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A cruise designed for people who follow low-carbohydrate diets is teaching passengers the eating approach one woman says helped her lose weight — and keep it off — after decades of trying.
Debbie Hubbs, 73, of Arizona, helped create the Low Carb Cruise after low-carb eating jump-started her weight loss.
Hubbs said this type of eating is “the only thing that ever worked for me.”
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“For the last 40, 50 years, that’s what’s made me feel healthy and strong,” Hubbs told Digital. “I’m 73 years old, and I’m still scuba diving.”
The annual cruise began after Hubbs met a woman in an online weight-loss chat room in 2008. The two discovered they both enjoyed cruises and decided to invite other members of their online community to join them on one.
Most of the recent Low Carb sailings have been on Royal Caribbean ships, including Symphony of the Seas, pictured here. (Fred Tanneau/AFP)
One of the members was a blogger with contacts in the ketogenic network. He offered to recruit speakers for the cruise and to speak himself.
About 30 people joined the first Low Carb Cruise. Last year, there were more than 360 people sailing to Alaska.
Passengers eat meals together and take part in group activities throughout the trip.
The Low Carb Cruise has sailed 20 times. The company partners with a large cruise company that has “great conference spaces.” Recently, most of the sailings have been on Royal Caribbean.
The sailings feature seminars that focus on reducing carbohydrates rather than following one specific low-carb plan.
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Hubbs said she was first exposed to low-carb eating in the 1970s through the Atkins diet. She said the approach helped her lose weight she gained after giving birth to seven children.
The most recent Low Carb Cruise featured a talk by an oncologist about diets and cancer, one by a cardiologist about metabolic and heart health and another by an internal-medicine physician on conquering food addiction.
Event organizers said the Low Carb Cruise attracts a mix of newcomers and people who never miss the event. Here a group of cruisers poses for a photo together. (Low Carb Cruise)
Passengers eat meals together and take part in group activities throughout the trip.
Hubbs said, “We play together, we dance together. We have costume parties together. It’s like sailing with friends and family.”
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The cruise attracts both newcomers and repeat attendees, Hubbs said.
She said the Low Carb Cruise has drawn people from Iceland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Europe.
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Michelle Hall, a Low Carb Cruise committee member who also lives in Arizona, said many passengers are familiar with the frustration of trying diet after diet.
The Low Carb Cruise features seminars led by health professionals. Here, cardiologist Roberta Batista, M.D. of Brazil presents during the cruise. (Low Carb Cruise)
“I was on my first diet when I was 9,” Hall told Digital. “I had weight issues basically my entire life. I did everything through my teen years. You name it, I did it.”
Hall had gastric lap band surgery in 2011 and lost almost 100 pounds without changing what she ate. But when she later removed the band, she started gaining weight.
In June 2020, she tried the keto diet that she had dabbled with before — and this time, it stuck, she said.
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“It was because of everything scary with COVID,” Hall said. “That’s really what scared me: If I get this thing, I’m probably going to die. That was enough.”
Hall said when she found out about the cruise, she booked a trip for herself and her husband immediately.
She asked cruisers on the group’s Facebook page what they find most valuable about the sailings. “The overwhelming response was the community,” Hall said.
In June 2020, a Low Carb Cruise committee member tried the keto diet — which focuses on high-protein options — and that time it stuck. (iStock)
One fellow cruiser said, “Since my first Low Carb Cruise, the experience has been transformative.”
The cruiser said sharing her story and completing her first 5K helped her discover her potential.
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Another woman said the cruise inspired her to pursue her doctorate in health sciences.
Hall believes the biggest hurdle to changing the way a person eats is often mental.
The cruise strongly encourages healthy eating and low-carb meals, but cruise staff members do not police what passengers eat while onboard. (iStock)
“Our guts are our second brains,” Hall said. “If our gut’s not working right, nothing else is working right.”
The Low Carb Cruise website says the event is “not recommending nor promoting any particular type of low-carb lifestyle.”
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Hall said organizers stress that passengers should not feel judged for how they eat while on vacation.
“There’s no low-carb police,” Hall said. “This is your vacation.”
