What a treat I have to share with you today in Episode 99 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore.” I recently had the opportunity to interview the woman who brought me into this world–my mom, Judiann Crumbley. She and [...]]]>
For the first time ever, you get to hear from my mother

What a treat I have to share with you today in Episode 99 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore.” I recently had the opportunity to interview the woman who brought me into this world–my mom, Judiann Crumbley. She and my stepfather met us at the beautiful “Glimpse Of Heaven” cabin in the Smoky Mountains near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee last month and we had a very relaxing week together.

Mom sat down for a conversation with me about her gastric bypass surgery experience since she had the controversial procedure done in December 2003–just one month prior to me going on the Atkins diet. You’ll notice my mother is very articulate and didn’t mind sharing the good and the not-so-good about her weight loss journey over these past four years.

Click on the “LISTEN NOW” link below or download it to your iPod to hear today’s podcast and hear the voice of Jimmy Moore’s mom:

Although my mother lost 100 pounds in a little more than a year after having the gastric bypass surgery, everything wasn’t a bed of roses for her. She wasn’t ready for the transition back to real food and began experiencing some rather painful realities along the way. It’s a word to the wise for anyone even thinking about going through this process.

One interesting aspect of the interview is how she said the way carbohydrates impacted her in various ways. She was super-sensitive to sugar and just felt better eating less carbs and more protein. But, as has happened to many weight loss surgery people who get away from the basic tenets of their new lifestyle, you can even gain weight and my mother is no exception. Hear her talk about it and what she KNOWS she needs to do to get back on track again to lose those 10-15 pounds she has put back on.

Catch the #1 low-carb podcast show on the Internet anytime by:

1. Listening at the official web site
2. Going to iTunes
3. Calling (818) 688-2763 to listen via Podlinez
4. Subscribing to the RSS feed

Have you considered having gastric bypass or LAP-BAND surgery to help you shed the pounds? Did hearing my mother’s story of struggles cause you to take pause and reconsider livin’ la vida low-carb? Or perhaps you have already had the surgery and it reminded you of your own negative experiences. Give us your comments and share from what has happened to YOU.

I’m so excited about this coming up Thursday’s podcast show because it is a rather unique and monumental occasion in the history of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore”–the 100th episode!!! As I previously stated, not many podcast shows last long enough to reach that milestone, but here we are on the verge of hitting the triple digits in shows! WOW, I never would have thought it would last this long. It’s a testimony to YOUR FAITHFULNESS and DEDICATION to my mission–educating, encouraging, and and inspiring others to lose weight and get healthy. THANK YOU for all the support you have given me.

To reward you for all that you do, I will have a boatload of some outstanding giveaways, including LOTS of autographed low-carb books from some of your favorite authors, some exciting prizes from a few of my sponsors, and even an exclusive opportunity for some people to be the first to try my new “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Bar” made with dark chocolate and real raspberry flavor (coming in December!). Tune in on Thursday for details about how YOU can win during my 100th podcast!!!

It takes a very special person to publicly admit when they were wrong about something even after multiple warnings and concerns shared by those around them. And yet that is exactly what has happened this week when Kimkins Woman’s World cover girl [...]]]>
Kimkins cover girl: “I was wrong…Kimkins is not the way to lose weight”

It takes a very special person to publicly admit when they were wrong about something even after multiple warnings and concerns shared by those around them. And yet that is exactly what has happened this week when Kimkins Woman’s World cover girl Christin delivered an impassioned video apology at her blog along with a detailed explanation of the health complications she and others have suffered since beginning the risky low-carb imposter diet scheme devised by a morbidly obese woman named Heidi Diaz.

I blogged about my concerns over the Kimkins fiasco that culminated earlier this week when this beautiful young woman had to be rushed to the emergency room because of some pain in her chest and heart complications. When you hear something like this happening that was brought on by such an extreme low-fat/low-calorie diet like Kimkins, it should make you angry. AND I AM ANGRY ABOUT IT!

To anyone who is still on the Kimkins diet, CHRISTIN has a message just for YOU:

Show your support for and encouragement to Christin by leaving a comment about this video at her “The Journey On” blog. What a brave woman she is and I am honored to know her as a friend. She has demonstrated nothing but grace, elegance, and dignity in the midst of what has become a complete and utter nightmare for so many of us in the low-carb community concerning this Kimkins debacle.

For the sake of those who cannot view the video, the following is a summary of the video, including direct quotes made by Christin regarding her experience following the Kimkins diet. Be prepared to be shocked and stunned as she shares quite openly about the negative impact this weight loss fraud has had and may continue to have on her health. Pray for her even now as she seeks to reverse the damage that has been done.

Christin before Kimkins when she weighed 250 pounds

Christin said she did this video so that others would “know exactly where I stand on this.” She explained why most people choose to lose weight: to improve their health. Period! When you are 100+ pounds overweight, then you are not living healthy, she noted.

