6 Week Cure

I pre-ordered the new Protein Power book, The 6 Week Cure for the Middle-Aged Middle. Now, I didn’t have much use for a 6 week cure myself as I have been successful in keeping my middle relatively slim. However, I was interested to see what they had to say about the cause of it.

I did get some new tidbits from the book. Like supplementing with leucine (an amino acid) and melatonin. I tried melatonin way back for sleep problems but as it didn’t help, I stopped. The Eades, however, is saying that lack of melatonin is not beneficial for fat loss, so I might start up again.

As with regards to the cause of the middle-age middle gain, there were no big surprises. Hormones. That is pretty obvious as the vast majority of people my age (50+) have problems with the middle expanding, despite eating sensibly and exercising. The 6-week cure supposedly helps to get a flat stomach back.

The cure consists of three 2-week steps.

The first step includes a liver detox phase where all substances causing the liver to work hard are to be avoided. This includes alcohol, caffeine and any unnecessary medications. The diet during these two weeks consist of 3 protein shakes per day and one LC meal with very limited vegetables.

Two things about this surprises me. First that Splenda is allowed. To me, Splenda is a chemical and while it hasn’t proved to be detrimental to the body, I don’t think it’s a good think to use when you are trying to do a detox. However, there are protein powders out there with Stevia, so perhaps that is a viable alternative.

There are also rumors in the Zero Carb community that this book promotes a “meat-only” diet. It doesn’t. There are vegetables and even berries with every meal, although in very limited quantities.

Week 3-4 are lowcarb meals, again with very limited quantities of non-starchy vegetables and berries. Alcohol and caffeine can be reintroduced.

Week 5-6 looks like a maintenance diet to me.

When it comes to exercise, they recommend only 30 minutes of weight training per week. Plus a simple ab exercise that can be done anywhere at any time.

The Eades are sharing their own experience with their middle-age middle gain and I can identify with Mary Eades. I also did not have any weight problem until I entered peri-menopause. What is disappointing though is that they say that Mary was not successful with the 6-week cure only until she got her hormones adjusted but they don’t go into detail about any of the hormone theraphy. Personally, I don’t know if it makes sense to feed your body hormones to stay at a perpetual 35 year old level for life. But then, I’m not a doctor and they are.

I have approached my middle gain differently. I maintain a relatively flat stomach by regular exercise, and it’s not enough with just 30 minutes per week. I need 30 minutes 4 or 5 times per week at the minimum. No cardio. Heavy weights. I have proven over and over again that, for me, this is the only thing that makes any difference to my “muffintop.” I don’t fully understand why. Hormones? I wish they had addressed this fact as I’m sure I am not unique.

While my review may not sound all that positive, I do recommend the book. It’s a good read and the recipes alone are worth the money. The cure is probably also a good plan for someone that quickly needs to shed some pounds and likes to follow a strict routine with given meal suggestions.

Finally, I wonder what the Eades’ target audience is. The book is not directed towards people that have a lot of weight to lose (even though it might work well as a starting point for transition into Protein Power). The book seems more directed towards people that have not been overly overweight and now find themselves with 20-30 stubborn pounds extra. If this means that lowcarb will be sold to a larger audience, I’m all for it. In my opinion, we can all benefit from lowcarb becoming more mainstream.

I wish the Eades the best of luck and great success with this book. They do a lot of free work on their blog for the lowcarb community.

Losing Weight or Keeping It Off

What is most important? Losing weight or keeping it off? The answer seems to be losing. Fast.

Every dieter is looking for the formula that will provide the quickest weight loss possible. Of course, time is critical as we know by experience that we will not be able to stick to the diet for any longer period of time. Sooner or later there will be off plan eating. Sooner or later, the deprivation will lead to a binge. We just hope that it will never happen. Still, it always does.

A “successful” diet is one where the on-plan eating produces a larger pound loss than what is regained during off-plan incidents. We might even reach goal. Yay! And then what?

There is no glory in maintenance. No rewards. Not seeing a lower scale number every day. Nobody telling you: “Wow, you are just as thin now as six months ago!”

Media is not helpful. Programs like the Biggest Loser reinforce the idea that it’s all about losing weight. Quickly. At all costs. Diet sites feature weight loss success stories like “Cindy lost 100 pounds in 8 months.”

Or, the ridiculous Kimkins newsletters that try to sell that diet by saying that someone lost 10 pounds in a week. And that will tell me just what? If you have a substantial amount of weight to lose, it is not difficult to drop 10 pounds in a week by not eating. But how long can you continue to do that? Will those 10 pounds stay off even a month? A year? 10 years?

What’s the point in losing weight if it doesn’t stay off?

Restrictive diets don’t work. Find a way of eating that you can do for life. With healthy choices (and you know what those are) you might not end up model thin, but there is a good chance that you will reach a healthy weight range. That you can maintain.

Tipping the Scales to Health

Tipping the Scales to Health

is now open!

The online world has a wonderful new resource
for desperate dieters and
anybody else who is determined to make health a priority in 2009.

Join old friends and new as we kick the New Year off
with a renewed dedication to health and weight loss