Are *YOU* Making Low Carb New Years Resolutions?

I thought it would be a great idea to post a quick link to those just starting out - making new years resolutions for 2008 to begin eating (or resume) the low carb way of life.

You too can be successful, lose weight, feel better and achieve better health by simply changing WHAT YOU EAT!

The great thing about low carb is that it is a way of life where you can lose weight and still EAT! In fact, if you are hungry on this diet you are NOT EATING ENOUGH, and YOU NEED TO EAT!!! And if you are having intense cravings, you are definitely not getting enough FAT IN YOUR DIET!!! When I began this diet at 410 lbs, I was eating 4500 calories a day and losing weight like crazy!! While that is not the case anymore, I still eat till I am content and full (No White-Knuckle, test of willpower here) and I am not feeling deprived or like I am doing without.

And you can eat practically all you want (or all you can stand) of tasteful foods like meat (steaks, chicken, tuna, salmon, burgers, pork chops, ham, bacon, etc). And you get to eat NUTRITIOUS MEALS full of low glycemic VEGGIES like broccolli, green beans, calliflower, asparagus, etc!!!

How to do this and be successful:

1.) Pick a low carb plan that is right for you. Research them and pick one. I prefer Atkins, but there are South Beach, Protien Power, Carbohydrate Addicts Diet, the Zone, Primitive Diets, etc. to choose from. Read the books. Follow the plan to the letter.

2.) Carefully track everything you stick in your mouth. Especially at first. You need to not "wing it" but to "know it" as far as carb counts go, and permitted foods in the phase of whatever low carb eating plan you are on.

3.) Get committed. Tell people. Announce it. Make it official. Stick with it.

4.) Get support and information from one of the low carb forums. Join. Start a journal. Post often. Make friends. Get to know folks there going through the same things you are. Get to know the seasoned veterans who have been successful over many years! Start a low carb blog. Get accountable. Some folks blog everything they eat and do (activity wise) on a daily basis.

5.) Read and understand all you can about this way of life. Lots of information is online.

6.) Focus on what you CAN EAT, not on what you cannot. Find some of the tons of low carb recipies out there in the forums and in cookbooks and on the Internet. Try new things. Learn how to eat and survive in any setting. You can eat low carb in almost any restaurant or situation if you are determined to!!

7.) Make sure you get into ketosis and through your initial period on the new lifestyle - as it takes a week or two or three to make changes in your body. Be prepared to get through it. You body may have to switch from fueling itself from dietary sugars to other metabolic processes and there is a certain period for that changeover to take place (as fuels are depleted in stored muscle cells and in the liver).

8.) Talk to your doctor if you have any concerns. Low carb probably isn't the best for developing little babies and little kids, pregnant women, and folks with certain health problems (like liver problems, certain diabetes conditions need to be carefully managed, etc). See a doctor if you are not sure and ensure that you are not putting your health at risk. This isn't a scary or seriously risky proposition for most folks, but one size does not fit all, and proper medical/health advice is probably recommended for some folks in certain situations!!

I am not a doctor and do not even pretend to play one on TV. I am enthusiastic about this way of life as I believe it is the way to eat best without endangering your health (compared to the heavy sugar laden typical western diet) if it is done right, and if necessary, with medical supervision.

Follow many of the links on this page and you will learn lots to help you be successful. One thing about this way of eating is that it is a technique that I believe *CAN* enable you to be successful over the long haul (compared to most other diets and ways of eating). Of course, if you get off this way of eating and go back to going face-down in the ice cream, sugary drinks, and donuts - don't be surprised if you Blurrrp! right back up to where you started, or even above that weight!!

Low-Carb Lollygagging in 2007 & 2008!

I am so excited to have completed my first complete year *and* calendar year of low carbing it! I started in November of 2006, and have continued Atkins-style low-carb living through all of 2007!!

2007 was wonderful and an absolute banner year for me to reach new levels of weight loss and health through changing the way that I eat. I am now convinced more than ever that (for at least some of us), low carb is the way to go! Throughout 2007 I have lost over a hundred pounds (almost 110 lbs), and have gone from a 62" waist to a 50" waist. My neck size on my shirts has shrunk a couple inches as well from a 22" neck to comfortably fitting in shirts with a 19" neck. Very productive lollygagging there!!

I can tell you I feel so much better, fit into clothes better, look better and just feel like it's been an all around improvement so far!

For 2008 I am planning on gradually implementing moderate excercise and more consistent and vigorous physical activity into my life. We purchased a used low-end elliptical machine from a local Goodwill store which I have begun making good use of (it was broken and fixed with an $0.80 part), and I recovered some old dumbells from the in-laws (that I had left there for the use of others in the family). I may start back with some light free-weight workouts as well in 2008.

I will be continuing to monitor, manage, track, and maintain a low carb way of eating. I may be spending more time weighing my food and preparing meals ahead of time this year than I did in 2007. I suspect I may have to pay more attention to portion control, calories, and foods that may trip me up (like cheese, etc) when I overdo them. Carb creep may be a problem as I slack up on the fascist level of control once in a while - to my own detriment.

Thanks to my family and to all of my low carb friends and supporters who have shared so much encouragement, support, advice, information and research, etc!!!

In 2008 I hope to be joined by a number of family members including my oldest stepson (who has been back on Atkins style low carb for a couple months now with great results), and my wife who is also planning on beginning low carb living in 2008! I have a brother-in law and possibly two brothers (and a sister in-law) who may also be low carbing it in 2008!!

