July 15, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

9:00AM
Blood sugar reading--96

9:00AM
1 12-ounce can of Splenda-sweetened, caffeine-free Diet Rite

9:15AM
Blood sugar reading--75

9:30AM
Blood sugar reading--89

9:45AM
Blood sugar reading--88

10:00AM
Blood sugar reading--101

10:15AM
Blood sugar reading--94

10:30AM
Blood sugar reading--101

10:45AM
Blood sugar reading--91

11:00AM
Blood sugar reading--87

11:30AM
2 half-pound grass-fed beef hamburger patties with Colby Jack cheese and mayo

12:00PM
Blood sugar reading--90

12:30PM
Blood sugar reading--95

1:15PM
Blood sugar reading--92

1:45PM
Blood sugar reading--94

3:00PM
Blood sugar reading--97 (switched from Sidekick to Reli On glucose monitor)

3:00PM
1 12-ounce can of Splenda-sweetened, caffeine-free Diet Rite

3:15PM
Blood sugar reading--97

3:30PM
Blood sugar reading--103

3:45PM
Blood sugar reading--93

4:00PM
Blood sugar reading--103

4:15PM
Blood sugar reading--97

4:30PM
Blood sugar reading--98

4:45PM
Blood sugar reading--101

5:00PM
Blood sugar reading--100

8:30PM
Blood sugar reading--94

9:15PM
Big bowl of salad greens with chopped tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, and Ranch dressing
Baked meatballs, mozzarella cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Diet Coke with Lime

9:45PM
Blood sugar reading--100

10:15PM
Blood sugar reading--107

10:45PM
Blood sugar reading--110

11:15PM
Blood sugar reading--103

NOTE: What a day, what a day! My fingers are extremely sore from pricking myself a total of 29 times today to get these blood sugar readings, but it was so worth it. As promised, I wanted to see what happens to my blood sugar after drinking a diet soda and frankly the results were a mixed bag. This morning's test was all over the board with a 21-point drop in the first 15 minutes followed by a 14-point rise in the next fifteen minutes and it then proceeded to bounce up and down over the next 90 minutes. This was a very odd reaction that I'd like to conduct a follow-up experiment with water sometime to compare the morning results.

After my lunch meal, my blood sugar remained very steady in the two hours that followed. But I wanted to see what would happen with the diet soda experiment if we did it in the afternoon instead. Would that make a difference? Well, it didn't do the sudden drop of 20-something points like it did this morning. In fact, the blood sugar response was very stable ranging from as low as 93 to as high as 103. That's virtually no blood sugar response at all. Isn't that really weird how much different my blood sugar reacted to the diet soda this afternoon compared with this morning?

Then tonight I ate supper and tested every thirty minutes after eating a meal with a diet soda and my blood sugar response was very normal--a slow rise in blood sugar over the first 90 minutes before it started to come back down again by the two-hour mark. This was a very insightful day despite all the holes and bruising on my fingers. I think I'll be giving my fingers a few days of rest in the next few days to gear up for more readings next week.

What have I learned about my blood sugar through these tests? Well, it looks like my blood glucose is much more sensitive in the morning after fasting all night and tends to regulate after eating. Why? Who the heck knows? All I do know is my blood sugar response seems to be better as the day progresses for me and my pre-meal and post-meal readings are good. And even with all that bouncing around that happens in the mornings, it's still in a healthy range. I'm not pretending to think these blood sugar readings are necessarily bad by any stretch of the imagination. I know I'm blessed.

Other blood sugar experiments I'd like to try in addition to the water test I mentioned include multiple diet sodas in one sitting, various favorite foods, and maybe even a fasting day to see what would happen to blood sugar levels on no food for a 24-hour period. For now, I'm giving my fingers a much-needed rest from the hundreds of pricks over the past couple of weeks. They should be well enough by Monday to start up again. In the meantime, I'd love to have others of you to do your own blood sugar experiments and share your results. Specifically, I'd love to see some people of all ages try this, including other 30 and 40-somethings to do the diet soda experiment. E-mail me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net if you want to participate and keep your identity anonymous. I'd love to see what happens for you! THANKS for following this journey!

July 14, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

9:00AM
Blood sugar reading--85

9:15AM
4 local farm pastured eggs cooked in butter with Colby Jack cheese and bacon
Diet Rite

9:45AM
Blood sugar reading--92

10:15AM
Blood sugar reading--97

10:45AM
Blood sugar reading--81

11:15AM
Blood sugar reading--81

3:00PM
Blood sugar reading--84

3:30PM
Big bowl of salad greens with chopped tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, and Ranch dressing
Baked meatballs, mozzarella cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Diet Coke with Lime

4:00PM
Blood sugar reading--93

4:30PM
Blood sugar reading--88

5:00PM
Blood sugar reading--77

5:30PM
Blood sugar reading--80

7:00PM
150-minute competitive volleyball

9:45PM
Blood sugar reading--92

9:45PM
4 meatballs with provolone cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
2 slices of Carb One Garlic Bread (eggs, almond flour, flax seed, carrots, garlic, salt) with butter
Carbsmart vanilla ice cream with cashews and whipped cream
Diet Rite

10:15PM
Blood sugar reading--88

10:45PM
Blood sugar reading--87

11:15PM
Blood sugar reading--100

11:45PM
Blood sugar reading--102

NOTE: Today was no fun pricking myself a total of 15 times to do this, but I was curious what my pre-meal blood sugar reading was as well as my readings at 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes. Although the pain of that lancet was a challenge, I'm glad I did this to see what was happening to my blood sugar levels in the moments after finishing my meals. I wanted to see what I was missing in the two hours between eating and checking my blood sugar at that 2-hour reading.

The breakfast reading showed a typical increase following a meal, but then at the 90-minute mark my blood sugar dropped 16 points in 30 minutes to below the baseline of 85. Even still, I went from 85 fasting blood sugar to 81 in two hours--pretty good control. Then at lunch, the same thing happened, although the drop started happening within an hour of eating hitting a low of 77 after 90 minutes before returning to 80 after two hours--just four points off of the reading prior to the meal.

Well, after injuring my right ankle playing volleyball last Monday night when I landed awkwardly on someone's foot and hyperextended it, I thought it had healed well enough to play on it again. I thought wrong! Here's a photo I took of my right ankle AFTER icing it down for 15 minutes:



I know, I'm a dope! My competitive juices make me want to get out on that court and play if I am able to walk, even if I start to feel pain like I did tonight. I'll be taking at least the next week off to see if this injury can heal completely. Lesson learned.

After 2 1/2 hours of volleyball, I was hungry and wanted to eat, so I had my meatballs with garlic bread meal along with my dessert. After a slight dip in my blood sugar within the first 30-60 minutes, it went up about 10 points above baseline by the end of the two hours and I went to bed--the highest readings of the day. Perhaps I am seeing some kind of a negative response from something I ate during that meal. We'll do more testing in the coming days to see what we can find out.

Tomorrow I'll be sharing the results of my blood sugar readings after consuming a diet soda. I'll be doing the test first thing in the morning on an empty stomach so the results will be based solely on the beverage. My plan is to test every 15 minutes for two hours after consuming a diet soda to see what kind of blood sugar response I am having after just one diet soda. Should be interesting!

July 13, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

8:00AM
Blood sugar reading--90

8:00AM
6 ounces of grass-fed beef shoulder
Diet Rite

10:00AM
Blood sugar reading--78

1:15PM
Blood sugar reading--79

1:30PM
10 ounces of grass-fed beef shoulder with A-1
Diet Rite

3:30PM
Blood sugar reading--90

5:45PM
Blood sugar reading--95

5:45PM
3 low-carb French toast (3 slices Julian Bakery Smart Carb #1 bread, butter, eggs, cinnamon, Truvia, heavy whipping cream, sugar-free maple syrup)
Diet Rite

7:15PM
Blood sugar reading--95

7:30PM
90-minute competitive volleyball

9:15PM
Blood sugar reading--96

9:15PM
Carbsmart vanilla ice cream with cashews and whipped cream
Diet Rite

10:15PM
Blood sugar reading--103

NOTE: When I was at the farmer's market recently to get my grass-fed hamburger meat, I decided to splurge a bit on another grass-fed beef cut that sounded like it might be pretty good--shoulder. Well, after cooking up that big chunk of meat in the crock pot on Sunday, I was ready to dive into some tender and juicy beef today. But it didn't happen. That was probably the grossest thing I've put in my mouth in a very long time and there were little chunks of I don't wanna know what in it that made me feel like I was eating something on that old NBC-TV reality show "Fear Factor." I could have gotten four pounds of my favorite ground beef for what I paid for this shoulder cut of beef--UGH! I wasn't going to waste the meat, so I ate it all. But I'm not doing that again!

I ate the French toast Christine and I did a video on with the Julian Bakery yesterday for my pre-volleyball meal and my blood sugar stayed VERY steady when I measured it 90 minutes after eating the meal. Gotta love that! Speaking of volleyball, my ankle is doing better than it was last week, but it's still pretty sore. I could jump fairly well during the games and got in some key blocks and spikes. But the pain started to return after about an hour of playing, so I left earlier than I usually do to rest my ankle some more. I hope to be back at 100% very soon because I'm very competitive on the volleyball court and hate to slow down my speed or mobility on the court because of an injury.

Tomorrow I will provide a very detailed list of my blood sugar readings before each meal, then at 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after each meal so we can see exactly what is happening with the blood sugar curve. This oughta be good! THANKS for reading!

July 12, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

8:00AM
Blood sugar reading--92

8:00AM
2 slices of Julian Bakery Smart Carb #1 bread with butter
Diet Rite

10:30AM
Blood sugar reading--91

12:45PM
Blood sugar reading--96

1:30PM
Big bowl of salad greens with chopped tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, and Ranch dressing
Baked Philly steak, cheese, green peppers, and mushrooms
Baked meatballs, mozzarella cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Diet Coke with Lime

3:30PM
Blood sugar reading--84

6:30PM
Blood sugar reading--89

7:00PM
2 grilled cheese sandwiches (4 slices Julian Bakery Smart Carb #1 bread, butter, Colby Jack cheese, cheddar cheese, mayo)
Carbsmart vanilla ice cream with cashews and whipped cream
Diet Rite

9:15PM
Blood sugar reading--104

NOTE: Christine and I decided to have some fun in the kitchen today to show off the delicious Julian Bakery Smart Carb bread that we have enjoyed consuming as part of our healthy low-carb lifestyle lately with two outstanding recipes in our latest "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube" episode:



Still taking my blood sugar readings before every meal and two hours after those meals. At some point this coming up week, I'll probably take readings prior to the meal, at 30 minutes, and then at 60 minutes to see if there is a more stark curve in the blood sugar. Additionally, I've been wanting to test the theory about whether diet soda raises blood sugar levels statistically, so we will be doing an experiment to see that as well coming up this week. THANKS for sharing in this journey!

