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HCG Diet:  Should Starvation Be An Acceptable Weight-Loss Plan?

Have you heard of the hCG diet plan?  It’s been around since the 70’s and is making a comeback in today’s quick-fix society.  With promises of quick weight loss and little hunger, it sounds like the weight loss miracle we’ve all been hoping for.  But SURPRISE!  There is no miracle, just deception.  And much worse, this diet plan will most likely do you more harm than good.

With so many women trying to lose weight in this country, it scares me to think of how many of them may be taking this “diet plan” seriously.  It’s not a diet at all, it’s a dangerous consumer deception.  With a 500 calorie a day limit, this plan is nothing more than a starvation diet combined with a medical gimmick, and no good can ever come from it.

The New York Times — Diet Plan With HCG, a Fertility Hormone, Has Fans and Critics…

Ms. Brown, 35, is not taking hCG to help her bear a child. She believes that by combining the hormone injections with a 500-calorie-a-day diet, she will achieve a kind of weight-loss nirvana: losing fat in all the right places without feeling tired or hungry. “I had a friend who did it before her wedding,” Ms. Brown said. “She looks great.”

Before I even touch on all the problems with hCG injections, let’s look at the daily calorie intake for this “so called” diet.  Are they kidding?  Limiting the amount of calories you consume in one day to 500 is nothing more than starvation.  There is absolutely NO WAY to limit your daily calories to 500 and be healthy, it’s pure insanity.

Women like Ms. Brown are streaming into doctors’ offices and weight-loss clinics all over the country, paying upward of $1,000 a month for a consultation, a supply of the hormone and the syringes needed to deliver it. More than 50 years after a doctor at a Roman clinic began promoting hCG as a dieting aid, it is as popular as ever, even though there is scant evidence that it makes any difference.

Again, are you kidding me?  If you used that $1,000 a month to buy all healthy foods to stock your kitchen with for a month, you would still have more than enough money left for a gym membership.  Not only would you lose weight this way, but you would also lower your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer — and that’s not a gimmick, that’s a fact.

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When it comes to healthy living, don’t sweat the small stuff.

Whether you’ve just begun to adopt a healthy living lifestyle, or you’ve been eating and living healthy for years, there’s no need to put pressure on yourself to be perfect at it.  You don’t have to sweat the small stuff.

Yes, if you go out to dinner with friends, it is possible to order healthy off most menus…

• choose light entrees off the menu
• avoid the bread and butter
• choose vegetables in place of fries or baked potatoes
• say “no” to dessert

But there’s no healthy-living law that says you have to.

Yes, if you are out of town, there are still many ways to fit your regular exercise routine in…

• use the hotel gym or pool
• take the steps rather than the elevator
• take a walk and see the sights

But there’s no healthy-living law that says you have to.

Yes, if you’re having a bad day, there are healthy comfort foods to choose from…

• fat free and sugar free puddings
• low fat and no sugar added ice-cream
• a pasta dish made with whole wheat pasta and a low fat sauce
• light banana cream pie

But there’s no healthy-living law that says you can’t just buy a gallon of ice-cream.

We all know that there are no “real” healthy-living laws, but that doesn’t always stop us from punishing ourselves when we perceive we are breaking them.  That’s all it is though, a perception.  It’s a perception of guilt, and often that negativity leads us to giving up on ourselves.  It doesn’t have to be that way — If we take the little step of not sweating the small stuff, we will see huge results.

• less stress
• less guilt
• increased mental strength
• more acceptance of ourselves

When we don’t sweat the small stuff, we do our body good…And that’s healthy living too.

For the most part, I think I’m making many more healthy choices in my life, and I feel good about that.  But I’ll admit, on a recent four day cruise with my daughter, I ordered cheese cake every night from room service just before I went to bed.  And even though I could have chosen healthy meals and desserts, I only did so when it was something that I really wanted.  I didn’t go out of my way to exercise, but I did take the steps instead of the elevator (sometimes).  Overall, I didn’t sweat the small stuff.  And you know what?  I had a wonderful, guilt free vacation with my daughter.

Do you allow yourself a “guilt free” break from healthy living every now and then?  Is it something you might want to try?  I hope you’ll let us know your thoughts in comments.

Today the government has issued new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, something they do every five years.  With obesity (and the deadly medical conditions associated with it) at a critical level in this country, they are guidelines that we can’t afford to ignore.

These new guidelines not only address the need to reduce our intake of unhealthy foods (such as high amounts of sodium, saturated fat, and sugar), but they go a step further, and suggest that Americans must begin to eat less.  Eating less may seem like an obvious suggestion, but most Americans have become a custom to extremely large serving sizes (even super-sizing).

