I had a weight loss of 11.2lbs in 2 weeks following a smart but tough diet that focused on cutting fat and carbs down to zero. To compensate and minimize muscle loss, I drastically increased my protein intake. I was eating close to 1 gram of protein per body weight.

I started on April 18, 2021 and finished on May 1, 2021. My starting weight was 194.4 pounds. Two weeks later, he weighed in at 183.2 pounds.

In general, I have always approached weight loss the same way that I approached muscle gain. I thought a 2-3 pound gain of muscle in a month would be great. After all, at that rate you would have theoretically gained over 24lbs of muscle in 1 year. That would be significant.

Similarly, despite the stories of people losing 100 to 200 pounds in 1 year, I believed that a 1 pound per week weight loss was good. This constant loss could add up to more than 50 pounds in a year. That would or could be life changing.

Although I still believe in the slow and steady approach, I felt that being 195lbs at 5ft 8in with high blood pressure and being close to diabetic was a terrible position to be in. And turning 60 in a few months only increased the urgency to control my weight.

With that frame of mind, I basically went on a “starvation” diet that Rusty Moore likes to call “Precision Crash Diet.” The essence of this approach is to eliminate fats and carbohydrates. It is a low fat and low carbohydrate diet. But the key to surviving this diet is to drastically increase your protein intake. It becomes a high protein, low fat, low carbohydrate diet.

You eat the absolute minimum to maintain muscle and discard everything else. If you’re eating carbs and fat, then that’s what your body is burning, not stored fat cells. By cutting fat and carbs to a minimum, you’re getting out of the way of your body as it depletes stored fat for fuel.

I ate around 180 to 200 grams of protein a day. A couple of days, that was down to maybe 150 grams. Using the 200 gram high, that would equate to 800 calories. The fats and carbohydrates I ate were never more than 200 calories a day. So the most I ate in this period was 1,000 calories, and most days it was well below that.

Most calorie calculators would put the calorie maintenance number for a 5-foot-8 man who weighs 195 pounds at around 2,400 calories. Using the 1,000 calorie intake number, he theoretically was 1,400 calories short. Over a 14-day period, my total low number was 19,600 calories.

19,600 calories equals about 4.8 pounds of fat. 1 gram of fat equals 9 calories, therefore 1 kilogram of fat equals 9,000 calories. 1 kilogram equals 2.2 pounds and the math brings it all down to 4,091 calories per pound.

Theoretically, I lost 5 pounds of fat. Add in the water weight loss and the 11.2-pound drop is reasonable. This is what happens when you drive your daily caloric intake below your maintenance levels. Taking only 35% to 40% of your daily needs is extreme.

Eating much less means no starchy complex carbohydrates like grains, rice, or pasta. It also means no carb-dense foods like potatoes, nuts, etc. The fruits are also out. The 9 calories per gram of fat is clearly out of the question.

For two weeks, I ate boneless, skinless chicken breast, tuna in water, and all kinds of fibrous greens like celery, spinach, cucumbers, kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and lettuce. A cup of broccoli has 30 calories and 0.34 grams of fat. A stick of celery has 6 calories and 0.7 grams of fat. I would take 3 or 4 sticks a day.

Chicken bone broth has 45 calories and 0.4 grams of fat. I would look for 0 grams of fat or at least less than 1 gram for all the foods I ate. I also drink 2-3 cups of green tea a day. I used protein powder liberally to increase my protein intake.

This is an enormously difficult approach. 14 days of baked chicken breast and tuna salad is not easy. Even with the plethora of fat-free dressings and dips available, 14 days is a long time. Still, there were and are other options that can help. For example, nonfat Greek yogurt and other types of yogurt mixes helped. Also the 99% lean ground turkey was a good choice.

But really, the most helpful thing was my perspective. This diet, difficult as it has been or may be, is only something that a person in a developed nation can undertake. For many people living with real hunger, this diet would be a cornucopia of food. In that sense, I had nothing to complain about.

Perhaps the key to the success of this approach is the diet that follows: the diet. The way I eat now will determine if those lost 11 pounds will find their way back to me. To keep those pounds off, I go through this phase where I’m eating just below my maintenance caloric level while still minimizing fat. So essentially, I am now on a high carb, modest protein, low fat diet.

By low, I mean fat below 10%. FDA recommends 30%. 30% of your daily caloric intake from fat equals about 55 to 65 grams of fat. One cup of white rice contains about 0.5 grams of fat or less. Following the FDA guidelines would equate to eating about 120 cups of white rice. That’s not happening.

Although I am not a dietitian or nutritionist, I do believe that eating fat makes you fat. Sure, at some point, excess carbs or protein will turn into fat, but I’m guessing the body prefers to use carbs for energy and protein to build muscle. And the body stores fat. I have enough fat storage.

So, for the next 2 weeks, I will spend time eating pasta, rice, nuts, cereal, sherbet, and other delicious high-carb foods that have little to no fat. After the 2 weeks, I will do this crash diet again with precision. I will alternate until I reach my goal of 160 pounds. A 5 foot 8 inch 60 year old male weighing 160 pounds with blood pressure in the 120/70 range with manageable blood sugar works for me.