Dansinger: Low-Carb Diet Has Been 'Wrongfully Dismissed' By Health Experts

Dr. Michael Dansinger says low-carb diet deserves a fair shake

A couple of months ago, I took part in a very exciting discussion panel about low-carb and low-fat diets which I featured the audio of in Episode 35 and Episode 36 of my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" podcast.

One of the featured speakers in that teleconference call was a weight loss expert named Dr. Michael Dansinger. He has been actively involved in trying to find solutions to the ever-growing epidemic of obesity through his research studies and by playing an integral role in the success seen by the contestants on NBC's hit reality show "The Biggest Loser."

What a pleasure it was to have the opportunity to interview Dr. Dansinger at the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog! I asked some rather pointed questions about the future state of the low-carb lifestyle and he was more than willing to share his conclusions based on years of dealing with these issues in his research.

While he is not as enthusiastic a supporter of livin' la vida low-carb as I am (WHO IS?! LOL!), you'll quickly notice that Dr. Dansinger agrees the general public and those in the medical community should at least give low-carb a second glance. His is an influential voice of reason that we need more of in this great diet debate.

Listen and learn from Dr. Dansinger today.

1. Please welcome to the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog today Tufts University medical professor Dr. Michael Dansinger. He is one of America's leading authorities on the subject of obesity and is on the frontlines of helping change the face of nutrition and diet in America.

There's so much I want to talk with you about today, Dr. Dansinger, because yours is a voice that needs to be heard by those who can bring about changes in dietary recommendations that come from our government. And actually you had the chance to do just that with a congressional report about how providing incentives for people to begin an organized weight loss plan would actually end up saving money in healthcare costs in the long run. Share with my readers about what was in that report.

First let me thank you for interviewing me, and congratulate you for your dedication to improving public health. The report, prepared at the request of the US government, was titled “Cost Effectiveness of Behavioral Weight Loss Programs for the Elderly.” My co-authors at Tufts and I submitted this report in 2004 after researching the topic for a year.

The report concluded that lifestyle-based weight loss programs for the obese elderly population may improve health at a relatively low cost. The findings could potentially be used to support government subsidies or funding for such programs. The report also found a disturbing shortage of diet and lifestyle improvement studies in the elderly population.

2. You are a big believer, just as I am, that there are individualized plans for losing weight and improving health that are different for everyone and that finding the method that each person can "stick with" is the key to solving the obesity crisis we find ourselves in. While one person may do very well on a low-fat diet and eat that way forever, someone else may find that the low-carb lifestyle is more compatible for them. Find the diet that's right for you, I always say.

If this is true, then where is the disconnect in the line of communication between our nation's government and health leaders and the overweight public looking for guidance? How and why has the low-fat diet become the center of attention in virtually every government-endorsed nutritional recommendations while the low-carb diet is simply ignored and scorned?

I agree wholeheartedly that the low-carb approach has been wrongfully dismissed by nutrition experts, simply because it seems counterintuitive. They should have recognized 30 years ago that we had more to gain by studying this approach than by dismissing it.

My fear is that health professionals will continue to dismiss it, even in the face of the accumulating consistent data demonstrating equal or superior improvements in excess body fat and heart disease risk factors. I believe the authorities are blinded to alternative approaches by the massive inertia that sustains the standard approach.

3. In 2005, you became a household name and appeared in numerous television, radio, newspaper, and magazines as the Principal Investigator in the famous Tufts Popular Diet Trial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) which compared the Atkins, Zone, Weight Watchers, and Ornish diets for weight loss and heart disease prevention.

It was a monumental study because the Atkins low-carb diet was placed in a head-to-head match-up with the more traditional low-fat diets like Ornish and Weight Watchers and showed livin' la vida low-carb is the best way to lose weight over a six-month period and at the very least just as effective as low-fat for weight loss after a year.

Did you realize the magnitude of your research and the possible implications it could have on future health and obesity policy in the United States at the time? Have you seen any changes being proposed or implemented by government agencies like the FDA or USDA that happened in direct response to your study results?

Our popular diet trial confirmed what other researchers had found before us: that lower carb diets could reduce weight with favorable effects on cholesterol levels and other heart disease risk factors. More importantly, we highlighted the fact that a high dietary adherence level is the key to health benefits, regardless of diet type.

