel so much better. I am not lying around in a fog, depressed and feeling hopeless. I am diabetic and my blood sugar had been pretty bad but now it hasn't been over 100 since my 2nd day. Also, I take water pills twice a day because my legs and feet swell so much that every step gives me excruciating pain. Now, my legs have not been swollen in 3 days, I can walk so much better!! and I stopped taking the water pills (don't worry, under Dr. supervision).

I was able to walk to the family room and sing karaoke with my children. This might sound like a small thing, but I couldn't walk more than 50 feet and haven't been to the family room in months! Anyway, could these changes REALLY be because of the low carbs? I am soooo excited!!! Thank you Jimmy. You are a blessing.
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I work in health care and the other day a coworker (nurse) offered me a "healthy" whole wheat bagel. I politely said no and proceeded to eat my hard boiled egg. She asked why not? I said "I don't eat wheat products." She said "oh my god, you are not one of those weirdos that does low-carb are you?" I said "yes i am, thank you very much." From that point she proceeded to lecture me about the evils of ketosis and how I am ruining my kidneys and health.

I took a good look at this woman and she was overweight. She had the overextended belly and puffy face that I used to have before i went low carb. Dark circles under her eyes and thin dull hair and dry skin. She continued to lecture me as i ate my hard boiled egg. I finally grew weary of her comments and offered her an egg. I told her that the fat from the egg was good for her dull skin and the protien would help her thinning lifeless hair. She sad that "Well, honey you are considerably younger than I am. How old are you 30? At my age 42 this is as good as it gets." I told her I was 44. She got up and left.

This is the typical response i get from people who consider themselves educated.
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Hi Jimmy,

I gave up yo-yo dieting over 7 years ago, and have been living the low-carb lifestyle ever since. I went from a size 14 to a size 6 and have been that size for 7 years. I still have to maintain at a pretty low level of carbs. I enjoy every meal that I eat, and when I had my cholesterol level checked, my doctors told me that my cholesterol is perfect. Before low-carb, I had quite a problem with it.

I was terribly disappointed when the FDA and ADA did not acknowledge the effectiveness of low-carb living. But, I am very thankful for sites like yours where I can feel connected with people who understand the truth, and have been doing the LC plan long term.

My daughter who is 25 has been doing the diet with me for several years, and she is also very healthy and a size zero. Thanks for having the web site. I am going to be exploring it a lot this summer while I am on vacation. (I am a teacher, and during the school year, I am usually buried!).
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Howdy Jimmy,

I got my first lab work for the year. This is after stopping all medications and going on the Atkins diet. This was my New Year's Resolution. I went in to see my doctor to get the lab results. This is a pet peeve of mine. People should be able to get their own lab work! Why do we have to make a doctor appointment to get a lab order? I should be able to write my own lab order. I just want to see my numbers and how I am doing.

The nurse said; "any change in medication?" I said; "yes I don't take any, that's a change!". The nurse said; "I'll say!". I should have said, I don't take that crap any more, it was doing more harm than good. It was also costing me a lot of money and making the Pharmaceutical companies rich.

I think the doctor was really pissed when he realized I stopped the medications he prescribed, but what could he say? My numbers were great! My A1C is 5.4! It has never been this low. This is low for someone without diabetes. Diabetics are considered great if you are under 7. Dr Atkins has cured my Diabetes! Thank you so much.

My Blood pressure is also lower than it has ever been. My cholesterol is good. My weight is 155. I still have more to lose for my target weight of 150. The doctor did begrudgedly admit my numbers were great. He had nothing good to say about losing over 30 pounds. So in his book I guess losing weight did not help improve my health. I think it did. I think the weight loss is the biggest factor in improving my health.

Now get this. My doctor still thinks I need medication! For what? I guess that's all they know how to do. He said the Avapro( blood pressure medication ) does more for you than just lower your blood pressure, it also protects your kidneys. What??? First off this crap did not lower my blood pressure! So what the hell was it doing for my kidneys?! I brought my blood pressure down into the normal range with diet and exercise.

I am sure he would also say the Statins do more for you than lower your cholesterol. Hell in my book they don't even do that! He could not bring himself to say, Wow you're doing great! How did you do it? He didn't say it and doesn't want to. He doesn't want to know how I improved my health. Being a doctor you would think he would. He refused to say; You are much healthier today than you were the last time I saw you. He won't
say this but my numbers say it loud and clear.

I need help in finding a low carb doctor( your new blog )in my area! I live in Maryland, the DC suburbs This is serious It is a matter of life and death. My doctor is trying to kill me!
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Hey Jimmy,

I just wanted to update and let you know I am still going strong. I am now 48 pounds from my weight loss goal, and super excited!!! I have to credit you, and SparkPeople for my success. Without the information, education, and support, I would have given up long long ago! I have had some ups and downs, and not lost as much as I would have liked to, but the main thing is we can never give up! This is a life long journey, not a short trip around the park.
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The most important thing I have learned over the past year is that I must watch the amount of my intake as well as what I eat. In brief, what Mike Eades asserts is that you can eat all the low-carb food you want and not gain weight. But to lose weight, you must eat only low-carb and create a caloric deficit as well. I can live with that as long as I get results.

So I'm at 226.4 today. My all-time high back in 2003 was 262. Never give up!
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I have been on the Atkins diet since November 21, 2007 and in the first week I lost 23 pounds. Huge weight loss. Then after I have been losing weight. I have lost a whopping 97 pounds in 9 months. I couldn't be happier. I have three children and with each child the weight just kept piling on over the years. I wanted to look good in swimsuit to. I love the new look. I have read so any things on the Internet about how it is bad. But when I was on a fat-free diet I starved to death.

With this diet I get less and I do watch my fat intake. But no carbs for 3 weeks then I allow myself 12 carbs every three weeks, it has changed my whole life, as I'm sure it has changed yours. I feel so great when I get out of bed. And when i see people eating chocolate or whatever it does not bother me. People don't understand this diet, they think that people on this diet eat a tub of butter, that certainly is not the case. Once you are on it you tend to change eating habits and get better with the diet.

But this diet is for me finally there is a diet that is suited for me. And I don't miss any of the food I once ate. I have lost 8 pants sizes my husband can't keep his hands off me!! So I know that you are just glowing with your weight loss. It changes your life.

Thank you for your story. Glad to know there are more people that this diet has changed.
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I am 58 years old and have used low carb eating over the years. I have always had success when eating this way, I always felt better etc. However unfortunately I listened to the experts and in my efforts to be healthy I went to a diet of high grain, granola, fruits, and low fat. My health progressively worsened, physicians told me to eat less – you know the routine.

At 56 I discovered that I had type 2 diabetes, my sugar was over 600, every vital reading was out of the norm. If it should have been high it was low and vice a versa. At a visit with my physician he sadly informed me that he could not give me any medicines, but insulin, due to my readings, but that somehow we had to get the sugar under control.

I chose not to go on insulin, but began a systematic diary of my sugar readings before and after meals, and after 2 weeks it was painfully obvious that sugar, starches, fruit juices, etc were the culprit. I began following a low carb way of eating and today my HbA1c is 5.0, all my other readings are now normal. Weight loss has also been a wonderful side effect that I have received also.
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My doctor has been trying to push Lipitor, Crestor, etc. on me for the past 4 months, due to my "hereditary" cholesterol. (She doesn't look at my ratio, just my total cholesterol.) I'm never taking a statin! I'm going to prove to her that I can lower it on my own. I am Type 2 diabetic, following a very low-carb diet, exercising daily, my blood pressure is normal, my blood sugars are normal, and my lipid profile gets better and better every time I have lab work done. No statins for me! Ever!
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Dear Jimmy,

I am a walking talking experiment for the effects of alcohol consumption while watching my weight. For the last two weeks I have omitted alcohol during the week days. I loved a few glasses of wine while cooking. I am a Pilates instructor. Very fit. I also incorporate 120 minutes of cardio each week and some weight training.
I was feeling bloated at times as well as the last inch of fat covering my six pack wasn't moving. I went on the scale and to my astonishment I lost 2 pounds after two
weeks. I am very careful about what I eat. My six pack is showing through nicely. It has made a difference. I kept wondering if it was in fact the alcohol, but I kept counting it in terms of my total calories for the day, and not aware of the fact that it stalls fat burning. Thanks for your site.
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Dear Jimmy,

I emailed you about 5 weeks ago due to extreme weight loss frustration. I do have some good news. Since my first email to you when I gained the four lbs., I lost the four lbs. plus 2 more lbs. Prior to that I was up and down 2 lbs., the same, rotten 2 lbs. and I felt like I was trapped in a cage.

What I have done is to try out some stuff you recommended on your site as well as what I read from other people. First, I stick to 18/19 carbs per day, period. Second, I have really cut out dairy (read: cheese), although I still have some cream in my coffee :). I also have INCREASED my fat intake. I really think this is helping me a
lot. I no longer feel guilty to add some mayo to a lettuce "sandwich" or butter to my veggies. I now eat macadamia nuts or deviled eggs for dessert instead of "low-carb" treats which I think mess me up. I try to stick with the same foods that I know work for me. If I add something and I gain or stall, I make a note of it & cut it out.

One "biggie" for me was going under 170 lbs. I had done it several months ago only to become very sad when I went over again. Happily, I am now down to 168. I am trying to be very, very careful. Amazing how that stupid scale can make or break your day!!!

Hope your success is continuing as well. Thank you for your kind words.

Got a low-carb weight loss or health improvement story to share with me? Send an e-mail to livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Let's show this world the awesome results we KNOW that livin' la vida low-carb can produce.

Blogger Locks Another Low-Carb Blog As 'Spam': Let's Help Get It Unlocked

2008-08-01T15:17:00.005-04:00

Now look at the low-carber who's been blocked as "spam"

I am livid right now with the hosting site of my blogs right now and it has forced me to make a decision I really hoped I wouldn't have to make. But Blogger has really forced the issue now and I don't feel like I have much of a choice in the matter all things considered. More about that in a moment.

As you know, my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog was first identified by Blogger's robots as a "spam blog" back in April this year and it took nearly a week to get it back again. When your blog is locked by one of these computer robots automatically, you have to go through a rigorous waiting period until a real live human being can look at your blog and realize it is not "spam," but actually legitimate. Visitors coming to the blog wouldn't know that it's locked, but the owner is unable to make any new posts or changes until a Blogger representative bothers to take a look.

Adding insult to injury about my particular case is the fact that it was locked for a second time in less than a month AGAIN, although this time I got it to come back MUCH quicker because I had a Blogger employee name that I urged so many of you to write to. Thanks to the efforts of my faithful and dedicated supporters at my blog and on my other web sites, my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog was restored in just two days.

Now we have yet another low-carb blogger who has been locked out of her popular blog. It's Regina Wilshire at the "Weight of the Evidence" blog who informed me today that she has been identified by Blogger as a "spam" blog. This would be hilarious if it wasn't dead serious because Regina's blog has been a longtime source for quality low-carb research information well before Jimmy Moore was even on the scene. It's such a travesty that genuinely good bloggers are forced to endure this kind of aggravation.

To make matters worse, my "30-in-30" Low-Carb Weight Loss Challenge blog was also locked today, so it looks like Blogger is on the rampage again with the trigger-happy robots. This is utterly stupid if you ask me and I would like to ask for your help yet again. As of the writing of this blog post, it's late on Friday afternoon. So nothing may come of this until Monday. But it's worth a shot for Regina's sake.

The last time I asked for your help with unlocking my blog, I gave you the name and e-mail address of the Blogger employee who was the first one to unlock my blog. His name is Mishka and his direct e-mail address is mishkablogger@yahoo.com. In your e-mail, kindly request that the URLs WeightOfTheEvidence.blogspot.com and 30-in-30.blogspot.com be unlocked since they are not "spam" blogs. Thank him for his prompt attention to this and express your personal experiences reading these sites. If all goes well, then Regina should be back up and running by Monday. And the same with my "30-in-30" blog.

THANK YOU again for your help everyone! You are the best!

So what am I contemplating doing? Right now I'm moving all of my posts from Blogger over the WordPress and will make a decision soon about making my new permanent blog home over there. You never hear about any issues like this over there, so it's looking more and more appealing by the moment. I'll let you know if and when that will happen, so don't worry. THANKS again for your support!

8-2-08 UPDATE: Well, YOU DID IT!!! Both my "30-in-30" blog and Regina's blog are now back...but neither of us is happy with Blogger right now. That's why we're moving to WordPress and you'll be hearing more about that soon. In the meantime, check out Regina's new address at WeightOfTheEvidence.com.

Kooky, Crazy, Nutty...And Everything In Between: E-mails To My Low-Carb Blog

2008-07-31T20:06:00.007-04:00

Some of my readers must be related to Crazy Harry

I'm gonna be dating myself a bit with this reference, but do you remember the old Jim Henson television program called The Muppet Show? We all know Kermit the Frog, Fozzy, Beaker, Animal, and, of course, Miss Piggy. But do you remember that character named Crazy Harry? He was the strange one who always looked like he was up to no good as he looked for something to blow up. Does that ring a bell?

Well, I must have some long lost relatives of Crazy Harry embarking on my blog from time to time because some rather kooky, crazy, and nutty comments and e-mails have been coming my way lately and it certainly keeps life rather interesting to say the least. That's okay because I get enough of everything in between to help counterbalance the wild and the weird.

One of the most popular kind of blog posts I do feature some of the most intriguing e-mails and comments that come my way and you can see my previous ones here, here, here, here, and here, and here. But I do believe today takes the proverbial low-carb cake for the strangest e-mail I have ever received in the history of my blog. And that's truly saying something with all the bizarre comments that have been hurled in my direction. The good news is one freaky bit of feedback is always tempered perfectly by bunches of normal ones, so ENJOY!

The following was left as an anonymous comment at my blog this week:

Look around your mid-section, you could live off that fat for 6 months. I am highly skeptical that your body needs all that fat. I'm pretty sure your gall bladder will need removal within a few years. Though that's only if you survive the colon cancer from the 15 pounds of fetid low quality hormone laden mad cow meat adhering to you colon. Do you notice how bad your BO is and how bad the toilet smells after you go. If you don't just ask your wife. Chimp poo is nothing like that!

PS - and what is with your so called brother being in hospice and singing karaoke ? I've yet to meet a hospice patient released for a little karaoke R&R. I think somebody is looking for pity points. But if you weren't a drama llama you would not over medicate with fatty foods (formerly sugary foods in your younger years).

Looks like Dean Ornish let one of his wacko radical vegetarians out on the loose again! Does something like this even deserve to be dignified with a valid response from me? I think not (although I thought you'd get a good laugh out of it like I did!).

Now, on to more NORMAL e-mails...

Dear Jimmy,

I am a former vegetarian (16 years with no meat!) who has started eating fish and a hell of a lot more protein and fat due to reading Gary Taubes' book Good Calories, Bad Calories. I have easy access to all the research articles that he sites in his book, so in addition to being persuaded by Gary I have read all the original experiments as well and have changed my eating habits accordingly.

My reason for emailing you is to ask this: when you are talking to people about your diet and your opponent says: "I love sugar! I will never stop eating sugar! My boyfriend/girlfriend/ spouse tried it and they fainted/felt like crap/their heads exploded, etc." How do I defend myself? (I just had this conversation five minutes ago, so I am fuming just a bit.)

I could have been nasty and said, "Well, look at me, and now look AT YOU, YOU FAT SUGAR EATER!!!!" However, as irritating as this person can be sometimes, I did not want to hurt her feelings.

So, Jimmy, could you or any of your fans advise me how to converse nicely with the uninitiated proponent of carbs without sounding like a total jerk?

LOL! I think we all have people like this in our life. The thing I tell people is that you won't have to give up sugar for life if you don't want to on your low-carb diet. You just choose to go without it until your weight and health is under control. But what will happen is they'll reap the benefits of ditching sugar and will decide for themselves to never eat it again. What would you suggest?

Hi Jimmy,

I am hoping you can help me answer a question, or at least point me in the right direction to get an answer. First let me say, I love your blog! Thanks so much for keeping us updated on the low carb lifestyle. Let me tell you a little background about myself. I am a type 1 diabetic on an insulin pump and am a registered nurse. In 1994, I read a book by a doctor in NY, Richard Bernstein, which changed the way I managed my diabetes. Dr. Bernstein advocates a very low carb diet for diabetics, and he has used it to manage his own diabetes for years. I met with him and tried his low carb diet, which substantially reduced my insulin needs. Although I was not able to maintain his ultra low carb recommendations, I have continued to follow a much lower carb diet which has helped greatly improve my diabetes control.

In 2004, I decided to tackle my next health issue, which was my weight. I had about 45 pounds to lose, and decided to join Weight Watchers and follow their core plan. Although Weight Watchers does not advocate low carb, it was easy for me to structure my eating with the core plan and still eat a lower carb diet. Within 7 months, I had dropped the 45 pounds and have maintained the weight loss for the past 4 years. Now, on to my question...

I currently exercise every day. I love it and look forward to it. As is my routine, just prior to exercising I have my one treat of the day, which is ice cream. This helps to keep my blood sugar up while exercising and keeps me on track with my healthy eating habits because I know I get to eat that one sweet treat every day. Recently, Breyers came out with a new line of "Breyers Free" ice creams, which are fat free and have some added fiber. I have been buying this line because the Weight Watchers points value is 1-2 points, as opposed to 4-5 for regular ice cream. But what I have noticed when eating these fat free ice creams is that my blood sugar goes way up, which it never did with the regular ice creams. After looking at the carb values for both, I saw that the fat free had 25 gms of carbs and the regular has 15 grams, which is a big difference since I probably do not stick to the 1/2 cup serving. Because of the difference in the carb value, I end up having to take extra insulin, which I did not have to do with the regular ice cream.

So my question to you is do you think I should switch back to the regular ice cream? I am desperate to lose another 7 pounds, and am afraid that the regular ice cream, being higher in calories, will slow down this weight loss. However, my logical mind also knows that it is generally the extra insulin that the body makes or, in my case, that is injected, that causes me to gain weight. Can you please tell me your opinion on this, as I will feel better hearing it from someone who is familiar with the low carb debate. My doctor basically told me that lower calorie=weight loss, higher calorie=weight gain, but I am not so sure that is true since I have to take more insulin to cover the higher carb value.

Any information you could give me would be greatly appreciated!

Do I need to say how wrong this is on so many levels? I couldn't believe my eyes when I was reading this e-mail. Let me address the reason why fat-free and low-fat foods have more sugar/carbs. When they take out the fat, the food manufacturers have to replace it with something--and most of the time that something is sugar or high fructose corn syrup. That's just the way it is.

Now, about that ice cream before your workout. WHAT?! It's a myth that you need to carb-up before exercise and I urge you to STOP eating the ice cream beforehand. That's not necessary when you are livin' la vida low-carb, eating adequate protein, and fueling up with fat. Read The TNT Diet by Adam Campbell and Dr. Jeff Volek to find out how to implement this way of eating into your regular exercise routine.

My experience with a very low carb, high fat diet.

Started diet at Age 57, weight 186 (highest ever), total cholesterol 207, triglycerides 149, HDL 41, and LDL 136. Blood pressure between high normal and pre-hypertension.

Lost 23lbs in 9 months, with total cholesterol 182, triglycerides 79, HDL 46, LDL 120. Sounded pretty good to me!

3 months later, still on low carb diet, had lost additional 4 lbs, and feeling real good...then I had a heart attack. They placed 2 stents in 2 blocked arteries, also the main coronary artery is 40% blocked and I'm looking at bypass surgery in the future.

Now I'm on a full regiment of drugs. Lost additional 10 lbs, and stayed on low carb, but now also low fat. With the drugs, total cholesterol 110, triglycerides 50, HDL 44, LDL 57. Blood pressure is now very very low.

Ok, what happened?

It's funny how people are so quick to blame their low-carb diet on health calamities when differences suddenly manifest themselves. But you never hear people talk about how much that low-fat, high-carb diet they were eating damaged their health. I've never understood this double standard, but it is what it is I guess.

Anywho, as for this person who says their heart attack happened because of livin' la vida low-carb, he needs to read this recent blog post from a 31-year old man who also had a heart attack. The thing is you cannot underestimate your predisposition for having a cardiovascular event especially at your age and in the short amount of time you've been on low-carb. All those years of high-carb eating can take their toll. Eating low-fat is NOT the answer, but continuing low-carb living is vitally important to preventing ANOTHER heart attack in the future.

Dear Jimmy,

I have a few comments. EVERYBODY says and thinks that they are never gonna be fat again or gain their weight back. Yet many, if not most, do just that. You may be too young to remember when Oprah dragged 90 lbs of fat in a wagon on stage and declared she would never be fat again. She may not be very fat now but she was between then and now, with losses and gains in between. Forgive my skepticism. It comes from my own experiences. I have lost weight, between 50 and 100 lbs several times, and kept it off for an average of three years. So I couldn't take seriously anyone's advice until they'd made it past 5 or 10 years.

I pray that you succeed. I think this must be the first time you've lost a lot of weight or you might not be so sure you won't gain it back. Gaining it back is worse than being fat in the first place. Because I do want you to succeed, I am going to follow your progress. I think it may be wise for you to cultivate a little humility. In my opinion you sound like you are sure that you have THE answers. I wish it were so simple. I do agree that the questionnaires generally are asking the wrong questions, but the one about how you'd feel if you gained the weight back is an important and quite legitimate question that you need not to dismiss so cavalierly, perhaps to your own peril.

Did I mention there was only one psycho e-mail? Okay, I was wrong. I have no idea what this person is talking about, but this is America and he has a right to his opinion. THANK YOU for sharing...er, I think. :)

Hi Jimmy,

I'm a long time listener of your podcast show and I love it!

I've been restricting my carbs for several years - my diet is probably not "low carb" as I eat around 100g total carbs per day (fibre included). However, I'm also vegan. I'm intolerant to dairy and I've never liked meat all that much anyway.

I know that a lot of vegans are opposed to low carb diets and are very vocal about it. I personally don't push my vegan diet onto anyone, mainly because I don't like people trying to force me to eat meat and dairy products. I still prepare meat for my husband and children, I just don't eat any of it.

