I wasn’t able to get to the gym this week until Thursday, so my 6-Week Cure update is actually six weeks and two days. The final results: 36.5 inches around the belly, 195 pounds. I started at 41 inches, 205 pounds, so I lost 4.5 inches and 10 pounds. I suspect my actual fat loss may have been more than 10 pounds, since I’m lifting 20 or 30 pounds more on several weight machines compared to when I started. Doesn’t seem likely I’d gain that much strength without adding at least a bit of muscle mass.
Those aren’t eye-popping results, but I’m happy with them. I was already on a low-carb diet and I was already working out, so knocking off an extra 10 pounds and making some significant gains in strength is an accomplishment — especially at my age, which is …
… 51 as of today (egads!)
Boy, time flies. Exactly a year ago, when I turned 50, we celebrated by throwing the premiere party for Fat Head at a restaurant in Burbank. That experience still feels so recent.
Pretty much everyone who worked on the film was there, along with several friends and people I knew from my programming work. Drs. Mike and Mary Dan Eades made it through the door just before the film started — they were escaping fires in Santa Barbara that threatened their home. I couldn’t believe they showed up. I found out Mary Dan Eades and I have the same birthday, so we got to toast each other.
It was the first time I had a chance to show the film to an actual crowd. The laughs came at the right places — always a relief for a comedian. I’d worked and worked to shape the humor, find the funny moments … so naturally, a reply offered by my wife in one scene got the biggest laugh in the film.
It was a joyous occasion, but also a sentimental one. My wife and I had already started talking about leaving California. We hadn’t even selected a new place to live; we just knew we’d had it with California in general and the Los Angeles area specifically. As much as we enjoyed the party, we were also aware that this big, happy gathering of our Southern California friends would likely be our last. It was.
A month later, Fat Head aired on a TV network in Israel — the first commercial showing anywhere. Soon it also aired in New Zealand, Poland and Turkey. I started hearing from people around the world, asking lots of questions. I decided to start this blog to keep the conversation going.
In March we visited the little town of Franklin in Tennessee and fell in love with the place. We put our house on the market as soon as we got back. We had some nibbles, and even a firm offer in June, but the buyer flaked. We finally had a sale go through late in July, then found out we had about two weeks to pack up and go. We didn’t even have a place to live in Tennessee yet. I flew out here knowing I had three days to find a house. I suppose it should’ve been a stressful situation, but it wasn’t. Some things just feel like they’re meant to be. Moving here was one of them.
So now we’re here, and we’ve never regretted the move. The scenery is beautiful, the people are polite, and my daughter loves her new school. My only fear — not enough opportunities for creative endeavors — turned out to be groundless. I’ve already performed in a play with a group of very talented actors — and, in sharp contrast to my theater experiences in Los Angeles, not a one of them seemed to be using acting as a substitute for some badly-needed therapy.
In short, it’s been a great year. I don’t mind turning 51, because life is good. I feel strong and energetic and optimistic — despite what certain goofy researchers say about low-carb diets and mood.
Here’s to many more.
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Congratulations on your byirthda, Tom! I hope that you and your lovely family have a fun filled day. By the way, the fifties are turning out to be pretty good for me; and I am positive that they will be good to you too! Thank you so much for maintaining such a fun and informative site. I check it more than a few times a week!
Sue :>)
Fifty has been nifty.
I would have never given ya 51 for your age Tom. Keep it up!
Beatle
I don’t feel a day over 50.
Happy Birthday Tom! Glad you are enoying Tennessee. And congrats on your weight loss.
We’re lovin’ it.
Congratulations and Happy Birthday!
Thank you.
Great results, and have a great birthday!!
So far, so good. Now if the Titans just win tomorrow …
Happy birthday! 51? You don’t look a day older than 50!
I am happy to report that I have also lost a LOT of weight from cutting out HFCS from my diet. I do still eat carbs, but at the right intervals, and not from CORN.
I have lost 30 lbs in less than 3 months JUST from drinking ice water instead of cola/pop, and from avoiding anything with processed ingredients in it LIKE THE PLAGUE.
I am happy that you lost your 10 lbs. It is no small thing to lose when you have already cut yourself down.
Congrats, and again, Happy Birthday!
Thirty pounds is quite an accomplishment, Jason. Way to go.
Happy birthday, indeed! I wish you and your family continuing happiness. I am glad to hear TN is working out so well for y’all. 🙂
I’m still working on saying “y’all” without feeling awkward, but I’ll get there. Thanks.
Raising a toast of bone broth to your great year, and looking forward to your next!
I raise small cup of melted butter in return.
“I’m still working on saying “y’all” without feeling awkward, but I’ll get there. Thanks.”
LOL Tom, I am still working on NOT saying y’all. I have been in Memphis Tn almost all of my life.
My buddy who’s lived here for 25 years will toss in “y’all” now and then, but swears he will never, ever start “fixin'” to do something.