With the publication of our study, I think we saw a little more open-mindedness about popular diet diversity among nutrition policy makers. In the meantime, the old USDA food pyramid that emphasized starchy foods was undergoing substantial revision, with a de-emphasis of grains as the base of the American diet. This new pyramid was released a few months after our study was published, and I believe this represents the government’s principal response to criticism of the high carb/low fat approach.

4. We recently saw another spike in media attention to the Atkins low-carb diet when a one-year Stanford study published in JAMA in March 2007 found that the low-carb diet outperformed the more traditional low-fat diets for weight loss and improving health risk factors in yet another head-to-head matchup.

This is now the largest randomized trial of popular diets conducted to date and complements many of the findings of your study. With so much evidence beginning to mount in favor of low-carb as a sustainable dietary approach for at least one year, why haven't government health agencies like the National Institutes of Health called for even more extensive long-term studies to be conducted looking at this way of eating for weight and health management? What length of time does a legitimate study need to be in order to be an indicator of "long-term" success?

The government has recently funded a wide variety of studies of low and moderate carb diets. I believe the longest one is 2.5 years for each participant, and the largest is 360 participants. I believe these studies will mainly serve to confirm what we already know about weight loss and blood test results.

I do not believe the Atkins diet will get much respect from the nutrition community unless improvements in heart attack rates or cholesterol plaque buildup in the heart are found in carefully designed studies. I’d like to see funding for such studies, but I’m not aware of any yet.

Individuals should obtain individualized advice whenever possible, in order to account for specific food preferences, medical conditions, and lifestyle issues. Nevertheless, as a general public health measure, I do believe that the government should provide generic guidelines based on expert consensus of scientific evidence.

5. I'm personally intrigued by something you are working on regarding the much-heralded USDA-recommended food pyramid. While this has long been regarded as the "holy grail" about what should constitute a healthy diet, you are working on creating several different variations of it that would be customized for each person.

If we all respond to different nutritional plans in different ways, then why should the government or anyone else besides a professional nutritionist educated in a full spectrum of diet plans who has met one-on-one with a patient even attempt to make universal suggestions for weight loss and health? Why not recommend low-carb alongside low-fat?

The USDA food pyramid is the most widely recognized format for such advice, and therefore it is important to determine the health effects of the food pyramid, and to evaluate alternative designs intended to improve it.

If the USDA food pyramid is further modified to replace starchy foods with vegetables, fruits, and healthy proteins, would it provide more effective treatment for obesity and heart disease risk factors? I’m working with the USDA nutrition research center at Tufts to answer this question in 200 obese adults who will aim to follow either the current pyramid or a low-starch pyramid for a year.

6. The American Heart Association (AHA) changed their dietary recommendations last year to reflect some of the very principles the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins helped bring to the forefront. But, as my fellow blogger Regina Wilshire was quick to notice and pointed out, it is impossible to create a menu with a day's worth of meals that follow the AHA recommendations of less than 7 percent saturated fat and simultaneously meet all the essential nutrient-requirements for fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and trace elements.

In fact, they have yet to produce any sample menus to satisfy the requirements of their own diet plan. By putting out recommendations that are not based on any hard evidence or proof, isn't the AHA, USDA, and FDA, among others, simply confounding the obesity problem that people like yourself are trying to solve?

Perhaps you are being a tad too hard on the standard approach. I think the real villain is the obesogenic environment, not necessarily the moderate-fat diet promoted by the government. That dietary approach is based on scientific evidence of effectiveness when followed, and can provide all the essential nutrients.

Unfortunately, all eating strategies are difficult for most people to maintain on a long-term basis. We need to find better ways to help people stick to the plans they want to follow. Embracing a broad spectrum of eating strategies, and learning how to match up the plans according to each individual’s needs are important priorities in our efforts to improve public health.

We can’t afford to dismiss the standard moderate fat approach any more than we can afford to dismiss the low-carb, moderate carb, or low-fat approach.

7. As we look to the future of scientific research on whether low-carb diets can be used as a means for losing weight over the long-term as well as a preventative measure such ailments as heart disease and diabetes, do you see this happening anytime soon? What is standing in the way preventing this kind of much-needed research from happening and is there anything that can be done by those of us who support the low-carb lifestyle to help persuade the people funding these studies that this is a worthwhile endeavor?

Various political forces determine the amount of government money available for nutrition research. In addition, various charitable foundations (including the Atkins Foundation) provide significant amounts of money for nutrition research.