She chose the Kimkins program because she “wanted to lose weight quickly and I thought healthfully” because she “wanted more for my life.” She wanted to “be there” for her family in the years to come. I think all of us who have ever gone on a weight loss plan can relate to that.

Christin today after losing 100 pounds

When she first began, the program was working great for her because “I was following the program exactly as written. I thought I was doing perfectly.” But after losing 100 pounds in five months, Christin then conspicuously noticed there was not one single doctor who approved the Kimkins diet. That’s when she started looking into who Heidi Diaz, aka Kimmer, really was and what she claimed to be.

The REAL Kimmer is this woman–not the 118-pound woman she claims

Diaz had alleged in the marketing of Kimkins that she lost 198 pounds in 11 months on this Kimkins diet and was promoting it that way to anyone who would listen with supposed pictures to prove it. But it was this recent series of articles that included recent photographs of Diaz along with several other sites that made Christin become concerned and realize that those claims by Diaz were simply “not true.”

“Heidi did not lose the weight, she did not follow this program that she claims is safe for anybody, even for diabetics,” Christin said.

Then Christin turned in her video to the “risks” of being on the Kimkins diet that she discovered first-hand while following the program. She said she has real “concerns for everyone else that has attempted this program or will attempt this program.”

That includes first and foremost hair loss. Christin admitted that her hair “started fall out in handfuls” and it “scared” her. She estimates she has lost as much as 60 percent of what used to be “thick, full hair” prior to her Kimkins experience.

“Now it’s very thin,” she exclaimed.

Another side effect was the loss of her menstrual cycle that she believes happened from “eating so few calories and my body was becoming malnourished.” She said the hair loss and lack of periods are both tell-tale signs of anorexia, an eating disorder where victims literally starve themselves to be thin.

“I believe now the Kimkins diet program promotes a form of anorexia that I don’t know if science has even attempted touch on this yet,” Christin stated. “300 calories a day is not safe weight loss.”

Any dietary change this drastic need to be closely monitored by a doctor just like those who undergo gastric bypass surgery do, she added.

When these symptoms began to show up, Christin went on the Kimkins forums to see if anyone else was losing their hair and female cycle like she was. “What’s going on?” she pleaded to anyone who would listen to her concerns. And Christin said she “saw it come up multiple times” regarding these symptoms she was having in other people, too.

The excuse provided in response to this happening was that it was “perfectly normal and you’re going through a shed. Your body is just losing estrogen.” It was just too coincidental that “almost every other person who kept their calories under 1000 calories, probably more under 700 calories, has lost hair.”

“I don’t want to scare you,” Christin said speaking directly to people who are still following Kimkins, “but I want to bring you into the reality that there is a better way to lose weight.”

Christin asks “are you really doing this?” and urges people to take their diet plan to their doctor for him to examine it. “Take him your Fitday, take him exactly what you are eating, let him see your calorie counts,” she said.

“I’m concerned about you,” Christin pleaded.

Christin says she is sorry for supporting the “dangerous” Kimkins diet

When the time came for Christin to step into the spotlight back in June when the Woman’s World magazine cover story opportunity came up, she said she was “put on a pedestal as the ‘cover girl.’ I was the model, I was the way to do it.” But now she realizes how she was used as a pawn and seeks the mercy of those who trusted and looked up to her.

“I need to ask your forgiveness,” she said. “I’m sorry. I was wrong. Kimkins is not the way to lose weight. Kimkins is dangerous…for your health, it’s dangerous for your psyche.”

But as much as Kimkins hurt Christin up until this point, none of it was as grave as what was happening to her without even realizing it. She had the symptoms of an eating disorder that she admits made her realize she “had a problem” when she was fearful of even consuming some salad out of fear that she’d stall in her weight loss.

“I did not get fat on salad and on healthy vegetables,” Christin explained. “I got fat on sugar and white carbs.”

Getting over the fear of eating was a very difficult men
tal test for Christin as she now obsessed over every little bite of food she was eating and how it would impact her on the scale. She revealed that she hasn’t met anyone who has been on the Kimkins program who wasn’t “literally scared” to add food back into their diet.

“What kind of a program is it that makes you scared? Weight loss is not about fear, weight loss is about excitement, it’s about joy, it’s about recapturing your life,” Christin shared with a glimmer in her eyes. “It should be a fun journey, not a fearful one.”

And yet fear was exactly what gripped Christin and it would not let go of her.

“If I wasn’t losing everyday, then I began wondering what was wrong with me,” Christin admitted. “Nothing was wrong with me. My body was screaming at me. It was putting the brakes on and telling me you’re going about this the wrong way.”

As a devout Christian, she knew that “God created us to eat healthy foods; vegetables and fruits, whole grains, and yes, even fat.” Christin reiterated that she believes there is “validity to low-carb programs” like Atkins, Protein Power, and the like when they are done the correct way and not the Kimkins way.

