Wednesday, November 30, 2011

DO HCG DIET EXPERTS REALLY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT?

There are many "experts", practitioners and businesses prescribing hCG for Dr. Simeons' protocol. But how many of them actually understand why it works and how hCG could prevent starvation? Most have no clue. They know it works, but they don't understand why, so they repeat what they read in Simeons' manuscript, Pounds & Inches.
Here are 5 questions that reveal if an hCG diet business knows why the hCG protocol works:
1) Does the hCG business discuss 3 types of fat? This is a hypothesis Simeons' created, however it has never been laboratory tested or explained. As of today, there are two different types of fat (brown or white fat). We know that larger fat cells function the same as smaller fat cells, but with a more magnified response. Meaning they do the same things small fat cells do, but in a bigger way.  Larger fat cells produce more hormones, and provide more fuel than the smaller fat cells. As for three types of fat: science hasen't discovered a third type.
2) Does the hCG diet business profess that hCG burns fat. This could not be further from the truth. HCG DOES NOT BURN FAT. However, hCG does stimulate the hormone that regulates fat metabolism; Leptin. If you are not up to date with the new science of energy homeostasis you need to start studying recent research that has summarized what we know about the hormone leptin and its regulation of the thyroid, adrenals, testicles, ovaries, etc.  Leptin is a primary regulatory hormone of the body's fueling systems. It also regulates the body's hormonal response that causes symptoms of starvation. Low dose hCG stimulates leptin, which would reduce one's hunger but also increases the fueling response from fat cells. This is the same thing food does hormonally, but with hCG- you don’t need as much food! This is described thoroughly in the newly published book, Weight-Loss Apocalypse.  (www.weightlossapocalypse.com)
3) Does the hCG diet business monitor success, only by weight?  Weight is a superficial and insufficient measure of success, and by obsessing over weight for motivation you are creating a short term diet out of an incredible hormonal therapy. For example, is the hCG diet business telling customers/patients to weigh every day and to do an “apple-day” if they plateau? Are they suggesting that you can flush out fat with apples??? Obsessive weighing creates adverse emotional consequences that could encourage emotional eating disorders. Weight is too superficial when compared to the profound hormonal healing that the hCG protocol provides when its followed.
Weight cannot compare to the rewards of better sleep, improved adrenal function, diminished heart burn, improved breathing, reduced inflammation, improved sex drive, etc. Measures that include body fat composition and an assessment of hormonal symptoms are much more telling and more valuable than a number on a scale. Weight should be the least of your concerns when considering the long term change of lifestyle it will take for you to maintain whatever weight you lose. And weight should not be responsible for the motivation it takes to eat less among gluttons.
4) Does the hCG diet business monitor calories? The measure of calories in food is old and outdated information. In fact, how the protocol works completely conflicts with the idea that we are fueled from the food we eat that day. The caloric value in food is irrelevant as it concerns the body’s hormonal response to food.  For example, we now know that artificial sweetener (zero calories) stimulates leptin and this response stimulates fat's fueling mechanism.  The reason the hCG works to prevent starvation is because it stimulates the same hormone that food stimulates (leptin). For this reason, your body doesn't respond to starvation like it would without the hCG. Calories have nothing to do with starvation because starvation is defined scientifically by a measure of hormones.  Look it up: leptin and its relationship to starvation.
5) Does the hCG diet business profess you’ll lose a pound a day or 30 pounds in 40 days? This is a sign the business is run by people who have no clue how metabolism works, they have no interest in long term results, and they are more interested in one thing: money. This same business probably sells appetite suppressants (another sign they have no idea how the protocol works and that they want more money), fat dissolving injections, meal replacements, and other means to make money. Most of these are sold to take advantage of and to prostitute the desperation of people who need to lose fat and are willing to pay anyone who promises quick results.
Unfortunately most of the hCG diet industry is run by businesses that have no clue what they are doing. These businesses know the hCG protocol works and with that, they know they can make money. But where’s the integrity? Where’s the responsibility?  Without understanding how the protocol works, it has been marketed as another quick fix diet. Without giving the patient personal responsibility – it’s a scam!
But if you’ve done the protocol properly, you know− IT’S NOT A SCAM.  Then why market it in a way that has very little integrity? Why portray it in a way that looks just as fake as the rest? The only way the hCG protocol will make a significant impact on America’s overwhelming obesity epidemic, is if the hCG diet industry rethinks how the hCG protocol is portrayed, taught, presented, and advertised.
·     If you own an hCG diet business, do you want to look credible? Then know how it works hormonally.
·     Do you want to stand apart from the hCG diet businesses that market it like another fad diet? Than market it as a hormonal therapy.
·     Do you want your patients to have long lasting results that heal both the body and the mind? Than hold your patients accountable to change the way they eat emotionally.
I believe the hCG protocol has the potential to change our culture both physically and emotionally. If we as “experts” continue to mirror the same approach as the diet industry, we will fail. It will be another diet, another fad, and another attempt at losing weight, just to gain it all back.
For more information...BUY THE BOOK TODAY:  Weight-Loss Apocalypse: Emotional Eating Rehab Through the HCG Protocol.
Available at www.barnesandnoble.com or www.amazon.com