In most cases, experienced nutrition scientists submit research grant proposals, which in turn are evaluated by experienced scientists according to scientific merit and potential to improve public health. Low-carb is a hot topic within the nutrition community, and there is clearly a willingness to allocate some of the available money to well-designed studies of low-carb diets.

The total amount of money available for nutrition and obesity studies is limited, however, and that is the main factor limiting the existence of more definitive studies of low-carb diets. Charitable foundations and congressional leaders can make the biggest impact on the amount of money available for nutrition and obesity research.

Those who want to see more studies can support charitable foundations and congressional leaders with an interest in such research.

8. Speaking of a worthwhile endeavor, a lot of people may not realize that you are one of the consultants on the hit NBC television weight loss reality show "The Biggest Loser." I am a strong supporter of the work that is being done on that show to change the lives of the contestants forever.

One thing I have noticed, though, among the people who have been the most successful on that show is the fact that they seemed to lose their weight following some variation of the low-carb lifestyle. Ryan Benson, Matt Hoover, and most recently, Erik Chopin all experienced major triple-digit weight loss success because of the low-carb diet that you and the nutrition team on "The Biggest Loser" put them on.

Why can't the viewers at home be told what kind of diet plan is being used with each contestant? Wouldn't that be helpful for fans of the show looking for weight loss advice to know it was livin' la vida low-carb that produced the improvements in weight and health?

I have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to work with the show because I believe it can provide the public with a weekly reminder of the power of lifestyle change. The trainers and nutrition team members all agreed that a carb-controlled, moderate fat, high protein eating strategy would be the best starting point. Each contestant then modified this general approach to suit his or her preferences.

"The Biggest Loser" book and cookbook each discuss the eating plan in detail and provide recipes. Many of the winners have pushed the carb intake very low at times, and have focused on lean protein and low carb vegetables, but many big losers have cut calories and weight without being so restrictive with the carbs. I agree that it could benefit viewers to know more about what each contestant is eating.

9. Speaking of the contestants, how are some of the older contestants from Season 1 and 2 doing now? The long-term success of any diet program is determined by whether the person strictly adheres to the concepts of that plan in the short term or transitions their new lifestyle choices into a permanent way to eat and live. Are there any stellar examples, such as Kelly Minner (another one who lost her weight with low-carb), who have continued to keep the weight off years later?

I believe the contestants have done better than some might expect, considering how difficult it is to keep weight off in today’s world. We expected some to keep most of the weight off, and some to regain most of the lost weight, depending on each individual’s ability to stick to the principles they learned while living in an optimal environment for fitness.

Although almost every contestant has continued to lose weight for several months at home, I believe a very big predictor of long-term success is the extent to which one is able to reorganize one’s life to accommodate the time needed to exercise and prepare healthy food. One stellar example is Matt Hoover, who has maintained most of his 157-pound weight loss since November 2005 by exercising most days and livin’ la vida low-carb.

10. On behalf of my readers who so faithfully visit my blog day after day for new information about diet and health, let me say THANK YOU to you, Dr. Dansinger, for being willing to challenge the status quo in the great debate over obesity. It's a noble subject to address and we need more leaders like you willing to stand up and speak the truth rather than simply regurgitating the same failed messages over and over again.

Do you have anything positive to share with that overweight or obese person who is reading this interview right now to encourage them that they can succeed at weight loss?

Jimmy, my gratitude goes out to you and your readers for stimulating public interest and debate on nutrition issues. Despite how seriously damaging the obesity epidemic has become, I am optimistic that things can change in the future.

I would like to remind doctors and other health professionals that lifestyle change is one of our most potent treatments and preventive measures for chronic illness, and that our enthusiasm when discussing these issues with our patients is crucial.

And for the overweight person reading this, you know you’ll succeed once you decide you’ll never give up trying! I wish you all good health for many years to come!

You can e-mail Dr. Michael Dansinger at MDansinger@tufts-nemc.org.

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 36: Low-Fat Expert Agrees Low-Carb Is Effective

We'll conclude this special edition of my podcast show this week with Episode 36 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore." This is Part 2 of a teleconference call about the now infamous JAMA study showing the Atkins low-carb diet was best among all the diets after one year. It's a little long, but worth every minute to listen:

 "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 36 [34:43m]: Play in Popup | Download

Picking up right where we left off in Episode 35, we get even more debate featuring the commentary of such low-carb experts as Dr. Mary Vernon, Dr. Eric Westman, Dr. Gil Wilshire, and others in Episode 36. Plus the sound quality of Part 2 is a million times better than Part 1 was, so be sure to listen to this one from start to finish.