July 11, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

12:00PM
Blood sugar reading--97

1:00PM
Salad greens with chopped tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, and Ranch dressing
Baked beef, bacon, and mozzarella cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Diet Coke with Lime

3:00PM
Blood sugar reading--82

6:00PM
Blood sugar reading--88

6:00PM
4 meatballs with provolone cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Diet Rite

7:30PM
Blood sugar reading--95

7:30PM
Carbsmart vanilla ice cream with cashews and whipped cream

9:15PM
Blood sugar reading--97

NOTE: In light of what Dr. Mary C. Vernon shared in yesterday's blog post about "normal" blood sugar levels, my readings are right in line with that 80-100 goal. There was only a 15-point difference all day in the fasting and two-hour readings. It's a little higher overall than earlier in the week, but the span from high to low remains constant. I'm not complaining. :)

July 10, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

10:00AM
Blood sugar reading--80

10:00AM
4 local farm pastured eggs cooked in butter with Colby Jack cheese
Diet Rite

12:00PM
Blood sugar reading--95

4:45PM
Blood sugar reading--99

5:30PM
Big bowl of salad greens with chopped tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, and Ranch dressing
8 meatballs with provolone cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Diet Coke with Lime

7:30PM
Blood sugar reading--87

9:30PM
Blood sugar reading--100

9:30PM
Carbsmart vanilla ice cream with cashews and whipped cream

11:30PM
Blood sugar reading--91

NOTE: My blood sugar readings were a little up from what they have been today ostensibly because of the continued pain from my ankle injury. But you'll notice the difference in blood sugar control was within 19 points--not too shabby! Stargazey who was the one who encouraged this experiment with my blood sugar just about one week ago wanted to know the answer to the following question: What is considered "normal" blood glucose numbers in the context of low-carbing? That's an excellent question to consider to put all this measuring into perspective. So I asked a couple of bona fide low-carb diabetes experts to help.

Dr. Richard Bernstein, who has lived with Type 1 diabetes for nearly six decades and helped tens of thousands of diabetic patients with his carbohydrate-restricted nutritional plan, said that "diabetics and older non-diabetics are entitled to the sme blood sugars as young adult non diabetics--about 83mg/dl around the clock." If you'll look at my average blood sugar levels over the past week, I'm right in line with this goal. Dr. Mary C. Vernon, co-author of Atkins Diabetes Revolution and well-known low-carb practitioner for diabetics, noted that Dr. Donald Layman from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign conducted a study that found if carbs were kept low, then the fasting and after meal blood sugars got closer together--in other words, a lesser rise after a meal and less drop after the food is gone!

"This indicates that the body is functioning on glucose made by the liver, and that production is a stable amount if it is not shut off by a rise in insulin and if your body has the enzymes geared up to do the work," Dr. Vernon said. She added that this explains why it can take some time to "adapt" to the low-carb way of eating. That said, she continued by saying any of her patients who have consistent blood sugars in the 80-100 range are "fine" although "lower or higher morning blood sugars may mean an adjustment in the dietary plan is needed." Additionally, Dr. Vernon said a "big rise or fall after a meal may mean the diet isn't yet optimized--or it may mean someone just binged on carbohydates." Fascinating! For now, it looks like according to both Dr. Bernstein and Dr. Vernon, my blood sugars are perfectly fine.

I've been requested by Stargazey to take my blood sugar readings a little sooner after eating a meal--for example, at 30-minute and 60-minute intervals to see what is happening just after consumption. When the elevation in my blood sugars from the pain returns to normal, I'll be doing this. In the meantime, I have a funny story to share with you about a visit to my doctor today.

I'll be interviewing someone for my podcast show from a company called LipoScience soon and they sent me a complimentary kit to have an NMR LipoProfile test run on my blood to check the particle size of my LDL as well as my HDL and triglycerides. This is the very best test you can have run for your cholesterol because it tells you exactly what kind of LDL cholesterol you have--because it's not all as bad as we've been led to believe.

I contacted my doctor's office to see if they would pull my blood sample and spin it for me, but they said I would need to come in for a visit to see my physician first. Ummmmm, why? I'm perfectly healthy and just want to have this test run. I even told them I had the kit and everything, but they insisted I come in for a visit. UGH! This just meant I would have to pay full price for an office visit and make small talk with my doctor for a few minutes so he could "authorize" me to have the test run. This is what's wrong with healthcare in America today--patients who take control of their own health are forced to play the games of the medical profession to get the care they need. I love my doctor, but this "visit" was totally unnecessary.

Anywho, I brought my NMR LipoProfile test results from 2008 which showed an elevated LDL and total cholesterol number, but an extraordinarily low small LDL-P number of just 30. As soon as he saw that number, I heard him mumble to himself, "that's impossible." With a big grin on my face and playing dumb I said, "what?" He went on to explain that he had never seen anyone with that low a small LDL particle size number and that it is simply spectacular. My doctor also said that he fully expected my LDL particles to be well over 2,000 with my cholesterol numbers as high as they were and I explained how LDL cholesterol numbers are different in people who eat low-carb. It was an educational experience for my doc.

He then went on to give me the lecture comparing LDL to spiders and snakes--there are poisonous ones and non-poisonous ones that he looks out for in people with high-LDL. And he said I have nothing to concern myself with regarding my "spiders and snakes" because they are harmless. Yep, I coulda told ya that! He added that with the heart health issues that my late brother Kevin and my father have both had that I should get a heart scan done. I told him I've been looking for a place in our area to have one done as recommended by Dr. William Davis and he gave me a prescription for a place about five miles from my house. COOL! I'll be getting this $99 test done soon to see what my calcium score is--I would suspect it is going to be next to nothing, but we won't know until we test it.

Incidentally, my family doctor started running the NMR LipoProfile test on his other patients a couple of years ago when I shared my experience taking the test. This is why I like seeing my personal physician because he is willing to learn from his patients which is the sign of an excellent doctor. It's the ones who are closed-minded and think they have all the answers that I loathe. At the end of my visit, my doc also knocked off 20% from the "brief visit" charge, so I paid less than $50 to see him which isn't half bad these days. I'll be having my blood drawn early on Monday morning after I have fasted. It will be interesting to see if much has changed with the numbers over the past year.

THANK YOU again for joining me in this continued low-carb journey to the best health possible!

July 9, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

10:00AM
Blood sugar reading--86



10:00AM
1 one-third pound grass-fed beef burger, bacon, Colby Jack cheese, and mayo
2 slices Julian Bakery bread with butter
Diet Rite

12:00PM
Blood sugar reading--80

3:30PM
Blood sugar reading--78

3:45PM
4 meatballs with provolone cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
2 slices of Carb One garlic bread
Vanilla CarbSmart ice cream with fresh local grown blackberries and whipped cream
Diet Rite

6:00PM
Blood sugar reading--76

7:15PM
75-minute competitive volleyball

9:00PM
Blood sugar reading--103



9:30PM
Naked fajitas (steak, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, cheese)
Diet Coke with Lime

11:30PM
Blood sugar reading--102

NOTE: Today was a pretty rough day for pain. I woke up and my ankle which I sprained badly on Monday night on the last play of volleyball landing awkwardly on it after jumping to block a spike was hurting more than it has. It was still swollen and I decided the best thing to do was to keep it propped up most of the day while taking Tylenol and staying off of it. After taking it easy for most of the day, I thought I'd try to play volleyball again--I know, not very smart.

I wore an ankle brace which seemed to help stabilize it and subdue the pain somewhat. But my speed was limited for obvious reasons and every time I jumped it was painful. After a little more than an hour of this tonight, I decided to leave and see if the ankle would heal a few more days before playing again. But in conjunction with this pain, I noticed something happened with my blood sugar readings today--they were a little up. The overnight fasting number was higher and those triple-digit readings following my volleyball playing were also a surprise. Can pain raise your blood sugar?

Actually, it can. Pain is widely recognized as a stress on the body and inflammation is usually not far behind. When you experience pain, your body produces cortisol, you tense up, and get stressed. Of course, this only makes the pain worse which then leads to more inflammation and stress--a ruthless cycle! And yes, being stressed out about something is also not very good on your blood sugar levels, so learn to take it easy when you can.

That said, other than feeling like I had a completely "wasted" day of doing nothing, I'm glad I listened to my body and did what was right for my ankle. I'm the kind of person who likes to go, go, go all the time and get things accomplished which is what makes days like this so challenging. But knowing when to rest and relax to do something good for your body is as much a part of livin' la vida low-carb as anything you put in your mouth. It's a lesson I'm learning...slowly. THANKS for reading!

July 8, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

9:45AM
Blood sugar reading--69



10:00AM
4 local farm free-range eggs cooked in butter with Colby Jack cheese and bacon
Diet Rite

12:00PM
Blood sugar reading--72

2:45PM
Blood sugar reading--85



3:15PM
2 one-third pound grass-fed beef burgers with Colby Jack cheese, bacon and mayo
Diet Rite

5:15PM
Blood sugar reading--77

8:30PM
Blood sugar reading--70

9:30PM
Big bowl of salad greens with chopped tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, and Ranch dressing
4 meatballs with provolone cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Diet Coke with Lime

11:30PM
Blood sugar reading--78

NOTE: Another FANTASTIC day of blood sugar control today with my readings all within 16 points. But I'd love to know why some mornings when I check my blood sugar it is a bit higher in the 80s or 90s and then other mornings it was like today in the upper 60s/lower 70s. Of course, I'm enchanted by all of this information and will probably seek to extrapolate even more data soon like what is happening 30 minutes after a meal and one hour after eating. Stay tuned!

