Not Like Other HCG Diet Reviews – My actual day by day account. I am updating this post as my personal experience, since doing The HCG Protocol as detailed below, is that as long as it is done using a reputable company, with good support and advice, and where the focus is on healthy food and ongoing lifestyle changes, it can be a wonderful, life changing experience. I did it through a nutritionist and I followed the instructions exactly. You will see by the amount of comments below that it is a topic that many people are interested in and many people are confused about. I hope this post helps you with your research into this protocol. I have maintained a healthy weight, since doing it nearly a year and a half ago, by following healthy eating principles and getting regular exercise. I still enjoy baking, entertaining, dining out and good wine but I ensure that I have a well balanced diet that includes protein, Omega 3 and plenty of healthy carbohydrates in the form of vegetables and fruit. I have left the remainder of this post as it was written at the time and it is my personal account including day by day details of my losses. Important Update for American and Canadian Readers. There are a lot of people who are very enthusiastic about this very low calorie diet but until now I have only been able to recommend the nutritionist that I did it with and she can’t ship her HCG drops internationally. I have since done some extensive research and have written about some suppliers in The USA and Canada. I have found three for the homeopathic HCG drops, hormone free HCG and also a medical company in Tampa, Florida who supplies a 1. Prescription HCG Diet Program available by injections, drops or pellets. My regular readers will know that in the past I have been made some derogatory comments about the HCG diet saying that it sounds ridiculous and extreme and that I wouldn’t even consider it. I have since researched it more thoroughly and had a change of heart and in this post I will detail why and also give you a thorough overview of the protocol. Unlike many other Human Chorionic Gonadotropin diet reviews, this is my personal account including a day by day list of my exact weight loss. My Change of Heart. Since then I came across another version of the HCG extreme diet and checked out other reviews about it. I probably would have ignored it except the person promoting is Cindy O’Meara, who is a highly respected nutritionist and speaker on health- related subjects. Given that I was desperate, due to my recent binge and subsequent weight gain, plus the fact that I have Cindy’s book, Changing Habits Changing Lives, and find her theories very credible, I decided to look further. I checked out her website and if you go to this page you will find useful information about the Human Chorionic Gonadotropin protocol plus a free video. What I read convinced me that it was worth looking into further. I also looked into The Diet Solution Program which I have reviewed on this site before. To be honest, that looked like a more sensible approach, but I was excited at the prospect of managing to lose over 2. This is not like other diet reviews in that it is an actual account of my progress, day by day. The Protocol and my Progress. Phase 1. This is called The Loading Phase and I loved it; it was my idea of food heaven. This part of the program only lasts two days and the intention is to help the body to load up on essential fats and nutrients to carry it through for the first few days of phase 2 until the homeopathic drops start to take effect. I could indulge in all of the healthy high- fat foods I could think off, even to excess! Now this doesn’t mean that I ate junk, processed foods, or other nutrient void “food like products.” It was all good, healthy stuff; yummy things that I love. For example I had eggs benedict for breakfast, I had leftover homemade hollandaise on my asparagus for lunch, and I had a beautiful steak dinner with a cream sauce and potatoes with both sour cream and butter! I think you get the picture. Here is some Free info from the nutritionist that I did it with. If you scroll down to the section called “The 4 Phase Fat Elimination Protocol” and then go to the “Phase 4.