Special thanks to RevolutionHealth.com as well as my fellow bloggers Laura Dolson, Kate Welch, and the always entertaining Dana Carpender who contributed to the call with their comments and questions. Also, I appreciate the professionalism by the host of the call Jason Rosenburg as well as the guests Dr. Michael Dansinger (who I will be sharing an interview with soon at my blog) and Dr. James Hill.

Access "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show" 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

Do you have any final comments to share about this teleconference call? What should we do next to bring about my recommendation to have the low-carb diet promoted alongside the low-fat diet as equally effective? Share your thoughts about this in the comments section or by calling our listener comment line at (206) 203-4192.

Come back next week for another exciting episode of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" including an interview on Thursday with the founder and president of Carbsmart, Andrew DiMino, who will discuss the state of the low-carb retail industry. DON'T MISS IT! :)

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 35: Dansinger, Hill Take On The Low-Carb Bloggers

Today and Thursday I have a special edition of my podcast show to share with you. In Episode 35 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore," you will access the first part of an exciting teleconference call the took place recently following the JAMA study from Stanford University showing the Atkins diet was better after one year for weight loss and improved health. Check out Part 1 right now:

 "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 35 [31:00m]: Play in Popup | Download

You will notice that Episode 35 is about twice as long as normal for my podcast show. Because I was out of town all of last week (and just got home off a red-eye flight this afternoon), we decided to split the recent teleconference call sponsored by RevolutionHealth.com into two parts and it features some low-carb luminaries that you may recognize in Part 1--Dana Carpender, Dr. Mary C. Vernon, and myself all got to ask Dr. Michael Dansinger and Dr. James Hill questions about the low-carb study that shocked the world recently. Tune in for the fireworks!

Access "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show" 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

Let me apologize for the poor sound quality of the podcast. It was a recorded teleconference call with people calling in from all over, so the quality is only about as good as a bad phone connection. If you can endure through that, then it is well worth your time to listen and I'd love to know what you think. Provide your comments and state whether you are buying the argument by Dr. Hill that low-carb is only good for temporary, short-term weight loss.

Be sure to listen to the second half of the teleconference call on Thursday which will feature even more famous low-carb researchers and bloggers you will quickly recognize. I even get in another comment or two challenging this "temporary" argument head-on. Don't miss it!

If The Atkins Diet Works As Well As Low-Fat, Then Why Not Recommend It?

Boy, we've got the low-fatties beside themselves today!

After the release of this JAMA study on Tuesday that is making tons of positive headlines for livin' la vida low-carb, you would think those who support low-fat diets were just told the government was no longer going to actively recommend that way of eating as the publicly-endorsed nutritional approach for getting healthy.

Of course, you know that wouldn't be such a bad idea if it happened. GASP! LOL! More about that in a moment.

I was privileged to be invited to join a teleconference debate last night sponsored by RevolutionHealth.com, a new web site dedicated to helping people take action to manage their health care, conditions and healthy living goals by bringing together a blend of the best health information, tools, communities and services all in one place. It's a free site that is worthy of your attention if you are like me and care about the subject of health.

The debate itself was between Dr. Michael Dansinger, MD who authored this JAMA study comparing various popular diets in 2005 and Dr. James Hill, PhD. from the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR). Neither one of these men are what I would call enthusiastic supporters of livin' la vida low-carb, but Dr. Dansinger is at least respectful of the diet. Dr. Hill, on the other hand, has his doubts about the Atkins diet beyond short-term weight loss. I'll explain why I think he believes this way shortly.

Jason Rosenberg, who hosted the call, asked me to invite people to the call since my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog was one of the more prominent ones in the low-carb community. So, I e-mailed a handful of low-carb supporters across the various fields of academia, research, advocacy, and blogging and came up with people who I thought could join me and the other low-fat diet bloggers and advocates as we hash out the the details of this study.

But when I called just minutes before the teleconference began at 7:30pm, imagine my surprise when every single one of the people participating in the call was in some way connected to the low-carb community. What?! Where were the low-fat diet bloggers and supporters? Were they simply unwilling to engage in a little spirited debate surrounding these newfound facts about the Atkins diet? Surely you jest?!

