Week 5 Report - Entering the Home Stretch

Week 5 is over and done with, and I've found myself dropping back into a more typical Low-Carb lifestyle. The weight loss has all but stopped this week, but looking at the chart, you'll see that key measurements have dropped again. This is empirical evidence that my body is reshaping itself, even as the numbers on the scale haven't changed much.

	Start	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
*Weight and Body fat taken on a Tanita Body Fat Monitor immediately upon waking.
Weight (lbs)*	216.4	211.0	208.0	205.4	201.4	201.0
Body Fat % *	32.0	31.4	31.0	29.7	28.8	28.5
Waist (inches)	46.5625	45.875	45.75	43.375	45.5	43.875
Hips (inches)	45.875	44.0	43.5	43.6875	43.4375	42.25
Chest (inches)	44.0	43.50	43.0	43.5	43.6875	41.75
SAD (Standing)	12.0	12.0	11.875	11.75	12.0	11.375
SAD (lying down)	11.375	10.25	9.875	10.125	10.5	10.0
Neck (inches)	-	-	15.75	15.75	15.5	15.25

A note about the body fat percentage above... As mentioned at the bottom of
the chart, I use a Tanita Body Fat Monitor I bought more than than ten years ago (only on its third set of batteries, incidentally). It is notorious for over-estimating body fat when you're dehydrated, which of course you are first thing in the morning. I've read that the percentage can swing as much as 4% throughout the day. However, the nice thing about estimating high is that you know it's a worst-case scenario.

Assuming the 28.5% number is valid, it puts my lean body mass at roughly 144 lbs. Using 15% as the maximum healthy body fat for an adult male and solving for weight, my target body weight comes out to approximately 170 lbs. At the beginning of 2009, I was 231, so I'm halfway to my goal.

I bought a new belt this week and am about to move to another notch. My last too-small dress shirt once again fits perfectly, but I have another wardrobe problem. My suit jackets and sport coats are all too big. I guess I'll have to call Jos. A Bank and see how much it'll cost to tailor them.

On a positive note, I do have two pair of Levi shorts that have been too tight for a long time. They fit now, and will be the staple of my wardrobe for next week's family trip to Walt Disney World.

This is also the week I'm supposed to get my blood work done. I've signed up for a complete lipid panel. Hopefully the results will be here before I leave next Thursday.

One last thing, concerning the upcoming WDW trip. We're going during the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival and will be staying at the new Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort. I have already decided that during this trip I will eat just about anything and everything offered to me, and that includes every dessert I can get my hands on. I'm looking forward to all of good eats that WDW has to offer: cheddar soup at the Canada pavilion; Tutto Italia's cinnamon cheesecake; Germany's apple strudel with vanilla cream sauce; Mickey Waffles at Ohana; and definitely the all-you-can-eat Canyon Skillet at Whispering Canyon.

I fully expect to come back heavier than I am now, and will report upon my return. On the other hand, it is estimated that people walk anywhere from 5-10 miles per day there, so maybe most of it will burn off. We'll see. Wish me well.

Week 4 Report & Assessment

Week 4 (the second of two "meat" weeks) has come to a close, and it's time for a report and assessment of my progress thus far. I consider my results this week to be quite peculiar, to say the least. As of this morning, I'm down a total of 15 pounds. I would consider this fantastic, were it not for the conflicting body measurements, which I present to you now.

	Start	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
*Weight and Body fat taken on a Tanita Body Fat Monitorimmediately upon waking.
Weight (lbs)*	216.4	211.0	208.0	205.4	201.4
Body Fat % *	32.0	31.4	31.0	29.7	28.8
Waist (inches)	46.5625	45.875	45.75	45.375	45.5
Hips (inches)	45.875	44.0	43.5	43.6875	43.4375
Chest (inches)	44.0	43.50	43.0	43.5	43.6875
SAD (Standing)	12.0	12.0	11.875	11.75	12.0
SAD (lying down)	11.375	10.25	9.875	10.125	10.5
Neck (inches)	-	-	15.75	15.75	15.5

What to make of this? I seem to be losing weight still, shrinking in some places and growing in others. I touched on my theories as to why this might be in my Week 3 report, so I won't rehash them here. I'm starting to wonder (hope?) that the chest and waist expansion are due to the admittedly-moderate resistance exercises I have been doing for the past few weeks. You certainly won't hear any complaints if that's the case. The shrinking neck measurement may be evidence of this, as it's pretty hard to build neck muscle, at least not with what I've been doing. Most of my exercise has been light weight training, focused on the abs and upper body.