Just wondering what your opinions are of vegan low carb diets, and whether you think it's even possible! My diet consists of: fruit, vegetables, tofu, seitan, wheat bran, nuts, and seeds. I also boost my protein intake with soy protein supplement because I weight train 4-5 times per week. My non fruit/vegetable carbs are from 1 serving of wheat bran per day, and 1 cup of pea soup 2-3 times per week.

It sounds boring to most people but I genuinely enjoy eating this way.

Just wondering what your thoughts are, and whether "vegan" and "low carb" can actually be compatible!

Thanks and keep up the great work!

I don't necessarily think there's anything wrong with a vegan wanting to eat a low-carb diet, but there are many benefits to eating animal fat that you miss out on when you go totally vegan. Plus, you can't eat eggs or other sources of healthy fat and protein that your body needs. I couldn't personally handle a low-carb vegan diet personally, but more power to ya. I just wish the really crazy vegans would just calm down with their rhetoric.

I've got plenty more e-mails to share with you and will do that soon. In the meantime, I always love hearing from my readers whether they agree with me or not. So feel free to drop me an e-mail anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.

Study: Drinking Fruit Juice Worse Than Sugary Soda For Type 2 Diabetes Risk

2008-07-31T14:43:00.006-04:00

Dr. Julie Palmer says don't get fooled into drinking OJ

What could be healthier for you than a icy cold glass of orange juice, right? What could be more Americana and good for you than that?! I mean it comes from freshly-squeezed oranges which are grown on trees, so it HAS to be better for you than sugary soda, doesn't it? Wellllllll, not exactly as a new study published in a major medical journal from researchers out of Boston University revealed this week.

Lead researcher Dr. Julie Palmer, a senior epidemiologist from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, looked at the connection between both fruit juice and sugary soda to Type 2 diabetes as part of the enlightening and still-ongoing prospective Black Women's Health Study featuring a whopping 59,000 African-American women from across the United States. Because Type 2 diabetes has hit the black female population especially hard increasing exponentially in the past few years (double that of white women), Dr. Palmer wanted to find out specifically why and what she discovered is gonna shock a whole lotta people.

Initial questionnaires went sent out to the study participants in 1995 to obtain baseline information on height, weight, demographic characteristics, medical history, usual diet and other factors. Then follow-up questionnaires soliciting information with updates on various health conditions, lifestyle changes, and diet among other things have been sent out every two years ever since to see if there are any marked changes in the occurrence of Type 2 diabetes or other such diseases.

In all, 2,713 of the study participants (about 4.5 percent) developed Type 2 diabetes in the first ten years since the study began that paralleled with those women who increased their consumption of both sugary sodas and fruit drinks. According to the study, women who drank 2+ sodas per day experienced a 24 percent increase in getting Type 2 diabetes than those who drank less than one soft drink in a month.

Interestingly, Dr. Palmer also found a curious connection between fruit juice and Type 2 diabetes as well. Those women in the study who drank 2+ servings of this "healthy" drink alternative to sugary soda, primarily at breakfast time, saw a 31 percent increase in diabetes risk compared to those who had less than one glass of fruit juice each month.

Hmmmm...

I can remember growing up how much I LOVED drinking Sunny Delight orange juice. And my mom faithfully bought it for me, my brother Kevin, and sister Beverly thinking it was a "healthy" option since it was derived from fruit. Surely this had to be better than all that soda we would be drinking instead, right? Boy, we couldn't have been more wrong if we tried--and we have to blame it partially on the aggressive marketing of the juice lobby led by groups like the Juice Products Association who are in full spin-mode right now promoting juice as playing "an important role in a healthy diet." NOT!

Some will argue that it's fruit and that alone should make it healthy. While I sincerely believe both whole fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet (including a low-carb one, by the way!), it's a blatant copout to say they're all good for you when clearly they are not. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, and honeydew are excellent choices for fruit in the latter stages of your low-carb life management plan. But juicing even any of these fruits simply concentrates the sugar that much more and you just don't need it. Can you imagine all the sugar you'd be adding to your body with apple, pineapple, or orange juice? EEEEEEK! No thanks! I don't need to get Type 2 diabetes.

The take-home message from this study is that fruit juice is equal if not MORE harmful to your risk for Type 2 diabetes as sugary soda is and should be avoided for the same reasons. Most of the people reading this at my blog are saying to themselves, "well duh?!" But ask just about anyone you know which of the two is healthier between fruit juice and sugary soda and you're gonna have a virtually unanimous choice for the fruit juice. My answer would be NEITHER and I haven't drank either one since I started livin' la vida low-carb in January 2004. And I have NO intentions of EVER doing so again.

Dr. Palmer said fruit drinks were favored over sugary soda by the participants in the study and that fruit drink consumption in the United States has doubled since the late 1970s. This along with the strong marketing of fruit juice as "healthy" beginning in the 1980s and still to this day has led us to higher and higher rates of Type 2 diabetes, Dr. Palmer noted.

"The public should be made aware that these drinks are not a healthy alternative to soft drinks with regard to risk of type 2 diabetes," she exclaimed.

This study was funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and was published in the July 28, 2008 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

You can e-mail Dr. Julie Palmer about her study at jpalmer@slone.bu.edu.

See what some of my fellow low-carbers had to say about this study on fruit juice:

- Dr. Jonny Bowden
- Connie Bennett
- Discussion at my forum
- Carol Bardelli
- Low-Carb Friends
- Sean Kelley

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 163: Christin Sherburne On A Crusade Against Kimkins

2008-07-31T09:48:00.004-04:00

Christin Sherburne leading a lawsuit against the Kimkins diet

Most people who have been following my blog for any length of time over the past year already knows about the Kimkins diet scam and the ongoing class action lawsuit that has been brought up against the diet's founder Heidi Diaz, aka "Kimmer." One of the leading voices against Kimkins now is a woman who was featured on the front cover of Woman's World magazine in June 2007 touting her 100-pound weight loss in just five months. But a series of strange events involving Diaz and some potentially life-threatening health complications opened up her eyes to the dangers of the Kimkins diet scheme.

In Episode 163 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore," I'm pleased to share a very open and honest interview with Christin Sherburne who has been through a whirlwind of experiences over this past year, including being featured on KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, CA, "The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet" on FOX-TV, and even on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" putting out a warning signal to anyone who has been tempted to go on the Kimkins diet. Christin has come under a lot of fire for being on the front lines of this battle against Heidi Diaz both from people who support Kimkins and even those who are against it like she is. Listen to her story for yourself and YOU decide what you think about Christin Sherburne's current crusade.

Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod to hear Episode 163:

"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 163 [29:56m]: LISTEN NOW | Download

Christin Sherburne takes us through this up-and-down journey over the past year when she was in support of Kimkins because of her incredible weight loss on it and then to her fervent opposition to this diet plan that threatened her health and is harming the lives of real people even to this day. I've been privileged to get to know Christin over this past year and met her in February this year on our first annual low-carb cruise (she'll be coming on the cruise in January 2009 as well!). She really is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.

In the podcast, Christin opens up about those confusing days following her experience as the Kimkins cover-girl when she became the public relations spokesperson for the diet, how she ran into a brick wall when she asked Heidi Diaz/Kimmer to answer some of the questions that had been swirling around the Internet from concerned onlookers, the role Laura Dolson played in helping her see the fraud this diet and its founder is, her unending determination to expose this scam wherever she can to help protect others from falling victim to it, what's happening with the class action civil lawsuit and potential criminal lawsuit against Heidi Diaz, and the positive things that have come out of this entire ordeal that are impacting her life today.

Never miss a low-carb beat and tune in anytime by:

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

So what did you think about Christin Sherburne? Regardless of your stance on the Kimkins diet, did Christin convince you one way or the other? Share your thoughts about today's interview in the show notes section of Episode 163. Check out more from Christin Sherburne by visiting her at her LivinLowCarbDiscussion.com page as well as her inspirational "The Journey" blog.

Come back next week for a highly-requested two-part follow-up interview with Dr. Keith Berkowitz who will answer a slew of questions that came in following my first podcast interview with him a few months back about the subject of "reactive hypoglycemia" while on a low-carb diet. If you sent me a question about this, then tune in on Monday and Thursday to hear it answered by Dr. Berkowitz. THANKS for listening to "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore."

Zone Diet Success Stories Wanted For First Magazine Feature Story

2008-07-30T15:41:00.003-04:00

The Zone Diet will soon be featured in FIRST magazine

I got word from the people at the Zone Diet today that they are teaming up with the popular First magazine to do a story on people who have implemented the Zone strategies for weight loss. What they REALLY want to see are people who have been using fish oil supplements with GREAT success in improving both their weight and health. Here's your chance to have YOUR story heard in a well-known national publication!

Those of us who are livin' la vida low-carb recognize the importance of getting the proper balance of essential omega fatty acids to reduce inflammation and this is a subject that is near and dear to the heart of Zone creator Dr. Barry Sears (who by the way is coming out with a new book in September 2008 entitled Toxic Fat: When Good Fat Turns Bad). They want first-hand testimonials of women (sorry guys!) who have experienced an amazing turnaround in how they look because of the Zone diet and fish oil supplementation (like Zone spokesperson Sue Knorr who I recently featured at my podcast show).

Time is of the essence and this story is on a deadline, so get on this ASAP if you are genuinely interested in sharing what happened to you. Here are the requirements:

- You MUST be female
- You MUST be willing to reveal before and after photos
- Your story MUST include your testimony about the Zone diet/fish oil

If you fit all of this criteria and can send me your story quickly, then please e-mail this information to me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. I'll forward them to the people at the Zone diet and cross my fingers for you that yours will be chosen. GOOD LUCK TO YOU and remember--DON'T DELAY! Send your story in today.

LLVLC On YouTube (Episode 48): Get The Exclusive Atkins Diet Startup Kit For $25

2008-07-29T23:11:00.010-04:00

There are two ends of the spectrum when people start talking about being on the "Atkins diet"--either they are simply cutting back on their carbohydrates and consuming whatever amounts of meat, cheese, eggs, and bacon they choose to eat or they are following the plan that was written and promoted by the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins in his various books, most notably Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution.

It's amazing how people can get away with describing both of these as the "Atkins diet" when only those people who have educated themselves about this way of eating in the latter group can honestly say that. Even worse, we've got people who try to debate the Atkins diet without ever seeing what Dr. Atkins wrote. Come on, that's just plain ignorant if you ask me. So I'm ready to help do something about this lack of understanding about the Atkins diet starting right here and right now.

In Episode 48 of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube," my lovely wife Christine and I share about an Atkins Diet Startup Kit that we are making exclusively available to anyone who wishes to learn more about this healthy and delicious low-carb nutritional approach. With all the mounds of misinformation and confusion that has been generated by those so-called health "experts" and the media about this wonderful dietary plan that helped me shed 180 pounds in 2004, why wouldn't you just want to learn more about what it's all about? That's precisely what this 6-item kit will do--EDUCATE!

Learn more about what's in the Atkins Diet Startup Kit in today's video:

Here's a recap of the materials included in this package:

- Why & How It Works video
- Staying Slim & Health video
- Atkins diet workbook
- Atkins meal planner (recipes)
- Atkins easy carb gram counter
- Basic diet manual

These materials certainly do not replace what you get in Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution or any of his other books. But they do complement those books by putting the Atkins diet in clear and understandable language using a 3-part video explanation of the nutritional plan from Dr. Atkins himself, workbooks and information sheets to help you personalize your low-carb Atkins plan, and then practical information on carb counts, recipes, and other essential information to go on the REAL Atkins diet the right way. This is about a $100 value worth of materials that you can't purchase anywhere else and it's all yours for only $25 (plus FREE PRIORITY MAIL SHIPPING!).

Yes, you get the two videos, the big workbook, the recipe book, the carb gram counter book, and the basics guide to take when traveling all for the flat cost of $25. This includes your PRIORITY MAIL shipping, so you'll get it quickly when you place your order. Please contact me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net and we'll work out arrangements to ship your materials. I want to get these materials about the Atkins diet into the hands of people who genuinely want to learn what this specific diet plan is all about. There are no more excuses for thinking the Atkins diet is just bacon-wrapped-butter-and-brie (maybe Dr. Dean Ornish should buy this kit--HE MIGHT LEARN SOMETHING!).

Give us your feedback on our videos by e-mailing livinlowcarbman@charter.net anytime. We appreciate hearing from you and will possibly use your show ideas in a future video. Watch our previous YouTube videos and join the ever-growing list of people who now subscribe to our YouTube videos. THANK YOU for your support of our video series on YouTube and we'll keep 'em coming!

Why I Was Somewhat Disappointed With The July 2008 New England Journal Weight Loss Study

2008-07-28T17:09:00.005-04:00

The New England Journal Of Medicine is highly prestigious

While I was away on vacation in Florida seeing my brother recently, a well-publicized weight loss study comparing a low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean, and low-fat diet was released and published in the July 17, 2008 issue of The New England Journal Of Medicine. All the headlines were screaming how the Atkins diet is best and livin' la vida low-carb is champion of them all. It was in virtually every newspaper (including this Wall Street Journal story I was quoted in), local and national television news outlet, and all the health and weight loss blogs--A BIG STORY!

And because it put low-carb living in such a positive light as compared with the low-fat diet or the much-beloved Mediterranean diet, you would think I'd be a happy camper touting this study as the best thing to happen for low-carb in a long while. But as I stated after this other highly-publicized study out of Stanford published in Journal of the American Medical Association last March, I can't get too thrilled about yet another study that shows such insignificant weight loss on a low-carb diet after two years and doesn't really require the participants to adhere closely to anything resembling the Atkins weight loss diet. This puts me in the minority I'm sure, but I have to say this is one big reason why I was disappointed with the New England Journal study.

For those of you who missed this study, lead researcher Iris Shai, R.D., Ph.D. from the S. Daniel Abraham International Center for Health and Nutrition in Israel, put 322 "moderately obese subjects" on one of three specific diets for a two-year observation:

- LOW-CARB--Two months of 20g daily and slowly increase to 120g maximum for the duration of the study. Calorie-restriction was not required for this group.
- MEDITERRANEAN--Calorie restriction of 1500 daily for females, 1800 daily for males consuming a diet with 35 percent fat from olive oil and nuts while consuming fish and poultry in place of higher-fat cuts of meat like pork and beef.
- LOW-FAT--Calorie restriction of 1500 daily for females, 1800 daily for males consuming a diet with 30 percent of calories from fat as recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA)

Before I share the results, I have some comments. While 20g carbs is indeed the Induction phase of the Atkins diet, 120g is nowhere close to ANY phase of the Atkins diet. EVER! Why do they put people on a low-carb diet and then let 'em go to town eating carbs later? What's so freakin' hard about requiring them to stay at or under 50g a day? I just don't get that with these studies. I do like the fact there were no constraints on calories with the low-carb group and they just naturally kept their calories in check eating this way.

The Mediterranean diet group looked fine, but I was surprised to see the low-fat diet group to include so much fat. While the AHA may consider a 30 percent fat diet to be low (and it is relatively speaking), it doesn't come anywhere near the kind of low-fat diet that the infamous Dr. Dean Ornish said in my first interview with him suggesting obese and unhealthy people go on to lower their weight and improve their health. His plan is a 10 percent fat diet with upwards of 70-80 percent carbohydrates. That's not what they did with this study which is too bad since it supposedly shows the difference between low-fat and low-carb. We'll have more from Ornish is a moment.

First, let's take a look at the results of this less-than-spectacular study:

The LOW-CARB group lost the most amount of weight with 12.1 pounds followed by the MEDITERRANEAN group who lost 10.1 pounds and bringing up the tail was the LOW-FAT group who only shed 7.3 pounds (confirming the results of this long-term large study that found weight loss was insignificant on a reduced-fat diet). The researchers also observed what happened to HDL and triglycerides on these various nutritional approaches and the results were not at all shocking to those of us paying attention to our health--LOW-CARB saw a greater INCREASE in their HDL "good" cholesterol and a more significant DECREASE in their dangerous triglyceride levels making their ratio of HDL/total cholesterol much better than the other groups. Additionally, the A1C levels, an important marker in blood sugar health, as well as their C-reactive protein levels, a marker look at dangerous inflammation, both improved more with the LOW-CARB group.

Pretty good news, right? Well, it depends on who you ask. Let's see what Dr. Ornish thought about this study in this op-ed piece published in Newsweek magazine. It appears he had an issue with several things that may or may not have validity:

1. The study was funded by The Atkins Foundation, a non-profit organization led by Veronica Atkins that has donated millions of dollars to various researchers looking into low-carb diets and their effect on weight and health carrying on the legacy of the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins.

This shouldn't disqualify the study altogether, but Ornish seems to think it does. So, are we to negate all the research conducted by you and your group on low-fat diets using the same logic, Dr. Ornish? You're better than this.

2. The LOW-FAT participants didn't eat a "low-fat" diet.

I agree, Dr. Ornish. But neither did the LOW-CARB group eat a genuinely "low-carb" diet beyond the first couple of months of the study. If we are ever gonna see a real comparison of low-fat and low-carb diets going head-to-head, then mandatory compliance is gonna have to be implemented. That's the only way to keep advocates on both sides from whining about the diet not being the actual diet every time one of these comparison studies is released.

3. The study is questionable because of calories difference.

Dr. Ornish claims the study lacks "quality" because the LOW-FAT group ate less calories but lost less weight. He says this calls into question the veracity of the data because it is "physiologically impossible" to eat less calories and lose less weight than the other groups. Ornish believes in the mistaken notion of calories in, calories out, so this is not surprising. How about that metabolic advantage at work? :D

4. The Atkins diet group ate "vegetarian sources of fat and protein" which isn't the Atkins diet with all the bacon and beef you can eat.

I'll agree that vegetarian fats and proteins are not preferred over animal fats on the Atkins diet, it's ludicrous to continue stating that the Atkins diet by the book doesn't include veggies. Anyone who has read the book and doesn't have an agenda like Dr. Ornish knows that you get two cups of green leafy veggies as well as one cup of non-starchy vegetables per day on the most restrictive Induction phase of the Atkins diet. Hello?! You make yourself look idiotic when you keep repeating the same lie over and over again, Dr. Ornish.

As for the actual sources of fat and protein in the LOW-CARB group, low-carb researcher Dr. Eric Westman from Duke University asked Dr. Shai to clarify what kind of foods were eaten by members of the low carb group. The notion that the researchers pushed a "vegetarian low-carb diet" on the participants is NOT what was done.

Here was Dr. Shai's response to Dr. Westman's inquiry:

This is kind of funny that some could think of a "vegetarian low-carb" diet. Is it a new suggested strategy? Could be interesting idea but this wasn't the case here. Our low-carb diet was based on Atkins, the participants read the book and the recipes were more or less comparable to what you know in the states.

Beef is the main red meat. What could be different? People here (in Israel) would not mix in the same meal meat and butter, a salad is considered a very rich one and not a lettuce based, and the main dressing is olive oil. As for beverages, same industry that makes money everywhere.

For example, a plate could include: fish or fried/not bread coated chicken/or red meet, broccoli and mushrooms coated with eggs, roasted eggplants, vegetable salad (peppers, cucumber, green leaves, not lettuce) with olive oil dressing. I understand that some of the low-fat people find it hard to believe that such a low-carb diet was tremendously favorable within 2 years in a well designed study, but these are the facts and the science of tomorrow, with the next long-term studies in the pipeline, may confirm or not these findings.

So, as you can see, the LOW-CARB did indeed follow more of an Atkins diet approach in terms of the specific foods they ate, not the mocking of a "vegetarian low-carb diet" as Dr. Ornish made fun of in his op-ed column.

5. HDL is only a risk factor among many to be looked at.

Oh, how convenient for you, Dr. Ornish. Yes, we know all about your "garbage trucks" analogy for HDL stating that you need more of them when you have more "junk" (LDL) to be removed. But the fact is eating a high-carb diet as Ornish suggests leads to LOWER HDL and HIGHER triglycerides, neither of which is healthy by any stretch of the imagination. And the very latest researcher is showing us that LDL and total cholesterol are not nearly as important as the HDL/triglycerides ratio that is becoming the new standard bearer for heart health. Dr. Ornish may dismiss these improvements with HDL and triglycerides by the LOW-CARB group as insignificant, but we know better.

At the end of his op-ed trying to dismiss this study as irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, Dr. Ornish states that it's time to "call a truce in the diet wars." That's something I've tried to do before noting all the areas of agreement between low-fat and low-carb, but the fact does remain we don't all agree on what is healthy, Dr. Ornish. To state so bluntly that "an optimal diet is one that is low in fat" shows just how entrenched you remain in your ideology without looking at the latest data (and I'm sure you STILL haven't read Gary Taubes' Good Calories, Bad Calories because you're afraid to have your lifelong beliefs about health challenged with evidential facts!).

Okay, enough about what Ornish thinks of this study. Let's see what some other prominent and REAL health experts think about the New England Journal study:

DR. JONNY BOWDEN

"Call me crazy, but I can't help wondering if the low-carb group would had lost even more weight if they had eaten less than the 120 grams of carbs these folks ate, all the while keeping calories at a moderate, reduced amount and incorporating other lifestyle changes like exercise and stress reduction. Can you imagine? A more reasonable level of under 100 grams a day (or even less) might have made a lot of difference--that's a level that seems to work the best for people who have problems with sugar, insulin and carbohydrates in general."

DR. JOHN BRIFFA

"This study adds to the body of evidence that suggests that lower carb and carb-controlled eating has distinct merit and generally has the capacity to out-perform low-fat diets in the weight-loss stakes (and without any conscious restriction of food intake, either). The results of this study suggest that such a diet may be superior in terms of cardiovascular disease risk too."

DR. RICHARD FEINMAN

"The major significance of the NEJM paper is that it is confirmatory of much work that has gone before. It is really not, as portrayed in the media, revolutionary. Much prior work from the laboratories of Jeff Volek, Eric Westman, Steve Phinney, Jay Wortman, Mary Gannon and Frank Nuttal and others has shown that carbohydrates, beyond simple calories, have a role in controlling how fats are used or stored. Directly or indirectly through insulin, carbohydrates encourage the storage rather than burning of fat and lead to the organization of fat into the cholesterol-containing particles that have been associated with cardiovascular disease. At the same time, the NEJM paper also confirms the evolving picture of fat as playing a passive role and emphasizes that what was once thought to be an intuitive benefit for lowering fat has consistently not panned out. The new article is a key block in a scientific structure that has been put together by many previous investigators. If the NEJM paper finally catalyzes some recognition of the scientific principles of carbohydrate restriction it will be a very important contribution."