Nope! It was true. Not one single person beside Dr. Hill was there to defend low-fat, despite the fact that Jason invited them just like he did me. In a way I felt bad for Dr. Hill because I didn't want him to think all of us low-carbers were ganging up on him like a bunch of blood-thirsty savage wolves seeking to devour some freshly-caught prey. I'm sure that may be how he felt once we all started asking our questions and making our comments.

So, who was on the call with me? Here's the list:

- Dr. Mary C. Vernon from the University of Kansas
- Dr. Eric Westman from Duke University Medical Center
- Laura Dolson from About Low-Carb Diets
- Kate Welch from The Steaks Are High
- Dr. Gil Wilshire from The Carbohydate Awareness Council
- Regina Wilshire from Weight Of The Evidence
- Dana Carpender from Lowcarbezine!
- Marilyn Turnbow from Atkins YAHOO! Group

It was quite a distinguished panel and I was honored to be a part of it. After some formal introductions of the speakers and an informal roll call of everyone who was participating, both Dr. Dansinger and Dr. Hill gave their assessment of what they thought about the Gardner study that released on Tuesday.

Interestingly, both men agreed that there is very clear evidence from the body of research that has come out in the past few years about low-carb diets that they should not be dismissed altogether. But what irritated me the most was when Dr. Hill kept insisting on giving the caveat "in the short-term" whenever he discussed low-carb diets. Oh, they're great for weight loss "in the short-term" and I wouldn't have any problem with someone wanting to try that diet "in the short term."

UGH!

As you can imagine, I was chomping at the bit to ask my question and Jason gave me the first shot. So I asked Dr. Hill point blank if low-carb is only good for the short-term, then how am I supposed to eat long-term? He responded by stating that if it's working for me then keep doing it, but it does not work well for everyone. Thankfully, he did admit the same thing about low-fat diets, but the same scrutiny does not exist for that diet.

One interesting statement made by Dr. Hill that quite frankly floored me was when he said low-carb diets are as equally ineffective after a year just as low-fat diets are. Did you catch that apparent slip of the tongue? He just said low-fat diets are INEFFECTIVE after a year. If that's true, Dr. Hill, then why do we keep having what you admit is a FAILED message hammered down our throats year in and year out? Isn't the low-fat, low-calorie diet what your National Weight Control Registry recommends as the long-term way to lose weight?

Taking his thesis that low-carb is equal to low-fat in bringing about weight loss and improved health (or not) a little further, I asked a follow-up question for Dr. Hill a few minutes later asking if the Atkins diet works just as well as the low-fat diets, then why aren't government and health entities recommending both alongside each other? Dr. Hill said that was an important question to ask, but never really said if he believed it could, should, or would ever happen. There's a reason he ducked at that question.

Dr. Hill's answer was not at all surprising considering his obvious conflict of interests I blogged about previously with his ties to the food industry. Dr. Hill is on the advisory board for the Grain Foods Foundation and has consulting ties to PepsiCo, McDonald's, HealtheTech, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Coca-Cola. He has also received speaker fees from Abbott Laboratories, Roche Laboratories, and Kraft Foods as well as research funding from M&Ms/Mars. The Sugar Association has also funded his research on the role of carbohydrates in weight management.

And this is the same man, along with Dr. Rena Wing from Brown University/Miriam Hospital, who supposedly speaks for what works for people to bring about weight loss over the long-term according to the much-heralded NWCR. Ever since I joined the NWCR in 2005, I have been concerned about their apparent bias against low-carb while the low-fat, low-calorie diet is so heavily endorsed. Frankly I'm surprised nobody outside the low-carb community is as concerned about this as I am.

This conversation about developing long-term weight and health strategies is an important one to discuss as Dr. Vernon so eloquently mentioned regarding providing individuals with the support they need to be successful. Before that happens, though, we must all agree that if low-carb diets are as effective as low-fat diets (and that's what the evidence has shown in multiple studies now), then they deserve equal footing, equal treatment, and equal endorsement by our leaders.

The time for talking about this is over. We've seen the research and it shows that low-carb is as good or better than low-fat diets for at least one year. With this knowledge under our belt, when are we going to stop pandering to the special interests in the food industry and finally do the right thing--PROMOTE LOW-CARB AND LOW-FAT AS EQUALS! This is a public charge to health leaders like Dr. Hill and the like to stand up and do the right thing.

