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?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
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19 comments:
Sorry that I have the compulsion to respond.
"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."
Yes, I visit and comment on Jimmy's menu's blog, and visit a number of others as well, including pooti's. My intention in my comments is not to "defend Jimmy's every breath," but to challenge points that some people hold forth as absolute truth (AS will spike insulin and make you fat, Splenda is poison, caffeine is bad, all carbs are bad, products are evil, etc., etc.). I, of course, disagree that presenting competing evidence to these widely-held positions is being a "snarly, little pit bull." And I fail to see how contradicting these points kills productive conversation. What productive conversation? This blog has become the place where people come to not only attack Jimmy's way of eating, but to ridicule and denigrate him personally and professionally, and with what I would consider to be an overwhelming compulsion to do so! And since he doesn't tolerate that any longer at his blog, these same people go to other blogs to engage in the same scurrilous talk, not only about Jimmy, but his wife Christine as well! When I made the comment about your not wanting to learn, Jade, I had just come from pooti's blog, where you had written some really not-very-nice comments about Jimmy, and not just about his WOE, but in reference to the baby shower and the breast-cancer awareness post. The lies and venom that is spewed about Jimmy at pooti's blog and the zero-carb site don't seem to bother you; in fact, you join right in. I take it that you don't consider pooti a "snarly, little pit bull" when she writes her ugly, maligning posts about Jimmy. Consequently, it was really difficult for me to believe that you wanted to learn anything from Jimmy or his menus. Jimmy has always welcomed all opinions at his blog, and has permitted contrary views as well, except in those cases where the abuse became intolerable. Have I ever written anything that could be construed as a personal attack on someone? Have I ever made disrespectful comments? Anything like, "... 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."
Jade, I cant stop you from leaving but I sure hope you stay. I cant speak for Jimmy or anyone esle but I for one value and appreciate your comments a lot. You are a voice that is heard and appreciated. I may not agree with you all the time, but I think you do speak your mind and add on to the debate. Truth is always born uin debate. You will only become free when you can honestly abstain from good opinions of other people. Didrina has strong convictions about her views and? So do many others. Jade, I am sure you are a very sensitive, caring individual but please dont let one comment sway you away from blogging. Please come back and rejoin the conversation and if some comments bother you , ignore them. But then again you can ignore me too fro that matter> I do try to practice what I preach. But I would love to see you back! I may not be writing lately but i surely read it, and you always make a lot of sense to me and you always have something valuable to add to the conversation. Please reconsider!
Oh wow! I was taught a long time when tow girls are fighting to stay a heck away! But I cant simply stay away. Jade, I read Pootie's blog for a while and I will personally atest to her mean-spirited attitude toward jimmy. I personally believe Jimmy added fuel to that by previosly insuniating that Pooti being overweight herself is not in position to judge others. I dont know what Jimmy meant or was it in any way a bit harsh, but I am certain Pooti never let go. And Jimmy was graceful in appologizing and wishing Pooti the best and nothing but the best toward her Mother. I am sure Jimmy meant it and wanted to end the feud with pooti. But lets be frank, Pooti never let go and is still bitter about it. Listen, Pooti was treated harshly by Charlie and should know that personal attack is not the way to conduct yourslef especially if you consider yourself a professional and a Christian. I consider myself neither but let me tell you something if pooti behaves like a true Christian I dont ever want to be one. She refers to Jimmy as " you know who" and pooti never scorned her fellow commenters when they bashed Jimmy even when his brother Kevin was dying saying Jimmy is all about money and he is making money on Kevein's death. So Jade, lets be honest here. If you joined on the parade killing Jimmy on Pooti blog or at least saying unfriendly things behind his back, you can at least take a comment from Didrina. I dont think didrina is defending Jimmys every breath as I wasnt defending jimmy's every breath before. Nevertheless I was framed as Jimmy in disguise by Pooti followers and pooti never seemed to argue that point. i do have a thick skin and I do believe in freedom of speech but that freedom is fro everyone. If you judge be prepared to be judged as well! Dont stop me now!
Hi Jimmy I noticed the other menu blogs have been cut back are most of them inactive?
Yes, Paul, many were VERY inactive and I was getting some complaints about that. So I went through all of them and discontinued the ones that haven't updated in over three months. Others are welcome to jump in though. :D
Actually Jimmy you cut my out even though it was active. I didnt want to make a big deal out of it since it was your blog but you did leave Alex and he didnt update it in over the two months.
Jimmy,
I clicked on one of the links in the letter and noticed in photos that your arms look rather thin yet your waist is not. Do you do any kind of strength training? I'm just asking, and if you've addressed this elsewhere, thanks for responding anyway.
As for the obesity debate, yes there are thin unhealthy people. There are also lots of unhealthy obese people. A recent study compared overall mortality rates for people who are underweight, within normal range, overweight, and obese. Underweight and obese people had significantly higher mortality rates while there was no significant difference between those of normal weight and those overweight. The optimal BMI, according to the study, was 25, borderline overweight. My concern with studies like this one is that cancer, a major killer, is a wasting disease. People who die of cancer usually lose a lot of mass before they succumb.
Yes Vadim your blog is active, but you're not posting your new menus anymore. Start posting those again and I'll be happy to add yours back. Thanks!
The photo in that link was to one from a few years back. I started lifting weights in December 2007, took creatine to help, and dealt with a 30-pound weight gain for most of 2008 because of it. My arms are more muscular now than they were in that previous photo from 2006. I'm away from my computer right now in Florida, but you can do a search on my main blog to find out more about my resistance training progress.
Is some of the 30-pound weight gain muscle then? That's a healthy weight gain. Will do a search. Hope you're having a great time reconnecting with old classmates. You have so much to share.
About 8-10 pounds of it was muscle.
Jimmy, I don't think this is about Didirina at all. It's really about you.
This woman posted on another website that the text you posted was a personal email from her to you that she didn't intend to share with the world. Now you've put her on blast on some sort of technicality - that she didn't fully read your disclaimer. You knew better in a moral sense.
Satiatrime, True Lemon/Lime, overweight LC experts, the debate over products/AS, Chris -- take seriously what she's saying.
To go further -- 26 carb bread (I do not believe fiber makes 26 carbs become 2), biscotti, Verve energy drinks, grass fed beef, raw milk, Paleo . . . The first three above are sponsored products you can use for income (not that there's anything wrong with that, 'cept for one thing, which I'll identify shortly). The latter - things you are truly interested in or just clever marketing ploys to draw in new readers interested in those things? How long until you tire of these things and move on to something else?
Those who criticize you most heavily have a hard time reconciling the good Christian with the crafty marketer who will stop at nothing to make a profit. I, in fact, can reconcile the opposites, but many cannot. This is something you should take into account as you consider the emnity that seems to have built up towards you by some in the LC community.
Sponsored products - the problem is you only post your weight once per month. Your weight could easily fluctuate many lbs during a month, depending on what you eat from week-to-week. You could gain several lbs earlier in the month by eating too much biscotti, bread, and LC ice cream. You could scale back on the products and lose some of that weight back by reducing your product intake later in the month. Inexperienced LCers might get the impression that they can eat those products without consequences. And I know some can, like your sister, but some can't, and I think it's best to make things unambiguous.
THANKS OnPoint. But I wouldn't take what you read at other sites about me at face value. I've never hid who I am here or anywhere. And contrary to what those people might be saying about me, this isn't all about the money for me and I'm not as beholden to sponsors as they would have you think. Just something to think about for yourself. :)
Another compulsion is upon me:-)
Re: the issues of "Satiatrim, True Lemon/Lime, overweight LC experts, the debate over products/AS, Chris"...
1) Satiatrim, True Lemon/Lime, biscotti, LC bread, AS...
Jimmy's harshest critics assail his use and promotion of products. Many claim they tried them and weren't successful losing weight. However, many people DO try them and the products do not hamper weight loss. Is Jimmy to be responsible for the metabolically challenged people who can't even lose weight on a so-called "clean" LC plan? While these people claim that others are being duped into using the products, the fact is that many people are grateful that they found suitable substitutes for higher carb favorites. Whether Jimmy loses/gains weight eating them is really irrelevant to the outcomes of others who choose to eat/not eat them. Jimmy is only one person and his results are his and his alone.
2) overweight low carb experts...
We don't know why some are not successful on LC; some may be having hormone issues or other health problems. It may be medication they are taking. Or maybe they, too, are metabolically challenged. But how is Jimmy responsible for this? And what does it have to do with his food choices? Those who claim it's the products are just guessing, and conveniently forget that there are those who follow very strict low carb diets who also are not losing weight.
3) Chris... I've been accused of being boring and repetitive; I fail to see how Chris's never-ending tsk-tsking about every diet soda or lc treat that Jimmy ate would not be considered equally so. Yes, he provided some interesting studies, but they were hardly conclusive.
Jimmy's critics are piqued because he won't alter his food choices to suit them. Do I care if Jimmy eats LC bread? No. Would I go off boo-hooing if he decided to go zero carb? No. Jimmy's decisions to consume AS or Atkin's treats or LC Monster Energy drinks--or not--do not affect my choices. They're HIS choices. Jimmy's ads also do not affect my choices, other than to provide options that I might not have been aware of. So many critics say, "I have no problem with Jimmy having a business, but..." But WHAT? But only if they get to choose what he promotes?
Didirina:
You said, "Whether Jimmy loses/gains weight eating them is really irrelevant to the outcomes of others who choose to eat/not eat them. Jimmy is only one person and his results are his and his alone."
This is so not true. I would never presume to tell Jimmy what to eat, b/c he's a grown man, and it's not my place. However, Jimmy's huge popularity and influence in this community mean that others may follow his example. I think it's important to show real results in real time. I'm not so concerned about what Jimmy has in his menus, but about him showing what his real outcomes are.
YMMV applies here, and it is true that some LC dieters are completely unaffected by products. Some struggle to lose eating cleanly - true too. But the very popular blogger we're talking about here sometimes has difficulty controlling his weight, and everyone who reads and posts here, but you and him, think the products may be at least partly to blame.
Go to any LC forum and ask for help. Cautioning against products and cutting out diet sodas are among the first lines of advice you will get.
Overweight LC experts: Hmmm, wonder why Jenny Craig fired Kirstie Alley? Hope it wasn't due to her weight gain, b/c that would have been totally unfair - expecting someone representing their WOE to have her weight under control and all. It really could have been her hormones or something.
If I were new to LC and saw pics of overweight LC experts, I'd probably wonder how effective the plan really is. The woman who wrote the letter quoted in this day's post cited this very issue!
My opinion remains unchanged, and perhaps you did not clearly understand it. I did NOT say what Jimmy should or should not eat, but that as a very popular and influential blogger who publishes daily menus, he should be careful to show frequent and accurate results of his WOE.
And btw, please look back at the first line of my previous post - "I don't think this is about Didirina at all."
You're right, this isn't about me. It's about people who are expecting way more of Jimmy Moore than they have a right to, trying to make him into something he is not. He posts his menus, and his critics try to twist it into some sort "expert" advisory page.
Frequent and accurate results? I think the fact that he's kept 150lbs. off for 5 years speaks volumes, but people seem to forget that. He's not yo-yo dieting. He's not gaining huge amounts of weight and losing it again. Is there a problem with maintaining? Or isn't he doing that well enough for everybody? Is he perfect? Of course not, but this preoccupation over whether his weight loss is a "true" success ignores his accomplishment in this regard.
Jenny Craig? There is a certain plan that people follow. Low carb has many, many plans for people to choose from. There is no "Jimmy Moore Plan."
And so now we're back to the position that you have to have achieved your weight-loss goal (according to whom?) before you can be an advocate for low carb?
Didirina:
Jimmy is undoubtedly popular and influential. This menus blog may not be an "expert" advisory, but many people here look to Jimmy for expert-type advice. Multiple blogs, a discussion board, podcasts, interviews with all the top LC authors, authoring books on LC - these things indicate some sort of expertise. As I said, I think it's a better idea than not for Jimmy to show exactly how his daily menus affect his weight. Just my opinion.
I am not perfect and do not expect it from anyone else either. Suggesting that Jimmy, considering his undeniable stature in the LC dieting community - and perhaps as the most popular diet blogger period! - be completely transparent when it comes to the connection between his weight and his menus is appropriate.
Jimmy is and should be free to eat whatever he likes, but I think his huge readership gives him the mantle of responsibility to also let people know how those menus affect his weight. My opinion regarding providing frequent and accurate results remains unchanged.
And yes, keeping 150 lbs off for 4 yrs IS a major accomplishment. My comments have NOT diminished that in any way.
Didirina, you seem to be reading more into my comments than I actually said. This is not an attack on Jimmy, and I am not trying to diminish his accomplishments, but I am asking that he strive to be completely transparent in terms of showing the real impacts of his menus. I think that's the right thing to do.
THANKS OnPoint, but I don't know how much more transparent I can be than what I have been doing.
BMI is nearly useless. It's a very gentle guideline and nothing more because it doesn't take into account many variables about one's body. We are all unique so our BMI will never be ideal.
A better measurement is body fat percentage. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_fat_percentage#Recommendations for recommended body fat percentages.
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