I see people are still looking at this, so here is another update.

During the past 6 months, I have continued to keep my weight very stable in the 168 pound area. I was VLC for about 18 months, but I still wanted to lose a little belly flab as well as gain some muscle. I was reading a vegan website for giggles when I came across the idea of eating potatoes for weight-loss.

Here is the premise of the "Potato Diet". Eat about 90+% of your calories from only white potatoes for 7-14 days and lose .5 - 1 pound per day of which will be mostly fat, and you will experience only minimal weight regain afterwards, in fact you may continue to lose after resuming normal eating.

Here is why it works: White potatoes contain a very distinct for of starch, called 'Resistant Starch' (Google it). It is called resistant starch because it resists digestion in the stomach and small intestine. When RS reaches the large intestine, it is eaten by the beneficial bacteria which reside in your colon. The byproduct of the bacteria-digested RS is called Butyrate, Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid. The SCFA feeds specialized colon cells (colonocytes), keeping them healthy and also enter your bloodstream where they provide a ketogenic fatty acid substrate for your metabolism.

After a day or so of eating potatoes to satiety, you will find you are in deep ketosis and losing body fat at an amazing rate. The satiety of the plain, white potato is higher than any food known to man (Google: Food Satiety Index).

Being a man of science, I tried the potato diet and it worked exactly as advertised! I used it to get to my lowest adult weight of 157lbs. With this trick in my back pocket, I began willful overfeeding in order to gain some muscle. I had always been leery of overeating, but I now know a way to safely cut fat in short order. Over the last 6 months, I have been eating more and gaining lots of muscle. Workouts no longer result in days of muscle soreness because I am eating enough protein and carbs to properly fuel my muscle building.

Doing a little more research led me to a newly re-published book called the Perfect Health Diet by Dr. Paul Jaminet. I am following his recommendations to include 1 pound of starch in my daily eating and it has not resulted in any weight gain, but has helped me get better sleep, feel warmer, and workouts are better. I would highly recommend this book to all. It is still Low Carb when compared to the SAD but a bit higher carb than most as it includes about 100-150g carbs per day. That level is explained well in the book.

So, in my 2 year update, I would like to say that adding in 1 pound of starch (mostly potatoes) has helped me increase muscles and using the "Potato Diet" has given me a way to blast off body fat. I am no longer afraid to try things that may cause some weight gain since I have a simple way to lose it. I am healthier and stronger than ever in my life.

I coudn't figure out how to post pics here, but I have some before and after at: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/foru...ad6138-501.html if you want to see what I look like! My name there is Otzi and it's posts #5007 and 5009