Photos emerged recently on the Internet showing a surprisingly skinny Sarah Palin in Los Angeles, throwing her fans into panic, but apparently there's good reason for the reality TV maven's unusually gaunt appearance. The one-time vice presidential nominee is in the middle of writing a fitness book, Palin revealed recently in an e-mail to People magazine.

View the "skinny" Sarah Palin photo here

Palin apparently e-mailed People to clear up any rumors swirling around the Internet about her weight after the photos caused a minor controversy online. The former Alaska governor says she's doing just fine and she's working on a new fitness book with her family .

Palin said in the e-mail to People, "Our family is writing a book on fitness and self-discipline, focusing on where we get our energy and balance as we still eat our beloved homemade comfort foods!"

The 48-year-old says she will discuss the topics in "our unique and motivating book."

"We promise you what we do works and allows a fulfilling quality of life and sustenance anyone can enjoy," Palin adds.

The Palins aren't exactly known for having monastic eating habits. Just watch an episode of "Sarah Palin's Alaska," or her infamous 2008 interview in which she served moose cheese dogs. The family often serves its guests "moose chili, chocolate cream pies, pecan pies, and lemon meringue pies," People similarly notes. But despite all that, Palin claims she's found a sweet spot between eating a frontiersman's diet with a big ol hunka pie, and being healthy.

People says it's unclear if Palin has a contract for the upcoming book, or when the fitness guide will be published.

This is just Palin's latest attempt at inserting herself back into pop culture relevance. From 2010 to 2011, she starred in "Sarah Palin's Alaska," a TLC reality show that featured her and her family (and even ray of sunshine Kate Gosselin, in one episode) exploring the 49th state's outdoor splendors. It was canceled after one season.

Palin's 21-year-old daughter, Bristol took her own stab at reality TV this year with Lifetime's "Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp," and is currently competing on, "Dancing With The Stars." Apparently, not everyone is a fan. The Palin daughter has reportedly been receiving death threats because of her appearance on the show.

Bristol received a death threat in the form of "suspicious" package sent to the CBS Studio set of the ABC dancing competition, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed. The package contained a white powder and a note, CBS sources told TMZ. The attached note read, "This is what will happen to you if Bristol Palin stays on [the show]." The powder was later deemed harmless.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Bristol previously received a similar package containing white powder when she first joined "DWTS" in 2010. That particular package had been sent to the Los Angeles studio where the live show films Mondays and Tuesdays.

On Monday Oct. 8, Palin took to her Facebook page to defend daughter Bristol after she received the death threats. Palin addressed "the haters" in the following Facebook message:

I'm in California today to support Bristol. I'm sorry to see that she's again getting those annoying death threats and more "mysterious white powder" sent to her while on DWTS this All-Star season. These threats sure waste a lot of time, production and public resources; but do the haters really think this will stop Bristol and Mark and the show's producers from keepin' on keepin' on? Silly critics -- after all these years of goofy antics like this we find these efforts are actually quite motivating! Bristol's not letting this get her down. Anyway, tonight is a "double elimination" night, so hopefully everyone who has supported her so far will do so again! I'll be sure to post the call in number and voting instructions later today before the event. Thank you again to everyone. It means a great deal during this fun and highly competitive event, and it's sure appreciated!