Way to Go Dr. Eades!!!

I am constantly impressed by the quality of the information on a few awesome low carb blogs. If you are following low carb science and are interested in understanding metabolism and nutrition and the way the body works down at the cellular and process levels - well, you JUST HAVE to read these for the occasional and sometimes frequent awesome information they put forth!

Todays blog that blew me away was one by Dr. Eades of the Protein Power low carb diet. He has a link to an almost two hour presentation by Gary Taubes at the University of California at Berkeley (entitled "The Quality of Calories: What Makes Us Fat and Why Nobody Seems to Care"), which is viewable as streaming RealPlayer video.

This is MUST SEE video!!! Here is the link to Dr. Eades Blog on this subject and I will also post the link to Gary's lecture at UC Berkeley.

The Protein Power Blog of Dr. Mike Eades and story on this subject (Thanks Dr. Mike!):
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/2007/12/08/gary-taubes-berkeley-lecture/

The link to the page and the actual presentation by Gary Taubes:
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/event_details.php?webcastid=21216
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/stream.php?type=real&webcastid=21216

If you are a low carber you simply must stop to watch this! Send these links to all of your friends and family, to your doctor, nutritionist, etc.!! Let's get the word out!!!

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Also, I would be remiss not to also thank Regina Wilshire (at her Weight of the Evidence blog) and Jimmy Moore (at his Livin Lavida LowCarb blog) for their blogs, and for the work done to record a pile of low carb research at A Pinch of Health's site, and to Nancy Appleton for her work recording all the studies related to sugar consumption at her site!!

http://weightoftheevidence.blogspot.com/

http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.com/

http://www.apinchofhealth.com/resources/lowcarb/low-carb-research.html

http://www.nancyappleton.com/
http://www.nancyappleton.com/pages/damages.html

These are especially excellent places to go if you are just starting, or are even considering starting the low carb way of life. Those of us who have been low carbing it frequent these sites often and learn all we can! To lose excess weight, to improve your overall health, this is an excellent place to learn about the simple low carb way to live your life better and fuller with more health and life and vigor, and to also avoid many of the ills that plague modern society through our modern sugar and carbohydrate-rich diets!!

Flu Shots and Still Sick Anyhow...

The past few weeks we have had various members of our family constantly sick with this head cold, sore throat, fever, chills, coughing, chest cold mess that is going around. I was sortof hoping that this year it would go through the family, and that I would be spared as this year I got the flu shot. It's a first for me. I am not trying to be a big whiney-baby or anything, but my arm hurt for a week afterwards, and I spent the 20 bucks, and now I am waiting for the big payoff. I am *supposed* to not get sick now. :smile: At least that is how it's supposed to work.

Well, the evidently the shot didn't cover this bug as about 2-3 weeks after the cold ravaged a number of family members, I finally fell victim to it as well. ARGH! The first couple of days I felt like death on a cracker, spent a weekend in bed. I missed two days of work this past week on account of it. I braved getting out sick and all (after all, they don't give us 2-4 weeks of sick time) and going to work to see to some important things going on, but wish I could have stayed home through it all with the whole rest and medication route to getting through it.

So if everything holds true to form (based on watching the others in my family) I will surely be sick for another week or more till my body gradually shakes this. I deviated from my low carb norm during all of this, without realizing it. Then I finally did realize it and frankly didn't care. My throat felt so sore from the sore throat I told guys at work it was like gargling razor blades. One fellow enquired if they were safety blades, and I told him that "No, I imagine these are the old fashioned double sided ones". The only cough drops in the house were just about pure sugar and menthol, and I took lots of them for relief without realizing what I was doing. Later, when my weight jumped way up on account of it, I finally realized what I had done. ARGH! Nothing like a little self-sabotage. Oh well, such is life. I continued to take them after I knew it, cause my throat felt so bad and cause I just didn't feel good enough to run to the store. My family members have been sick too and I didn't want to bother them, and I figured I'd just get through this, and get back into low carb and ketosis again. The damage had been pretty well done by this point.

I haven't gone face-down in the donuts or anything, but that is the first real honest to goodness sugary stuff I have had since starting this, I think. I could be wrong, but that is my recollection at the moment. I have stayed away from sugar and refined carbs with a will and a purpose since starting this way of living in November '06.

Anyhow, I am looking forward to getting back on track and getting myself on my way under 300 into the 200's soon. I came close a bit ago, down to 301.6 lbs, then bounced back up again. After eating all the cough drops I saw almost 308 lbs. Now I am back down from that (303 lbs this morning), and hopefully back on track again!

Anyhow, thanks for stopping by and catching up! I appreciate all of my low carb friends out there in Internet land! This is an awesome way of life and has improved my health dramatically. In part, I owe the almost 110 lbs lost so far to all of you, who have informed me, encouraged me, and helped me along the way. I am especially grateful to those who stay at this and share the ups and downs of their lives, and share so much about what works and what doesn't. Keep on keeping on!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey-Day to all of my low carb friends and acquaintences online!! I hope that your Thanksgiving holiday was fun, full of good food and good times with friends and family!

This year we did turkey at our house. Our oldest son came home to be with us, and so our immediate family was all together, and that was nice.

We typically go out to see family or to a restaurant, but this year was different. I wasn't worried as my wife knows enough about cooking to pull as through, but then she got sick and it was all on me (EEeeek!). The latest cold/flu bug has hit our house and several have got a cold and are laid low now. I got the flu shot this year and an anxious to see if any of the immunity I was hoping for will be there for me this year. This is the first year I have ever done that either.

