LLVLC On YouTube (Episode 23): Who Can You Count On For Diet Accountability?

Weight loss success is virtually impossible to accomplish without the help of a solid circle of accountability surrounding you, supporting you, and cheering you on as you travel down what is arguably the hardest thing you will ever do in your entire life. It astonishes me whenever I hear people who try to begin a low-carb lifestyle change without at least securing for themselves an individual or a group of people who will provide the necessary checks and balances to keep them honest about their progress.

Christine and I address this extremely important topic head-on in Episode 23 of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube." This is one of those issues that so many people take too lightly in their weight and health management program which may explain why the rate of attrition among those who are able to lose weight and keep it off long-term is so obscenely high. Accountability is paramount whenever you are striving towards a goal and much more so when that goal is losing weight and regaining your health.

Find out how you can be held accountable in your diet in today's video:



Most people who know about my low-carb weight loss success know that my wife Christine was a big part of that which is why I often tell people that they need to find their own "Christine" as they go down this road to a better life. You also should try to weigh yourself often so you know where you stand with your weight before it gets out of control.

Of course, blogging about your weight loss is an incredible accountability partner as so many people have discovered. In fact, I'm aware of over 100+ blogs that have been created by people who took up my challenge to create one to be more accountable and responsible in their commitment to livin' la vida low-carb.

My fellow low-carb blogger and friend Kent Altena did his own YouTube video on this subject of accountability because he knows his 200+ pound weight loss would not have been possible with it. This should lead you to ask a question I posed at my podcast show not that long ago: who holds you accountable on your diet? It's the million dollar question that deserves an answer. The last thing you want to do is try to diet in secret. That's the fastest way to falling flat on your face!

Express your thoughts about Episode 23 of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube" and post them at YouTube for a chance to win THREE DOZEN EGGLAND'S BEST EGGS gift certificates! I'd love to read your comments about how you stay accountable and committed to low-carb living when all the odds are stacked up against you. Long-term weight loss woes will merely continue for you unless you heed the lessons of those of us who figured out a way to beat those odds.

Watch all of our past YouTube videos in case you've missed any of them and join the 264 (and GROWING!) subscribers to our videos. We love reading your comments, sharing a smile with your stories about your low-carb experiences, and hearing from you with encouragement to keep doing what we are doing. Feel free to write to us anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. KEEP ON WATCHING!!! :D

'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 48: Don't Try To Diet In Secret

Continuing in the same vein as the previous podcast, Episode 48 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" today discusses the accountability that comes from having an open weight loss:

 "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 48 [12:17m]: Play in Popup | Download

In Episode 48, you get to hear how being a contestant in a radio weight loss contest helped keep me on my weight loss plan because I wanted to win it more than anything. It was my primary catalyst for sticking with the plan and I encourage anyone who wants to attain weight loss success to tell the whole world of their desire to shed the pounds.

Want more ways to check out my podcast? You can 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

Have you tried livin' la vida low-carb in your own little shell and wonder why you haven't been successful? Or have you shouted it from the mountaintops and even created a blog or something to show everyone you are serious about losing weight for good? Tell us how that's working for you and whether you think it's been a good strategy.

Don't miss Monday's podcast when I pay tribute to the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins and the lasting legacy he has left on our culture as it relates to carbohydrate restriction. It's gonna be a goodie! SEE YA THEN! :)

TX Paper Cites Low-Carb Weight Loss Bloggers

The influence of blogging and those handful of people who are behind the blogs are actually making a genuine impact on modern culture as evidenced by Time magazine collectively naming them the 2006 Person of the Year. But blogs are not just about people's personal lives, politics, entertainment, and sports anymore. Weight loss has gotten in on the act, too.

That's the premise behind this Galveston (TX) Daily News story about the rise of blogging as an effective tool for losing weight. Sally Squires from The Washington Post wrote about weight loss blogs and whether they really work in a column in July.

Blogs have received a bad rap from much of the established media because they tend to look down on those of us who choose to make writing about what we are most passionate about because we are only mere amateurs in their eyes. To be honest, though, bloggers don't care about acceptance by the mainstream because blogging has never been about that. Instead, it has been a way for those of us who have struggled with our weight to be held more accountable so we can be successful.

