Sunday, 18 September 2011

DIET JOURNEY

Source: Pauline Kuehn - Hcg'ers Canada. Aug 23, 2011.

Dieting is not just about food, or a lack of it. Dieting is a journey you embark upon as an individual. Unfortunately, many people focus too much on the wrong things and wonder why difficult days become the norm. You alone can change dieting from being a painful thought, to that of a positive, rewarding one. You have the ability to create your own mindset. Whether your attitude is positive or negative is up to you; not your friends, family or coach. Your dieting success is dependent on your mental focus. Ask yourself why you are dieting. No one is making you diet. It is all you. Each day you wake up and make the decision to carry on. If you believe you will fail at dieting, then you will. If you believe you will reach your goals, you will.

To be truly successful when dieting you need to embrace the process as building a healthier you rather than depriving yourself of something. Do not think of your weight- loss plan as
something negative but rather a positive force in your life to make changes for the better. When you have negative thoughts do not direct them at your diet. When you feel deprived remind yourself that you are depriving your bones of carrying around that excess weight. Remind yourself that you are depriving your wardrobe of those bulky clothes that are designed to hide the bulges. Remind yourself that you are depriving your body of years of bulges and bringing back the body of your youth.

Dieting does not control you, you control it. Create a positive image in your mind of where you are going with your dieting journey. Actively seek support from those around you who believe in you and believe in yourself. Tell yourself you are a fighter for your dreams. Hold that close in your mind, believe in it, believe in yourself. When hurdles confront you, you will happily embrace, endure and execute successfully... YOU will be a SUCESS.

The bottom line is that you have to be DETERMINED. You have to recognize that it is a life time change and that you are the only person that feeds yourself. The only thing stopping you from success is yourself...So be a success.

Potential Side Effects of Diet-33 Program

Source: Nicole Morgan - Hcg'ers, USA.

Diet-33 - Headache as potential side effects

Some individuals, when starting HCG diet, will experience headaches. This typically occurs during the first few days of the diet.  Headaches occur because while the body is adjusting to the very lower calorie diet, the HCG is forcing stored fat into the bloodstream, which the body uses as fuel. This is a different energy source then the body normally utilizes and the result may be a headache.  Fortunately, this doesn’t last very long. Most people will only experience headaches for 1-2 days. It is important that individuals drink plenty of water while on Diet-33 program. Sometimes, an individual on the HCG diet may have headaches because they are dehydrated. Drinking extra water can be helpful. If you drink more water then normal and are thus, adequately hydrated, the headache maybe due to something else, namely the body switching from carbs as fuel to fat. The brain would rather use carbohydrates for fuel. Carbs convert faster and provide simple and quick energy while protein takes a little longer to convert. When a person stops eating carbohydrates, while on the Diet-33 the body has to adjust and a headache may be the result. The body is used to carbohydrates. Most Americans eat a ton of them. Persons who consume a lot of pre-packaged foods, likely eat of great deal of carbs. Many of these foods contain simply sugars, corn syrup and fructose which are all carbohydrates. These are largely unhealthy and are what would be categorized as bad carbohydrates. However, when individuals eat a lot of them, their body adjusts and become used to them. When a person stops eating foods of this type, their body begins to experience withdrawals. One common withdrawal symptom is headaches. A person who consumed lots of carbs prior to starting the diet, specifically carbohydrates, the worst their headaches will be. When detoxing from bad carbs, besides headaches, a person may also experience tiredness, hunger, sore muscles, irritability, nausea, food cravings, gas and bloating. Thankfully, these symptoms don’t last longer, generally, no more then 3-4 days. For most people, it will only last 1 to 2 days. There are some actions that people can take who suffer from HCG diet headaches and related carbohydrate withdrawal symptoms. Besides drinking more water a person might normal, one option is to go on a 2 day gorge. This involves eating lots of fatty foods for a period of two days.  This gives the body time to wean itself off of the bad carbohydrates.  L-Glutamine helps to reduce cravings. Aspirin and Paracetamol can help with pain relief.

