Weight: 100.6 Kg

Fat: 29.9 Kg

I did eat more carbohydrates this week than normal, as I wanted to give my body a rest from the strict diet without changing my diet too much.  I included more complex carbohydrates, but still ate sensibly.  The decision to do this was also influenced by the fact that I started swimming this week.  I will be going 2-3 times a week, for around an hour each time.  This week I went twice.  Again, I take comfort from the fact that my weight from fat is below 30Kg.  That has stayed fairly consistent over the last few weeks, so I really need to get over this plateau, though at the same time, I realise that I may be increasing muscle mass which is a good thing, and that in itself will add to my weight.    Let’s see if I can push through it this week with extra cardio work.

Weight: 100.1 Kg
Fat: 29.8 Kg

I realise that I am juggling muscle gain with fat loss, so I should be happy with this, but I really have a psychological block over the 100Kg goal.  I really want to get below and stay below.  My weight and fat measurements are down this week, which is good, and I have taken the following photos this week just to show my progress.

Compare these pictures to the scary ones taken before I started my lifestyle makeover journey:

As expected, my weight has been up this week.  I have felt bloated and carrying a lot of fluid – I guess the effects of alcohol on my body.  To make things worse, my body has ached and I have felt really under the weather.  I guess my new fit self cannot cope with my old lifestyle any more.  Anyway, I am off in search of target #2 – to get to 90Kg.  Of course, I first have to get back below 100kg, but hopefully by the next weigh in.

My weigh-in:

Weight: 99.7Kg
Fat: 29.9Kg

I worked quite hard this week hoping to repeat the success of my last week’s weigh-in, where I had lost over 1 Kg in the week.  However, I was disappointed when i jumped on the scales this morning to see that my weight was identical. 

Weight: 101.2Kg

Fat: 30.1 Kg

The only difference between this measurement and last week is the fat Kg, which has dropped 0.6Kg.  I am never too confident about the fat measurement as it is done on bathroom scales, but I do feel like I have lost a little fat this week.  As I do weight routines every other day, and have done now for the last 15 weeks or so, I am also putting on some muscle, which is fantastic.  I have been watching my body change over the last few months, and that is more encouragement than any scales measurement can give me.

Hopefully I’ll have some more photos soon.  If you want a reminder of what I was like when I started my lifestyle makeover, and how I looked 3 weeks ago, you can see it here:

My Lifestyle Makeover

I have had a good week of work-outs and healthy eating, and even started some light jogging in the local park.  It sure is a lot harder to jog around in real life than it is to jog on a treadmill.  I suppose with a treadmill the ground moves for you and you just have to lift your feet, whereas jogging for real means propelling your body forward.  Anyway, I’ll start that slowly and increase jogging sessions as I decrease my weighted backpack walks.

OK; weight in this morning:

Weight: 101.2Kg
Fat: 30.7 Kg

That represents my biggest single week weight loss for a while.  1.2Kg in a week!  I should be able to reach my initial goal of under 100Kg before my birthday in October.

If you missed the last one, see my 12 week weight loss results.

After those 12 weeks finished, I took a week off and relaxed.  I ate and drank what I wanted, and you know what?  By the end of the week, I felt bloated and ill.  On the last Friday of my week off, I went for my usual 15Kg backpack walk around town and including as many hills as I could find.  When you get started, fitness is like a drug, and your body craves more.

With one week off, my weight started to creep up again.  I have just finished my first week of cycle 2 and here are my measurements.

Weight: 102.4 Kg
Fat: 31.2 Kg

That actually puts me back at where I was at the end of the first 12 week cycle where I was:

Weight:102.3 Kg
Fat: 31.1 Kg

The difference is, my joints and muscles have had a full week off and are raring to go for the next cycle.  I’ll post updates on a weekly basis as usual.

Weight:102.3 Kg
Fat: 31.1 Kg

Overall, this 12 weeks has been character-building.  It has meant sticking to a fairly strict eating regime (I won’t call it a diet as it isn’t in the “weight loss dieting” sense), and going to the gym when I really didn’t feel like it. However, I can now have a week off while I think about the next program.  I’ll be starting that immediately after a relaxing week which I think my body needs to help repair my tired joints and muscles.

When I started out with these 12 weeks, my measurements were as follows:

Weight: 108.2 Kg
Fat: 34.9 g

That represents a nett loss of nearly 6 Kg.  While the scales report that only 3.8Kg of fat were lost, I very much doubt these measurements for fat are correct.  My wife has been commenting on my muscle growth over this period, and I too have noticed changes in muscle mass.  I therefore will stop posting the fat measurement on this site, and instead, post the a weekly photo instead.

12 week program before and after shots:

Note that I forgot to take a “back shot” before I started, so the one I included in the BEFORE picture for the back shot was actually taken at the end of week 1.

Front Photos:

Side Photos:

Back Photos:

I started out my lifestyle makeover over a year ago.  I have had ups and downs, and fallen off the program a few times.  However, here are my photos from 27th July 2007.

..and now..

I would love to hear about your own weight loss success stories, so feel free to write a comment below.

After 11 Weeks, my weight is as follows:

Weight: 102.5Kg
Fat: 31.2 Kg

Again, I am not too concerned by the “fat” reading.  It was done on bathroom scales, and I doubt it is very accurate at all.  What I am interested in is:

1. How I look
2. How I feel

Next week is the final weigh-in in this 12 week program.