According to the plan in the book, at the end of week 4 you are supposed to evaluate your results and decide where to go next. There are two choices. If you only had 10-20 pounds to lose, you should be at or near your goal. My results bear that out. If you're satisfied with your results, then you continue to week 5, which begins a maintenance period that transitions you to a less extreme, but still carbohydrate-restricted diet.

However, if you have more than 20 pounds to lose, you are urged to begin again at week one, and then alternate between weeks 1 and 3 every week until you reach your target weight. I'm pleased with my results, though I still have some ways to go yet. The decision should be simple. I lost 15 pounds. Now just go back and start again.

After some deliberation with my wife, I've decided to move into the maintenance phase. Yes, I still have another 15-20 pounds to go to reach my goal. However, the maintenance phase will still facilitate weight loss, albeit more slowly, as long as I keep my carb load down. I will continue to measure and weigh my food for awhile, and continue to restrict carbohydrates. Each week I will remeasure and update my results here. If it turns out that my weight loss stops entirely (or worse, reverses), then I may make a different decision and go back to week 1 for a week.

You may be wondering what my resistance is to repeating week 1. Quite frankly, my family hated it. They complained that the entire house (and particularly me) smelled like the protein powder used to make my protein shakes. It may just be the brand I chose, or the one awful flavor I have left, but no one wants me to use the stuff anymore. Maybe I'll replace the occasional meal when no one's around or when I have be out late. In any event, I'll continue through weeks 5 and 6 and see how things go.

Besides, other than my single weight goal, look at all of the other positive changes that have occurred in just the past four weeks:

• All of my clothes are too big.
• I need a new, smaller belt.
• I am sleeping better than I have in a long time.
• People tell me I look better.
• I definitely feel better.
  
• I have loads more energy than I can remember.
• My blood pressure is back to low/normal. It was borderline high at my last physical this past May.
  
• Finally, even though I'm not at my goal weight, today I'm lighter than I have been in more than 10 years.
  

The only thing I don't know yet is how my lipid panel will turn out. My follow-up lab test is at the end of next week. When I get my results, I'll post them here along side the numbers from May.

Lastly, I have decided to put up before and after photos. The first one was taken in February 2009 just outside of Disney's Yacht Club Resort. The second picture was taken this morning in my office. Same shirt, but different goofy facial expressions. Maybe I'll take another "after" picture later.

There is definitely a difference. With a little luck and strict adherence to my newly rejuvenated dietary plan, I'll have another "after" picture to put up in a couple more weeks.

In Memorium: 17 September 2009

It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of a very good friend of mine. Today I learned that one of my best friends of the past three decades will no longer be a part of my life.

I first encountered Diet Coke while in High School in the early 1980s. We immediately became friends. Some might call it a love affair. Others might even use the term "obsession." Rarely did a day go by when you couldn't find us together. There exist many photographs of the two of us. A coworker once remarked to me that he didn't recognize me without a Diet Coke in hand.

When I first received the 6-Week Cure book, I was appalled to learn that I had to give up caffeine for the first two weeks. I didn't want to do it; wasn't sure if I could. However, a promise was a promise, and I decided to give it a try. I committed to part from my good friend for at least two weeks.

We said goodbye on a warm Saturday afternoon in August. We stopped at the 7-Eleven in Wolfeboro and shared a Big Gulp. From there we travelled to Ossippee and spent the rest of the afternoon at Connor Pond. Then we parted company. I have to admit, those first few days were tough. As Homer Simpson once said, "Going cold turkey isn't nearly as delicious as it sounds."