DR. MARY C. VERNON

"For years, carbohydrate restriction and the low-carb folks, those of us who really spent our lives telling patients they could regain metabolic control and kind of being ostracized for it, we’re finally validated."

DR. JEFF VOLEK

"The findings from the recent NEJM study that showed a diet lower in carbohydrate outperformed a low fat diet confirms our previous work and that of many others. It is unique in that the intervention was 2 years and yet there was a very low subject attrition rate over such a long period of time. The low carbohydrate diet was only moderately restricted in carbohydrates (about 40% of calories). Based on our research, had the level of carbohydrate restriction been in the 10-15% range, the results would have been even more impressive. The results add to a growing body of work supporting the value of restricting carbohydrate as opposed to fat for superior weight management and metabolic health."

GARY TAUBES

"These latest trials just happen to be the best data we have on the long-term effects of saturated fat in the diet, and the best data we have says that more saturated fat is better than less. It may be true that if we lowered saturated fat further — say to 7 % of all calories as the American Heart Association is now recommending — or total fat down to 10 percent, as Dean Ornish argues, or raised saturated fat to 20 percent of calories, as Keys did, that we’d see a different result, but that’s just another hypothesis. The trials haven’t been done to test it. It’s also hard to imagine why a small decrease in saturated fat would be deleterious, but a larger decrease would be beneficial.

It’s also true that I don’t think that LDL is a particularly meaningful predictor of heart disease risk, and I think total cholesterol is meaningless (based on the evidence that I recount in the book). But the point is that the AHA and the National Cholesterol Education Program and the authorities at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute do think LDL is meaningful, and that’s the basis by which they have always recommended low-saturated-fat diets. They also think that total cholesterol/HDL is the single best predictor of heart disease risk, so by their assessment, more saturated fat is better than less. I think the best predictors of risk regarding cholesterol profiles are HDL and the size and density of the LDL particles themselves, and maybe measurements of a protein known as ApoB (the protein component of the LDL particle itself) — and the existing diet trials in those cases also suggest that saturated fats are at worst harmless and perhaps even beneficial.

Last point, the funding. It’s true that the study was financed by the Atkins Foundation, but to assume that the researchers went out and falsified their findings or twisted their observations to satisfy the source of funding is naive. Regrettably, the only institutions that will finance clinical trials, for the most part, are those that stand to gain from the results. That’s why the pharmaceutical industry finances drug trials. It would be nice if the government financed all these trials, but they don’t. So it’s up to the Atkins Foundation and any other organizations that might hold similar beliefs. In this case, the Atkins-funded diet trial observed the exact same results as similar NIH-funded diet trials."

Incidentally, Taubes says the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has spent $5 million for a large (300+ subjects, two-year-long) Atkins vs. AHA low-fat diet trial--the REAL THING! This is a larger and longer version of a pilot trial that observed results similar to the Israeli trial. This is the largest diet/weight loss trial the NIH has ever funded. The principal investigator is Gary Foster of Temple University, currently the president of the Obesity Society. In February 2007, Dr. Foster told Taubes the researchers had "completed the final 2 year assessments on most but not all" of their subjects. Currently the paper is "in the peer review process" and that's all we know at this point. Cross your fingers that this is the great elusive study that actually looks at low-carb vs. low-fat once and for all.

Coming as a shock to nobody, the AHA weighed in on this study expressing their concerns over the long-term weight and health impact of low-carb diets and saturated fat consumption and the lack of application to women since the majority of the study participants were men. Yadda yadda yadda...what do you expect from a group pushing two cartoon characters known as "The Bad Fat Brothers" named "Sat" and "Trans?" These people lost all dignity a long time ago.

I have long held the position that if low-carb is at least as effective as low-fat for weight loss and health, then both should be recommended alongside one another as healthy options for people to choose from. The American Diabetes Association recognized low-carb diets to diabetics for the first time beginning in January 2008 and the AHA, AMA, and other health groups should follow suit. The evidence is there if you'll simply open your eyes to it. We don't need another study, flawed or otherwise, to tell us that one way of eating that is working for so many people is livin' la vida low-carb. GIVE PEOPLE THE TRUTH and then let them choose. It's that easy.

Although I'm not particularly overjoyed by this latest study out of Israel, that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the way it helped carry on the conversation about low-carb living across mainstream America. My stepdad Frank, who only recently started on the Atkins diet to lose about 50 pounds along with my mother, was all excited when he saw the television news coverage about this study a couple of weeks back. If this excites people and gets them interested in learning more about the healthy low-carb lifestyle, then that's awesome! I can't wait to see that new NIH study Taubes was talking about, though. That one looks like the REAL DEAL.

You can e-mail Dr. Iris Shai about this study at irish@bgu.ac.il.

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 162: Zero-Carb Dieting With Charles Washington

2008-07-28T10:34:00.005-04:00

Charles Washington makes a compelling argument for zero carbs

Oftentimes people who are unfamiliar with livin' la vida low-carb mistakenly describe it as a "zero-carb diet." Anyone who has ever read Protein Power, Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, or any of the other respectable books about low-carb dieting knows that NONE of them advocate NO carbs. Not a single one. It just doesn't exist despite that pervading stereotypical view of what this way of eating is all about. But today's guest not only eating zero carbs, but he is also an active athlete running in half marathons.

In Episode 162 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore," we hear from Charles Washington, one of my moderators at the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Discussion" forum, and he's proudly zero-carbing and loving it. After following the low-fat diet dutifully and losing a good amount of weight on it, Charles gained it all back when he started lifting weights. That's what drove him to learn more about low-carb nutrition, led him to my blog, and put him on a learning path that has him doing what he is doing today.

Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod to hear Episode 162:

"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 162 [31:10m]: LISTEN NOW | Download

There's one thing about Charles Washington that you cannot deny--he backs up everything he says with the facts from researchers, authors, and people who survived and thrived on basically a zero-carb diet. For someone who has not been trained in medicine or nutrition, he articulates his point of view clearly and logically. That can be difficult to pull off when you are suggesting something like eating only meat for your diet, but Charles does it.

He's been sharing his views on the zero-carb path at my forum with quite a response--it's the #1 most-read thread at "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Discussion!" Today's podcast is the first time many people will hear Charles talking about eating this way, why he chose zero-carb over low-carb, how Gary Taubes' book Good Calories, Bad Calories changed his life, what he does to prepare for a half-marathon eating no carbs, his response to Dr. Mike Eades' recent blog post stating that calories count on a low-carb diet, and so much more! I've been dying to share this interview with you and now it's here.

Hear all kinds of perspectives on low-carb living anytime by:

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

What's your impression of Charles Washington and his zero-carb diet? Were you persuaded that perhaps eating no carbohydrates is possibly a healthy way not just to live, but also a preferred method for runners and athletes looking for maximum performance? Tell us about what you think in the show notes section of Episode 162. Read more from Charles Washington by visiting LivinLowCarbDiscussion.com.

Coming up on Thursday's podcast--another one of my moderators at my forum named Christin Sherburne. This former cover girl in Woman's World magazine last year is one of the central characters in the continuing Kimkins diet scam saga and she wanted to provide an update about what is happening with the continuing lawsuit against Kimkins founder Heidi Diaz. You'll enjoy hearing from Christin pouring out her heart and soul about how this entire experience has changed her life.

Atkins Nutritionals Wants YOUR Atkins Low-Carb Success Story

2008-07-26T20:26:00.004-04:00

Atkins Nutritionals looking for low-carb testimonials

The Atkins Nutritionals web site is in the process of being updated right now and they are looking to add some Atkins weight loss success stories and testimonials to the new and improved site. If you've experienced weight loss, successful weight maintenance or improved health and energy from following the Atkins Nutritional Approach, then they'd love to hear from you. And there's a payoff for those of you who do--you'll win a special Atkins prize if your story is chosen.

What they are looking for is first-person stories about how the Atkins Nutritional Approach, Atkins products and the Atkins community have changed your life. Here are a few questions to consider as you write your story:

- When did you start following the Atkins approach, and over what period of time?
- What inspired you to try the Atkins Diet™?
- Are you still following the Atkins principles? Which phases, principles and aspects of the Atkins Nutritional Approach have proved to be the most practical, helpful and easiest to follow?
- What Atkins products have helped you with your weight loss goals? We want to know if you used Atkins products, which ones you used, and your opinions about our products.
- Did you succeed? What were your keys to success? Did you modify the Atkins plan to suit your own lifestyle and preferences?
- What has changed in your life–for example, if you lost weight, have you maintained your weight loss and how have you benefited from following Atkins?
- What obstacles did you have to deal with while following the Atkins Nutritional Approach, and how do you overcome them?

If you send pictures, these should also depict your personal experience–from before you started on the Atkins Nutritional Approach to your "after" picture, showing where you are now or when you finished your last Atkins phase.

You can e-mail your first-person success story to testimonials@atkins.com. Be sure to include your name, address, and the best way to contact you (phone and e-mail address). If you have an Atkins weight loss success story, then send clear digital .jpg before and after photos (be sure the pictures do not include other people). When you send in your story, keep in mind you will be contacted by Atkins Nutritionals if they are interested. It may take some time for them to go through the submissions, so be patient.

If your story is chosen, then they will send you a release form to sign. They will not use your story unless you send the signed release form back to them. They will not use anything you send them without your explicit permission and they will not use anything without a signed release form from you.

GOOD LUCK to everyone who shares their Atkins success story! :)

LLVLC On YouTube (Episode 47): Ketostix A Low-Carb Guide, Not Really That Necessary

2008-07-26T12:02:00.006-04:00

Is your low-carb diet relying too much on Ketostix?

One of the most interesting tools we have at our disposal when we start livin' la vida low-carb to let us know whether we are doing it right or not is a testing strip that measures ketone levels called Ketostix (there are other brand names for ketone sticks, but this one from Bayer is the most common). Basically, here's how it works: you can check your urine on this testing strip to see how many ketone bodies you are excreting out of your body. Ketones are present when you are in ketosis which is instigated when you keep your carbohydrates at a ketogenic level (usually under 50g carbs daily).

I recently asked a group of low-carb experts the following question--"Is Ketosis Necessary On A Low-Carb Diet?" That seems to be a "well duh" kind of question which is why we use things like Ketostix to see whether we are in ketosis or not. But where people seem to get most confused is with the color of the testing strip. If it's light pink, then I must be doing something wrong. My Ketostix need to be dark purple if I am experiencing "deep" ketosis, right? I get these kind of questions every single week and they miss the point of the testing strips.

In Episode 47 of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube," Christine and I seek to better explain the purpose of Ketostix by telling you what they are for, what the various colors actually mean, why showing no ketones on these strips may not be a bad thing, and how you can virtually guarantee your body is in ketosis. I'm astonished by how many people are still so concerned about the results of their Ketostix, but hopefully this video will clear up some of the miscommunication.

Find out all you need to know about Ketostix in today's video:

Noted biochemistry professor Dr. Richard Feinman from SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, New York provided a very succinct explanation for how these Ketostix are supposed to work:

"There is a continuum of ketosis. In fact, one of the features of ketone bodies is that, unlike other fuels, glucose and fatty acids, they can be present in plasma over a wide range of concentrations. What is true is that Ketostix measure ketonuria (ketones in the urine) which may or may not give you an accurate view of plasma ketone bodies. If ketone bodies are used as fast as they are made, you may never see ketosis."

This should give those people who see pink or even beige on the ketone testing strips hope that they are indeed in ketosis even if the tests say otherwise. The bottom line you should remember is that Ketostix are merely a low-carb guide to provide proof that you are livin' la vida low-carb in a ketogenic state, but they're really not that necessary if you are keeping your carbohydrates significantly reduced below 50g daily. When you are doing that, then you WILL be in ketosis. Hopefully this clears up some of the confusion about why some people seek purple and others see pink or beige.

"The Biggest Loser" 4 contestant Isabeau Miller

Also in today's video, Christine and I share about our upcoming trip to Nashville, Tennessee to attend "Biggest Loser" 4 contestant Isabeau Miller's FitCamp. Since landing in the final four last Fall on the hit NBC-TV weight loss reality series, Isabeau Miller has taken her passion for her own personal weight loss journey and is now helping others who struggle with obesity like she once did before Jillian Michaels got a hold of her tail and whipped it into shape. Today she is a personal trainer and is giving me and several of my readers a chance to experience what it was like to be on "The Biggest Loser" over a special two-week period.

The first session of FitCamp in July just concluded and our session in August will commence on August 17th. We will be doing a daily video log of this experience and sharing it on YouTube as part of a FitCamp series of videos. Isabeau said she will not be allowed to be videotaped because of contractual obligations from her stint on "The Biggest Loser." But I'm gonna ask permission from the other people who will be there going through this experience with me to talk about how FitCamp is helping them. I am super-excited about this, especially in light of my recent 30-pound weight gain I've experienced. Perhaps this will get me back to where I need to be. I sure hope so. :)

We LOVE making videos for you and doing them on topics that YOU care about. Tell us your show ideas for future videos by e-mailing them to livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Check through all of our previous YouTube videos to make sure we haven't already tackled your favorite subject! While we were away last week, there was a sudden surge of people decided to subscribe to our YouTube videos and now we have well over 600 subscribers! WOW! Join in on the low-carb fun on YouTube and help us spread the positive message of livin' la vida low-carb to the masses!

My Low-Carb Product-Free Diet Experiment

2008-07-24T17:05:00.004-04:00

One of the most fascinating things I have noticed since I began blogging about the healthy low-carb lifestyle back in 2005 is how amazingly diversified the low-carb community is about the "proper" way a low-carb diet should be done. The definition of "healthy low-carb living" varies depending on who you talk to. In fact, if we had a room full of 100 low-carbers I would bet you'd have at least 50 or more different versions of livin' la vida low-carb. And that's okay because individualization of the diet is what makes it work in the long-term.

Some people believe you should only eat whole foods all the time. And for the most part, that's a good philosophy to live by. In fact, if you look at my low-carb menus then you will see that's precisely what I eat the vast majority of the time. Of course, I also like to add in some chocolate and other treats from time to time to enhance my low-carb lifestyle. It's what helped me lose 180 pounds in 2004 and I've been doing it ever since.

However, with my recent 30-pound weight gain in 2008 that has pretty much sustained for the past six months, I've been looking at ways to bring that weight back down. I now know that I'm dealing with an erratic blood sugar issue that is tied to an unusual insulin response even after a low-carb meal. Frustrating doesn't even begin to explain this process, but I'm certainly not giving up.

After interviewing Dr. Keith Berkowitz in June (and I'll be having a follow-up interview with him coming the first week of August) about his "reactive hypoglycemia" theory, I decided to implement a strategy of eating more often with lots of small "meals" throughout the day and I saw some success. But then the weight started going up again and I cut back on my protein intake to slow down gluconeogenesis. Again, good progress, but then the weight came back up yet again. I even cut out all of my favorite low-carb products a couple of months back for two weeks--DIDN'T LOSE A SINGLE POUND! UGH!

So, imagine my discouragement to see the following recommendations for getting my weight to reduce from my low-carb doctor this week:

1--no low-carb "treats" or substitutes for otherwise high-carb food (although sugar-free Jello and other desserts such as we allow our patients would be okay in limited amounts)
2--foods should be chosen from those listed on the "No Sugar, No Starch" guide we give patients
3--adequate protein (as determined from lean body mass) should be consumed, but care should be taken not to exceed protein requirements
4--portion-control and calorie-restriction should be implemented, as determined by BMR

No "treats" at all are allowed right now for me, including my chocolate bar, low-carb wraps, bars, or anything. NONE! I'll skip the Jello thank you very much, but I'll make some cheesecake out of cream cheese, heavy cream, and other REAL foods. I'm well aware of what's good to eat that is non-sugary, non-starchy, so that won't be a problem. Getting that "adequate protein" is the tricky part for me right now, although I've done well with it as of late. Controlling portions and calories goes against everything I've ever done with livin' la vida low-carb, so that's gonna be hard.

But I'm game for it and starting today I'm doing all of this. I'm gonna go low-carb product-free as an experiment and see if it makes a difference in my weight. I feel fantastic right now health-wise, but the sustained weight hovering around 260 is getting old quick. Even my stepmom Faye said to me during my visit to Tennessee earlier this week, "Oh no, Jimmy, you're not gaining back all that weight again are you?" What a slap in the face when I'm busting my butt trying to figure out what's going on. I'll be blogging more about this soon.

In the meantime, you can track my progress on this new diet experiment to see what if any impact cutting out the low-carb products will have. Based on my previous experience, it's not gonna do anything to help with this issue I have now. I've eaten these things throughout my 180-pound weight loss and ever since, so why would it suddenly be impacting me now? I don't understand that logic at all.

Here we are, though. I'm doing it and you can see what I'm eating at my low-carb menus blog. I'll share how my weight is doing each day along with the meals I am eating. I'm not convinced this is the answer, but nothing else has worked yet--WHAT THE HECK! :)

The Food Network Searches For 'Most Disastrous Cooks In The Country'

2008-07-24T16:12:00.005-04:00

Is being in the kitchen like a foreign country to you?

First they were looking for "amazing stories" surrounding food. Then they wanted video submissions asking a cooking expert for help in the kitchen. Now The Food Network is looking for the most hopeless, helpless, and hapless home cooks in America (you know who you are)!

If you or someone you know has no clue what they are doing in the kitchen, then listen up. Do you burn water when you try to boil it? Is your idea of cooking slapping together a cold cut sandwich? Then you could appear in a brand new show coming to The Food Network for a "culinary competition" with other similar contestants from across the United States.

The more incompetent the cook, the better. And they truly want "the most disastrous cooks in the country" to step forward and claim their title of worst cooks in America. Your reward for outing yourself as a bad cook is to have the chance to work with some of the finest professional chefs in the country as they teach you the secrets to being a great cook. Of course, you'll need to be an interesting, outgoing person with a personality that will capture the attention of the television viewers at home.

If you genuinely can't cook but wish you knew how and want to be considered for this new show on The Food Network, then nominate yourself or someone you know to be on this show. Are you the kind of person that is asked to bring the napkins and plates rather than food? Or do you have someone in mind who fits this mold? That's who The Food Network is looking for, so don't be shy. ENTER TODAY!

Keep in mind if you nominate someone, then you will need to attend the interview with your friend or loved one as well. How often do you get a chance to be on television because you are BAD at something (okay, American Idol is the ONE exception!).

It's super-easy to apply--just send an e-mail to hopelesshomecook@optomenusa.com with an explanation about why you or the person you are nominating is dubbed in your mind as "the most disastrous cook in the country." Don't forget to include your name, age, hometown, occupation, contact phone number, and a recent photo of the hopeless, helpless, hapless cook. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE and here's hoping your "bad" cooking turns into a chance to be on TV learning how to cook well.

By the way, remember when I told you about a new show coming to The Food Network in August called "Ask Aida" and I submitted a couple of videos to be considered for that show? My first video was about how to brown mashed cauliflower and my other video featured how to make eggs more interesting. Well, they chose one of my videos to be featured on the show and I now have a date when it will air.

On Saturday, August 23, 2008 at 12:30pm EST, Aida Mollenkamp will do an entire show on the subject of eggs. My video will be played and then Aida will share some wonderful recipes that feature eggs. She's already posted two recipes featuring eggs here and here (I LOVED this one!) and I can't wait to see what she shares on the show. WOO HOO! I'm gonna be on The Food Network for about 45 seconds. :D

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 160 & 161: Low-Carb Nutrition From A Chiropractor? Meet Dr. Peter Jo!

2008-07-24T14:32:00.005-04:00

Getting to know about chiropractic neurologist Dr. Peter Jo

If anyone can relate to the intense amount of negative feedback that people who support livin' la vida low-carb receive, then it has to be chiropractors. These outstanding professionals working in the field of alternative medicine have been mocked, ridiculed, and scorned by the traditional medical establishment. And yet anyone who has ever gone to see a chiropractor like I have been off and on ever since I was in a car accident in the 1990s will testify how AMAZING you feel after seeing one. Today I have a special two-part interview with a nutritionist and chiropractor from Bellevue, Washington.

In Episode 160 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore," we hear from low-carb diet advocate Dr. Peter Jo from Bellevue Chiropractic Neurology in the great state of Washington. I read an article that Dr. Jo had written online and was so impressed by what he had to say about nutrition that I decided to have him on my podcast show to talk about it. Little did I know just how incredible this interview would turn out.

Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod to hear Episode 160:

"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 160 [21:50m]: LISTEN NOW | Download

I had only planned to go a total of 20 minutes with the interview, but Dr. Jo was so enthralling I kept him on for 45 minutes! You can access Part 2 of this interview with Dr. Peter Jo in Episode 161 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" by clicking on the links below. :)

Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod to hear Episode 161:

"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 161 [25:33m]: LISTEN NOW | Download

Dr. Peter Jo is so well-versed in low-carb nutrition that I'm surprised I had never heard of him before now. I have no doubt there are more physicians out there just like him who espouse these same views--they just need to be given a platform like my podcast to be heard. One thing Dr. Jo brought up in the podcast was the relationship between the hormone insulin as well as the less-talked-about stress hormone cortisol on weight and health. I'd never quite heard anyone pinpoint BOTH of these before, so it was good to hear Dr. Jo talk about this. He provided some amazing and unique nutritional tips for controlling insulin and regulating cortisol, too. DON'T MISS THIS PODCAST!!!

Discover low-carb experts like Dr. Peter Jo anytime by:

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

Check out this witty video tutorial from my podcast producer Kevin Kennedy-Spaien about how you can sign up for the podcast RSS feed, listen on iTunes, and all the other ways to access the show.

