i hope it's OK for me to post this on the board ....

but here's the story: i was at the gym yesterday, armed w/ a new "shape" magazine, which i love! was very excited to have new reading material on the elliptical. as i got toward the end of the magazine, i discovered a weight loss success story about a woman i know of! how exciting!
she has a website l] ... i love it b/c she has some good recipes and an inspiring story! i've even communicated w/ her a few times via email and she has been nothing but helpful w/ my LC questions!
the point is - she COMPLETELY supports atkins and all LC diets! that's how she lost 30 lbs!

so .... as i read the "shape" article, i was INFURIATED to see that they did not mention LOW CARB, ATKINS, etc ... not even once!
they even went so far as to say that sheyla has her own low fat recipes/cookbook - when in fact, she has written several LOW CARB cookbooks.

i was so confused ... and just went to her site to email and ask her about the strange article! check out what happened here: http://www.sugarfreesheila.com/SHAPESuccessStory.html

can you believe that?!
and you know, the page following her story in the magazine had an advertisement for oranges and how healthy they are, etc. i couldn't help thinking - this magazine is probably supported by companies that want them to primarily encourage low fat, low cal diets! i'm not much for "conspiracy theories" ... but this situation has me quite angry!

anyway, i think sheyla (like many of you) has a great, successful LC story ... too bad it was edited/skewed by the magazine.

let me know that you think!

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**************
Carrie
SBD since 9/12/2005
Re-started 5/8/2006
My new journal: Just Breathe

Hmm...I wonder if she can sue them for publishing a false story?

I even remember her face as one the the Success Stories posted on the Atkins website.

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Libby

2004 174/142/138

Begin Again 2007

164/159/142

And I am a Shape subscriber! I am a bit annoyed by this! But I have to say that sometimes when I read their success stories, I think to myself, "That sounds like she is eating low-carb, even though it doesn't say it," like when they talk about cutting out processed food and sugars. Well, if you cut out the processed foods and sugars, you are at least halfway there, and many of the LC WOEs allow the low GI carbs!

I am going to write to the editor-in-chief...if you would like to also, her address is below:
Anne@Shape.com

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Ooh, that makes my blood boil! I'm firing off an e-mail to anne@shape before I get too calm and rational. Just one more institution that won't admit to the benefits of low-carb, or recognize you can have success with it.

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Emily
Current: Size 10
Goal: Size 8

I quit reading Shape a long time ago because they have a pretty obvious (to me) low fat agenda. I can remember reading more than one article/blurb about why low carb diets were so unhealthy for you. Fitness was the same way, but not quite as overt. Anyway, that they could completely turn Sheyla's story into a paean to low fat is just inexcusable.

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>^..^<
Esther

Thanks so much for everybody's support. This success story was a big blow, and I am hoping that SHAPE magazine does the right thing. We are still waiting to hear from them - it's been 2 days since they were contacted by my camp.

Hoping for the best!

[quote=SugarFreeSheila]Thanks so much for everybody's support. This success story was a big blow, and I am hoping that SHAPE magazine does the right thing. We are still waiting to hear from them - it's been 2 days since they were contacted by my camp. [quote]

Well that just takes the cake. doesn't it? You should demand a printed retraction, if you haven't already.

I believe you are right in suspecting the motive for altering your story was to make it align better with the profit motives of their advertisers.

I'm not normally one to suggest legal action as a way of resolving differences, but I think that is the only thing that a corporation like SHAPE is likely to respond.

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~~~Teelbee
Back to GOAL!!!
start weight: 176/goal range: 137-134/now: 138
Reached goal in Aug. 2003 - 4rd year of maintenance.

I am with Cat lady ,....doesn't seem that they are carb friendly at all. They will learn. I didn't resubscribe this time around. I was tired of the reading the same stuff it seems. Same thing with fitness. I subscribed to Low Carb Energy and just subscribed to Low Carb Living.
This just adds to me dislike of the magazine.

I read your disclaimer with interest, and I'm very sorry you had such a bad experience with this magazine. In their misguided effort to create a "typical" success story, they totally lost the REAL story--which is a great one.

A few years ago, my success story appeared in FITNESS magazine. I had lost 50 lbs. on a low-fat/exercise program. A good friend of mine, who is a talented freelance writer, wrote the story, and was compensated when she pitched it and sold it to FITNESS. I got a check ($100 maybe?) for being the subject. The story was very well-written, and all the quotes and facts were carefully checked. They even sent professional photographers to Kansas City to take the "after" pictures. This appears to be a different approach than the SHAPE magazine staff-written--and badly flawed--article.

Now that I'm LC for life, my story would be different. And I'd certainly want it accurately reported! Makes a huge difference!

Incidentally, I don't think a weight of 140 is so horrifying on a 5'3" woman. Guess it all depends on your bone structure, age, and muscle weight. At 5'3, age 57, and 140, I'm in great shape. And YOU look terrific at your best weight!

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Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Just goes to show you that you need to take what the press says with a grain of salt. The "fourth estate" needs more monitoring as it is run by people and they (people) always have some sort of agenda to push on an uninformed public.

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Information gladly given, but safety requires no unnecessary conversation.

http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJ...wner=RedLegg46

LC - 7/3/03
290/155/169 ***BELOW GOAL :great: :great: :great:

I won't bore you all with details but the email I sent her yesterday was titled "Shame on You".

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my blog

Sheila, I was so incensed by this that I fired off this email:

Quote:

To: Shape Magazine, Editor-In-Chief You should be ashamed of the 'creative liberties' your magazine took with the success story of Sheila Pike-Pereyra. This young woman had an incredible success story, due to low-carb dieting. However, Shape Magazine felt the need to discount the low-carb aspect, and print complete and utter lies about Sheila losing weight by eating low-fat. It was also very disrespectful for Shape to state Sheila's cookbooks were for low-fat cooking, and to imply that the recipes contained within were not her original recipes. This young lady was misquoted and outright slandered by your magazine. She deserves not only a printed retraction, but an entire, corrected, success story article. What is the motivation behind this? I can only guess that it is ignorance and a complete lack of knowledge on the proper way to eat low-carb. Since I have started eating low-carb, I have been eating more fish and vegetables than I ever had before. In fact, I eat five or more servings of vegetables and yes, even fruit, each day. Had the reporter actually listened to Sheila during her interview, perhaps he/she would have learned some valuable information about healthy eating. I, for one, will never buy Shape Magazine again. J**** ***** Low Carb Eater, Consumer, Former Shape Magazine Reader

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"Live strong." ~ Lance Armstrong
SLEEP BE DAMNED! GET THY BUTT TO THE GYM!
Start Atkins 9.1.03
225/198/130ish