Thursday, 8 September 2011

PHASE 3 MAINTENANCE FOOD GUIDE

Source from: Clara Duffy - Hcg'ers, USA. 6:08am Aug 12

Phase 3 information for Dr. Simeon's no starch no sugar - 21 days duration

Quote: Sugar is sugar, so no cake, pie, candy, soft drinks, kool-aid, processed food, energy drinks, fruit juice, honey, yogurt, donuts, cookies, pudding, maple syrup, brownies, canned fruit in heavy syrup, ice cream, cool whip, boxed breakfast cereals, breakfast bars, granola - nothing with sugar. You will also have to stay away from high sugar fruits, such as watermelon, pineapple, bananas (also contain starch), grapes, mangos, pears, dried fruits, etc. I wouldn't juice while on this phase due to the sugar content of the juice and the lack of fiber.

Start reading labels on food - there is sugar in just about anything in a can or a box, including canned vegetables, mayo, Miracle Whip, tuna, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, salad dressing, just to name a few. Quite a lot of dairy products have sugar. Condiments are full of sugar: ketchup, BBQ sauce, yellow mustard, pickle relish, pickles, bottled marinade sauces - when in doubt, always read the label. If sugar is listed in the first to third position the majority of that food is sugar.

Starch is cornstarch, white flour, wheat flour, any flour, pasta, any bread or bread product, breadsticks, bagels, hamburger and hotdog buns, crackers, tortillas, oatmeal, rice, peas, corn, lentils, pita bread, pretzels, corn chips, potato chips, yams, potatoes, pancakes, muffins, just about all root vegetables, fried chicken (coating), any breading on fish, chicken, etc., beans, grains, acorn squash, butternut squash, cereals, popcorn, biscuits, corn bread, taco shells, croutons, rice cakes, Cream of Wheat, corn meal, quite a few nuts contain starch, etc.

The majority of the processed foods listed above contain sugar, too.

You will need to watch eating at fast food places - McDonald's adds sugar to their french fries and their grilled chicken breast, for example. I read an article the other day that said a McDonald's grilled chicken salad contains more sugar than their Big Mac. Hard telling what is in that mystery meat they put on that Big Mac bun, too. If you knew where those cows came from, how they were raised and what they were fed in the feedlots, you would never eat another fast food hamburger in your life. In fact, you'd never eat any hamburger again, no matter whether it was fast food or grocery store, LOL. Same way with the chickens and turkeys.

Almost all cold cuts have added sugar or nitrates and nitrites, plus added starch. Processed meat can be cured in sugar or have added sugar. A lot of summer sausage has added sugar, chemicals and starch. Hotdogs and sausage is usually full of starch and sugar, not to mention the chemicals. Read the labels on fresh or frozen turkey or turkey breast - often they are injected with a solution containing sugar, chemicals and a lot of salt.

Some cheese contains sugar, depending on the type - you'll have to read the labels. If it says "processed cheese food", throw it back.

Stick with what you have been eating, just more of it. Mix your vegetables at this time in a large salad and add more chicken, shrimp, crab or steak as your protein. I look forward to cooking my chicken in olive oil again and using olive oil based marinades.

Marinades are three parts: an oil, an acid and spices or some sort of flavoring. I plan on marinating in olive oil, lemon or lime juice and more fresh herbs or herbs from the pantry.

Add salmon to your diet and tuna, and some of the higher fat fish we haven't been allowed. Eat vegetables we haven't been allowed to, as long as they aren't a starchy vegetable like potatoes or corn, etc. Make your own mayo, mix it with some diced eggs, celery and good canned albacore tuna and have tuna salad on top of your green salad, or alone. Same with egg salad. Mound the egg or tuna salad on cucumber rounds instead of crackers.