What are your reactions to Dr. Peter Jo? Does what he said about healthy living make sense? I was thoroughly impressed by everything he had to say and I invite you to discuss your thoughts in the show notes section of Episode 160 for Part 1 and Episode 161 for Part 2. Visit Dr. Jo's web site at BellevueChiroNeuro.com and send him your appreciation for the positions he holds on healthy nutrition through his contact page. This was an extraordinary interview and I'm so glad to have been able to share it with you.

Don't miss next week's podcast shows because I'll be sharing interviews with two of the moderators at my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Discussion" forum--Charles Washington is up first on Monday to discuss what it's like to eat a zero carb diet while running marathons (his Zero Carb thread is the most popular one at my forum!) followed on Thursday with Christin Sherburne who was the Kimkins diet cover girl in Woman's World magazine last June updating us on all the latest information regarding the class action lawsuit and actions being taken against Internet diet scam artist Heidi Diaz. Tune in! :)

God Watching: Seeing Kevin, Visiting Dad, And Driving 1300 Miles In A Busted Car

2008-07-23T23:08:00.005-04:00

Christine's picture shows God was watching over us

Oh, it just feels so good to be home! This past week has been filled with all sorts of emotional ups and downs, but I am glad I was able to be away to be with my family. Thanks for indulging me in my longest absence from the blog since I started it. As you know, we drove 450 miles down to Pensacola, Florida to see my brother Kevin and most of the family I grew up with last Tuesday.

Our original plan was to stay until Tuesday this week, but a telephone call from my stepmother Faye last Thursday changed our plans. That day we learned my father was going to be going in for quintuple heart bypass surgery this week. So we took a detour on Sunday north to Bolivar, Tennessee before coming back home to Spartanburg, South Carolina on Tuesday night. It was quite a memorable week of events.

We had an awesome time seeing my brother Kevin who has been told he only has a few more months to live. In 1999, he suffered a series of heart attacks that basically killed 85% of his heart function. The doctors cut out the majority of his "dead" heart a few years back and he only has one artery functioning now. That artery is 95% blocked and stents don't do any good anymore. He's too high-risk for any surgery and he's pretty much given up on changing his diet at this point.

The thing that struck me about seeing Kevin was how "normal" he looks right now. Yes, he's a very large man weighing about 350 pounds. But he's out and about doing the things he loves the most--playing Texas Hold 'Em, bingo, flirting with the ladies, and singing at the local karaoke bar. We did a little bit of all of that together last week (sans the flirting for me since I already have my woman!). And yet he's on morphine and oxygen for comfort because he's easily out of breath and starts sweating profusely even in a well air-conditioned room. This is Kevin's life right now.

Despite my little "accident" earlier this year on the cruise to Mexico singing karaoke, I ventured back on the stage again to sing "You Are So Beautiful" and Roy Orbison's "You Got It" to my lovely bride Christine while Kevin sang some country music songs that I'd never heard of. It was a lot of fun, although not something I'm accustomed to doing around midnight on a Friday night. :) But I wanted to be there with and for Kevin. We made some great memories together.

We stayed with my beautiful sister Beverly for the week who was a very gracious host making us homemade meals, driving us around everywhere we wanted to go, and just being a good little sister. In fact, Kevin came and stayed with Beverly too during the week. Since we all grew up together as kids, it was pretty neat all being under the same roof again as family. That has been a rarity since we all became adults.

When we went over to mom's house for dinner to watch some Jeff Dunham DVDs together (HILARIOUS if you have never seen this funny ventriloquist--he's the "on a stick" comedian with Walter, Peanut, etc.--Kevin was laughing so hard I was worried about him, but it was great seeing him enjoying himself so much), I took a photo of a picture when all of us kids were young. Beverly was about 3, I was 5, and Kevin was 9 or so in this photo. Don't you just love looking at how dorky you are when you were a kid (no Christine, I don't STILL look dorky today!).

My mom and stepdad Frank surprised me while I was there--they said they started livin' la vida low-carb to lose about 50 pounds each. As you know from my podcast interview with my mom last Fall, mom has struggled keeping her weight off despite having gastric bypass surgery in December 2003. I was so tickled to hear how enthusiastic Frank was about the low-carb lifestyle and his eagerness to be doing it for his weight and health (he cited that study that came out last week because he saw it on the news touting low-carb over low-fat--ummm, I haven't heard of it! LOL!). And they've even got Beverly to join them on this. I suppose this situation with Kevin has caused them to get serious this time around. Here's hoping.

It was hard to say goodbye to my family in Florida on Sunday, but I had to be there for my dad and his surgery on Tuesday. We hit the road early that day to be in Bolivar, Tennessee before dark and met up with my half-brother Nathan, his wife Stephanie, and their new son Hunter. As you know, Nathan (or Nat as we called him growing up) was one of my inspirations for starting low-carb since he was so successful on it. Interestingly, he's not doing it now, but he knows it works for him when he does it. It was awesome seeing their new baby. I WANT ONE! :)

We also had a delightful visit with my Aunt Mary Jane while we were there. She told me about how much she enjoys reading my blog (HEY MARY JANE!) and feels like she's been talking with her nephew when she reads it. In fact, my computer illiterate dad finds out more about me through Aunt Mary Jane from the stuff she reads here at my blog and tells him about. That freaks out my old man out when she tells him some of the things I'm up to. He is so 19th Century!

Of course, the reason we went there was to see my dad in support of his heart surgery early on Tuesday morning. We had hoped to spend most of the day Monday with him, but my dear old dad had other plans to "tie up loose ends" and working all day. He has the kind of job where he is a Jack-of-all-trades (or a J.D.-of-all-trades as I call him--J.D. is his name!). And he was up bright and early at 6:00am Monday morning and worked until nearly 9:00pm the day before having his open heart surgery. That's my dad for ya.

We were up obscenely early on Tuesday morning--like 3:00am to get packed up, hit the road up to Jackson, Tennessee, and be there with dad before his surgery. On the way to the hospital, my check engine light started going crazy on me. I noticed when I pressed the gas the engine would struggle. Uh-oh, not NOW! More about that in a moment! Needless to say, we prayed without ceasing for that little Escort to keep going.

Imagine my surprise when less than an hour before he was going in to have his chest cut open here comes about 20 people to be there with my dad to pray and support him during the surgery. In addition to me, Christine, Nathan, and Faye, there was dad's older sister Mary Jane, dad's brother Paul, dad's younger sister Gaylon, and I do believe the entire Sunday School class from dad's church in Middleton, Tennessee as well as the pastor. What a blessing it must have been for dad to see all these people fawning over and sacrificing their time early in the morning just for him. He's not used to this kind of attention. But I know he appreciated it more than he'd ever admit.

That sunset from my dad's front porch is all he is gonna be working on for the next few months as he recovers and heals from the surgery. I had no idea they actually had to break his chest bone to get inside his heart. OUCH! That's gonna be the hardest part whenever dad will want to cough or sneeze (which he is prone to do with his allergies). Don't you know he'll be squeezing a pillow with him a lot? The really GREAT NEWS is he got through the surgery and is now up and alert with no complications. Praise God! THANK YOU so much for your prayers and happy thoughts.

Now, about our car. Our beat-up and nearly broken down 1998 white Ford Escort was literally on its last leg although we didn't know how close it was to dying on us as we traveled through the mountains of Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday--but we kept praying for God to just get us home. After driving 1300 miles in the span of a week to be with family in their time of need, we NEEDED that miracle to happen for us...and it did. The car ran perfectly until I went to the post office on Wednesday morning and that was all she wrote.

When the car started shaking violently and making a loud rickity-rackity noise, I knew it wasn't good. Turns out my timing belt broke and the valves were all shot to you know where. The expense to repair would have been about as much for another vehicle, so we decided to get a new car for us. That car in the picture above is our new 2002 Buick LeSabre with less than 50,000 miles on it--and it cost us less than $10,000. WOO HOO! I couldn't have been happier with that deal. We'll be making payments on it, but at least it's a car we can rely on as we travel around to various places with our business.

I am beyond tired right now and need to get some rest. But I will be back to full-time blogging again starting on Thursday and for the next few weeks until my trip to Nashville, Tennessee in mid-August for former "Biggest Loser" contestant Isabeau Miller's FitCamp where I'll be joining other "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog readers and people wanting to get into shape on a two-week journey to whip themselves into shape. I can't wait to provide daily video updates of this experience for you.

Plus, while we're in Nashville, I'd like to have a get-together meetup with the low-carbers in that area, so let me know if you're interested in coming. I don't have a specific date or time yet, but we're staying in the Franklin, Tennessee area on Murfreesboro Road. Drop me an e-mail if you think you can possibly come in late August at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Let me again say THANK YOU to everyone who has prayed and thought about us this past week and a half. It really means the world to me that so many people care and love us like family. I gotta tell you I've missed blogging, though, so I'll be back at it hot and heavy in very short order. SEE YA!

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 159: Beefed-Up Low-Carb Bodybuilder Eric Morrison

2008-07-18T10:36:00.006-04:00

Eric Morrison is a low-carb bodybuilding expert

In Episode 159 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore," we get to hear from an extremely fired up, low-carb lovin', hunka-hunka burnin' beefy bodybuilder named Eric Morrison. He has been reading my blog for a while now and wanted to share about what he is using with clients to help them transform their bodies by reducing body fat, total weight, and getting muscular. After reading Dr. Jonny Bowden's Living The Low-Carb Life, the low-carb lifestyle made more sense than ever and put Eric on the life path he is now on.

Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod to hear Episode 159:

"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 159 [34:28m]: LISTEN NOW | Download

Eric Morrison, aka "The Body Transformer," started bodybuilding early in his life after being tired of his scrawny little body. He just read everything he could about doing it and then DID IT! The results have been phenomenal for him and it drove Eric to continue the education process. And about 10 years ago he came across all the compelling evidence for livin' la vida low-carb which went against everything he'd ever known about healthy weight loss and fitness. But what he read made sense and today he is professing the positive health benefits of this way of eating to everyone who'll listen.

Get tips and inspiration for your low-carb life anytime by:

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

How about that Eric Morrison? What did you think about what he had to say regarding weight loss and health? And how about his idea of a weekly "refeed" day, does that make any logical sense to anyone (I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one)? Talk about it in the show notes section of Episode 159. Visit his web site at IconsFitness.com.

Come back next week for a two-part interview with a low-carb chiropractor from Bellevue, Washington named Dr. Peter Jo who is one of the most refreshing new voices in the low-carb community to come along in a long time. I can't wait for you to hear from him. SEE YA!

My Dad Is Having Emergency Quintuple Heart Bypass Surgery Next Week

2008-07-17T12:07:00.004-04:00

Hey everybody! Yes, Christine and I are still in Florida having a GREAT visit with my brother Kevin, sister Beverly and our mom this week on our vacation. We've had a good time together so far spending quality fun time with each other (mostly playing Texas Hold 'Em and we're planning going out for karaoke on Friday night) and I'm so glad we've been able to do this. Kevin looks and sounds great right now (although it's probably the morphine the hospice nurse has stocked him up on!), so it's like nothing is wrong with him. But we know his time could be coming up soon.

THANK YOU to everyone who has prayed for us during this time. Beverly said Kevin is down to just one functioning artery and when it becomes completely clogged, well...you know the rest. While our hearts and emotions about this are heavy, it's good to know we are able to be with Kevin in a joyful way during these potentially final days of his life. He's still the same ole big lug brother I grew up with and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I wasn't planning on being online much or at all during my visit to Florida this week, but I just got a telephone call from my stepmother Faye in Tennessee who said my dad is going in for an emergency QUINTUPLE heart bypass surgery next Tuesday. The doctor recently did a heart cath and said three of his arteries are over 90% blocked and the fourth one is 80% blocked. It's not a good situation at all, but they seem to think they can help him. He's had a couple of heart attacks before, so this isn't completely unprecedented. On top of what's happening Kevin, this is a bit much to take right now.

We're deciding whether we are gonna make that trip up to Tennessee and when because we want to be there for him. Our original plan was to drive back home to Spartanburg, South Carolina on Tuesday and we'll probably just go straight to Bolivar, Tennessee from Florida--likely on Sunday. His surgery will be taking place in Jackson, so we may just meet the family there on the day of the surgery on Tuesday. He's expected to be in ICU for several days although he told my stepmom he'd be out in a regular room the next day (YEAH RIGHT--that's my dad!).

I don't know how it's gonna happen with all that's going on right now, but I want to be there for my dad through this. He's only 59 years old which is too young to be dealing with this. But it's a solemn reminder that we just never know when our health is gonna kick us in the tail. Dad and Kevin have both made choices to be in the position they are in right now, but that doesn't make what they are going through any easier to deal with.

Right now, it's unfathomable to think about the worst case scenario of losing both my brother and my dad this year. But I'm hoping for the best in both situations right now and I know that God holds both of these men in my life in His Hands to do as He wills for them. Whatever that is, I'm just thankful for the opportunity to call J.D. my dad and Kevin my brother. They are two remarkable people that I had the privilege of growing up with and loving during my life.

THANKS so much for your prayers for Kevin and my father.

Oh, by the way, I am aware of this July 17, 2008 issue of New England Journal of Medicine with that study that is ALL OVER THE MEDIA right now and I was even interviewed and quoted in this Wall Street Journal column in today's paper. This was awesome POSITIVE coverage for livin' la vida low-carb (although Dr. Dean Ornish got in his digs despite his assertion that we all agree on diet)--I think they purposely planned to release it knowing I was gonna be gone. Just kidding! :)

I'll update again when I get a chance...I appreciate your support!

34 Low-Carb Diet & Health Blogs For You While I'm On Vacation In Florida

2008-07-14T20:12:00.010-04:00

Don't mess with me right now, I'm totally wiped out!

That little fella in the picture above was in the airport last week in New York and seeing him all sprawled out cute like that in an uncomfortable position made me think about how I feel right about now with my breakneck schedule. WHEW! It's been busy lately and I'm looking forward to heading down to Florida on Tuesday to be with my brother Kevin (THANK YOU for all the prayers for his health!) and the rest of my family for a week. And I'm not gonna blog a bit while I'm gone--gee, imagine that, a REAL vacation! :D

So, as has become my custom when leaving on a long trip, I have a list of 34 new low-carb and health blogs to keep you occupied while I'm gone. You can see all of my other blog posts featuring low-carb blogs and more that I've written before by clicking here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Check out these 34 new blogs and ENJOY!

1. HEALTHY INDULGENCES
2. DARDREAMS
3. CYA GIRL!
4. THE FINAL ESCAPE/NEW FOCUS!
5. THE MIGHTY QUINN
6. "RELATIVELY" LOW-CARB
7. LIFE'S DESTINATION
8. MUSINGS FROM THE SUGAR BUSH
9. WHERE IS TIGERLILLY??
10. DONNIE'S DIVERSIONS
11. REFUSE TO REGAIN
12. THE HATCHED EGG--FREEDOM FROM STRESS & ANXIETY
13. ERRATICA'S MUSINGS
14. LOW CARB MY WAY
15. PSYCHIC RATIONS FOR THE OUT OF CONTROL...
16. DANNY'S TOUR FOOD
17. THE HEALTHY LIVING BULLETIN
18. LOSE THE SCRAPS
19. SHAKE WHAT YA MAMA GAVE YOU
20. EMOTIONS FOR ENGINEERS
21. THE METICULOUS GOURMET
22. WEIGHT LOSS JOURNAL CHRONICLING THE LOSS OF OVER 100 POUNDS
23. TOP FORM SECRETS
24. LOW-CARB DIET & ENDURANCE SPORTS
25. NO DISHES TO WASH
26. SALUBRIOUS FERVOR
27. TYPEAMOM ON A LOW CARB JOURNEY
28. BEAUTIFITT HEALTH BLOG
29. NUTRITION EDUCATION PROJECT
30. D2K: MYLIFE
31. THE PITTER PATTER OF LOSING POUNDS (VEGETARIAN LOW-CARB)
32. MY FLORIDA NEST: MINDFUL LIVING IN PARADISE
33. THE DELIGHTFUL DESIGNS OF THE DIVINE MISS M
34. SWEDE & BEEF EATER

I don't usually like to list blogs without a few notes about my impression of the blogs, but I just ran out of time before my trip this time. But believe me--I've been to all these blogs and they are some of the most remarkable new low-carb diet and health blogs I have seen. Read a few of them each day and this should keep you busy while I'm gone.

Do you know about a low-carb blog I haven't highlighted at my low-carb links blog? E-mail me the URL at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. THANKS for spreading the positive message of livin' la vida low-carb to the masses! :D

LLVLC On YouTube (Episode 46): Cargill Introduces A New Stevia-Based Sweetener Called Truvia

2008-07-14T17:05:00.007-04:00

I was in New York City for the Truvia™ first taste test

Last week, I told you I was gonna be in New York City for a quick trip to find out more about a new stevia-based sweetener product called Truvia™. As you know from my previous blog post about this joint effort between Cargill Foods and The Coca-Cola Company to bring stevia to the market, aggressive efforts are being made to get approval from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to sell stevia as a sweetener for the first time in the United States.

This is promising news for Americans who are seeking healthy NATURAL choices for sugar alternatives since Truvia is made from the sweetest part of the stevia leaf--rebiana. The very best-tasting stevia is then combined with the sugar alcohol erythritol as a bulking agent to create a very clean-tasting, maltodextrin-free substitute for sugar. And it's not bitter even in the least. I was VERY pleased with that since the major complaint most people have with stevia is the puckered-up face they get when they taste it. Not with Truvia.

In Episode 46 of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube," Christine and I share about my trip to the Rockefeller Center in New York City on July 9, 2008 as the people passing by the Truvia Greenhouse were given a golden opportunity to be some of the first people in the entire world to try this new product coming to store shelves in the Fall 2008. There was iced tea and lemonade available for people to try and most of them gave a very positive review of the Truvia. There were a few knuckleheads who refused to even try "nature's first zero-calorie sweetener," but it was their loss. This stuff is OUTSTANDING!

Learn more about Truvia and what makes it different in today's video:

If you're excited to try Truvia for yourself, then it is currently available for purchase online at Truvia.com and in a few select New York City stores. The immediate reaction I had to the Truvia when I tasted it was how much it resembled cotton candy. That's a good tasting product, I'd say! There is a bit of the "cooling" sensation from the erythritol, but it's not unpleasant. In fact, that gives it a very nice mouth feel to me and Truvia is just about as close to real sugar I have seen in a sweetener before! Try it for yourself and I'll be telling you more about this product when widespread availability hits later this year.

THANK YOU for watching "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube." Please send us your comments at livinlowcarbman@charter.net and watch our previous YouTube videos anytime you'd like! Take a moment now to subscribe to our YouTube videos and catch the low-carb wave that's rolling across YouTube right now. :D We'll be back again soon for another fun and quirky video about the healthy low-carb lifestyle.

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 158: Oh My Gosh, It's Low-Carb Cookbook Author Dana Carpender!

2008-07-14T13:02:00.006-04:00

Low-carb celebrity Dana Carpender gets us caught up on her life

Long before I ever even thought about going on the Atkins diet to lose weight in 2004, there was a woman who was championing the healthy low-carb lifestyle in a series of bestselling cookbooks. She tried the conventional high-carb, low-fat diet and it failed her, so that led her to livin' la vida low-carb--and the rest is history! Of course, I'm talking about the one, the only Dana Carpender.

In Episode 158 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore," Dana lets us in on what is happening in her life right now. She's got a new companion cookbook coming out this Fall to go along with Rob Thompson's The Glycemic-Load Diet and is currently dealing with a bit of a health scare herself with a fibroid in her stomach that she says makes her "look like I'm 20 pounds heavier than I am." And you NEVER have to worry about Dana coming up with an opinion--she's got plenty of 'em to go around!

Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod to hear Episode 158:

"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 158 [39:03m]: LISTEN NOW | Download

In the midst of the taping of this interview with Dana Carpender, I shared with her about our upcoming 2nd Annual Low-Carb Cruise in January 2009 and she got so excited about coming. Since then, Dana has confirmed she IS coming on the cruise (WOO HOO!) and will be sharing in a seminar on board the trip down to Mexico. If you haven't signed up for the cruise, then you still can by clicking here.

We got Dana to open up in this podcast interview since she's so shy--NOT!!! One thing you'll never have trouble getting Dana Carpender to do is talk and she does it well. Hear her talk about the trials of the publishing world for a "low-carb" author, the dangers of low-calorie starvation diets like the Kimkins scam, diet soda, low-carb chocolate, and that recent "big breakfast" study that had all the media going crazy recently. It's never a dull moment with Dana around, so be sure to listen from start to finish.

Connect with low-carb celebrities like Dana Carpender anytime by:

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

What did you think about Dana Carpender? She has arguably had more influence on the way people view a low-carb lifestyle on the publishing and consumer side than anyone else ever has! I was privileged to speak with her and can't wait to have her join us on the 2009 low-carb cruse. Discuss today's show in the show notes section of Episode 158. And be sure to bookmark Dana Carpender's "Hold The Toast" web site and pre-order the The Glycemic-Load Diet Cookbook TODAY! :)

Coming up on Thursday we'll have fitness and nutrition expert Eric Morrison and then a special two-part podcast interview next week with low-carb chiropractor Dr. Peter Jo.

'Doc' Describes Me As A 'Dead Man Walking' Because Of My Elevated LDL Cholesterol

2008-07-13T21:09:00.005-04:00

One of the risks that I willingly take blogging about health as someone who has not been trained in either medicine or nutrition is the fact that there are a whole lot of people who are much more intelligent than I am about the subjects I write about. It's just a fact of life that I've lived with since day one of my blog more than three years ago. And it doesn't bother me a bit that I don't have all the answers.

The purpose of my blog is for me to share about my experiences livin' la vida low-carb and to hopefully provide some interesting topics for discussion that will enable my readers as well as myself the chance to learn something about their own health that they probably didn't know before. One thing I've found since I started blogging in the health arena is that even the doctors and medical researchers don't always know as much as we think they do. There's a reason they call it "practicing" medicine.

With that said, I recently received a rather challenging e-mail from someone purporting to be a "Doc" according to their e-mail address who wanted to take me to task over the assertions I made in this blog post about my latest cholesterol numbers and specifically the particle size of my LDL as well as my hard-hitting column about the death of the late NBC "Meet The Press" anchorman Tim Russert. It seems the good "Doc" took great exception to my belief that the HDL/triglyceride ratio is a better indicator of heart disease risk than LDL or total cholesterol and that having large LDL particle size is protective against a cardiovascular event.