Kate from "The Steaks Are High" blog summarized it well in her post about the teleconference call echoing my message of equal treatment for low-carb diets.

"All low carbers are asking for is that the low-carb approach be recommended as an option alongside low fat, since the medical safety of Atkins has been proven by this and many other studies. Oh yeah, and that the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association read some of the latest research for a change."

That really is all we are asking for. Livin' la vida low-carb doesn't have to be advocated (although it could be argued that low-fat diets HAVE been for decades), but simply put on the table as a viable option for people to try if they need to lose weight and get healthy. What harm will come if people are given a choice, hmmm?

E-mail Dr. James Hill and urge him to use his powerful position in the realm of health and nutrition to push government and health leaders to promote low-carb alongside low-fat in national dietary recommendations at CHN@uchsc.edu.

3-7-07 UPDATE: You can now listen to the audio of this nearly one-hour teleconference call I blogged about. ENJOY!

Get In On A Low-Carb Teleconference Debate

The murmurings about this BIG STUDY coming out on Tuesday afternoon are getting louder and louder and it is putting the Atkins diet and livin' la vida low-carb back in the limelight again in 2007 (just as I've been predicting would happen as all this new research comes out). The actual study releasing Tuesday is embargoed until 4pm EST on Tuesday afternoon, but I will DEFINITELY be blogging about it at that time. Stay tuned!

But for those of you who have your own low-carb blog and/or web site, I'd like to invite you to an event on Tuesday evening at 7:30pm EST. It's a conference call with a debate about this new study and the merits of the low-carb lifestyle.

Two dietitians will be featured in the study Dr. Michael Dansinger, MD who was the lead researcher in the infamous Tufts diet trial from January 2005 and Dr. James Hill, PhD from the National Weight Control Registry and obesity expert.

After their brief debate, there will be a discussion from people invited to talk about this--and they've asked me to be on the call. Even better was the fact that they said I could invite all my rowdy friends to come on over as well. :D So, that's YOU and I want you to be a part of the fun if you can make it.

Send me an e-mail at livinlowcarbman@charter.net if you have a low-carb blog or web site and would like to take part in this teleconference call on Tuesday night. I'd be happy to let the call organizers know you are coming and send you the special telephone number to call as well as the access code.

Let me hear from you ASAP if you are interested in being on the call. There will be some BIG NAMES in the low-carb community on the line, so you won't want to miss being a part of the action. Plus, the event organizers have promised to make the audio of this teleconference call available to me afterwards which I will try to post here when it becomes available.

Get in before it's too late...join the low-carb teleconference debate!

Sharp Eye On Impact Of 'The Biggest Loser"

Quirky Linda Sharp weighs in on impact of "The Biggest Loser"

If you have never read the writings of a woman named Linda Sharp, then you are missing out on one of the most optimistic and joyous people on the planet Earth today! This humorolumnist (that's the new word I made up today for people like her who are humor columnists) is syndicated in various web sites around the world with her Erma Bombeck-styled writings. If you are a parent or sometimes feel the weight of the world is barreling down on top of you, then Linda's book Stretchmarks On My Sanity will help put things back into perspective for you!

Sharp also has a blog called "Don't Get Me Started" for people who can't get enough of her take on life. I was especially drawn in to her comments posted this week regarding season two of NBC's breakout reality show from last summer "The Biggest Loser" that debuted on Wednesday night.

Before I get into Sharp's comments, let me applaud NBC for posting information about a wide variety of weight loss plans at their web site. This gives people valuable information about which plan may work best for them and allows for many different options that may work for them.




I was very pleasantly surprised to read what "The Biggest Loser" Weight Loss Consultant Dr. Dansinger said about the Atkins diet:

"This eating strategy is so controversial because it is far outside the "traditional" approach to weight loss. However, preliminary medical studies have consistently demonstrated that most people who maintain a weight loss on the Atkins diet improve their cholesterol levels, despite the high fat and meat intake. As with other weight loss diets, people with high blood pressure or high blood sugar also improve these heart disease risk factors. The Atkins diet seems to work for weight loss by causing a reduction in hunger and appetite, and ultimately calories eaten. Many people find the Atkins diet works well for them when other diets have failed because the logic behind this eating strategy, as well as the food choices, are so different from other plans. As with all eating plans, the weight loss remains only as long as you stick to the program. If you choose to follow this diet, I recommend doing so under your doctor's supervision to ensure that your overall health is improving as you lose weight."

