We all make choices each and every day that impact our lives for good or bad. Some of those decisions may seem insignificant, but they can add up over time. Think about your diet, for example. How many people just mindlessly eat whatever they can afford to buy or just want to eat as part of their daily menu? And how much of that food is nothing but high-carb junk foods that do nothing but destroy your health and increase your weight?
In Episode 112 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" we take a look at a study from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the UK that found poor dietary choices are not limited to the low-income segment of the population--it also extends into the wealthy class despite the popular stereotypes. Their conclusion--individuals CHOOSE to eat healthy or unhealthy regardless of their financial means. Hmmmm...
Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod to hear today's podcast:
"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 112 [10:36m]: LISTEN NOW | Download
Yes, we've been constantly inundated with story after story claiming that if only people with modest income were able to afford to buy the more expensive "healthy" foods like fruits and vegetables, then we would have an obesity epidemic. Of course, this premise assumes that if you are rich and can buy anything you want that you will only buy the foods that are best for your health. WRONG!
Are you buying this study that says obesity is merely the personal choice and responsibility of the individual? Does your income play a role in how healthy or unhealthy you eat on a daily basis? Do you feel if you had more money that your healthy lifestyle change would be easier to implement? Tell us what you think in the show notes section of Episode 112 and add your voice to the conversation. You KNOW you've got an opinion, so why not share it with us? :)
Dr. John Briffa says we should return to the "primal" diet of our ancestors
Sometimes it feels like we're all alone in this battle to share with others about healthy living. Sure, there are LOTS of voices out there purporting to be about good nutrition and health principles, but many of these fall well short of the mark by simply regurgitating the same old tired low-fat, low-calorie, portion-controlled diets which have by now been proven to be absolutely, positively useless for both health and weight management.
That's why I enjoy highlighting those diamonds in the rough who actually "get it" when it comes to this subject and today I have a gentleman from UK who fits the bill. His name is Dr. John Briffa and I think you're gonna like what he has to say regarding diet, health, and nutrition in the modern era. He doesn't toe the line of the so-called "experts" and you gotta love that!
Dr. Briffa first caught my eye early on when I first began this blog when he highlighted a study showing a high-protein, low-carb diet is good for bone health. WHOA! Who is this guy? At that time, I just KNEW I wanted to find out more about this Dr. John Briffa and I'm pleased he agreed to be interviewed by me for my blog today.
Read and soak it all in. This is someone you'll want to hear more from.
1. Today we have with us a man who is a highly-respected, award-winning diet and health writer and nutritional expert named Dr. John Briffa and he hails from London, England. For more than 15 years, Dr. Briffa has shared his recipe for healthy living with his patients as well as the entire British population through his thought-provoking articles and columns for more than 70 publications including the Daily Mail and the Observer.
Welcome, Dr. Briffa, and thank you for spending a few moments with me and my readers today. Tell us a little about yourself and how you got involved in this sometimes wild and crazy world of diet and nutrition.
As far as nutrition is concerned, I was a bit of a late developer. As a medical student, for instance, I subsisted on a diet comprised mainly of pizzas, kebabs, canteen food and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Despite a dire diet, my brain function was not so impaired that I could not see that a career in conventional medicine was not for me.
I plotted my escape during my time at college, and despite being what my tutors generally regarded as a ‘poor student’, I graduated (with honors).
While contemplating my future I met an elderly male patient who unwittingly turned me on to nutrition. He was very robust for his age, something he put largely down to his diet. I was struggling with a few health issues of my own (I was overweight, suffered from persistent eczema and often felt like I was drained of energy).
Inspired by this elderly gent, I started reading about nutrition and ended up applying some healthy eating principles in my own life. In quick time I found this ‘cured’ my ills, and I wondered why they didn’t teach this stuff at medical school. Anyway, buoyed by my personal success I became a rapid convert to the area!
2. I love the approach you have taken to help educate others about health at your excellent web site--DrBriffa.com--as well as through your books, newsletter, blog, and podcast. You use the phrase "A Good Look At Good Health" to describe what you do. What does that motto mean to you and what do you hope people come away with when they encounter your work?
While I think there’s a lot of good information on health around, there’s no denying that there’s a lot of suspect stuff too. A lot of health advice, particularly regarding diet, does seem to be born out of a concern not for public health, but profit. My aim with DrBriffa.com is to give readers the truth, and expose health myths and misinformation where that seems appropriate.
