Note: Don’t forget to read through to the bottom to enter the multiple giveaways worth over $80 each.

First of all you are all probably wondering where we have been and why we have been so absent from our blog.  Well, we have just returned from our first LOW CARB CRUISE aboard the Carnival Magic.  Having lived on The World for 6 years we weren’t sure what it would be like to travel on a different ship.  But, after being at this conference I have one thing to say…ALL conferences should be aboard cruise ships!  Jimmy Moore of Livin’ La Vida Low Carb is a fantastic emcee.  This was the 5th low carb cruise conference and it has doubled in size every year. This tells us that Jimmy and his incredible, amazing group of volunteers from around the world are doing things right.

To begin with we had incredible speakers. Tom Naughton, of FATHEAD – the movie, began our journey with a fantastic comedic roast of the scheduled speakers, which included:

Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt of the Diet Doctor blog – This swede is as gentle as he is tall..and that is saying a lot.  He spoke enthusiastically about the need for high fat while on a low carb diet, something often missed.  Additionally, he mentioned the importance of the quality of meats and dairy products chosen.  As you know, we are HUGE advocates of choosing farm fresh foods over factory farmed foods.  We were happy to see micronutrient RICH FOOD choices discussed along side the macronutrient ratios.

Dr. Eric Westman of Duke University and author of The New Atkins for a New You presented on the myths of low carbohydrate diets. It was interesting for us to see this presentation as he usually presents this to physicians who are afraid to put clients on a low carb/high fat program. Those in the room didn’t gasp at this information as most physicians do, so it appears we probably had this info up most of our sleeves.  He was humorous in his presentation and very enjoyable to listen to.

Dr. John Briffa, creator of the popular blog, Dr. John Briffa: A Good Look at Good Health , and author of, Escape the Diet Trap, discussed how hunger often rules ones habits. He was overflowing with information as well as HAIR!  (check out a photo if you haven’t seen him!)

Fred Hahn is an exercise expert, founder of Serious Strength and the author of Slow Burn Fitness Revolution. This man looks just like Chuck Norris – no joke! You will be hearing a lot more about him as Dr.Calton is going to be working on combining some theories of exercise and nutrition with him. Many of you don’t know that Jayson was a bodybuilder in a past life. He used nutrition to build muscle mass and he is now going to play in this arena again.

Jeff Volek, of the TNT diet, spoke on carbohydrate intake for athletes.  He lives in a ketogenic state and I think that his scientific approach was a bit over the heads of much of the audience who were not yet to athletic levels.  However, I am looking forward to reading his book on the subject.  Jayson is a bit annoyed he didn’t have time to sit down with Jeff Volek, so I know a phone call is on its ways. (Hear that Jeff?)

Jackie Eberstein is Director of Medical Education at The Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine in New York City. Her information about carbohydrates being addictive was music to our ears.  Yes, we already knew this, but we are now filled with AMMO that we can share with others. We also believe that there is some benefit to this to be discussed later in our third book, but for now.. mums the word!!

We know Dr. Chris Masterjohn of The Daily Lipid from his writings on the website for the Weston A. Price Foundation. He spoke all about Prices’ travels and studies and it took everything out of us not to jump up out of our seats and say been there.. been there too.. That spot has the healthiest people!  We say silent and polite of course but some day it would be nice to present our Calton Project and the photos we took rather than see some from so so many years ago.  Still, loved how he broke down studies, using humor to keep the lecture moving along.

Denise Minger is a teeny little adorable thing.  She brilliantly broke apart the China Study. We had seen this before and you can check it out on her blog at Raw Foods SOS.

Dr William Davis spoke on his new book Wheat Belly. I have to thank Dr. Davis because from his lecture came my only NEW bit of ammunition, or should I say information. I loved learning about wheat as an opiate, and how addicting it is.  Just yesterday upon returning home I got a chance to use this information at a symposium and so I have to thank Mr Wheat Belly himself! By the way…your wife is a doll!

Now, equally as awesome as the lectures was the social time spent aboard The Magic.  This years low carb cruise was infiltrated with a new breed of nutritionists. The Paleo movement arrived in a small posse this year. I think many more will come next year after hearing about all the fun.  Bullet Proof coffee was made every morning and the kitchen and wait staff have probably never seen people eating butter and bacon with more gusto. I can’t name all the special people that I hung with this year but here is a shout out to a select few who filled our time with smiles:

The West Coast Blondes: These three hotties are sweet, kind and oh ya, totally SMART! The bombshell podcaster Dr. Lauren Noel, the injured Jenna Phillips, and the songstress Evelyn Lambrecht – Keep a look out for these three strong women!

Tom Nikkola and Vanessa Romero of Life TIme Fitness and Healthy Living How To are not only a gorgeous couple on the outside, but beautiful on the inside as well. We dined together a few times and found that we share similar concepts on both nutrition and exercise.  We are so looking forward to possibly working with them in the future.

The Paleo Parents: Stacy and Matt are fantastic people, and great parents. Their journey to teach other parents paleo programs for children is so worthy and if you have kids please check out their book Eat Like A Dinosaur.  They believe in eating real food and we totally are in on that one together!

I only knew Grass Fed Girl by her blog, and now I am proud to say I know her as Caitlin Weeks! Her weight loss journey led her to study nutrition and now she is so knowledgable about food, paleo diets and conscious eating to eliminate allergens. Going to hear from her again soon cause I think she is doing a book review on NAKED CALORIES now.

And last but not least a woman who we know we will be seeing more of in the future,  Diane Sanfilippo of Balanced Bites. We had been on her podcast a while back, but had never met. Oddly enough Diane and Jayson share the same birthday, which led us to realize we were all a great fit as friends as well.  We shared nutritional information, crazy banter and well, she is a riot.  She is so smart and we are very excited to help support each other through our hard work loads as we all share the goal of getting great information out to the masses. She has been generous enough to invite us to speak at her event in our area this fall, and we know the work together will continue on from there as well. Keep an eye out for her new book Practical Paleo – A MUST READ!!!

OK.. other amazing people were met too.. the crew outside the piano bar (you know who you are), dancers and cattle ranchers, some crazy young paleo kids with a shipboard romance and some flax lovin’ city dwellers who love cartoons. There are just too many people to name.  As you can tell we had a great time.  Beaches, Indian food, Steakhouse every night, dancing, singing and KNOWLEDGE!

ANNOUNCEMENT TIME

We loved it soooo much that we have some great news for you all.

The incredible Jimmy Moore asked and we said YES!

NEXT YEAR WE WILL BE SPEAKING ON THE LOW CARB CRUISE  OUT OF NEW ORLEANS.  Now for more great news Robb Wolf of The Paleo Solution book and podcast will be headlining it! New Orleans is one of my favorite cities to boot so needless to say, I am already excited.

GIVEAWAY NOTICE FOR 3 LUCKY WINNERS
 

Now, one last thing to report. We are doing a giveaway too!!! We are giving away 3 prize packages to 3 lucky Optimal Life Insiders.

Here is what you can win:
A signed copy of Naked Calories and a four-week supply of nutreince.

Do we have your attention now?

Here is how to enter:

  1. Take our quick online test to see if you are micronutrient sufficient. If you have already taken it…take it again. Hopefully we have taught you something that  has helped you to improve your score.Micronutrient Test Link Here
  2. Go to our facebook fan page for Naked Calories Here.
  3. Click LIKE, and become a fan.
  4. Post on our page what your score on the test was.
  5. We will announce the lucky winners soon!!