WOW, WOW, and WOW again! Finally, one of these health "experts" that gets it! Dr. Dansinger acknowledges that there actually are BENEFITS (gee, what a concept!) to a low-carb lifestyle and that many are enjoying these healthy characteristics that come from this way of eating. THANK YOU to NBC for selecting a consultant who is willing to see the positive benefits of livin' la vida low-carb and sharing them with the fans of their show. After all, "The Biggest Loser" winner from season one, Ryan Benson, is maintaining his weight loss thanks to exercise and low-carb!

While Sharp admits she was a little skeptical about watching this show about a group of fat people trying to see who could lose the most weight as a percentage of their starting weight, she admitted that she watched the first episode and was "hooked" from the very beginning by the tales of these contestants. She even had some rather interesting comments about the biggest and most lovable contestant from season one named Mo.

"I mean there is fat, and then there is FAT. Remember Mo from season one? You could have cloned me four times and still not have had enough weight to balance a scale with him on the other side. But God love him, he stood there in front of millions of American viewers, flab hanging every different direction, a set of manboobs to rival Pamela Anderson’s silicone set, and a determination to get his life back.

Hee hee! See, I told you Sharp has a quite a way with words. She transitioned her comments from talking about the television show into a general discussion about people who are overweight and obese that really moved me by the truths she wrote.

Check out her quote about this group I used to be a part of for the vast majority of my life:

We all know that weighing 250 - 400 pounds is not good for anybody. But so many overweight and obese people simply have either lost the will to do something about it or are lost in the maze of propaganda about how to lose the weight effectively and forever. This [television] program manages to show viewers that there is no magic bullet, no overnight fix. It all comes down to what I have told people for years when asked how I manage to stay in shape after three children: You simply have to chew LESS and move MORE. Oh yeah, you also have to make the choice to DO IT.

Excuse me while I wipe the tears from my eyes. Sharp is exactly right in everything she wrote in that paragraph. I write about this same subject in my upcoming book, but when people reach the point that they feel there is no way they will ever be anything but fat, then that is exactly where they will stay for the rest of their lives. Overcoming weight problems is not an easy thing to do, but it is not impossible if you settle it in your mind that it is important enough to you to do. Of course, you need to have the right plan of action (in my case, it was livin' la vida low-carb and exercise), but you also need to stick with that plan.

I got a great e-mail from one of my readers this week letting me know that she started a low-carb lifestyle after reading about my 180-pound success story at my blog. While she has already lost nearly 30 pounds in less than two months (WOO HOO!), the weight loss has stalled for a few days and she wants to know what is wrong. I told her that NOTHING is wrong and to just keep doing what she has been doing. Eventually that scale will start moving down again, but celebrate the success you have had without convincing yourself that you are a failure just because some electronic device is telling you that your efforts are in vain.

Explaining to her how my own weight loss stalled in the midst of my 180-pound weight loss, I encouraged her to keep her head down and move forward to get through it. Put the scale away for a few weeks and just enjoy life. Too many would-be losers (of weight, that is!) prematurely decide to give up on their weight loss because they feel they are not losing weight fast enough or that the stalls in the weight loss are just too long to endure. Puhleeze! Those are such a lame excuses for giving up on something as important as managing your weight and getting healthy again. JUST DO IT!!!

If you are on a plan such as low-carb and it has already been working very well for you, then why wouldn't you want to continue on with that same plan even if the weight loss stops temporarily as your body adjusts to getting skinny. Focus on how your body is changing and on how good you feel even if you have only lost a little bit of weight off of your body. At least that is weight you didn't need that is gone forever! Positive thoughts beget positive results. That feeling of accomplishment is empowering and should propel you to continue on with your efforts despite the minor roadblocks that may come from weight stalls.

Sharp added, "What [overweight and obese] people need to acknowledge first is that they have also actively made the choice to get to their current weight. No one has held a cannoli to their heads - they have done it to themselves. The choice to be big is just as real as the choice to do something about it."

