A reader responds to Lisa and me:
Jonah and Lisa,
Just to clear this up: Mike Huckabee lost his weight on a supervised,
carefully managed meal replacement program begun at the University of
Arkansas for Medical Sciences, here in Little Rock. My dad lost a huge
amount of weight in this program–not as much as Huckabee, but as I
remember, 65-70 pounds. And he did it with startling rapidity, just
like Huckabee. I participated in the program this past summer but,
sadly, had to quit: as a baby attorney, I have zero spare time and not
nearly enough money to stay on the program (for now).
The program is legitimate and the people running it are strict:
participants have weekly weigh-ins and counseling, a weekly group
meeting led by a nutrionist, and regular doctor’s appointments/blood
tests. If you don’t follow the rules, you have to leave. It’s very
intense and it works quickly, as many Arkansans can attest.
I’m not 100% on the Huckabee bandwagon, but he really did buckle down
and work incredibly hard to achieve something that, I’m here to tell
you, is extremely difficult. I think he should get credit for that, not
casual insinuations of dishonesty.
Here’s just one of the news stories quoting Dr. Phillip Kern, who
started the UAMS program and oversaw Huckabee’s weight loss.
And here’s the website for the UAMS weight loss program.
If there’s hard evidence backing up the surgery rumor, I apologize. But
if there isn’t, could you please correct your posts on the Corner?
Disappointing.