God Watching: Seeing Kevin, Visiting Dad, And Driving 1300 Miles In A Busted Car

Christine's picture shows God was watching over us

Oh, it just feels so good to be home! This past week has been filled with all sorts of emotional ups and downs, but I am glad I was able to be away to be with my family. Thanks for indulging me in my longest absence from the blog since I started it. As you know, we drove 450 miles down to Pensacola, Florida to see my brother Kevin and most of the family I grew up with last Tuesday.

Our original plan was to stay until Tuesday this week, but a telephone call from my stepmother Faye last Thursday changed our plans. That day we learned my father was going to be going in for quintuple heart bypass surgery this week. So we took a detour on Sunday north to Bolivar, Tennessee before coming back home to Spartanburg, South Carolina on Tuesday night. It was quite a memorable week of events.



We had an awesome time seeing my brother Kevin who has been told he only has a few more months to live. In 1999, he suffered a series of heart attacks that basically killed 85% of his heart function. The doctors cut out the majority of his "dead" heart a few years back and he only has one artery functioning now. That artery is 95% blocked and stents don't do any good anymore. He's too high-risk for any surgery and he's pretty much given up on changing his diet at this point.



The thing that struck me about seeing Kevin was how "normal" he looks right now. Yes, he's a very large man weighing about 350 pounds. But he's out and about doing the things he loves the most--playing Texas Hold 'Em, bingo, flirting with the ladies, and singing at the local karaoke bar. We did a little bit of all of that together last week (sans the flirting for me since I already have my woman!). And yet he's on morphine and oxygen for comfort because he's easily out of breath and starts sweating profusely even in a well air-conditioned room. This is Kevin's life right now.



Despite my little "accident" earlier this year on the cruise to Mexico singing karaoke, I ventured back on the stage again to sing "You Are So Beautiful" and Roy Orbison's "You Got It" to my lovely bride Christine while Kevin sang some country music songs that I'd never heard of. It was a lot of fun, although not something I'm accustomed to doing around midnight on a Friday night. :) But I wanted to be there with and for Kevin. We made some great memories together.



We stayed with my beautiful sister Beverly for the week who was a very gracious host making us homemade meals, driving us around everywhere we wanted to go, and just being a good little sister. In fact, Kevin came and stayed with Beverly too during the week. Since we all grew up together as kids, it was pretty neat all being under the same roof again as family. That has been a rarity since we all became adults.



When we went over to mom's house for dinner to watch some Jeff Dunham DVDs together (HILARIOUS if you have never seen this funny ventriloquist--he's the "on a stick" comedian with Walter, Peanut, etc.--Kevin was laughing so hard I was worried about him, but it was great seeing him enjoying himself so much), I took a photo of a picture when all of us kids were young. Beverly was about 3, I was 5, and Kevin was 9 or so in this photo. Don't you just love looking at how dorky you are when you were a kid (no Christine, I don't STILL look dorky today!).



My mom and stepdad Frank surprised me while I was there--they said they started livin' la vida low-carb to lose about 50 pounds each. As you know from my podcast interview with my mom last Fall, mom has struggled keeping her weight off despite having gastric bypass surgery in December 2003. I was so tickled to hear how enthusiastic Frank was about the low-carb lifestyle and his eagerness to be doing it for his weight and health (he cited that study that came out last week because he saw it on the news touting low-carb over low-fat--ummm, I haven't heard of it! LOL!). And they've even got Beverly to join them on this. I suppose this situation with Kevin has caused them to get serious this time around. Here's hoping.



It was hard to say goodbye to my family in Florida on Sunday, but I had to be there for my dad and his surgery on Tuesday. We hit the road early that day to be in Bolivar, Tennessee before dark and met up with my half-brother Nathan, his wife Stephanie, and their new son Hunter. As you know, Nathan (or Nat as we called him growing up) was one of my inspirations for starting low-carb since he was so successful on it. Interestingly, he's not doing it now, but he knows it works for him when he does it. It was awesome seeing their new baby. I WANT ONE! :)



We also had a delightful visit with my Aunt Mary Jane while we were there. She told me about how much she enjoys reading my blog (HEY MARY JANE!) and feels like she's been talking with her nephew when she reads it. In fact, my computer illiterate dad finds out more about me through Aunt Mary Jane from the stuff she reads here at my blog and tells him about. That freaks out my old man out when she tells him some of the things I'm up to. He is so 19th Century!



Of course, the reason we went there was to see my dad in support of his heart surgery early on Tuesday morning. We had hoped to spend most of the day Monday with him, but my dear old dad had other plans to "tie up loose ends" and working all day. He has the kind of job where he is a Jack-of-all-trades (or a J.D.-of-all-trades as I call him--J.D. is his name!). And he was up bright and early at 6:00am Monday morning and worked until nearly 9:00pm the day before having his open heart surgery. That's my dad for ya.



We were up obscenely early on Tuesday morning--like 3:00am to get packed up, hit the road up to Jackson, Tennessee, and be there with dad before his surgery. On the way to the hospital, my check engine light started going crazy on me. I noticed when I pressed the gas the engine would struggle. Uh-oh, not NOW! More about that in a moment! Needless to say, we prayed without ceasing for that little Escort to keep going.



Imagine my surprise when less than an hour before he was going in to have his chest cut open here comes about 20 people to be there with my dad to pray and support him during the surgery. In addition to me, Christine, Nathan, and Faye, there was dad's older sister Mary Jane, dad's brother Paul, dad's younger sister Gaylon, and I do believe the entire Sunday School class from dad's church in Middleton, Tennessee as well as the pastor. What a blessing it must have been for dad to see all these people fawning over and sacrificing their time early in the morning just for him. He's not used to this kind of attention. But I know he appreciated it more than he'd ever admit.



That sunset from my dad's front porch is all he is gonna be working on for the next few months as he recovers and heals from the surgery. I had no idea they actually had to break his chest bone to get inside his heart. OUCH! That's gonna be the hardest part whenever dad will want to cough or sneeze (which he is prone to do with his allergies). Don't you know he'll be squeezing a pillow with him a lot? The really GREAT NEWS is he got through the surgery and is now up and alert with no complications. Praise God! THANK YOU so much for your prayers and happy thoughts.



Now, about our car. Our beat-up and nearly broken down 1998 white Ford Escort was literally on its last leg although we didn't know how close it was to dying on us as we traveled through the mountains of Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday--but we kept praying for God to just get us home. After driving 1300 miles in the span of a week to be with family in their time of need, we NEEDED that miracle to happen for us...and it did. The car ran perfectly until I went to the post office on Wednesday morning and that was all she wrote.

When the car started shaking violently and making a loud rickity-rackity noise, I knew it wasn't good. Turns out my timing belt broke and the valves were all shot to you know where. The expense to repair would have been about as much for another vehicle, so we decided to get a new car for us. That car in the picture above is our new 2002 Buick LeSabre with less than 50,000 miles on it--and it cost us less than $10,000. WOO HOO! I couldn't have been happier with that deal. We'll be making payments on it, but at least it's a car we can rely on as we travel around to various places with our business.

I am beyond tired right now and need to get some rest. But I will be back to full-time blogging again starting on Thursday and for the next few weeks until my trip to Nashville, Tennessee in mid-August for former "Biggest Loser" contestant Isabeau Miller's FitCamp where I'll be joining other "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog readers and people wanting to get into shape on a two-week journey to whip themselves into shape. I can't wait to provide daily video updates of this experience for you.

Plus, while we're in Nashville, I'd like to have a get-together meetup with the low-carbers in that area, so let me know if you're interested in coming. I don't have a specific date or time yet, but we're staying in the Franklin, Tennessee area on Murfreesboro Road. Drop me an e-mail if you think you can possibly come in late August at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Let me again say THANK YOU to everyone who has prayed and thought about us this past week and a half. It really means the world to me that so many people care and love us like family. I gotta tell you I've missed blogging, though, so I'll be back at it hot and heavy in very short order. SEE YA!

My Dad Is Having Emergency Quintuple Heart Bypass Surgery Next Week

Hey everybody! Yes, Christine and I are still in Florida having a GREAT visit with my brother Kevin, sister Beverly and our mom this week on our vacation. We've had a good time together so far spending quality fun time with each other (mostly playing Texas Hold 'Em and we're planning going out for karaoke on Friday night) and I'm so glad we've been able to do this. Kevin looks and sounds great right now (although it's probably the morphine the hospice nurse has stocked him up on!), so it's like nothing is wrong with him. But we know his time could be coming up soon.

THANK YOU to everyone who has prayed for us during this time. Beverly said Kevin is down to just one functioning artery and when it becomes completely clogged, well...you know the rest. While our hearts and emotions about this are heavy, it's good to know we are able to be with Kevin in a joyful way during these potentially final days of his life. He's still the same ole big lug brother I grew up with and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I wasn't planning on being online much or at all during my visit to Florida this week, but I just got a telephone call from my stepmother Faye in Tennessee who said my dad is going in for an emergency QUINTUPLE heart bypass surgery next Tuesday. The doctor recently did a heart cath and said three of his arteries are over 90% blocked and the fourth one is 80% blocked. It's not a good situation at all, but they seem to think they can help him. He's had a couple of heart attacks before, so this isn't completely unprecedented. On top of what's happening Kevin, this is a bit much to take right now.

We're deciding whether we are gonna make that trip up to Tennessee and when because we want to be there for him. Our original plan was to drive back home to Spartanburg, South Carolina on Tuesday and we'll probably just go straight to Bolivar, Tennessee from Florida--likely on Sunday. His surgery will be taking place in Jackson, so we may just meet the family there on the day of the surgery on Tuesday. He's expected to be in ICU for several days although he told my stepmom he'd be out in a regular room the next day (YEAH RIGHT--that's my dad!).

I don't know how it's gonna happen with all that's going on right now, but I want to be there for my dad through this. He's only 59 years old which is too young to be dealing with this. But it's a solemn reminder that we just never know when our health is gonna kick us in the tail. Dad and Kevin have both made choices to be in the position they are in right now, but that doesn't make what they are going through any easier to deal with.

Right now, it's unfathomable to think about the worst case scenario of losing both my brother and my dad this year. But I'm hoping for the best in both situations right now and I know that God holds both of these men in my life in His Hands to do as He wills for them. Whatever that is, I'm just thankful for the opportunity to call J.D. my dad and Kevin my brother. They are two remarkable people that I had the privilege of growing up with and loving during my life.

THANKS so much for your prayers for Kevin and my father.

Oh, by the way, I am aware of this July 17, 2008 issue of New England Journal of Medicine with that study that is ALL OVER THE MEDIA right now and I was even interviewed and quoted in this Wall Street Journal column in today's paper. This was awesome POSITIVE coverage for livin' la vida low-carb (although Dr. Dean Ornish got in his digs despite his assertion that we all agree on diet)--I think they purposely planned to release it knowing I was gonna be gone. Just kidding! :)

I'll update again when I get a chance...I appreciate your support!

Will You E-mail My Son About His Morbid Obesity?

A father is protective of his son even in adulthood

I get a lot of e-mails as you can imagine from people who have been reading the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog for years all the way down to those who have only just stumbled upon it for the first time this week. It's so exciting to see all the people who are interested in learning more about livin' la vida low-carb which is why I am here. If we can educate, encourage, and inspire millions more in their own personal journey with this way of eating, then the tremendous positive impact will be difficult to ignore for much longer.

Most people who write to me have questions they want answered for themselves or an immediate family member or friend about low-carb living. I'm always happy to acknowledged and respond to someone when they write to me because it is the least I can do for your taking time out of your schedule to contact me. Yes, I really do read and answer all of my e-mails and happily so. If it weren't for you, then I wouldn't have a reason to blog. I appreciate you guys!

However, I got a request this month from a well-meaning person who asks me to contact someone close to them about their weight problem. This seemed like an odd thing to me because here I am a complete stranger and these people want me to contact someone in their life to tell 'em they need to lose weight. As Dr. Phil would say, "how's that working for you?" It would pretty much defeat the purpose of trying to help someone who isn't ready to help themselves.

I do advocate that people should confront the obese (read the blog post so you don't misunderstand what I'm saying) about their weight, but in a caring, loving manner rather than the judgmental way that too often happens. Christine did this "nagging" about my obesity for years before she finally realized it doesn't work. Not until I was ready to make the decision on my own to shed the pounds was I EVER gonna make it happen in my life.

Thankfully that happened in 2004 when I lost 180 pounds on the Atkins diet, but it was ultimately MY decision and mine alone. Yes, the outside forces trying to get me to change my eating habits played a role in nudging me in that direction, but Jimmy Moore had to be the one to say enough is enough and DO IT! Unfortunately many fat people remain in deep denial about their obesity and simply refuse to change on their own or otherwise. This is precisely the situation my brother Kevin has put himself in over the past few years (although he's at least making an effort to lose weight again...for now).

Let me get back to that person who e-mailed me about his son for a moment. Sure, if someone is contacting me directly to help them with their low-carb weight loss efforts, then they are the ones who have reached out and I'm overjoyed to offer any kind of assistance I can to get them going in the right direction. It's why I spend upwards of 15 hours a day sometimes working on everything I am doing. And I wouldn't trade this job for anything else in the whole world!

But this desperate father asked me to write to his son who is morbidly obese despite doing everything he could think of with his diet. The son is now contemplating having gastric bypass surgery and this dear and loving father asked me one question: "Will you e-mail my son about his morbid obesity?" Man oh man oh man. I feel where the guy's coming from, but it just seems so bizarre to write to someone out of the blue.

Here's the impassioned plea from the father:

Hi Jimmy,

I'm so impressed with your blog. I sent it to my son. My son is 35 and weighs around 450 pounds and has been unable to lose any weight after a few years of trying every diet known to man I think. He is now considering surgery which I think of as an absolute LAST OPTION.

Anyhow, I'm here asking for a favor. Would you e-mail him? I think some contact with you might spur him forward. He is already having cholesterol issues.

His name is XXXXX and he lives in XXXXXX. His email address is: XXXXX@XXXXX.com. It would be marvelous and so very helpful if you made contact with him.

Thanks so much!

Now, my initial gut reaction to this was OF COURSE I'll write to him. I'm sure he'd love to hear from Jimmy Moore telling him about how he used to be morbidly obese and was able to beat it with the use of a low-carb nutritional approach. That'll be just what he needs to get his weight loss going again. But then...

Another part of me was screaming, "What are you doing? Are you CRAZY?! You can't write to this grown man about his weight when he hasn't solicited your advice!" Plus he doesn't know who Jimmy Moore is from Adam, so what good could possibly result from any communication I send to him? It was a brief internal struggle, but I made the decision to NOT contact the son.

Here's what I wrote back to that father:

THANKS so much for writing! I can certainly sense the pain you feel for your son going through this extremely traumatic time with his weight right now. The love you possess is one of care and concern for this boy turned man who still struggles with obesity which will in turn lead to more and more health problems for him in the future.

My wife Christine was concerned about all those exact same things for me too. In fact, she reminded me often that I was gonna make her a widow if I kept eating the way I did, getting bigger and bigger each year, with no end in sight. The more she nagged and talked about it, the more I refused the message she was so desperately trying to convey to me.

You wanna know why I decided to take back control of my weight and health in 2004? I wanted to do it for ME. Christine had already given up on trying to coerce me into doing it, so she just started supporting me no matter what. That reinforcement gave me the confidence to feel like I could do this on my own. After a series of events happened that shook me into reality, I started on this journey and have never looked back again!

Why do I share all of this with you? Because if I contact your son as a complete stranger out of the blue and he's not ready to hear the message yet, then it'll do absolutely no good. In fact, I have a brother named Kevin who is four years older than me and in the same predicament as your son--only worse. He is 40, but is already suffering from so many health issues...Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, he has a defibrilator in his heart, and so much more. And he's SEEN his own brother change his life, but he hasn't made the decision to do it himself.

This is ESSENTIAL for anyone who wants to be a success at weight loss. They have to come to the point where THEY want to do it or else they'll be doing it for someone else as a temporary thing. Once he takes ownership of this problem, then it's his to go after and it will be more meaningful and lasting when all is said and done. Nothing dad or Jimmy Moore can do could possibly replace that in his life and I wouldn't want to take that away from him.

So what do you do for your son right now? Obviously, keep on loving him as you already do, support and encourage him with what he does in his life, and do everything you can to create an environment in your relationship that fosters on open communication. Because when the time comes (and it will!), he will be begging for a way out of his 450-pound body and this is the time to confront him about his obesity in a way that tells him you want nothing but the best for him.

If he likes to read, I wrote a book about my weight loss of 180 pounds in one year after starting out at 410 pounds that may be uplifting to your son. I've been through all the pain of being that large, so maybe he'll see himself in my story. Feel free to forward on my contact information to him to have him initiate communication with me and I'm always happy to respond quickly to any questions he may have for me.

THANK YOU again for writing! You're a great dad and I only wish others had the kind of support you are so willingly giving to your son. He and I are the same age, so it hits home for me reading about your son. He has to want this like nothing else he's ever wanted before and it WILL happen. Keep me informed about what's happening with him and I'm here for you and him when he's ready. Take care!

I was a little concerned that might not be what the father wanted to hear, but I believe in my heart of hearts it was the right thing to do. In hindsight, I am so glad I responded that way and I am still waiting to hear from the son when he is good and ready to contact me. I'll be here for him when he does.

His dad understood it's his son decision in a follow-up e-mail:

I e-mailed my son and gave him your blog. I encouraged him to e-mail you and I hope he will, but now it's up to him.

I'm sure that was very difficult for him to type, but the reality of the situation is you can't force the issue with somebody who's not ready to lose weight and get back their health. Circumstances in life can hurry up the process like they did for me back in 2003 in the months leading up to my decision to start the Atkins diet on January 1, 2004. When I started that day after reading Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution with a plan in hand and a willingness to do whatever it took to make this a permanent lifestyle change, I was already well on my way to success.

The same CAN and WILL happen to this man's son and anyone else who decides the time is right to do this. It may happen today, it may happen tomorrow, or it may happen next year. But the encouraging thought I want to leave with anyone who has a close loved one who is not doing anything about their weight and health problems is to NEVER lose hope. There is an answer for everyone--they just have to figure out what works best for them.

If you're an overweight or obese person wanting to know how to overcome your weight problem once and for all, I've said it many times before but I'll say it again--find a proven plan of action that will work for you and that you'll enjoy, follow that plan exactly as prescribed by the author (aka READ THE BOOK!), and then keep doing that plan or some semblance thereof for the rest of your long and healthy life. No matter what others might say to you about the path you choose to take, this is YOUR life and YOU are in control of what happens next. Will you make good choices to radically improve your life or will you slide back into the old habits that led you down the path of destruction?

Ultimately, it is up to YOU! I'm here for you as a means of support and information about the healthy low-carb lifestyle, so don't hesitate to e-mail me anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. It is my distinct privilege and honor to offer up assistance and guidance to anyone who asks.

Meet The Four Men Of Moore

Kevin, Jimmy, J.D., and Nathan Moore together again

I've talked about all of them here at my blog, but I thought you'd like to see a picture of the men in the Moore family.

From left to right:

That first guy is my full-blooded brother Kevin who has been battling health issues because of his morbid obesity and heart problems. It was great to see him at my grandmother's funeral last week, although he's not really doing anything with his diet to improve his health. My mom drove him up to Bolivar, Tennessee from Pensacola, FL since she was worried about him driving alone considering his heart condition.

The second fella in the picture is me! You know who I am! :)

The third person is my father, J.D. Moore. He's a chocoholic and a half, but has been able to manage his weight well for most of his life. Makes me sick! LOL! He's always been stout strong, although back and shoulder issues have kept him down from time to time during his life. He grew up hauling hay, so I guess that all has caught up to him as an adult.

Finally, the fourth person is Nathan, or Nat as we called him growing up. He's my dad's second wife's son, so that makes him my half-brother. But I've always called him my brother. If you've read my book, then you know Nathan was one of my inspirations for starting the Atkins diet in 2004 (my high school friend Keith Jackson was the other). He's still keeping his weight off, although he's not as strict on his low-carb lifestyle as he once was. I've warned him to be careful and not let the weight creep back up on him.


I got to see my little niece and nephew in Tennessee

It's a shame it took a funeral to bring all the Moore men back together in one place again, but I was thankful for the chance to be together and photographed. This time together was especially awesome with my little niece and nephew from Nathan, both of whom are absolutely spoiled rotten. HA! They're so full of energy and Nathan's wife Stephanie is pregnant with another little one.

WHOA! Slow down, little bro! Christine and I have to start catching up. Hee hee! Anyway, I'm glad you got to meet the four men of Moore so you can now put a face to the name when I blog about them.

Farewell Memaw Luerene Moore (1930-2007)

My Memaw Luerene Moore left behind a rich family heritage

This past week has been like a blur for me after hearing the news about the death of my grandmother and the subsequent funeral plans in the early part of last week. Of course, I wasn't about to miss this, so I rented a car and drove the 500-mile trip from Spartanburg, South Carolina to Bolivar, Tennessee to be at my grandmother's funeral.

It's amazing how fast everything happened. Last Sunday morning, my Memaw Luerene got up, dressed for church and went faithfully to the Lord's house as she had for most of her life. She told a few people she wasn't feeling well that day, but nobody really thought it was serious. Later that evening, though, she called for an ambulance to come get her because she was having a heart attack.

Over the next 24 hours her body began to shut down and her health was only being supported by machines. My dad and the rest of the family knew she was gone. Early on Tuesday morning, my cell phone rang from my father and he let me know about Memaw Luerene passing away. Although I didn't know how I was going to get there, there was nothing that would stop me because that woman meant way too much in my life for me to miss the chance to say goodbye and honor her by being at her funeral.

What's strange is I had dropped off my wife Christine in Virginia just a few days earlier to spend some time with her family in the Virginia Beach area for a couple of weeks, so she was not able to be with me on this trip (although she so desperately wanted to). Within a few hours of hearing the news from my dad, I was on the road. My brother Kevin was also on his way to Memaw's funeral with my mom driving him there from Pensacola, Florida since she didn't want him to be alone on the road with his poor health (he's feeling better since they put a new stint in, but he's still not out of the woods).


Memaw Luerene lived to be 77 before going home to God

When I got to the funeral home on Tuesday night, my brother and mother had also just arrived. We walked in together to see some faces of family members I frankly hadn't seen since I was in high school nearly 20 years ago. It's a shame how we lose touch with cousins and aunts and uncles when you don't live nearby, but that's a byproduct of living a busy life hundreds of miles away. What I was most surprised by were all the children of my various family members.

Man how time flies. My little cousins had all grown up and now had children of their own. It was Memaw Luerene that brought us all together in this place. But I wonder what would bring us back together again after this. I'm working with some of my family to put together a contact list of addresses and birthdays so I don't miss out on anything else happening in my family from here on out.

The funeral itself on Wednesday afternoon was beautifully done and I was asked along with the other grandchildren to be one of the pallbearers. Carrying that casket was as heart-wrenching as it was an honor for this woman who meant so much to so many people in the Moore family. As we placed the flowers that were on our lapel on top of Memaw's casket, it was a final farewell to this great human being.

In the past year, my Memaw Luerene got herself a cell phone for the first time. Now, you've gotta know how funny this is because she has been talking on the telephone her entire life nonstop. I'm not kidding! LOL! She did love to talk about anything and everything you could think of and then talked a little more after that. That was my Memaw Luerene (maybe that's why I love to blog so much!).

With the cell phone plan she had, though, there were limited minutes during the daytime so she couldn't call much at that time. But nights and weekends were FREE and she took full advantage of it. I think I heard from Memaw at least every other weekend for the past 12 months. When she'd call, the first words out of her mouth were, "I hope I'm not bothering you." My answer back to her was always, "Memaw, you are NEVER a bother, so please call me anytime."

The increased frequency of her calls this past year was as if she knew he time was running out on this Earth and she just wanted to show me and the others she called how much she loved us and cared for us so very much. There was never a doubt in my mind about that throughout my entire life. This amazing woman endured some of the most grueling life circumstances you will ever hear about, but she never complained a bit about it. She simply lived her life as an example for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

That love she showed all of us was a God-infused love and Memaw Luerene's faith was as strong as any other person I've ever met. I remember seeing Bible verses sprinkled all through her house along with pictures of Jesus hanging on her wall while we were growing up. Although she was so dirt poor that she was on welfare for most of her life, she let the joy of the Lord be her strength in everything she did. That's the legacy of Luerene Moore that will live on in her family for many years to come.

While we all miss her terribly, we really do know that she's in a better place now. Right before the funeral ceremony, I was standing beside my brother Kevin with my arm over his shoulder as we walked up to the open casket one more time to see this dear lady who given life to our dad so that we would be born. My big ole brother looked over at me with a tear in his eye and said, "We know where she is today, don't we?"

Yes we do, Kevin! And I'm so glad to know Memaw Luerene is walking those streets of gold beside the crystal sea as she heads towards that mansion that God has for her in the land of the sweet by and by. I love you, Memaw, and will NEVER EVER forget the love and sacrifices you made for me in my life. Your sweet presence will always be fondly remembered and cherished until the day the good Lord decides to take me home, too.

With this, I say a final farewell Memaw Luerene Moore. Tell Jesus hey for me.

Now My Mom, Stepdad Going On Low-Carb

After losing 180 pounds in 2004 and blogging about this truly healthy lifestyle since April 2005, I have finally convinced two very special people in my life that they need to lose weight and improve their overall health by livin' la vida low-carb--my Mom and my stepdad.

Last summer my Mom told me she had started reading my blog to keep up with what her middle child was up to. Yes, I try to call her fairly often, but she said reading my blog was like she was talking directly with her son. That's the writing style I have always used regardless of the subject matter because people relate better with it than a series of stuffy boring column.

When I went to visit my mother for Thanksgiving, I noticed that she still had a dial-up connection to the Internet using an AOL browser. The connection was painstakingly slow and was part of the reason I didn't blog a bit while I was in Florida over that holiday weekend. Talk about frustrated blogging! UGH! No thank you!

Mom sent me an e-mail today from her new non-AOL e-mail address that indicated to me that she has a faster Internet connection speed to browse the web with. COOL! So, where's one of the first places she goes to--my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog, of course! Hi Mom! I'm so glad she upgraded because it was the best thing I ever did ditching AOL after being with them for over a decade. Good riddance and welcome to the 21st Century!

In the e-mail from my mother, she said she has been scouring through just a few of the nearly 1,500 blog posts I have written over the past couple of years and has become convinced that both she and my stepdad Frank needed to start livin' la vida low-carb right away. Sweet!

"Frank and I are going to try the low-carb diet starting tomorrow. We are also going to do some walking to try to help with our health."

That's so outstanding, Mom! I'm proud of you for supporting Frank in this because I know how hard it can be to lose weight and keep it off permanently. My regular readers will recall that my mother had gastric bypass surgery one month before I started the Atkins diet three years ago and she looks fantastic now after losing over 100 pounds. But she hasn't been adhering to any strict dietary confines except for the built-in portion control that comes from her smaller stomach size.

It is pretty well-known that the optimum diet for anyone who has had weight loss surgery is low-carb, so I'm glad my Mom is going to give it a go, too. As for my stepdad, he is a part of the more than one in four Americans who are currently prediabetic, which is an impaired fasting glucose (IFG) that is a form of pre-diabetes where glucose levels are higher than normal but not considered high enough to be full-fledged diabetes yet. He has to check his blood sugar often and to his credit he does. He was pretty amazed by my outstanding blood sugar reading when he took it during our visit.

I assured Mom and Frank in a reply e-mail that they were making the right decision to start livin' la vida low-carb in light of the latest research on the positive effect that low-carb has on blood sugar and weight. Of course, if my own family needs support and encouragement (even my brother Kevin who is doing as well as he can right now considering his current state of health), I stand ready to help them just as much as the hundreds of people who e-mail me every single month. I believe it's my God-given purpose right now to do what I can to help other people find their weight loss miracle like I did and I'm happy to be there for anyone willing to make it happen for themselves.

Like every good Mom, she ended her e-mail to me with edification.

"I'm proud of you and what you have accomplished. Love, Mama"

Gee, thanks so much Mom! You taught me well about striving for being the best at whatever I do and I work very hard to maintain the highest level of excellence in all that I am doing. Anything less would be dishonoring your outstanding upbringing and I'll never let you down.

Wanna see what one of my readers e-mailed to me over the weekend? This is the kind of feedback that I usually get all the time and I NEVER get tired of reading it. Check this out:

"I have been reading your blog for some time now and listening to your podcast when I have time. I just wanted you to know that you have been a comfort and inspiration to me in the last few months. I have been really having a hard time sticking with the low-carb lifestyle and sometimes just reading your blog has been enough to make myself get back on track again.

I did lose about 20 pounds awhile back but the holidays derailed me. I am back and going strong this last week and have lost a few more pounds. Someone like you with the ability to stay the course gives all of us who are struggling a glimmer of hope. It also reassures me and provides me with the kind of determination I need that I can do it also.

I just wanted to let you know, especially after reading your blog today that there are people out here that you do help with your daily writing. Don't ever let anyone say anything to make you feel differently about what you do please."

And that right there is why I keep coming back here blogging every single day! Changing lives for the better makes it all worth it to me. See Mom, I turned out better than you and I ever thought I would growing up as a strong-willed child. Best wishes to you and Frank as you begin livin' la vida low-carb and please come back here often for education and encouragement about this healthy way of eating. I'll be here ready to help you anytime. I LOVE YOU!

Surprising Kevin Perhaps For The Last Time

I hope this isn't the last picture taken with my brother Kevin

When it comes to going on vacation, I'm the kind of person who would much rather stay home and just take in the sights and sounds of life in my area that are normally overlooked in the day-to-day living to simply relax and enjoy myself. Loading up the car with a bunch of luggage, driving umpteen hundred miles to get to your destination, and then trying to cram in activity after activity to entertain yourself is not my idea of the perfect vacation. Don't you need a vacation from your vacation when you get back?!

But one thing trumps all of that when it comes to going on vacation: seeing your family! My wife Christine has family north of us and my family is split between west and south of our home in South Carolina. We try to make the rounds every year or so and it had been a couple of years since we went to visit my mother. stepdad, brother and sister who all live in the same town. So we decided to travel down I-85 (through some horrendous traffic there and back going through Atlanta!) to see my family over the Thanksgiving weekend.


Here's my family sitting around the table after the Thanksgiving meal

My sister Beverly was so gracious to open her home up for Thanksgiving when she heard we were coming and that we wanted to surprise Kevin. My mom had planned on going out to eat with my stepdad, Beverly and Kevin for turkey day, but my dear sister wanted it to be more special than that with us driving down to visit. She did an excellent job with the meal!


That's my pretty little sister Beverly who is two years younger than me

Mom cooked the turkey and brough ham and Beverly did the rest. They allowed me to cook up a batch of my mashed cauliflower and low-carb stuffing, although my mom and stepdad weren't very thrilled with either. Oh well, it wasn't for them to eat now, was it? :D

I didn't eat any of the desserts that were prepared because they were loaded with sugar and flour. But everyone made sure to tell me how mmm mmm good the chocolate pie and apple pie was. Not for me because I'm livin' la vida low-carb and those are just RAT POISON! LOL!


From left to right, my mom, my wife Christine, and my brother Kevin

We didn't have a whole lot of time together over the weekend because he had some odd and end things to do, but I was able to see my brother Kevin a little. As many of you know, he has had quite a year since being told by a doctor to lose weight or die. Despite this grim warning, Kevin has not lost a lot of weight yet and his health has paid the price.

I was very tempted to tell Kevin what he needed to do to shed those pounds and get his health in order. However, more than anything else, I just wanted him to know he was being thought about, prayed for, and wished well by countless numbers of people (mostly YOU!) who really do care about him and want to see him well. He wanted me to let you know he appreciates your concern and that he is going to try to do something about his situation. We can hope and continue to pray at this point.


Kevin's a big man who has had one doozy of a life so far

One thing that shocked me was when we sat down to watch a movie together as a family on Saturday night was when mom made a big batch of brownies. The aroma in the air was just too much for Kevin to bear, so he went and loaded up his plate with 4 large blocks of brownies with ice cream on top. Keep in mind he's a Type 2 diabetic and morbidly obese! Oh, you don't know how much I wanted to scream, "NOOOOOOO!!! YOU DON'T NEED THAT, KEVIN!!!" But I bit my lip and remained silent.


My beautiful Christine with my brother Kevin

I learned a long time ago that you can't force someone to change who isn't ready to change. They have to be ready and it's our job to serve as an example until they are. That's all I have left to hope for at this point. Kevin is a 39-year old man who doesn't need someone to hold his hand about what to do with his life. He alone makes the decisions about his life and he will have to face the consequences of his actions at some point. Hopefully he'll have a "later" to get to it.

It was so good to see my skinny momma looking so good following her gastric bypass surgery three years ago. But the woman eats worse than a bird does nibbling on about three or four bites of food and then stopping. Amazing! Yet she looks absolutely fantastic and I'm so proud of her.

My stepdad pulled out his glucose meter on Saturday to check his blood sugar and wanted to see what reading everyone else had. My mom was in the 160s, my wife Christine was in the 120s, and Kevin refused to have his checked (maybe 300+ after that brownie bonanza?!). So he came to me and his jaw dropped to the floor when he saw my reading was 86.

He asked me if I was feeling okay and I said I felt perfectly fine. He said that my blood sugar was a little on the low-side. I told him that's pretty normal for someone who is controlling his carb intake to manage his weight and health. Let's just say it left an indelible impression on him that may have him counting carbs and watching his sugar. THAT is the power of being an example for others to follow.

Overall, the time away was amazing except for the fact that I missed blogging for you while I was gone. But I promised Christine I would not blog, so I didn't. Now I'm back in the saddle ready to keep providing you quality content that you can use as part of your low-carb lifestyle. THANK YOU for giving me a few days off and I look forward to the year 2007 which will be here before you know it!

Hopefully, my brother Kevin will make 2007 his banner year for a comeback with his weight and health. Otherwise, I don't think he's gonna have any more chances. YOU CAN DO IT, KEVIN! JUST DON'T GIVE UP! DON'T EVER GIVE UP!