Sometimes this means delving into food and health politics. And sometimes, it means digging a bit deeper and not taking any ‘facts’ for granted. Hence, ‘A good look at good health’. My aim is for individuals to come away from the site feeling they have read something balanced and truthful, and perhaps a little wiser about how to attain or maintain good health.
3. We are living in some rather strange times nowadays with the never ending barrage of good news/bad news about what we should and shouldn't be doing to get healthy. How do you respond to those people who are justifiably frustrated by the seemingly endless array of contradictory dietary research that comes out? Is there any way to discern what the truth really is or does it even matter?
I feel the plight of those confused by often-contradictory messages out there, as I felt just the same when I first became interested in health (as opposed to disease). With such a lot of contradictory information and advice around, it’s sometimes difficult to know who or what to believe.
I do think, however, that for those who are genuinely interested in optimizing their health and wellbeing that it’s important to discern fact from fiction. As a starting point, I tend to encourage individuals to think about diet a fundamental way: the best diet for us is going to be based on the foods that we’ve eaten the longest in terms of our evolution.
After all, these are the foods that we’re best adapted to on a genetic, biochemical, physiological and metabolic perspective. Having this basic principle in mind is one simple way individuals can make healthy food choices and keep themselves out of a lot of trouble!
4. Your life's work is about getting people to turn to natural health remedies to fight their obesity and diseases. Share with us a few of the most basic changes that people can and should be making in order to live a much healthier life.
Firstly, eat a ‘primal’ diet that is mainly made up of natural, unprocessed foods such as meat, fish, seafood, eggs, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and water.
Secondly, keep active. Generally, I recommend a mix of aerobic and resistance exercise here, though none of it needs to be particularly time-consuming or arduous.
Thirdly, I recommend getting enough sleep, not just in terms of length but also depth. Getting to bed earlier and getting up earlier is one strategy that seems to work well for most people in this respect.
I also advise that individuals get plenty of sun exposure whenever possible. Sunburn is to be avoided, of course, but that said, there’s mounting evidence linking sunlight exposure with a reduced risk of many conditions including depression, multiple sclerosis and many different forms of cancer including those of the breast, colon and prostate.
Oh, and don’t forget to have fun whenever possible! Being healthy, in my opinion, need not be an austere and joyless experience.
5. Earlier this year you released a brand new book in the UK with many of your dietary concepts called "The True You Diet" which attempt to "make diets history." As someone who was able to lose nearly 200 pounds naturally through simple changes in my diet, I'm all for promoting the concept of lifestyle change to the masses. Is that also your philosophy or is there more to attaining the "true you" than that?
I do think that there are certain nutritional principles that apply to ‘the masses’, so to speak. Eating a low-glycemic index/load diet is one such principle. In addition, though, studies show that the ideal ‘fuel’ for the body varies from individual to individual.
For instance, some people are quite efficient metabolizers of fat, while others are better metabolizers of carbohydrate. In The True You Diet, I explore this concept in depth, and link the presence of different ‘types’ of individuals to our evolutionary past. The book is fully scientifically-referenced, with some 350 studies are specifically cited in the text.
For ease of understanding, in the book I have classified individuals into ‘hunters’ (efficient metabolizers of fat), ‘gatherers’ (efficient metabolizers of carb) and ‘hunter-gatherers’ (somewhere in between). The book contains a comprehensive questionnaire which allows individuals to find out which ‘type’ they are, and also offers advice on foods, meals and recipes that are specific to each type.
6. You are on the cutting edge of nutritional science and have built up quite a reputation with your weekly newsletters and other alternative means of communications like your blog and podcasts. What can people expect to receive from these various new media resources and have you seen a greater response to your message since launching them?
My DrBriffa.com blog is updated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and almost always features a topical, recent health or research-related story. I often write about nutrition, but will cover just about anything that I think may be of value or interest to readers including food or health politics, activity and exercise, sleep, yoga and meditation, and sunlight.
On Fridays, I send out a newsletter that summarizes that week’s blogs with live links back to the original posts for those who want to read more. I am planning to start regular podcasting and perhaps videocasting later this year.
I am constantly spurred on by the positive feedback I get from my readers. I honestly do really appreciate this! I love blogging partly because it’s so much more immediate than print media, and it allows a more intimate relationship with readers too. And there’s no editorial control! Needless to say, I’m committed to continuing my online work.
7. The food and drug industries have obviously had a field day promoting the obesity epidemic and some would say they deliberately overemphasize the severity of it simply to turn a huge profit. What are your thoughts about this and do you believe money is at the root of the dietary recommendations and reliance on prescription medications for every health ailment we face today?
