Low Carb Diets

The last day of the low-carb cruise this year was mostly taken up with several hours of questions and answers from the experts who shared their knowledge with us earlier in the cruise (for my cruise report, see parts one and two). These are some of the tips these experts gave us that I thought would be most helpful to my readers. One of the questions was "What two or three things would you recommend to people to improve their diets?" The answers were:

1. Don't eat sugar or grains and don't fear fat. (This is probably my favorite one, as it accomplishes the most with three simple rules.)

2. Eat more leafy vegetables, and more seafood Read More...

Part one of my report of this year's low-carb cruise covered up until half-way through the second day of talks. Today I take you through the rest of the cruise.

Day Two - Afternoon

Jackie Eberstein - Topic: "Robert C. Atkins: Doctor of Complementary Medicine" - Jackie Eberstein is a nurse who worked with Dr. Atkins for over 30 years. This year is the 10th anniversary of his death, and it seemed a fitting time to pay tribute to him, as well as learn some things about him that we didn't know. His widow Veronica Atkins was also with us on the cruise this year, which was a real honor. Read More...

One thing seems certain when it comes to making life changes: we humans rarely find success by trying to "go it alone". We need each other! That's why this site has lots of opportunities to participate. Of course, our great Low Carb Forum is a wonderful place to start, with friendly knowledgeable people. Then, explore more ways to connect with what others are doing and thinking. I've compiled this List of Ways to Share Support and Information. Find out what your fellow low-carbers are eating, read success stories, and read and write reviews, and much more!

Photo © Marc Dietrich

Related Resources:

• Tips, Favorites, and Success Stories
  
  
• Product Reviews
  
  
• Book and Cookbook Reviews

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On Mother's Day, usually kids and spouses think of feeding Mom some high carb treats. But what if Mom's body really does better without all the sugar and starch? In that case, what would really be special is give Mom treats which are healthy for her. Here are some delicious, low-carb ideas for Mother's Day - I guarantee you that the Mom in your life will remember your thoughtfulness. If you are a mom, print out this Low-Carb Mother's Day page and place it strategically within the view of your loved ones. Bottom line requirement for Mother's Day - enjoy each other. That's the best gift of all!

Blueberry Coffee Cake Photo © Laura Dolson

Sample Mother's Day Ideas:

• Blueberry (or Raspberry) Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
  
  
• Creating Egg Dishes (omelets, frittatas, etc)
  
  
• Low Carb Fruit List

Hi, All -

I'm sitting here on the Carnival Magic looking out at the green scenery of Honduras (more specifically, Isla Roatan, off the coast). Many of my fellow low-carb cruisers are at a resort on the island where two of our members are getting married! I decided to take a quiet day. My husband and I have had a lazy morning, and I'm going to try to write about about the past few days before launching into two full days of excursions (cave tubing in Belize and visiting Mayan ruins on Cozumel) and the final day of our "floating conference". Read More...

I've written about the first two of the three conferences I attended in San Diego, sponsored by the American Society of Bariatric Physcians and the Nutrition and Metabolism Society. The longest of the three, lasting three days, was the Obesity Conference. It turns out I don't have time before the Low-Carb Cruise to write a complete conference report, so I thought I'd write about one theme I saw during the conference which I related to. Fear not, I will be writing about the talks that Peter Attlia and many others gave when I get back from the cruise (as well as the cruise itself)!

This theme related to three facts about obesity and weight loss, which lead to a knotty problem.

Fact #1: People who are obese rarely attain a weight considered a "normal BMI" (at least for long) through any weight loss method. The body defends against losing too much weight, for obvious reasons Read More...

Break out the sugar-free margaritas and guacamole! It's Cinco de Mayo, the most celebrated Mexican holiday in the United States. I've collected a lot of low-carb resources together, and included features from About.com's Mexican, Cocktails, and Entertaining Guides in this guide to your Low-Carb Cinco de Mayo. Enjoy!

Photo © Skip O'Donnell

Related Resources:

• Eating Low Carb in a Mexican Restaurant
  
  
• Super-Easy Guacamole Recipe
  
  
• How to Make Fajitas

The topic of the Nutrition and Metabolism Symposium (co-sponsored by the Nutrition and Metabolism Society the American Society of Bariatric Physicians) and this year was "Are All Calories Created Equal?" The basic understanding is, as the saying goes,"calories in, calories out" -- in other words, if we consume the same calories as we expend, our weight will be stable. (I like to say that "calories in, calories out" is a description, but people try to use it as an explanation, which is sometimes where trouble starts.) The question of the day is whether the metabolic effects of calories from different sources may be different, often depending on context.

The Thermic Effect of Food, Donald Layman - The thermic effect of food is basically the calories it take to digest and utilize the food we eat. Overall, it takes about 8% of the calories from the food to digest and use it, but with protein it actually takes 20%. This is because there is a constant turnover of protein in our bodies, because we use protein for so many things. Read More...

This is the time of year when I start doing a bit of traveling to find out about the latest science in the area of diet and obesity. This year I'm happy to say I'm in San Diego! I'm here for three different events sponsored by the American Society for Bariatric Physicians.

Wednesday, I attended a few hours of a course designed to assist physicians in preparing for the examination qualifying them as a specialist in Obesity Medicine. Most of this course overlapped with yesterday's Nutrition and Metabolism Symposium, so I only caught first part of it, but it was a good review for me about some of the basics of obesity.

Random facts from the review: Read More...

Have you heard of a CSA? That stands for "Community-Supported Agriculture" and it's basically a subscription to a local farm. Every week I get a box of whatever produce is ready for harvest at that time. It's a good time of year to check out what CSA's might be in your area, and one place to do that is LocalHarvest.org.

At this time of year, it's greens galore (and asparagus - yum)! This is great, because not only are greens superior sources of a vast array of nutrients (check out the nutrients in, for example, chard), but I find that eating a lot of greens helps to keep my fasting blood glucose lower (I'm pre-diabetic).

Photo © Ina Peters

Related Resources:

• How to Cook Greens
  
  
• Low-Carb Vegetables (with links to carb and nutrition info, plus recipes )
  
  
• About.com's Local Foods Site

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