With that said, there are at least SOME media outlets recognizing the work of health and weight loss blogs to educate and encourage the public. One of the highest honors my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog received in 2006 was being named one of the Top 10 health blogs on the Internet by FOXNews.com. I was totally surprised by that, but appreciated the recognition for the efforts I had put into this "amateur" web site. :D A recent Pew Research poll confirms that blogging is a trend that's here to stay.

In the Galveston newspaper story entitled "Bloggers take dieting online" written by Sara McDonald, she discusses the rise of weight loss blogging as a tool for people who want to lose weight. Thanks to my friend Connie Bennett from the SUGAR SHOCK! blog, I was interviewed extensively by Sara for this story as was Connie. Sara cites both of us--LOW-CARB BLOGGERS BY THE WAY!--in her story. Sweet!

Here's a little of what Sara wrote in her column:

[Jimmy] Moore, the dieter behind the blog "Living La Vida Low Carb" lost 180 pounds in 2004 and began writing columns about his weight loss journey for another online publication.

When he reached his goal weight, he started the blog to offer support to other dieters trying to do the same, offering support, tips and feedback.

That alone has helped him keep the pounds off.

“It’s kind of hard, when 100,000 people visit your blog, to gain it back,” he said. “Now that I’m helping people, it’d be hypocritical to gain it back. So far, it’s worked.”

But Moore warned dieters not to jump on the blogging bandwagon if they aren’t serious about being held accountable.

“Only do it if it is a 100 percent commitment,” he said. “Otherwise, you’re wasting your time and other people’s time.”

Sara quoted me a couple more times in her column and was extremely receptive to everything I talked about regarding weight loss blogging in our interview on Thursday afternoon. You might even want to check out what Connie had to say about Sara's column at her blog today, too. I think it's pretty amazing of all the literally tens of thousands of weight loss bloggers that Sara could have chosen to include in her story that she selected two low-carb ones out of the bunch! YOU GOTTA LOVE IT!

Send Sara McDonald a note of appreciation for writing this story by using this contact page link. Creating positive news stories about livin' la vida low-carb is something worthy of praise, so let Sara know about it, okay? And be sure to share her fantastic column with others who need to lose weight in the new year!

12-31-06 UPDATE: Connie Bennett from the SUGAR SHOCK! blog sent me the following e-mail about the story written by Sara McDonald that featured our blogs.

Jimmy,

Congrats on being featured extensively in Sara's article on blogs helping dieters. Glad she followed up on my lead!

It's always interesting to me to see how we present two different takes on the same topic--in this case, Sara's great article. I always enjoy reading your point of view, too.

Have a happy and sweet new year--the same goes to all of your readers, too!

THANK YOU, Connie, for helping spread the word about how devastating sugar is to the weight and health of millions. Have you checked out her new book SUGAR SHOCK! (read my review) since it arrived the day after Christmas? If not, then go order it at Amazon.com RIGHT NOW! :) You'll be glad you did!

Accountability: The Forgotten Part Of Weight Loss

In his video last week about resisting temptation while on the Atkins diet, fellow low-carb blogger Kent Altena briefly stated how remaining accountable while losing weight will help you become the eventual success that you so desperately want to be. This is such an important subject that Kent decided to devote an entire video just on the subject of accountability.

He said the title of this video could also be “Temptation, Visualization, Success…Oh My! (Part 2)” since it continues with the same theme. Kent was nice enough to mention my blog among several other web sites that people can use to find encouragement and help while livin' la vida low-carb. THANKS Kent!

Here's his latest video:

ACCOUNTABILITY...



Resisting temptation does indeed take accountability from your fellow friends and family, but also from your virtual friends online. Kent made the excellent point about how you will very likely be more open and honest on the Internet than you would be to those who see you everyday. That's what I noted in this recent blog post.

Kent brought up an interesting point about the scale in the context of accountability. For many that little machine with all of its fluctuations throughout the day can be one big source of frustration. But Kent believes weighing daily helped keep him focused on getting rid of his obesity once and for all. The man lost 200 pounds, so he knows what he's talking about!