There is quite a lot of evidence which suggests that the standard measure of body weight (the body mass index – BMI) is pretty useless as a marker of health. Plus, plenty of evidence links being ‘overweight’ with health outcomes as good if not better than those in the ‘healthy’ category. In short, I do agree that the severity and consequences of ‘excess’ weight have been somewhat overstated.
Sorry if this seems like I’m laboring the point, but my belief is that a lot of health messages and recommendations are driven by commercial concern. This not only creates potential markets for, say, pharmaceutical and food companies, but also allows these companies to sell us solutions in the form of medications, and frankly quite unhealthy (though profitable) foodstuffs such as margarine and artificial sweeteners.
8. Is there anything inherently wrong with a low-fat, low-calorie, high-carb diet for the general population? Also, is there a specific way of eating that can assist those people who are diabetic?
Is this a trick question?! Where do I start?! First of all, a high-carb diet can upset blood sugar and insulin balance that can lead to symptoms such as sweet cravings, fuzzy thinking, fatigue and waking in the night in the short term, and problems such as weight gain, type 2 diabetes and heart disease in the long term.
Plus, high-carb diets often fail to really satisfy the appetite, making them quite unsustainable. It is just this sort of diet than can make ‘career dieters’ out of people. And these diets can be lacking in key nutrients, so that individuals can end up overweight and malnourished, all at the same time. Hardly ideal!
As far as diabetes is concerned, I think a lot of conventional nutritional advice is woefully lacking. Often, diabetics are encouraged to include starchy carbs at each meal. We know that these foods tend to disrupt blood sugar levels, and we know that diabetes is a fundamentally a problem with blood sugar control. So why are diabetics given the advice to eat the very food they have a problem dealing with?!
I don’t think it will come as a surprise to most of your readers that I advise carb-control for diabetics. Actually, this was the very diet used to treat diabetics before the advent of insulin. And it still works to this day! It’s not just common sense that supports this approach, but science too: several studies show that diets lower in carbohydrate can improve measures of glycemic control including blood sugar levels, insulin levels and levels of HbA1C (which is a measure of glycemic control over the preceding 2-3 months).
9. You have spoken out against using medications like statin drugs to artificially lower cholesterol levels by a mere 10 percent because there are no actual benefits experienced by such modest reductions. What would you say to someone who is worried about their "high" cholesterol and being told to take a drug to lower it for heart health? What are some all-natural ways people can ward off heart disease?
My issue with statin drugs is mainly two-fold: their benefits have been overstated, and their hazards have been understated. The great majority of people who take these drugs have no history of ‘cardiovascular’ disease (e.g. heart disease, heart attack or stroke). In such individuals, meta-analyses (where the results of several similar studies are grouped together) have found the statins do not save lives.
Statins do seem to save lives, however, when used to treat individuals with a history of cardiovascular disease. However, it is not assured that is because of cholesterol reduction, because statins also have other effects that could explain this benefit including an anti-inflammatory effect and some ability to ‘thin’ the blood. All-in-all, I think far too much is made of the supposed ‘perils’ of cholesterol. And it is well-recognized that statins can deplete the body of the nutrient coenzyme Q10, which can lead to symptoms such as fatigue and muscle pain.
What I would say to someone with high cholesterol or keen to ward off heart disease is not to focus on the cholesterol, but on health. If they want to make any changes at all, then I suggest on incorporating lifestyle changes that support vibrant health and wellbeing. A good starting point would be those things I outlined in my answer to question 4 of this interview.
10. THANK YOU again for sharing a few moments with us here at the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog today, Dr. Briffa. Your zeal for naturally healthy living is contagious and I can only hope to follow your outstanding example in my own work. Are there any final words of encouragement and hope you would like to share with my readers before you go?
Firstly, and I do mean this very genuinely, I think your site is doing an outstanding job of assisting individuals in educating themselves about important (possibly life-saving) principles. It’s an example of how the Internet has provided a portal for motivated individuals to share information and knowledge. And knowledge is power, after all.
The ability for individuals to self-educate in this way means that industry is less and less able to control what people believe. It’s like the genie is out of the bottle – and now that it is, it’s going to be hard to get it back in!
I believe we live in a time where there is unprecedented opportunity for individuals to discover the truth, and to use that to their advantage. There is a real feeling that growing numbers of individuals are seizing that opportunity with both hands, and I see this as a hugely positive thing for us all. Thank you Jimmy for the opportunity to ‘spread the word’ about healthy living!