“You will provide your body with all of the nutrients that it needs” when you follow low-carb by the book, Christin shared. “God did not create you to starve yourself.”

Outlining the “many dangers within the Kimkins program,” she said that it goes much deeper than just an eating disorder. She said that “something is going on within my body” and that it has been manifested in the form of “flutters” in her heart for the past month.

“Twinges, cramps, aches, all within my chest cavity right around the area of my heart,” Christin expressed, sharing that it all came to a head on Monday when the “severe chest pains…stomach aches, and nausea” were so great she was admitted to the emergency room staying there until late at night.

The doctors examined her with many tests, including an EKG, blood work, chest x-rays, and they kept her at the hospital for several hours to monitor her condition. It’s still unknown what caused the tremendous pain to come on Christin like it did on Monday night, but she was prescribed pain medications and was referred to a cardiologist for an immediate follow-up visit.

That visit to the cardiologist took place on Wednesday who shared several concerns for Christin. With a “more and more serious” look on his face after hearing Christin’s story about her starvation-mode weight loss method compliments of the Kimkins diet, he told her flat out that “our bodies can suffer damage from eating that little.”

After conducting more tests on her, including an EKG, an ECG, blood work, and “lots of listening with the stethoscope,” the cardiologist said he was not concerned about what he called a “normal” low pulse rate of 45 (incidentally, mine is in the upper 40′s since I lost nearly 200 pounds and Christin has experienced a heart rate in the low-to-mid 40′s). Even still, she says she “might get a second opinion on” just to be sure about it.

But there were real concerns that the cardiologist had for Christin, including “possible damage to my heart nodes and valves from malnutrition.” Because of that, he wants to have a sonogram of Christin’s heart to confirm whether or not there is this damage since it was inconclusive from the initial examination. He’s also concerned about some “esophageal spasms” that happen whenever there is a “rapid change in your dietary program and you lose a lot of weight.”

“Things can change on your insides,” Christin quoted the cardiologist as saying, “that it takes it a while to catch up.”

She is now medication for this “distress” with the contractions surrounding her esophagus and trying to rest as her body goes through the healing process.

Speaking passionately and directly to those who still think the Kimkins diet is a safe and effective way to lose weight in a healthy manner, Christin had an extremely clear and articulate message for them.

“If I and my story can stop anyone else from having pain and having the fear that I did that I might have caused even further damage and by attempting to be for my family I hindered my longevity with them–I was scared to death. That ride to the hospital was one of the most fearful ones that I have ever had! My husband was scared at having to face the possibility of losing his wife and his helper and his love,” she recalled from her haunting experience earlier this week.

When they got to the hospital, Christin said she and her husband “prayed together” while holding hands hoping for the best in God’s hands. And that’s something she wants to help others avoid if they will simply listen to what she has to say.

“If I can save any of you from having to go through that, then it is worth it,” Christin concluded.

Speaking about her role as the Public Relations head of Kimkins last month and as the cover girl on the Woman’s World magazine in June, Christin said she did it because she “thought [she] was helping” others as is her heart’s desire.

“It has always been my desire to help people,” she said. “And especially those that I feel a connection with, those who have struggled to lose weight their entire lives, those who have issues with obesity–something that I know all too well.”

Christin said taking on those responsibilities felt like she was “doing my part to give hope, to give assurance, to sympathize and to empathize” with people who were facing the same struggles that she had trying to lose weight. She still has those feelings for people who want to beat their obesity which is why she is still blogging and participating in a low-carb forum again.

“My heart goes out to you because I know what it’s like,” Christin stated. “I know the euphoria of losing weight quickly, but I also know the risks and the dangers involved and I am begging with you now to please listen to your body like I’ve said so many times and do the right thing.”

She added: “There is a right way and a wrong way to lose weight. And I am now convinced that starving yourself and utilizing the Kimkins program in that manner is not the right way.”

Realizing there is still a need for a community for people who desire weight loss the healthy way, Christin said we should all “stand together and learn together” the “correct way to use a low-carb program to make each other healthy, to live a longer life for our loved ones and our families.”

Christin said she’ll be back to blogging again soon and appreciates the friendship and love that has been shown to her through this horrific experience.

“I love you and I’m here for you,” she concluded.

Visit Christin and learn more about her continuing low-carb weight loss journey at her “The Journey On” blog as well as the “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Discussion” forum. And if you would like to contact Woman’s World magazine to let them know about your concerns regarding the Kimkins program, their direct e-mail address is DearWW@aol.com. Perhaps if enough of us let them know about Christin and others who have suffered serious health consequences from being on Kimkins, then they may print a retraction.