But let’s talk about the specifics, this is from the Executive Summary of the New Dietary Guidelines…

Here are the suggestions for foods we should be trying to eat more of:

• Increase vegetable and fruit intake.
• Eat a variety of vegetables, especially dark-green and red and orange vegetables and beans and peas.
• Consume at least half of all grains as whole grains. Increase whole-grain intake by replacing refined grains with whole grains.
• Increase intake of fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, such as milk, yogurt, cheese, or fortified soy beverages.
• Choose a variety of protein foods, which include seafood, lean meat and poultry, eggs, beans and peas, soy products, and unsalted nuts and seeds.
• Increase the amount and variety of seafood consumed by choosing seafood in place of some meat and poultry.
• Replace protein foods that are higher in solid fats with choices that are lower in solid fats and calories and/or are sources of oils.
• Use oils to replace solid fats where possible.
• Choose foods that provide more potassium, dietary fiber, calcium, and vitamin D, which are nutrients of concern in American diets. These foods include vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and milk and milk products.

Here are the suggestions for foods we should be trying to eat less of…

• Reduce daily sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) and further reduce intake to 1,500 mg among persons who are 51 and older and those of any age who are African American or have hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease. The 1,500 mg recommendation applies to about half of the U.S. population, including children, and the majority of adults.
• Consume less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fatty acids by replacing them with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
• Consume less than 300 mg per day of dietary cholesterol.
• Keep trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible by limiting foods that contain synthetic sources of trans fats, such as partially hydrogenated oils, and by limiting other solid fats.
• Reduce the intake of calories from solid fats and added sugars.
• Limit the consumption of foods that contain refined grains, especially refined grain foods that contain solid fats, added sugars, and sodium.
• If alcohol is consumed, it should be consumed in moderation—up to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men—and only by adults of legal drinking age.

As important as I believe these new guidelines are, I am disappointed by the lack of acknowledgment about why most Americans make unhealthy food choices in the first place.  The bottom line is, healthy foods are generally more expensive than unhealthy foods, and the super unhealthy foods are down right cheap.

In a time when so many Americans are struggling financially, it’s unrealistic to assume that the reason people are making unhealthy food choices is because they just don’t know any better.   I hope the reason money wasn’t addressed isn’t because the USDA believes that even people who can only afford to eat junk food, are covered by their “eat less” guideline  (as in a post I wrote about Twinkies a few months ago).

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Diet and Weight Loss:  Is it possible to eat healthy during the holidays?  Do you really want to?

For me, the answer is yes and no.

Yes, I know it’s possible to continue to eat healthy during the holidays.  But no, I really don’t want to.  So instead, I’ll try to find a happy medium.

Some say that most people only gain about a pound during the holidays, others say you can gain up to ten…I imagine it depends on the person.

Here are my 8 tips for avoiding holiday weight gain that I wrote last year around this time…

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Weight Loss:  It’s Not About The Twinkies, Stupid – (cross posted at BlogHer Health & Wellness)

Here’s what I think about the Twinkie Diet and the professor who claims to have lost weight on it…

In an unprecedented show of nutritional and scholarly savvy, a forward-thinking professor of nutrition was seeking to prove that limiting calories is the key to weight loss.  And incredibly, his theories have turned out to be correct.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, am I being Punked?  Isn’t it already a fact that eating less calories than your body burns is the key to losing weight?  I guess we can overlook that minor detail, because it’s how the professor lost the weight that is so astonishing.

You see, the real excitement of this story is how Twinkies and junk food are finally taking their rightful place in the war against obesity.

Yes, it’s true…

A one-man pseudo-research experiment has proven without a doubt that eating Twinkies can lead to weight loss (just as long as you consume considerably less calories than your body requires).  I know, it’s a shocking revelation.  It’s being dubbed, the Twinkie Diet, and you can actually eat just about anything (candy, cookies, chips, cake. fruits, vegetables) and still lose weight, just as long as you are taking in much less calories than your body burns.

If it sounds like a miracle diet, IT’S NOT.

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This is my personal story of how I lost those last 10 pounds.  It started over two years ago when I lost 30 of the 40 pounds I had gained.  Those first 30 came off just by making healthier food choices, but the last 10 were proving to be much more difficult.   But I did it, and so can you.

Many of you who read my BlogHer posts are familiar with the struggles I’ve had with weight loss over the years.  For the most part I’ve been successful, although it took almost two years to finally get rid of those last ten pesky pounds.  But before I tell you my “how I did it” story, I want to share with you my “how I got there in the first place” story.  I think it’s just as important to recognize how and why we gained the weight, as it is to actually lose the weight.  Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with all the details, but in a nutshell two things had the greatest contribution to my (rather rapid) weight gain of about 40 pounds…

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It’s no secret that I’m not fond of diet pills, and I’ve written quite a bit about my disdain for “Alli:  The Diarrhea Diet” over the last few years.  And it is now being reported that the prescription diet pill “Meridia” increases a person’s risk of heart attack and stroke.  Didn’t we learn anything from the whole “Fen-Phen” debacle?