THANK YOU, Dr. Briffa! It was a pleasure getting to know you better and I'm glad my readers were able to discover who YOU are today. Sign up for Dr. John Briffa's weekly health newsletter and be sure to drop him an e-mail anytime at john@drbriffa.com.
UK cooking sensation Jamie Oliver's new book coming October 2, 2007
Although it sometimes feels like an uphill battle in the struggle to help people learn more about healthy eating, the good news is there are people who are actively engaging our culture and bringing this positive message to the masses through the opportunities they have been given. I'm always happy to share about these with you so you can support them in their work.
We seen it from people like George Stella and Blaine Jelus in the United States in recent years. But as their stardom has sadly begun to wane a bit, there is a man from the UK whose influence on healthy cooking remains very strong--it's the "Naked Chef" himself Jamie Oliver!
Americans may not be as familiar with Jamie as the British people are, but he is indeed quite an influential member of the health community. He has a rather unique knack for bringing attention to the growing obesity epidemic and isn't afraid to push the envelope a bit with his antics.
Jamie Oliver is indeed a man to be reckoned with and to pay attention to because he makes a lot of sense. While not explicitly an advocate of the low-carb lifestyle, he is a big fan of making sure people consume healthy fats like the ones found in avocado oil, for example. This isn't something you hear very often from most of the so-called health "experts" these days.
A prolific writer, Jamie is set to release his new Hyperion book on October 2, 2007 entitled Cook With Jamie: My Guide To Making You A Better Cook which is sure to follow in the bestselling footsteps of his complete collection. I've been trying to secure a blog interview with Jamie for well over a year, but he's a hard man to catch up with.
But now you can SEE him for yourself with his video podcast series on YouTube! As I was starting up my own YouTube video series this past week, I noticed Jamie Oliver had already created some remarkable cooking videos that are PERFECT for anyone who is livin' la vida low-carb. I'll share just a few of them with you now.
Wanna know how to cook the perfect steak every time? Jamie shows you here:
Or how about a delicious salad to go with that steak? Check it out here:
For all you lamb lovers, Jamie has these BBQ grilling tips for you:
And let's not forget about grilling perfect fish every time:
As you can see, you're gonna wanna sign up for Jamie Oliver's YouTube video podcasts so you NEVER miss a single episode of this exciting healthy cooking master chef! He's a bona fide superstar right now and we should support people like him every chance we can get.
He can be reached through his Facebook contact page (although I wouldn't expect a reply necessarily). Let him hear from you if you have any comments or questions about his work and be sure to tell him "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Man" Jimmy Moore sent ya! Let him know we'd love to hear more from him in an interview. :D
Looking at this idea of a weight and wealth connection from an objective position is the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Great Britain--the British equivalent of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States.
The FSA researchers have been closely observing the specific foods consumed by the members of the lowest 15 percent income bracket since early 2006 to determine what if any differences there are between this group and their wealthier counterparts.
When all was said and done, the FSA noticed that the wealthy and the unwealthy all consumed an excessive amount of sugary sodas, fat, and sugar.
Their conclusion: People are making the conscious CHOICE to eat unhealthy.
Click here for more about this remarkable study and what ramifications it could have on dietary recommendations in Great Britain and quite possibly in the United States.
His name is Connor McCreaddie and this 8-year old little boy ain't so little anymore--he already weighs as much as many full-grown adult men do. And now child protective services has issued a warning to his mother for Connor to lose weight or else they will take him away from her on grounds of neglect.
Nicola McKeown, Connor's mother who lives in Wallsend, North Tyneside in Great Britain, says she realizes Connor is four times the weight he should be for his age. To her credit, she has tried to help him lose weight through an unknown diet program since December when he weighed in at a whopping 218 pounds (that's almost what I weigh!).
Despite losing 21 pounds over the past couple of months, though, McKeown recently got an official letter representing child protective services, Connor's school principal, and the local health agency requesting her to appear before them to determine whether she is really doing enough to help Connor lose weight or not. If not, then they have already threatened to remove Connor from her care to give him the help he needs.
Let me just interject my comments about this here for a moment. While I agree Connor didn't balloon up to 200+ pounds instantly and overnight, I definitely wouldn't describe what McKeown has done as neglect. Maybe you can call it bad parenting or if you wanted to get extreme with it--child abuse--but definitely NOT neglect. If anything, it sounds like Connor has been getting TOO MUCH attention.
Actually, it sounds like he runs the household.
Although his mother has to help him get dressed and take him to the doctor a lot because of obesity-related health complications (has her pediatrician NEVER said a word to her about Connor's weight?!), she says Connor refuses to eat any fruits or vegetables and will only eat processed junk foods. Plus, she said Connor cries for food virtually every hour on the hour until he gets what he wants.
