Metabolism Miracle: What Happens During Step 1

(This post may contain affiliate links which were added to make it easier for you to find the items. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you). You are free to use the links or not - if you do, I thank you!)

I'm assuming if you're reading this post, you've read my other posts about Metabolism B and my struggle to learn what the heck was going on with me. (If not, you might want to check those out for some background info!) And I'm also assuming you are experiencing some of those same issues - and that's why you're still reading these Metabolism B posts!

Today I'm going to start discussing my experience with Step 1 of the Metabolism Miracle program. I'm not going to go into a tremendous amount of detail about Step 1 itself because, 1) I am not a certified instructor for the program, and 2) I just don't feel that it's right for me to talk about everything that is in the book.

If you're interested in purchasing The Metabolism Miracle, it is available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book formats. Later on in the post, I will discuss some other places you can go to get support for the program. (UPDATE: The link is now for the second edition, published in 2016.) I also want to state that I did purchase my own books, and I am in no way affiliated with Metabolism Miracle, Miracleville, or Diane Kress, RD, CDE. This post is not sponsored, but it does contain a couple of Amazon affiliate links for the book. Just so we're clear on all of that!

As I mentioned in my Metabolism B post, after about 4 weeks on the program, my triglycerides dropped from 495 to 104 - which was absolutely amazing. That is the lowest they have been in over 20+ years, even on a doctor-approved diet and medications. I also saw my total cholesterol go from 305 to 214, and my LDL ("bad" cholesterol) from some number 215+ to 156. At the end of the 8 weeks on Step 1, I had lost a total of 13 pounds. Which was at the high end of expected loss on the chart in the book- yay!

Gus was very supportive during all of this, and decided to join me. He does not have Metabolism B, but he was packing around some extra poundage and was in the habit of eating a lot of carbs. A lot of carbs. He is Italian. By the end of the 8 weeks, he had really improved his diet and lost 10 pounds.

I bet you're wondering exactly what we had to do in order to get these miraculous results, aren't you?

First, we restricted our carbs - the amount, the type, and when we ate them. Let me tell you - I. Love. Sweets. Gus loves his bread, pasta, and potatoes. So telling us that we were going to need to basically give up those things (as we knew them) was a painful thing. But so was knowing that there was a ton of fat circulating in my blood. My Grammy died of heart disease at age 74 and my uncle died of peripheral artery disease at age 71. My mom had a major heart attack around age 60, and her remaining brother also has coronary artery disease. I was ready to make the change. I'd like to live a longer, healthier life. That's my motivator.

And that's my personal advice to you - find your motivator. If you can find it - you can succeed.


For Step 1 of the Metabolism Miracle program, there are a few basic rules (there are more details, but these are the highlights): (NOTE: There are updates in the revised version of book!)


I'm not going to sugar-coat it. Those first 3-4 days are rough.

I recommend planning your menu and snacks for the entire first week - and stick to it. Why? Because you are going to be grumpy coming off the carbs. You might even feel light-headed (I didn't). You will want to eat whatever is handy (I wanted to - but I didn't). So it's best to have everything planned out, even your snacks. That way, you won't cheat (I didn't cheat, yay!).


It got easier every week. By the third week, it was completely habit. I was even doing well when we ate out. It definitely helped that Gus was eating healthier, too. We no longer felt bloated after eating like you sometimes do when you eat a lot of carbs. We had more energy. No more falling asleep after dinner! And we both had to buy smaller clothes!

Diane Kress, RD, CDE, author of the book, recommends not weighing yourself at all for the first 8 weeks. She says to weigh yourself before you start, and then again at the end. I'm one of those people who is just in the habit of hopping on the scale daily. I've used MyFitnessPal for many years, so I just weigh myself daily to record my weight for that. So for those like me, she recommends weighing daily, but then averaging the 7 weights for the week into a weekly weight. The reason for this is that those with Metabolism B have erratic weight fluctuations - and that's normal for them. You guys know exactly what I'm talking about, right? You've seen it on your own scale, haven't you? I've watched my scale jump 3-4 lbs overnight when I've only eaten 1000 calories - and then drop 2 lbs. when I eat 1500 calories. So I followed her advice and made a little chart to record my beginning weight for the week, my daily weight for each of the 7 days, my average weight for the week, my weight change for the week, and my total weight change. She was right - my weight fluctuated during the week - but when averaged out, I always lost weight!

My doctor (the lipid specialist) is still skeptical - even when faced with the proof of the weight loss and the lab tests. I explained how the program works, but she calls it  "just another low carb diet", and that those were way too hard to live on for very long. I explained that Step 2 starts reintroducing carbs in controlled amounts at specific times, and Step 3 allows even more. I'll need to see how my labs look on Step 2 and 3 before I can make any judgement calls.


There are some other sources available for support, too.

• Lists of specific brands of foods that are allowable on Steps 1 & 2 of the program - I recommend purchasing all 3 lists for $9.99 (there are several options). You get a link to download and then you can print them. This is not an all-inclusive list, but it gives you a good base so that you can go to the store and not have to read every label.
• Metabolism Miracle Facebook group - Diane Kress runs the group & will approve your membership. She posts articles, recipes, links to websites, and other good info.
• Miracle-Ville, the official Metabolism Miracle support forum - Diane Kress is also here and will answer questions. There is a membership fee. I'm not a member at this time, but I'm thinking about joining at least for 6 months to see if I use it enough to justify the membership fee.

If you have any specific questions about Metabolism Miracle, please ask in the comments or find me on social media!

Be sure to read my posts, No One Knows You Better Than You, Could You Have Metabolism B?, and The Age-Health-Weight Connection (and how to deal with it!) for more information!