Liver Detox Flush – A Natural Method for Releasing Liver & Gall Bladder "stones"

As part of my own personal lifestyle changes, and my attempts to lose weight and get healthy, I decided to look for a liver cleaning program, that could be done easily at home. I had read in the past, a number of articles on liver cleansing, and its importance, as well as seen self-help home detox kits for sale on the web. If you think that a healthy liver filters 3 pints of blood a minute, and produces 1 – 1.5 quarts of bile every day, you get an idea of how important this organ is to the correct functioning of your body.

I wanted to detoxify my liver, so I ordered several books from Amazon on Liver & whole body detoxification. I was disappointed that most treatments required a complete change of diet for several weeks (and a lot of herbal tea). I wanted something quicker, and so was excited to find a book by a doctor (who practicing natural medicine) that required just 7 days, and household items (has was highly recommended by those who have bought it). What’s more, this detox promised something that the longer "lifestyle change" detox methods did not – release of gall stones from both the liver and gall bladder.

Below you can see a video I created showing an actual detox. Don’t watch if you have a weak stomach!

Gall stones in the Liver (intrahepatic gallstones)?

Yes, I wondered about that too. I had never heard of them. However, the author of the liver & gallbladder flush says that we all have them (up to several thousand), and even children are not immune. The author suggests that to prove it to yourself, you do a liver cleanse, so that’s what I did. During the cleanse, I released around 50 stones. You can easily collect these stones, as the ones from the liver float due to the bile in them. Some however sink, and these are paler, tan coloured. Apparently these ones are from the gall bladder.

You can see some of mine in the photo below.

The largest of these stones was about the size of a pea. The largest ones I passed were around1.5 cm in length. If you think that’s impressive, read on. My wife’s were even bigger.

The stones consist of hardened bile and fat deposits in the liver, and they block the liver bile ducts. This prevents the necessary amounts of bile from entering the intestines, leading to a whole host of problems.

What problems do these Gall Stones cause?

According to the author, blockages in the bile ducts of the liver can have massive knock-on effects, and be responsible for a range of symptoms and illnesses, like hemorrhoids, difficulty breathing, high cholesterol, duodenal ulcers, depression, prostate disease, cancer, hormonal imbalances, skin disorders (e.g. rashes, acne etc), obesity, chronic fatigue, to name just a few. In fact, he lists over 60 medical conditions that he suggests are caused, at least in part, by gall stones in the liver. He doesn’t just give you the list, and expect your to believe him. He also gives the medical explanations for many of these diseases.

What causes these Gall Stones in the Liver?

Bile consists of water, mucus, bile pigments (bilirubin), bile salts and cholesterol, as well as enzymes and beneficial bacteria. The liver secrets this mixture into bile ducts that carry it to the gall bladder.

Changes in the composition of this bile, can change its solubility, and if solubility decreases, crystals can form, which can grow into stones.

So what can cause these composition changes in bile? Well, here is a list:

• Eating between meals
• Eating heavy metals in the evening
• Overeating proteins
• Eating certain types of food
• Using refined salt
• Dehydration
• Rapid weight loss
• Low fat diets
• Certain pharmacological drugs (e.g. hormone replacement therapy, and birth control pills)
• Too much fluoride
• Lifestyle
• Emotional Stress
• Watching too much TV (because that elevates cholesterol levels)

What does the liver cleanse involve?

The liver cleanse is an easy to follow system. It basically involves changing your diet for 6 days (there is a list of foods you cannot eat, but you can easily make healthy homemade recipes from what is available), as well as drinking apple juice for those days. On the sixth day, you start the actual cleanse which flushes your liver of the stones. This involves epsom salts, and a cleansing mixture taken in the evening of the 6th, and morning of the 7th day. On the 7th day, you’ll experience a number of watery bowel movements, some of which may contain the released gall stones.

Overall, I found the detox easy to follow, and it produced good results. On day 7, I rid my liver of around 50 gall stones. This is apparently just the start. According to this book, my liver may well release a lot more in subsequent cleanses, so it is best to continue cleaning every 3 weeks or so, until no more stones are passed. This book also gives you a simple herbal kidney detoxification, so that is something else I’ll try soon. The book also has a 21 point section on avoiding gallstones in the future.

The best thing about this detox program was that all ingredients that are needed are cheap, and easily available. There is no need to spend a lot of money on expensive "detox kits".

Now, I promised to tell you about my wife. She went through the morning of the detox without passing stones, but in the evening (day 7), she spent a long time on the toilet, passing some real beauties. Below is a photo on some stones that were passed in one sitting so to speak. The largest stone she passed was around 3 – 4cm in length, and very hard:

If you are interested in more information on this, you can get the book on Amazon here.

Alternatively, the Master Cleanse has been creating quite a stir and is worth looking at.

I have listed some other interesting detox program in the menu of this page (see top right). Let me know your own results if you try any of these detox programs.

What’s next for me?

I am now interested in colon cleansing, and colon plaque, so will be researching this topic, hopefully using natural products like psyllium husks, etc. I’ll report my experiences on this site.

The Detox Method I Used:

Other Detox Programs

The Master Cleanse

12 Steps to A Complete Body Detox

The Worlds Best Lung Detox Program

Colon Cleansing for Better Health