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.

Dr. Michael Aziz created “The Perfect 10 Diet” to balance the hormones

Each year we are exposed to so many brand new diet books that attempt to put a new spin on nutrition and health. While the old Biblical saying that “there’s nothing new under the sun” is 100% correct, it’s nice to see how authors try to package their message for consumers to become educated about what to do regarding their weight and health. One trend I’m beginning to see happening that is encouraging to me is the move to play up the health BENEFITS of consuming saturated fat which is something today’s podcast interview guest is all-too-eager to talk about in his new book!

In Episode 328 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we hear from physician Dr. Michael Aziz, author of The Perfect 10 Diet: 10 Key Hormones That Hold the Secret to Losing Weight and Feeling Great-Fast!. This book identifies the 10 key hormones in the body that need to be properly balanced through your diet and Dr. Aziz believes he has found the “perfect” solution to do just that. As you listen to him speak about “low-carb extremes,” you’ll discover he’s mainly talking about the heavy reliance on soy protein bars, too many processed meats, the aversion to consuming carb-rich but what he believes are healthy carbohydrates like potatoes, and eating too much grilled red meat which he links to cancer. While I’m not convinced red meat is at all unhealthy for my body, I do think he makes some excellent points regarding the way some people choose to follow low-carb.

Listen to Dr. Michael Aziz share why he wrote his book, what he thinks is wrong with traditional low-fat and low-carb diets, why mainstream low-carb diets should only be consumed by bodybuilders, what he thinks is “unbalanced” about a high-fat, moderate-protein, low-carb diet, why eating a lot of fruit is unhealthy, the macronutrient ratio of his plan, the differences between Perfect 10 and Dr. Barry Sears’ Zone diet, why diabetics are successful on his diet, his support for consuming healthy saturated fats, whether pastured and organic foods are better to eat, why low-fat diets need to be avoided, what the ten hormones he discusses in his book are, the Perfect 10 food pyramid, his aversion to consuming red meat more than once every three weeks, what he thinks about eating more rare cuts of red meat, why dairy is limited on his program, his belief that ketosis is “extreme,” why soy is unhealthy, his problem with some of the low-carb products, how to change the way people think about saturated fat, the problem with vegetable oils, the deception of food labels, his promotion of organic produce to avoid pesticides, what the differences between The Perfect 10 and the Paleo diet, why bread additives are bad, how you can spike your insulin eating a high-fat, low-carb diet, why he believes you should never buy more than ten items at the grocery store at one time, whether it is wise to remain in Stage 1 of his plan, why he promotes consuming more non-sugary, carbohydrate-rich foods that are addictive to stave off cravings, and what supplements he recommends.

Click here to listen to this interview that is packed with a hefty punch of points to ponder. So, take it all in and process what you think about it as it relates to your low-carb lifestyle!

When I woke up Tuesday morning, I had no idea what surprises were in store

I gotta tell you, I love my job. Blogging, podcasting, and writing books full-time for a living is one of those careers where the thrill and adventure of never knowing what super-exciting thing is gonna happen from day to day is what makes all the headaches it brings worth it. Just as that CareerBuilder.com/MSN column about me that ran last week sorta came out of the blue as a huge blessing to the work I am doing, so too did not one, not two, but THREE opportunities to be on television for me yesterday. The adrenaline is still rushing through my veins from such an exhilarating experience.

Click here to lemme tell you about my chance to spread the low-carb message in a big way on Tuesday!

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.

ATTENTION LLVLC PODCAST FANS! In 2009, I’ve been able to interview some of the biggest names in diet, health, and nutrition and I need your help deciding which ones you thought were the best of the best. Just as we did with the best of 2008 during our special “Encore Week” presentation in January, we’re gonna do it again in the first week of 2010 with the best of 2009. E-mail me your TOP THREE favorite interview guests from 2009 along with any follow-up questions you would like for me to ask them and why you are voting for them to livinlowcarbman@charter.net. I will be taking nominations through November 30, 2009 so I can follow-up with your five most-requested podcast guests. Think back through who you REALLY liked and want to hear more from and then send me their names and any follow-up questions you’d like for me to ask them. This was so much fun last year and I can’t wait to see who you want to hear more from!

Local farmer Joel Salatin shares about the bureaucracy of the food industry

I don’t know when it started, but there is a growing dissatisfaction beginning to stir up among people about the quality of their food. That’s why people are no longer happy with just settling for the selections available to them at their grocery stores and instead are turning to local farmers for delicious and nutritious pastured eggs, raw milk, grass-fed beef, and fresh organic produce. While the supermarkets are trying to take advantage of this growing trend by using selective adjectives in their stores, the truth is you can only get the good stuff by buying locally. My interview guest today is extremely passionate about this subject since it is his livelihood.

In Episode 298 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we hear from Virginia-based farmer Joel Salatin from Polyface Farms who was featured in Michael Pollan’s incredible The Omnivore’s Dilemma book as well as the stunning 2008 expository documentary Food, Inc. Joel grew up on a local farm and knows all the ins and outs of these dwindling national treasures to the fabric of American society. He has authored such compelling, thought-provoking books as Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories From the Local Food Front and Holy Cows And Hog Heaven: The Food Buyer’s Guide To Farm Friendly Food and is enthusiastic about defending local food and all the benefits it provides compared with industrialized farms.

Listen to Joel share about the bureaucratic obstacles he faces each day to bring food to the market, why local food tends to be more expensive than food you purchase in the supermarket, why it is impossible for local grass-fed beef to be tainted with E. Coli, the battles he faces trying to bring real food to consumers who want it, his willingness to stand up to the “food police” who try to push him around, how the local food from local farmers trend is similar to the home-schooling movement, the government roadblocks to getting good quality food, why the healthcare “crisis” we are being told about right now is really a “diet” crisis, the work he is doing to “heal the land” of other local farms, and so much more. You can’t help but sense the enthusiasm Joel has for this subject matter and I hope you are encouraged that local food is alive and well in the United States today!

Click here to listen to my interview with local foodie activist Joel Salatin.

Woman’s World finds itself wrapped up in controversy again over Eco-Atkins

You know what they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery. But that familiar saying only applies if in attempting to imitate you don’t completely pervert the intent of the original idea. But that’s exactly what has been done to the original Atkins low-carb approach by a very aggressive group pushing a vegan-styled diet they call “Eco-Atkins” as a means to discredit the original Atkins diet created by the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins.

The latest excursion into beating up on the Atkins diet comes from the editors atWoman’s World magazine. As one of the most widely-read publications for women in America today, they frequently highlight new diets for women to try. You might recall they had to print a mea culpa to their readers in February 2008 just eight months after featuring a big cover story on the now-infamous Kimkins diet which was later found to be a fraud run by a morbidly-obese woman who had claimed in a podcast interview I conducted with her in 2007 that she had lost 200 pounds. Oops! Well, the latest issue of Woman’s World isn’t much better as they put the focus squarely on this “Eco-Atkins” diet nonsense.

Click here to see the brief history behind this “Eco-Atkins” movement and why it is nothing more than an attempt by the radical vegan and vegetarian groups out there to pervert the amazing benefits of a healthy meat-based, high-fat, low-carbohydrate nutritional approach.

It’s time to restore some “balance” into low-carb news and health headlines

The news and information about the wonderful world of carbohydrate restriction along with the accompanying health headlines that dominate the media never slow down for anyone or anything. Stuff just keeps percolating out there and I try to keep an eye on it for you to sort the good from the bad. Here are just a few of the most interesting low-carb news and health headlines for September 2009, including shocking statistics about what Type 2 diabetics are REALLY eating, stunning new information about the toxic nature of high-fructose corn syrup, a natural cure for the swine flu virus, and the continuing impact of Swedish low-carbers on the international nutritional debate.

Got a little love, a little humor, a little promo, and a little oddball to share!

I’ve had some really interesting stuff happening lately with my blog, health success, upcoming new book, and those ever-present naysayers. It’s all a part of putting yourself out there on the Internet and I’m grateful for it all no matter what it is. Just to have the chance to get a positive message out there is why I remain so driven to do everything that I do. I consider it a privilege and an honor to do what I do.

Click here to see a nice review of my low-carb weight loss story, a cool featuroo about my excellent heart scan and cholesterol numbers, a couple of upcoming interviews on health radio shows to discuss my new book, and a big boo from someone who obviously didn’t like something I had to say.

Ben Fury’s CA-based Bettercise Health & Wellness Center burned to the ground

Have you been following all the tragic damage caused by the wildfires happening in Southern California? There have been thousands of brave firefighters tackling these dangerous out-of-control fires that have caused nearly 7,000 homes to be evacuated and endangering another 6,000+ in and around the Los Angeles area. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a state of emergency earlier this month and it is negatively impacting the lives of so many — including a friend and fellow low-carb health advocate who is a member at my forum named Ben Fury.

Ben is the owner of a health and fitness business called The Bettercise Health and Wellness Center and I’m sad to report that he and his family have suffered a total loss of their cabin in the woods as a result of the wildfires in California. Those photos at the top of this column are what is left of his home and business going up in flames. Worst of all, his insurance company is refusing to repay him for these losses.

“Due to a series of unfortunate events, fire insurance was not in effect at the time so the loss will not be reimbursed,” Ben told Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb.

Bettercise owner Ben Fury helps his older clients get into shape

Lost in the fire that destroyed their home was a collection of thousands of health and medical-related books that comprised Ben’s massive library as well as the equipment he used with clients in his practice. In other words, Ben says “we are starting over completely from scratch.”

I know times have been tough for so many people over this past year, but if you are able to give even a small amount of financial assistance to help this fellow low-carber who has been devastated by the California wildfires, then I know he’d appreciate it so much. Ben and his wife Jean are in the process of picking up the pieces and starting anew on their mission to help people get their weight and health back in order again. I’ll be sharing an interview with Ben Fury on my podcast show next week so you can hear the passion in his voice about the work he is doing.

If you’d like to donate money to Ben in his efforts to rebuild, send your gift to:

Ben Fury
11027 Oro Vista Ave
Sunland, CA 91040

No amount is too small to help a good family in their time of need. Remember Ben and Jean Fury in your prayers and feel free to send them encouraging cards, letters, and e-mails along with your donations. THANK YOU for rallying around this low-carb family and giving them hope that brighter days are coming soon. God bless you!

Gee, what a surprise — the Atkins diet is maligned again!

One of the primary purposes of what I do at this blog is to make people think about what they believe and why they believe it. On the subject of nutrition and health, the difference between what is fact from fiction could very well have your life depending on it. That is one of the reasons why I speak out so passionately about what I believe both from my own experiences as well as all the research I have done on healthy low-carb living.

My goal is to arm you with fact-based information, get you excited about livin’ la vida low-carb, help boost your confidence as you speak with people about this amazing way of eating, and hopefully encourage you to carry on the low-carb torch to others by standing in defense of what it has done for you and millions more. I’m thrilled to see so many new faces joining us long-term low-carbers in articulating what this remarkable nutritional approach has done for both our weight and health. It’s like we have our own little army of troops out there who are constantly on guard to protect the message from being distorted by would-be evildoers.

That’s precisely what happened yesterday in a newspaper column entitled “The Hidden Perils Of The Atkins Phenomena.” Find out more about the lies about low-carb that were shared in this column and the response one of my readers shared with the editors at that paper by clicking here.