At the start of Week 3 of the Plan, I was informed that I could begin adding caffeine back into my diet. However, I needed to avoid aspartame. Those who know me know that I don't drink coffee or tea in any variety, and there aren't many caffeinated sugar-free soft drinks without aspartame. Regular Coke and other sodas like it were out of the question due to their sugar content. Much to my delight, my friend showed up at the house one day wearing some powder-blue highlights. It was Diet Coke, with Splenda! My problems were over, or so I thought.

Much to my horror, it just wasn't the same. It wasn't really my friend, but a sad impostor. Not knowing what else to do, I pretended that nothing was wrong. I played along, and faked my enjoyment as we had lunch together every day for twelve days. The final day was yesterday, and I told the impostor that it was no longer welcome in my home. There was no argument; no tears; not even a good bye.

Today I decided to give up. No, not on the plan, but on the prohibition against aspartame. "Once a day can't hurt," I reasoned. At lunch time, I made my decision, and once again we were together. The can was icy cold, as it should be. I cracked the top and paused briefly to savor the moment. Then, slowly, with tenderness normally reserved for fragile objects, carefully took a sip.

I almost wept with the disappointment. The taste was awful. I've spent so much time eating and drinking nothing but real foods over the past three and a half weeks, that this artificially-sweetened soda was like bad medicine to me. I couldn't imagine what I found appealing about this stuff, or why I spent so much of my time and money on it. The attraction was gone. I simply didn't want anymore.

So there it is. Diet Coke is dead to me. Although I no longer care for its flavor, I'll always cherish the memories of the good times we shared together.

I still have two 12-packs (less one can) here in the house. If you'd like them, let me know. I'll be in the kitchen refilling my water glass -- which incidentally, is in a Coca-Cola glass.

Week 3 Report - 11 Lbs and Counting

I'm a number of days late posting this, but I've been busy on other projects and this one had to take a back seat. Fortunately, I recorded all of my measurements Saturday night. I'm just now getting to putting them here.

	Start	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
*Weight and Body fat taken on a Tanita Body Fat Monitorimmediately upon waking.
Weight (lbs)*	216.4	211.0	208.0	205.4
Body Fat % *	32.0	31.4	31.0	29.7
Waist (inches)	46.5625	45.875	45.75	45.375
Hips (inches)	45.875	44.0	43.5	43.6875
Chest (inches)	44.0	43.50	43.0	43.5
SAD (Standing)	12.0	12.0	11.875	11.75
SAD (lying down)	11.375	10.25	9.875	10.125
Neck (inches)	-	-	15.75	15.75

Notice that some of my measurements actually increased, while my weight continued to drop. I'm not sure if that is a measuring error on my part, or if my shape is shifting.

One thing I'd noticed through the first couple of weeks is that I seem to be shrinking proportionally. That is, my shape wasn't changing, but I was getting smaller everywhere.

The recommendation in the book is to weigh and take measurements at the end of each two-week section. However, the Patient Data Form they sent me with the book has an entry for each week. Diligent and obedient soul that I am, I am measuring weekly.


There is another observation that I can report. Even though my waist measurement is still a lot higher than I thought (or hoped) it would be, I am wearing 38" jeans comfortably now, and I'm on my last belt notch. There are a few possibilities as to why, and I'm not sure which is correct.

1. Although my resting waist diameter hasn't shrunk dramatically, the fat is more pliable and easily shifted from place to place. In fact, that's what the SAD measurements in the chart indicate. As the visceral fat decreases, leaving only the subcutaneous fat behind, the entire midsection becomes more like jello. Once that happens, the body will mould itself to the clothing.
2. The widest diameter, the measurement that isn't dropping, is shrinking vertically, and it will take some time for it to start shrinking horizontally. Imagine a pillow case filled with butter. If you measured it all the way around at its widest point, removed half of the butter and measured again, you'd likely end up with almost the same number. Half the butter would be gone, but the largest girth wouldn't change. I don't have a way to measure that, other than the SAD values, and they only approximate the effect. What I should have done was taken some front and side silhouettes that I could compare. 
3. The cynical part of me simply thinks that the sizes reported on the clothing labels aren't based on reality. 