I am not a chef or cook and have never carved (let alone cooked) a turkey! In the end, I made a turkey, half a ham, asparagus cassarole, asparagus, green beans, creamed corn, cranberry sauce, yeast rolls, yam/sweet potatoes (both low carb and another sweet potato casarole that was definitely high carb), etc., and it all turned out great according to reports from the family. I of course only ate the low carb fare, but it was enjoyable, I ate till I was full, and it was a huge relief that I was able to even do it. My wife gave me pointers at critical points, and thanks to the Lord for our many blessings and the dinner working out after all!!

This morning, I checked the scale and I was another pound down, on down to 303.6 lbs. Ye 'Ol belt is about to get another notch or two in it soon as well. That is awsomely excellent! I was grinning ear to ear this morning as I got off the scale. :)

Minor Victory - 19" Collar

A tiny report of some minor victories. Probably doesn't mean alot to anybody else, but I am now in a 19" collared Oxford style shirt, without the blood flow being constricted to my brain or the life being choked out of me. This is something that I tried but was impossible a number of weeks ago (not too long ago).

My weight loss has slowed a bit the past weeks, but I am still losing down to lower and lower levels (new lows). Last low was 305 lbs. My weight is still fluctuating up and down by 5 or sometimes 10 pounds. I have been working on reducing portion sizes - staying on the same low carb track that got me here otherwise. Meat and eggs and low carb veggies and some few nuts and cheeses here and there.

It's nice to celebrate all the little landmarks as I reach them and pass them by on this low carb journey! This one was kinda neat! At my highest weight last year I was wearing a size 22 inch collar, which now hangs way down around my neck in almost comical fashion.

My waist size has also been slowly and continually declining as well. That's also nice to see!

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Some interesting articles and blog posts to point you to:

Required Reading: Dr. Eades Responds to reports of a study indicating low carb diets cause higher inflamation. Links to an excellent study by Jeff Volek and others.

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/2007/11/08/more-on-the-low-carb-study-at-the-aha-meeting/

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/2007/11/06/does-the-atkins-diet-damage-blood-vessels/

Jack Lalane vs. Ancel Keys (Timely reading if you are reading Good Calories, Bad Calories) features a great video link to a younger Jack Lalane talking about sugar and it's impact on health ("sugarholics").

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/2007/11/04/jack-lalanne-vs-ancel-keys/

Wishing you all the best on *YOUR* low carb journey!!

Origins of Low Carb: Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are."

Brillat-Savarin

In reading the book "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes I am pleasantly surprised to find a good deal of the long history around low carb and low carb science. One of the "fathers" of the low carb premise was Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, a French lawyer and physician who lived from 1755 to 1826 (to be 70 yrs and 10 months of age at his death).

And in stumbling around the Internet looking for writings of low carb superheros (like William Banting, and Dr. Atkins, and Dr.'s Eades, etc) I found the famous writing (see the web link below) of the aformentioned low carb supergenius.

It is an excellent read, and well worth spending some time perusing! I have included a handy glossary below for some of the excellent words found within the translated version of this low carb treatise.

The Physiology of Taste

by Brillat-Savarin

MEDITATION XXI.
OBESITY

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/brillat/savarin/b85p/part26.html

Word Fun - Glossary

(not in any alphabetical order):

.............................................................

Corpulent:

fat, obese, overweight

Gastrophoria:

One kind of obesity that is restricted to the stomach

Gastrophorous:

Those afflicted with the aforementioned condition

Obesity:

that state of greasy congestion in which without the sufferer being sick, the limbs gradually increase in volume, and lose their form and harmony.

farinacious: (it means starchy)

1 : having a mealy texture or surface
2 : containing or rich in starch

feculent:

foul with impurities, fecal

feculaferous:

see feculent

embonpoint :

plumpness of person : stoutness

apoplexy:

crippled by a stroke

dropsy :

retention of water, edema (perhaps as a result of congestive heart failure)

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=13311

The discovery of a new dish

does more for human happiness

than the discovery of a new star.

.

-----------

.

By this and similar conversations I elucidate a theory

I have formed about the human race, viz:

Greasy corpulence always has, as its first cause,

a diet with too much farinacious or feculent substance.

I am sure the same regime will always have the same effect.

.

Carniverous animals never become fat.

One has only to look at the wolf, jackal, lion, eagle, etc.
Herbiverous animals do not either become fat

until age has made repose a necessity.

They, however, fatten quickly when fed on potatoes, farinacious grain, etc.

.

-----------

.

The second of the causes of obesity, is the fact that farinacious and

feculaferous matter is the basis of our daily food.

.

We have already said that all animals that live on

farinaceous substances become fat;

man obeys the common law.
.

The fecula is more prompt in its action when it is mingled with sugar.

Sugar and grease are alike in containing large

quantities of hydrogen, and are both inflammable.

.

This combination is the more powerful,

from the fact that it flatters the taste,

and that we never eat sweet things

until the appetite is already satisfied,

so that we are forced to court the luxury

of eating by every refinement of temptation.

.

-----------

.

INCONVENIENCE OF OBESITY (excerpt)

Obesity has a lamentable influence on the two sexes,

inasmuch as it is most injurious to strength and beauty.

...
It lessens strength because it increases the weight to be moved,

while the motive power is unchanged.

