It’s no real secret about how most of Hollywood gets themselves into shape when they have an important movie role coming up that requires them to shed the excess weight off their body. According to Jim actress Courtney Thorne-Smith revealed in a September 2009 interview that low-carb is how people in the industry eat and that it’s pretty common knowledge amongst industry insiders what you need to do to slim down is restrict your carbohydrate intake to primarily nuts, cheeses, meats, and non-starchy veggies. The problem is that while this way of eating is considered normal within the inner circles of the celebrity world, very few of them are out there talking about how the low-carb lifestyle changed their life. High-profile celebs like Brad Pitt, Jennifer Anniston, Angelina Jolie, LL Cool J, Cameron Diaz, Dolly Parton, and others all swear by low-carb, but haven’t really taken up the mantle for this cause. Earlier this year, celebrity chef Alton Brown shed 50 pounds on a semi-low-carb diet with great fanfare and notoriety. But this week People magazine is reporting that 52-year old funnyman-turned-actor-turned-game show host Drew Carey has slimmed down a total of 80 pounds and come off of all of his diabetes medications thanks to “shaving his diet of carbohydrates” and exercising “religiously.”

Click here to read more about Drew Carey’s amazing low-carb carb weight loss success story that now has him off of all of his diabetes medications as well!

As much of a sports fan as I am, I gotta admit professional hockey is not something I’m all that into. The National Hockey League (NHL) just hasn’t appealed to me since Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull retired from the game many moons ago (yes, I’m showing my age with those names). I’m sure if I gave these new guys a chance to show me their skills I’d enjoy it but I barely have enough time to watch the NFL, NBA, and Major League baseball along with the occasional PGA Tour Golf and even professional tennis during major tournaments like Wimbledon (told ya I loved sports!).

But I’d never even heard of Jonathan Toews, Antti Niemi, Duncan Keith, or Dustin Byfuglien from the Chicago Blackhawks team that just earned a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals after sweeping the San Jose Sharks out of the playoffs. I’m always impressed by underdog stories of teams that have been down rising from the ashes to gain worldwide attention for their improvement. It gives people watching at home that there is hope for them to do the same in their life (like losing weight or reaching some other tangible goal) and that’s what makes sports so much fun to watch. I’ll admit it’s been quite an impressive run for this unlikely Blackhawks team to reach the elite status in their league after several years of lackluster performances from its players and team.

So what has been the difference? Would you believe it could possibly be tied to Vitamin D? Yep! That same Vitamin D that Susan Siljander from GrassrootsHealth recently shared about on my podcast show in March 2010 and has been the subject of an entire YouTube video last year as well as a blog post chronicling my wife Christine’s paltry D3 level of a pitiful 9. She has since gotten her Vitamin D levels up to 52 and rising thanks to taking a high-dose 10,000 IU of Vitamin D3 gel caps we get from Sam’s Club. The result? Muscle and joint pain gone, better mood, and she’s come off of her prescription Paxil for the first time in over a decade! There is no coincidence between Vitamin D levels and vastly improved health and the team doctors with the Chicago Blackhawks realized this when they started observing the symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency amongst their players in early 2009.

Click here for more on this intriguing story about Vitamin D from the sports world!

Carnie Wilson getting weight loss help from “The Dr. Oz Show”

One of the most famous people who has made headlines over the years because of her struggles to get her weight under control has got to be 41-year old singer Carnie Wilson (from the early 1990’s music group Wilson Phillips and daughter of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson). After experiencing a phenomenal weight loss thanks to gastric bypass surgery, Carnie has since become pregnant and struggled to get her weight back down again. She currently stars in a new reality television show and asked Dr. Mehmet Oz to help her in this quest to shed the pounds again. Producers from The Dr. Oz Show contacted me last week about participating in a conference call with Carnie and I was able to ask her a question about trying a low-carb nutritional approach. Tune in to the beginning of today’s episode of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb” to hear her response to my question.

Rich Vos says he can produce “results typical” with his nutrition counseling

Don’t you hate it when you see all of these television ads promoting the next great diet for producing amazing weight loss success, but then they throw in a crazy CYA legal disclaimer that states “results NOT typical.” I have to laugh every time I see that because I’d be ashamed to boast of producing success and then telling people that they shouldn’t expect to get these same kind of results. Enter Rich Vos who created a nutritional counseling web site called Results Typical. Hear him share in my brief mini-interview with him today how a low-carb/Paleo dietary change can produce some pretty powerful results. Set up a consultation with Rich by calling him at (859) 814-7954 or via e-mail at rich@myresultstypical.com. We appreciate his support of this podcast along with our friends at LO-CARB U!

Motivational speaker Steve Siebold offers up diet encouragement

So you wanna some weight, huh? It’s all just mind over matter, finding a sense of stick-tuitiveness to reach your goals, and getting more mentally tough than you’ve ever been before. Have you heard any of this before? Riiiiiiiiight. Easier said that done. But today’s podcast interview guest notes that getting your mind in the right place and taking personal responsibility for your life is the foundation for making the required changes to produce permanent results.

In Episode 331 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we hear from motivational speaker Steve Siebold, author Die Fat or Get Tough: 101 Differences in Thinking Between Fat People and Fit People, who helps people dealing with obesity shift their thinking to produce incredible success. Hear Steve talk about how his semi-professional tennis background got him started in teaching mental toughness, how his own personal weight gain got him interested in the subject of weight loss, the 12-week mental toughness program he created to shed 40 pounds himself, the limited role of willpower in producing weight loss, the death threats he’s received because of his personal responsibility message for obesity, the special interests involved in the weight loss industry, the differences between the way fat people and fit people think, why he uses the term “fat” to get past the delusion of obesity, what his narrow definition of “fit” is, why doctors should tell their patients that they’re fat if they are, whether parents are to blame for the weight of their children, and why the idea of “big is beautiful” is a terrible thing.

Click here to listen and you’ll quickly find out that Steve isn’t afraid to speak his mind because he believes in the end that will serve people better.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Hechesky
Celebrity chef Alton Brown’s amazing weight loss grabbing fan attention

People who watch The Food Network aren’t usually conscientious of the relationship between diet and health because quite frankly most of the recipes shared by the “stars” on there each and every day are loaded with way too much excessive sugar and carbohydrates that will simply pack on the pounds. The producers have tried in the past to highlight the benefits of eating well on a healthy low-carb nutritional approach when the great George Stella (whose recipes are now being featured on the home shopping channel QVC) was a regular with his “Low-Carb & Lovin’ It” show back in the heyday of livin’ la vida low-carb in the middle of the last decade. But with the low-carb “fad” allegedly passing in 2004 and now that nobody seems to be interested in healthy cooking on The Food Network anymore (although I think they’re missing a golden opportunity to hit an under-served market of viewers!), the producers completely ditched the idea of promoting a health-related cooking show.

But what will they do now that one of their network’s biggest stars has lost a total of 50 pounds by consuming what could easily be described as a low-carb diet? That’s exactly the dilemma they find themselves in with all the Internet buzz surrounding “Iron Chef America” host Alton Brown.

Click here to check out some video footage of Alton Brown’s new slimmed-down body, what he says he did to shed the weight, and a look at what kind of foods he consumed to produce this remarkable 50-pound weight loss.

Low-carb celebrity chef from The Food Network George Stella

If you had to name the most famous low-carb cooking and recipe makers out there today, some will immediately come to mind like Dana Carpender, Jan McCracken, Judy Barnes Baker, Linda Genaw, Blaine Jelus, Karen Rysavy, Dr. Mary Dan Eades, and others. But one man’s influence on behalf of healthy low-carb living was taken to a superstar level when he was featured on his very own low-carb cooking show on The Food Network called “Low-Carb & Lovin’ It.” He is arguably the most recognized name on behalf of low-carb living besides the late, great Dr. Robert C. Atkins himself and he is today’s podcast interview guest just in time for this special Thanksgiving edition of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore.”

In Episode 309 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we are thrilled to finally have celebrity low-carb cooking king George Stella who you may remember from The Food Network show “Low-Carb & Lovin’ It.” He is the author of George Stella’s Livin’ Low Carb: Family Recipes Stella Style , Eating Stella Style: Low-Carb Recipes for Healthy Living, and his latest book called George Stella’s Good Carb Family Cookbook. These days he’s putting out incredible low-carb dishes with his own cooking show on QVC and it was such a pleasure catching up with what’s happening in the wild and wacky world of George Stella.

Tune in to my interview to hear him talk about his unbelievable low-carb weight loss success where he started his journey weighing nearly 470 pounds, the influence his then-300+ pound son Christian had on his motivation to begin this journey, how reading Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution changed his life forever, why he decided to adopt the low-carb lifestyle to his specific personal tastes, how every diet guru out there has adapted some aspect of low-carb living, why using the phrase “good carb” is better than low-carb, the intricate background behind how he got his show on The Food Network and what has happened to it in the past few years, why you should find the diet that works for you, his move to the QVC for a larger platform of over 2 million viewers, why he travels to schools to talk about childhood obesity, the sugar-free movement in schools across America, why he has fun and sticks with cooking rather than entering the diet debate, and his favorite Thanksgiving recipes.

One thing you’ll never have to worry about listening to George Stella is being bored! Click here to be entertained and educated as you feast your ears on today’s interview.

Sometimes it can feel like you’re the only one out there who is eating low-carb while everyone around you is scorning and turning their nose up at your diet. But the hidden secret that you probably haven’t heard much about is that there are millions upon millions of people who are eating the healthy low-carb lifestyle. Even more concealed is the fact that low-carb is the way most of Hollywood eats — something my special interview guest today knows all about because she’s been one of the most recognizable faces on television over the past two decades!

In Episode 287 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we are honored to have actress Courtney Thorne-Smith, known for her roles on television shows such as Melrose Place and Ally McBeal as well as her current sitcom According to Jim. She was named the official celebrity spokesperson for Atkins Nutritionals in January 2009 and ever since I’ve been trying to get her on my show! And today’s the day. WOO HOO! What a fireball of energy and passion Courtney has for low-carb living and makes the eye-opening comment that “all of Hollywood eats low-carb.” What an inspiring interview from a woman who has been through the counting calories and exercise-’til-you-drop plan with futile results. Get motivated in your low-carb way of life from this top Hollywood actress!

There are four ways you can listen to Episode 287:

1. Listen at the new iTunes page for the podcast:

2. Listen and comment about the show at the official web site for the podcast:

3. Download the MP3 file of Episode 287 [22:47m]:

4. Calling (818) 688-2763 to listen via Podlinez

HELP PROMOTE THIS PODCAST! Go to the iTunes page and spend a couple of minutes writing a review for the show. The podcast listing is currently featured at the top of the “New & Notable” section of both the “Health” and “Nutrition & Fitness” categories and I’d like to keep the momentum going by flooding the show with lots of reviews from enthusiastic listeners that will help continue to push it up the charts so the reach of this show will keep expanding. THANK YOU so much if you have already done this or if you are planning on doing it soon. It only takes a couple of minutes to do. Click here to help out the show!

CONSIDER FINANCIALLY SUPPORTING THE #1 LOW-CARB PODCAST! If you have been positively impacted by my podcast show, then we’d love it if you’d consider clicking on the DONATE button on the official podcast web site. We have literally tens of thousands of listeners listening to the show each week and donations of any amount would help us tremendously to keep this low-carb podcast on the air. We love providing quality content for your listening pleasure, so please consider making a donation by visiting PayPal.com and submitting your gift to the e-mail address livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Again, THANK YOU for your undying support!

What did you think about what Courtney Thorne-Smith had to say about healthy low-carb living? Talk about it in the show notes section of Episode 287. Read more about Courtney’s Atkins low-carb story by clicking here. Coming up next week starting on Monday we’ll have Ben Fury from Bettercise who suffered a tragic fire that destroyed his home and business last week in the California wildfires just weeks after we recorded this interview. You’ll hear about the great work he is doing and hopefully see the vision he has for helping people exercise better. Then on Thursday, Kelley Herring from The Healing Gourmet will be here to share how her delicious dishes could be “Your Recipe For Health.” THANK YOU for listening as always and keep spreading the word about this podcast!

Sweden’s top athlete Jonas Colting has a passion for low-carb nutrition

If you’ve been paying any attention to the shifts in nutritional thinking around the world over the past year, then you probably already know about the huge low-carb diet explosion that is happening in Sweden right now. It’s exciting to see such a public debate about saturated fat happening in that country right now thanks to the work of people like Dr. Annika Dahlqvist, Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, Per Wikholm, and others. Today I’m privileged to share my frank interview with a surprisingly strong voice on behalf of LCHF (low-carb, high-fat) diets.

