The Two-Week Test: Taking It Will Improve Your Diet and Endurance

In the mid-1980s I developed an effective method to help people find their optimal level of carbohydrate intake. It’s called the Two-Week Test. Tens of thousands of athletes have used it as a necessary platform to get healthy, lose body fat, and significantly improve aerobic function and overall endurance.

The Two-Week Test is also the best way to jump-start your metabolism because it quickly shifts the body into a higher fat-burning state. It has turned many people’s lives around, sometimes helping people reduce or eliminate medications. Of all the tools I’ve used throughout my professional career, the Two-Week Test surprised me the most in terms of its overall effectiveness. I repeatedly saw how it was possible that someone could go from one extreme of poor health to great health in a short time.

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I had one patient named Rose. She was in her early thirties and a runner. She had improved her performances in the previous year by building a good aerobic base and following a better diet. Her MAF Test also improved from its original time of 9:35 to about 8:05 for her first test mile. But Rose still had a high level of body fat for her level of training and caloric intake. She also suffered from frequent fatigue, sleepiness, and bloating after meals. Her overall intake of refined carbohydrates was down from earlier years, but about half her caloric intake still included these “bad” foods, and at almost each meal. She was resistant about giving up her refined carbohydrates, but I finally convinced Rose to take the Two-Week Test.

Here’s what happened: After two weeks of no refined carbohydrates, virtually all her lingering symptoms disappeared. And her MAF Test improved to 7:40 for the same first test mile—a drop of twenty-five seconds. After adjusting her diet, a month later Rose had to buy smaller clothes because of weight loss, going from 134 to 123 pounds. Several weeks later, she began her racing season with a personal best in the 10K.

The Two-Week Test marks a period of time in which your insulin levels are moderated because your carbohydrate intake is decreased. It is not the purpose of the test to restrict calories or fat. It merely restricts moderate- and high-glycemic carbohydrates. Nor is its purpose to avoid all carbohydrates, or go into ketosis (a metabolic state where chemicals called ketones are produced in the body due to an extremely low carbohydrate intake) like other low-carb diet regimes. And there’s no need to weigh food or count grams or calories. Most importantly, this is not a diet. Just eat what you’re allowed and avoid what should be avoided, properly snack, and don’t get hungry, all for two weeks.

The Two-Week Test is best performed during your aerobic base period, and periods when you’re not competing or involved with anaerobic training. However, many athletes have successfully completed the test during these phases of training without problems.

Before you start the test, ask yourself about the signs and symptoms of carbohydrate intolerance described above. Write down the problems that you have from this list, along with any and all other complaints you might have. This may take you a few days as many people are so used to certain problems they can’t recall them all at once. This is very important because after the test, you will review these complaints to see which ones have improved.

Next, weigh yourself before starting the test. During the test you may lose some excess water your body is holding, but you’ll also go into a high fat-burning state and lose body fat. I’ve seen some people lose only a few pounds during the test, and others twenty or more pounds. This is not a weight-loss regimen, and the main purpose of weighing yourself is to have another sign of how your body is working, especially after the test.