This is where you will find it: Get your Free HCG Info here. Phase 2. This is called the core phase and can last anywhere from 1. I originally planned on doing it for 2. I was getting such great results. This is where you begin the 5. J per- day- diet. I will go into more detail about the actual allowed foods and also provide some recipes in another post on the topic but the basics are as follows: You can have two protein serves per day of 3 . You can choose from beef , lamb, veal, chicken breast and some fish. Vegetarian and diabetic options are also covered in the outline. You can have two vegetable servings a day from a list of allowed items and in addition to this there are other, what are called free foods, which include tomato, onion, many salad ingredients and most herbs. You can eat as much of these as you like. You can have three items of fruit per day, also from a selected list, plus the juice of one lemon or lime per day. In addition to this you must drink at least 8 cups of fluid per day including water tea and coffee. All sweeteners are prohibited apart from Stevia. You can have up to 1 tablespoon of milk per day as long as it is a good- quality organic milk that has not been homogenized. Master the P90X Nutrition Plan. Take control of your metabolism with the nutrition program and get the most out of P90X, from the inside out. If you've been reading HCG diet reviews read my account of phase one and two plus my actual daily losses. Unlike other HCG reviews this is my personal. Eating while on the Dash Diet is easy because the diet allows for an abundance of healthy food items. The Dash Diet is not a quick crash diet. All processed products, sugar, wheat, dairy, oils and alcohol are prohibited. You continue to take the drop during this entire phase. Yesterday was my last day on phase 2 and I can say that I stuck to it very closely to the letter. The 17 Day Diet is a weight loss diet claiming to offer up to 12 pounds of weight loss within the first 17 days. Part of slimming down involves a simple, sensible exercise and eating plan. Here's a week-long menu for our Lose 20 Pounds Fast Diet program: Over the next 90 days. Paleo Grubs is proud to present some of the best Paleo Diet recipes from around the web, as well as from our own Paleo chefs. My only deviation was that I probably had the juice of two lemons per day, as opposed to one, on some of the days. Here are my actual HCG diet results on a daily basis: Day one – 4. Day two – 1. 5 lbs (. Day three – 1. 3 lbs (. Day four – 1. 1 lbs (. Day five – . 9 lbs (. Day six – 1. 3 lbs (. Day seven – . 7 lbs (. Day eight – . 4 lbs (. Day nine – 1. 3 lbs (. Day ten – . 2 lbs (. Day eleven – 1. 5 lbs (. Day twelve – . 2 lbs (. Day thirteen – 1. Day fourteen – . 7 lbs (. Day fifteen – . 9 lbs (. Day sixteen + . 2 lbs (. Day seventeen – . Day eighteen – . 4 lbs (. Day nineteen + . 7 lbs (. Day twenty – 1. 5 lbs (. Day twenty one – . Day twenty two – 0. Day twenty three – . Day twenty four – . Day twenty five – . Day twenty six – 0. Day twenty seven + . That’s a grand total of exactly 1. To say I am thrilled is an understatement. Other Benefits. At the beginning of this program I took my blood pressure. I was taking two blood pressure tablets per day at the time and my reading was still 1. During the time being on this protocol I have been able to reduce my meds to one a day and my blood pressure this morning was a healthy 1. My goal now is to eliminate my blood pressure meds altogether in the next two months (under doctors supervision of course). Phase 3 and Beyond. I’ll write another post soon, as I transition through phase 3 (3 days) and phase 4 (2. So far I have been very happy and, although not for the undisciplined, it has been easier than I expected and I have felt great throughout, apart from being a bit tired and emotional for the first few days of phase 2. Remember, I am not a doctor or medical practitioner. You should always do your own research and also not make any radical lifestyle changes without consulting your doctor. I would only recommend you buy your HCG from suppliers that offer ongoing support programs. If you have had any success or problems with any Human Chorionic Gonadotropin related diet program, I’d love it if you would share your comments below for the benefit of other readers. Day Reset Autoimmune Diet Plan. For many years I suspected that I had some form of thyroid problem based on my own research and symptoms like dry skin, occasional fatigue, trouble losing weight after having a baby, and hair thinning, but I was never able to get answers from conventional tests which showed that my T3 and T4 thyroid hormones were in the normal range. Thankfully, I found an amazing doctor who specializes in hormones and endocrine problems and with additional blood testing and a thyroid ultrasound, he was able to finally figure out what I was struggling with: Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (an autoimmune condition where the body creates antibodies to the thyroid). What are Autoimmune Problems? It turns out that many different disorders and diseases are autoimmune in nature but they manifest in different ways. As the Paleo Mom explains: Autoimmune disease is caused by the immune system losing the ability to differentiate proteins belonging to your own body with proteins belonging to a foreign invader (like a bacteria, virus or parasite). What causes symptoms is the build up of damage to cells, tissues and/or organs in the body. Which proteins/cells are attacked is what separates once