Interesting results this week. I stuck to the diet (no demonstration of the causes of fatty liver disease this time) except during Saturday night’s cast party, when I took a few slices of cheese from the food table. Pretty much everything else was carb-heavy except the shrimp cocktail, and I thought it might annoy the other guests if I loaded my plate with most of the shrimp.
This morning my waist around the belly-button was 37.5 inches, which is down a full inch from last week. I’ve also had to cinch my belt another notch tighter. But when I stepped on the scale at the gym, I was still at 200. A full inch gone, no movement on the scale. I’m still making good progress in my workouts — nearing the bottom of the stack on a couple more machines — which probably has something to do with it.
So in four weeks, I’ve lost 3.5 inches around the belly and five pounds.
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I hope you switch to using free weights soon. Those machines will hold you back, and worse, can lead to injury (the ones that restrict your motion in a certain way).
I may or may not. I’ll be 51 soon, so if I hit the bottom of the stack, I don’t feel any great need to keep progressing. I’d be happy to reach that level and stay there.
Congrats Tom, you must be well chuffed 😀
I’m voting for free weights too – not so much for the weight increase, but because you have to use more of your body to do the same action (so improved core strength, balance etc), plus you have extra versatility (slightly different movements target different muscles). 51 ain’t too old to learn new tricks ;0)
I’m chuffed, but not gob-smacked.
Excellent results, Tom. I suggest you ditch the scales – they usually lie and you might as well consult your Aunt Kate’s dreambook…Body feeling and clothes are a much better indication of weight loss. So is it muscles that account for the weight stall? Maybe – maybe not. Muscles don’t really grow that fast – but they tend to store a lot of water and that may be it. You’re losing fat and that is a long-lasting and beneficial effect. Is there something like a “Best Comedian Body Contest”? You seem ready to enter it!
I’m not worried about — I’ve seen my waist shrink — but I was a little surprised.
Tom, for what it’s worth, I don’t buy the arguments for free weights. Like so many arguments for low fat diets, these claims dont hold up to close scrutiny, but nonetheless, these ideas are deeply set in the weight training world. Stick with the machines if you’re doing slow burn. Much safer.
I am doing slow burn. I started using machines again last year, after an MRI revealed that my left knee felt “floppy” and painful because the meniscus has receded — almost certainly the result of tearing up that knee in a backyard football game when I was an adolescent.
My physical therapist told me to do leg extensions and leg curls to strengthen the muscles around the knee to give it better support (which worked, by the way). I figured as long as I was using the machines, I may as well do a full circuit.
I’m not doing the 6 week cure, but I’ve seen a similar result since I started lifting heavier. My waist has gone down but my weigh hasn’t moved much. My wife and kids have made note that body has changed and they can see my muscle definition where they couldn’t before. My wife is actually worried I will start looking too good, LOL. We have been married 18 years. I’m 43 so I’m not 51 but not a teenager either. Those charts are useless for weight management. They say I should weigh at most 190. I wold be a stick figure at that weight. Those charts also say that Tim Tebow is obese.
The BMI chart says I need to lose 30 more pounds. I don’t think so. It’s about body composition for me, not weight, so I wasn’t concerned. I was a little surprised, though.
This is exactly what happened to me when I first lowered my carbohydrates in favor of fats and meats. I also ate no refined sugar, had no alcohol, and no caffeine. I didn’t lose any weight but started looking ripped. My body filled in. A girl I know put it best when she said I went from “boy to man.” She saw me at the beach with my shirt off and didn’t even recognize me at first.
What’s even crazier, I didn’t lift weights at all to achieve this. Not a single one, and I’d done 6, 2-hour weightlifting sessions per week in the past with negligible results.
Hi Tom,
Great work on the diet! No worries on the scale number, that waist size and belt cinch is far more important! I usually recommend people throw the scale away as it means nothing. When I started a primal diet a year ago I was in ‘really good shape’. Very thin from running a lot. A year later I weigh 20 lbs more, wear the same size pants and am in so much better overall shape I can’t believe it. Check out my blog if you’re looking for workouts that are really easy to do with little to no equipment.
Considering that I went from being a skinny weak kid to a fat weak kid in my youth, I don’t mind weighing 200 if it’s mostly solid and the workouts are going well.
Love that picture on your blog: http://www.getprimal.blogspot.com
Matt Stone – My boyfriend moved in and moved from a carb heavy way of eating into our (my son and I) way of eating low carb. He’s not a huge guy at all (31/31 jeans are kinda baggy but 30s are kinda snug)… and suddenly he had to get bigger shirts for work because all of his collars were too small. He doesn’t lift weights but he started looking “older” – you know, filling out – not a like teenager anymore (he’s going to be 30 next year).
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the diet about shrinking waist size, not about losing weight? In which case it is doing everything it should.
Re: Freeweights.
It depends on what you are doing them for. I have a very physical job, which I worked out for before I started. Therefore the minor muscle groups were much more important, as I go through a very wide range of activity. If you are working out with machine weights to build your figure and stay fit, but otherwise don’t exert yourself, you probably wouldn’t have a problem. If you shift 50kg bags of calf meal afterwards, however, you might injure yourself.
If you don’t want to do freeweights, at least do yoga/pilates. My balance and control has increased considerably from the weights/yoga combo.
It is indeed about shrinking the waist. I was just a little surprised the smaller waist didn’t translate to any pounds lost.