July 7, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

9:45AM
Blood sugar reading--72

10:00AM
4 local farm free-range eggs cooked in butter with Colby Jack cheese
Coke Zero

12:00PM
Blood sugar reading--81

2:45PM
Blood sugar reading--78

3:30PM
Big bowl of salad greens with chopped tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, and Ranch dressing
4 meatballs with provolone cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Diet Coke with Lime

5:30PM
Blood sugar reading--86

8:30PM
Blood sugar reading--74

8:30PM
4 meatballs with provolone cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
2 slices of Carb One Garlic Bread (eggs, almond flour, flax seed, carrots, garlic, salt) with butter
Coke Zero

11:00PM
Blood sugar reading--83

NOTE: Did you notice what I did with my menus today? If they look vaguely familiar, well they should--they're the EXACT same thing I ate yesterday. I did this by design since my blood sugar control was so spectacular holding within just 19 points all day long. Well, today was EVEN BETTER--my blood sugar never fluctuated more than 14 points among the six readings. You can get much better than that!

I'm enjoying this blood sugar experiment, although my fingers are starting to feel the wrath of being pricked over and over again. I don't know how diabetics do this day after day, week after week, year after year. I have nothing but great respect for anyone who HAS to do this on a consistent basis. My hats off to you.

Speaking of diabetics, Christine and I just recorded a new video about an inexpensive at-home A1c test:



If you can know your A1c number for less than ten bucks, then you really need to do it. Diabetic or not, this test will reveal to you whether you are controlling your blood sugar levels well or not. I am not diabetic, but I'm so glad to know my A1c number is 5.1, or about a 102 average blood sugar level. I haven't seen my readings that high since I started this experiment last Friday, but I understand the monitors are only a gauge of the changes happening and may not be 100% accurate on the actual numbers. Even still, the lower you can get your A1c the better and livin' la vida low-carb gets you there.

Oh, remember I told you how I twisted my right ankle at the end of volleyball last night? Well, today it was swollen and I was in a lot of pain. I'm thinking my ankle rolled sideways and hyperextended the tendon in there which makes it painful to make a "cut" move. I can walk on it straight, but going up and down stairs as well as turning a corner is difficult. I'll probably not be able to play volleyball on Thursday night as usual and maybe not next Monday either. We'll see how it feels the next couple of days. It was sort of a freak accident that happened when I went up to block a spike, landed on my opponent's foot and immediately fell to the ground. I got up limping thinking I'd walk it off, but I knew right away it was a little more than that. Holding off on the doctor unless it just doesn't get better.

THANKS for reading everyone!

July 6, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

11:00AM
Blood sugar reading--77 (switched from One Touch to Sidekick blood glucose monitor)

11:15AM
4 local farm free-range eggs cooked in butter with Colby Jack cheese

1:15PM
Blood sugar reading--85

3:00PM
Blood sugar reading--68

3:30PM
Big bowl of salad greens with chopped tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, and Ranch dressing
4 meatballs with provolone cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Diet Coke with Lime

5:30PM
Blood sugar reading--75

7:30PM
150-minute competitive volleyball

10:15PM
Blood sugar reading--66

10:15PM
4 meatballs with provolone cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
2 slices of Carb One Garlic Bread (eggs, almond flour, flax seed, carrots, garlic, salt) with butter
Coke Zero

12:15AM
Blood sugar reading--80

NOTE: Today I switched over to a new blood glucose monitor I saw at Wal-mart the other day for $20. It's called the Sidekick and is an all-in-one blood sugar meter that includes 50 strips plus a digital reader. It doesn't come with lancets, but I already had those from my One Touch kit. I had a few problems with "dud" test strips, but when I called the company they said they'd be happy to replace the strips that didn't work. Otherwise, it works GREAT and you get a good blood sugar reading within a few seconds.

Once again my fasting blood glucose this morning was fantastic at 77. But then something pretty awesome happened two hours after my eggs breakfast--my blood sugar actually went up to 85. This was a stark difference from the typical drop I've been seeing after a meal. The normal curve is for the blood sugar to rise and come back to baseline over a few hours. It looks like that is exactly what was happening following my first meal. WOO HOO!

Prior to my second meal, my blood sugar was at 68 before I had the salad and meatballs lunch. Again, two hours later my BS was up to 75--UP! Yes! After playing a few hours of volleyball tonight (twisted and slightly sprained my right ankle on the last play, too!), I was hungry for a late supper. When I tested my blood sugar after all that exercise, it was 66 and two hours later just after midnight my BS was 80--a typical rise again for the third meal in a row. This is so unusual for my blood sugar compared to earlier testing, so I'm wondering what the difference is now.

Overall today my blood sugar range from these tests today was 66-85--only a 19-point differential! I don't know about you, but that sounds like pretty darn good blood sugar control thanks to healthy low-carb living to me! And I'm measuring ketone bodies which show I'm spilling moderate amounts in my urine. AWESOME!

July 5, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

6:00AM
Blood sugar reading--77



6:15AM
4 local farm free-range eggs cooked in butter with bacon and Colby Jack cheese
Fresh homegrown garden tomato slices (4)
Coke Zero

8:00AM
Blood sugar reading--66

12:00PM
Blood sugar reading--88



12:00PM
1/3 pound grass-fed beef burger with 1 ounces of cheddar cheese and 1 Tbs mayo
Fresh homegrown garden tomato slices (4)
Coke Zero
Fresh, locally-grown blueberries and blackberries with Truvia and whipped cream

2:00PM
Blood sugar reading--92

5:00PM
Blood sugar reading--80



5:15PM
4 slices of Julian Bakery low-carb bread cooked in butter with Colby Jack cheese, bacon, and mayo
Coke Zero

7:30PM
Blood sugar reading--94

NOTE: My blood sugar reading this morning was again down in a more normal range at 77 which was encouraging to see as a baseline. I was up early today in part because I didn't sleep very well and I had to be at church a little early today since Christine and I are singing on the praise team this month. Just before leaving for the worship services, I checked my blood sugar again a couple of hours after eating the eggs breakfast and it had dropped to 66--not really surprising in light of what we've seen lately.

After we got home, I checked my blood sugar again and it was at 88--a 22-point rise from my reading just four hours prior. I had a purposely smaller meal with only one burger with tomatoes today, but I added the berries to the mix so I would have fat and protein with my carbohydrates rather than eat the carbs alone. The result two hours later was a blood sugar reading of 92. Three hours after that and five hours after eating, I was ready to eat again and check my blood sugar--80, which was almost baseline from the beginning of my day. I decided to eat that low-carb bread with lots of butter, some cheese, bacon, and mayo. My blood sugar was 94 two hours later.

Interestingly, I checked my ketone levels at 10:00PM just out of curiosity since a few people have expressed concerns over the Julian Bakery bread. When I measured, my stick turned purple indicating moderate amounts of ketone bodies present--that wouldn't happen if the bread wasn't what it claimed to be. And the blood sugar rise was not astronomical as you would expect from what people are claiming is a "high-carb" food. Very clearly it is not like eating Wonder bread!

The ongoing Stargazey experiment continues...

July 4, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

12:00PM
Blood sugar reading--80



1:00PM
Spinach salad (spinach leaves, cheese, eggs, bacon, sunflower seeds, and Ranch dressing
1 lobster tail with butter
Diet Coke with lime

3:15PM
Blood sugar reading--78

5:00PM
Blood sugar reading--72



5:15PM
Fresh, locally-grown blueberries and blackberries with Truvia and whipped cream

7:15PM
Blood sugar reading--93

10:00PM
Blood sugar reading--81



10:15PM
7 ounce sirloin steak
1 lobster tail with butter
Mashed cauliflower with butter
Broccoli with butter

11:45PM
Blood sugar reading--102

NOTE: Testing my blood sugar levels just prior to every meal and then two hours later has shown to be quite the adventure in the first two days of doing this. Yesterday there seemed to be a pattern of higher blood sugar in the morning ostensibly from the "dawn phenomenon," a sudden drop in blood sugar after my first meal of the day, then a slow rise in blood sugar the rest of the day, and seemingly higher blood sugar overnight (we'll be confirming what is happening at like 2:00 or 3:00AM coming up sometime this next week).

But today threw a monkey wrench in what I thought I knew because my blood sugar levels were all over the place. Starting with my baseline measurement at noon which is the same time I checked it yesterday, my fasting blood glucose was 80 today. That was a full 10 points lower than Friday's reading. I ate that salad and lobster tail meal an hour later and then checked my blood sugar two hours later for only a slight decrease to 78. Hmmmm, this was a whole lot different than the 23-point drop yesterday.

By 5:00PM I wanted to consume some berries and cream, so I measured my BS again for a reading of 72--which means it had gone down from two hours earlier. That wasn't so unusual considering your blood sugar will drop when you haven't eaten for a few hours. Then I had the berries and was a bit surprised to see my blood sugar levels take a typical jump when you eat a meal consisting of primarily carbohydrates (not a large amount with berries, but carbs nonetheless). The reading of 93 confirmed a normal blood sugar response took place--a 21-point jump.

Then it got interesting. I was out with the neighbors shooting fireworks until nearly 10:00PM and wanted to eat something before bedtime. So I measured my BS before a meal one more time to see a reading of 81--a 12-point drop from just a few hours prior. I ate the steak and lobster tail with broccoli and mashed cauliflower and LOTS of butter and then waited until close to midnight to see what my two-hour reading would show. Much to my surprise, it went up 21 points to 102 when I tested at 11:45PM. What in the world is going on here?

Let me say from the outset here that I'm not at all worried about my blood sugar levels being a detriment because they never climb much higher than 100 and never lower than the upper 60s. But being a non-diabetic, I find these movements in my blood sugar levels quite fascinating--although I have no idea what any of it really means. As always, any feedback or insights you would like to share with me are valued and appreciated. THANKS so much!

July 3, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

12:15PM
Blood sugar reading--90



12:30PM
Two 1/3 pound grass-fed beef burgers with 2 ounces of cheddar cheese and 2 Tbs mayo
Fresh homegrown garden tomato slices (4)

2:30PM
Blood sugar reading--67

6:45PM
Blood sugar reading--73



7:15PM
Big bowl of salad greens with chopped tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, and Ranch dressing
4 meatballs with provolone cheese, all-natural tomato sauce, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Diet Coke with Lime

10:00PM
Blood sugar reading--81

NOTE: You'll notice I've added something different to my menus blog today. One of my regular menus blog readers Stargazey from the "Low-Carb for You" blog wanted to see what was happening with my blood sugar levels just prior to a meal and then two hours after the meal. It's an interesting bit of data to collect especially in light of the reactive hypoglycemia that a 5-hour glucose tolerance test showed last year. I haven't been experiencing any of the dizziness or weakness in 2009 like I was when this was happening in 2008. But, I took up Stargazey's challenge starting today and will document the numbers here.

As you can see, my blood sugar reading prior to the first meal today was pretty normal at 90. Keep in mind that a few weeks ago when I measured my blood sugar earlier in the day (around 9:00AM), my reading was around 100. So by the time I measured it just past noon today, I'm sure it had DROPPED to 90. I'm not sure if I am experiencing the "dawn phenomenon" or not, but it seems to look that way. But then two hours after my meal, look at the drop in my blood sugar--23 points DOWN to 67. I don't know what happened in the first 30 minutes or hour after that meal, but the bottom sunk out of it for a reactive hypoglycemic response. EEEEEK! What's interesting is I didn't feel bad as it was happening.

By the time I was ready to eat supper, I tested my blood sugar again--about 6 hours after eating--and the reading was 73. I ate my meal and measured again a few hours later to see the blood sugar response had risen to 81. It never did return to the baseline reading I took this morning. This leads me to wonder what my "normal" blood sugar reading should be. Strange, very strange.

What a funky movement in blood sugar wouldn't you say? From my observations of this, here's what I see happening: my blood sugar tends to be higher in the morning, takes a nosedive after my first meal of the day, slowly works its way back up again without reaching baseline, and begins to rise again in the evening headed towards bedtime when the blood sugar level tends to go way up. Perhaps I should set the alarm to wake up at 2:00AM to measure what my blood sugar is doing at that time. Might do that sometime coming up this next week.

Any thoughts?

July 2, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

12:30PM
Two 1/3 pound grass-fed beef burgers with 2 slices of Colby Jack cheese and 1 Tbs mayo



6:45PM
1/3 pound grass-fed beef burger with 1 slice of Colby Jack cheese and 1 Tbs mustard
Fresh garden tomato slices (4)

7:00PM
180-minute competitive volleyball

NOTE: In a tough economy like we are experiencing now, a lot of people would say they can't afford to eat a low-carb diet. This has always been an interesting argument against livin' la vida low-carb that people think they can't do it because of financial constraints. I certainly understand that and have experienced it personally in my own life over the years getting whatever you can afford for food. Unfortunately, people tend to gravitate towards the cheaper, carb-filled junk food that costs a buck for a box. But the long-term impact of those "cheaper" choices will only lead to greater consequences on health later down the road.

That's why it's better to choose quality cuts of meats, cheeses, vegetables and the like. Yes, they cost more now, but the end result is a healthier, happier life than you ever thought possible. Although when I first started on the Atkins diet, I was unaware of the existence of things like grass-fed beef. Beef was beef...or so I thought. Now I've learned that the beef you find in the grocery store is not as good a quality as you can find from grass-fed farmers. I was fortunate to find a local supplier in my area for this healthier option and I've enjoyed the taste and quality difference immensely. While it's not impossible to see weight loss on the beef you find in the grocery store, if you can swing getting the better grass-fed kind then do it.

To me, nothing beats a really well-cooked burger without the bun. Slap some of your favorite cheese on top with a little mayo or mustard and I'm in heaven. Before I started low-carbing, I always wanted my meats cooked medium well. Not anymore. It only took one time cooking the meat medium for me to see what I was missing out on. Lately I've been cooking my hamburgers on my menus almost medium rare which would have grossed me out before--now it's simply incredible! With the cheese and condiments, absolutely loverly loverly loverly! You gotta enjoy what you're eating or else why eat it, right?

Christine and I had a neighbor friend help us plant some fresh tomatoes in our backyard. It's something I've been meaning to do for a while and I'm hoping to add more fresh vegetables if this experiment goes well. Ironically, Christine is not a big tomato fan but she's gung ho about growing these things. I LOVE 'em to death, especially with my eggs or with my grass-fed beef burgers like I had today. There's just something about the flavor of 'maters with the juicy succulence of good quality beef. Oooo la la! Who says livin' la vida low-carb can't be enjoyable?

July 1, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

12:15PM
2 cups salad greens with tomatos and Ranch dressing
Baked pepperoni and mozzarella cheese with tomato sauce
Baked bacon and hamburger meat with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and cheddar cheese
Diet Coke with lime

8:15PM
Beef meatballs with provolone cheese and tomato sauce
Coke Zero
Vanilla CarbSmart ice cream with 2 ounces of unsweetened cacao, Truvia, butter, fresh blueberries, and whipped cream

NOTE: It's the beginning of the month and for the past few months I've been announcing my current weight on this day. But not today. With all the sadistic obsession and maniacal madness about every movement up or down in my weight, it is simply unproductive and takes away from the original purpose behind why I started this menus blog to begin with--to show how I eat my low-carb diet. Nothing more, nothing less. It's a MENUS blog and my real menus is what you always get here no matter what you might happen to think of them.

Does this mean I've given up on trying to lose weight and I'm just content with whatever my weight happens to be at the moment? Obviously not. I am 100% committed to livin' la vida low-carb for life and wouldn't ever think of eating any other way for the rest of my life. It saved my life in 2004 when I felt like I was going to be trapped into having to eat low-fat forever with all that hunger, irritability, frustration and disgust that goes along with eating that way. Low-carb freed me from the bondage of thinking that way and I will forever be grateful. And sharing my menus is just my small part in giving back for all the blessings I have been given.

As we've been talking about here over the past few days, the low-carb lifestyle is about so much more than weight loss. Although that's the feature most people tend to focus on, the reality is low-carb is much more important to living healthy than anything else. And healthy is EXACTLY what I am. Despite repeated concerns that I'm still unhealthy because I'm "obese," I have HDL cholesterol that is 65, triglycerides of 86, small LDL-P of a miniscule 30, vitamin D3 levels of 68 ng/mL, stable blood pressure, and the results of the A1c test I ran last week came in at 5.1. These numbers cannot be overlooked because they are absolutely spectacular.

I admit my weight could certainly be lower than it is today and I'm evaluating what I need to be doing to get my weight back down to where it was at the end of 2004 when I weighed 230 pounds. This is a feasible goal for me and I'm happy to pursue it. I vehemently disagree with these people who think my 63" body frame needs to weigh as low as 175 pounds because that is utterly ridiculous. Even 200 pounds seems absurd if you take into account my high bone mass in my legs from all those years of carrying around 410 pounds. There will be people who will complain about me no matter how much I weigh, so it is fruitless to even try to please them--nor do I even try. But rest assured I'm always living my low-carb life as well as I can.



By the way, I went to the eye doctor yesterday because my vision was getting a little fuzzy and I have to wear glasses now. I have 20/30 vision in both eyes and my left eye has an astigmatism in it. I'm enjoying wearing spectacles and the difference is AMAZING! First time I've ever really "needed" glasses, although I don't have to wear them when I'm in front of a computer since I'm near-sighted. Life is certainly a never-ending story of stuff happening.

June 30, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

12:15PM
1 1/4 pounds grass-fed ground beef formed into hamburger patties with bacon, Colby Jack cheese, and mayo
Coke Zero

8:15PM
Pork tenderloin with Colby Jack cheese
Coke Zero
Vanilla CarbSmart ice cream with fresh blueberries, whipped cream, and Truvia

NOTE: Hey guys and welcome back to my menus blog today! I'm so happy to have you here checking out my low-carb menus and I look forward to sharing with you another thought-provoking commentary about healthy low-carb living.

Let's take a look at what I had to eat and drink today--grass-fed beef, bacon, Colby Jack cheese, mayonnaise, pork tenderloin, Coke Zero, water, CarbSmart ice cream, blueberries, whipped cream, and Truvia. As you can see, the overwhelming majority of calories in my diet today as it is everyday is good fat and protein-based low-carb foods. Looking at the percentage of the total number of calories consumed that come from good wholesome real foods, they DOMINATE my menus every single day.

Some have argued that including things like diet soda, low-carb ice cream, and even bacon and mayo into your diet somehow negates all the good things you are doing when you eat low-carb. But why? The thing that makes a diet so successful for someone is to assimilate better and healthier nutritional choices into their lifestyle. The goal isn't necessarily 100% perfection in every single menu of every single day for the rest of your life. Even the most ardent of nutritional purists out there cannot honestly say they eat perfectly all the time. It's just not happening and anyone who says otherwise is lying.

So where's the cutoff point between perfection and being totally carefree with your low-carb diet? It's certainly a subjective gray area based on who's perspective you are listening to. There is one camp that says you should never eat any of the "low-carb products" in your diet EVER while the another camp contends you can eat just about whatever "low-carb products" you want in any quantity you want. These are the two extremes that are usually exploited by the media when they attempt to describe low-carb as a means for discrediting it. Here's an except from this June 2006 blog post I wrote about this subject where I describe these two polar-opposite positions:

1. NO “LOW-CARB” PRODUCTS ALLOWED
People who are on this extreme end are extremely serious about livin’ la vida low-carb and believe everything they put in their mouths should be only organic, whole foods that don’t need any packaging whatsoever. They’ve lost their weight “naturally” without the use of anything labeled “low-carb” and highly discourage other low-carbers from picking up these “Frankenfoods.” They have kissed the days of packaged foods goodbye forever.

2. ALL “LOW-CARB” PRODUCTS ALLOWED
People who are on this extreme end are wayfarer low-carbers who are gullible enough to buy virtually ANYTHING that blares the words “low-carb” on the packaging whether that claim is accurate or not. They love to find a “low-carb” version of just about anything and everything so they can eat like they always have and call it “low-carb.” Then these people get mad at their low-carb diet months down the road when they haven’t lost any weight despite the fact they have been eating all of these “low-carb” products.

I hope you take the time to read that entire article I wrote in defense of the use of certain low-carb products for people who need a little more than just meat, eggs, cheese, and a few low-carb veggies every single day. My philosophy is to eat the highest quality healthy whole foods as much as possible in your low-carb lifestyle with strategic use of the low-carb products as a means for rounding out your personal tastes and enjoyment in your diet. Some people can follow a diet as mundane as meat and water all day everyday for the rest of their lives. But the vast majority of us couldn't and wouldn't want to live that way forever.

Plus, I think we need a reality check here--while there are subtle nuances that those of us within the low-carb community can debate about how to eat low-carb the "best" way, in the real world there are hundreds of millions of people out there living their lives everyday who are still oblivious to the dangers of stuffing their faces with carbs, carbs, and more carbs all with the blessing of the so-called health "experts" and they're left scratching their heads wondering why in the world they're so fat and sick. This sobering news is heartbreaking to watch unfold right before our very eyes day after day after day.

Just go to any grocery store and watch what people are putting into their shopping carts. Rice, pasta, white bread, flour, along with sugar, sugar, and more sugar! It's disgusting to see how much our society has been brainwashed about the negative health implications of carbohydrates that people don't even care--or even worse, they don't know that they are supposed to care about their carb consumption. That's probably the biggest travesty of all because people just haven't been properly informed about what the best way to eat for weight and health management is. It's one of the reasons I work so passionately on behalf of this critical topic every single day because there's a world that desperately needs to hear the positive message of livin' la vida low-carb.

Today I had the privilege of interviewing a famous Hollywood television star for an upcoming podcast episode in September and she's a full-fledged supporter of low-carb living through and through. It was so refreshing to hear this highly successful TV star bragging about how low-carb living has changed her life for the better over the past ten years by keeping her weight and health in check. When I asked her why more celebrities don't promote that they eat low-carb since it is so commonplace in Hollywood, she said they do it all the time in popular entertainment magazines describing their menus with foods like fish, egg, non-starchy veggies, cheese, etc. But she added that they're not labeling it "low-carb" since there's such a negative stigma to using that term.

To me, that's just too bad. From a PR standpoint, low-carb is severely ostracized right now because people have been scared into thinking it is just some passing fad diet that came and went rather than looking at it as the long-term, lifestyle change that so many of us know that it is for controlling weight, managing blood sugar and insulin levels, lowering blood pressure, improving cholesterol and so much more. What could be more normal and natural than consuming real foods like you get to enjoy while livin' la vida low-carb with the addition of a sugar-free, low-carb food here and there within the context of your daily diet?

People who eat a carbohydrate-restricted diet are LIGHT YEARS ahead of the game from what most of the population is doing. Who really cares if someone chooses to have a sugar-free, low-carb bar, chocolate, or ice cream within the context of their menus when 95% of people are stuffing their faces willingly with gobs and gobs of sugar and foods that turn to sugar in the body without a care in the world what that is doing to them. Even those people who aren't suffering from a weight problem as a result of consuming all that sugary junk can still fall prey to the health implications that elevated blood sugar and insulin levels inevitably produce. This is the message we need to be sending out to the world--just get on the low-carb bandwagon.

Convincing the masses of that is much too important than any one individual low-carber's menu choices.

June 29, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

10:00AM
4 local farm free-range eggs cooked in butter with bacon and Colby Jack cheese
Coke Zero

4:00PM
Pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon, hamburger meat, cheese, a little spaghetti sauce
Diet Coke with lemon

7:30PM
150-minute competitive volleyball

10:30PM
Vanilla CarbSmart ice cream with fresh blueberries, whipped cream, and Xylitol
Coke Zero

NOTE: What an amazing debate that has ensued over the past few days regarding this issue of weight vs. health and I highly encourage you to go back and read the posts and all the comments at the end here, here, and here. One of my regular readers at both my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog as well as here at my menus blog wanted to share about how yesterday's commentary touched her in a special way for obvious reasons that will become apparent when you read what she wrote to me in an e-mail:

Oh Jimmy...that was an absolutely fantastic menus blog post you wrote yesterday. I cannot describe what I am feeling, but to say we as humans are always so quick to judge...and it just shouldn't be like that. Thanks. I think this blog is worth exploring a little more and perhaps expanding on it.

About 2 months ago, I start in all earnestness to get back on total low-carb and to quit playing around with other "versions." I was having hypoglycemic symptoms, insulin resistance symptoms, thyroid symptoms, etc etc. I was lethargic, depressed, dry mouthed, shaky...my joints ached ALL of the time; brain fog; heart palpitations; mood swings; insomnia; and on and on and on it goes.

A low-carb expert I consulted with advised me to dump the scale and only use a tape measure. She said she only weighs herself 3 or 4 times a year. She talked to me about supplements, etc. I was taking almost everything that she mentioned. The only changes I had to make were the dumping the scale, no nuts at all, no fruit at all, and no hard cheese.

About this same time, we had a stopped up sink. The next morning I thought my sister had dropper her mascara in the sink and not wiped it out becuase there were black splotches all over the bottom of the sink. We had the plumber come out and he said that the sink AND the drains were full of black mold, but it wasn't coming from the plumbing, it was from the air conditioning. This is a BRAND NEW two-story house in a new subdivision, so that was the LAST thing we would think about.

They called the air conditioning repairman in. After he investigated it, he came downstairs and said that was the worst case of mold he had seen in a long time. Mold was covering the outside of the unit in the attic. It was in the drain pans and pipes and even in the insulation. Of course it was in the air ducts pumping the toxin into our bedrooms every day. He was EPA-certified and it cost a bundle for them to come in and scrub the house clean of all the mold.

They cleaned it on a Thursday and by that Saturday, ALL of those symptoms I was experiencing were gone. I don't know if I have lost any "pounds" because of it (since I'm not weighing myself on the scale), but I'm not bloated feeling and I am wearing a shirt that I couldn't wear one week ago. It was such a relief to realize that I WAS NOT A FAILURE on the diet because there were extenuating circumstances.

Your post was VERY timely for me because I am re-thinking a LOT of things concerning my "diet" the past couple of years. One of the MAJOR issues I am looking at is the environment I was in when I was successful vs. the environment when I seemed to be failing at it. It is making more and more sense.

It just goes to show you that we really need to stop focusing so much attention on weight and get behind the real roots causes of how the weight got on there in the first place. Sure, overeating and a slothful lifestyle contribute to this heavily in a lot of people, so getting the diet right is essential. But if you're eating a healthy low-carb lifestyle and getting your exercise in like you are supposed to and STILL not losing weight, then it is worth taking a look at and considering the role of environmental causes of the lack of weight loss or even weight gain.

Blaming someone who is eating well and healthy is not productive in any sense of the word. If someone has just given up on their diet and sits around all day on the couch eating bon-bons and Ding-Dongs morning, noon, and night, then there's plenty that can be said to that person about how their dietary decisions are ruining their weight and health. But to that person who is following everything like they are supposed to, doing the things that have worked for them in the past to bring about weight loss and improved health, and yet they're struggling to produce weight loss despite having spectacular health, what right does anyone have to cast judgment on that person's noble attempt to pursue the best weight and health possible?

At the end of the day, each of us as individuals must figure out what we need to do to bring about the best health we can possibly have. For some, that will coincide with a spectacularly skinny body frame that will warrant lots of oooos and aahhhs. But for the majority of us, we are livin' la vida low-carb and enjoying spectacular health that's even better than most of our friends while carrying around a few extra pounds. And that's okay as long as you are continuing to pursue healthy eating habits--namely consuming an outstanding low-carb nutritional approach. If you're doing that and your health is intact, then what's the big deal about maybe carrying around weight that would classify you as overweight or obese by the flawed BMI standards?

June 28, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

8:00AM
1 ounce cashews
Coke Zero

1:30PM
2 cups salad greens with tomato and Ranch dressing
2 baked bacon cheeseburger with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and cheddar cheese
Diet Coke with lime

8:45PM
Beef meatballs with provolone cheese and tomato sauce
Coke Zero
Sugar-free Philly Swirl ice pop
Fresh blueberries with heavy cream and SweetFiber (inulin and lo han)

NOTE: I've thoroughly enjoyed discussing this issue of weight vs. health over the past few days because this subject as it relates to livin' la vida low-carb is a critical one to pay attention to if we are going to communicate the message of carbohydrate-restriction to those who need it the most. That includes not just the overweight and obese, but also diabetics, people with high blood pressure, those who have low HDL and elevated triglycerides, cancer patients, people with neurological diseases like Alzheimer's known as Type 3 diabetes, and so much more!

With all the attention placed on labeling people as "obese" according to their BMI, yet another key element has yet to be brought up that directly relates to this subject. Bodily abnormalities can happen to anyone at any time and there are three prominent members of the low-carb community who have been dealing with such issues that directly impacted their weight in a negative way the past few years. I think it's worth examining these examples so people can see that weight is tied to a whole lot more than just diet and exercise.

EXAMPLE #1: REGINA WILSHIRE


Regina Wilshire with Gary Taubes in November 2008

Anyone who has been involved in the low-carb community for more than a few years will know all about Regina Wilshire from the "Weight of the Evidence" blog. Well-known and renowned for her ability to interpret scientific research studies and translate them into English for us mere mortals to understand, Regina is a great friend and fellow champion of reducing carbohydrate consumption as a means for disease prevention. However, she has dealt with a rather bizarre set of circumstances that left her with a string of mysterious symptoms which included what she describes as a "weight gain without drastic change to eating habits" from November 2008 - March 2009. In other words, she didn't do anything different in her low-carb diet during that period and yet her weight still went up. It wasn't until after pouring over tons of research online that she came across the culprit--CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING! Regina is now in the midst of making the necessary changes to her home in order to lower the toxic carbon monoxide levels in her body back down to a safe level where she can enjoy her healthy low-carb lifestyle again. Are we gonna blame Regina because she may have become "obese" as a result of this?

EXAMPLE #2: DANA CARPENDER


Dana Carpender and husband Eric on the LC cruise in January 2009

America's lovable low-carb recipe goddess and bestselling author Dana Carpender is a name that needs no introduction. Her series of low-carb cookbooks are some of the best resources for low-carb dieters and diabetics looking for a way to spice up their menus. She really is a one-of-a-kind character who you just have to meet in person to truly experience (she'll be joining us on The 3rd Annual Low-Carb Cruise to the Bahamas in March 2010). Since losing 40 pounds eating low-carb in 1995-96, Dana has seen her fair share of circumstances that made her weight maintenance a lot more challenging than normal--a painful car accident in 2000 that left her unable to exercise for two years, her discovery that she inherited her mom's hypothyroidism, and in 2008 the discovery of a mysterious fibroid she says "makes me look like I'm 5 months pregnant." She's contemplating and debating if and when to have the surgery to remove that fibroid, but it explains why Dana's stomach may appear to be fat when the rest of her body is perfectly apportioned. Are we gonna blame Dana because she may have become "obese" as a result of this?

EXAMPLE #3: LORA RUFFNER


Lora Ruffner when I met her for lunch in Greenville, SC in May 2007

Finally, another one of the giants in the low-carb movement over the past decade has got to be Lora Ruffner from Low-Carb Luxury magazine. This online publication was THE go-to place for many years and provide encouragement, education, and inspiration for anyone who was livin' la vida low-carb. But then in February 2007, they just stopped publishing without any apparent reason. Fans of the site were left scratching their heads wondering what in the world happened to Low-Carb Luxury. After I started blogging about it, Lora Ruffner herself contacted me to explain what was going on--she was dealing with "some pretty major health concerns" at the time that she told me about when I met her in person in South Carolina. We were supposed to do a podcast interview to talk about it when something else pretty major in her life happened that has left Lora in seclusion for the past two years. That said, the issue Lora was dealing with had to do with a mysterious tumor that was pushing up against her pancreas and constantly secreting insulin into her body. At one point, all she ate for an entire year was chicken and pickles and she was STILL gaining weight. Finally a doctor figured out what was going on with Lora's body and they carefully removed the tumor from her body--and she began losing weight. Are we gonna blame Lora because she may have become "obese" as a result of this?

Each of these three examples of high-profile low-carbers should give everyone who is nitpicking, name-calling, and throwing out superfluous accusations about low-carbers who don't fit their mold of perfection pause to think about what is being said. There are a lot more factors at work in this discussion than diet and exercise alone, so judging someone solely on what their weight happens to be at any given moment when they are consuming a healthy low-carb diet is pompous and condescending. Who is gonna stand up and tell Regina Wilshire, Dana Carpender, and Lora Ruffner that they are obese and unhealthy because of their low-carb lifestyle? Despite these mysterious issues that led to weight gains while eating low-carb, all of these three amazing women have spectacular lipid panels, blood pressure, and other key cardiovascular health markers. Are we now negating those things simply because their weight just happens to be higher than what the body mass index (BMI) says they should be?

As always, I look forward to your comments.

June 27, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

9:15AM
1 1/4 pounds grass-fed ground beef formed into hamburger patties with bacon, Colby Jack cheese, and mayo
Coke Zero



7:30PM
Dreamfields spaghetti with Dinapoli Classico tomato and basil sauce with Colby Jack and Parmesan cheese
Coke Zero
Sugar-free Philly Swirl ice pops

NOTE: In yesterday's commentary on my menu's blog, I asked the simple question "Is it better to have excellent health markers with a few extra pounds on your body or is being thin the ultimate goal?" and it elicited some outstanding responses that were well-thought out and reasonable. Go check out the comments at the end of that post and here are a few from my Facebook page where I also linked to this topic:

"I think it's best to be in good health and feel good about yourself...if that means weighing mroe then your "supposed to" weight, so be it. You can be thin and be REALLY unhealthy. What's the point of that?"

"I think it's all relative. I am in much better health than I was 140 lbs ago even though I'm still considered obese. I feel pretty good about myself too!"

"I'll take both but, if it's either or - there is no doubt I'll take health with a few extra pounds."

"Food is a tasty tool that gives us the energy we need to do what we are called to do. If you enjoy your meals and feel well and can bless your friends and family and accomplish good things with your time on earth, then your diet is most likely good enough. It gets the job done, right? JMHO, but I think all diet camps attract some perfectionists who can't resist criticizing people who have the audacity to choose their own breakfasts! LOL. The LC diet doctors have given us some simple, generous plans with nothing narrow or restrictive about them. I think that's one of the reasons that the published LC plans are so effective for so many people. If your diet is tasty and you feel well and healthy, that's good enough, and IMHO there's a lot to be said for good enough. There's nothing wrong with enjoying your meals and avoiding those zillion plus rules that otrher people think are proven by their own experiences. I love reading your menus for inspriation, Jimmy! Keep 'em coming!"

"Good health, of course! No question and no option."

"You first have to define excellent health. I, as a pharmacist, define excellent health as good BP, HR, cholesterol, weight, etc. All the above at levels which the person is not at risk for heart attack, diabetes, stroke, or other health problems. Usually this means that person is not obese, because obesity is a risk factor in all the above. It is not always about being thin. I have many friends that have high BP or diabetes because of their genes. Some people just get bad genes, whether it's the diabetes gene, obesity gene, or high cholesterol gene. I have high cholesterol and I am normal size. My grandfather died at age 65 after 2 heart attacks. It's just in my genes. In other words, just because you are thin, doesn't mean you are healthy."

"I think a few extra pounds is ok, as long as its not causing health problems."

Feel free to continue to weigh in on this subject. I really feel this gets to the heart of why I and so many others are livin' la vida low-carb. Sure, there are those who eat this way as a means for looking good and there's nothing wrong with that. But you're missing out on the REAL benefit of low-carb living and that's undeniable health improvements that cannot be achieved by any other means. This is oftentimes forgotten within the context of diet debates because people seem to gravitate solely to the weight loss benefits while all but ignoring the changes in health.

Another X-factor regarding looking at weight alone to determine if someone is healthy or not is it neglects the genetic predisposition that so many of us who have struggled with weight our entire lives have to deal with. My entire family has been huge for most of our lives and obesity's complications took the life of my brother Kevin last year at the age of 41. Sure, we can do our part to slow the progress of the related complications that result from those genes, but they exist for a lot of people. This doesn't mean those people should just give up on doing something about their weight.

But first and foremost, they need to find a plan that will put their health in the best possible position it can be and that's exactly what low-carb has done for me. Does my BMI still show me as "obese" according to that narrow definition of the term? Yep! Am I worried about it at all? Nope. Simply labeling someone that way doesn't mean a hill of beans without taking into account other factors related to that person's health. If the HDL is low, triglycerides are high, blood pressure is off the charts, small LDL particles are abundant, blood sugar is elevated, and so many other risk factors are in play along with being defined as "obese," then you have problems. Otherwise, what is the issue?

I'm sure we'll get a few more people commenting on this subject and it's a good conversation to have. Bring it on!

June 26, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

1:30PM
1 cup salad greens with tomato and Ranch dressing
2 baked bacon cheeseburger with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and cheddar cheese
Diet Coke with lime
Sugar-free Philly Swirl ice pops



8:00PM
Beef meatballs with provolone cheese and tomato sauce
2 Carb One garlic toast topped with butter and Colby Jack cheese
Coke Zero
Sugar-free Philly Swirl ice pops

NOTE: You know, it's a good thing I wasn't blogging in the midst of my 180-pound weight loss success in 2004 because the mixed messages that you receive on a daily basis online are stark. Here are just a few of the suggestions people have made about the way I should be eating in just the past couple days here at my menus blog:

"eat more often"
"eat less often"
"you're eating too much food"
"you're not eating enough food"
"eat less 'sweet' in your diet"
"cut out the diet sodas"
"keep losing weight because you're still obese"
"eat only real whole foods all the time"
"use alternative sweeteners"
"avoid any and all sweeteners"
"your eating is dysfunctional"
"go Paleo with your way of eating"
"get off low-carb and eat raw vegetarian instead"
"you must stick with all of your resolutions"
"your lab reports of excellent health are irrelevant"
"you have psychological issues with the way you eat"
"you're an example, so you should eat better than you do"

WHEW! Could you imagine being a newbie low-carber and getting bombarded by such perplexing comments coming at you from all angles? I don't know if I ever would have been successful at losing that 180 pounds if I tried to listen to what everybody was saying five years ago. Thankfully I've been doing this as a lifestyle long enough that I already know what works for me and I'm doing it. While I appreciate the suggestions from people, most of them are not going to change the way I live my life because I'm doing just fine for me. Others may not feel my particular diet is right for them and that's okay too. That's why this is a journey to find what will work for YOU...and then DO IT!

An interesting topic of debate that has emerged this week centers around the following subject: Is it better to have excellent health markers with a few extra pounds on your body or is being thin the ultimate goal?

It's a great question to bounce around for discussion and I'm sure people will have varying opinions about what they believe. I have long held the notion that weight loss is merely a side effect of a quality nutritional approach and that the first and foremost reason for healthy low-carb eating is to prevent disease and preserve health. Livin' la vida low-carb has kept me very healthy compared to the way I ate prior to my 2004 transformation.

Here's what my healthy low-carb menus have done for me since January 1, 2004: I very rarely get sick with colds anymore, I'm more active playing competitive sports at 37 than I was in my teens and 20s, my HDL cholesterol has been well above 50 for the past five years, my triglycerides have remained below 100 over that same time period, my 2008 NMR Lipoprofile test of the dangerous, small, dense LDL particle size showed results of less than 2% in my body, I came completely off of cholesterol-lowering statins, blood pressure medicine, and breathing prescriptions, and I've kept off 83% of my original weight loss for the past five years and counting! Not too shabby results for a diet that so many people have bemoaned, eh?

Of course, then there's the argument that even those few extra pounds can add years to your life according to a new study out of Canada just this week. This research, which reaffirms a 2005 JAMA study, actually shows that people who are slightly overweight really do live longer than normal weight people. Well, shazam! Imagine that. Could it be all those people who obsess over getting skinny are actually doing MORE harm to their health trying to look a certain way which causes them to die sooner than those of us who might be slightly overweight? Sure seems that way.

Plus, let's not forget all the metabolically-obese thin people who are walking around out there right now. Yes, they are skinny, but their HDL is woefully low, their triglycerides are in the high triple-digits, their blood pressure is off the charts, the LDL cholesterol is mostly the small, dense, dangerous kind, and they're on their way to a heart attack, stroke, or death despite the fact they look "healthy" on the outside. Simply labeling someone thin as being at optimal health is actually doing those people a disservice. The only way to know if they are truly healthy or not is to run blood tests on the key cardiovascular markers to see. The same goes for the overweight and obese.

Aesthetically, we all would like to be thin and show off six-pack abs walking shirtless or in a bikini on the beach. But that's not the reality for the vast majority of people who are not already genetically predisposed for that. I'm not saying you should strive for that if looking good is the reason for your existence. But the longer I've been following low-carb, the more I've become convinced it is MUCH better to be eating this way for the sake of your health and longevity and to stop obsessing over weight. If you're eating well and enjoying the low-carb choices you are putting in your mouth while experiencing stellar health, then why change anything? It doesn't make logical sense to try to force the issue.

Okay, I've opened up a huge can of worms here and look forward to your responses. THANKS for reading!

June 25, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

11:45AM
4 local farm free-range eggs cooked in butter with bacon and Colby Jack cheese
Coke Zero



6:30PM
Pork tenderloin with 2 Carb One garlic toast topped with butter and Colby Jack cheese
Coke Zero

7:15PM
60-minute 3-on-3 basketball (my team won two out of the three games)

9:00PM
Sugar-free Philly Swirl ice pops

NOTE: I checked my fasting blood glucose this morning at 10:15AM and it was 95. That's a little lower than where it has been lately and that's okay. As long as it is under 100, I'm pleased with that. The reason I went ahead and drew blood to test my blood sugar today is because of another blood test kit I bought to measure my A1C levels.



The ReliOn A1c Test can be purchased at Wal-Mart for just $9. Most doctor's offices charge $75-$100 to run this test, but nine bucks is all it costs and you get a complete set of instructions about drawing your blood, mailing it in, and getting your results either e-mailed back within a week or mailed to you within two weeks. I'm anxious to see what my A1c level is now since it came in at 5.0 about a year ago which low-carb diabetes care legend Dr. Richard Bernstein told me in my podcast interview with him earlier this week is on the borderline for pre-diabetes. An A1c under 5.0 is ideal because it means your average blood glucose is consistently under 100. I'll share my results when they are e-mailed to me next week.

Today was a GREAT day for my low-carb menus. I was very interested in trying that pork tenderloin after seeing it in the store last week. WOW, what a tender and delicious cut of meat. This will DEFINITELY show up in my menus again in the future. Add to that those delicious One Carb breads that are from the same company that makes the Carb One muffins that are highly recommended by Dr. Bernstein for diabetics to consume. Slap some butter and cheese on them and they're wonderful!

After I played some basketball, I was hot and wanted to cool off fast. Somebody had told me about those sugar-free Philly Swirl ice pops recently, so I stopped by Sam's Club to get some. Holy cow, these things are AMAZING! The orange flavor tastes just like a Dreamsicle used to. There's just 1g net carbs per ice pop and a refreshing treat for your healthy low-carb lifestyle.

June 24, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

12:15PM
3 half-pound grass-fed beef hamburger patties with bacon, Colby Jack cheese, and mayo
Diet Coke with Splenda

10:15PM
2 slices of Julian Bakery SmartCarb bread with butter and Colby Jack cheese
Diet Coke with Splenda

NOTE: Somebody posted their comments yesterday about what they'd be interested in seeing me do with my menus. I get a lot of unsolicited advice from people about how they think I should be eating, but this one sounded good enough:

I would love you to try to eat 3 meals a day and kick the sodas for a month...and see if this kick started your metabolism...

This isn't an unreasonable suggestion by any means, although I think forcing the issue by moving to three meals a day would require me to eat less food at each meal so that I'll be hungry enough to consume three meals daily. As for the diet sodas, I've documented my attempts to give them up in the past and I just don't see why it is such a big deal. I drank lots of diet sodas (mostly Splenda-sweetened ones) during my 180-pound weight loss in 2004 and continue to consume them today as part of my healthy low-carb lifestyle. I don't understand why they're so "bad" when they keep me away from truly horrendous sugary sodas and junk food.

I'm not sure why my metabolism needs to be "kick started," but I appreciate the idea. I'll ponder it.

June 23, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

1:15PM
1 cup greens with tomato and Ranch dressing
Baked bacon cheeseburger with tomato sauce and cheddar cheese
Beef meatballs with provolone cheese and tomato sauce
Diet Coke with lime

7:00PM
Beef meatballs with provolone cheese and tomato sauce
Diet Coke with Splenda

10:00PM
2 slices of Julian Bakery SmartCarb bread with low-carb chocolate sauce (3 blocks of unsweetened 100% cacao, butter, heavy whipping cream, and Xylitol)

NOTE: Isn't it strange after you get back home from a trip that knocks you out of your "normal" rhythm of life how difficult it is to get back into it again? The same is true with what you eat. Today I just wasn't feeling hungry at all until early afternoon and it just works out that way sometimes. It's not a bad thing necessarily to go without eating a meal that most people call breakfast prior to noon, but it's sorta looked at as odd in our three-meals-two-snacks-per-day society. If more people simply ate as a response to hunger rather than because of what the time is on the clock, then perhaps we wouldn't have an obesity problem anymore.

June 22, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

10:15AM
4 local farm free-range eggs cooked in butter with bacon and Colby Jack cheese
Diet Coke with Splenda

4:30PM
Pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon, hamburger meat, cheese, a little spaghetti sauce
Diet Coke with lemon

7:30PM
140-minute recreational volleyball

NOTE: Coming back from even a few days away from my computer is always an adventure because the e-mails just pile one right on top of the other. Today I had well over 500 of them staring me in the face and I spent most of the day trudging through them one-by-one to personally answer all of the enthusiastic inquiries from people excited to learn more about the healthy low-carb lifestyle. I consider it a privilege and an honor to come into contact with so many wonderful people in the low-carb community and doing just a small part to contribute to the progress towards their weight and health goals. THANK YOU for allowing me to be a part of your low-carb successes and I sincerely appreciate the chance to interact with you each day.

June 21, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

9:45AM
Hardee's low-carb breakfast bowl
Diet Coke with Splenda

1:00PM
2 Marshmallow Mudslide Atkins bar
Diet Coke with Splenda

5:45PM
Dreamfields spaghetti with Dinapoli Classico tomato and basil sauce with Parmesan cheese
Diet Coke with Splenda

NOTE: Got up bright and early today to head back home to South Carolina after a quickie trip to Pensacola, Florida to see my sister and mom while attending my 20-year high school reunion. It was a little surreal not seeing my brother Kevin or hearing his big hearty laugh one more time. This was the first trip back since he passed away from heart disease and morbid obesity in October 2008. I still miss him so much and all the emotions and thoughts of my brother came flooding back being home again.

Our trip back home went well and I'm appreciative to a restaurant chain like Hardee's for offering low-carb menu items for us to enjoy while traveling on the road. Otherwise, you're just stuck with a whole lotta nothin'! I stopped at so many convenience stores looking for an Atkins bar or something along the way and 90% of them didn't even have sugar-free candy. That's pretty pathetic! But you do what you can and NEVER settle for garbage just because there's nothing available. You move on to the next store until you find what you need. That's what commitment to this permanent and healthy lifestyle change is all about.

When we got home, I was pretty hungry and decided to make something I haven't had in a long time--Dreamfields low-carb pasta. I recently interviewed the president of Dreamfields Foods and look forward to sharing that on my podcast show coming up in August. It's good to be home again!

June 20, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

7:45AM
Marshmallow Mudslide Atkins bar



11:15AM
Baked chicken, meatballs, cheesy crab meat, broccoli and cheese
Diet Coke with lemon

7:45PM
10 ounces prime rib steak with horseradish sauce, 3 crab cakes
Diet Pepsi with lime

9:00PM
Dana Carpender's low-carb carrot cake with cream cheese icing recipe and one scoop of vanilla CarbSmart ice cream

NOTE: It was reunion day and I was excited to meet up with old friends from my high school days two decades ago today. But first I spent some time with my mom and stepdad who took us out to a Chinese buffet place for lunch. I like going to these kinds of places since you can pick and choose what you want. Of course, there's plenty of stuff to avoid at these kinds of places, but you can make better choices if you are deliberate about doing so like I was with my meal selection today.


Me and my mom Judiann

Tonight at the reunion, I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more to eat from the heavy hors d'oeuvres than steak and crab cakes...but you make do with what you can. For $75 a person, that was hardly worth it. But seeing people for the first time in nearly a quarter century was really neat. Everywhere you turn, you see somebody who you think you don't know but then it all comes rushing back. Although I moved away during my sophomore year in high school, I grew up in elementary school and middle school with a lot of these people. It was pretty awesome reuniting with them even for just a night.

It was very hot and we ended up leaving relatively early at around 9:30PM. We wanted to cool off and get to bed at a reasonable hour since we have a long drive ahead of us on Sunday back home to South Carolina. All in all, a GREAT day!

June 19, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

12:30PM
Hardee's Low-Carb Thickburger w/o ketchup
Diet Rite

5:15PM
Small bag of chicharrones
Diet Rite



7:30PM
Baked chicken, zucchini with onion powder and sour cream, deviled eggs
Diet Rite



9:00PM
Dana Carpender's low-carb carrot cake with cream cheese icing recipe

NOTE: It was a travel day today with me and Christine driving down I-85 through South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama to get to Pensacola, Florida for my 20-year high school reunion this weekend. It's a nice drive from my hometown of Spartanburg because it's just about all interstate and the sun was shining bright today. The only slowdown was driving through Atlanta, but you kinda expect that in a major city like that. The rest of the trip was smooth riding and that low-carb burger from Hardee's really hit the spot (although the lady tried to sell me on the combo and I asked what low-carb sides they had to offer--she said, "we have French fries, onion rings, curly fries..." Not sure what else she said since I was stunned she would try to sell potatoes to someone on a low-carb diet!).



Speaking of low-carb, guess who has done VERY well livin' la vida low-carb this past year--my sister Beverly (that cutie pie in the photo above!). She's lost 50 pounds after reading my book and getting inspired by the recipes in Dana Carpender's cookbooks. In fact, she made that gorgeous low-carb carrot cake for dessert after a wonderful low-carb supper that was out of this world from Dana's bestselling classic 500 Low-Carb Recipes cookbook. I'm so proud of my little sis who has struggled with her weight just like mom, me and Kevin have for most of our lives. It was neat seeing her so excited about low-carb living.