See, that right there is the crux of the problem. In her attempt to show love to her son, McKeown has actually been an enabler in Connor's weight problem by refusing to be the parent. A mother most of the time has to go against the will of her child to do what is best for him whether he understands that it's for his own good or not.
If Connor refuses to eat fruits and vegetables, then McKeown should refuse to serve anything but those foods. No, that's not being cruel to him, but rather it is showing him there is a right and wrong way to eat. Clearly, the junk food is not helping him at all, so removing those foods from his diet altogether will begin to m make a big difference. At some point he'll get hungry enough to even eat these foods McKeown thinks he'll never eat.
Unfortunately, I'm afraid that's not what McKeown will do for her son. Instead, she'd rather let him sit for hours upon hours in front of a computer screen playing games (why isn't he outside running around like most other 8-year olds?!) with an endless supply of all the garbage food his mother provides him, including curries, sausage sandwiches, biscuits, burgers, potato chips, and French fries. EWWWW! Wanna guess what most of those foods have in common? Can you say carbs, carbs, and more carbs?! UGH!
When a child like Connor is coddled too the extent that he is, then it can lead him to believe that he really is in charge and calls all the shots. From a nutritional standpoint, that is devastating because most kids don't have a clue what is good for them. All they want is food that tastes good no matter what it's made of because there are no consequences for doing so.
Usually the food most kids prefer is highly processed, carb-loaded, sugary junk foods--something his mother apparently is providing in great abundance. Caring parents who want their child to develop into strong, healthy, and fit adults will do whatever they can to provide the best nutritional options by setting the right example for them early enough in life so that child will make good choices for themselves in the future.
Wanna know what McKeown's excuse is for letting Connor's weight to get as high as it has? She believes she has not received enough help to know how to raise her kid properly. Ya know, that sorta begs the question--why did you have a child back in 1999 if you couldn't take care of him in the first place? Gasp! Nobody is supposed to ask that question, but I just did!
Needless to say, we can't turn back the clock now, but Connor does need some serious help. He is at risk at this moment for major health problems beginning at a much younger age than he should, not the least of which is the onset of diabetes, heart disease, and morbid obesity by the time he reaches his 20's which could end his life before he turns 30. That's some heavy stuff to think about, but it is Connor's reality right now.
Nobody is gonna argue that Connor should be left to continue down this path that his mother has chosen for him which for all intents and purposes is destroying his life if left unchanged. But what concerns me about this story is the not-so-veiled threat she has been given to make Connor lose weight or else they'll take himaway from her. What's up with that kind of intimidation and on what authority can they issue such a warning to McKeown?
The government, school, and anyone outside of McKeown's family doesn't have any business telling her what she needs to do about Connor's weight. This is a personal issue that needs to be hashed out by the family. From all accounts, Connor is not being physically (other than allowing his weight to explode) or emotionally (except by the teasing of his classmates in school) abused, so such a drastic measure as removing him from her care is irrational. What are they gonna do with him once he does lose the weight in the custody of the government, hmmm? Foster care? Adoption?
This is one of those unintended consequences of promoting the same old low-fat, low-calorie, portion control dietary recommendations that we've been forced to endure for generations by our government and health leaders. How many parents have tried to put their overweight or obese child on one of these diets only to have their child reject it because it wasn't the right diet for them? Too many to count, I'm sure!
You know, Connor would do very well if he started livin' la vida low-carb and I would venture to say he would not balk at the delicious choice of foods he could eat while bringing his weight back down into a healthier range. Scrumptuous and yummy cuts of meat, cheeses, low-glycemic fruits, non-starchy vegetables, eggs...the list goes on and on. McKeown could start feeding him that way immediately and see real results.
Unfortunately, she will likely never hear a word about the amazing low-carb way of eating from these people threatening to take Connor away from her. But it sounds like exactly what he needs to do to lose weight as soon as possible. I don't know what McKeown is doing to help Connor shed the pounds since before Christmas, but she should consider putting him on a program like Atkins, South Beach, or Protein Power.
What do you think about Connor's conundrum? Do you think the UK authorities have the right to threaten McKeown and take Connor away to a "fat farm" somewhere to get him back into shape again? Or do you agree with me that this is a personal matter that needs to be handled within Connor's family and it's nobody else's business to tell McKeown how to raise her child?
There should be lots of varying opinions about this, so don't be bashful! Let me know what you think!
