The Preparation: six weeks to a smaller me

Day: 0 of 42
Last recorded weight: waiting for tomorrow!
How I'm feeling today: determined, excited

Tomorrow I'm going to launch into six weeks of a restricted diet that is going to be unlike anything else I've done before. I wanted to do a programme that would show results quickly, because I really need to see a change. And I reckon if I can gain a kilo a week like I did in the last three months of last year I should be able to at least lose that much, that fast!

The Lose Your Middle programme is broken into three 2-week plans, each with a specific purpose. Weeks 1 and 2 allows 3 "protein shakes" a day, and one solid meal with restricted carbohydrates, with the aim of clearing the fat out of the cells in your liver to "reset your metabolic balance".

Weeks 3 and 4 are the "Meat" weeks, in which you cut down even further on carbs, but eat even more quality protein and fats. Finally Weeks 4 and 5 are designed to ease you back into regular eating.

The authors reckon you can do it as a semi-vegetarian, using fish instead of meat, but after being semi-veg for over a year I'm actually interested to see how my both responds to meat again, so I'm going to follow the book to the letter. If I do it again I will try to do it with fish and soy and see how that goes. It's definitely not a diet you could do as a vegan. Even vegetarian would be hard because I think you need to avoid all those nasty processed soy products, so tofu steaks would be off the menu.

The Rules of Weeks 1 and 2

1. No alcohol: it metabolises as sugar and prevents your liver from processing other chemicals, as it proritises toxins. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle this, but my plan is to drink chilled mineral water from a wine glass... expensive mineral water.
2. No caffeine. Not even green tea! Once again to lesson strain on your liver. I only drink a cup of coffee a day, so I'm not expecting this to be a biggie
3. No unnecessary medications. For instance paracetamol, ibuprofen (unless prescribed of course). These are particularly hard on the liver.
4. 3 shakes and 1 solid meal per day. I've never even wanted to try a protein shake before, and I never drink milkshakes, so I'm interested to find out what they taste like. Should be convenient at least.
5. Take supplementary vitamins each day. This is going to be a big change for your body, and you need to support it (a list is provided).
6. Drink water every day (maybe some people don't?)
7. Sleep for at least 7 hours every night. Preferably in a completely darkened room. This is to keep hormone levels stable (more about this later)
8. Add some salt to your meals to replace sodium released by your kidneys when your insulin falls
9. Add D-ribose (optional) - a type of sugar that does not raise insulin levels, for people who are very physically active

Starting out on a diet like this requires preparation and planning. So today I'm writing up a grocery list, and a wee "Cheatsheet" so I have a quick reference while I'm preparing food and shakes.

Tips for getting started:

1. Focus on the first three or four days rather than trying to get your head around meals for the whole week
2. If - like me - you are cooking for others, you can include them in the adventure - just add a potato or bread to their meals
3. On your shopping list note the protein and carbohydrate values you should be looking for in a protein powder, and if you can get one with Leucine included, even better
4. Write up a Cheatsheet for quick reference and include:
   - The protein shake recipe, including the recommended amount of protein for your weight
   - Shake variations (they'll get boring)
   - Your menu - it's only one meal a day, and when you have it planned out it's easier to work out your shopping list
5.  Make sure you have a blender and kitchen scales

Now it's off to the grocers for me. Roll on tomorrow!