It's that family vacation time of year! This means that many of us will be at the mercy of truck stops, or worse, airlines. Here are some suggestions for making it through the flights and the road trips without carbing out:

Sometimes the articles just write themselves. I was futzing around on line when I found this webpage: A Low Carbs (sic) Diet is Hazardous to Your Health For Ten Reasons. It was so off the mark, I had to write a response. Then, as I finished it, I realized I'd just written my article for this week!

Your life, I mean. No, I'm not talking theologically; let's not get into issues of divine creation and salvation and such; we're here to talk diet and health. I'm talking about the indisputable truth that 90% of the time, our lives, good or bad, are largely the result of the choices we make. Yes, your genetics play a role. Yes, your upbringing influences you. Yes, the tides of history can intervene, and wash away all trace of the life you carefully created for yourself - ask anyone in a war torn land. Still, and always, our choices, our actions, are the single most powerful influence we have on creating our lives, for good or ill.

Once you start paying attention to food advertising, you start to realize how much our attitudes about food have been shaped by it - and generally not for the better.

Dana Carpender answers a reader's question about diabetes, breast cancer and the Low-Carb, Keto, Gluten-Free lifestyle.

Reading your email over several times, the thing that jumps out at me is fear. You're afraid - afraid of food, afraid of getting out of control. And your way of containing that fear is to wall yourself off with your safe and familiar foods, to stay home, to stick to a single routine. It's become a ritual of protection.

Low-Carb Life in the real world! That's what I'm living. And life in the real world is an endless series of choices, and an endless series of compromises. That's what's real in our Low-Carb world.

Grilled Asparagus with Balsamic Vinegar Recipe by Dana Carpender. Asparagus hollers “Springtime!” – while it murmurs “Luxury and elegance.” It’s delicious, quick and easy to prepare, and takes to all sorts of easy variations. And, I’m pleased to tell you, asparagus is also one of the very lowest carb vegetables. A half-pound of asparagus – a fabulously generous serving – contains only 5 grams of carbohydrate, of which 2 grams are fiber, for a usable carb count of just 3 grams. This is one indulgence we can all afford to make more often!

Dana Carpender talks about the supposed demise of low carb diets. It ain't true - Low-Carb diets are alive and well and making people alive and well. What are you doing at a low carb website? Didn't you know low carb is dead? It's soooo 2003! The pundits are ever so grateful that all that nonsense about cutting out pasta and potatoes in favor of meat and eggs has fallen by the wayside. It was a fad! It was so weird! Oh, sure, you lost a few pounds, but nobody could eat that way long term. And anyway, everybody knows that's unhealthy! Yeah, right...

Dark and fudgy, and absolutely loaded with chocolate chips! A classic chocolate chocolate chip cookie, just like Mom used to make – only a lot better for you!

Dana Carpender's CarbSmart Low-Carb Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe: A classic chocolate chip cookie, just like Mom used to make - only a lot better for you!