3-1-07 UPDATE: Now here is a unique take on why Connor may be as obese as he is:
My daughter is a caretaker of several retarded adults and she works for an adult day service that provides daycare for adults in need. When I first read about little Connior McCreaddie, I immediately thought of the adults in her care who suffer from a syndrome called Prader-Willi. Patients with PWS cannot stop eating, her clients eat vast amounts of vegetables to satisfy this insatiable need and this is the only way to somewhat control their weight. Their entire focus daily is obtaining food and these patients need to be closely monitored.
Here is a press release about Connor that I found on the Prader-Willi web site. It seems others have had the same thought that I have! I do so hope they complete the hormone studies before they disrupt this family! Nonetheless, I KNOW that low-carb is the ONLY way to save this little boy in the meantime as these studies are being made.
By the way, I really enjoy your "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog!
THANKS for sharing about Prader-Willi. I hadn't heard of it before, but it could be what Connor is dealing with.
"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 18 [13:06m]: Play in Popup | Download
Just when you think you've heard it all from the people who oppose livin' la vida low-carb, along comes a story like the one I share out of Great Britain in Episode 18 which should remind you that these people will stop at nothing to discredit this healthy lifestyle change so many of us have chosen. You'll never believe what they say is HEALTHIER than the Atkins diet!
Check out today's podcast show as thousands of your fellow readers have already done and then leave me feedback in the show notes section of today's episode and let me know what you thought. Are you enjoying the podcast and feel it's worth the time you invested listening to it? Let me know by calling our listener comment line at (206) 203-4192.
You can check out the podcast many different ways:
Do you get people telling you how unhealthy your low-carb lifestyle is? What do they say to you and how do you respond? Leave your comments here to let us know what you did to combat the naysayers. This is an area that many new low-carbers aren't used to handling, so some of you old-timers should share your wisdom about dealing with this topic.
Tune in next week on Monday and Thursday as I'll have two new podcast shows for you on how government and health leaders keep scratching their head wondering why obesity exists while they continue to ignore the low-carb lifestyle and verifiable reasons why the low-fat, low-calorie diets are inferior to livin' la vida low-carb. You WON'T want to miss either show!
One more thing: please leave feedback at iTunes this week for "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" if you like listening to it. Also, if you regularly hang out on any of the low-carb forums, chat rooms, or message boards, could you put in a plug for my podcast? We have a polished, well-produced show that we know would interest thousands more, maybe tens of thousands more listeners. Won't you help us spread the word?
THANKS so much for your enthusiastic commitment and support for what I am doing!
Jo Heeley overcame her deep addiction to carbs to lose weight
This UK-based The Sun story about a singer named Jo Heeley and her amazing 84-pound weight loss should encourage anyone who has already decided or even thought about taking the bold step to give up their sugar and carbohydrate addiction forever. That fateful decision was what turned Jo into, as The Sun so aptly put it, a "sugar-free babe!"
At her highest weight, the 5'7" tall Jo tipped the scales at 210 pounds wearing size 20 clothes that were getting tighter and tighter as she continued eating herself into obesity. It's not difficult to know why her weight was shooting skyward either based on the excessive amount of sugary, high-carb foods she was putting in her mouth on a daily basis.
Here was a typical day's meal for Jo before her low-carb lifestyle:
BREAKFAST: 2 Pop Tarts MORNING SNACK: 2 Twix bars and a tube of Pringles LUNCH: Bean burrito AFTERNOON SNACK: Jelly sandwiches SUPPER: Spaghetti with cake for dessert
Yikes! That menu looks pretty familiar! As you can see, Jo was severely hooked on sugar and needed to be weaned off of it as soon as possible if she was ever going to stop the upward climb in her weight. That didn't really sink in until she saw the following picture of herself while singing that was her trigger moment that something needed to be done:
This picture changed the course of Jo's life forever
It's amazing how a picture like that can get people to "wake up" from their mental slumber about the severity of their obesity problem. When I weighed 410 pounds, it was hard to see how bad I had gotten until I watched a video of me waddling around and pulled out some old photos of myself.
That's hard to look at because it looks so surreal! Is that REALLY ME?! It can't be because I don't look like that, do I? Um, NEWSFLASH, yes you do! Those pictures are burned in my mind's eye even now and I don't ever want to forget either!
But that was then and this is now thanks to UK dietitian Amanda Ursell.
Popular UK nutritionist and author Amanda Ursell helps Jo with her diet
As the "diet" expert at The Sun, it was Amanda's job to teach Jo about what she was doing wrong in her diet and to help her begin implementing effective strategies for handling the problem foods that had ballooned her weight to 200+ pounds. While most nutritionists and dietitians these days would have put Jo on a low-fat/low-calorie/portion control diet, you'll never believe what Amanda did!
