Inspired By Huckabee, Finds Low-Carb Lifestyle

During my radio interview this morning on WBTC-AM's Dial & Speak program with host Andrea Fanti in Ohio, we discussed the positive impact my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog is having on the thousands of readers who visit each day. Sometimes, I just don't have any idea until I receive an e-mail or a call from those who share how I have helped change their lives. That's an awesome responsibility I take very seriously.

When I wrote earlier this week about some of the criticism I've been getting from those who oppose my current decision to be on the Kimkins diet, I shared in that blog post that this was MY decision about what was best for ME.

Here's an excerpt of what I wrote on Monday:

"Regardless of what anyone else thinks about my personal decision to begin Kimkins, it really doesn't matter to me the opinions of others. Why? Because this is not about them, it's about ME and my quest to not just maintain my previous weight loss but to produce some additional weight loss to get my weight below 200. As a constant purveyor of individual responsibility as it relates to weight loss and health and finding what's right for you, I'm merely following my own good advice."

That paragraph precipitated a response from a reader from Louisiana who said he is thankful that he found my blog recently and that he too is taking this journey doing it in his own way that's right for him and his family.

Here's what he wrote to me in his e-mail:

Hi Jimmy,

I've been reading your blog for about a month now and really enjoy it. I've thought about writing but held off, figuring you were inundated with emails and one more would just add to your overload. But after reading today's blog, I just had to write to say thank you.

I have been big all my life and have ballooned up to 319 at my largest. Recently I'd been hovering around 305-310, not knowing what to do. I needed inspiration.

Oddly enough I got inspiration from the strangest of places. I was watching the Republican candidate debate on the Fox News channel and was impressed with Mike Huckabee from Arkansas. I decided to do a little research on him and found that he had lost over 100 pounds in less than a year on Atkins.

In studying further about how he did it I discovered your web site, bookmarked it, and subsequently subscribed to the RSS feed to read it every day.

I know that's probably one of the oddest inspirations anyone has ever had, but it worked for me. I felt like if Mike Huckabee could lose weight with the pressure of the Governor's office on him, I could lose weight too! I started reading your blog and many others and chose to begin livin' la vida low-carb!

I'm not following anyone else's plan, I'm just making good choices about every meal based on what I want my body to look like. I tell people I'm not on a diet because a diet is when someone else tells you what to eat. I'm eating what I want to eat...I've just changed my wants!

So far I've lost 23 pounds in a month and it's still coming off! My family is getting inspired and my wife and daughters are joining me. We're having fun experimenting with recipes, looking up fun foods to eat and encouraging each other.

I just wanted to say "thank you" for your writing. I don't know about what others are saying about you, but I've been inspired and encouraged by your writings. Thanks!

When I am pushed down into the ground and kicked by people who just want to see me go away, along comes edification like this that reminds me why I started blogging to begin with.

Yes, there are nasty people out there who will hate me with every fiber of their being no matter what I do. I understand it in some ways, but in other ways it's unfathomable.

But thank the good Lord for the power of a changed life because of something I have written about here. If the impact of this blog is to inspire those who need to lose weight and get healthy, then all the many hours I have poured into it for more than two years has been worth it.

Incidentally, I'm trying to set up either a written interview or a podcast interview with Gov. Mike Huckabee about his weight loss. He's a long shot right now to become the next President of the United States, but so was another former Arkansas governor about this time sixteen years ago.

Wouldn't it be incredible to have the leader of the free world be someone with triple digit success because of livin' la vida low-carb? ;) Wish me luck getting that interview.

6-29-07 UPDATE: The Mike Huckabee campaign caught wind of my reader's testimonial about being inspired by the former Arkansas governor's tremendous low-carb weight loss success today. WELCOME to "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" and stick around a while! :)