Another excellent point from the video is teaming up with someone else to be your weight loss buddy to hold you accountable for not only your weight loss, but also your exercise routine. Kent reminds you that skipping your workout is just as much cheating on your low-carb lifestyle as eating a sugary snack you know you didn't need. Don't neglect your workout. Exercise really needs to be a permanent part of your low-carb life.

One final point that I wanted to highlight from Kent's video is the influence that the naysayers can have on you. I mention this point in my book about how all those people who told me how much the Atkins diet would ruin my health and not work over the long-term actually MOTIVATED me to become the success that I did. I just HAD to prove they were wrong...and I did! LOL! Now what are they saying?! Kent got them, too, so I KNOW he can relate. Feels good, doesn't it, Kent? Na na na na na na! :P

Check in with your comments about Kent's latest video over at his blog and tell him how much you appreciate these excellent videos. Don't forget to sign-up for a YouTube subscription to Kent's videos so you'll never miss one. Got a burning low-carb question you want Kent Altena to address in a future video? E-mail him your best questions and he may choose to answer it. Go ahead, Kent will 'splain it to ya!

Wide-Open Weight Loss Beholdens Success

The latest Washington Post column from health and nutrition columnist Sally Squires debates the pros and cons of whether people who want to lose weight should go public with their intentions or not.

While I have warned you to be wary of any "expert" advice on weight loss, Squires brings up a worthy topic of discussion that I have a definite opinion about that leans to one particular side of the issue.

Squires referenced the world's most famous dieter Kirstie Alley and other Hollywood stars as evidence that coming out in the open about having trouble with their weight has been a positive thing. You also have the contestants from NBC's hit show "The Biggest Loser" and other such shows that literally shine the spotlight on people as they are in the midst of doing one of the hardest tasks of their entire life -- losing weight permanently!

For me, I decided going public with my desire to lose weight was going to help me become the eventual success I wanted to be. That's why I entered a local radio weight loss contest just one month after I started livin' la vida low-carb. You can find out more about my experience in this contest (which I won, by the way!) by reading this FREE chapter of my book. It's a pretty funny story actually.

I can remember calling into the show every few weeks giving an update to the radio listeners about my progress and what I was doing to shed the pounds off of my formerly 410-pound body. You want to talk about accountability, that's one way to do it. There was no way I was going to be ashamed of my performance in that contest and I gave it everything I had to win it. In the end, all of that hard work paid off.

But it does make me wonder, would I have been able to lose 180 pounds in 2004 had I NOT had that weight loss contest? There's no way to know for sure because we can't go back in time and repeat history (nor would I want to!). If I had to answer that question honestly, I would probably say that my weight loss in that one year probably would not have been as high as it was. The motivation for me was to lose as much as possible within the nine months of the weight loss contest.

The same could be said for the contestants on "The Biggest Loser." Their #1 goal is to lose as much weight as they can. For fans of the show, you know there are weeks that can be challenging, including the week Season Two winner Matt went through when he lost nothing as well as a week he actually GAINED several pounds. And yet he STILL ended up winning the contest. If he wasn't playing for all that money, would his weight loss result have been the same? Maybe, maybe not.

Squires noted that having a wide-open weight loss can help some people "thrive." You can certainly put me in that category for sure because I don't mind sharing with the whole world what I'm going through. While I didn't start blogging until after my weight loss, my blog has served as a way to keep me accountable in my weight maintenance. I have even shared quite openly about my slight weight gain struggles this year which allows me to hook up with people who care about me enough to see me continue to succeed. That's what it's all about (by the way, the weight is coming back down...slowly).

One of Squires' "experts" in her column said some people don't do well getting their weight business out in the open because they allow others to begin criticizing their efforts. People who are sensitive to this kind of thing are who I describe as weight loss wimps.

I call it the "American Idol" effect. You know what I'm talking about. Here are these 12 young people who have the pipes to make a professional recording contract today and yet they've got 30+ million people all critiquing, analyzing, and casting scorn and doubt about their ability to sing on that single missed note or "pitchy" performance. What right do they have to do this when most of these millions of dopes couldn't even carry a tune in the shower?!

The same goes for weight loss. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, who hasn't experienced what it is like to be fat and overcome that can EVER EVER EVER provide any kind of constructive or destructive criticism with any merit behind it in my book. You have to walk a mile in someone's shoes to know where they're coming from and you can't possibly know what it's like to try to lose weight unless you've done it yourself. Period. End of story.

That's why I get literally hundreds of e-mails a month from people pouring out their heart and soul to me about their weight struggles. They do that because they KNOW I understand and can hopefully help them with their own issues to become the success that I did. I do my very best to at the very least encourage and edify EVERY SINGLE PERSON who e-mails me because that's the least I can do to give just a little back for this incredible miracle in my life.

I was thrilled to see Squires mention by fellow weight loss buddy Dr. Nick Yphantides who lost 270 pounds and went on a public tour of major league baseball parks in the midst of his weight loss which helped keep him accountable.

"On my own, I am still a 467-pound slob," Yphantides said.

Today he has a web site where he asks people to make their weight loss public to help them be successful.

Doesn't that just stand to reason? If you have a bunch of people observing you during your weight loss, then aren't you going to try that much harder to prove to them that you WILL do this? Wanna know something that might surprise you, though? PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS WATCHING YOU WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT when you are losing weight.

My friend from my book named Rodney, a personal trainer at the YMCA I visit, said he was watching me as I was losing weight for about six months before he said anything to me. He later revealed to me how much my dedication and commitment to getting my weight under control inspired HIM! WOW! Never lose sight of the fact that people WANT to see you succeed whether they ever vocalize it or not.

It sure is nice to hear the accolades for your weight loss, but you have to muster up your own kudos and accolades early on to keep you going. Most people didn't begin noticing my weight loss until after I had lost 100 pounds. Yoo hoo, look at me people! I'm shedding pounds and NOBODY'S taking notice!!! LOL! That all changed after I hit triple digits. Now EVERYBODY comments on my weight loss which helps me continue to keep it off. I even had a friend who I hadn't seen in a few years see me today and didn't even recognize me. That NEVER get old! :D

Squires' story said there isn't any scientific research on what impact going public with your weight loss has, but I would hypothesize that it makes a tremendous difference. If you keep it to yourself, then what's to say you're not gonnna get bored or discouraged with it and chunk your plans out the window? When others are watching, it's not as easy to just give up.

The conclusion of the Squires column is that it really depends on the personality of the individual trying to lose weight whether getting your weight loss out in the open is a good idea or not, but I strongly disagree. Whether you are very outgoing or meek and mild, a wide-open weight loss journey will only beholden success in my not-so-humble opinion. You need people who love and care about you to stand side-by-side with you through all the ups and downs that come with weight loss and letting others know about it can make the ride that much better.

Even now, I tell people to keep watching me to make sure I don't gain the weight back. I told them to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep me on the right path and to chide me if they see me going astray. It has worked for me so far, in part, because I have empowered all of these people around me to discipline me if I stop livin' la vida low-carb for even a moment. But now I'm in such a habit of eating right and exercising that the accountability is almost unnecessary. That's just the way I like it, too!

With weight loss blogs (the ones run by bloggers that Squires describes as "mere amateurs") emerging as one of the ways people are using to lose weight, I think it is great that people want to have that support system around them which I wholeheartedly endorse as a key plank in any successful weight loss plan. Don't ever fall into the trap of thinking nobody around you needs to be bothered by your weight loss attempts. Believe me, many of them would be THRILLED to help you improve your health by losing the weight you need to lose.

Of course, I am always available here at my blog to be a source of encouragement and hopefully inspiration to anyone and everyone who wants to lose weight. And if you start a blog about your weight loss, then let me know about it by e-mail so I can send people your way who will keep you from going astray. Weight loss is definitely within your grasp if you first begin sharing your intentions with the whole world.

Is anyone brave enough to announce their desire to lose weight beginning RIGHT NOW by commenting to this post? I PROMISE you there will be nothing but loving support for you when you do. Let that propel you to become another low-carb weight loss success story just like me. YOU CAN DO IT!!!