...

It injures respiration, and makes all labor requiring

prolonged muscular power impossible.

...
Obesity destroys beauty by annihilating the harmony

of primitive proportions, for all the limbs do not proportionately fatten.

...

It destroys beauty by filling up cavities nature’s hand itself designed.

...
Nothing is so common as to see faces,

once very interesting,

made common–place by obesity.

Celebrating One Year Low Carbin' It

An Old Familiar Landmark with a Big Giant One!

Well, it's officially been a year Low Carbin' it!!!!

I started Nov 1st, 2007! YEEEEeeeee Haw!

I have been camped out by the mailbox (like a kid on Christmas morning) awaiting the results of a recent blood test at work. It was part of a health fair and the first I've done since going low carb. I haven't really got a full time doc overseeing my health. More on emergency basis only, as needed. So this was nice to get a bit of a checkup, through work! It was conducted through LifeSigns, and the lab work was done via LabCorp.

The verdict is in. It is certainly better health stats than a year ago! Still not everything I had hoped for. But it is good, and I hope to do better as I lose more weight on low carb, and get into even better health and shape.

Here's my Blood Workup and Health-Check stats:

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BMI: 43 (this one and the next one calculated on one of those hand-grip BF testers)
BF%: 40 (Yes, high. But less than a year ago!)
BP: 142/96 (High, but not as high as before)

--- Blood Test Results ---
Glucose, Serum: 102 (borderline high)
Cholesterol, Total: 209 (borderline high)
Trigycerides: 79
HDL Cholesterol: 52
VLDL Cholesterol: 16
LDL Cholesterol: 141 (borderline high)
LDL/HDL Ratio: 2.7

---------------------------------------------------------

There were lots of other test results - but all thankfully solidly in the normal catagory. The tests they ran for medical geeks out there were (CMP14+LP+CBC/D/Plt) whatever that means. It was testing alot of stuff including kidney and liver function, Lipids, WBC/RBC, Sodium, Potassium, etc., etc.

Also, I took a look at my "Estimate of 10-Year Risk for Coronary Heart Disease Framingham Point Scores" today on the net, while trying to understand the test results. That also turned out pretty OK. You too can try that here:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/cholesterol/risk_tbl.htm#men

Also, this afternoon the family made a trip to the tiny little library in our small town. The non-fiction (non-kids) books line maybe a half dozen or slightly more rows of shelves, tops.

To my amazement, they had a fresh new hardcover copy of Gary Taubes new book: "Good Calories, Bad Calories" in stock. So I checked that puppy out in a heartbeat. Also a hard cover copy of "Protien Power" and "The Paleo Diet". I can't wait to read them all!! I started today reading the prolouge of Gary Taubes book, and it is awesomely awesome! Man, I'd like to slide back in time and thank these doctors and Mister Banting myself!! What a difference eating and living low carb has made in my life!!!

Kinda Funny

OK - You may not agree, ...but I kinda think the following Readers Digest illustration has a little more than a passing resemblance to one of the more popular low carbers on the Internet. Not an exact match, but see if you can figure out who I am alluding to.

Check it out! Let me know what you think!

http://www.rd.com/content/the-cf-payne-gallery--november-2007/

Funny.

:)

Live from Hectic-Ville

Well, I have been busy the past few weeks which is causing me to post a bit less frequently.

Still low carbing it, but it has been more of a struggle of late. PORTION CONTROL is the name of the game. That and increasing my activity levels. I am gradually cutting back on the portions and gradually increasing my activity.

What worked to get me from 410 lbs past 350 lbs is not getting it done at the same level at 310 lbs. I need to cut back to smallerish portions, and that is hard for me psychologically more than physically. I am doing it slowly as I am deep down inside afraid of awful hunger, starvation, doing without, stalling my metabolism out, etc.

I have read about alot of successful folks and read what they are eating (quantity of food) and it's alot less than what I am now eating. I am finding myself slowly cycling above and below 310 lbs. I have been as low as 307.6 lbs recently and also above 310 lbs as my weight fluctuates up and down.

I am cutting back on sizes. A coworker told me about Body for Life - a book that advocates pumping up the metabolism and eating more regular, smaller meals. I am trying to do some of those kinds of things, low carb. Eat less. Do more.

It's a slow process right now as I am not cutting back enough to really create a huge calorie deficit. I am still losing on average, but slower. It's OK. It's still in the right direction. It is still showing me the main thing - that this way of life is SUSTAINABLE. That is the biggie for me!!

Keeping the faith! Keeping my chin up! Smallerish portions! More activity!

Thanks for pulling for me and with me on this low carb life-journey!!!

What if it all has been a Big Fat Lie?

OK... I absolutely know that I am not the first to post these. Jimmy Moore has been all over this for a long time now (and kudos to him for all the goodness he is bringing to the online low carb community, and those interested). In fact, ...I may actually be the last online low carber to post these... :sigh:

But I gotta do *my* part for those within my circle of influence - I am so psyched following all the excitement around Gary Taubes new book (Good Calories, Bad Calories) and more importantly many of the ideas he is challenging and advancing. Gary Taubes is a top science journalist who has spent alot of time (years) apparently studying and challenging (and writing about) various scientific ideas, studys, and conclusions that are often done in error due to one reason or another.

Now, in this new book Gary Taubes takes on the establishment (the man - yes, the man ...who is trying to keep you down) or at least the established thought advanced by the majority of nutrition experts and scientists over the past 4 decades or more. Gary's book is about 600 pages and contains a couple hundred pages (reportedly) of footnotes and references to various sources, studies, quotes, etc.

(BTW - AWESOME JOB, GARY!!!! KEEP UP THE TREMENDOUS WORK!!! KEEP YOUR CHIN UP!!!)

I have not purchased/read the book yet, but I am dying to! Up to now I have been reading and listening and watching Gary online alot lately. I am posting these links here for the benefit of my personal friends, the brethren at church, my work associates and buddies, and members of my family who might not make it to the other major low carb blogs.... but might drop in here.

---------------------------------------------------

This is Really Interesting Stuff:

What if it's All Been a Big Fat Lie? (NY Times Article by Gary Taubes)
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E2D61F3EF934A35754C0A9649C8B63&sec=health

Peoples Pharmacy Interview of Gary Taubes
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/audio/extended_interview_with_gary_taubes.mp3

Sugar Shock Interview with Gary Taubes
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/StopSugarShock/2007/09/27/the-low-fat-high-carb-diet-hoax-why-conventional-dieting-wisdom-is-wrong-date-tba

The Brian Leher Show - Gary Taubes
http://audio.wnyc.org/bl/bl091707dpod.mp3

NPR (National Public Radio) - Gary Taubes
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14419309

Charley Rose Show - Gary Taubes & Panel Discussion with Dr. Oz, Dr. Ornish, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPyme62niYM

Transcript of Gary Taubes on Larry King with Joy Behar
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0710/19/lkl.01.html

Dr. Weil Endorses Gary Taubes Book
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoQGRJqGQTs

- Enjoy!

LC Videos

Well, it seems like since I've been away the past couple weeks many popular low carb bloggers have jumped into the video scene on YouTube, and have created all kinds of informative and fun video blogs. Or maybe I've just been out of it or hadn't noticed. Anything's possible.

It is really interesting to see some of the low carbers you have met online and followed for years, and meet new ones in this way. You get more personality, more fun, and maybe more of a connection than just in reading someone's typed blog pages I think. It's different. I doubt I am anywhere near ready to do a video blog. But it is fascinating. And I would think it would be of interest to anyone new to low carb, or to anyone who hasn't found these amazing online low carb video resources yet.

I have learned alot watching these and recommend the following for your low carb learning and viewing pleasure. It's a little like on-demand specialized (low budget) TV shows right to your computer over the Internet.

Here are some fun and interesting links:

______________________________

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=livinlowcarbman&p=r

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=DrJonnyBowden&p=r

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=bowulf&p=r

http://www.youtube.com/user/Oh2BFit

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=SparkysGirl91

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFatMelter

_______________________

Have fun. Learn alot.

Like eating watermelon - just eat what you like, and spit out the seeds.

Reminiscing: 2006 - 2007 (This Time Last Year To Now)

Main Entry: rem·i·nisce
Pronunciation: \ˌre-mə-ˈnis\
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s): rem·i·nisced; rem·i·nisc·ing
Etymology: back-formation from reminiscence
Date: 1829
: to indulge in reminiscence synonyms see remember
— rem·i·nis·cer \-ˈni-sər\ noun
-----------------------------------------------------------

Well, I am spending a little time thinking about the past year. I've been offline, still lowcarbin it, but not lollygagging. Lots of work, home, church, family issues, etc. Been meaning to write, but have been literally too busy to post lately. Which is a gigantic bummer as I get alot of buzz and energy and encouragement and strength from focussing my thoughts here and sharing in a larger low carb community online.

So anyhow, back to my reminiscing...

Last year this time: Let's see. I was around or over 410 lbs. Fat. Disgustingly fat. About ill with overweight in so many ways. Last year around this time I had met several low carbers and started researching it online for the first time, seriously. A guy at work lost alot in a hurry. I was intruiged. Then, I met a low carb practicing doctor who kept the weight off for ten years eating this way - a real success story! I found Jimmy Moore's LivinLavidaLowCarb site, and that was an epiphany. I was about to get a call from my bro, telling me he had lost about 80 lbs on low carb any day now... :smile: ...launching me into an Atkins style "If my brother can do this, I can too!" Diet. Which is now the way I hope to eat for the rest of my life.

So what has transpired over the last year?

100+ lbs down!

No more Antacids (Alka Seltzer and Prilosec/Prevacid/Nexium)

No more GERD

Went from a size 60 & 62 waist on my pants to somewhere closer to a 52 inch waist today

My neck now hangs inside the collar-hole of my old 22-inch neck shirts amazingly inches smaller

I am more active than I've been in many slothful recent years

My blood pressure is down

I am sick less this year than the year before, in fact, for a number of years really!

No more blood sugar and insulin spikes (getting really dopey and tired after eating, and shaky and light headed before eating) - having to get an emergency candy bar just to keep my blood sugar from crashing at times

I've made lot's of tremendous and inspiring low carb friends online!

I feel great! I really believe I can eat and live this way for a lifetime of success!!!!

Others are now asking me how I have done it, and are curious. Several have started low carbin it themselves too!!! THAT IS REALLY AWESOME! TO FIND SOMETHING SO WONDERFUL AND POSITIVE AND TO BE ABLE TO HELP OTHERS BE HEALTHIER AND HAPPIER!!!

Aint life grand? Aint it wonderful?!! I can't wait to hit November 1st - my one year aniversary of starting this way of life is almost here! I can't wait to go another few months and be under 300 pounds forever!!! That will be so awesome! And I can hardly wait to lose my way through the 200's to get even closer to my goal weight - wherever that really is (someplace sustainable, healthy, and comfortable). Perhaps under 200 lbs! THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!

Anyhow, it's all in the Lord God's hands anyway. But I am thankful to God and PRAISE HIM for giving me this life, for creating me, for blessing me beyond measure, for forgiving me of sin, and for leading me from an unhealthy situation to one where I can be more healthy, active, useful in His service, and possibly here for my wife and kids over the long-haul! Lord Willing!

Sharing the Love and Helping Others

One of the things I think many of us low carbers want to do once we have lost some weight it to share the "secret of our success" with others so they can benefit too. It is really rewarding when folks start to notice your weight loss and ask what you have been doing that has worked for you.

It is also very frustrating to feel so happy about losing some large amounts of weight and to still have few folks notice or appreciate the differences. I am just now really getting folks in my life (at work, church, etc) to notice my weight loss, being down a hundred pounds in less than a years time. It's kindof funny in that so many of them were really seemingly oblivious to the fact I was shrinking over the past year, but are only now being struck by the difference. I assume it is because starting out so heavy, my losses really had to be huge in order to be noticed (as a percentage of my total weight).

Anyhow, now that people are asking - some are asking in sincere interest and some are just critical nosey folks who need to get into your business and share their two cents - I am excited to be able to tell them about low carb diets and Atkins in particular. I still have a tremendous amount of weight to go, but I hope folks will continue to notice and ask.

During the time I have been losing it has really bothered me to see other people that are fat. I want to scream to them "YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE FAT!", "YOU CAN LOSE WEIGHT TOO, JUST LIKE ME!!! IF **I** CAN DO IT, YOU CAN TOO!!!"

I want to tell them how easy it is. Almost effortless. No white-knuckle test of willpower. No futile yo-yo dieting and weight regain. It can last. It doesn't have to be an early death of diabetes and blood sugar problems, heart problems, high blood pressure, poor health, etc.

It doesn't have to be a life of social isolation, frustration, anger, and depression!

You don't have to be resigned to L, then XL, then XXL, then XXXL, then XXXXL (and so on) sized clothes.

Anyhow, it is frustrating to watch others when you just want to say, Did you know? Have you considered? Have you heard? Wouldn't you want all these good things for yourself too???!!!!

I don't want to be a militant cult-like diet fanatic, pushing on others his view of the world. But how to share with so many others, especially when some are starting to remark and ask me what I've been doing?

Well, my wife hit on something really affordable, easy, and something that might let me do some little part to help a few folks, if I can. To share the Joy of William Banting running through the streets of London with his letter on corpulence...

My wife found a consignment store with a book section with a pile of old Atkins books at about a buck a book. I now have something to hand to those who are interested enough to try to understand the low carb way of life. It's cheap, easy, and handy, and something anyone can do. I left a couple in my desk at work. I'll put a couple in the car. It ought to be fun!!

Check your local used book stores and consignment stores for copies and let me know if you too have success with sharing this wonderful way of eating and living. Let's have some fun!!!

How Many Benefits of Eating Low Carb Can You Come Up With?

I thought it would be great to try to list as many as we could, together. Post into the comments and I will compile a master list and then will repost the list in its entirety when it gets big enough. List any references, sources, attributions, etc.

I'll get things started....

1.) Lose Weight (And lose it faster, better, longer, easier than low calorie and other methods)
2.) OK, I took the easy one. : ) Now it's your turn....

Low-Carb Diet As a Treatment for Cancer?

Time and CNN have a really interesting article found here:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1662484,00.html

It is entitled "Can a High-Fat Diet Beat Cancer?"

In the article scientists are speculating that a high-fat ketogenic diet can help folks with cancer! A German doctor named Otto Warburg (a winner of Alfred Nobel's Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1931) studied cellular metabolism and respiration of cancer cells.

Based on his research and discoveries, scientists are wondering if switching a body from a carbohydrate rich diet to a ketogenic diet would be beneficial for folks suffering from certain cancers. Doctor Warburg discovered that cancer cells can live even in the absence of oxygen and that the cancers fueled themselves exclusively by a process called glycolysis - creating energy through the fermentation of sugars in the cytoplasm.

You can read about him here:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1931/warburg-bio.html

You can read about his ideas here:

The Prime Cause and Prevention of Cancer, Otto Warburg
http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/Loxygen2.htm

"Cancer, above all other diseases, has countless secondary causes. Almost anything can cause cancer. But, even for cancer, there is only one prime cause.

The prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen (oxidation of sugar) in normal body cells by fermentation of sugar.

All normal body cells meet their energy needs by respiration of oxygen, whereas cancer cells meet their energy needs in great part by fermentation. All normal body cells are thus obligate aerobes, whereas all cancer cells are partial anaerobes.

From the standpoint of the physics and chemistry of life this difference between normal and cancer cells is so great that one can scarcely picture a greater difference. Oxygen gas, the donor of energy in plants and animals, is dethroned in the cancer cells and replaced by the energy yielding reaction of the lowest living forms, namely the fermentation of sugar.

In every case, during the cancer development, the oxygen respiration always falls, fermentation appears, and the highly differentiated cells are transformed into fermenting anaerobes, which have lost all their body functions and retain only the now useless property of growth and replication. Thus, when respiration disappears, life does not disappear, but the meaning of life disappears, and what remains are growing machines that destroy the body in which they grow."
The Prime Cause and Prevention of Cancer, Dr. Otto Warburg, June 30, 1966

Reading all this and trying (in my own way and at my own level) to understand it - let's face it I am not a scientist and don't even play one on TV) it sure makes me think that the low carb folks who say "SUGAR IS POISON", might be on to something. Kudos to those who took their education to a level where they can actually contemplate the cellular chemistry, metabolism, and biological activities described by Doctor Warburg and in related papers and understand it and apply that in meaningful ways.

Carbohydrates and sugars in all their various forms are certainly ready fuel for the body, but maybe it wasn't intended to be consumed at the tremendously high level we do it (here in the the present day United States) without serious negative consequences to your health - think diabetes, various digestive conditions, high blood sugars, etc.

And reading things like Nancy Appleton's list of "147 Reasons Why Sugar is Ruining Your Health" (found here: http://www.nancyappleton.com/ ) and frequent research found on Jimmy Moore's Livin Lavida Low Carb Site (http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.com/) it seems to add up in study after study to be shown to cause or be related to numerous health problems. I read the article at Time/CNN with great interest and will be very interested in watching and learning from this study as it progresses.

Your two cents of input is appreciated! What say you?

Popular Low Calorie Low Carb Diet Under Investigation

I read tonight with interest that the popular diet "Kimkins" with it's web site Kimkins.com and well known founder ("Kimmer") are reportedly now under investigation for potentially fraudulent claims and at least questionable (and potentially seriously unhealthful) advice given.

This has been the source of a bit of an uproar in the low carb Internet community as some have expressed serious suspicions about some of the the founders (supposed) pictures that looked a little fishy. Also some popular low carbers I assume in good faith jumped on the bandwagon and tried this diet approach as well, lending support to the diet that only fueled the fire of criticism by others.

Basically, if what I read is true (in various venues online), even some of the most ardent supporters of this diet, and even some former business partners are now revealing startling information about the founder and the program, and are turning against both publicly.

I have tried to be supportive of some of my low carb friends in the middle of all this broohaha. But now it looks like the truth may be coming out, and it isn't very pretty.

Evidently, a private investigator has produced pictures of "Kimmer" that appear to demonstrate that if Kimmer has ever lost such significant weight as she has claimed in the past, it hasn't taken hold over the long run - at least at present she appears to be a morbidly obese woman pretending/claiming to be someone she isn't. At least that's what things appear like in the stories and pictures linked below:

http://www.slamboard.com/2007/09/05/heidi-diaz-kimmer-of-kimkins-surveillance-picture/

http://www.slamboard.com/2007/09/05/more-surveillance-photos-of-kimkins-kimmer/

http://www.slamboard.com/2007/09/05/surveillance-pics-of-heidi-diaz-kimmer-at-the-kimkinscom-post-office-box/

Wow! I am speechless! Shocking!!!

All About Fat

As I go along the way in the low carb life I am constantly trying to learn about diet and nutrition, metabolism, body processes, and about the body in general. In my meanderings I have found a number of articles on human body fat, and how it works. Really interesting stuff. I recommend this kind of reading for anyone looking to master their own body by understanding it better and controlling their decisions. This is really essential reading for anyone serious about low carb life or just simply better health and fitness.

Some great links about fat cells and how they work:

What is Bodyfat?
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/Miscarticles/whatisbodyfat.html

How Fat Cells Work
http://health.howstuffworks.com/fat-cell.htm

The Death of Fat Cells
-- and --
Understanding how obese fat cells work
http://kudosforlowcarb.blogspot.com/

And one more about the metabolic process at play here...

What If A Calorie Isn't Just A Calorie After All?

http://www.commonvoice.com/article.asp?colid=7617

Celebrating!

I hope you will forgive this self-serving and gratuitous post, chock-full of Happy Happy Joy Joy, Happy Dancing, Happy Feet, Celebration, Gladness, Mirth, and Wonderful News!!!

I weighed earlier today at 308.8 lbs, which by my reconning is over 100 lbs down from my starting weight last November 1st, 2006!!!

Thanks to all my low carb friends who encourage, motivate, inform, uplift, share, entertain, strengthen my commitment and resolve, and otherwise help me be successful on this new Way of Eating and Way of Life!!! I appreciate all you have done to help me, for visiting my online blogs and journals and posting and doing all the many things that mean so much to me.

THANK YOU!

and.... THANK YOU DOCTOR ATKINS!!!!

The Easiest Ways to (Supposedly) Lose Weight

Many moons ago I used to work for a small network equipment reseller and systems integrator. At one point (when the Internet wasn't anything like it is today) they decided that they wanted to start up an Internet Service Provider operation. This is back when the first big dial-up Internet networks were first getting started. We sold bandwidth and we also developed web pages and hosted them as part of the business.

One day a particularly seedy-looking older fellow came in wanting us to create a commercial web site to help him sell his diet pills. He supposedly had thousands sitting in a warehouse he needed to move. This older fellow readily admitted that he had been arrested and charged by the US Postal Service for mail fraud in the past though I don't think he did any jail time or anything. He also freely admitted that the pills really didn't do much of anything. They were mostly vitamins and nutritional suplements. He was able to sell these as diet pills because tucked away in the fine print was the information stating that in order for the pills to work and for the consumer to experience weight loss they also had to follow the diet and excercise plan that accompanied the pills (a very low calorie plan that consisted of salads and plenty of vigourous excercise).

