My collaboration with Dr. Kelli Maw, “The Last Diet”, is now available for purchase on Amazon. This book is a guide for many of us who have succumbed to processed food diets and bad habits that lead to obesity. This book is also about why we shun healthy eating habits and how we can take control of them through lifestyle changes.

There are recipes in the back, but those are only a guide to easy and nutritious low-carb meals. Research has already found the best diet plans of what to eat and how much. That step has been taken care of for us. The hardest part of any diet is getting beyond the personal and social roadblocks.

But, how can you do that if you don’t know what’s blocking you from obtaining your goals? Much of this book deals with thought-provoking issues that require us to reflect upon our current lifestyle choices. It also takes a step into the arena of how diet drugs work and why. How your body changes and so do your motivations.

This project was a personal one for me, because of the years I have struggled to control my weight. I continue to tip the scale up and down, yet I am still determined, more than ever, to stay on course and achieve my goals. So, when Dr. Maw approached me to help with her book, I was already 100% invested.

Dr. Maw describes many of the insights into weight gain and loss that I had learned the hard way during my journey to lose 40 pounds. We worked together to create a mixture of anecdotes and research, so the information is credible, but more importantly, it’s relatable for the reader. There are many topics in this book that I connect with on a very personal level, such as comfort eating, blind eating, and alcohol. Knowing where I have problems and how I can overcome them is a major step in winning the toughest battle I know. And, there are a lot of people like me out there:

• More than 1 in 3 adults were considered to be overweight.
• More than 2 in 3 adults were considered to be overweight or have obesity.
• More than 1 in 3 adults were considered to have obesity.
• About 1 in 13 adults were considered to have extreme obesity.

(Statistics from National Institute of Health for 2013 – 2014)

            It is never too late to lose weight. People have been coming off their diabetes medicine from following the same principles described in detail within “The Last Diet”. If you are apprehensive to make the sacrifices needed to achieve a healthy weight, they’re worth it. I know this, and you will, too.

The Project

From concept to completion, we spent a full year writing and editing. Most of our correspondence was through email, and we had frequent meetings over the phone. Early in the project, I was able to act as a writing coach, providing tips and tricks to keep the words flowing. Through it all, Dr. Maw was able to balance writing with her other duties as a clinician and research scientist.

My background as a technical writer helped with research and fact checking a subject requiring an understanding of health care and research methods. I have collaborated on many writing projects that were hundreds of pages with extensive references. I enjoy works of non-fiction with complex topics and scientific foundations, which makes this project and many future projects interesting and fulfilling for me.

If you’re interested in completing a manuscript or self-publishing works with multifaceted themes and topics, please send me an email: michael@613Creativeinc.com  or give me a call: (727) 709-1035.