6 Week Cure page

[elbohead]

I recently purchased Dr. Eades' book "The 6 Week Cure for the Middle Aged Middle" and was hoping for some feedback from members of the MDA/Primal community who may have followed the program or read the book. I'm particularly interested in the science behind the liver detox/cleansing process outlined in chapter 2. Some of the results described in the book are nothing short of amazing. I've read both positive and negative reviews of the book and am not sure whether or not to attempt the program. I read Dr. Eades blog all the time and admire him greatly and appreciate all he and his wife have done to enlighten us in the area of low carb living. I'd just like to know how others feel about this program in particular.


I am 47 years old (male) 5' 10" and have been eating low carb since early 2009. I began following the PB about 3 months ago. Though I've been able to lose 40 or so pounds (215lb to 175lb) I seem to have reached an extremely stubborn plateau, complete with the aggravating "paunch" that just won't budge. My weekly workouts consist of some P90X (either Chest & Back or Shoulders & Arms or Plyometrics) 3 times a week along with some Tabata sprints on the off days. I like to get in (near) daily 45 minute to one hour walks and the occasional 1 to 2 hour hike. Lately I've also been mixing in some Kettlebells which I really enjoy. I fast once per week for approximately 28 to 36 hours, but it seems this has only made that last ten pounds even more stubborn! Will the "6 Week Cure" be what it takes to nudge the weight loss in the right direction?


Your thoughts/advice are greatly appreciated.


Thanks in advance.


Dan

[mstrudle]

I haven't read the book but the idea is to drink whey protein shakes throughout the day followed by a single high protein low carbohydrate meal at the end for the first two weeks, followed by gradually increasing solid food content until most of the fat has been burned off.


My advice: eat real food and let the weight come off naturally; health is a marathon not a sprint.

[SassaFrass88]

I'm not totally into his methods, but they do work. I am following a gal's blog who tried it after already losing lots of weight going 'Primal' and it seemed like her progress on the program was just about the same as her progress on 'Primal'.


Liver cleansing is an awesome idea for everyone. Pre-Primal, we mucked up our poor livers something awful.


If you have plateaued, you may want to try adding extensive intermittent fasting to your routine.

[elbohead]

To be honest, I was a less than enthused with the protein shake meal replacement part of the plan. It's certainly not Primal, that's for sure. However, I am very interested in the whole liver cleansing idea. Apparently, a fatty liver can cause all kinds of metabolic and hormonal disruption. Can similar cleansing results be achieved by simply replacing the shakes with real foods, like meat?

[SassaFrass88]

Oh indeed Elbohead. You can eat Primally and take very basic herbs and foods that naturally support the liver.


To take it up a notch, you can fast and take only liver cleansing herbs/ teas.


Personally, I love a good liver/ gallbladder cleanse. I've had mixed reviews with the idea, but like we 'Primals' say "You can't argue with results" and when I did a full on 'cleanse', I was radically a believer.


Here's the link similar to the one that I did (I did the "Hulda Clark" version, which isn't so nice as this one, which utilizes cream and berries...yummy!): http://curezone.com/cleanse/liver/kelley.asp

[Asturian]

I read and did a modified version of the 6-week cure to jump start my primal high-fat diet back in mid September of 2009. I only did it for 4 weeks. I only did one shake per day (just to get the daily leucine supplement in) -- the rest of my meals were paleo lean-green. I also took milk thistle suuplements and drank my water with fresh-squeezed lime juice as part of the liver detox. I lost over 15 lbs during that 4 weeks.


I then started the primal diet by simply adding good quality fats.


I noticed my clothes fitting rather loose and when I measured my waist after thanksgiving, I had gone from 46" waist to 40" waist during the first 6 week period (2 weeks were primal). So I assume most of the weight loss was from viceral (liver?) fat loss.


By end of last year I had lost over 30 lbs since mid September. And now the 40" waist pants I wear are also fitting a bit lose on me and I have no more notches on my belt -- so time to start adding holes I guess, or get a new belt.


However, I have been in a stall for last 2 or 3 weeks now.


Prior to jump starting the primal, I was doing paleo (low-carb/low-fat lean-green a la Cordain) from early 2009. I only lost about 20 lbs and 2" off waist w/ low-fat paleo.


I think I can bust my stall by going back to Cordain style paleo for a month or so then back to primal high-fat. Sort of like a paleo fat-cycling diet (instead of carb-cycling which I tried in 2008 without any results). However, I can't do this fat-cycling experiment until after my March lipid test. My doc and I are doing an experiment with the high-fat primal diet -- we want to see what the LDL distribution is on high fat intake.


Anyway, I suppose everyone is different but I don't think you will hurt anything trying out Eade's suggestions.

[chazglen]

One of the annoying problems of losing weight, ESPECIALLY for older Groks (47 is not SO bad) is that the stuff in your skin that made it elastic has, over the years, gone the way of the waistband in your old underwear... in short, a lot of what we see as flabby paunchy middle is really skin than hasn't any place to go. Short of expensive surgery, you'll have to give it time to shrink down to your 'new' size.

[Asturian]

...

[Kebekgirl]

@Sassa - really, you did that cleanse? It helped? How?

[musajen]

elbo - I did the 6 week cure for 4 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I wasn't thrilled about doing the shakes either but I figured I could suck it up for two weeks. Dropped 7 lbs.


My opinion would be "give it a shot." It's not going to hurt you and if after a week you're not liking it, skip ahead to the weeks 3 & 4 where you eat mostly animal products with veg or fruit on the side. Good luck whatever you do!