The Official Response From Seattle Sutton's Corporate Headquarters

After receiving a couple of responses from the Minnesota and Michigan franchisees for Seattle Sutton's (UN)Healthy Eating, I've finally heard back from the Communications Director April Stevens with the official response to my concerns regarding their ridicule of the low-carb lifestyle as a healthy alternative to the low-fat/low-calorie diets.

Here's what I received:

Dear Mr. Moore:

I write in response to your comments about our company's attitude about the low carb diet. Simply put, we do not agree with the low carb precepts. We think it is a fad diet which may not serve its adherents well in the long term. Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating believes healthy, balanced, scientifically-based, portion-controlled meals are the best answer. Our position is backed up by twenty years of successfully helping our clients.

April Stevens
Director of Communications
Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating

Okay, so I didn't expect them to explain themselves any more than this, but this answer still leaves a lot to be desired. Why don't they agree with livin' la vida low-carb? What about it makes them think it is just a "fad diet" (how many times has that been used since Dr. Robert Atkins came on the scene with it in the early 1970s?) and why won't they acknowledge it has helped so many achieve a healthy weight and vasty improved health?

As for the twenty-year track record of helping their clients, Atkins has an even LONGER track record of giving people a healthy, scientifically-based, carb-controlled approach to permanent weight loss. Overlooking this clear fact is not only ignorant, but dishonest. Seattle Sutton ought to be ashamed of herself for being a part of such an extreme position regarding health.

If people enjoy her meals, then that's fine and she can keep making a profit on the low-fat/low-calorie lie. But let's get one thing straight. It's a lot easier and much more satisfying to be livin' la vida low-carb than it is to be sufferin' la vida low-fat/low-calorie! Never again for me!

Seattle Sutton Delivering Very Unhealthy High-Carb Meals

Eating healthy enough to lose weight can be hard to do, so let us make it easy for you.

So goes the thinking behind a place called Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating. With corporate offices in Ottawa, Illinois and delivering 6 million meals through 223 distributors in nine states, mostly in America's heartland, this business is being heralded as the next great trend in helping Americans lose weight and get healthy.

In this story that appeared in SuburbanChicagoNews.com, this new meal-delivery program was lauded and praised for offering people a convenient way to lose weight. As I was reading the article, I couldn't wait to read what this "new" plan was all about. But then I found out what it was all about in a quote from the founder herself, Seattle Sutton.

"There is no other bottom line on weight loss than how many calories you consumed versus how many you expend," she said. "The low-carb craze is over — I knew it would be."

Are you kidding me? Is she making the zero sum gain argument about calories that I just educated another low-calorie advocate about on Sunday? Yep, she sure is. Plus, she took the opportunity to get her opinion in about livin' la vida low-carb. What are these people so scared of when it comes to the healthy way of eating we have chosen as an alternative to the failed low-fat/low-calorie diets?

Sutton added in the article that people need to eat "healthy portions" while "monitoring calories" in order to lose weight. This lady just doesn't get it, does she.

Despite all its fanfare and grandeur, this is nothing more than a repackaging of the same old failed eating programs that have held Americans down for so long that most of them have just given up. Putting a worn out pair of sneakers in a pretty box with a bow on it doesn't change the fact that you're still getting old shoes. The same goes for low-fat/low-calorie diets.

The President and Founder of Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating is a registered nurse and started this business in 1985 after treating so many patients with weight problems. Describing her meal plans as "revolutionary," I couldn't help but examine the nutritional content of the foods she was serving people to see what the big deal was. Boy was I disappointed, but not surprised after her "low carb craze" comment!

According to the web site, "all meals are low in fat (30% or less of total calories), low in cholesterol (300 milligrams or less), sodium restricted, and meet guidelines established by health and nutrition experts." Uh-oh! Do we have just another low-fat/low-calorie diet on our hands? OOOOOOHHH NOOOOOOO! Not THAT again!

Even more scary was a quick perusal of the carbohydrate content of these "healthy" meals. You have the option of either the 1200 calorie or 2000 calorie plan. You know, I think I'd die if I had to restrict myself to just 1200-2000 calories a day! Yikes! But I digress.

For the 1200 calorie meal plan, there are an incredibly high 180 grams of carbohydrates! But wait, it gets a lot worse when you look at the 2000 calorie meal plan. That one has a whopping 274 grams of carbohydrates. All the while you are required to drink two glasses of fat-free milk (Have you tasted this stuff? It's like white-colored water.) and, of course, eight glasses of water per day. Hey, this isn't new! And it's NOT healthy for you either!

Sutton said in the story that she enjoys hearing diabetics ordering her meal plans because she knows she is helping them deal with their disease. But low-fat/low-calorie diets can only get diabetics to suffer through their condition. Livin' la vida low-carb can help them overcome it!

But what about the ease and convenience of having healthy meals delivered to your home?

While I'm sure it's nice to have fresh gourmet meals prepared for you daily, there's a much better company to go through than Seattle Sutton's (UN)Healthy Eating. It's called Atkins At Home. This company features absolutely scrumptious low-carb foods that will keep you on your low-carb lifestyle without the fuss of making food for yourself. You won't have to worry about staying on your program because they have plans for 20 net carbs or 40 net carbs per day depending on which phase of livin' la vida low-carb you are in. The foods you get from Atkins At Home will help you lose weight while consuming the most well-prepared and tastiest meals you'll find while doing Atkins.

Sutton said one thing in her speech to a group of senior citizens that completely applies to the low-carb lifestyle.

"The greatest asset you have in life — especially at our age — is your good health," Sutton told the senior citizens in the audience. "It's not your new car; it's not your new home; it's your health."