Monday, November 14, 2011

WHY WEIGHING YOURSELF SUCKS (and results in fat gain)

If you think that by losing weight, your self-esteem will improve so much that your motivation to eat less will have everlasting motivation−you’re fooling yourself.
Monitoring weight is the biggest flaw in the foundation of a diet. Why: because desires to eat food have nothing to do with body fat. For example, how many of us sabotage our temporary diet in order to eat for emotional celebration?
How often have you eaten food at a party, then felt guilty about breaking your diet’s rules, as a result decided your desire to eat was bigger than your desire to lose weight at that moment, and instead of feeling guilty, you’d rather let go of that desire to lose weight, so that you could eat all that you’d like− without guilt. And because you can just “start over” the next day, you end up eating more than you actually want, which compensates for the impending diet restrictions that you don’t want in the first place. Sound familiar?
This is typical of most when attempting a weight-motivated diet. Consider the failure of the entire diet industry. Consider how much fat our country gains each year compared to how much fat we lose. How’s weight as motivation working? Not well. With all of the differences between one diet to the next, the one consistency between them all is their hyper-focus on weight. The long term result: more fat gain.
If you observe the obsession over weight-loss during the protocol (or any other diet) you’ll find that as soon as weight-loss stops, or slows down, complaints go up. Why? Because there’s emotional hardship when choosing to eat less−which is why there’s a desperate need for weight-loss as reward. We falsely believe weight is the problem and temporarily submit to a reduction in food intake−but only if weight is lost. Without holding accountable our desires to eat excessively and emotionally, fat is falsely accused as the problem.
Have you ever considered that the normal way you eat is the real challenge? Without weight loss, would you voluntarily eat less? If you continue to have desires to eat at every party, every social event, every moment you feel bored, and whenever you feel emotionally tested − your body will always be forced to accumulate fat.
Go ahead −obsess over your weight while dieting. Find out if your weight will motivate you to eat less the rest of your life. Or, decide you’re disgusted by our cultural gluttony. Recognize that you’ve stopped using your creativity, which is why you’re bored and use food for entertainment. Acknowledge that eating has become your best friend, your hobby, your crutch, and without eating at all social functions, you feel punished.  You might hate the amount of money you’ve spent to lose and gain weight over and over again−but eventually, you’ll recognize that weight isn’t the problem and that using it as motivation, will always fall short.
Without changing your desires to eat, anything less will feel punishing, and each time you restrict, that desire to eat will magnify even more. Stop kidding yourself. If you have emotional desires to eat and want to continue this dysfunctional relationship with food, you might as well accept the outcome.
If you want permanent change, consider transforming the normal way you eat
to a realistic “new normal”, that doesn’t require you eating emotionally
−whether you lose weight or not.
Motivation to eat less is profound, especially when you live in a culture that eats excessively as the norm. Especially, when the diet industry has plagued us with constant guilt about what we eat, and the food industry is continuously shoving food down our throats.

