Birthday Surprise!

Every now and then, the universe does something awesome for you when you least expect it. It’s always nice when the universe does awesome things, but it’s even nicer when you’re not expecting them. So imagine my surprise when today—my birthday, no less—just such a nice thing happened.

What was it?

Jimmy Moore mentioned THIS BLOG in his roll call of new low-carb blogs & websites for July 2013. Every month, he lists a bunch of up-and-coming sites dedicated to the philosophies of low-carb, Paleo, Primal, Weston A. Price, and just plain real food. Jimmy has become a bit of a controversial figure in the “nutrition celebrity” circles these days, but I’m firmly in the camp of fans. He’s ruffled some feathers here and there, but I challenge you to find someone with his visibility, who’s been blogging and podcasting as long as he has, who hasn’t.

I’ve been a huge fan of Jimmy for years. He has done more than probably anyone to spread the message of low-carb nutrition, which helped him journey his way from a medication–riddled 410 pounds down to a leaner physique and excellent health. Along the way, he’s interviewed every big name in nutrition, health, and fitness. (His podcasts’ guest lists read like the ultimate who’s who and crème-de-la-crème of all these fields.) His transformation reminds me of my own: he started low-carbing for weight loss, but with reading everything he could get his hands on and talking to some seriously heavy-hitting experts (no pun intended, hehheh), he’s taken a bigger interest in food quality and nutrient density, buying more of his food from local farms, and supporting farmers who raise their animals on pasture and feed them diets that are species-appropriate. (Hint: cows are supposed to eat grass, not corn & soybeans. Also: chickens are not vegetarians!) Jimmy has spent the last seven years providing insane amounts of information for free -- and not just about weight loss, but about heart health, diabetes, Alzheimer's, autoimmune conditions, psychological health, and just about everything else you can imagine related to how our wacky modern diets affect our bodies and minds. (Okay, so I wasn't 410 pounds, and I'm attempting to make a living as a nutritionist, but the rest of it is pretty similar!)

I’d been planning to email Jimmy to ask if he would include my site in a future monthly blog roundup, but I hadn’t gotten around to it. So I was thrilled to see that someone beat me to it! And the best part? I don’t even know who it was! A lovely, wonderful, and obviously brilliant anonymous angel must’ve sent Jimmy my URL. (At least, that’s what I assume happened. Maybe Jimmy has some kind of automatic search that scours the interwebz for sites that talk about saturated fat in a positive light, or have recipes where the main ingredient is butter. But I choose to believe it was some very kindhearted soul out there somewhere who knew that my soul needed a little more sunlight and water than I’ve been giving it lately. And boy, did seeing my site on Jimmy’s list today fit that bill! So thank you, Mister or Miss Stranger. Feel free to contact me and reveal yourself if you so desire. But if not, please know that I am grateful for what you did.)

So if you’re new here, WELCOME! Make yourself right at home, because you are among friends. Low-carb, Atkins, ketosis, and Paleo are not swear words around these parts. We’re not afraid to garnish our broccoli with melted butter, enjoy a couple of slices of bacon with our eggs (including the yolks), or eat a nice, juicy steak and not cut the fat off.

If you want to learn a little about moi, you can do so here. (Nutshell version: I'm a nutritionist whose business card includes the following phrases: “The nutritionist who lets you eat steak!” and “No sprouts, no soy milk, no kidding!”) And if you’re wondering where I came up with the name “Tuit Nutrition,” and what it means, you can find out here.

The blog’s been pretty quiet lately. It’s been a hectic couple of weeks, including an unplanned drive from Virginia to New Jersey in a car with a broken air conditioner. In July. Yeah, that was fun. (If your idea of fun is stepping out of the car and looking to all the world like you wet yourself, when it’s actually just sweat. But hey, sweating is good for us, so I’ll consider myself healthier in the end. I have to say, though, it would have been cheaper to pay for some time in a nice sauna than what it cost me to drive out of the DC area and up the New Jersey Turnpike. How is that when I lived in Pittsburgh, a town famous for being surrounded by three rivers—and the requisite multiple bridges—there were no tolls anywhere, but it costs an arm and a leg to go to New Jersey? Oy vey...)

So yeah, I’ve been away from the blog for a while, but I’ll be back at it soon. I have a couple of recipes to share, and I (still) haven’t forgotten that we have a couple more things to talk about from that saturated fat article I started dissecting a zillion years ago. (Okay, so it was only June, but it feels like a zillion years ago.) Plus, I have a ton of new ideas I’m really excited to write about. Now all I need is the time…and a day job where I’m not already in front of a computer all day…  :-/

In the meantime, if you’re the podcast listening type, I cannot recommend Jimmy’s shows highly enough. My favorite is Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb, but Ask the Low-Carb Experts is not to be missed, either. He has a third show, Low-Carb Conversations, which is much more casual – just a bunch of low-carb, Paleo, and real food folks discussing recent health news, recipes, food and nutrition policy, and more.

If you’re new to who Jimmy is and what he does, I would recommend looking through the archives on Jimmy’s websites or on iTunes, starting with any shows where he interviews: Zoe Harcombe, Julia Ross, William Davis, Mark Sisson, Robb Wolf, Thomas O’Bryan, Jonny Bowden, Chris Masterjohn, Peter Attia, and Sally Fallon.

Thanks again, whoever you are. You gave me a fantastic birthday present, and you weren’t even trying!