I do know that at one point not all that long ago, I had to buy 44" pants. Today my 42" are too big; the 40" fit well; and my 38" fit snugly, but comfortably. So regardless of the reason above, I'm achieving success on the plan.

This is my final "meat week," and it's been a fun one for me. The other day, I grilled a 1-pound rib eye for lunch. Breakfasts have been primarily bacon, with three eggs fried in the remaining bacon grease. In fact, if you look at my numbers on fitday, you'll see that more than 60% of my daily calories come from fat, about 35% or more from protein, and the rest from carbs. I've never been happier!

Week 2 Report

First of all, let me say that I've decided to stop doing daily updates, and only make regular entries at the end of each week. I'll stop posting meals and nutritional information unless anyone finds them really useful.

Week 2 ended on Saturday, September 5. I took all of my measurements, plus added a new one that I'll track for the rest of the six-week period. I was delayed getting everything into the computer, which is why it's now Tuesday.

	Start	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
*Weight and Body fat taken on a Tanita Body Fat Monitorimmediately upon waking.
Weight (lbs)*	216.4	211.0	208.0
Body Fat % *	32.0	31.4	31.0
Waist (inches)	46.5625	45.875	45.75
Hips (inches)	45.875	44.0	43.5
Chest (inches)	44.0	43.50	43.0
SAD (Standing)	12.0	12.0	11.875
SAD (lying down)	11.375	10.25	9.875
Neck (inches)	-	-	15.75

As you can see, I added "neck" to the list. I just happened to try on an old dress shirt Sunday that hadn't fit me in more than a year. It's a 15.5" neck, and I was actually able to button the top button. It's snug, but that is easily understood by my neck measurement. I expect to be able to wear it soon. Now I need to figure out what to do with all my nice Jos. A. Bank dress shirts with the 16.5" neck. I guess there are worse problems to have.

Sunday was technically the first day of week three, but I didn't eat much. I think I only recorded about 700 Calories.

Monday was the first real day with three full meals on the prescribed plan. One of the things that absolutely shocked me was how few Calories I actually ate. According to the plan, weeks three and four are supposed to increase Calories over weeks one and two. According to FitDay.com, I averaged approximately1800 Calories per day for weeks one and two. On Monday I ate like there was no tomorrow, but without stuffing myself. According to FitDay.com, I ended up eating 1159 Calories for the entire day. I doubt I could have eaten more had I wanted to. I'm actually a bit confused, but I'm going to keep going and see how it goes.

The good news, though, is after two weeks on the plan, my clothes fit looser; I'm on my last belt notch; people tell me I look better; I have more energy than I have in a long time. My biggest complaint is that I miss Diet Coke, and I'm sure the folks at McDonald's and 7-Eleven are getting concerned about my extended absence.

Day 10

I've been in somewhat of a rut. (Or is it a groove?) I've been eating a lot of pork lately. I'm not complaining, understand. When cooked properly, pork is very good. And who can argue with the "magical animal" that produces such wondrous delights as spare ribs, bacon, pork chops, and ham?

Tonight's dinner was a pork roast cooked slowly in the oven for a couple of hours. For a side dish, I ate half a cup of pumpkin, mixed with a little butter, cinnamon and Splenda. Before this, I really thought pumpkin was only good for pies, but this was really quite filling and very tasty. Unfortunately, it had to be canned pumpkin, as the real ones aren't quite ready here yet. Maybe in a few more weeks, as the leaves start to change.

A couple of days ago I called my doctor's office and ordered copies of my cholesterol tests from back in May. Dr. Eades asked participants for the information "if we have it." As I said, the tests were done in May, so I hope they can still be considered relevant, even though I started the plan in late August.