You have to understand that obesity isn’t the problem−it’s the inevitable outcome of gluttony. So if you continue to assume that losing weight will change your desires to eat, you’re fooling yourself−again.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

THE HCG PROTOCOL IS NOT FOR SISSIES

Have you ever considered what it would emotionally feel like to be limited to less than 500 calories of food, while living amongst gluttons? For most, when considering the benefits versus the risks of the hCG protocol, emotional hardship isn’t well thought-out. Instead, the biggest influence when deciding to do the protocol, is potential weight-loss.
They’re tired of battling with weight, and frustrated with the diet industry’s failure to make a difference. They think, “If what thousands of people proclaim on the Internet is true-- eating such a small amount of food must be worth it.” There’s no hunger, the food is simple, and if the weight is lost as fast as everyone says, how could the protocol be difficult?
This mentality is naive. The hCG protocol requires the participant eat 500 calories in food for about a month, and when done correctly, hunger may limit eating to even less. Take a step back and observe this amount of food. Compare it against the backdrop of our normal cultural eating behavior. Notice the difference? Our culture is the most gluttonous and dysfunctional culture with food --in the Universe. 
We spend hundreds of billions of dollars on food,
and what’s ironic is that we spend billions, trying not to eat it.

The hCG protocol is the extreme opposite.The naivety is in thinking that weight-loss will perpetually motivate us to eat less, even amongst friends, family, and coworkers who eat significantly more.  And to believe that without hunger you’ll be emotionally resilient-- is crazy!
How many of you eat without hunger? When you’re bored, when you’re celebrating, when you’re drunk, have the munchies, when you’ve had a difficult day at work, to suppress negative feelings about someone, or to avoid having to talk to strangers in social settings? Anybody who thinks that hunger is why American’s eat too much, needs a reality check.
If you ask anybody who is obese how often they’re hungry (I’m talking true physical hunger), they will tell you they’re not hungry that often. However, for reasons I’m not going to explain in this blog, their hunger occurs more rapidly than others who have less fat. In general, they’re not hungry for breakfast; they could wait hours and hours before feeling that physical irritation and urgency to eat, and they don’t need as much food to reduce hunger.
This makes sense, considering the science that has proven the more fat a person has, the higher (exponentially) their blood leptin levels are. Leptin, in the brain, reduces hunger. So it makes sense that if you have more leptin, you’re going to experience hunger less often. But does lack of hunger and weight loss keep you from continually eating with the rest of our gluttonous culture? Probably not. Otherwise the first diet you ever attempted would have worked long term.
The hCG protocol is not as easy as you think. It requires you eat less than what small children eat, and for over a month. If you live in America, that means you’re going to be constantly surrounded by food commercials, surrounded by restaurants and fast food joints on every corner, and will have invitations to eat all the time-- for any reason.  Our culture is defined by eating and food, so to think any amount of fat loss would completely overhaul your desires to eat is naïve.
Before considering the hCG protocol, take into account the desire and emotional strength you’re going to have to develop to let go of excessive emotional eating. And to keep from gaining fat back, you'll have to let go of emotional eating forever. Are you ready to divorce this gluttonous way of life? Do you really want to let go of food emotionally?  Are you seeking an intrinsic desire to eat less, whether you lose weight or not? If so, the hCG protocol will change your life. Your body will heal and your relationship with food will too. With freedom from emotional eating as your goal, consider yourself anything but a sissy, and ready to take on the hCG protocol challenge.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

WHY SKINNY B*TCHES EAT MORE(and don't get fat)