Well done Tom. I believe the mark of a happy person is one who doesn’t mind getting older. You strike me as someone who knows what they want and goes to get it, and you have helped a lot of innocent bystanders on the way.
Happy birthday, and here’s to many more.
Thanks, Tony.
Happy Birthday, Tom, and I hope the next year is just as successful and filled with lots of happy moments!
I expect as much, thanks.
Congrats on your fat loss and happy birthday!
Thank you.
Happy birthday, Tom! And best wishes for a happy, healthy year. (We know you’ll keep us informed on how things are going, and we look forward to that.)
Thanks, Phyllis.
I’m so glad you’ve had a great birthday and that you are so happy with your current place in life! I don’t think there are too many people that can really say that… no matter their age.
Congrats on your final results! 10 lbs is wonderful for someone who was already in pretty good shape! (BMI be hanged!) And the inches lost is even better. I’m all for losing more inches than lbs since it’s the inches that are noticeable. I’m still doing well too.. down 16.5 lbs. I’ve lost count of my weeks, but then I’m still doing the shake/meat weeks until I get more of this excess weight off.
I love Tennessee. We almost moved to the Nashville area a few years ago when my husband was offered a job there. But the job just wasn’t the right one, so we passed. We visit anytime we can though. We might be in the area in Jan. for a convention I want to attend, so looking forward to it. It’s been too long since we’ve been there.
Sixteen-plus pounds is quite a bit for a woman. Congratulations. And let us know if you’re here in January.
Happy Birthday. 51 used to seem so old to me. Now I’m terrified it’ll be here before I know it.
Also, a little bump on being positive about aging, last night 46 year old Randy Couture beat 32 year old Brandon Vera in the UFC. To see a man who, thru hard work and determination breaking preconceived notions about age is reassuring and intriguing.
Trust me, it’ll be here before you know it. Chareva (wife now, girlfriend then) threw a big party when I turned 40 … seems like a few years back.
A year after an event sure can feel pretty recent, huh?
I remember having a great party at around this time of the month with my entire family, yet I still feel as if it happened yesterday. One thing’s for sure: this Junior year of mind won’t be passing as fast! =P
By the way, I was just watching your movie again today and I saw you mentioned about the intake of fat in Japan. I know they had a pretty low intake (60 g/day?) but I was wondering if you ever ran across any research that recorded their total polyunsaturated fat intake/day. I tried looking it up a little – but alas I found that they ate a ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 in 4:1. Yeah. Sure. *rolls eyes*
I’m not aware of their total polyunsaturated intake.
Congrats on the loss Tom, and one more Happy Birthday!
I just finished up my 6th week on the cure also:
http://castlegrok.com/6-week-cure-week-6-update/
Good results, especially since it doesn’t appear you had much to lose.
Happy Birthday, Tom! Congratulations on having a great year!
That scene with your wife was definitely funny! 😉
It’s actually one of my favorite scenes, thanks.
Happy Birthday, Tom and congrats on the inches lost!
Thank you.
Happy B-day, Tom!
Thanks.
Keep up the great work and Happy 50 +1!
I prefer to think of it as 39+12. Thanks.
Tom, how did you pursue the diet? Did you do the protein shakes the first two weeks, then the meat, then the low carb with vegetables?
Yup, that’s pretty much it. I didn’t find all the supplements, and I continued adding a protein shake to the diet on workout days.
Happy birthday, sir! You’re twice my age and very likely in better shape than I am (for now!!).
I’ve shown Fat Head to friends with dietetics degrees. I watched their faces squish up as you tally up your saturated fat intake. But they’re all quiet when the cholesterol numbers come up. Heh, got ’em.
Hope it’s a great year for you, and keep doing the good work (e.g. calling out youtube commenters on their BS).
I’m also in better shape than I was at age 30, save for the bum knee. Yes, I’ve received some … shall we say … INTERESTING comments on YouTube.
A belated Happy Birthday to you!
Also, thanks for documenting your experiences on the 6 Week Cure. It’s very nice to read how a “real person” does it, with all the slip ups, days off, and modifications (not giving up all coffee, in your case). The good news is, it still works!!
It’s nice to see the wide variety of ways that people can eat a low carb diet and still be healthy and look and feel good: the pure foodies, the some low carb junk foodies, the blood-in-diet-coke-streamies. The books always show an ideal, which I can’t live up to every single day. Or maybe even for one day.
Thanks for the birthday wishes. I treat dietary guidelines as exactly that — guidelines. I follow them most of the time.
Congratulations on the great losses in weight and inches, Tom!!
We’ve incorporated your wife’s great line into our regular “family speak” one-liners. You never know when you’ll hear it… Are you a moron?
Who would’ve known that line would be the keeper?
Franklin is the home of all the rich country stars. My favorite performer of all, John Hiatt, lives there.
Welcome to Tennessee. I’m in Chattanooga and it’s even prettier over here.
Yup. Franklin and Brentwood are full of them. Dolly Parton lives up the street from my best friend.