In a very condescending tone in his e-mail, "Doc" proceeded to berate my gross ignorance of some rather "basic" health concepts that I apparently haven't fully grasped yet (get a load of this guy!):

I nearly fell off my chair reading your well-meaning but very erroneous blog on Tim Russert.

If larger fluffy, buffy LDLs are protective, why is it that people with the highest risk of atherosclerosis and premature death (i.e. familial hypercholesterolemia) have 100% fluffy, buffy, LDLs?? Sure does not protect them! You with an LDL-C greater than 200 likely have large LDLs and are a dead man walking.

If low HDL-C is always bad, why are their several genetic conditions associated with very low HDL-C and longevity? Check out JAMA. 2008;299(21):2524-2532

Why have there been numerous published articles in the last few years describing many patients with myocardial infarctions who have HDL-C > 90 mg/dL?

If low LDL-C is so dangerous, why do people with hypobetalipoproteinemia who go through life with LDL-C between 5 and 40 all have longevity with no ill effects of such low cholesterol levels?

Russert's Lipids: TC = 105 LDL-C = 68 HDL-C = 37

Of course that is impossible: TC = LDL-C + HDL-C + VLDL-C
VLDL-C is derived by dividing TG by 5 thus VLDFL-C = TG/5

Thus using your numbers TG would be zero which is impossible. Of course if you knew anything about lipids, your blog would not contain so many basic errors.

Last bit of advice--Look up apolipoprotein B or LDL-P. Read the newest guidelines: A consensus statement from the ADA and ACC on Lipoprotein Management in Patients with Cardiometabolic Risk (like Russert). They were published in April in Diabetes Care and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Had anyone measured LDL-P on Russert and then treated it aggressively, Russert would still be here. Of course since statins rarely normalize LDL-P, Russert needed additional medication beyond his statin to achieve apoB goal.

Hate to further blow away your statements, but if you read the new ADA/ACC statement you will see that data from three major trials (Framingham, MESA and EPIC Norfolk) have shown that LDL size is no longer considered an independent risk factor for CHD. Only thing that matters is apoB or LDL-P.

Happy reading and please correct your statements on the web site.

Well, I guess he told me, didn't he? It really depends on what research studies you are looking at and he pointed to a few that certainly made sense to him. As I stated before, I'm no expert when it comes to knowing anything and everything about the subjects I write about. I simply share what I do know and have seen applied in real life situations and let those results speak for themselves.

It's a bit presumptuous of this guy to call me a "dead man walking" because of my high "fluffy, buffy LDL" cholesterol. Further belittling my intelligence by attempting to point out my "errors" was also quite unbecoming of someone who alleges to be a professional physician whose goal is to help educate patients and make them healthy. I wouldn't want this fella being my doctor!

Although I didn't have the answers to his remarks, I knew someone who could provide an educated and reasoned response to "Doc." He's a real doctor and avid researcher on low-carb diets--Dr. Eric Westman. The following is Dr. Westman's comments back to "Doc" asking for clarification and presenting some counter-evidence rebutting the original claims made in his e-mail to me:

Thank you for forwarding this email.

1. The definition of "cardiometabolic risk" is changing, and its relationship to cardiovascular disease is imperfect. In spite of this, many medical authorities want you to do what they recommend. There are many exceptions to the recommendations, and I believe the authorities will acknowledge this readily.

2. Please teach me, "Doc." You wrote that people with "familial hypercholesterolemia have 100% fluffy, buffy, LDLs." Can you provide a reference for this statement (even case studies are fine)? Here is a recent article and it suggests otherwise...but the abstract doesn't really give enough information until I can read the full study. J Pediatr. 2008 Jun;152(6):873-8. Epub 2008 Feb 8

3. You wrote: "If low HDL-C is always bad, why are their several genetic conditions associated with very low HDL-C and longevity?"

I think that this just points out again how imperfect these markers are.

4. You wrote: "LDL size is no longer considered an independent risk factor for CHD. Only thing that matters is apoB or LDL-P."

"Doc" let me just take a moment to explain what "independent risk factor" means statistically--it is a common source of confusion. "Independent risk factor" means that, after accounting for some information, the addition of a new factor (variable) adds no more information (the association is no longer statistically significant).

My understanding is that LDL size and LDL-P are highly intercorrelated ("track together"), so that after accounting for one, the other is no longer statistically significant in its association with cardiovascular disease. It does NOT mean that LDL size is not important--it just means that you get no more additional information about the presence of cardiovascular disease from knowing LDL size when you already know LDL-P.

I look forward to learning more from you. Thanks.

Eric C. Westman, MD MHS
Associate Professor of Medicine
Director, Lifestyle Medicine Clinic

Excellent job, Dr. Westman! You took each of the points made by "Doc" and offered him the opportunity to see other data that he may not have considered otherwise. I appreciated you taking time out of your busy schedule to write back to "Doc" and give him a chance to learn something new himself. Unfortunately, that's the last we've heard of good ole "Doc." There's been nary a word out of him since Dr. Westman's reply.

Am I fallible? Yes, more than I'd like to admit. Do I know everything there is about diet, health, and nutrition? Anyone who tells you they do should be avoided because they are lying. Do I enjoy inciting an open discussion and debate of ideas? You bet your sweet bippy I do which is why I don't mind hearing from people who necessarily disagree with my viewpoints and wish to correct me. If I'm wrong and evidence is presented to me proving it, then I'm the first to make the corrections and admit the error of my ways.

But in this case, "Doc," I won't be changing a thing! By the way, where'd ya go? I'd love to hear what you have to say about what Dr. Westman said.

Help My Reader Remember The Memory Of His Nana And Papa With 'Relay For Life'

2008-07-13T19:51:00.005-04:00

Support the effort to fight cancer with "Relay For Life"

Cancer more than any other disease has ripped through families, communities, churches, organizations, and cities all across America like no other disease I know. Just two weeks ago, endometrial cancer took the wife of national radio talk show host Mike Gallagher after months of battling it with chemotherapy and just one year ago my friend and former minister of music Steve Dyar went home to be with the Lord after esophageal cancer overtook his body.

This disease more than any other delivers a slow painful death and researchers are working around the clock trying to find a cure for it. I'm happy to report that progress is being made using a high-fat, low-carb diet in Germany to help cancer patients who have not responded to traditional chemotherapy treatments with GREAT success so far. We've seen remarkable results with low-carb being used in people suffering from brain cancer, pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer, kidney cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer, so I'm hopeful for the future that more natural solutions like this will be further explored by the up-and-coming medical researchers and students today. It's truly amazing when you see how well cancer is subdued by implementing a low-carb attack strategy.

In the meantime as we wait for scientific research to produce the miracle we've all been looking for regarding cancer, we must mourn the loss of those we love, celebrate their lives for the amazing people they were, remember and cherish the memories we have of the time we were blessed to spend with them, and then fight back by making every effort to give of our time and resources to bring the answer to cancer sooner rather than later. That's why I'm so happy to share with you about an event one of my readers is participating in called "Relay For Life" put on in communities all across the United States annually by the American Cancer Society.

There's a man at my church who is the head of the American Cancer Society in South Carolina and he attends about 40 of these held in high school and college football stadiums all across the state each year. It's a beautiful scene watching thousands of people all coming out on a Friday night to celebrate, remember, and fight back. People have raised money from within their sphere of influence and then commit to walking the track for most of the night honoring the lives of those who cancer has taken from us.

In fact, a few years ago I was cajoled into participating in a midnight "womanless beauty revue" (before I lost my weight) and I wore a big dress, makeup, hairspray--THE WORKS! I was a pretty cute girl even if I do say so myself (and no, I don't have any pictures...not that I'd post 'em for you if I did!). I sang "I'm So Excited" by The Pointer Sisters as my "talent" and it went over well--especially when I rolled my belly for them (it's a long story and I was up WAY past my bedtime!).

Anywho, the point is you have a great time at these events and I'm so pleased to be sharing with you about Jeff Gould's "Relay For Life" fundraiser and I urge you to donate whatever you can to help with this very worthy cause. Even if all you can give is a couple of bucks, I know Jeff would appreciate it in memory of his beloved Nana and Papa who were snatched from him because of cancer. And it can happen all so suddenly--diagnosis, treatment, suffering, and then death. Anyone who has watched this unfold right before their very eyes will tell you how devastating it is because you are so helpless to do anything about what is almost an inevitable fate.

If you'd like to help Jeff raise money for his "Relay For Life" event, then simply click here to make a secure donation with a credit card. I just made my donation and encourage you to help make a difference by doing the same. THANK YOU! :)

Literary Agent: Forget About Highlighting 'Low-Carb' In Your Future Books

2008-07-12T21:30:00.006-04:00

Ever since I wrote my self-published debut book Livin' La Vida Low-Carb: My Journey From Flabby Fat To Sensationally Skinny In One Year in October 2005, that "itch" to write another book has been growing and growing. I've bounced around ideas in my head these past few years for books with low-carb success stories, user-friendly low-carb research studies, a best-of-the-blog compilation (which I'm currently working on), and the most requested one from readers has been a low-carb cookbook (which I would LOVE to write!).

I have talked with quite a few publishers since 2005 to let me write books for them. Of course, my biggest obstacle is the fact that the theme of my books is "low-carb" and that's become taboo among editors lately. Dana Carpender, the most famous low-carb cookbook author out there, was forced to remove "low-carb" from the title of her column (which she no longer writes for as of January 2008 because of the editor's deemphasis on "low-carb") and prevented from putting "low-carb" in the title of her latest low-carb cookbook (Every Calorie Counts) for the first time in her writing career.

Dana told me in this blog interview as well as my upcoming podcast interview on Monday that she is moving away from using "low-carb" in favor of low-glycemic load (which she'll be releasing this Fall in conjunction with Rob Thompson) or controlled carbohydrate, but it's all basically low-carb. I can certainly understand her reasoning to get the low-carb message out there in a stealth manner because at least the message gets out there.

But I am not in that camp. I still think "low-carb" is viable considering my various sites and online projects garner nearly a million visitors a month. Not too shabby for an idea whose time has supposedly passed already. This is why I refuse to sidestep the term "low-carb" and proudly name it and claim it in the name of just about everything I touch--"Livin' La Vida LOW-CARB!" Wouldn't my blog be dead as a doorknob if nobody was interested in hearing about "low-carb" anymore? One would think.

So, with that knowledge in hand, I approached a literary agent recently about finding a publisher for a "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Cookbook" to gauge their interest. Most publishers just want to know if you have the marketing mojo behind the books on their label and I've told them all about how enthusiastic all of you guys are about the healthy low-carb lifestyle. But, as you will see from these candid remarks I received back from this literary agent, they just don't care because somebody out there has fooled these editors into thinking low-carb is dead.

Dear Jimmy,

Thank you for your kind words about our agency. Your cookbook query came my way and I'm afraid we would not be interested at this time in representing a low-carb cookbook. We have an extremely full list of projects currently, and we are taking on few new clients, regrettably. It's also a volatile time in the publishing industry, and I can't say with conviction that a low-carb book would be appealing to publishers at this time.

I will say that I do know the term "low carb" itself has lost favor with editors, so you might consider other ways to title your book that focus on healthful eating rather than highlighting the low-carb focus (but that's just a thought and you may disagree!).

Kind regards and we appreciate your interest in our agency.

So there you have it! They're not interested in "low-carb" and it's the same thing I've seen over and over again as I've approached publishers. That's too bad because I REALLY believe in my heart of hearts that a publisher brave enough to give me or another low-carb author a chance to show them what we can do with a "low-carb" book using that exact term in the title would not only sell well, but exceed their flimsy expectations. I wouldn't need any marketing help from the publisher either. Who's gonna take that chance on my future low-carb books?

In the meantime, I will go back to self-publishing my books and proudly put "low-carb" in the title of every one of them. The best way to show these publishers how wrong they are is to prove they can sell despite that term. I'm looking forward to releasing my "best-of-the-blog" trilogy later this year and that low-carb cookbook in early 2009. THANKS for all of your amazing support of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb."

Dude, You Should 'Ditch The Unhealthy Fad Diet' And 'Hit The Weight Room' Harder

2008-07-12T19:40:00.005-04:00

I have always contended that people are much more assertive, aggressive, and in-your-face on the Internet than they would EVER be in the real world. Sure, there are a few exceptions to this, but for the most part it's true. And when you can post something anonymously without any way to trace where it came from, you can multiply that willingness to say ANYTHING by at least one-hundredfold!

People have their opinions and certainly don't mind sharing them regardless of the consequences. I learned a long time ago that you had better put on a thick layer of skin if you decide to start blogging for the whole world to see, especially when it comes to sharing your own personal diet and weight loss story. Everyone has their own theories about what works and I think it's great that the World Wide Web affords us the chance to hear all of these voices and decide for ourselves what is true or not.

But there is some sense of responsibility for decency and class when it comes to leaving a comment, especially when it is critical. There's nothing more cowardly in my opinion than to do what I like to call a "drive-by comment"--you come into a blog, post a flaming comment anonymously, and then run away. What good does that do? Just put your name and e-mail address on there at the end so that if people have questions about what you wrote they can reach you. How difficult would that be?

Well, I suppose they don't WANT to be contacted and that should make you suspicious of their remarks. Anyone willing to give a strong opinion should never be afraid to catch some heat back from the people who disagree. It's how public discourse should be handled and yet so many people like the following anonymous reader just don't get that.

I've blogged quite extensively about having "loose skin" after my 180-pound weight loss and this nameless, faceless commenter decided to leave his feedback--"drive-by comment"-styled--to this post. Here's what he wrote:

Everyone is being very supportive of your weight loss, but dude you are still very very overweight and borderline obese. You lost a lot of weight, but 220 pounds is not a lean weight unless you're a bodybuilder or athlete. Jesus, you've still got a good 70 pounds of pure fat to lose in order to be considered "normal."

It's seriously not "loose" skin, it's just heaps of fat that you haven't lost yet because you basically starved your body with an improper diet while not doing enough exercise.

I guarantee your body would look worlds better had you hit the weight room and treadmill six days a week and not subscribed to a fad diet that goes against nature itself. Face the facts: You lost weight too quickly while NOT exercising enough. That is not loose skin, that is fat that is backed up by emaciated muscle mass.

Don't believe me if you want, but I know what I'm saying. Your got about 60% if the way to your goal and then you stopped, thinking 220 pounds was your ideal body weight, and you neglected your body composition of muscle: fat ratio. You have no muscle and tons of fat, that's why your body looks so bad. Sure, surgery can fix this, but dedication and a gym membership will fix it as well. And before you go on saying "Well, I do work out, I do have a gym membership, etc.", have you considered you just aren't working hard enough?

Again, congrats on the weight loss, but you need to stop making excuses and face your own issue: get more dedicated to exercise and ditch the unhealthy fad diet. The human body needs carbs to fuel all of our organs, which includes the skin (the largest organ) and brain.

Nice, huh? So, tell me how you REALLY feel. Ahhhhhhh, what do you say to something like that? While there was some truth in what was expressed, there was a whole lotta crap too. I chose not to respond in the comments and to highlight this one in this post today instead because it is indicative of the kind of vitriolic hatred people have not just for people on a low-carb nutritional approach, but also who are on a journey to better health and weight loss. Let's take a look at each part of this comment to separate the good from the bad from the ugly:

Everyone is being very supportive of your weight loss, but dude you are still very very overweight and borderline obese. You lost a lot of weight, but 220 pounds is not a lean weight unless you're a bodybuilder or athlete. Jesus, you've still got a good 70 pounds of pure fat to lose in order to be considered "normal."

By what standards am I "very overweight and borderline obese?" I presume you are referring to body mass index and that's not the entire story. Yes, I'm still a big guy, but everyone who meets me says I am much taller and large structured than they expected. I'm a big guy who used to be a REALLY big guy. I'd love to lose more weight and am working on getting there the best I can. According to you, I need to weigh 150 pounds as a 6'3" man--ummmm, call me crazy, but that's just nuts!

It's seriously not "loose" skin, it's just heaps of fat that you haven't lost yet because you basically starved your body with an improper diet while not doing enough exercise.

I'm the first to admit some of it is indeed body fat, but I could not disagree more than I've "starved" my body with some kind of "improper diet." Have you read the latest studies on a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet? It's stunning and I highly recommend you read books like Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes to get the whole story before you show how ignorant you are describing this way of eating that way. And how do you know I'm not exercising enough? I did DAILY cardiovascular exercise the entire time I was losing 180 pounds in 2004. How much MORE could I possibly do?

I guarantee your body would look worlds better had you hit the weight room and treadmill six days a week and not subscribed to a fad diet that goes against nature itself. Face the facts: You lost weight too quickly while NOT exercising enough. That is not loose skin, that is fat that is backed up by emaciated muscle mass.

I'm the first to admit I regret that I didn't "hit the weight room" sooner as I noted in the final chapter of my first book. But I did upwards of 45-60 minutes (and sometimes more!) of treadmill or elliptical training every single day of the week during my weight loss. I was afraid of GAINING weight then, but I have since added a regular weight lifting routine with great success so far. What's so "fad" about eating a diet like our early hunter-gatherer ancestors did with healthy whole foods like beef, eggs, fish, nuts, and anything else they could find for nourishment? to me, eating tofu and bean sprouts and saying you love it "goes against nature itself." How did I lose too quickly and how can you possibly know that I wasn't exercising enough? There's a whole lotta assumin' going on out there.

Don't believe me if you want, but I know what I'm saying. Your got about 60% if the way to your goal and then you stopped, thinking 220 pounds was your ideal body weight, and you neglected your body composition of muscle: fat ratio. You have no muscle and tons of fat, that's why your body looks so bad. Sure, surgery can fix this, but dedication and a gym membership will fix it as well. And before you go on saying "Well, I do work out, I do have a gym membership, etc.", have you considered you just aren't working hard enough?

I will agree that I could have lost more weight than I did and I'm still on that journey to get my body weight down to around 200 pounds. That's what I'd like to be at. But I won't sacrifice my health to get there. Right now, I am as healthy as an ox despite your assertion to the contrary. Sure, my body composition could use some more muscle, but I'm working on that. In just the past six months, I've grown more muscle mass than I EVER have in my entire life. I'm proud of this and know it will continue henceforth. I'm not just a member of a gym, but I have a personal trainer guiding me each week about proper form and technique with my lifting. If I was a lazy slob who didn't stay committed to my workouts and exercise routine, then I could see you stating I wasn't "working hard enough." But quite frankly you don't have a clue what you are talking about.

Again, congrats on the weight loss, but you need to stop making excuses and face your own issue: get more dedicated to exercise and ditch the unhealthy fad diet. The human body needs carbs to fuel all of our organs, which includes the skin (the largest organ) and brain.

What a birdbrain! I've never made any excuses for the way I look. My pursuit has always been to become better and better as the years go by. Nobody is gonna argue that I looked better and was healthier at 410 pounds four plus years ago than I am right now. And I challenge anyone to tell me I'm not exercising enough for what my body needs to get stronger, more conditioned, and burn calories. Could I do a little more cardio than I do now? Sure, but the scientific evidence behind it is shaky at best. My focus is on the resistance training, but I get in several hours of cardio a week in the form of basketball, volleyball, and other recreational competitive sports events that are a part of my life. As for the "body need carbs" BS that keeps coming up over and over and over (did I mention "over"?) again and again, I simply point you to my latest YouTube video on gluconeogenesis.

Okay, I feel much better now. :D But one of my readers named Melinda who is NOT a low-carber and lost a significant amount of weight on a low-calorie diet saw this comment from the anonymous anti-loose-skin, anti-low-carb, anti-Jimmy-Moore person and decided to give her a piece of her mind about what she thought about it. You gotta LOVE this:

Alright this just peeves me off. I can't believe how people can come down on someone's success. Jimmy came ages from where he was and achieved something most people only dream about.

No matter what diet you use to achieve weight loss, you can end up with loose skin. It's just a matter of fact. I get tired of hearing people spout off about how working out harder at the gym can "take care" of the extra skin.

I've lost 175 pounds by calorie counting and exercise (no I did not follow the low-carb diet) and I am plagued with loose skin. I am 24 years old and NO I am not still overweight. If I lost any more weight, people would assume I was anorexic.

I am 5'5" tall and currently weigh 120 pounds. Slabs of skin are on my stomach, arms, legs, thighs...heck, even my breasts could use some serious help. Was it because I didn't "try" hard enough, or that I did something wrong? Um...no, it's not!

So stop bagging on people. I just get mad that other people can be such a**holes. Sorry Jimmy. Congrats on all your weight loss. You're amazing.

This is why I don't ever have to respond to negative blog comments like these that come my way. There are plenty of people like Melinda willing to tell 'em off for me. THANKS Melinda! Something tells me you'd probably tell that anonymous commenter a thing or two to his face if you had the chance. I appreciate your support and CONGRATULATIONS on your own weight loss success, too. :)

As for the anonymous commenter, I welcome your criticisms anytime. But how about coming out from behind your computer screen and sharing with us your name and contact information so an open discussion can ensue? Plus, if you have what you believe are the answers to obesity, then why not share them in a blog? I'd be happy to post about it at my blog so that others can see what you have to say. This isn't a competition about seeing who's diet or fitness routine is better. We're all on the same side trying to help people start to care about their health. These kind of needless "drive-by comment" attacks are totally unnecessary. SHOW YOURSELF and be proud of what you have to say.

Post-Low-Carb Meal 5-Hour Glucose Tolerance Test Produces Rather Odd Results

2008-07-12T14:08:00.005-04:00

My arm had so much blood sucked out of it for these tests

I just returned late on Thursday from my 3-hour trip up I-85 North to Durham, North Carolina to spend some time with the Triangle (and Beyond) Low-Carb Meetup group there as well as seeing a great low-carb doctor from Duke University named Dr. Eric Westman to conduct some tests and talk about my recent blood sugar woes and pesky 30-pound weight gain in 2008 that won't come back down again no matter what I do. It was a good time away although I missed blogging and updating you about the healthy low-carb lifestyle. And I'll be leaving again on Tuesday to go see my brother Kevin in Pensacola, Florida for at least a week where I will have ZERO Internet access besides my iPhone (and, no offense, but I ain't up for blogging on that thing with the hunt and peck typing!), so I'll be trying to squeeze in as many posts as I can before then. It's gonna stay busy for me the next couple of months.