While her conclusion about healthy eating is dead on, it's too bad she's bought into the low-fat/low-calorie lie that continues to exist in society today.

05/30/05 UPDATE: I received the following correspondence from the Minnesota franchisee for Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating today.

Good morning,

I'm sure you will receive an official response from the corporate office, but in the mean time, perhaps I can offer a little more background on the company and its philosophy.

Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating has actually been in business for 20 years. Its roots are in the Chicago area, however, in recent years it has expanded into a number of other major markets including Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, Indianapolis and St. Louis. The company has tens of thousands of documented cases of dramatic weight loss and health improvements from clients as a result of being on the plan.

While there are many schools of thought in the nutrition world, Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating chooses to follow some specific nutritional guidelines as presented by a number of health and nutrition experts including the American Heart Association, American Dietetic and American Diabetes Associations. These guidelines include a recommended balance between the three forms of nutrients that you're obviously well aware of: protein, carbs, and fat, in addition to being low-fat, low-saturated fat, low cholesterol, calorie controlled, and sodium restricted. The guidelines of this plan have provided success to hundreds of thousands of clients over the years.

As I mentioned, while there are many different schools of thought about nutrition, the above are the guidelines that have proven successful for our clients. If you'd like to read for yourself some of the personal testimonials from our clients, please visit our web site at www.seattlesutton.com.

I'm glad to read that the low-carb lifestyle has been effective and successful for you personally. My personal hope is for every individual to find a nutritional plan that works for them, and to maintain it for a lifestyle of good health!

Thank you again for your e-mail.

Sincerely,
Stephanie Keegan
Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating of MN
11255 Highway 55
Plymouth, MN 55441
763-545-9590
www.seattlesutton.com

Here is my follow-up response to her addressing my original concerns with Seattle Sutton's comments about low-carb:

Dear Ms. Keegan,

Thank you for responding to my blog post about Seattle Sutton. I too often encourage people to get healthy in the best way they can find. For me it was low-carb, but for others it could be something else.

However, my concern is with the leader of your organization openly ridiculing the way of eating that tens of millions of people just like me have chosen to lose weight and restore their health. If Seattle Sutton really believes that people can do any weight loss method they choose as long as they stick to it, then why did she make the flippant remark about low-carb? I didn't hear her make the same kind of comments about Weight Watchers or Slim-Fast, for example.

While I appreciate the earnest and genuine concern that you have for your customer's health as a franchisee of Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating, I think you should be quite alarmed by the ill-advised statements coming from your corporate head. She ought to be ashamed of herself for mocking a healthy eating lifestyle such as low-carb.

Thank you very much for your response. I await the 'official' response from your corporate headquarters soon.

Jimmy Moore, 'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Man'
Spartanburg, SC
musicbuyer@aol.com
http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.com

We'll let you know if we hear anything from any other franchisees or from the corporate offices for Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating.

05/31/2005 UPDATE: We heard from another foot soldier for Seattle Sutton, this time from the state of Michigan. Here is what he wrote us:

Dear Mr. Moore,

The bottom line in weight loss is, in fact, calorie intake vs. calories expended. Creating a calorie deficit is the only proven way to lose weight. One way or another, every successful diet plan – even Atkins – accomplishes weight loss by reducing calories.

A good composite article written by Kathy Goodwin, R.D. can be found here http://www.thedietchannel.com/atkins.htm. In the article, she references several studies and authorities on health, nutrition and weight loss.

Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating has helped tens of thousands of people lose weight over the last twenty years by providing the variety of foods recommended by health and nutrition experts including The American Heart Association, The American Cancer Society, The American Diabetes Association and others. The right variety of proteins, carbs and fats, in the right quantities, is the key to weight loss and long term health benefits.

Wallace Duvall
Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating of Michigan
Sterling Heights, MI 48313

And here is my response back:

Dear Mr. Duvall,

Thank you for your response. But I vehemently disagree with your premise that there is only one "proven way to lose weight." While you can absolutely lose weight by reducing your calories and fat, it's not the only way. The low-carb approach has helped me as well as tens of millions of other people find a deliciously-satisfying way to lose weight and, most importantly, keep it off as long as we adhere to the program.

To suggest the old notion that weight loss only occurs by creating a "calorie deficit" has been proven otherwise with the success of programs like Atkins. Not only do people livin' la vida low-carb have the opportunity to eat more calories than those on a low-fat/low-calorie diet, but the foods we can eat are much more enjoyable than the fat-free offerings that are available on your plan.

While you portion control your foods for your clients, low-carbers are allowed to eat nutritious foods in the amount that makes them feel full. This isn't rocket science and I have proven with my own weight loss success that it can be done. Call me and others who have permanently lost weight on low-carb miracles of science, but you cannot deny the fact that low-carb is another weight loss alternative to people who have not had good experiences doing low-fat/low-calorie diets.

Thank you for your response, but the president of your company has shown her ignorance of nutrition and health by refusing to acknowledge the outstanding benefits that come from a low-carb lifestyle. Even worse, she has ridiculed it and she must be held accountable for her insane statements. I look forward to hearing the response from your corporate offices very soon.

Jimmy Moore "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Man"
Spartanburg, SC
musicbuyer@aol.com
http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.com

This latest response from the Michigan representative for Seattle Sutton confirms what I expected: Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating is nothing more than yet another low-calorie/low-fat advocacy group who loathes anything and everything to do with low-carb. That's a real shame because we know there are alternatives that really work.

I still haven't heard from the head honcho yet. I'll update you if I do!