By the time I first meet with a client, they’ve already decided they want to do the hCG protocol. Not because they want to completely overhaul the way they eat, but because they’ve convinced themselves losing weight will improve their life.
On some level, they are absolutely correct. Fat cells are organ cells that create and stimulate all sorts of hormones, and because these clients have too many fat cells, weak stimulus results in a strong hormonal response.
Do you understand the hormonal difference between a leaner body compared to a more obese body? The more fat you have the weaker hormonal stimulus you need. On the other hand, the less fat you have the stronger hormonal stimulus you need.
Similar to hormones, food (all food) stimulates your fat cells to release hormones. As a result, in order to maintain hormonal balance, those who have more fat need significantly less food. If you continue to eat similar to others who have less fat, you’ll inevitably have hormonal problems. This is why those who are leaner (skinny b*tches) can eat more without gaining fat or having hormonal problems. And a person who has more fat, eats less, gains fat, and has hormonal problems. (This is thoroughly explained in Weight-Loss Apocalypse)
Because of this magnified hormonal response after eating, the larger you are, the more you end up feeling like crap if you eat “normal” amounts of food. You're tired, fatigued, have suppressed adrenal function which makes you less motivated to do anything, have hot flashes, daily symptoms of heart burn, erratic sex drive, inflamed joints, breathing issues, night sweats, sleep disruptions, etc. These symptoms don’t occur with people who have less fat-- unless they binge eat or have a hormonal cause, such as thyroid, ovary, or other organ problem.
As soon as clients begin the very low calorie protocol and their food intake is regimented and minimal, they notice how much better they feel. Energy for most improves. Hot flashes and heart burn disappear. The more fat they lose, the more their sleep improves, etc. However, many people look past how incredibly better they feel to instead, base all of their motivation on their weight. If they lose more weight, they want to continue. If they don’t lose enough weight, they feel burdened by the reduced food intake.
Weight on the scale is a very superficial reason to eat less. When you consider the disease and hormonal problems associated to obesity and eating’s hormonal magnification, don’t you think there are more profound motivations to eat functionally?
Unfortunately, the diet industry has plagued us with the idea that weight is the only measure of success. Why? Because you pay for it. The more you obsess over your weight, the less focus you put towards ending the reasons you eat that have nothing to do with true physical hunger, and have everything to do with why you have excess fat. Weight motivated diets don’t realistically prepare you to live in our culture of normalized gluttony.
This time, instead of enlisting for another shallow diet that judges food, causes guilt every time you eat, and encourages you to weigh obsessively-- do something very different. Choose to eat less to feel better, and to reduce your hormonal problems. If you’re never going to lose the damn weight anyways, wouldn’t you at least want to lose all the sh*tty hormonal symptoms?
For the next couple of months try this: stop judging food. Eat anything you want. HOWEVER, the boundary is that you must have true physical hunger to eat, and you must avoid fullness at all cost. Throw away your scale, and choose to eat functionally no matter what the result. You’ll notice you physically feel much better. Binging because of diet guilt will immediately stop, food isn’t such a big deal anymore, and neither is your weight.
Because you aren’t allowed to eat without hunger, you’ll have to find other things to do with your spare time. Projects you’ve started will finally get finished; you’ll try new hobbies, and have more creative drive. Emotionally, you’ll be held accountable. This is similar to a baby and a pacifier. If food is your pacifier, you’re going to have to learn to handle change and life without superstitiously thinking food will make things better. Truthfully, letting go of food emotionally will get you back to the way you used to eat as a child.
Children spend their time playing, thinking, and creating. Eating is only necessary when they get the physical irritation of hunger, which eventually can’t be ignored. They eat, but only enough for the pang to go away. Then they bolt out the door, back to the fun and creativity they only left, because of hunger. No fullness, no emotional high, no emotional guilt, no fear of gaining fat, and no caring about weight.
This is a challenge of your ability to understand what physical hunger feels like, and to understand the difference between true physical need to eat, from emotional desire. Ultimately, as you no longer need food as a pacifier, your emotional confidence will grow. Eating less won’t need motivation or feel like punishment. With hormonal balance, you’ll immediately feel better, and the obvious result will be fat loss. This immediately solves hormonal problems that created fat gain, and were caused by eating without hunger in the first place.
This is one of those win/win situations: Eat what you want, but only when there’s true physical hunger, and avoid fullness at all cost. I challenge you to try this, and let me know how it goes!