But so many of you have been wondering about how my visit with Dr. Westman went that I wanted to make sure I provided an update, especially with the results from my five-hour glucose tolerance test (GTT) following a low-carb meal which was conducted on Monday. If you thought my home testing of my blood sugars was interesting enough, just wait until I tell you what happened during the GTT. Unbelievably crazy! I'll share more about that in a moment.

First, let's look at the bazillion other tests Dr. Westman ran for me to see if there are other culprits going on with my health. A few of these I requested done because Dr. Keith Berkowitz (who I will be sharing a special two-part follow-up podcast interview with the first week in August about this answering your questions), who espouses the "reactive hypoglycemia" theory for long-term low-carbers, suggested I have them run.

Here were the results:

Vitamin B-12--529 (normal)
Cortisol--8.9 (surprisingly normal)
Homocysteine--6.7 (normal)
25-Hydroxyvitamin D3--42 (normal)
HbA1c--5.0 (a little low, but normal)
LDL particle number--1453 (borderline high)
Small LDL particle number--30 (low is less than 600!)

By all accounts of these tests, I'm one extremely healthy guy! My thyroid function was all fine and so was my liver function. So it's good we can rule those out as culprits. I was quite frankly shocked to see my cortisol levels in the good range considering all the stress I've experienced lately, but this just confirms my body handles it all very well apparently. The A1c number was also encouraging since it is so spectacular and out of the diabetic range completely (although Dr. Berkowitz thinks it is a little low--a sign of the reactive hypglycemia according to him).

My LDL and total cholesterol are higher than normal as I've previously blogged, but look at the particle number of the dangerous "small" LDL--a measly little 30! That's just 0.02 percent of my total LDL particle number...in other words, quite negligible and protective considering over 95 percent of my LDL particle size is the large, fluffy kind. :D I'm not at all worried about my lipid profile with my HDL at 65 and triglycerides at 77. That's an HDL/triglycerides ratio I'd put up against anybody else's every day of the week.

Alright, so what the heck is going on with my blood sugars? And, more importantly, what is happening with my insulin levels when my blood sugar drops even after a low-carb meal? Inquiring minds, myself included, sincerely want to know. Here are the results of my GTT after eating a low-carb breakfast consisting of eggs and cheese with a chicken breast from Chick-Fil-A:

TIME--GLUCOSE--INSULIN
FASTING--87--4.4
30 MIN--89--13.7
1 HOUR--78--11.1
2 HOUR--78--9.0
3 HOUR--89--5.1
4 HOUR--87--5.0
5 HOUR--89--4.7

Fascinating test, huh? And it's just about what I expected was happening. My fasting glucose and insulin levels are perfect, but within a half hour of eating even a low-carb meal I'm seeing a TRIPLING in my insulin levels to keep my blood sugars in check. This would be a typical response if my insulin then came back down again within the first hour or two, but it doesn't.

As you can see, the insulin sustains at that higher level for two hours lingering at 13.7 then slowly dropping to 11.1 and then hitting 9.0 before dropping back down significantly in the third hour to get closer to baseline. During this time of elevated insulin, my blood sugar falls below fasting down about 10 points before rising back to where it started once the insulin comes down again. A normal response would show blood sugars going up quickly and then falling quickly, but not for Jimmy Moore. Lucky me, eh?

So what am I to make of this and what plan of action does Dr. Westman and his colleagues suggest I implement to limit this insulin response so that maybe I can get my recent weight gain to come back down again? I wish I could tell you it's a pretty cut and dry "do this and all will be well" solution, but it's not. The reality is I need to tweak this slowly by only changing one thing at a time. That one thing for me will include eating LESS protein than I have been and watching my specific portions of protein and overall intake just to see if it makes a difference.

Yes, I know cutting portions and even counting calories is almost taboo to talk about within low-carb circles and I'm not interested in that debate right now because I'm not fully convinced of it. Only time will tell. I haven't once counted calories or measured out my portion sizes in the past four and a half years of livin' la vida low-carb, so this is a tough sell for me. But I'm certainly game for doing something different to get my weight to come back down again, especially that little bit that has come back to my midsection.

Interestingly, Dr. Westman suggested I cut back on the amount of protein I have been consuming because it is possible that my body through gluconeogenesis is converting much of the dietary protein I have been consuming into glucose/sugar/carbs which COULD be the reason why I haven't been able to get my weight back down again. And this theory certainly has some merit since I consciously increased my protein intake when I started lifting weights for the first time in December 2007 shortly before my weight gain.

Sure, I also took creatine in the first six weeks and that may have had some impact on the weight gain. But consuming more protein-based foods in an effort to help with my muscle growth could have sabotaged my weight maintenance efforts somewhat. Although I have experienced quite an increase in the amount of muscle on my body after six months of training, it's not implausible that upwards of half of that weight gain is indeed muscle mass. The rest of the 15 or so pounds of weight I have put on over this period of time may be the result of excess glucose from protein.

Beginning yesterday, I started adding in more fat and deliberately trying to eat less total protein (not as a percentage, but overall) to see if it makes a difference. One way I'm doing this is to make sure any protein source I am eating is offset by an addition of more fat. For example, if I'm eating a chicken breast that is basically all protein and little fat, I'll slather it in butter and add cheese on top. Cheese in the form of brie or other fatty ones as a meal will also be a way to increase my fat while decreasing my protein. Cooking eggs in butter and adding cheese also will help with this. Nuts, coconut oil, heavy cream, and other high-fat foods will become more and more prevalent in my low-carb menus.

Since I already eat most of those foods anyway, this shouldn't be difficult to implement. Simply cutting back on protein could be as simple as eating half a steak or only one burger patty or chicken breast. Making sure I contribute fat and fiber to my meals will keep that ratio of fat to protein at the 3-1 ratio I am hoping to attain. Carbs, of course, will remain reduced to basically non-starchy, green leafy veggies.

What do you think about all of this? I'd love to know what you think about the results of my GTT. I'm also frightened to think what would happen if I did a traditional GTT with a glass of sugar water--EEEK! My insulin would go even MORE berserk! Your thoughts as always are welcomed. :)

Should A Christian Low-Carb Dieter Refuse High-Carb Communion?

2008-07-11T21:44:00.005-04:00

Christian custom of communion includes bread and wine

When you first start livin' la vida low-carb, it's almost impossible to think about all the ways your life will change overnight. Sure, you know you're not allowed to eat bread, pasta, sugar, candy, juice, rice, and just about anything sweet and starchy. You do it willingly because you realize that changing your lifestyle is about making healthier choices for your body so you can honor the temple that God has entrusted you with.

As a Christian low-carb dieter, it never occurred to me when I began this new way of eating in 2004 that it would make me choose between honoring God with one of the most important sacraments that Christians participate in or honoring my commitment to low-carb living. I'm referring to the act of communion where you consume a small cracker or unleavened bread wafer representing the body of Jesus and a small cup of grape juice or wine symbolizing Christ's blood sacrifice for our sins on the cross.

So what does a low-carb dieter who is a believer in Jesus Christ do when it comes to celebrating and participating in this holy act of remembrance? That's what one of my Christian readers wanted to know in an e-mail to me:

Hi Jimmy,

This might seem like a silly question but I'm guessing that since you are a Christian and are active in church that this issue has come up for you.

Do you take communion? Bread and grape juice do not fare well for my low-carb lifestyle but when I pass, I feel very odd because I want to participate for the spiritual meaning.

Let me know how you deal with this.

You know, it was funny the first time I was in church on a day when communion was taking place and I felt so awkward. Do I take part in it and glorify the memory of the greatest act of love and sacrifice the world has ever seen or do I refuse since I can't have that many carbohydrates as part of my new commitment to livin' la vida low-carb? It wasn't such an easy decision for me and I had a tough time at first.

But then I thought about it more and came to the conclusion that the amount of carbs in that little piece of bread and tiny glass of grape juice probably doesn't amount to more than 8-10g carbs maximum. It's not like this is an entire high-carb meal or anything. In the end, I believe God will honor your dietary commitment because you partook in communion.

So I proudly take communion at church the four or so times a year we celebrate it now and have no qualms whatsoever with it. It's a personal decision that each individual must make for themselves. Do what you feel the Lord would have you do. :)

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 157: Meet Cindy Swanson, A Type 2 Diabetic Who Is Using Low-Carb To Control Her Disease

2008-07-11T13:55:00.005-04:00

Christian DJ Cindy Swanson using low-carb for her diabetes

In Episode 157 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore," I had the pleasure of interviewing a wonderful woman named Cindy Swanson from Rockport, Illinois who is a morning on-air announcer at a Christian music station there. Why did I interview Cindy? Because in 2007 she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and has been on a journey ever since to control that disease through diet. Listen to this newbie diabetic as she talks about how she reacted to this diagnosis and what led her ultimately to carbohydrate restriction. What an amazing story and I hope you are inspired by Cindy's story!

Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod to hear Episode 157:

"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 157 [23:49m]: LISTEN NOW | Download

It's a scary thing going through hearing you have diabetes for the first time and Cindy Swanson is a great example of the timeline of what happens going through the anger and frustration about getting this disease, her plan of action for educating herself about this disease, and why she ultimately was led to livin' la vida low-carb as a means for controlling her blood sugars. Millions of brand new people go through this each year which is why I continue to talk about diabetes and low-carb so passionately. I'm so grateful for Cindy's candidness about her own story as she has lost over 50 pounds and doing what she has to do to beat her diabetes!

Hear exclusive interviews with people like Cindy Swanson by:

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

How about that Cindy Swanson? Her diabetes journey is probably not that different from others and yet she found the way to control hers while others still rely on medications and insulin. Talk about this interview in the show notes section of Episode 157. Check out her "Notes In The Key Of Life" blog and even listen to her on 101QFL Positive Hit Radio in Rockford, IL or online.

Come back next week on Monday when we'll have the incomparable cooking goddess herself with us--Dana Carpender! She gets us all up-to-date on her brand new book about the glycemic load coming out this Fall as well as a surprise announcement that she's going on the 2009 low-carb cruise with us. WOO HOO! Then on Thursday we'll have an inspiring story from fitness expert Eric Morrison. SEE YA THEN!

LLVLC On YouTube (Episode 45): Say It With Me Now...GLUCO-NEO-GENESIS!

2008-07-11T11:36:00.004-04:00

Don't you know that your body needs carbs in order to function properly?! Come on, you idiot low-carb supporters, how can you tell people to cut down or even eliminate most of their dietary carbohydrate intake from things like healthy whole grain foods like brown rice and pasta and even fruits and vegetables? What kind of reasonable diet would suggest you remove whole categories of foods like this in order to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle, hmmmm? Well? WELL?!?! How about it Mr. Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Man?!

Siiiiiiiiiiggggghhhhh. That, my friends, is just a typical day in the life of what I put up with in my e-mail box most of the time. People have become so incredibly misinformed about diet and health that they are content with merely repeating back the same old diatribes from those so-called health "experts." It really is a pity that more people can't learn to think for themselves by getting all the facts, analyzing them carefully with the intent on learning the truth, and then applying that knowledge to their own personal experience while sharing it with others. That's what I try to do here at my blog and all my other projects.

It certainly gives you more credibility if you constantly remain a student of health whether you are a doctor, dietitian, nurse, or even a low-carb blogger. I may not have a bunch of letters after my name (although I do have an M.A. in Public Policy...does that count?), I have worked hard to NEVER stop soaking in every bit of information that I can about health so I can share what I discover with you. Then, hopefully you can take that knowledge, apply what is relevant to your own life, share it with someone else, and continue to education further. We live in an age of information and ignorance is no longer a viable excuse--especially on the subject of diet and health.

In Episode 45 of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube," Christine and I wanted to share with the YouTube viewers about a word that is inextricably linked to low-carb dieting, but you really don't hear about it much outside the realm of low-carb research. The word is gluconeogenesis and I contend every single person who is on a carbohydrate-restricted or even a zero carb diet needs to know about this word. I've blogged about it and even did a podcast show on it, but this is much too important a concept for people to miss. Although gluconeogenesis (GNG) is rather complex from a metabolic standpoint looking at all the biochemistry that's involved. Check out this T-shirt from The Nutrition & Metabolism Society that illustrates all the pathways involved with GNG:

Order one of these "geeky" shirts TODAY by clicking here

Learn more about gluconeogenesis in today's video:

Since I uploaded this video to YouTube, there has been some confusion about what I shared in it about how the protein is converted into glucose. My friend Charles Washington, the zero-carb half-marathon runner who recently wrote a guest blog post said it seemed like I was saying that ALL protein gets converted to glucose. I certainly don't want to mislead anyone in that direction because it's not a one for one ratio of conversion. Dr. Eric Westman from Duke University says the studies he has seen say for every 2g of dietary protein consumed, one gram of it is converted to glucose/sugar/carbs. So it's about a 2-1 ratio of conversion which could cause SOME people problems who are especially carbohydrate sensitive (like me!).

This is what I was referring to when I said eating too much protein could POSSIBLY stall your weight loss if you are especially sensitive to carbohydrate whether through eating them or through gluconeogenesis. In looking at some of the reasons for my own struggle this year to get my weight back down despite doing all the right things, gluconeogenesis has come up as a possible culprit for my difficulty. Perhaps for me I need to be eating LESS protein than I currently am while increasing my fat and keeping my carbs to a minimum. This isn't a universal thing for everyone and could be genetic in nature. I'll be blogging more with an update about my weight and health situation very soon.

You guys are awesome for watching our "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube" videos and we appreciate hearing your comments about them and suggestions for future topics at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Don't miss our previous YouTube videos and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube videos if you like what you see. THANK YOU for all of your support and, as always, let us know how we can help you along in this journey to better health. Keep on livin' la vida low-carb! :D

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 156: Low-Carb Nutrition With Nephrologist Dr. Allen E. Sosin

2008-07-07T23:51:00.004-04:00

Dr. Allan Sosin says doctors rely too much on medicine

In Episode 156 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore," I share my interview with Dr. Allan Sosin from the Institute for Progressive Medicine--who is listed among my brand new "List of Low-Carb Doctors" blog. I shared another podcast interview a couple of months back from Dr. Sosin's colleague Dr. Julie Kahn who shared about diet and fertility. Today we get to hear from the big boss man himself talk about the guiding principles of his naturopathic health approach.

Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod to hear Episode 156:

"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 156 [25:40m]: LISTEN NOW | Download

Dr. Allan E. Sosin is a big believer in the use of carbohydrate restriction, especially refined carbohydrates, to control diabetes, obesity, and other chronic lifestyle illnesses of the day and has his own opinions regarding the heart disease link to cholesterol, what diabetic children need to do to improve their disease, and a specific set of supplements that don't get near enough attention for controlling health. We may not agree on everything, but Dr. Sosin is certainly on our side.

Stay up on the latest interviews like this one from Dr. Sosin by:

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

Did you like what you heard from Dr. Allan E. Sosin? Share what you thought about what he said in the show notes section of Episode 156. Come back on Thursday as I interview a Christian radio DJ named Cindy Swanson who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes last year and turned to livin' la vida low-carb to help her overcome it. Hear her amazing story of success and be encouraged in your own journey to better health! THANKS so much for listening!

I'm Gonna Be In And Out The Next Two Months, Visiting My Brother Kevin Soon

2008-07-05T22:01:00.006-04:00

I wanted to give you a quick update about what's happening with my schedule before I leave out of town on Sunday after church. I'm about to go into about eight weeks of nearly non-stop busy, busy, busy with my schedule. Some of that time I will be near my computer and able to blog as usual. But other times I won't.

Here's a rough sketch of what is coming up for me:

Sunday, July 6, 2008
I'll be in Durham, North Carolina again to meet with the Triangle Low-Carb Meetup group as they gather together at 6:30pm at the Golden Corral on NC-55. Christine and I will be there and will have lots of fun and valuable door prizes to share with those in attendance. If you missed us on our last visit to Durham, then I hope you can make it out this time around. Anyone who is interested in the healthy low-carb lifestyle should come out and meet your fellow low-carbers in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area.

Monday-Tuesday, July 7-8, 2008
Christine and I will be visiting with Dr. Eric Westman at the Duke Lifestyle Clinic to see if he can help identify what is happening with my weight this year. We've got a series of tests set up, including a glucose tolerance test to measure blood sugars and insulin after I consume a low-carb meal. I'm anxious to see what this finds. We'll also be running cortisol levels, vitamin D, and a few other blood tests to try to rule things out. We'll be discussing the reactive hypoglycemia theory espoused by Dr. Keith Berkowitz to see what role it might be playing in this. I'm anxious to figure this thing out already!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008
I've been invited to New York City to be one of the first to see, hear about, and taste the new products from food manufacturer Cargill Foods that are made with Truvia--a sweetener derived frm the stevia plant. You'll recall I blogged about Cargill and The Coca-Cola Company trying to get FDA approval for stevia as a sweetener and apparently that ruling is coming soon. The event I will be attending is located at The Rockefeller Center and will be taking place at the Truvia Greenhouse where there will be tons and tons of stevia plants all over the place. They've invited me to bring my video camera, so I plan on shooting some YouTube footage while I'm there. I'll be flying in from Raleigh/Durham that morning and flying back that afternoon, so it'll be a quickie trip! But I'm excited since it's only the second time I've ever been to NYC--we won't talk about the nightmare I had the first time I was there two years ago (this time I will have a car service taking me to and from the event so I don't have to worry about a crooked New York City cab driver again!).

Tuesday-????, July 15-???, 2008
Christine and I will be driving down to Pensacola, Florida to visit with my brother Kevin perhaps for one final time before the good Lord takes him home. I want to tell you how much I sincerely appreciate all the outpouring of love and support for me and my family during this difficult time with not knowing how much longer Kevin will be with us. I hope and pray we can spend a week or so one last time together and have one final happy memory with my only full-blooded brother. He's a good man who deserved so much more from this life than the hand he was dealt. I'm honored to be called Kevin's brother and will cherish this time with him and the rest of my family. I will not have any Internet access while I am in Florida other than on my iPhone, so there will be no blogging while we're there that week or so.

Saturday, August 16th to Monday, September 1, 2008
Coming up in August, I've got something pretty incredible happening in the Nashville, Tennessee area. You'll recall I interviewed former "Biggest Loser" contestant Isabeau Miller about her experience on the weight loss reality show. Well, she's now a personal trainer and wanted to give average, everyday people a chance to feel what it was like being on the show. That's why she started FitCamp which will take place over a two-week period in July and then again in August. Christine and I will be coming to the August session along with several of my readers who were the winners of an essay contest and received scholarships to come. I have already told Isabeau that I want to go through all the daily exercise and activities just like everyone else and I'll be video-blogging the entire experience as well as checking in each day with pictures and how it went. Considering I haven't lost any measurable weight since my sudden 30-pound weight gain earlier this year, this could be a great chance to get the scale moving in the right direction again. I'm so excited about this trip and can't wait to meet Isabeau and everyone else who will be there.

So that's about it going on in my life the next two months as far as trips go. I'm also in the midst of writing at least one and probably several books that will feature many of the most popular blog posts I have written at the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog. This has been a special request from many of my readers who know I've blogged about an issue they care about, but they can't seem to find it. I'm trying to remedy that problem by putting my best blog posts in a series of books. The working plan right now is to release a trilogy (Volume 1-3) that will contain thematic groupings of my best posts on a variety of subjects, including vegans and vegetarians, the failed low-fat diet, inspirational and motivational posts, the real fad diets, and so much more! I'm excited about this project and will be telling you more about it when we get closer to publication.

I've gotta get some sleep now since our choir is singing at the early service tomorrow morning for the 4th of July weekend. And you're not gonna believe what my church is doing as a churchwide event--they're serving red, white, and blue pancakes!!! UGH! The red comes from strawberries, the white is the whipped cream and the blue is from blueberries, but COME ON! PANCAKES?! I guess I don't have to tell you that Christine and I will be going to Denny's for a Grand Slam to get some good eggs, bacon, and sausage for our healthy low-carb lifestyle. Okay, rant over. SEE YA SOON! :D

Video Time: Sweeney Pregnant, Classic Lalanne, Food Matters, And Low-Carb For Health

2008-07-05T19:40:00.005-04:00

With the rising popularity of YouTube and other online video capabilities, the information age has jumped to a whole new level. It really wasn't that long ago when the major sources of information were radio and newspapers. Now there's television, DVDs, and all sorts of places on the Internet where you can find just about anything you are looking for (and a whole lot you're NOT looking for!).

I enjoy surfing around YouTube every once in a while because you'll find some real gems if you look carefully. Especially some of the old television programs about health, it's amazing to see how much times have changed and how much they've pretty much stayed the same, too. You'll see that today with a classic clip from health guru Jack Lalanne. There's also BIG NEWS for "Biggest Loser" fans with the host, a new health documentary, and an awesome video espousing low-carb for health. ENJOY!

1. ALISON SWEENEY IS PREGNANT!

The brand new season of NBC-TV's hit weight loss reality show "The Biggest Loser" is already underway being filmed to begin airing in September featuring families in Season 6. Piggybacking on that theme at just the perfect time is this announcement made by host Alison Sweeney this week on the "Biggest Loser" ranch during one of the first weigh-ins of the season. NBC was so excited about the news that they released the video clip to the public.

I couldn't see any faces of contestants in this quick clip, but if you look behind Jillian at around :27, you'll see a surprisingly skinny woman in a midriff shirt/sports bra. I'm wondering if this new season featuring families will have some family members who don't have all that much weight to lose and they are there to support their loved ones who do. Who knows, but I can't wait to see it! CONGRATULATIONS to Alison Sweeney on her great news about having an addition to her family.

By the way, I requested a podcast interview with The Blue Team trainer Bob Harper (who I interviewed at my blog three years ago) and I heard back from his assistant this week that he would love to be on my show. WOO HOO! We're still hammering out the details since his schedule is so crazy, but I'm hoping to air that in early September. YEAH! :D

2. JACK LALANNE WARNS ABOUT SUGAR--50 YEARS AGO!

If you had to choose on iconic figure in the modern history of health who personifies what it means to live a healthy lifestyle, then I don't think many would disagree with the selection of Jack Lalanne for that role. This 90-something year old man is still going strong and he can oftentimes be seen on television these days promoting his juicer or other age-defying techniques for being the strong, happy, and healthy man that he is.

Man, I'd LOVE to interview him because this classic video of him talking about the addictive nature of sugar is precisely the message we need to hear in 2008. It's something people who support livin' la vida low-carb shout loudly from the mountaintops while it is almost ignored as a culprit in obesity and disease by much of the rest of the health establishment crowd who is too hung up on saturated fat to see the forest for the trees. Is it any wonder why 50 years after this video first aired we are STILL dealing with this same mess?

3. NEW HEALTH DOCUMENTARY FILM CALLED "FOOD MATTERS"

There have been quite a few diet and health documentaries in development over the past year or so, including Mary Bissell's My Big Fat Diet, Tom Naughton's Fat Head, CJ Hunt's In Search Of The Perfect Human Diet, and Steve Yu's INSPIRED: The Movie. I am excited about all of these contributions to the discussion about healthy living and now there's another one to add to the list: Food Matters.

I have not had the pleasure of seeing this one yet, but my understanding is it takes a closer examination of health in modern times and laments all the wasted resources that are spent on prescription drugs while chronic disease runs rampant. The filmmakers urge the viewers to get back to our roots when food was used as medicine rather than the next miracle pill from the pharmaceutical companies. AMEN to that!!! This documentary features many interviews with the REAL health experts around the world and seeks to expose the billions of dollars that are made scamming people into thinking they need to be drugged for made-up diseases.

Knowledge is power and Food Matters seeks to arm you with the information you need to take back control of your own health. I am working diligently to get a copy of this to review and share with you as well as an interview with the film's producers so they can talk more about why they decided to make this movie. Should be interesting!

4. OUTSTANDING 450-SECOND LOW-CARB FOR HEALTH VIDEO

Finally, I love finding videos like this one that just lays the pure unadulterated truth about livin' la vida low-carb out there for everyone to see--take it or leave it. Stephen, aka Stevo35972 does just that and in a very direct, concise, and compelling way. Add him to the increasing by leaps and bound list of low-carb YouTubers now and keep your eyes peeled for even more nuggets of truth from him in the future!

Got a video you think I might be interested in? Send the link to me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. I always love finding GREAT videos that continue the mission of educating, encouraging and inspiring others in their healthy low-carb lifestyle. THANKS for passing on the good ones you find.

Six Months Of Lifting Weights And I'm Finally Getting The Hang Of It

2008-07-05T13:30:00.004-04:00

The results of my weight lifting have been pretty awesome

Growing up with an older brother who played football in high school was pretty intimidating. I didn't care a bit in the world about growing muscles, participating in athletics, or doing anything physically active. It just wasn't my cup of tea at the time and I had no problem playing alto saxophone in the marching band, pushing myself academically in preparation for college, and anything else that would keep me from EVER lifting a single weight in my life.

Of course, this was incredibly stupid on my part because I had no idea that building up my muscles would aid in fat and calorie burning which might have kept me from becoming a 410-pound morbidly obese slob of a man as an adult. Thankfully I was able to find a diet plan that would enable me to shed that weight at the age of 32 and now I am in the midst of a journey to actively make my body stronger, leaner, and more powerful than it has ever been. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

It was in December 2007 when I started my resistance training program in earnest for the first time in my entire life and I was dead serious about it this time. I've dibble dabbled with lifting weights before but didn't know what the heck I was doing, so I hired a personal trainer at my local gym to help me with proper form, effective repetitions, and the weekly accountability and motivation I needed to do this right.

After just one month, I was seeing some incredible results already and in three months it was that much more pronounced. I had no doubt in my mind that the muscle growth and tone would take place, but it's nice to see it in real life on ME! What a feeling it is to actually be strong enough to carry in all the groceries at one time without straining at all. Or lifting the couch up for my wife Christine when she vacuums. Or even slamming the ball down with force during my Tuesday night volleyball games. I'm a different man now than I was before--and I like it!

In my previous update after three months, I was complaining about the consistent pain I was experiencing after every single workout. It was rather excruciating in the first few months and I really did want to stop doing it (especially with the double whammy of seeing my weight go up by 30 pounds and STAY up since I began lifting weights). But I'm not a quitter and I didn't want to pay the penalty to get out of my contract with my personal trainer who I have enjoyed working with.

And so I pressed on.

It's a great feeling when you see muscle development

Now it's been a half-year for me lifting weights and I wanted to update you on how it's going. The delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) I was having is still there, but not nearly as severe as it was. My trainer especially likes working my abdominal muscles each time and I feel those for 2-3 days after working out. My shoulders, biceps, and quadriceps get a little sore as well, but I can handle it now very well. To me, it's a sign that the muscle was adequately exhausted which will result in quality muscle growth. After six months, I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.

I certainly have a lot more to learn about lifting weights, but I have just enough knowledge now to make me dangerous. The muscles that have started to appear on my body are bigger and more defined than I ever thought possible. No, I'm no Arnold Schwarzenegger or Mr. Olympia, but I'd say the changes are pretty remarkable for someone in his mid-30s who has NEVER ever lifted weights in his entire life. It may sound a little egotistical to say this, but I'm pretty proud of myself for doing something like this for myself.

Let's take a look at my progress since I started in December 2007. Here are some before and after photos in the six months I have been training about twice a week (one 30-minute session with my trainer and one self-guided 30-minute workout):

My neck has DEFINITELY gotten bigger because my collared button-up shirts are getting tight around the top button when I put on a tie. The muscle growth in my upper body has been pretty extraordinary. The same thing about the tightness in my clothes is happening in my shoulders and upper arms as the muscle growth continues to progress well in those specific areas.

Here you can see where I've put on the extra weight in my stomach, but you can also see the muscles in the neck, shoulders, and arms that weren't there before. When we figure out what's happening with my weight and get it back down again, then I can't wait for even more definition to start showing up in my upper body, including my chest and abs.

The back side view again shows the muscles I have grown in the neck, shoulders, triceps and forearm that weren't there before. My trainer works my arms, shoulders and back regularly, so it's no wonder those are the areas I'm seeing results.

As of right now, I weigh 264 pounds--up 29 pounds since I started my resistance training six months ago. Sure, some of that weight is muscle, but my personal trainer estimates the actual muscle weight I have put on is around 5-7 pounds. The rest is fat and that is so not cool. Again, I'm working on that with a low-carb doctor and will be going back for more tests next week to see if we can see why this is happening. It could be totally unrelated to my diet or I may need to tweak a few things with my possible reactive hypoglycemia strategy to make it work for me.

For those of you who are wondering, no I'm not taking the creatine anymore. I did it for six weeks at the beginning of my resistance training regimen and have been completely off of it since the beginning of February. Any remnants of that stuff should be out of my system by now, so it's still a mystery why I have been unable to take the weight off that has come on me. If we figure it out, then you'll be the first to know about it.

If you are thinking about adding some resistance training to your healthy lifestyle, then DO IT! I cannot say enough positive things about what lifting weights can and will do for your health. And don't worry about "bulking up" as it takes a lot of aggressive heavy lifting to make that happen. Hire a personal trainer, read a book like Slow Burn by Fred Hahn or The New Rules of Lifting for Women by Cassandra Forsythe, and even join a gym if you'd like. Of course, you don't really NEED any of those things to grow your muscles if you just lift your own body weight at home. But I've found the accountability that comes from getting dead serious about doing this is worth every penny you spend to get there. NEVER GIVE UP!!!

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 155: The 'Diet Detective' Makes The Case For Healthy Living

2008-07-03T12:13:00.003-04:00

Charles Stuart Platkin laments modern-day health information

When I started blogging about the healthy low-carb lifestyle back in 2005, one of the first people in the media who I noticed was bashing against the low-carb lifestyle was a guy named Charles Stuart Platkin. His advice for food choices when eating out in a newspaper column he wrote was not in line with what my experiences had been about low-carb. Our disagreement came to a pretty hot boiling point and even asserted that low-carb is not for the long-term.

But after my blog interview with Charles and his subsequent decision to bring me on as a contributing writer at his DietDetective.com web site, he changed his tune about livin' la vida low-carb by becoming more aware of what he was saying against it. In the process, he and I have become very good friends despite our slight differences. Overall, he is as concerned about getting people to start eating a healthy lifestyle as anyone in the industry.

In Episode 155 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore," we hear from Charles Stuart Platkin as he discusses the sensitive subject of public health and what a dismal failure our media has been in disseminating information to the people who need to hear it the most. Charles is very well-spoken which is why he has been featured on radio and television quite often espousing making better food and fitness choices. Let him inspire you anew in your own efforts to start living better!

Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod to hear Episode 155:

"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 155 [33:14m]: LISTEN NOW | Download

Charles Stuart Platkin discusses the state of health in America today, his change in philosophy about low-carb and saturated fat, his philosophy on what diet works for him, and so much more. He is committed to giving people the information and then allowing them to make the choices for themselves about what will work best for them. That's why he has a variety of writers at DietDetective.com, including yours truly. :)

Don't miss interviews with people like Charles Stuart Platkin by:

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

What did you think about Charles Stuart Platkin? Does he have anything positive to add to the diet and health discussion? Tell me what you thought in the show notes section of Episode 155. Visit DietDetective.com for more from Charles as well as his new creative business FoodTee.com for those fun new T-shirts featuring healthy food and funny slogans.

ENJOY your holiday weekend and come back on Monday for an interview with Dr. Allan E. Sosin from the Irvine, CA-based Institute for Progressive Medicine as we talk about using low-carb medical interventions for obesity and disease. DON'T MISS IT! :D

Igniting Some Low-Carb Lifestyle Fourth Of July Fireworks

2008-07-02T12:22:00.016-04:00

Before you celebrate the 4th of July, here's a low-carb update

It's almost time for the fireworks, backyard barbecues, vacations, and all the rest that comes with the extended Fourth of July weekend in celebration of our nation's independence. I am proud to be an American and appreciate all the freedoms and opportunities that this nation affords me as a citizen. While a lot has been said over the past few years about this great country I call "home," there's no denying the United States is and will always be the greatest socio-political experiment in the history of the world. God bless America now and forevermore!

Before you get caught up in all the busy activities of the holiday, I wanted to share a few low-carb headlines with you that have been in the news lately. It simply amazes me how a way of eating that has been so incredibly maligned and dragged through the mud like livin' la vida low-carb can somehow still be talked about so much in the media. Albeit it's not always in a positive light, but they can't help bringing it up. Maybe deep down inside they realize there is more to low-carb than they're letting on.

Here's what is going on in the world of low-carb right now:

LOW-CARB, HIGH-PROTEIN LEADS TO WEIGHT LOSS IN KIDS

People always ask me if low-carb living is healthy for children. Why wouldn't it be? Our bodies were never meant to handle high amounts of carbohydrates, so it stands to reason that eating a low-carb diet is gonna be healthier for kids. And now we have this study published in Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition from a researcher down in Australia I've blogged about before named Dr. Manny Noakes. She found that an unlimited low-carb, high-carb diet produces more weight loss than higher carb diets with limited calories, primarily because the protein seems to increase satiety. Additionally, these obese elementary school study participants placed on a low-carb diet experienced a significant drop in their total cholesterol and triglycerides. WOO HOO!

STUDY: LOW-CARB LEADS TO LONG-TERM DIABETES CONTROL

From the Department of Well Duh!, the results of a 12-week low-carb program for Type 2 diabetics found that they were continuing to improve their health and weight one year later. The program is called "Why WAIT" and was shared at the recent 68th Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association. Lead researcher Dr. Osama Hamdy followed 85 people with type 2 diabetes for an average of 10 years. The plan included regular exercise as part of the initial 12-week plan.

Although there were obvious improvements at the end of the intervention period of the study, the remarkable thing is that the study participants CONTINUED to lose weight on their own. However, their A1C levels did increase, but blood pressure was stabilized and HDL cholesterol was "significantly higher" at the end of one year. And, one shocking finding in light of all the negativity about low-carb diets, the study participants saw an IMPROVEMENT in their kidney function with a slight decline in protein in the urine.

For the purposes of this study, carbohydrate restriction was defined as 40 percent of the calories from carbs which is closer to The Zone level of carbs than the Atkins diet. It does make you wonder how much BETTER the weight loss, A1C levels, cholesterol, and other health markers would be if a truly low-carb ketogenic diet would be used on these patients. Dr. Hamdy says the reason patients regain weight is because they don't eat enough protein or cut back on exercise which results in the accumulation of belly fat. Interestingly, the financial impact of diabetics losing weight, according to this study, is huge--a 65 percent DECREASE in medical expenses coming out to a cool $560 annually. And let's not forget how good healthy feels! You can't put a price on that!

WHAT IF WE JUST GOT RID OF ALL THE FAT PEOPLE?

Don't be alarmed at the question in that headline above, but it's basically what this column from MSNBC recently wanted to know. They analyzed the financial burden that overweight and obese people have on our society in a rather uncaring and some would say demeaning way. That's why I appreciated one of my readers sharing this blog post from Chet Day with a very impassioned response to such an insensitive post. While I don't subscribe to the fat acceptance movement that tells overweight and obese people to just be happy with their large bodies, I don't think threatening to wanna wipe out fat people is the right way to motivate them to make the changes necessary to improve their weight and health. But it is a sensitive subject that warrants a little more class and a lot less crass.

NEWSWEEK PERPETUATES THE HIGH-FAT CANCER MYTH

I was listening to the radio the other day and a commercial for a colon cleanse product asked the question, "Are you eating too much red meat..." I didn't even hear much of the rest of the ad because that turned me off so much. This idea that high-fat meat consumption is somehow harmful to your health is so teetering on insanity that we should get straight jackets ready for anyone who chooses to declare something as absurd as that. But leave it to our buddies at Newsweek to jump right off the cliff with a column a couple of weeks ago entitled "Your Lifestyle, Your Genes and Cancer."

They assert in this article that if people would simply live a "healthier lifestyle" (which isn't exactly what you and I might consider healthy), then 70 percent of all cancers would cease to exist. Okay, now that's a pretty bold statement, especially in light of the specific kind of changes they expect people to make--get thinner (easier said than done!), exercise regularly (is that cardio or resistance training?), avoid diets rich in red meat (why would I do that when this is the basis of a healthy low-carb lifestyle?), eat diets rich in fruits and vegetables (I already do being selective about choosing low-sugar fruits and non-starchy veggies), and stop using tobacco (you don't need to smoke--EVER!).

We learned from my podcast interview with Doug Kaufmann earlier this year that fungus is at the root cause of most cancers and the best way to reduce the existence of fungus is to eat a low-carb diet. In fact, Newsweek competitor Time magazine last September featured a column about German researchers using a very high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet with GREAT success on cancer patients who have been told there was no hope for them. While it may be en vogue to continue repeating that red meat and saturated fat is harmful and leads cancer, the truth doesn't bear that out. These people won't be able to get away with such bombastic statements for very much longer without being sent to the funny farm!

37-YEAR OLD LOW-CARB BODYBUILDER SWEEPS COMPETITION

You gotta love it! Mike Benoit competed recently in the Newfoundland and Labrador Amateur Bodybuilding Association Championships as a 37-year old man and placed first in the Light Heavyweight Division (176-198 lbs), first in the Masters Class (35 years and up), winning the Top Poser Award and capturing the overall title of Mr. Newfoundland and Labrador as the best of the best in this competition. He was the oldest person EVER to be given that distinction and he credits his win to something that should put a big smile on your face.

"I was the only one at the show that did fat burning; every other competitor there avoided fats to get lean where I consumed mostly fats, essential oils and protein...So I did a modified fat diet for the show and at 37-years-old, I was the leanest one there with doing the least amount of cardio. Many people have heard of the Atkins diet, well I basically did a modified Atkins diet."

Holy cow, isn't that amazing?! Mike consumed dietary fat to burn fat, was thinner than anyone else in the competition, did little to no cardio at all, and was livin' la vida low-carb. Can you say WOW?! I'd love to interview this guy and have him share some of his training techniques with us because I'm sure it will turn everything we think we know about fitness training on its head. The unbelievable part of this story is the fact that this was the first competition he participated in since the late 1990s. AMAZING!!! Kudo Mike Benoit and if you're reading this, contact me about that podcast interview at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.

WHO IS THE ADA KIDDING WITH THEIR SMOOTHIE RECIPE?

We know how deceitful the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has been about the negative impact of carbohydrates on the health of people suffering from both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. But did you catch this recipe posted on their web site for a Strawberry-Banana Smoothie? They have GOT to be kidding, right? Check out the nutritional content of this concoction:

Calories 130
Calories from Fat 5
Total Fat 1g
Saturated Fat 0g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 0mg
Total Carbohydrate 32g
Dietary Fiber 31g
Sugars 23g
Protein 1g
Exchanges 2 fruit

Did anyone else catch a MAJOR problem with those numbers? Aside from the fact that a diabetic has NO business at all eating a very high-sugar food like a banana, check out the dietary fiber content of this recipe--the ADA claims it has 31 grams. HUH?! If the total carbohydrates include all sugars and dietary fiber, then those two numbers should add up...but they don't! If you add 31g (dietary fiber) plus 23g (sugars), then your total carbs are ACTUALLY 54g per serving. And this recipe makes 2 servings, so ostensibly a diabetic could see this as a "healthy" recipe and consume both servings for a grand total of 108g total carbohydrate if indeed those numbers are accurate.

What is the ADA trying to hide keeping these actual totals hidden like this? Are they TRYING to make it look lower in carbohydrate than it really is so they don't freak out their well-educated and informed Internet readers who know carbs will make their blood sugar levels go haywire? What is the story with this very obvious mistake? Send your e-mail to them at AskADA@diabetes.org and ask what's up. Let me know if you hear back from them with an explanation. :)

DR. JONNY BOWDEN FEATURED IN NEW YORK TIMES STORY

Everybody's favorite health and nutrition expert Dr. Jonny Bowden, author of Living The Low-Carb Life and 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth, was featured this week in the New York Times in a story entitled "The 11 Best Foods You Aren't Eating." Jonny is quoted promoting these 11 foods that are PERFECT for your healthy low-carb lifestyle because of their powerhouse nutritional content, including cinnamon, sardines, and frozen blueberries. Don't forget you can meet Jonny in person on The 2nd Annual Low-Carb Cruise coming up in January 2009 and hear him speak about the subject of weight loss and health. He'll also be a special guest on my podcast show again coming up soon to talk about his other projects, including his latest recipe book called Healthiest Meals On Earth as well as his brand new Diet Boot Camp that's been 13 years in the making.

THE ROLE OF LDL PARTICLE SIZE ASSESSMENT (PDF file)

I recently shared in this blog post that my total cholesterol is 326 which includes an LDL cholesterol reading of 246. While this may shock a lot of people who still buy into the traditional cholesterol hypothesis (that number is diminishing more and more each day!), the fact of the matter is I am healthier with these numbers than someone like the late Tim Russert was at the time of his unexpected death. Why? This well-written article by Dr. Paul E. Lemanski, MD explains all about how LDL particle size is what is most important in assessing heart health.

The most interesting part of this two-page paper was when Dr. Lemanski noted that "individuals with triglycerides below 70 do not have small, dense LDL," the kind that are especially dangerous to cardiovascular health risk. These people have the large "fluffy" kind of protective LDL particle size that you want. Only those with triglycerides above 100 and HDL below 50 need to be concerned about having their LDL particle size measured. We need more doctors who are willing to talk about particle size rather than the total or LDL cholesterol number if we are ever gonna actually help people get healthier.

Dr. Lemanski noted that statin drugs, like Lipitor and Crestor, "do not change particle size appreciably." So it doesn't really do any good going on these drugs when you can remedy particle size problems through changes to a low-carb diet. Additionally, triglyceride therapies are needed when those exceed 150, but once again a low-carb nutritional approach can bring those numbers down below 100. Low triglyceride levels (below 100) and high HDL numbers (above 50) are two of the most effective ways to improve your cardiovascular health and both can be accomplished by livin' la vida low-carb. Why wouldn't you do that instead of taking a bunch of pills?

WEIGHT WATCHERS' "CORE" IS LOW-CARB, BUT ALSO LOW-FAT

One of the most popular diet programs in the world today is Weight Watchers. How in the world did they become so successful? They tapped into the community aspect of weight loss by bringing overweight people together in one place to share in their experiences as a group and to provide each other with the support they need to be the success they want to be. It's a good concept on paper. But it doesn't work for everybody.

A reader previously shared about how Weight Watcher publicly shamed her because SHE failed to lose weight on the low-fat, low-calorie diet advice they were pushing at her. It's no wonder how low-carb is so perfect for those who failed on Weight Watchers and why hearing the stories of low-carb success is so captivating for people who have been through the traditional Weight Watchers program.

And the people at Weight Watchers have been taking notice of this. That's why they created their program called "Weight Watchers Core." While this is indeed a low-carb option for people on Weight Watcher who need to be mindful of their carbohydrate intake, you can't help but notice all the low-fat crap they say you have to eat, too, that I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole: fat-free milk, fat-free cheese, fat-free sour cream, soy milk and cheese, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, potatoes, and grains, cornmeal, rolled oats, puffed wheat, puffed rice, shredded wheat, and 100% bran cereals, "lean" meats, tofu, vegetarian burgers, fat-free salad dressings, fat-free margarine, fat-free mayonnaise, and popcorn--AAAAAACK! Make it stop! Make it stop!

If you wanna start livin' la vida low-carb, then just read Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution or Protein Power and do it! Keep attending your meetings if you are locked into an obligation to be there and show off your amazing weight loss totals. When they ask you how you do it, be sure to proudly say that you are consuming a healthy high-fat, low-carb diet. If the leaders keel over at that point in utter shock, then I think you will have made your point beautifully!

