CarbSmart.com Your trusted guide to the keto, low carb, intermittent fasting lifestyle

Franklin Roosevelt promised "a chicken in every pot" when he was first campaigning for the presidency. The Depression was in full swing, and having chicken for dinner - or any kind of meat! - was a luxury many people couldn't afford.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret that's pretty incredible. You'll want to keep this in your file, labeled 'Uncle Zack's Tidbits of Unnecessary Things to Know.' (You are keeping up your file, aren't you? There will be additions as we go along, and perhaps a Pop Quiz one of these days.) Stand confounded: as amazing as it may be, using your hands alone, it is impossible to fold any piece of paper in half more than seven times, no matter how big or small a piece of paper you start out with. (It's okay; don't worry. I won't go on without you. I know you have to stop reading and try this out. I'll wait here while you go fold the newspaper, that scrap of paper laying next to your computer, and the snail-mail letter that just came from your dear old Auntie Doris.) What you hear now are the sounds of my fingers drumming my desk top while I wait.

Pauline from Pennsylvania is 43 years old and 5' 3" tall. Pauline began the Stillman Diet program two years ago when she was at her highest weight of 297 pounds. At the time, she was wearing size 30/32 clothes. Today Pauline uses a combination of the Stillman Diet and the Atkins low carbohydrate program, and currently weighs in at 174 pounds. She has shrunk to a size 12/14.

Peggy Lee from Maryland is 54 years old and 5' 1" inch tall. Peggy Lee has been following the Atkins program since July 1, 2002, and has plummeted from 325 pounds to 180 pounds! When Peggy Lee began, she wore size 24/26 and is now wearing size 16s. Peggy Lee's goal is to weigh 140 pounds and wear a size 12.

I'm ready for spring. No, I'm actually ready for summer. I want to grill out and have delightful meals on the patio, punctuated by the cries of the birds and cooled by soft breezes. Unfortunately, when I got up this morning, the outside temperature was 22 degrees, and it wasn't much warmer inside since I'd forgotten to turn the furnace back on. (Boy, did I catch what for from my family for that!)

Tonight's meal takes advantage of two different spring vegetables, radishes and spinach. If you garden, you're going to want to plant both. Radishes are particularly easy. We had a neighbor when we lived in Hicksville, Ohio (yes, there really is a town named Hicksville!) who used to bring us over bunches and bunches of radishes each spring. I finally asked him why he planted so many more than his family could use, and he replied, "Oh, we hate radishes, but they're the only thing we've been able to grow." Evidently, even someone with a brown thumb can grow radishes.

Anne from Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia is 61 years old and 5' 4" tall. Anne has been following the Atkins program since October of 1999, and has dropped from her high weight of 246 pounds and top size of 24 to a current low weight of 173 pounds and is now wearing a size 12.

The Standard American Diet is now to be promoted in every aspect of school life, not merely in the so-called Health classes. Only "healthy" foods are to be mentioned in books for kids. Much mention of pasta, bread, and sugary juices; no mention of some object cutting through something else "like a hot knife through butter!" When they teach small children that milk comes from cows, what will they say comes from pigs?

Today is officially the first day of spring, and what comes right on spring's heels? BASEBALL! Monday is Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds, and it's a very big deal here. At this point in the season hope springs eternal, and we all KNOW that the Reds are going to win the World Series this year. There's a parade before the game, and both kids and adults cut school and/or work to attend the pre-game festivities as well as the ball game itself.

We've been talking about diet medications, and most recently, about Fen/phen. There seems to be a constant hunt for chemicals that will make one slim. Today we'll take a look at some of the herbal preparations for obesity that are vying for our consumer dollars.