OUCH! Now there's some tough truth to swallow, isn't it? But that is indeed the truth and exactly what I was talking about in this recent blog post. Yes, I know you already know that you are fat, but most overweight and obese people who stay that way fail to acknowledge that since they are the ones who put themselves in that position that it stands to reason that they are the ones who should get themselves out of it, too. Taking personal responsibility for my own actions rather than waiting for someone else to do it for me is a major reason why I was able to get back my life by losing a lot of weight. It was a conscious choice that I made and a very good one at that now that I look back at it in hindsight. I will be living a longer, healthier life as a result of that self-imposed change I made. I've proven it can be done if you have the desire within you to make it happen.

I like the fact that Sharp challenges the 150,000 prospective contestants who didn't make it on "The Biggest Loser" show to still do something about their weight despite the fact they will not be on television or competing for prize money. She believes this moment in their lives could be just the thing to them on the right path again to better health. I know how much the first season encouraged me as I was in the midst of my weight loss last year. Whatever it takes, whatever you need to do to get going, just make it happen! Not tomorrow or next week ... TODAY!

This quote from Sharp just floored me as well:

Perhaps what I enjoy most about The Biggest Loser is that it humanizes these people. Face it, even though a huge chunk of our society is obese - 25% - the other 75% tend to look right through these people. Or if we do actually pay attention, it is accompanied by snide thoughts or verbal slams. Being obese doesn't exactly win you fans and if people are staring, it's not because they are PHAT, but because they are FAT.

If I had a dime for every time somebody looked at me with "that look" when I was bigger, then I'd be a rich man today. Sharp is right on in her commentary that overweight and obese people are just overlooked. Why? Are they any less of a person just because they happen to weight 50, 100, 200 pounds more than "normal?" Absolutely not.

But there is silent discrimination that goes on in the United States and it has nothing to do with the color of a person's skin. Fat discrimination is very subtle, but it manifests itself in failed promotions at work, poor service at a restaurant, and a general disregard for "those people." This is why my heart aches for overweight and obese people because I want them to not have to experience this any longer. I've even noticed a marked changed in the way people interact with me now that I'm at a "normal" weight. It saddens me to see this kind of thing happening in the United States of America.

Describing the feeling of watching someone lose a lot of weight week after week as "awe inspiring," Sharp said we are glued to our television sets to shows like "The Biggest Loser" because these contestants "sweat, they cry, they swear and then they rejoice as they realize that they are slowly reclaiming ownership of their bodies." The television audience is cheering them on like prize fighters in a boxing match. But this fight is about much more than the physical strength and endurance of two physical specimens. Rather, it is quite literally a personal fight for each of the lives of these people who are engaged in the challenges to bring the weight on their bodies under control and to help them live a longer, happier, and fuller life. In the process, maybe seeing these experiences by the television contestants will give that person at home the impetus to do it for themselves as well.

"Those ignored, ridiculed people who are all too often thought of as nothing but big losers can make the choice to ultimately be life’s biggest winners," Sharp concluded.

I couldn't have said it better myself, Linda!

Be sure to send an e-mail to Linda Sharp thanking her for sharing her thoughts on the subject of weight and encourage her to write more about this in future columns.

9-17-05 UPDATE: I got an extremely quick e-mail response from Linda Sharp about my blog post on her:

Jimmy-

Thank YOU for not only embracing the blog article, but for taking the time to send me a personal email.  It is always wonderful to know that a piece has managed to touch someone's life.

I appreciate the glowing entry you made at your site (and I LOVE your site title, Livinlavidalocarb!) and hope others will take the time to read the whole article.

My all time weight 'high' was 165 pounds - now, granted I was pregnant, but the child was only seven pounds of that equation.  At barely 5'2" - you can imagine I was about as wide as I was tall!  After my third daughter, I made the decision that I wanted to "take back my body" and have exercised and watched what I eat for 8 years now. 

I get many comments about my size, but I am always quick to explain that I am naturally SHORT, not naturally THIN.  I work at this and it is the choice I have made.  I have three daughters who I am determined to keep up with and I have never felt better in my life, or about my life!

Again, thank you for sharing my Biggest Loser article and please feel free to drop in anytime.  The inbox is always open.

39 and Fabulous,
Linda Sharp

It was a privilege to be able to share Linda's writings with my readers today and I look forward to many more moments of laughter and reflection again in the future when I read her posts. What a very nice lady, too! :-)

**11-26-05 UPDATE: Check out these incredible photos of the contestants from Season One of "The Biggest Loser." WOW!!!**

"BIGGEST LOSER" PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON.COM: