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

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

Low-Carb Meetup Set For Rio Churrascaria In Cary, NC On May 4th at 6PM

I hope to see you at the Rio Churrascaria in Cary, NC on Sunday

Plans have been made for my wife Christine and I to drive three hours up I-85 this Sunday for a trip to the Triangle area of North Carolina (aka Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) for a series of events centered around the subject of livin' la vida low-carb.

First up is Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 6:00pm when we hope to meet so many of YOU at the uniquely low-carb Rio Churrascaria Brazilian steakhouse restaurant in Cary, NC. Their address is 107 Edinburgh Drive South right across the street from MacGregor Downs Country Club. I'd never heard of a Brazilian steakhouse until last month when friends of ours in Atlanta took us out to one and now I'm hooked! If you like to eat meat (and most low-carbers I know do!), then this is indeed your place to eat! Check out the menu for yourself by clicking here.

If you would like to come, we have dinner reservations for a party of 20 and we already have over a dozen signed up to be there. Please e-mail me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net if you are planning on coming so I can make sure we have a seat for you when you come on Sunday night. It's gonna be exciting to get to meet you all and there's a fairly large contingent of readers in that area. I'll have a special surprise gift for everyone who comes, so I hope you can make it out.

Then on Monday night, May 5th, I've been invited to come speak to the patients of Dr. Eric Westman, a well-known low-carb researcher and practitioner from Duke University who actively seeks to help people dealing with weight and health issues by using a low-carb nutritional approach. He's a real trailblazer for the work he is doing and I'm honored he would ask me to share a few words with his patients about my low-carb success. I'll be at Dr. Westman's clinic at 6:30pm on Monday for their monthly "Low-Glycemic Diet Support Group" and I look forward to meeting many of my readers who found out about him from my blog. :)

Finally, on Tuesday morning, I'll get to see Dr. Westman and his team in action at the Duke Lifestyle Medicine Clinic located at 4020 N. Roxboro Street in Durham. If I'm able to fit it into his schedule, then I may try to shoot some YouTube video footage. Otherwise, I'll just be observing what happens when someone comes into the clinic for help and see for myself how it all works. I know Dr. Westman told me when I saw him in Phoenix a few weeks ago that he has a full load of patients that keep him quite busy. That's a good problem to have!

Again, I hope to see you North Carolinians from the Triangle area on Sunday! Don't forget to let me know you're coming for dinner and I'll make sure you have a seat reserved JUST FOR YOU at 6:00PM. SEE YA THEN! :D

Join The 'Triangle Low-Carb Cooking' Meetup In Durham, NC

Check out The Triangle Low-Carb Cooking Meetup!

Earlier this year I told you about a low-carb meetup group in the Denver, Colorado area who regularly get together to talk about this beloved thing I like to call livin' la vida low-carb. Well, now we've got another one!

It's called the Triangle Low Carb Cooking Meetup group and they are located in the Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina area. Several of my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Discussion" forum readers live in and around that area and are planning on regular monthly meetings to talk about low-carb living.

WOO HOO!

I'm only about four hours away from there and will be planning to join up with them sometime in the next few months or so. I may try to plan a trip to visit Dr. Eric Westman and his team of researchers at the Duke University Medical Center there in Durham (he'd make an excellent guest speaker at a future meeting, by the way!) at the same time to make a trip of it. I'll let you know when that happens.

In the meantime, if you live in this area and want to join up with your fellow Triangle Low-Carbers, then go to the Meetup page to sign up so you'll never miss a future meeting! In fact, they'll be having their NEXT meeting coming this Thursday, September 13, 2007 at 6:30pm (or when you can get there!) at the Golden Corral located at 5006 Apex Highway 55 in Durham.

It'll be fun getting together with fellow low-carbers to talk about cooking ideas, recipes, weight loss and maintenance issues, and the fine art of livin' la vida low-carb when dining out. Contact Jen or Leslie if you are interested in attending. In fact, Leslie provided her cell phone number for you to RSVP to her directly--919-889-0223. Once you sign up, you can also RSVP at the Meetup page.

Okay, all you low-carb procrastinators in the Raleigh/Durham area, show up and support this low-carb event in your area and make us proud. You are trailblazers and should show the rest of the country (along with the Denver group!) how it's done. I'm coming your way soon, so I hope to see a nice size group when I get there.

Special thanks to Cindy from my forum for telling me about this exciting new low-carb group getting started up in Durham, North Carolina! Go to the event on Thursday and support the efforts that Jen and Leslie have invested in this. I'm sure you'll enjoy talking about livin' la vida low-carb with those who come. :)

9-14-07 UPDATE: The meeting went well last night and they've already got another one scheduled for October. Check it out and plan NOW to be there!

