Hey all. Well, the new season of The Biggest Loser is right around the corner on New Year’s Day. This time people will be losing weight in pairs – husbands and wives, best friends, mothers and sons or daughters, etc. One thing they are also introducing this season is a ban on bottled water. The Biggest Loser is trying to be more friendly to the planet, and drinking bottled water creates a huge amount of waste – for instance, last year Americans threw out $1 billion worth of plastic. The good news is you can start reducing waste at home, too. I’ve got three Brita faucet mounts and three reusable Filter For Good bottles that I’m giving away (I’ll be shipping them after Christmas). I’ll randomly pick three... [Read more]

When I first began low-carbing in March, I wrote to low-carb guru Jimmy Moore for some advice. He was kind enough to give me a meal plan and some words of guidance. He also mentioned his favorite low carb chocolate bar – ChocoPerfection. I’ve had these bars many times and they truly are delicious. They’re sweetened with erythritol, which is an all natural low-GI sweetener that won’t cause any stomach upset (like maltitol and some others). They taste just like a great bar of chocolate would. Last week Jimmy emailed me to tell me he was sending me some samples of his own Livin’ La Vida Low Carb dark chocolate raspberry bars, made by ChocoPerfection. Well, they arrived in the mail yesterday and I got to try one. The... [Read more]

Hey guys. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to do this post yesterday. The two-hour finale was definitely a show not to miss, although I can’t say there were very many surprises. Here’s a quick recap: First, we got to see a quick snippet of the journeys of the folks who didn’t make it to the final four. There were fourteen of them in all. I thought it was funny how they showed clips of them grunting and screaming and all around making funny noises as they worked out. Then, they all weighed in. Jerry lost a remarkable amount of weight – so did Kae and many others. However, it was Jim who took the $100,000 prize. When it got time to weigh the final four, Bill got to pick who went in what order. He decided to go from youngest... [Read more]

Well it’s that time of year again. Christmas is almost upon us – less than a week to go now. It’s also the time of year where we tend to gain extra weight (8 pounds on average). With all the holiday treats around, it’s easy to indulge. Here are a few swaps you can make that won’t break your calorie bank – or cause you to pack on the pounds. Regular potatoes – swap for sweet potatoes. Not necessarily Grandma’s sweet potato casserole (which is loaded with sugar) but cooked sweet potatoes with a little butter are a good alternative. They won’t spike your insulin as much, they’re less caloric, and they contain more fiber. Cranberry sauce – swap for sugar-free Jello with fruit. We... [Read more]

A few years back, the news was abuzz with a study done at the University of Tennessee that showed those who consumed three low-fat servings of dairy a day lost more weight and body fat than those who didn’t. Remember the name Michael Zemel? He led the study and the dairy industry had a field day with it. I remember being in the grocery store and hearing various commercials over the loudspeaker, urging me to buy skim milk and Yoplait yogurt. The 24-in-24 campaign (24 ounces of milk in 24 hours) has been alive and well for quite some time. However, in the past year or so, the assertions that calcium causes weight loss have been questioned. For one thing, studies where the participants took a calcium supplement showed no weight loss. Maybe... [Read more]