The first thing Amanda wanted Jo to do was "ditch all the sugar and high GI (glycemic index) carbohydrates." WHOA! Is Amanda REALLY a dietitian? She certainly is wise to the impact that sugar and refined carbs have on your weight, so I am impressed with that. We could certainly use a lot more dietitians just like her over here in the United States.
Amanda said once Jo eliminated sugar from her diet and replaced those foods with high-protein, low-GI foods instead, weight loss was able to happen--FAST!
“By doing this her blood sugar levels came under control and stopped soaring and nosediving which in turn reduced her cravings for these kinds of foods," Amanda explained. “In their place Jo needed to eat high protein foods — for example, eggs were a good choice for breakfast with a slowly digested type of bread like multigrain or rye bread."
WOW, that's a pretty healthy low-carb meal plan, wouldn't you say? Then Amanda got Jo to start eating satisfyingly healthy high-fat nuts to keep her cravings for sugar at bay between meals so she wouldn't feel tempted to eat sugary snacks like she used to.
The remaining two meals of the day were more high-protein, power-packed bundles of nutrition for her new lifestyle.
“Lunchtime could be a big chicken, ham or fish salad and dinner in the evening a straightforward meal such as roast chicken or beef with lots of vegetables," Amanda exclaimed.
Unbelieveable! Hey, I thought low-carb was dead people? LOL! Obviously NOT since it's working for Jo because of the helpful insight of people like Amanda Ursell. I would like to publicly applaud Amanda for refusing to just settle for the same old low-fat dietary garbage that usually comes from people in her profession by turning to a way of eating that is genuinely helping people overcome a lifetime of sugar addiction and weight problems. I'm thrilled to see that, Amanda!
In just one year, Jo is now down to 126 pounds and looks fantastic in her size 10 clothes.
“I’ve never felt better. I just wished I’d not left it so long to sort myself out," Jo revealed.
I think all of us who have experience permanent weight loss after years of struggling have been there, Jo. If I had known that losing 200 pounds and keeping it off long-term would feel this great without all the "suffering" I thought I would have to endure to get here and stay here, then I would have most certainly done it a long time ago. CONGRATULATIONS on your outstanding weight loss Jo as you inspire a nation and a world that livin' la vida low-carb is indeed still working for so many people.
You certainly have to LOVE the fact that Jo is also exercising now with regular cardiovascular workouts and strength training. When she began burning more calories by investing the time to exercise, then she was able to begin eating a little more to fuel those workouts. But, again, none of those meals are loaded with carbs and most are heavy on protein.
Wanna see what Jo eats nowadays? Here's a recent low-carb menu:
BREAKFAST: Scrambled eggs with lean bacon MORNING SNACK: 50g bag of unsalted peanuts LUNCH: Avocado with lots of celery or a prawn salad AFTERNOON SNACK: Berries or a GoLower chocolate creme bars DINNER: Roasted chicken with carrots, peas and broccoli
Mmmm, that looks so incredibly healthy and satisfying, Jo! Can I come over for dinner? That's pretty neat that she traded in her Twix bars (which I used to ADORE as well!) for the awesome GoLower chocolate creme bars. These low-glycemic, no sugar added bars are packed with fiber and protein and taste so delicious, too! Right now they are only available in the UK, but they will soon be coming to the United States and available at CarbSmart. They're well worth the wait! Just ask Jo!
As happy as she is about her astounding weight loss, Jo is also dealing with another issue that so many of us who have gone through the experience of a large weight loss are facing.
“I still have the problem of feeling big, even though I know I’m not. I was so much larger before I lost the weight – and found it hard afterwards with the excess skin," she admitted. “It was difficult to dress myself nicely because you could still see flab, even though it was just skin."
I could almost write a book on this subject, Jo! People just don't understand how much all that excess, hanging, loose skin can work on you psychologically, even after such an amazing weight loss. Looking at myself in the mirror should be something I relish, but I don't. All that squishy skin that looks like fat is discouraging. I'm not about to go gorge myself on a whole box of Little Debbie snack cakes over it, but I don't feel the final exclamation point on my weight loss has happened until I can have an abdominoplasty done.
This does begin to wear on you mentally and it's a fact that I think insurance companies should start taking more notice of. If people like me are able to put forth the effort to lose weight and maintain that weight for a set period of time, say one or two years, then the least an insurance company can do is approve a tummy tuck surgery. They pay for gastrointestinal bypass surgeries left and right, but not a skin removal surgery when someone loses weight naturally? I don't get it.