Announcing a new event for Triangle Low Carb Cooking!

What: Buon Appetito Italy!

When: Saturday, October 20, 6:00 PM

Where: Click this link to find out!

Event Description: Let's go Italian!

Our next meetup will be a shared meal with everyone cooking their favorite low carb Italian dish for a big buffet and social mixer. Jen (and Doug) will be hosting the meetup in their home.

Need ideas? How about low carb conversions of classics so delicious you'll swear someone's Italian great-gramma was cookin'! (Except of course you'll get all the recipes...that woman never wrote anything down...)

What about a pesto white pizza, or eggplant parmesan appetizers? A big antipasto "kitchen sink" salad is a sure fire low-carb hit! Maybe whip up a low-glycemic spaghetti and Tuscan meatballs with vodka sauce, or for dessert (drum roll please) homemade Kahlua tiramisu?

Let your imagination roam the hills of Italy, your grannies cookbooks, (or even a few internet recipe sites) for great ideas. If you need suggestions or help please contact meetup organizers Jen or Leslie. Even if you cannot cook a thing, please join us for the meetup - we have ideas about how everyone can contribute to the fun.

We are looking forward to seeing you and sharing some great food!

Be sure to SIGN UP for this low-carb meetup group in Raleigh/Durham, NC! :D

A Low-Carb Lecture, The Latest Obesity Stats, And A New Online Research Library

I have for you today three very practical links with excellent information to access, absorb, and fully acquaint yourself with as you continue to educate yourself about livin' la vida low-carb and the impact it can have on obesity and healthy.

1. LOW-CARB PRESENTATION BY DR. WILLIAM YANCY

The Endocrinology Conference in the Duke Clinical Medicine Series has just posted this fascinating new Continuing Medical Education (CME) lecture given by Dr. William Yancy, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina on June 15, 2007. Register for FREE and then check out what this leading low-carb researcher had to say about his research of livin' la vida low-carb!

His presentation outline includes the following:

- The Use of Low-Carbohydrate Diets for Weight Loss
- History of Low-Carbohydrate Diets
- Trends in Macronutrient Intake & Obesity
- Low Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diet (LCKD)
- Example of 20g Carbohydrate Menu
- Diets, Carbohydrates, and Calories
- Low-Carb Ketogenic Diet (LCKD) Rationale
- The Role of Ketones
- LCKD vs Low Fat Diet: 6 Months
- Outpatient Low-Carbohydrate Diet RCTs: Weight Loss
- Joslin Diabetic Diet, 1923
- Effect of LCKD on Type 2 Diabetes
- Clinical Recommendations for LCKD
- MUCH MUCH MORE!

I've attended low-carb conferences in Brooklyn, NY and Nashville, TN over the past couple of years and I know this invaluable research is unknown to most non-medical people. Dr. Yancy was thorough and offer quite an eye-opening presentation that should get you excited about low-carb living all over again.

2. REVOLUTION HEALTH'S OBESITY MAP (1990-2006)

Wanna see something quite disturbing? Check out this unique and depressing obesity map of America to see just how much times have changed over the past 17 years. It's quite ASTONISHING to say the least! It makes me shudder to think what the year 2025 will look like with the amount of red (indicating average BMI of over 30 percent) very likely plastering the entire nation unless something is done to turn the tide of this epidemic.

Access a state-by-state breakdown of the obesity numbers and see how much YOUR state has changed since 1990. If this doesn't prove that we need to make better choices about how to treat the overweight and obese, then I don't know what does. Send the link to this map to everyone you know who is concerned about weight and health in the United States.

3. JACKIE EBERSTEIN'S LOW-CARB RESEARCH LIBRARY

You'll recall I told you about a new low-carb web site from Jacqueline Eberstein a few months ago and that she wanted to bring back a lot of the old low-carb research that used to appear on the old version of the official Atkins web site (which has now removed those links). Well, that project is DONE and you can now access most of the lost low-carb research studies anytime. THANK YOU for doing that, Jackie!

Read this introduction to the research and then get into the good stuff by finding the links from the Journal of Nutrition & Metabolism, Metabolic Syndrome & Related Disorders, and a whole boatload of low-carb research that has been published in a variety of other scientific and medical journals. If you need to find a low-carb study, then THIS is the place to do it!

These three useful resources should keep you quite busy for a while as you expand your mind and broaden your horizons about low-carb living in these modern times. We're all in this together as we attempt to share the truth with those who need to know it!