At the time, my doctor was concerned about my total cholesterol and LDL values, which were as follows:

• Total Cholesterol: 257
• HDL: 57
• LDL 172
• Triglycerides: 141

She immediately began talking about the importance of bringing that pesky LDL number down. She went on about how important it is to cut back on the red meat and eat a low fat diet. I have to admit to being a bit nervous. I knew I was overweight, and being over 40 suddenly put me into that danger category. I was a heart attack waiting to happen!

Fortunately, I had recently read one of Dr. Eades blog posts where he discussed that a more telling indication of heart attack risk isn't in looking at LDL or Total Cholestorol. Instead, we should look at the ratio of Triglycerides to HDL. The lower this ration, the better. A value greater than 5 is worrisome. As you can see, my value is 2.47.

Using this ratio and simple arithmetic our guides, it easy to see what needs to be done: raise HDL and lower triglycerides. And which type of diet does both of those things quickly and effectively? NOT the government-approved low-fat/high-carb diet. In fact, people on the latter diets tend to lower HDL and LDL together, and often increase triglycerides -- exactly the opposite result we're looking for. Low-carb diets, on the other hand, can reduce triglycerides and raise HDL in just a few weeks! (See this post by Dr. Eades for a good explanation.)

One more comment about LDL numbers. Evidently modern labs don't bother measuring LDL. It's difficult and expensive to measure directly. Instead, your LDL value is calculated based on your other values. In fact, there is a note on my lab report that says quite plainly, "Note: LDL result is a calculated value." For most people, it seems, this calculation is close enough not to be concerned about. However, as triglycerides get lower, the multiplying ratio used to calculate LDL gets skewed so that it's no longer valid. Thus, anyone following a low-carb diet for any length of time, your LDL calculation in your lab result is likely to be higher than it actually is. So what can you do about it?

You actually have a few options. One is to ignore the LDL value and tell your doctor that you won't take statins for a non-existent problem. You could also insist that your LDL value be measured directly, which may end up costing you. Finally, you can use a different formula the Dr. Eades describes in this post, from an Iranian medical study. This formula is considered to be a more accurate method of calculating LDL. I won't go into the reasons here. You can read all about it at the link I provided. However, I will share the formula:

LDL = (total cholesterol/1.19 + triglycerides/1.9 – HDL/1.1) – 38

Applying this formula to my numbers, we get 200 mg/dL. So in my case, the "better" equation actually produces worse results. As Dr. Eades points out in his article, the formula makes the most sense for people with low triglycerides, which I certainly do not have yet.

I've scheduled a follow-up test for the first week of October, which is immediately following the end of the six-week plan. I will be sure to post the results as soon as they're available, and I will be sure to show both the lab's calculations for LDL as well as the one above.

Finally, for those keeping score at home, here are my FitDay.com numbers from today:

	Grams	Calories	%-Cals
Calories		1,828
Fat	98.0	879	47	%
Saturated	44.1	395	21	%
Polyunsaturated	12.3	110	6	%
Monounsaturated	30.0	270	14	%
Carbohydrate	36.4	141	8	%
Dietary Fiber	8.5
Protein	207.1	839	45	%
Alcohol	0.0	0	0	%

Day 9

Today was the start of the second work week during Phase 1. Dinner was pork chops and steamed green beans. FitDay's breakdown for the day is as follows:

	Grams	Calories	%-Cals
Calories		1,516
Fat	76.6	689	45	%
Saturated	33.5	301	20	%
Polyunsaturated	11.2	100	7	%
Monounsaturated	22.4	202	13	%
Carbohydrate	21.9	86	6	%
Dietary Fiber	2.0
Protein	189.6	765	50	%
Alcohol	0.0	0	0	%

There is little else new to report. However, I have started to exercise just a bit. At the top of every hour, I do an ab exercise that's described in Chapter 4. Although it's quite simple, it does leave you surprisingly sore. But sore in a good way. More on that as it develops.