ROUND 2…and away we go!

I decided to go back onto the HCG to shed another ten pounds or so. This time I am using the RX version, prescribed by my naturopath and purchased at the local compounding pharmacy. I was curious to see if I would notice any differences between this and the homeopathic HCG.

Pounds and Inches, which is Dr. Simeons’ manuscript and details the whole protocol, tells us to gorge for the first two days of taking the drops. That’s scary for some folks, wondering if they start eating high fat and carbs, will they be able to stop. In his manuscript, Dr. Simeons addresses that concern: "Most patients who have been struggling with diets for years and know how rapidly they gain if they let themselves go are very hard to convince of the absolute necessity of gorging for at least two days, and yet this must he insisted upon categorically if the further course of treatment is to run smoothly."

 I chose mostly healthy fats rather than just sugary treats – eggs with cheese fried in butter; a milkshake made with full fat coconut milk, ice cream, and macadamia nuts; fried turkey (esp. the skin); eggplant parmesan; full fat Greek yogurt; rib steak; butter pecan ice cream.

The Skinny on Low Fat Nonsense!

I stayed away from fats for years, believing that butter, avocados, nuts, olive oil were too fattening. What a new day this is for me doing Phase 3 maintenance (no sugar or starches), eating 1500-1800 calories and including good fats! Butter, avocados, coconut oil, macadamia nuts…..what a change for me. For many years I was duped into believing that to lose weight I needed to consume reduced fat foods. For a while, I chose very low-fat foods but doing so did not reduce the fat on my body!

Now I carefully read labels, avoiding sugar, starch, and low fat! And finding foods that are not reduced fat is much trickier than I had expected. The food industry believes they are doing us (the consumer) a service by providing us with low-fat food….and often they reduce the fat and add corn syrup (yuck!).

Today, for instance, shopping at my friendly Trader Joe’s, I wanted to get some plain organic yogurt. I picked up one container, it was low fat; then another, and it was nonfat. Isn’t it strange that we (as a nation) are consuming more and more low fat and no fat products, yet we are getting fatter and fatter? These fat free products have not eliminated the obesity epidemic; in fact, these products are probably adding rather than subtracting weight to our bodies. And people are fooled into believing they are choosing healthy foods because they are labeled reduced fat! Now they even have fat fat Oreos and Pringles! Healthy? Ha, give me a break!

Several years ago Gary Taubes wrote an eye-opening article for the New York Times -- “What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?” (Thank you HcgDieters@yahoogroups.com, for mentioning this!) Although the article is 8 years old, it is fascinating reading and quite pertinent and gives the history of our low-fat diet mentality. I agree with the author that it is carbohydrates that make us fat (especially the starches that most people think they must include in every meal according to our silly food pyramid!).

You can read the entire article at http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-been-a-big-fat-lie.html

                    Here are some excerpts:

What's forgotten in the current controversy is that the low-fat dogma itself is only about 25 years old. Until the late 70's, the accepted wisdom was that fat and protein protected against overeating by making you sated, and that carbohydrates made you fat. In ''The Physiology of Taste,'' for instance, an 1825 discourse considered among the most famous books ever written about food, the French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin says that he could easily identify the causes of obesity after 30 years of listening to one ''stout party'' after another proclaiming the joys of bread, rice and (from a ''particularly stout party'') potatoes. Brillat-Savarin described the roots of obesity as a natural predisposition conjuncted with the ''floury and feculent substances which man makes the prime ingredients of his daily nourishment.'' He added that the effects of this fecula -- i.e., ''potatoes, grain or any kind of flour'' -- were seen sooner when sugar was added to the diet....

By the 70's, you could still find articles in the journals describing high rates of obesity in Africa and the Caribbean where diets contained almost exclusively carbohydrates. 

HCG…is it a healthy approach to weight loss?

I have had several friends and family members question my using HCG with the usual comment, “Of course you are losing weight, you are only eating 500 calories.” Actually, I don’t blame them for the comment – it is the same one I used before I understood the HCG protocol:

When I was 16, I went to a diet doctor and was injected with HCG and ate only 500 calories, a very low calorie diet (VLCD).  At that time, I doubt that I followed the directions for maintenance because I gained the weight back. Consequently, for many years when I told my “story” of my life-long challenge of losing weight, I mentioned that as a teen I even got an injection every day and ate a VLCD. Whenever I related this story, I added the comment, “Well, of course I lost weight, I was limited to 500 calories.”  Even though some of my friends and family are mouthing the same words that I used to use, now I know better.

During my years of seeking a weight loss solution, I have avoided very low calorie food plans because I didn’t want my body to go into starvation mode.

STALLED!!

     They (the books and other people following the protocol) said it would happen but I thought it’s not going to happen to me!  Well, it has! Got on the scale this morning and it was exactly the same as yesterday. :-( I told myself to not get discouraged but I really like seeing the numbers go down every single day. It is almost addictive—I can’t wait to get on the scale each morning. Now I am not complaining about my weight loss, which is really significant for me – 8.8 pounds – and I am only 7 pounds away from my goal weight, which totally amazes me. I am just kvetching a little bit!
     I have to be very careful, though, because my head has some crazy thinking going on. 

Thoughts and Feelings at the Halfway Point

Several years ago when my naturopathic doctor suggested I go on the HCG protocol, I told him I did it as a teen and it doesn’t work for me. I am so glad I decided to take the plunge and do it again. Truthfully, the first two days of gorging have probably been the most difficult days for me. I had looked forward to eating all the things I normally don’t allow myself, but instead of enjoyment, I felt sick to my stomach. I use the homeopathic HCG (HHCG) and it is easy, inexpensive and very user friendly. I thought I’d be hungry and dreaded eating only 500 calories a day, but I have not experienced any hunger. Mouth hunger, yes, when I wanted to chew something…so on those days I made sure to choose raw fennel, celery or cabbage as my vegetable so I could experience lots of chewing.

My HCG Journey (up to day 12)

 The first two days of taking the drops are loading or gorging days and it is required to eat as much high fat food as possible. Simeons’ manuscript states: “One cannot keep a patient comfortably on 500 calories unless his normal fat reserves are reasonably well stocked. It is for this reason that every case…must eat to capacity of the most fattening food they can get down until they have had their third injection.” You’d think I would have loved this part…..at first it was fun, but the fun didn’t last!

I decided on Sunday July 11^th to begin the next day, went shopping and read labels for the highest fat food I could find. It was a new kind of adventure -- reading labels and discarding those foods that didn’t qualify as high fat. Can you imagine, Oreos didn’t have enough fat for me to consider purchasing them!

My complete food/weight log is posted separately, in case you want to see it. Basically, for two days I ate and I ate ....