Don't people who have successfully shed significant amounts of weight in a way deserve have that done as a reward for getting their weight and health under control? I think it might help people become more accountable in their weight loss efforts if they can see all the improvements in their body that an abdominoplasty would show after maintaining their weight loss for a couple of years. I certainly think this is something that merits serious consideration.
Jo was fortunate enough to be able to have a tummy tuck done herself because she wanted "a look that shows off my hard work and makes me feel glamorous and stylish – without feeling like I have to disguise my extra skin!”
That extra skin is very hard to cover it up with some outfits, Jo! One of these days I'm gonna have it done. Do you know a good plastic surgeon who could take in the belly of this former 62-inch waist who now has a 36-inch waist? I REALLY want to have this done in 2007. It has been my dream ever since I lost the majority of my weight in 2004. It WILL happen sooner or later. Hopefully sooner... :)
At the end of the article, Jo describes herself as a "recovering carboholic" who offers some sage advice for people desiring weight loss like she experienced.
“Don’t listen to all the conflicting diet advice. Find a way of eating which suits you and do it. I have lots more energy and sleep better. Losing weight can literally change your whole life.”
Hey, she sounds like ME now! HA! Once again, kudos to you, Jo, because you look fantastic and sound like you have all the confidence in the world about the way you look and feel following your low-carb experience. Keep on livin' la vida low-carb my friend and never forget about that 210-pound woman you used to be. It will keep you from ever seeing that woman again!
Send a THANK YOU note to Amanda Ursell for the low-carb advice she gave to Jo Heeley because she needs to know how much people who are livin' la vida low-carb appreciate her for going against the tide by recommending sugar-free, low-carb living. Use this contact page at Amanda's web site and share your feedback with her. Tell her "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" Man sent you!
1-18-08 UPDATE: Although it has been a very long time since I posted this success story about Jo Heeley, she only recently saw it and has expressed her dissatisfaction about it. It seems that story in The Sun was DEAD WRONG about the role Amanda Ursell played in her low-carb weight loss success and Heeley said as much on the Active Low-Carber Forums today:
"That's me (referring to this blog post) for those that don't know and its mostly a complete load of BS!!! Just for the record, I lost weight following the Atkins diet, I didn't meet Amanda until at least two years after I had lost it and then she didn't approve of my WOE!!!!!"
Heeley also posted at the Low-Carb Diet UK forum with her angry and unhappy response to my post:
"Look what I've just found!!??? How did that get there???? AMANDA F***ING @SELL DID WHAT?????????" (tell us how you REALLY feel, Jo!)
For the record, I wrote this blog post based on what that article in The Sun shared about Jo's weight loss. I apologize if there were inaccuracies in that story and am MORE THAN HAPPY to share the REAL STORY in a follow-up post if Jo Heeley would like to contact me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. I am always happy to share about people who lose weight and get healthy by livin' la vida low-carb, so tell me about your success, Jo. :) I look forward to hearing from you!
ATTENTION CITIZENS OF THE COUNTRY OF GREAT BRITAIN!!!
Have you lost weight following a low-carb/controlled-carb diet plan and would like to have that story featured in an upcoming segment of a major UK media outlet? If so, then they want to hear about YOUR story ASAP!
They are wanting to feature a story on low-carb and how it has evolved from the days of the media "craze" just two years ago into an actual lifestyle change that people are able to live with as a healthy alternative to the low-fat/high-carb diets. When this hits, it will be an eye-opener for people who have remained skeptical about the low-carb lifestyle because of the negative publicity it has received. This story could serve to change that, so WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY!
Are you a British citizen who is livin' la vida low-carb? Do you want to share your weight loss success story to a worldwide audience? If so, then please send an e-mail to me with the following information:
1. Your age 2. Your sex (male or female) 3. Your hometown 4. Your weight loss story, including starting and ending weights 5. Your address, telephone number, and e-mail address
When I receive your e-mail, it will be forwarded to a representative for consideration. If they are interested in your story, then you will be contacted. As I stated earlier, don't delay in sending me your story because this is only a short window of opportunity to have your story heard.
Time is of the essence with this since the story is already in the process of being done. If you are willing to do this, then send me your e-mail AS SOON AS POSSIBLE if you live in the UK. The potential impact of your positive portrayal of low-carb living is immeasurable. Don't be afraid to stand up and be bold about how low-carb has changed your life forever!