PBS INTERESTED IN AIRING LOW-CARB DOCUMENTARY

In early 2007, I shared with you about a new documentary film from an independent filmmaker named CJ Hunt called In Search Of The Perfect Human Diet. Hunt interviews all sorts of people in the world of diet and health including many low-carb researchers and activists you may know including Dr. Mike Eades, Dr. Barry Sears, Dr. Abby Bloch from the Atkins Foundation, Dr. Jay Wortman, Dr. Steve Phinney, Mrs. Veronica Atkins, Dr. Mary C. Vernon, Dr. Eric Westman, and MANY MANY more! It's quite a lineup and this film is now in post-production.

But the GOOD NEWS is CJ Hunt has received this letter of official interest from San Francisco's PBS station group led by KQED and they would like to share it with the 353 other stations in the PBS system to have them air this nationwide on PBS. How amazing would that be? CJ is hopeful this will be just what the film needs to secure the much-needed sponsorship and donations for the remaining completion funds.

Feel free to share this letter from PBS with any potential sponsors who you think might be interested in attaching their name to such a project. We saw what happened in Canada earlier this year when they aired a low-carb diet documentary on CBC-TV featuring low-carb researcher Dr. Jay Wortman and filmmaker Mary Bissell entitled My Big Fat Diet. The same experience could happen for In Search Of The Perfect Human Diet in the United States. I'll let you know if PBS seals the deal on airing this film. What an amazing opportunity!

THE TOP 10 CARBOHYDRATES FOR A "HEALTHY" DIET?

I know I shouldn't do this to myself, but I subscribe to a wide variety of diet and health publications online that offer varying viewpoints about what is considered healthy. Reading some of this stuff helps me solidify in my mind exactly what I believe and why I believe it. This article from ShapeFit extolling the virtues of consuming carbohydrates for weight loss was just a little too much for me, though.

This line alone was enough to make me nearly blow a gasket: "To lose body fat, you want to shoot for 150 g carbs/day, 150 g protein/day, and 75 g fat/day if you were the above person!" They were referring to a 200-pound individual with 25 percent body fat. I wonder how many carbs they'd recommend for a 350-pound man with 45 percent body fat?! Would they dare say 300 g carbs/day?! Sheeeeez!!!

Then you look at this list of the top ten carbs and it's the same stuff we always see. not all of it is bad, but most of it is:

10.) Brown rice (just because it's brown don't make it healthy!)

9.) Steel cut whole oatmeal (not going inside my body!)

8.) Quinoa (if I can't pronounce it, I ain't eatin' it!)

7.) Yams/sweet potatoes (Uhhh, no!)

6.) Winter squashes (not too bad, these are good!)

5.) Peas and Legumes (I don't eat beans or peas--too starchy!)

4.) Colorful fibrous veggies (again, not bad, but be choosy!)

3.) Super fruits (berries are amazing, but most other fruit is not!)

2.) Leafy green vegetables (this is the lifeblood of a low-carb diet!)

1.) Cruciferous vegetables (non-starchy veggies are truly the best!)

Yes, you want to eat some carbohydrates for their phytonutrient profile and nutritional impact on your body. But giving people the impression that they should be consuming triple-digit carb counts is irresponsible no matter how virtuous you make the carbs sound. Limiting your carb intake to double digits will make you healthier, more fit, and live longer than you ever would consuming a consistently triple-digit daily carbohydrate diet. There's no debating that based on all we know about carbs.

DR. JOHN BRIFFA PROMOTES LOW-CARB DIET FOR DIABETICS

In the UK, one of the leading voices on behalf of livin' la vida low-carb is Dr. John Briffa. It shouldn't come as a shock to anyone that he is under constant attack from the medical and health establishment in that country for his positions in support of the low-carb diet for diabetics and the obese. In fact, one prominent health blog called NHS Blog Doctor has been relentlessly railing against Dr. Briffa over the past month in posts here, here, here, here, here, and here, just to name a few (I think this Dr. John Crippen must have some sort of man-crush on Dr. Briffa as much as he's writing about him!).

Despite these personal assaults against him, Dr. Briffa is still able to be an influential voice of reason in the health media in the UK as evidenced by this Business Day column highlighting the findings of the large-scale Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease study that found intensive treatment to lower blood sugar levels is a safe, effective way to reduce the serious complications of diabetes. This was the PERFECT response to the ridiculous ACCORD study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that warned diabetics AGAINST testing their blood sugars or else risk an increase in mortality rates.

Dr. Briffa breathed some sanity back into this discussion by stating the traditional diabetic diet of high-carb, low-fat "disruptive" foods just doesn't work to control blood sugars for diabetics. He adds that eating a diet low in carbohydrates and higher in vegetables and dietary fat will result in better control of this disease quite possibly without the need for medications. YES!!! THANK YOU Dr. Briffa for articulating what needs to be said.

I will be interviewing Dr. Briffa for my podcast show in the future when things settle down for him a bit. He's one of the most knowledgeable and articulate defenders of the healthy low-carb lifestyle across the pond and I'm grateful for the work he is doing there to help the British people suffering from weight and health ailments.

DIABETES/PRE-DIABETES NUMBERS JUMP TO 81 MILLION

Just two years ago I reported in this blog post that the number of Americans with diabetes or pre-diabetes totaled 73 million. But in just two years, that number has already jumped to 81 million, including a 5 million American increase in diagnosed cases of all types of diabetes, according to this CNN story.

Dr. Ann Albright from the Centers for Disease Control was lauding the fact that there was a 5 percent drop in the number of people who had diabetes and were unaware of it--dipping down to 25 percent from 30 percent. But in today's information-oriented society, there's no reason why people can't tell if they are dealing with blood sugar issues or not. Blood glucose monitors are readily available and diabetes care is quickly becoming a common health condition (although the way many doctors are treating it is out of whack!). Expect those numbers to continue to rise unless groups like the ADA takes their recommendation of livin' la vida low-carb to the next level. Expect that to happen within the next few years as diabetes rates keep rising!

AHA INTRODUCES THE "BETTER FAT SISTERS"

Do you remember those two stupid cartoon characters that the American Heart Association (AHA) created last year called Bad Fats Brothers? Sat and Trans (stands for saturated fat and trans fat) remind people of all the foods they are in and how much they'll "break your heart." Well, now the AHA has come out with a new set of characters Mon and Poly--aka the Better Fat Sisters. Get it? Mon for mono-unsaturated fat and Poly for polyunsaturated fat. Riiiiiiiight! These are supposedly the only healthy fats which is ridiculous since saturated fat isn't as bad for you as it has been made out to be by those brilliant minions at the AHA! And then to have Sally Squires from The Washington Post write this story about the Better Fat Sisters just puts this one over the top for me.

RESEARCHERS CHALLENGE ADA FOR SUPPORTING LOW-CARB

When the American Diabetes Association showed their support for low-carb diets in January 2008 just for weight loss up to one year, you had to know there would be some naysayers who are strongly in support of livin' la vida low-carb who realize this way of eating is more about blood sugar control than weight loss. And now it has happened.

This Diabetes Health column talks about a new study conducted by 24 doctors from around the world who say the ADA position of consuming a minimum of 130g carb daily is unreasonable for diabetics. This new "critical appraisal" of these recommendations is an effort to get the ADA and other diabetes health groups to rethink their position on low-fat, high-carb diets which usually lead to a pharmaceutical drug to handle the negative blood sugar/insulin response. YES! Here's hoping this leads to progress that will genuinely get the ADA to wake up to low-carb for diabetes control--and not just weight loss.

NEWSWEEK COLUMNIST BELLYACHES PARTY POOPER DIETERS

When I read this Newsweek magazine article, I couldn't help but laugh out loud because she was talking about people like ME! Of course, I disagree with her conclusions about how people on a diet that restricts their choice of foods leads to a drag on a summer party. Come on, don't put that onus on those of us who are choosing to live healthy lifestyles. ENJOY a good laugh with this one.

FAKE LOW-CARB CHEESECAKE RECIPE PROMOTED TO DIABETICS

Finally, after posting this cheesecake recipe on YouTube a couple of weeks ago, I was happy to see this Commercial Appeal story pushing a low-carb cheesecake recipe for people with diabetes. YEPPERS and it's red, white, and blue colored just in time to celebrate Independence Day. :D

Unfortunately, you'll notice the recipe calls for fat-free cream cheese, confectioner's sugar (WHAT?!!!), bran cereal crumbs for the crust (UGH!), fat-free yogurt...OH MY! Make appropriate full-fat, sugar-free substitutions and this one has promise. I just can't believe they're pushing this HIGH-CARB cheesecake as a "low-carb" cheesecake. Come on, where is the journalistic integrity?

Got a low-carb diet, health, or nutrition story to share with me? I'd love to hear it, so e-mail me the blog idea anytime to livinlowcarbman@charter.net. THANKS for reading and be sure to have a SUPER July 4th weekend!

Christian Radio Announcer Cindy Swanson's Interview And Blog Post About Low-Carb

2008-07-01T12:34:00.005-04:00

Type 2 diabetic Cindy Swanson loves low-carb living

Sometimes it feels like I've been blogging about livin' la vida low-carb forever, but there was a life for me prior to my 180-pound weight loss and subsequent career path I am now enjoying. Looking back at all those old jobs I have had--customer service, retail, marketing, management, political writer, short order cook, busboy, and a lot more jobs that I don't care to even remember--all of them prepared me for the work I am doing now serving the needs of my readers and I am grateful for the training I received from each of those.

But there was one particular job that I especially enjoyed during the 1990s that has come in handy for my podcast show and other speaking engagements that I am able to do. I was an on-air radio personality at a contemporary Christian music radio station in Virginia Beach, VA and even hosted a weekly show featuring the top songs in Christian music called "The Christian Hits Countdown." Even then I was always trying to be creative and I dreamed of doing bigger and better things in the future. Today I am living that dream. :)

Doing radio sounds so easy--just sit in a comfortable chair behind a microphone, press the play button on the CD player and talk into the microphone every once in a while. But it's so much more than that as Cindy Swanson from Positive Hit Radio 101QFL in Rockford, IL can personally attest to. She's half of the morning team at the radio station and is very good at what she does. It looks like a simple job, but there are certain stresses that come with radio announcing that you don't even want to talk about (and it has nothing at all to do with that chatty listener who likes to call you every now and then to talk and talk and talk right in the middle of your show...did I mention they like to talk?).

Why am I sharing about a Christian radio announcer today? Because Cindy Swanson was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes last year and has become VERY interested in the healthy low-carb lifestyle. She found my blog from a recent post I did with former "Biggest Loser" contestant Julie Hadden and was curious to find out I am a Christian who likes many of the same Christian artists that she does (I list them under "Favorite Music" in my blog profile). So she contacted me and told me about her fabulous blog "Notes in the Key of Life".

I enjoyed reading her blog and requested an interview with her to discuss how she handled learning she has Type 2 diabetes and what plan of action she is taking to bring it under control (she's livin' la vida low-carb, baby!). I'll be sharing that interview at my podcast later this month. Cindy also asked if she could interview me for her weekend spotlight show and I was delighted to have the opportunity to share about my healthy low-carb weight loss success with her listeners. You can listen to the entire 20-minute interview Cindy conducted with me by clicking here.

Cindy was also kind enough to blog about me and the work I am doing on behalf of low-carb living and I am grateful for her kindness and support. She is the perfect example of someone who NEEDS to be livin' la vida low-carb to control her diabetes and help her shed the pounds. By the grace of God and His guidance in her life, I have no doubt that she will live a long and healthy life with her diabetes under control and at the weight she was meant to be.

THANK YOU Cindy for featuring my story at your blog and on your radio station there in Rockport, IL. I am honored to have readers like you out there championing the cause of Christ as well as the positive message of livin' la vida low-carb. I can't wait to share my interview with you and appreciate all of the kindness and support you have given me since we met two months ago. God bless you and keep doing the work of the Lord within your sphere of influence. I appreciate you!!! :)

Dealing With Possible Reactive Hypoglycemia--One Month Later

2008-06-30T21:14:00.006-04:00

I wanted to give you a quick one-month update on my progress dealing with a possible case of reactive hypoglycemia (although my symptoms don't match the definition of this condition found on Wikipedia). This seems like an incredibly odd subject to be talking about as someone who has been faithfully livin' la vida low-carb for the greater part of the past 4 1/2 years. How can a low-carber be dealing with something like this when a low-carb diet is supposed to be one of the best diets for stabilizing blood sugar levels and, more importantly, reducing insulin levels?

As you know, I've been speaking with noted New York City low-carb doctor Dr. Keith Berkowitz who has been the only low-carb expert I've ever heard even talk about this phenomenon. His theory about reactive hypoglycemia for long-term low-carbers who have lost a lot of weight (like me!) seems to be valid on the surface (I'll be conducting a follow-up podcast interview in mid-July with Dr. Berkowitz to answer a TON of questions that you have submitted for him to answer). But something very odd has been happening with my blood sugar levels and that even includes after I've consumed a VERY high-carb meal.

You'll recall last month I did an experiment where I splurged out on some pizza to test what would happen to my blood sugar since eating a "normal" low-carb meal produced a significant DROP in my blood sugar. I couldn't believe it was possible for your blood sugar to go DOWN after a meal, so I forced the issue by consuming more carbs in one sitting than I had done since I started livin' la vida low-carb in January 2004.

The result? My fasting blood sugar of 91 actually DROPPED to 90 when I checked it one hour after eating (WOW!) all those slices of pizza, it finally rose to 100 by the second hour, and was back down to 98 by the third hour after this extremely high-carb meal. It was quite an illuminating self-experiment that had me scratching my head about what the heck was going on. I have been spending a lot of time over the past month trying to figure this out and I'm still perplexed about it.

On the advice of Dr. Berkowitz, I implemented several strategies for dealing with this as well as the coinciding slight weight gain that seemed to happen at the same time I started resistance training beginning in December, including eating lots of small meals about every couple of hours (see my menus blog), getting adequate quality sleep, continuing with my exercise routine including my weight training, and trying to lower the stress in my life by taking more breaks from my work. When I started this I weighed 274 pounds and today I weighed 262.

Although it has been moderately successful with bringing my weight down, I can see the numbers starting to stall out again as of late and I can't help but go back to what is happening with my blood sugars again. Could this have something to do with my weight being elevated? Did the creatine I took in the first six weeks of my weight training impact my blood sugar levels and get 'em all messed up? The honest answer is I don't know.

Since I have been doing this new routine for about a month now, I decided this morning to check my fasting blood sugar level and then several more times in the hour following a typical low-carb breakfast meal of eggs and sausage. This was a little larger meal than what I've been eating as part of my new "small" meals strategy, but not that much bigger. When I checked my blood sugar at 8:00am, the reading was 93 which is exactly where it should be after a night of fasting. So far, so good.

At 8:15am, I had that delicious egg and sausage meal that took me about five minutes to consume. At 8:20am, just after finishing my meal, I checked my blood sugar again and it had already dropped seven points to 86. Curious about this sudden drop, I then checked my blood sugar level again fifteen minutes later at 8:35am and it had jumped UP to 102. Hmmmm, now this was interesting. That made me want to see what would happen in fifteen more minutes at 8:50am and my blood sugar was back down to 92 again. For kicks, I measured it two more times at 15-minute intervals at 9:05am and 9:20am and my blood sugar was 89 and 92 respectively. I stopped measuring because it was almost time to eat again.

So what am I to make of all of this? Had I only checked my blood sugar after one hour as is typical, then I would have seen virtually NO change in my blood sugar. But doing this today in 15-minute increments was quite educational. It seems my blood sugar reaction is happening faster than normal which could be a good thing or a bad thing. Perhaps my body has become super-efficient at processing the foods I consume so there is no major impact on my blood sugar. Granted, my meal was virtually ZERO carbs, so the reaction should have been minimal.

Next week I'll be going back to see my low-carb doctor to have a blood glucose tolerance test run. They will be checking not just my blood sugars, but also my insulin levels after drinking a big glass of sugar water. This will be the tell-tale sign of what is happening to me and I'm curious about the insulin. Will it be off the charts which could explain why my blood sugar DROPS after a high-carb meal? If so, then what can be done to control this insulin release since I'm already livin' la vida low-carb. You will be the first to know these results as soon as I get them back and analyzed. We will figure this out together because this could help so many people.

I'll also be having a few more tests run just to check on them as possible culprits in this. My thyroid is fine based on the previous tests that were run at my last visit. So it's not that. The human body is a complex machine and sometimes it just takes time working through all the tests to come up with the answer. We are all different and there are any number of reasons that can explain what is happening. I just want to know THE reason. Is that too much to ask? :)

The good thing is I'm not in any pain because of what is happening. Other than the added weight, my quality of life is pretty normal. I'm still very active playing volleyball, lifting weights, shooting basketball with the middle school-aged girl across the street, mowing the grass, etc. Life continues on despite all of this. And that's my attitude about it right now--just keep on keepin' on and not worry about it. Worry produces cortisol which is a nasty stress hormone that can cause problems similar to insulin. It too could be an issue, so I'm gonna have it measured as well.

THANK YOU to everyone who has been following my story with this blood sugar thing with great interest and concern. I appreciate your comments and e-mails in support for me as I go through this. What I've found is I'm not the only one dealing with this and that's comforting in and of itself. In a way, I'm glad this is happening to me because I get to see what it's like to struggle somewhat. And I'll be danged if I let this thing beat me up and defeat me. I'm stronger than it is and I WILL prevail over it through the strength of the Lord and by the wisdom of the doctors who are overseeing my progress.

Let me encourage you to NEVER GIVE UP in your pursuit of health because it is the best thing you could ever do for yourself. When I weighed 410 pounds and was on a one-way ticket to the graveyard just a little over four years ago, I didn't feel like I'd ever find the hope to become that man I was intended to be. But today I stand before you a changed man and proud to say by the grace of God I am better off than I was back then.

While I may be having some tough times right now, I KNOW this situation is NOT impossible. There is an answer and I'm gonna keep searching for it until I find it. There's no going back to unhealthy eating ever again no matter how hard it gets. That's what my brother Kevin chose to do with his life and now he has less than a year left to live. It was his personal choice just as we all have that decision to make for ourselves. You can NEVER go wrong choosing to do something positive for your health.

MAKE THAT HAPPEN today and you'll reap the benefits of it for many years to come. Keep at it and whatever you do--NEVER GIVE UP!!! YOU are worth it and the best is yet to come. Make us all proud by doing the things you have to do to shed the pounds and improve your health. YOU CAN DO IT!!!

7-2-08 UPDATE: Last night I received a telephone call from a nutritionist who used to work with the Atkins Center back when Dr. Atkins was still around. She wanted to know how she could help me with this hypoglycemia issue I seem to be dealing with. I told her what was happening even after a low-carb meal and she brought up something I hadn't really thought much about before, but it makes sense. She said that perhaps my body is converting most of the protein I am eating (and I do eat a rather moderate amount of protein) into sugar/carbs through gluconeogenesis which is producing an insulin response.

So, despite the fact I am eating low-carb meals, the protein makeup of those meals could, in essence, be tantamount to eating carbohydrates. That sounds so messed up on surface value, but apparently my body must be extra sensitive to the protein I am consuming if it is doing this. I don't know for sure if that's what is happening, but it's the best theory I've heard yet.

So next week I am getting a glucose tolerance test (GTT) run and several people have said I need to eat upwards of 150g carbs daily in the few days leading up to test. I'd never heard of this, but apparently it was pretty well-known so you don't skew with results that you are looking for. I asked my low-carb doctor about this and here was his response:

Maybe...maybe not. It depends upon the question that we want to answer.

If you want to compare your results to what is thought to be the "normal response," then yes, carb eating would be good.

However, if you want to figure out what is happening to you after eating a low-carb meal (to look into this low blood glucose issue when eating low-carb), then no extra carb eating is needed.

We can start the test after you eat a low-carb breakfast. I also want to check the insulin at each time point to assess the pancreas response.

Don't I want to know what's happening after a low-carb meal or is it more beneficial to do a standard GTT? I'm open to your input about this. If I'm gonna do the standard, then I need to start eating a few more carbs beginning on Friday leading up to the Monday morning test.

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 154: Cassandra Forsythe Talks About Her 'Perfect Body Diet' Book

2008-06-30T11:46:00.006-04:00

Low-carb researcher Cassandra Forsythe talks about her new book

I have great hope for the future of livin' la vida low-carb because there is a whole generation of young people who are championing this cause right now and will be for at least the next half century! That should get you very excited if you believe in the solid scientific foundation of the healthy low-carb lifestyle and I am privileged to be a part of something like this that is making such a positive difference in the lives of this generation and quite possibly many generations to come. My guest today on my podcast show is another one of these young people who is making waves for low-carb.

In Episode 154 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore," we get to hear from the enthusiastic and lovely Cassandra Forsythe, a research assistant to world-renowned low-carb researcher Dr. Jeff Volek at the University of Connecticut and the author of two books of her own--The New Rules Of Lifting For Women and her latest Women's Health Perfect Body Diet. Some have read Cassandra's new book and shared with me their concerns about how it promotes the use of low-fat products and a fiber-based substance called glucomannon for weight loss. So I wanted Cassandra to come on the show today to respond to these criticisms directly.

Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod to hear Episode 154:

"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 154 [31:18m]: LISTEN NOW | Download

Cassandra gets into a lot of subjects during this half-hour interview, including what it's like to try to appease a book publisher who thinks "low-carb is dead," who needs to be following a low-carb diet more than anyone else, what it's like working with Dr. Volek, her discovery of glucomannon fiber to help you feel fuller after eating, how your body fuels your workouts in the absence of carbohydrate, and an in-depth discussion about her Perfect Diet book. With all that's happening in her life right now with an impending wedding and finishing up her doctorate degree, I was appreciative of Cassandra's generosity of time to do this interview.

Connect with all my interviews whenever you'd like by:

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

Did you like what you had to hear from Cassandra Forsythe? Do you think she adequately responded to the criticism about her new book? You can talk about it in the show notes section of Episode 154. Visit Cassandra Forsythe's web site and her fabulous blog to stay on top of all the latest low-carb information she is providing the public.

Come back on Thursday as I present my podcast interview with Charles Stuart Platkin, aka the "Diet Detective." He and I haven't always seen eye-to-eye on diet and health, but now I am the official low-carb contributor at his web site. :) Listen in as we talk about nutrition and fitness later this week. THANK YOU for listening to "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore."