7 Red-Hot Reads To Awaken The Low-Carb Fire That Burns Within

Seven super sizzling columns to light up your low-carb fire again

There's so much positive news I've seen about livin' la vida low-carb lately in the blogosphere and even in the mainstream news lately that I can barely get to it all. So rather than hoarding all of it to myself and trying to blog about it when I can, I thought I'd share the following columns and posts with you today. These will absolutely get your fire lit again for low-carb living if you feel it has fizzled a bit. I have no doubt you're gonna LOVE these! ENJOY!

1. "For Guys Who Need To Lose 100 Pounds"
SOURCE: Mr. Low Body Fat's Blog

I just love Muata, the author of the blog Mr. Low Body Fat. This is the incredible transformational story of a man who took up the challenge of not just losing weight but quite literally changing his life forever. In the process he lost over 100 pounds and went from a chunky man into one with a six-pack. I have nothing but deep respect for what he has accomplished and I HIGHLY recommend you read his blog!

He wrote a column designed specifically for men who want or need to shed triple digits. Since that is something I have a little bit of experience with (*smile*), I was intrigued by what Muata had to say. And I was NOT disappointed. In fact, much of it echoed many of the same themes I have blogged about here--setting many small goals along the way, making the way you eat a long-term permanent and healthy lifestyle change, don't worry about loose skin following weight loss, and so much more! Whether you've got more than 100 pounds to lose or not, you'll learn a lot from Muata's experience.

2. "5 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight"
SOURCE: MSN Health & Fitness Page

One of my readers was so excited when she saw this column because she felt it was about time the low-carb message reached such a major media outlet as MSN. Of course, when I clicked on the link and saw the authors were University of Connecticut low-carb researcher Dr. Jeff Volek and Men's Health Features editor Adam Campbell, authors of the fabulous new low-carb fitness book Men's Health TNT Diet, a great big smile came on my face. I knew the column was gonna be outstanding. And it is!

Get a load of the five reasons you're not losing weight: You're Following Bad Advice, You Eat Fat-Free Foods, You (Still) Don't Eat Breakfast, You're Eating Too Much Sugar, and You Don't Lift Weights. This is one column you'll probably want to print out, tape up to the wall, and read often. Volek and Campbell are 100% right with what they share in this article and I think you'll agree with much of what they say.

3. "Saturated Fat Is Your New Friend"
SOURCE: Male Pattern Fitness Blog

Do you read Lou Schuler's Male Pattern Fitness Blog? Well, why the heck not? Lou is one of the minority of voices out there who espouses the basic principles of livin' la vida low-carb in a very entertaining and "daily news" type of format. He's like a talk show host going over the health news of the day and adding in his own one-of-a-kind commentary.

This post he wrote about saturated fat is absolutely, positively fabulous! As a former writer for Men's Health magazine, Lou is stunned that they would even dare run a positive story on the role of saturated fat in a healthy diet (which I'll be highlighting next). As a low-carber, he realizes the paradigm shift is happening right before our eyes and is excited about the prospects for the future.

4. "What If Bad Fat Is Actually Good For You?"
SOURCE: Men's Health Magazine

Here's that Men's Health column that has Lou Schuler all excited. It was written by Nina Teicholz and is quite a detailed look at how saturated fat became so vilified in the United States and around the world. The story is especially damning of Ancel Keys for starting this anti-saturated fat movement without having any real evidence to back up his claims that it is unhealthy.

A brand new 12-week study cited in the story conducted by Dr. Volek on the impact of saturated fat on overweight men and women was astonishing (although not to people who understand how low-carb diets work)! The low-carbers ate 36g saturated fat a day--THREE TIMES the amount of the low-fat dieters--but they saw their small, dense LDL cholesterol particles (the VERY dangerous ones for heart health) DECREASE, their triglycerides drop by MORE THAN HALF, and their HDL/LDL ratio improved more than those on the low-fat diet. Print this one out, too, and wave it at those people who tell you that saturated fat you're eating on your low-carb lifestyle will kill you. WRONG!

5. "Low-Fat vs. Low-Carb: Time for a Truce in the Diet Wars?"
SOURCE: Male Pattern Fitness Blog

One more post from Lou Schuler's blog was worth mentioning. He looks at the ongoing debate between low-fat and low-carb diet advocates and wonders if there is any room for common ground. In fact, Lou cites this blog post I wrote following my interview with Dr. Dean Ornish last year (and was aired on my podcast show recently) outlining 20 shared beliefs between the two sides.

You gotta love the way Lou just tells it like it is:

"Cut the crap out of your diet, exercise, and you'll probably hit a good, healthy weight relative to your genetics. If you need more intervention than that, go with more protein and less carbohydrate. The first data set I used, the one about total calories produced in the U.S., showed that about 13 percent of the calories we have access to come from protein. About 51 percent come from carbohydrates. If you double the protein and cut the carbs in half, good things will happen. If that's still not enough, go low-carb."

Don't miss a single blog post from Lou Schuler again! Bookmark the Male Pattern Fitness Blog TODAY!

6. "Stop Blaming Saturated Fat"
SOURCE: Men's Health Magazine

We go back to Men's Health Magazine again for a joint column from Dr. Volek and Adam Campbell to see further evidence why saturated fat is not the great evil it has been made out to be. If you're looking for the VERY LATEST research on why saturated fat is GOOD FOR YOU, then READ THIS ARTICLE!!!

Here are the key findings: Saturated fat is beneficial because it raises your HDL "good" cholesterol, there's no evidence from prior research that saturated fat leads to heart disease, saturated fat intake has gone down in the past three decades while obesity and heart disease have been on the rise, saturated fat is NOT harmful when you simultaneously reduce the carbohydrate in your diet, and an increase in consumption of saturated fat on a low-carb diet actually leads to a DECREASE in the amount of saturated fat in the bloodstream compared with a low-fat diet. Cutting edge research and you heard it here first!

7. "Curbing The Carbs"
SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen

Finally, we head north to our friends in Canada for a superb story written by Mike Sornberger from The Ottawa Citizen about the continuing importance of livin' la vida low-carb STILL happening in the year 2007 despite the fact that the "low-carb diet craze" is long gone. The article quotes Stanford University professor Dr. Christopher Garder who authored this JAMA study that found Atkins was best among the diets earlier this year and is in general very favorable coverage for low-carb living that you should find interesting. It describes the unique role of insulin in weight gain and health decline--something New York Times science journalist Gary Taubes who wrote the 2007 blockbuster health book Good Calories, Bad Calories has repeated quite often based on his own look at the research.

Those will keep you busy a while, so check 'em out and tell me what you think. The low-carb lifestyle is DEFINITELY seeing a comeback and it's good to know these kind of stories are getting out there in the mainstream. Regardless of what the negative naysayers toward livin' la vida low-carb have to say about our healthy way of eating, this is our chosen method for not just losing weight but also maintaining our weight and health for the rest of our long and prosperous life! And we wouldn't have it any other way.

Have you seen some positive news in the media about low-carb that I may have missed? If so, then feel free to e-mail me a link to the story anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Mark my words, you're gonna see a dramatic change in the coverage towards livin' la vida low-carb real soon as a whole lot more research keeps confirming what we already know--this way of eating optimal for shedding the pounds and improving your health.

How Do You Stay So Positive About Low-Carb?

Just in case you haven't heard me express it lately, THANK YOU for reading my blog. Without the dedication of readers like you, "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" would be just another among the millions of blogs out there. But it is YOU who makes it special!

I'm often asked how I stay so positive about livin' la vida low-carb when all we ever hear in the media and from those who claim to be health leaders are constant attacks against what you and I hold so near and dear to our hearts. It's a challenge indeed, especially when the ill-informed public only catches a headline (like this recent example) and doesn't bother to find out the facts for themselves.

This becomes all the more difficult and even frustrating when you attempt to share with others the good news that low-carb living has made on your weight and health and they just don't seem to care. That's exactly what happened to one of my readers recently.

Here's what she wrote in an e-mail to me:

Hi Jimmy,

I was talking to a lady I work with today about her diabetes and suggested to her, the best I knew how, to take a look at low-carb eating. I told her about Dr. Robert Atkins and how he helped so many of his patients with their health problems, in that so many got better if not well through this way of eating.

The same old pattern of folks not listening happened again. She indicated that she knew she would die of something and it might as well be diabetes! I realize she, nor anyone else, has to take my advice, but to say something like that! Whew! This I know, I don't want to be diabetic--but if I do become diabetic, I want to be as healthy as possible! My dad was a diabetic and died due to complications from ketoacidosis, so you can see my concern for myself and others.

I guess this is a confession, but I get so tired of trying to say positive things to others about low-carb eating and the health benefits and then have them completely shoot it down. You seem to stay so positive and upbeat in the face of adversity. Please tell me how to stay positive.

Do I just stop telling people about low-carb eating? It probably sounds like I go around talking about low-carb eating to everyone in sight--I don't and really don't hardly ever mention it. It's just that when I do, almost every time people simply will not heed to what could possibly save their lives.

Your blog is always so very informative, encouraging and wholesome. Please keep up what you are doing.

Can anyone else relate? It is perplexing how people refuse to make the right choices for themselves even in the midst of clear evidence and even real-life examples staring them right in the face.

For example, I recently went out to Fuddrucker's with a group of friends from church and the subject of sugar came up. When I explained that I had not consumed sugar in over three years, one of the hefty guys responded back, "Well, if I couldn't eat sugar, then I'd rather be fat for the rest of my life!"

It was a telling response that reminded me that my job is not to stand in judgment of anyone else for the choices they make. After all, it's their life they are destroying with all the carb-age they are eating. It's their conscious choice and it's none of my business to tell them how they should live.

However, it IS my job, especially in light of my nearly 200-pound weight loss, to make myself available to anyone who has questions about how to lose weight and improve their health. I'm always ready to give a listening ear and to share from my own experience if and when the time comes that they are ready.

My brother Kevin is the PERFECT example. I'd been banging my head against the wall trying to help him get his diet and health in order and just about decided he probably would never get it. But he's surprised me and is now traveling down a journey to improving himself. My role is to BE THERE for him now.

To my reader, I say you just gotta stay encouragingly positive and let people decide what's best for them on their own timetable. If you try to push your information on them too quickly, no matter how right it is, then it won't be accepted. It must be on their terms when they are ready. Always be prepared at a moment's notice to help.

Right now, all we can do is share the information we know to be true in a non-threatening manner and then let the chips fall where they may. That's hard, I realize, but keep your head up. Eventually, the truth will sink in! :)

One thing that you might try doing is describing the kinds of foods you eat on your low-carb lifestyle rather than simply calling it "low-carb." I've described this as a stealth low-carb approach to telling others about livin' la vida low-carb, although it's hard for me to do that since EVERYBODY knows I lost my weight eating a low-carb diet.

In fact, just the other day I saw a friend I hadn't seen in a while and she said, "You aren't still eating that crazy diet of yours are you?" Um, if you mean low-carb, then YES, I am still eating that way. Call it crazy or otherwise, but it's helped me lose 200 pounds and I've kept that weight off for good (unlike those "other" diet plans we won't talk about right now!).

Be of good cheer and keep HAPPY THOUGHTS on your mind. Moping through life is no way to live, so how about setting a positive example for others to follow? Who knows, you may just find a receptive ear to your low-carb message after all.

Got a question for me? I'd love to hear from you anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.