THE 6-WEEK CURE FOR THE MIDDLE-AGED MIDDLE - TAKE 2

In November, 2010, I posted this about the book The 6-Week Cure For the Middle-Aged Middle by Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades.  If you read that post, you will see that the plan involves drinking three protein shakes with added fat and branch chain amino acids per day plus one low carb meal of whole foods for the first two weeks, then very low carb for the next two weeks and regular low carb for the last two weeks.

At the time, I had decided to do my own version of the plan using whole foods instead of shakes.  After only a few days, I gave up, due to some stress I was going through.

In light of my recent weight gain from vacation, I have decided to try it again, but this time, I'm going to do it by the book.  (Tom Naughton, the maker of the movie Fat Head, has done the diet and recommends it to his readers.)

My plan is to drink a shake at 7:30 am, 11:15 am and 3:00 pm and then have my whole foods meal around 6:30 pm.  After that meal, I won't eat anything else for the rest of the day.

Although I did not weigh myself right after I got home from vacation, I begrudgingly got on the scale this morning, and based on what I weigh this morning, and allowing for the fact that I have no doubt lost a few pounds since returning home, I estimate that I gained 11 pounds of fat and lost 1 pound of lean mass during that almost four week period.  Most of the weight was added around my waist and midriff, with my hips not far behind.  According to the book, this indicates NAFLD, or Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.  The book explains what this is and claims to be able to reverse it in six weeks.

As you know, I have not been weighing myself on the bathroom scale for over a month now.  But, in an effort to gather all the data I can about this next six weeks, I got on the scale this morning, so I could have a beginning weight for comparison purposes.  I also took my full body measurements, which I usually only do on Sunday.

Here are my beginning stats:

Scale Weight - 150 pounds
Neck - 12.25"
Bicep - 11.75"
Bust - 36.75"
Midriff - 31.75"
Waist - 32.125"
Navel - 36.75"
Hips - 40.625"
Thigh - 23.25"
Calf - 14"
Total Inches - 288.25"
BMI - 26.6
Waist-to-Height Ratio - 0.510
Waist-to-Hip Ratio - 0.791
Body Fat - 36.5%
Lean Body Mass - 63.5%
Fat Pounds - 54.8
Lean Mass Pounds - 95.3

I am going to track my food on Fitday to get all the data I can.  Based on what I calculated back in November, this is approximately the way I will eat each day for the next two weeks:

1400 calories
86g fat (55%)
127g protein (36%)
30g total carbs (9%)
20g fiber
10g net carbs

Aside from being lower in fat grams (55% instead of 70%), this is exactly the breakdown of macronutrients that I was eating when Colette Heimowitz, the Atkins nutritionist, decreased my food back in May 2009 to get my weight loss started after losing only one pound during my first seven weeks of Atkins.

One thing I am doing differently than last time is that I will not be exercising, aside from the physical therapy for my shoulder and maybe a little walking.  The shoulder is so bad now, that exercise of any kind causes it to be painful, so I'm just putting that on the back burner until the issue is resolved.

So, here goes.  I'll post at least once per week during this "cure" and let you know how it's going.