When it comes to taking any medication, the first thing you have to do is determine if the benefits outweigh the risks of taking it.  So let’s take a look at the benefits.  It seems that Meridia offers less than a nine pound reduction in weight.  But is this really a benefit?  This is a drug that is prescribed by physicians to “obese” patients (people that need to lose a lot of weight before they will see any health benefits), so a nine pound reduction in weight hardly seems to be worth the risk.

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These days we need to do everything we can to help ourselves look and feel healthier. We have more work, more worries, more responsibilities — and all of this can take a real toll on how we look and feel.  But there are simple things we can do to rejuvenate ourselves inside and out.  Here are my top ten tips for looking and feeling healthier.

1.  Drink enough water

This is a big one, because there is no way to be healthy and dehydrated, our bodies need water.  Make sure you are drinking enough water throughout the day, and remember that soda, coffee, and alcoholic beverages don’t count as hydration.   Also See:  Staying Healthy And Hydrated

Another benefit of drinking water.  Drinking Water Before Meals To Lose Weight – A new study found that middle-aged and older adults who drank two cups of water before each meal consumed fewer calories and lost more weight than those who skipped drinking water.

2.  Eat more healthy foods than unhealthy foods

You don’t have to be a health nut, but at least try to incorporate healthy foods into your diet whenever possible.  Try this – For a week keep track of what foods you’re eating each day.  At the end of the week examine your list and determine if you are eating more healthy foods than unhealthy ones.  Then find ways you can replace some of the unhealthy stuff with healthy stuff.  Also See:  Getting Reacquainted With Health Food

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Another study finds belly bulge contributes to four serious medical conditions that can ultimately lead to death.

It seems women should have a waist circumference no greater than 35 inches, otherwise they are at a greater risk for heart disease, asthma, breast cancer as well as dementia.

“Even if you haven’t had a noticeable weight gain, if you notice your waist size increasing that’s an important sign,” said lead author Eric Jacobs of the American Cancer Society, which funded the study. “It’s time to eat better and start exercising more.”

Bulging bellies are a problem for most Americans older than 50. It’s estimated that more than half of older men and more than 70 percent of older women have bigger waistlines than recommended. And it’s a growing problem: Average waistlines have expanded by about an inch per decade since the 1960s.

Although I’m not past the recommended girth, I have noticed an evolution of how my body is distributing its weight. I wrote about how I’ve noticed that I’ve been carrying my weight differently since I hit 40 (with much of it in my belly), and the difficult time I’ve been having trying to lose the last 10 pounds.

I can’t help but think that my age has something to do with my inability to get rid of those last ten pounds. At 42, I’ve been observing some strange happenings to my body. Oddly, my weight has stayed relatively the same, but how the weight is distributed on my body has been changing dramatically (I seem to be plumping up around my waist and belly, while at the same time shrinking in areas I would prefer to keep).

In this video Dr. Oz talks about how a high belly fat measurement can take up to 15 years off your life, and shows you how to measure it for yourself…

Are you concerned about the added risks to your health from carrying extra weight in you belly?

Also See:

• Healthy Foods That Also Increase Your Energy
• Tip To Help You With Dieting & Weight Loss Willpower
• How You Can Be A Healthy Living Success Story
• 10 Tips For Making Fitness Fun

*photo courtesy of Busy Woman’s Guide

Are you honest about your weight?  Although I would prefer not to be asked, when I am asked, it never occurs to me to lie about it.

It used to be that women were thought to always lie about their age and weight, but a new CDC study finds that Americans are becoming more honest (at least about) their weight.  To be honest, I didn’t even know that there were studies measuring the number of people who lie about their weight.  It seems a little odd, but who am I to judge?

The new report also found that in nine states at least 30 percent of the adults were obese in 2009. The states were Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Mississippi, the highest at 34 percent. In 2007, only Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee topped 30 percent.

No states met a national goal for 2010 of limiting obesity to 15 percent. Only Colorado and the District of Columbia were lower than 20 percent, and just barely.

It did get me thinking a bit  about why?  Why are Americans becoming more honest about their weight, especially considering that obesity is on the rise?

Could it be that we are finally getting to the point of loving and accepting ourselves, even with our perceived imperfections?  That wouldn’t be so bad, maybe those Dove ads (you know, the ones using average and plus size models) are having an impact on how we see ourselves.  What ever the reason, if women are feeling better about themselves, I think that’s wonderful.  Anyway, that’s my idealistic way of looking at this story, and I think it could be true.

However, it seems the researchers have their own opinion (go figure), and it does make sense.  They believe that because of all the press coverage over the ever growing obesity epidemic (and the health problems associated with it), that Americans are becoming more aware of their weight and therefore more honest.  The benefit to this observation would be that Americans are becoming concerned about the health risks of being overweight (rather than the stigma), and are keeping a closer eye on it.  In the long run (idealistically), this change in behavior may actually prove to be the catalyst to American’s changing their eating habits from unhealthy to healthy, and that would be a good thing.  Wouldn’t it be great to go from a society facing an obesity epidemic, to a society facing a healthy living epidemic?

*cross-posted to BlogHer Health & Wellness