In Episode 262 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we have world-class Swedish triathlete Jonas Colting with us to talk about how the high-fat, low-carb nutritional approach has not only improved his health but also maximized his athletic performance in competition–he won the Ultraman World Championships in 2004 and then again in 2007 as well as high finishes in the Long Distance World Cup in 2001, 2004, and 2005. Jonas credits livin’ la vida low-carb for his athletic breakthrough over the past few years.

Hear Jonas Colting talk in-depth about how the traditional diet promoted by the Swedish government for athletes was harming his health, the positive impact of Dr. Dahlqvist on the dietary changes happening in Sweden, the special interest groups that are opposed to LCHF, what a typical day’s worth of meals looks like for him, why American Olympic athlete Michael Phelps will need to cut back on his carbs and calories as he gets older, how LCHF has extended the length and abilities of his athletic career, which popular American low-carb blogger he’s a big fan of (no, it’s not me!), his inaugural Tour of Sweden this year, the interesting traditional Swedish foods, and the perils of consuming margarine! This is an encouraging podcast from one of the finest triathletes in the entire world–and he’s an amazing ambassador for healthy high-fat, low-carbohydrate eating. ENJOY!

Click here to read more about and listen to this compelling 45-minute interview with one of the world’s finest elite athletes talking about how low-carb, high-fat nutrition has completely transformed his athletic performance.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom and Dr. Daniel Amen

Fans of professional basketball know that tonight is the beginning of the 2009 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic. Superstars like Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, and all the rest will be putting their playing talents on full display for all the world to see them do what they get paid to do. And most of us who will be watching these games will automatically assume that the players are some of the healthiest people on the planet, right? Well, looks can be deceiving as one medical professional who happens to be a Lakers fan noted this week about Los Angeles forward Lamar Odom.

Dr. Daniel Amen is a Newport Beach, CA-based psychiatrist who has written a series of books on brain health over the past ten years. He is also rooting for the Los Angeles Lakers to beat the Orlando Magic starting tonight, but is concerned about Odom’s obvious love for anything and everything that contains sugar in it. And this isn’t just some passing adoration for sugary foods–you could quite accurately calls this obsession with the sweet stuff a bona fide addiction that must be dealt with.

Click here to see some shocking video about Lamar Odom’s sugar-eating habits, what Lakers coach Phil Jackson thinks about this, how they’re trying to justify his actions, and why this is setting a very bad example for the kids who are watching him as a role model.

Oprah’s weight struggles may be leading her towards low-carb solution

In the February 2009 issue of O Magazine, the front cover showed the headline “The Top 5 Diets: Which One Works Best” which caught the attention of quite a few of my readers who were standing at the checkout of their local grocery stores in recent weeks. Why? Because when you open up the magazine, lo and behold it names LIVIN’ LA VIDA LOW-CARB the BEST diet overall since it produced the most weight loss and weight maintenance of the diets examined. To have this kind of cutting-edge research FEATURED in Oprah’s magazine is a pretty big deal. Is Oprah FINALLY coming around to the low-carb side of things?

Click here to find out more about Oprah Winfrey’s journey to finding the truth about low-carb and why we may be getting close to seeing a show dedicated to the subject of livin’ la vida low-carb very soon.

Oprah Winfrey expresses frustration over inability to shed the pounds for good

I’m not sure why Oprah Winfrey is so berated about her fluctuating weight other than the fact that she kinda puts herself out there as somewhat of an expert on the issue bringing in people like Dr. Phil McGraw, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Bob Greene, and others who dish out dietary advice on her program on a regular basis. In fact, she’s always looking for weight loss success stories to come on her show to talk about how they did it (I have sent my story in so many times it’s not even funny).

All of this hoopla over Oprah’s weight got stirred again this week when the January 2009 issue of O Magazine showed on the front cover a picture of the current 200-pound 54-year old Oprah looking at her 160-pound skinnier self from 2006 and asking the question “How Did I Let This Happen Again?” It’s the latest saga in the sad but true story of a woman who has it all but can’t seem to figure out why she can’t lose weight. In typical fashion, the media went WILD with this story on Monday and I have a few thoughts to share about Oprah Weightgate.

Click here to see why Oprah has failed time after time to keep the weight off and what I think will help her lose those pounds for good.