So this fellow surely sold many thousands of diet pills, knowing they wouldn't work, hinting that they would, and leaving the details to the fine print. Although the owners of the company and I eventually agreed to *NOT* be a part of this seedy fellows scam - and we sent him elsewhere for his Internet business - it gave me a real insight into who is behind so many of these kinds of diet pill scams. And the way that they take advantage of nieve innocent folks wanting instant results (without any work or pain or personal loss or even time spent working towards better health on their part). They want their weight loss in a pill. Something easy that doesn't require them to change much if at all.

This is nothing new. And thinking about some of the many diet pills you read about today makes me wonder about the veracity of these and similar diets in a pill bottle. I have no idea how effective they are or aren't. But I am a sceptic at this point. There is something honest about weight loss that actually requires work, pain, sacrifice, discipline, and actually takes time that I like. No catchy legalize in the fine print. It's simple and honest.

People have been looking for these kinds of shortcuts for centuries. I spent a few minutes on the Internet today looking about some of these kinds of quick and easy solutions in the past, and have highlighted a few I found below (I have no idea of the veracity of these, but they mostly look like real published ads or products sold).

And I also read about a number of similar potions, powders, and treatments that I wasn't able to find but read about:

• Russell's Anti-Corpulent Preparation Cream
• Jean Down's Get Slim Powder
• Every Woman's Flesh Reducer
• Howell's Reducing Paste
• George Burnwell's Obesity Belt
• Gardner Reducing Machines
• Reducing chairs
• Sugar, beeswax, lard, ox-bile (rub where needed)

Today people are really no different. They will buy slimming belts, abdominal-izers of various types, diet pills, do liposuction, get the lap band, do gastric bypass, and try all kinds of gadgets and solutions that promise tremendous and easy results. So this is nothing new, and is just more of the same for hundreds of years. Some of the potions below are simply citric acid and food coloring. Some actually contain sugar (yeah, that ought to work)! For every nieve innocent that's born there's a con man out there somewhere willing to take them for all they are worth.

Some of these are kindof funny to read about. The use of the words "Corpulent", and "Stout", and "Portly" seem to have fallen out of fashion.

"Adipose", "saponaceous", "avoirdupois", and "porcine" are rarely heard either. Yet go to Google and see how often these sort of words (like corpulent) were commonly used in the past by Herman Melville and other literary masters.

It's interesting what the latest fads are in weight loss. The latest shortcuts promising fantastic and unbelievable results. I wonder how many do nothing at all or are simply some old greasy flim flam man behind the products (running from the FTC, the postal service investigators, and the states and federal attorneys general).

An Interesting Link:

Terrors of the Table: The Curious History of Nutrition By Walter Gratzer
http://books.google.com/books?id=YhqHSDjnsbYC&pg=PA233&lpg=PA233&dq=russells+anti+corpulent&source=web&ots=15t9pt_wpq&sig=VxMDuJFAwh2J84oWq-gcaYDHZqs

An Interesting Article:

FTC Stops Diet Spam http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136401-c,spam/article.html

Really Important Stuff

BigDaddyD posted some thoughts on his blog (lowcarbohydrate.blogspot.com) that I think is tremendously important and is certainly worthy of notice and consideration by any and all low carbers. It really struck a chord and resonated with me.

He basically has already lost about 100 lbs or more and is now contemplating how he has to live in order to be successful on ongoing maintenance. In thinking it through, he realized that it is important to carefully consider and list the kinds of things that he did that got him into trouble in the first place. And to understand what the thinking he had at the time, and pretty much the whole enchilada about how he got overweight in the first place

By being brutally honest with ourselves about this (if we were to do this too), and really considering this, we can probably better understand our own weaknesses and the things that we personally struggle with too. I think it is an excellent idea!

I took my own introspection to my favorite low carb support group forum (one with a special area for folks with 100 lbs to lose or more - the Triple Digits Club). In truth, I think that this is the kind of thing that is SO IMPORTANT, I am going to likely be really peeling the onion on this one (through the layers) to get to my deepest issues and think them through for a long while.

No proper maintenance plan can really be effective without understanding all our mistakes and little failings (and stinkin thinkin) that ended up with us in the position that we are so overweight. Some of us at 100 lbs or more... and in my own personal case much more than a hundred pounds overweight! In fact, at a hundred pounds down I may still have over a hundred more to go!

The most important thing for me is not just the losing of the weight but the maintaining a healthy low-carb life over the long-haul. Like so many of my low-carb heros have already done and are continuing to do!!

Anyhow really great reading here at BigDaddyD's low carb blog:
http://lowcarbohydrate.blogspot.com/

Also many thanks to Sparky's Girl who found this and mentioned this post first (on her blog - http://www.lovinglowcarblife.blogspot.com/)!!

I am really appreciative of the Internet low carb community and all you all do to inform, encourage, and support me!! Thanks!!!!!!

A Couple of Interesting Headlines

The first article I stumbled across last night suggests that folks who are obese may in fact be (in part) the result of a virus that affects certain people's fat cells. Kinda odd, but interesting info.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20070820/obesity-virus-more-bigger-fat-cells

The second interesting article I discovered demonstrates the health benefits of being 100lbs down from your previous weight. Much improved health and reduced risk of death as a result. Since I am *almost* at 100lbs lost since last November, I was especially interested in reading this:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20070808/what-happens-when-you-lose-100-pounds