Former Atkins VP Of Marketing Joins Rodale

Rodale has established itself as the industry leader in health books

Rodale, Inc. announced today in a press release that Nancy Hancock, former Vice-President of Marketing, Publicity and Publications for the line of books written by the late Dr. Robert C. Atkins, has joined their team to immediately begin marketing and developing new health and weight loss writers to continue their respectable reputation for producing very desirable, bestselling diet books.

Liz Perl, who serves as the Vice-President and Publisher of Rodale Trade Books, says she is excited to see what Hancock will bring to the table for Rodale with her wealth of knowledge not only with the Atkins publishing line, but also from her most recent stint with Simon and Schuster's Touchstone/Fireside imprint where she has served as Senior Editor since 2004.

"Nancy's expertise in the field of health and wellness, coupled with her marketing and brand-building savvy, make her the perfect addition to the Rodale team," Perl exclaimed. "I look forward to seeing Nancy's authors and books flourish at Rodale, where we support our health and wellness books across a broad range of media platforms, reaching nearly 40 million people monthly."

The Rodale name has quickly become synonymous with high-quality health and weight loss books in the past few years with such bestsellers as The South Beach Diet, The Abs Diet, and The Biggest Loser books. It will be interesting to see if Hancock can recognize and find any of the new and upcoming health writers that are already out there making a difference in their spheres of influence and needing a means for attracting a larger audience for what they are already doing. With her impressive pedigree in this business, I have no doubt she will find those diamonds in the rough in very short order.

I'm sure if Dr. Atkins were still around today that he would be one of the first people to give credit to Hancock where credit is due for making him a household name. Her work not only included five bestselling books, but also a subscription newsletter, multimedia presence and various subsidiary products to complement his books. What a privilege it must have been for Hancock to be such an integral part of something that has changed the lives of millions of people worldwide!

My life will never be the same again because of my decision in late 2003 to read Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. That little book that has sold tens of millions helped me shed 180 pounds off of my body for good in 2004 and now I'm livin' la vida low-carb. I suppose I owe my weight loss success in part to Hancock for her foresight and ability to effectively market the Atkins name as a brand that virtually everyone has heard of by now.

For that, I must say THANK YOU to you, Ms. Hancock, on behalf of ALL of the people who have been on the Atkins diet and succeeded. We appreciate what YOU did to help us find our way to permanent weight loss success and pay homage to you for your role in offering the Atkins diet to the public.

You can e-mail your congratulations to Nancy Hancock for her new position at Rodale by writing to her new boss, Liz Perl or you can e-mail Hancock directly by clicking here.

8-1-06 UPDATE: Nancy Hancock read my blog post about her new hiring at Rodale and sent me this kind and considerate e-mail.

Dear Jimmy,

Thank you for your enthusiastic welcome! I am thrilled to hear of your weight loss success and applaud you for living a healthy lifestyle. I do often meet people with similar stories and I will say that it is very gratifying to be part of something that makes such a huge difference in someone's life.

I appreciate your support and look forward to hearing more from you in the future.

All the best,
Nancy

Rapper LL Cool J Pens Low-Carb Fitness Book

I'm not sure what impact celebrity endorsements really have on the public's opinion about the products and services that all of us normal, everyday people use. But apparently they must have some effect since we always seem to see famous people allowing their opinions and experiences to be used in conjunction with all sorts of things.

So how about livin' la vida low-carb? Is there anyone in the world of entertainment willing to stick their neck out in support of this much-maligned, yet very effective dietary approach in the year 2006?

As a matter of fact, there is. His name is James Todd Smith.

Who? Oh, I guess most people don't know him by THAT name, but will very likely recognize his stage name of LL Cool J. As in the rapper and actor.

It just so happens that the svelte and healthy LL Cool J, whose only song I have heard of is "Mama Said Knock You Out," is a strong supporter of the low-carb lifestyle and is set to release his first book on fitness with Rodale Books ("The South Beach Diet," "The Biggest Loser") in January 2007. In fact, you can go see a listing for this book entitled "LL Cool J's Platinum Body: Sculpt Your Best Body Ever with Hollywood's Fittest Star" at Amazon.com right now.

The book, co-written by his personal trainer Dave "Scooter" Honig and Muscle & Fitness magazine editor Jeff O'Connell, will share LL Cool J's "regimen for a platinum body." It will include a fitness routine for a variety of workouts customized for both men and women at their particular level. There will be also be a special weight loss phase and an ongoing weight maintenance aspect included in the book as well to help people reach their goals.

"This workout program changed my life -- both physically and emotionally," LL Cool J said. "Now I want to share with others how they can achieve their own personal version of a Platinum Body."


There's no denying LL Cool J is solid muscle and physically fit

I for one am absolutely THRILLED to see such a major public figure out there proclaiming the virtues of livin' la vida low-carb. LL Cool J is exactly the kind of ambassador this way of eating needs to bring some sanity back to the health debate. If someone like LL Cool J can eat low-carb and look as fantastic as he does, then how can the media and the health "experts" deny this nutritional approach is anything but the nutrient-dense and "normal" way to eat that all of us low-carbers know that it is?

How can I be so sure that LL Cool J actually endorses low-carb as his preferred method of eating? I'm glad you asked that question. :) Check out what he said in this interview in Wave Magazine when he was promoting his movie, Deliver Us From Eva.

When asked what he was most "passionate" about, he replied "my family, my health, learning, sharing." The interviewer then prodded him some more about his health and asked what he does specifically to stay in shape.

Here was the response from LL Cool J:

"Exercise two hours a day, cardio, low carb diet, weights, boxing, calisthenics, running. I lost a lot of weight. I was a lot bigger. I was muscular, but I was a different type of big. I was more burly. To some people, I still am, but I’m not. I was a lot bigger. I just took a lot of weight off and decided to get more defined and stop being as big as I was."

Did anyone else crack a big grin on your face when you read that this man that so many people look up to as a role model actually admits he stays healthy and fit by livin' la vida low-carb? I know I did! WOO HOO! Let's celebrate this amazing and enthusiastic endorsement people because we have a man in LL Cool J who's not afraid of any backlash for supporting this lifestyle change because it has changed him forever.

I am VERY interested in reading his book when it releases and believe everyone who supports the low-carb lifestyle should start buzzing this "low-carb" fitness book to their friends and family. While Rodale may or may not market the book as a "low-carb" book, you and I both know that is exactly what it will be. And that is so very exciting for me as a low-carb weight loss success story and promoter of low-carb living.

Send LL Cool J an e-mail expressing your support for him as he touts the virtues of livin' la vida low-carb by writing to him at his Def Jam address, sitesupport@defjam.com. He needs to know how proud we are of him for being a lonely wolf on the celebrity circuit who backs the low-carb lifestyle. THANK YOU, LL Cool J!