That’s funny Holly. That’s exactly what my friend said to describe me. You look “older,” but not in a bad way. I actually had gray hair starting to appear in my early 20’s, and I’m in my 30’s now and don’t have a single one. The power of sound nutrition is pretty amazing.
If you discover a diet that cures baldness, let me know.
I don’t understand why you need this special program. The natural way of eating and lifestyle already exist to achieve your goal and is actually very easy.
Cut out all starches, sugars, syrups, caffiene, booze. Only get carbohydrates incidentally from low glycemic veggies. Eat grass-fed meats and healthy saturated oils.
You already know this from interviewing Nora Gedgaudas and reading her book. It’s fine if you are helping the Eades sell books but it would be nice to know that.
I watched your movie and have been reading this site and this seems incongruous to me.
Not trolling or trying to sell Nora G. books. Honest. I’ve lost 19 lbs of fat and look/feel years younger since following her advice.
The Eades don’t need any help from me to sell books. I think Nora’s advice is great and I follow the diet you described most of the time, with the exception of keeping my morning coffee and occasional drink. I’ve even given up diet sodas.
I was curious to see if the 6-Week Cure program would tighten up my middle a bit — more as a temporary treatment than as a permanent way of eating. The first two weeks, with all those protein shakes, clearly aren’t a paleo diet, but the remaining weeks are pretty close to what you just described.
Congrats on the 19 pounds, and more importantly, on feeling younger.
Mr. Freddy- You are incorrect, sir. I would be glad to provide evidence if you need it.
Tom- congrats on your continued pursuit of health and fitness. I love your site.
Thanks, Matt.
@ Matt Beaudreau : Say wha? me, incorrect? Impossible! okay, maybe… if you have evidence that another training method has significant, and by that I mean a a really huge, advantage over HIT training on machines, I’d love to see it. Right now I get all I want outta one or two 20 min. workouts. At 53 years of age, I can ski all day and I can surf for hours. That’s all the fitness I need. So for me to spend any more time in the gym, it’s gotta be really worth it.
I sense a debate coming …
@mrfreddy:
I pose you this question. Did you ski and surf before you started weights machines, or did you work out solely on weights machines for a year or two before picking up these pastimes. Also, do you have an every day active lifestyle (like a physical job). First and third scenarios would mitigate the effects of weight machines that we discuss, as your minor muscle groups get enough use to ‘keep up’ as it were.
Ultimately, from what I can tell, you and me both are going of our personal, anecdotal experiences. Our approaches work for us, not necessarily everyone.
My final comment would be that weight machines for general fitness probably aren’t to bad, but for the purposes of rehabilitation from injury or preparation for some physical activity (as in my case) should never be used in exclusitivity.
@TonyNZ:
I’ve been skiing for a long time (since my late twenties) and started surfing (well, trying to surf) about five years ago. I don’t get to do either one as much as I’d like. I probably ski four or five times in a good year, none at all on bad years. I wasn’t surfing very often until lately, I found a place in Rockaway, Queens that is pretty good for beginners, so this summer I managed to get out there maybe 8 or 9 times.
Before slow burn, my exercise consisted of loads of cardio-swimming, running, cycling. I even did a few triathlons way back when. Anyway, about three years ago, I dropped all that in favor of one or two short weight training workouts per week, on machines. I noticed a HUGE difference in how strong I felt on the slopes and in the water after that. And with the surfing, it seemed to me that I gained a lot of flexibility too, as I found it much easier to do the “pop up” move than it had been before slow burn. (Btw, I don’t do any stretching. My warm up consists of hitting the hill or grabbing a wave!)
Otherwise, my lifestyle isn’t particularly active. My only other “exercise” is walking the dog for about an hour a day, most days.
My humble opinion is that whatever “balance and coordination” benefits supposedly conferred by free weights would come at the expense of less isolation of the muscles you are targeting. Meaning you don’t build as much strength. Which. for me, is the only reason I spend time in a gym. I figure I get ass the “coordination and balance” training I need for surfing by, ahem, surfing! Likewise for skiing.
“Otherwise, my lifestyle isn’t particularly active. My only other “exercise” is walking the dog for about an hour a day, most days.”
Unless the States is way different than New Zealand, that would probably lump you in at least the above average category.
Tom, I have a confession to make. I bought your movie. Then I bought another copy of your movie for a friend. Then I copied my copy of your movie and gave it to 3 friends. How much do I owe you?
Three Hail Marys, Four Our Fathers, and a promise to sin no more. Or you could buy a couple more and give them away.
I just completed 10 weeks on the 6-week cure diet. After week 6 I followed the program for weeks 3-4 (lots of meat and vegies) and have consistently kept loosing..
Start weight: 206; End Weight 190 (lost 16 pounds)
Start waist: 41; End waist: 37 (lost 4 inches) — all my pants are loose..
Start %body fat: 29%; End %body fat: 25%
My cholesterol however remains high: Total 229, HDL 46, Tryglicerides 122, LDL 201. My doctor insists on putting me on statins but I am resisting. Not sure what to do here..Particle size LDL test..? Any advice on these stats?
Followed the diet to the book with supplements and all.. Exercise only twice a week with simple weight routine and 10 minute interval training run. Hunger completely under control.. not ravenous anymore. This really works.
I am on the path to loosing another 10 pounds..
Alejandro.
I’d like to see the triglycerides lower and the HDL higher. If you keep avoiding sugar and starch and eat plenty of quality fat (no frankenstein fats!) you may get there. A particle size test might be a good idea, maybe a calcium test if you’re concerned about a buildup.
Personally, I wouldn’t take a statin if you paid me.