As my friend Regina Wilshire from the "Weight Of The Evidence" blog says, "LEARN IT, LIVE IT, LOVE IT!" That's livin' la vida low-carb, baby!

Duke Researcher Dr. Eric Westman On A One-Man Low-Carb Diet Crusade

Dr. Eric Westman lets science and his patients prove low-carb to him

If I were to name you the most ardent supporter of livin' la vida low-carb within the realm of low-carb science today, then one man would win that distinction hands down--Duke University researcher and practitioner Dr. Eric Westman.

I LOVE this guy because he lives and breathes low-carb as a means to an end not just for obesity, but also for treating such diseases as diabetes. In fact, he authored this groundbreaking study revealed at the 2006 ADA meeting that sent shock waves among the attendees. Dr. Westman has positioned himself as THE leader on low-carbohydrate diets and should be lauded and supported for allowing the evidence in favor of low-carb speak for itself without any preconceived nutritional biases.

This man's work in the low-carb community earned him my respect last year as I included him among my Top 10 Low-Carb Movers & Shakers and even had the privilege of interviewing him at my blog. I was honored to meet with Dr. Westman in person while attending the 2007 American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP) conference in Nashville, TN a couple of months ago to record this podcast interview. He exudes confidence with the breadth of knowledge he has about livin' la vida low-carb.

That was on full display during Dr. Westman's recent interview on the Nashville-based television program "Comments with Dr. James Haney." It was filmed the same week of the ASBP meeting. We've seen how eloquent Dr. Westman can be communicating the low-carb message in this local TV documentary that aired in the Durham, NC market last month.

Watch this 10-minute snippet from Dr. Westman's interview about diabetes:


Don't you wish we had more people like Dr. Eric Westman communicating this simple, yet effective message that livin' la vida low-carb can help you not only lose weight, but also manage the diseases that afflict modern society. I LOVED that old 1923 medical book he read out of because it's true low-carb has been recommended for much longer than Dr. Atkins was around.

And Dr. Westman articulating that we have a sugar problem, not a fat problem just hammers the central theme of low-carb living home. THANK YOU, Dr. Westman! Can we clone you? :D

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 54: Dr. Eric Westman Giving A Voice To Low-Carb Science

Dr. Eric Westman--soft-spoken, but mighty strong in low-carb research

I have a very special interview to share with you today from the American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP) obesity conference I attended in Nashville, Tennessee recently. It's with a man that every single low-carb supporter need to be abundantly aware of because he is conducting the kind of research on low-carbohydrate diets that will usher in a new wave of interest in this way of eating that cannot be ignored. His name is Dr. Eric Westman.

In Episode 54 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore," I was privileged to ask Dr. Westman about his amazing research into the low-carb lifestyle, including why he started researching this, what his research has taught him as an internist, where he sees low-carb research headed in the coming years, and when he thinks mainstream acceptance of low-carb will happen.

Listen to my most compelling podcast interview to date with Dr. Westman:

 "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 54 [23:16m]: Play in Popup | Download

There is nobody working harder behind-the-scenes of low-carb (except for maybe Dr. Mary C. Vernon) than Dr. Eric Westman because he has seen the dramatic improvements in the weight and health that has happened in his patients who started following a "diet book." It turns out that book was written by the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins and it went against everything Dr. Westman was ever taught in medical school.

Neverthless, he has since learned more about low-carb living and realizes it can help with not just obesity, but also diabetes and a host of other health ailments. Dr. Westman is dedicated to helping his fellow doctors and medical professionals understand why low-carb dieters like us see the amazing lifechanging results we see in our weight and health.

During my interview with him, Dr. Westman said he vividly remembered one thing he was taught in medical school: while the training to become a physician ends at school, the education process never ends with what your patients tell you. WOW, we need more doctors who are willing to take this philosophy about their practice so they can truly help people get healthier than they ever thought possible.

Check out "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show" podcast anytime by:

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

Did you enjoy hearing what Dr. Eric Westman had to say about livin' la vida low-carb? He's definitely a name you will want to remember because some of the most damning evidence against low-fat diets in the coming years will very likely be from his research lab in Durham, North Carolina. Share your thoughts about Dr. Westman and his research. I am planning a trip up the road from my hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina to visit his clinic soon to see what he does in action.

Also, if you entered my contest from Episode 53 for the FREE GoLower Chocolate Creme Bars, then be sure to listen to today's show to see if your name was among the winners. THANK YOU to everyone who posted a comment at the podcast web site and then e-mailed me your entry. It was a great success and I look forward to more contests coming soon.

THANKS for listening to "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore."