Dr. Eric Westman and Jimmy Moore singing low-carb karaoke
When you think of going on a cruise, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? A literal smorgasbord of carbohydrate-laden foods at your disposal, maybe taking in a few alcoholic beverages along the way, while relaxing in the sun and fun that you get to enjoy while on a luxurious vacation. Doesn’t sound very livin’ la vida low-carb friendly, eh? Well, if you make the right choices it can be.
And that’s exactly what Christine and I along with 40 of our fellow low-carbers from my blog and forum did all last week on the Carnival Ecstasy during The 2nd Annual Low-Carb Cruise to Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico. What a week it was and I’ll be sharing more of the details about what happened along with LOTS of great pictures from our activities during the week. FUN FUN FUN!
Dana Carpender gettin’ groovy on the dance floor
One of the more popular nightly activities on board the ship that’s absolutely FREE is karaoke! Every single night, many in our group made our way to the Blue Sapphire Lounge after dinner to try our hand at crooning away on some popular songs. Some songs were silly, others pretty amazing, and still more left you speechless (I’ll leave it to your imagination as to why). All in all, it was one of the more entertaining aspects of being on the cruise (that, and watching Dana Carpender shag on the dance floor during the karaoke…YOU GO GIRL!).
We had some esteemed guests with us on this cruise, including Dr. James E. Carlson and Dr. Eric Westman who tried their hand at karaoke, too. Dr. Carlson surprised me when he got up to sing James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain.” WOW! The man did a spectacular job on it, too. YOU GO BUDDY! As for Dr. Westman, he had something up his sleeve long before the cruise set sail.
He implored the talented writing skills of his assistant Adele Hite (who also came on the cruise with us with her son) to pen some brand new lyrics to a familiar song most people would know and DEFINITELY be on the playlist of ANY good karaoke gig. The end result was taking the classic Beach Boys tune “California Girls” and making it talk about low-carb since a group of us were on board to learn more about this way of eating.
The first time Dr. Westman got up to sing this song, he wanted me to sing it with him. I declined, but watched him get up there and do a GREAT job with it as the people in the audience who weren’t in our group got a big kick out of the lyrics. The only problem was he needed a falsetto voice singing with him on the chorus. Plus, he had two extra lyrics for the verses that he never got to sing.
To that end, when the next night rolled around for karaoke again, Dr. Westman asked me if I’d join him on the chorus so he could get the other two verses in. Not knowing what I was getting myself into, I said, “Sure!” The result is what you’ll see in this video that was taken by fellow low-carb cruiser Debbie Hubbs (gee, thanks Debbie!):
Ahhhhhhh, what memories we made! It didn’t turn out too badly–except for my atrocious attempt at dancing (I don’t think “Dancing With The Stars” will be calling me anytime soon). But I don’t care because we had a blast. And who knows? Maybe somebody heard those lyrics at karaoke and may start livin’ la vida low-carb as a result. That would be AWESOME!
For the benefit of those who went on the cruise as well as others who are curious, Dr. Westman and Adele have agreed to share the rewritten lyrics for you here. Feel free to sing along if you’d like and imagine you were on the cruise with us (oh, and, by the way, I didn’t bust my head open after singing karaoke this year THANK YOU VERY MUCH!). Maybe we can get a big group of us to sing “I Wish They All Could Be Carbohydrate-Free” on the next low-carb cruise in 2010! ENJOY!
“I Wish They All Could Be Carbohydrate-Free”
(A parody of the classic “California Girls” by The Beach Boys)
Well, Dunkin has its donuts
That will just melt in your mouth
And the pecan pie and the sweet potatoes too,
Make me fat when I’m down South.
That loaded baked potato,
And those crispy hot French fries
They might taste yummy going into my tummy
But they stick right to my thighs.
Well, Orville has his popcorn
And Mr. Newton has his Fig
And I’d love to spend some time with them
But they just make my butt big.
I’ve been all around this great big world,
and I’ve seen all kinds of food
Yeah, but I can’t wait to get back to my plate,
It has the lowest carbs in the world.
I wish they all could be carbohydrate-free
I wish they all could be carbohydrate-free
My plate has a juicy burger
Loaded up with cheese
And lots of low-carb vegetables
Cuz you really should eat these
Protein shakes and ribeye steaks
How can this be a diet?
Got my chicken legs and my bacon and eggs
You know you might just wanna try it!
My friends all think I’m crazy
When they see what’s on my plate
They all eat their Lean Cuisines
But I’m the only one losing weight!
I’ve been all around this great big world
And I’ve seen all kind of food
But eating protein and that fat
Is what puts me in the mood!
I’m glad my life can be carbohydrate-free
I’m glad my life can be carbohydrate-free
Practice up on your karaoke songs for our next low-carb cruise!
That is AWESOMENESS!!
We had fun with it! Got Dr. Westman out of his shell, too.
–Jimmy
Just when you think you’ve seen it all…
Melanie
ROFL That was cute! I called one of my sons and husband to listen to the singing. Looked like you were having lots of fun. Maybe one day I will get to go on a low-carb cruise. I really tried to see the pic of Dana but could not make it out.