Go for Shrimp Scampi - shrimp and butter, broiled, with a squirt of fresh lemon juice. Yum-yum. Eat eggs, cooked in butter, omelets with cheese, fresh egg omelets with diced vegetables such as onion, red pepper, green pepper, mushrooms, perhaps a bit of diced chicken. Steak and eggs. Cauliflower and broccoli with cheese or cauliflower or broccoli with fresh lemon juice and butter. Quiche! Crustless quiche made with ghee, eggs, heavy cream, fresh vegetables and/or chicken - oh my!

You will have to watch eating out and eating such things as eggs, steaks and omelets, as most places use butter-flavored trans fats to cook that type of food. Be selective in your restaurant choices and opt for the higher end places and don't be afraid to request your food be cooked only in butter. A true chef in the kitchen that cares about what he puts on a plate will be glad to accommodate your wishes. Paying a little bit extra is well worth the taste and enjoyment you'll get out of the food - and remember, you're worth it. It's your body and you've only got the one!

Get some organic heavy cream and whip it up, adding a bit of vanilla extract and Stevia. Garnish fresh blueberries, strawberries, black berries, raspberries with it. You could take the berries and drizzle a bit of homemade chocolate sauce on them - mix stevia or sweetener of your choice with a high quality starchless cocoa and a little milk, cook the mixture for a little bit and use it as a fruit topping. There are a lot of low-carb ice cream recipes out there where you use heavy cream and sweeteners, there are also cheesecake recipes you can make yourself and other dessert recipes where you can control the ingredients and know you're not getting any added sugar or starch. Make your own hot chocolate using milk, a good quality cocoa and sweetener of your choice. Garnish it with a little bit of your whipped cream.

Use egg yolks, lemon juice, butter and make a Hollandaise sauce and add that to your asparagus or other vegetables.

Keep in mind, too, that depending on how long you were on the VLCD, your system has been going through a type of cleanse and has been limited to certain kinds and types of food. Adding in a lot of things very quickly, particularly depending on the kind of fat is used in cooking, could make you sick. Add the fats back in slowly and use only good, high quality fats. Stay away from corn, vegetable and canola oil and opt for a good, high quality olive oil instead.

Stick to what you've been eating, add more of it and expand with good food choices. Keep your food choices from the perimeter of the store which is the fresh produce dept., the meat and fish dept., and the dairy dept. Stay out of the middle aisles and avoid that area of the store. There is nothing alive in the middle of the store. It is dead, processed food that has been packed in cans and boxes. Remember what made you overweight to begin with.

Stabilization for Jazz and Jai

Had to force myself to start posting again...the spirit of Eid is really getting to me and I am getting lazy... There were traveling, visiting, receiving guests to do and all around were full of food and lovely and yummy cookies to sample. Today I attended 2 corporate Hari Raya do and tasted almost everything on sight although not much per portion but in combination it's definitely sinful in Dr Simeon's HCG terms....haha.

By the way the most important update, the damage to us so far:

As at today, Jazz weighed in at 84 kg. He had a max weight of 84.7 kg during the Eid's gorging spree week before stabilizing.
Myself at 61.8 kg today. Had a max of 62.7 kg during Eid's food craze week before stabilizing. Didn't bother to weigh in daily last week as we didn't bring the scale to hubby's hometown in Penang, so the max weight could have been higher...urghh! Well, today's weight is what I wanted to count..hehe.

I would say that our gains are within expectations (after Diet-33 experience in Round 1)...as the gains can be considered mild taking into account the amount of food that we gorged on, all starchy and sugary stuff synonym with Eid's feasting. I am pleasantly surprised that we didn't gain 5 kilos as it was so easy to gain 5 kilos before we did this Diet. I am convinced that somehow our metabolism has improved but definitely to be stable, we have to be more mindful of what we put inside our mouth. Starch and sugar are really the big culprit to make me feel kind of tired and bloated this past week. I can physically feel my body protesting to the junks I ate but of coz the junks were just too tempting to pass. Anyway, this Eid festivities are for a month and I have consciously slowed down on my food intake so I can confine the gorging to weekends where the food galore will be ample. So Happy Raya/Eid my friends...may we continue to remind ourselves to focus on healthier eating.