And the REALLY neat thing about her success is that she has used creative recipes, consumed diet soda, eaten Atkins bars and other low-carb products. For people who say these things are not at all beneficial to someone who is overweight and unhealthy, Beverly's example is proof positive there is GREAT success to be had using these products rather than continuing to consume the same high-carb foods that packed on the pounds and was robbing what was left of her health. She is MUCH better off today than she was just one year ago and I applaud her efforts to make this happen in her life. We might not have gotten the message through to my brother Kevin before it took his life in 2008, but by golly my sister Beverly is well on her way to livin' la vida low-carb for life!

Interestingly, Beverly went to see her doctor recently about her weight loss success and to have her health numbers run. I'm anxious to see how much her HDL cholesterol has gone up (a good thing!) and her triglycerides come down (another VERY good thing). Her doctor was less than enthusiastic when Bev told her she did it on a low-carb diet. This medical professional scolded her for being on such a "dangerous fad diet" and that she fully expects Beverly's cholesterol to be through the roof that will require a statin drug to bring down. With all due respect, this physician is a bona fide IDIOT! I told Beverly to ignore this doctor's ranting about low-carb and to pay attention to the HDL and triglycerides. I'm trying to get her to have the NMR Lipoprofile test run to see the particle size of her LDL to see if she's on the right track...and I think she is based on all she's doing. Did I mention how proud I am of my sister? :)

It was a long day of driving, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow's 20-year high school reunion seeing people I haven't seen since I had to move away in the middle of my sophomore year. Most of these people I grew up with since elementary school, so it should be fun.

June 18, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

1:00PM
2 cups greens with tomato and Ranch dressing
Baked bacon cheeseburger with tomato sauce and cheese
Baked pepperoni, onions, and green peppers with tomato sauce and cheese
Diet Coke with lime

10:15PM
2 half-pound grass-fed beef hamburger patties with Colby Jack and bacon
Coke Zero

NOTE: I'll be attending my 20-year high school reunion in Florida this weekend, so my menus blog will not be updated until I return home and resume working again on Monday. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!

June 17, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

1:00PM
1 pound baked BBQ chicken, fried egg stir fry
Diet Coke with lemon

9:45PM
2 slices of Julian Bakery SmartCarb bread with butter, bacon, and Colby Jack cheese
Coke Zero

NOTE: I received the following e-mail from one of my menus blog readers today:

I just wanted to let you know why I won't be commenting on your menus blog anymore. There is a snarly, little pit bull named Didirina who has decided to kill any kind of productive conversation in her overwhelming compulsion to defend your every breath.

A little background on me. I am a 54-year old grandmother of two who is healthy and active but has metabolic syndrome and about 20 pounds to lose. I lost 50 pounds in 2007 on a low calorie diet. I went to Hawaii on vacation and gained 7 pounds in 7 days. I realized that the only thing that was different in my diet was the carbs that I added. Thus I began my search for a low-carb diet. I came across your site right away as you are plastered all over the Internet as the low-carb go to person. I realize now that you have worked very hard to get your name out there on the search engines. I have no problem with that. Business is business and more power to you.

I was so excited when I found your site. At that time you were promoting Satiatrim and I bought 3 cases using the code word "Jimmy." Not only that but I talked my receptionist at work into ordering as well. I still have about half of a case of that stuff in my fridge as we speak. I also clicked the link to order True Lime and True Lemon. I guess the point I am trying to make is that I am exactly the type of reader that you need and want to be profitable.

You wrote about a low-carb meetup in Cary, NC and I signed up since I live in Cary. This is where I met you and Christine and Charles and Adele and Dr. Eric Westman. I made and appointment to see Dr. Westman and it took me a long time to get in but I finally did. I followed with great interest your concerns with your "mysterious" weight gain and the path that you took to try and solve it. You got Dr. Westman's plan which was basically Atkins Induction and nothing happened for you. I followed it for months and nothing. You went on Metformin and had some success. I am still on Metformin and nothing.

For a while I followed Charles' blog because I thought he might be on to something but after a while I came to realize that zero-carb was not for me and became disillusioned. His leading female poster over there is 5'10" and weighs 118 pounds. That is anorexia. So I am not one of those zero-carb fanatics. I am just trying to find my way. Now Dr. Westman has me trying Dr. Jeff Volek's TNT Diet plan because I may be lacking in muscle mass which is needed to kick start my metabolism. I have about 20 pounds to lose and am about 26 BMI. I went and bought the protein powder to drink in the morning--$45.00 for 20 days. Yikes!! I am getting ready to go on vacation but when I get back I am going to focus on that plan and see what happens.

I must admit that I was shocked to see photos of Dana Carpenter on your site. I have bought every low-carb cookbook that she has written and when I saw her photo and realized that she was obese I was just floored. Seriously. The same for Laura Dolson, the About.com Low-Carb Diets guide, not to mention Dr. Mary Vernon. For goodness sake, Jimmy, they are all obese. And not to be disrespectful, Jimmy, but you are obese according to BMI, too. So where does this leave me. If the foremost low-carb leaders in America are all obese, what chance do I have??

So yes, I am here trying to learn. Trying to learn what the heck is going wrong. Where is the problem? What is is that is standing between these low-carb leaders and a normal weight. Does this Atkins thing really work? Does it only work to a certain point? Does it only work for men?? Why are these folks obese? What does this mean to me? So for Didirina to say I am not here to learn is just ridiculous. That is exactly what I am trying to do. Figure out what the heck is going on.

She has run away a lot of intelligent posters (Chris comes to mind) who asked hard, intelligent questions by her boring and repetitive attempts to defend you. Many days you will have zero comments on your menus and it is because we already know that Didirina will rear her ugly head with the same old same old. I personally have had it and won't post again because she is such an annoying pain in the you-know-what.

I was more than happy to respond to this reader's concerns with the following:

THANKS so much for writing! I'm sorry you feel like you can't comment on my menus blog anymore, but I welcome any and all comments. Didirina is expressing her opinions pretty vocally just as others with differing viewpoints have shared theirs. It's all a part of what makes the wide open world of blogging so beautiful.

I'd like to correct one point you made--what I do isn't just a business to me. Yes, I make my living blogging, podcasting, YouTubing, and all the other things that I do online, but my primary mission is to help people find hope and encouragement in achieving their weight and health goals. The fact that I receive financial compensation along the way doing this to help take care of my family is simply an added bonus. I genuinely love and care about everyone who comes across my work.

Anyone who has ever e-mailed me knows they will receive a personal response back in a timely manner and I do not charge a single dime for that. Neither do I require any money from people to read my blogs, listen to my twice-weekly podcasts, or watch my YouTube videos--it's all 100% FREE. If this was only just a business," then I should fire myself for not taking more advantage of money-making opportunities. But my heart is for people who find themselves in the same situation I was in prior to 2004 and doing whatever I can to get them to a place where they are pleased with their weight and health.

I'm happy you found my site and I know you have benefitted and added to the conversations especially at my menus blog. I'm sorry you are still struggling even after seeing Dr. Westman, but I do know there is a plan that's gonna work for you. Hopefully the TNT Diet fits the bill for you and I wish you nothing but the best of success in all that you do to get healthy.

On the issue of all those people you mention as "obese," I can't speak for any of the others. But I can speak for Jimmy Moore. Yes, according to the BMI scale I fall into that category and I've blogged about this before. But really, so what? Would I like to weigh less than I do right now? Sure. However, what is the point of forcing the weight loss issue if you have all of your health in outstanding order? Weight is not the be-all, end-all that we have been led to believe. Livin' la vida low-carb is MORE about making your health better than you ever thought possible and weight loss is a nice side effect of that. Even with my slight gain in 2008, I still have kept over 150 pounds off for over five years and counting. That means I'm doing something right!

Plus, you really cannot underestimate the power that low-carb has to significantly raise HDL "good" cholesterol to well above 50, dramatically lower triglycerides to below 100, increase the LDL particle size to the large, fluffy, protective kind while all but eliminating most of the small, dense, and dangerous LDL, maintain steady blood sugar control, lower blood pressure, and so many more health benefits that come from this wonderful way of eating. A lot of thin people are walking around out there who are what Dr. Vernon describes as "metabolically-obese." Being skinny does not guarantee health and I would argue I'm healthier than about 90% of the population right now because of my low-carb dietary choices.

As for the notion that you don't want to learn, I agree with you that is not true. Otherwise you wouldn't have taken the time to write me this long and thoughtful e-mail today and I sincerely appreciate the chance to respond back. I hope you can figure out what is wrong and get it fixed so you can experience the joy that comes from attaining success.

I'll repeat it again--anyone and everyone is entitled to share their own opinions about my menus here. Hard questions and even the proper kind of criticism has never been discouraged. Personal attacks against me by people who hate me for whatever their reasons will NOT be tolerated. There's just nothing productive that comes out of such comments. Yet, talk about the ACTIONS taken and debate those in an intelligent manner and I'm all for seeing that happen all day everyday.

I'm happy you wrote to me today and I do wish you nothing but GREAT success on your healthy low-carb lifestyle! NEVER GIVE UP, my friend, NEVER GIVE UP! You are welcome to comment here ANYTIME!

Comments anyone?

June 16, 2009 Low-Carb Menu

9:15AM
12-ounce glass of raw milk



12:15PM
Pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon, hamburger meat, cheese, a little spaghetti sauce
Diet Coke with lemon

7:00PM
120-minute recreational volleyball

9:15PM
Cheesy grass-fed beef stroganoff (1/4 pound of grass-fed beef, 1/2 Tbs sour cream, 1/2 Tbs Ranch dressing, 1/3 ounce Colby Jack cheese, 1/3 ounce cheddar cheese, 1/3 ounce Velveeta cheese)
Coke Zero Cherry
Quick and easy True Lemon cheesecake

NOTE: I finished up the rest of that stroganoff tonight after my volleyball workout. There was just a little bit left, so I had some more of my fast cheesecake recipe. LOVE IT!