READER SHARES HIS UNPLEASANT ENCOUNTER WITH MALTITOL

Ever since I first started warning people about the sugar alcohol [...]]]> Continuing with the theme I started yesterday of catching up on some much-needed blogging that I haven’t had time to do lately, here are a few more items of interest for fans of livin’ la vida low-carb!

READER SHARES HIS UNPLEASANT ENCOUNTER WITH MALTITOL

Ever since I first started warning people about the sugar alcohol maltitol found in so many sugar-free, low-carb products, there have been some wang dang doozy stories that are both hilarious and horrendous all at the same time. Remember “Farting” Fred and “Sharted” Sarah. Now we have “Maltitol Macaroon” Mike. ENJOY!

I have a maltitol story to share with you that I’ll never forget. I was driving out of town one day and I happened by a health food store. So I stopped in to see what they had. There was a package of little macaroon cookies with all kinds of good numbers, low fat, low sugar, etc. What could be wrong with that? Especially since I LOVE macaroons.

Take if from me, DON’T EVER EAT ANYTHING WITH MALTITOL IN IT.

GOOD ADVICE, Mike! That why I shared in this recent YouTube video that people should avoid it if they possibly can. It’s just not worth the trouble (or pain), is it?

HOOD’S CALORIE COUNTDOWN LOW-CARB MILK BEING DISCONTINUED?

Low-carbers who want an excellent milk substitute have been pleased to use a product called Calorie Countdown from a company named Hood. The milk comes in chocolate (my personal FAVE!) and white and contains just 4g net carbs per serving. This product used to be called Carb Countdown and had the Atkins logo on it before they changed the name to appease the health-conscious consumer last year.

Well, it appears this lone low-carb milk may be on its way out, but I’m still trying to confirm that with Hood. However, one of my readers said she visited her local grocery store to pick up a carton and was told by the manager that Hood Calorie Countdown was being discontinued. If I hear back from Hood about this, then I’ll let you know what they say. We may be back to using cream again for milk.

READER DROPS 74 POUNDS IN 2007 AFTER FINDING MY BLOG

You know, when I started this blog I had no idea the impact it was going to have on the lives of real people who were just like me nearly four years ago looking for a glimmer of hope in this weight loss journey. But they’re out there watching, reading, learning, and changing their lives forever for the better! I never get tired of hearing stories of low-carb weight loss success like this:

Jimmy,

Keep up the good work! I appreciate your efforts–way to go!

Man, I NEVER get tired of these kinds of stories. Feel free to share how this blog has motivated you in your low-carb journey by e-mailing me anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.

NUTRITION ANSWERS WEB SITE GIVE CARB COUNTS, GLYCEMIC INDEX OF FOODS

There’s a brand new tool that I’m thrilled to be able to share with you for people who are confused about how many carbohydrates are in various foods. Or perhaps you are following the low-glycemic index diet (GI) and want to know what the numbers are for the foods you are eating. Let me introduce you to Nutrition Answers which was created by an Australian Type 1 diabetic named Derek Miller. This program is still in beta, but I happen to think it is absolutely FANTASTIC! When you get to the web site, click on “Sample Questions” and you will see a list of invaluable links to give you the answers to the carb counts for your low-carb lifestyle. Use this tool early and often to stay on track with your healthy low-carb food choices.

ONCE YOU LOW-CARB FOR A WHILE, DO CARBS ACT CRAZY IN YOUR BODY?

I’ve heard all kinds of stories from people about what has happened to them since they started livin’ la vida low-carb and most of the time it is good. There is an occasional strange symptom or two like what this person shared right after I started this blog. We’re all different and not everything is tied to our low-carb diet. With that said, though, there may be a connection sometimes like in the case of this woman who wrote to me:

Hi, Jimmy –

Thanks so much; love your blog!

It’s always interesting to hear how people respond when they reintroduce carbs after they started livin’ la vida low-carb. It’s an great object lesson to remind us that we are making a LIFESTYLE CHANGE that is permanently altering the way we eat forever. That’s something I attempted to convey in my response:

THANKS for writing and congrats on your success.

THANK YOU again for your e-mail!

Something tells me she’ll be on strict low-carb for a while. As she should.

That’s all the time I have for now, but I’m happy to be catching up on some much-needed blogging! More coming soon! In the meantime, Celebrate Gary Taubes Week!

9-26-07 UPDATE: After one of my readers was concerned the Hood Calorie Countdown low-carb milk was being discontinued, I contacted them to find out the scoop. According to a customer service representative, it’s still available:

“We appreciate your interest in Calorie Countdown Dairy Beverages. In answer to your question, we have not discontinued these. If you are unable to locate a particular product, we suggest you speak with the store or dairy manager and ask if it can be ordered in.”

So, if it’s not on your grocer’s shelf, ASK FOR IT!!! And be sure to let Hood know how much you appreciate their products that cater to your low-carb lifestyle by sharing your product experience.