Originally Posted by sjd01 (Post 58136)

My husband and I started the "Medi-Cal" diet last Thursday. In one week I have lost 11.6 pounds and he has lost 12.2 pounds.

This is a medically supervised diet managed by a doctor in the Endocrinology department at Barnes Hospital / Center for Advanced Medicine.

The diet consists of drinking 5 protein shakes a day. Each one has 100 calories, 14 g of protein, 7 carbs, 0 fat and tons of vitamins and minerals. You have to have an EKG and blood work done to get into the diet and on a routine basis. You get a total of 500 calories a day. The doctor says the average weight loss is 4 - 6 pounds per week. Women lose about 4 pounds and men lose about 6 pounds per week. You are losing fat with this one. Not muscle.

The diet is a modified protein sparing fast or a type of ketogenic diet -- basically you eliminate carbs so that you can burn fat. Unlike other similar diets (Adkins) you eat 0 fat.

Seems to be working so far. I started at 236 pounds and a BMI of 41.8. I can't tell you how many diets I have tried. It was either this or looking into a weight loss surgery. My goal is 140 pounds or a BMI of 24.5.

We can say that neither of us is hungry. At 500 calories a day you would think we would be hungry. And, the shakes are kinda uchy tasting so we don't really even look forward to drinking them. The downside at the end of week 1 is the loss of energy. The manual states that the first two weeks are difficult and that energy improves after 2 weeks. So... we are looking foward to see how we feel in another week.

We will let everyone know our progress.

Steph

Starting Weight (9/22/2011) 236 / BMI 41.8
Goal Weight (4/1/2012) 140 / BMI 24.5
Today - 224.4