disease from another. In Rheumatoid Arthritis, the tissues of your joints are attacked. In psoriasis, proteins within the layers of cells that make up your skin are attacked. However, the root cause is the same. Genetic predisposition to autoimmunity makes up about one third of your risk of developing an autoimmune disease. The other two thirds of your risk come from environmental factors, which include: diet, lifestyle, infections (both prior and persistent) exposure to toxins, hormones, weight, etc. While you cannot control your genetics or whether or not you had mono as a kid, you do have an immense amount of control over your diet and lifestyle (and the extent that these affect hormones and weight and even toxin exposure). By removing the foods that contribute to a leaky gut, gut dysbiosis (the wrong numbers, relative quantities, or types of microorganisms typically growing in the wrong locations in your gut), hormone imbalance, and that stimulate inflammation and the immune system, you can create the opportunity for your body to heal. By addressing important lifestyle factors and changing your focus to eating nutrient- dense foods that support optimal gut health (and optimal health of your gut microorganisms), that restore levels of important nutrients and provide all of the building blocks that your body needs to heal and properly regulate the immune system, that help resolve inflammation and support organ function, you create an environment in your body conducive to healing. Why Other Diets May Not Work. From my understanding, once the body has an autoimmune reaction, it can sometimes be necessary to remove a wide variety of potentially inflammatory foods for a short time and then reintroduce to test the response. The idea is similar to the theory behind the GAPS protocol but geared toward addressing autoimmune issues instead. Since the body is in a state of heightened immune response, removing these foods can help it get back into a state of balance and reduce the autoimmune reaction. Technically, an autoimmune disease cannot be “cured”, but in many cases, it is possible to put the condition into remission with careful diet and lifestyle changes. My Experience. I switched to an autoimmune protocol diet after being diagnosed with Hashimotos in hopes of giving my immune system a little time to recover. I was hopeful that it would be beneficial, but I was AMAZED at how quickly it helped. Within the first week, I saw my bloating go away, my thyroid nodule felt noticeably smaller, I had more energy (after the first couple of days), and my skin improved. Over the course of the almost two months I did the strict protocol, I lost some of my stubborn weight and felt incredibly better. It also helped me identify foods that I was not responding well to, but that I didn’t realize were problematic (like eggs, which was confirmed by blood test later). I was able to reintroduce many of the foods after that time without a problem and I felt continually better (until I created a flare by not sleeping and stressing about finishing my book). Sleep and stress are both huge factors in overall health and are especially important for those with any kind of health condition. The Specifics of the Autoimmune Diet. The general idea of the autoimmune diet is that you are removing any potentially inflammatory foods, but the specifics are a bit more difficult. Some sources consider foods like fruit and sweet potatoes ok, while others do not. For reference, some sources that I find most helpful are: This particular post from the Paleo Mom is really helpful in understanding what foods are considered safe and which ones to temporarily avoid. I’ll also be posting more autoimmune friendly recipes and meal plans soon, but those are great resources for getting started. You can download the complete food list I used by clicking here (PDF). It can seem overwhelming, but this way of eating is actually relatively simple if you follow a template. My typical day on the autoimmune diet was: Breakfast– A scramble of meat and cooked vegetables, a cup of homemade bone broth, some fermented vegetables, and supplements. Lunch– A huge salad with leftover protein (meat, offal or fish) and a small piece of fruit, a cup of bone broth, fermented water kefir or kombucha and olives. Dinner– A stir fry with some type of protein (meat, offal, seafood) with a lot of vegetables and allowed spices, evening supplements and at least 1 cup of healthy starch like cooked winter squash, pumpkin, etc. I also made a lot of stuffed squashes and soups. We rely heavily on big salads, stir frys and casseroles while on the autoimmune diet. When I first started, it seemed like I couldn’t eat anything and I was depriving myself of everything, but it is important to remember that many times the body is deficient in certain nutrients because of an autoimmune disease so during the course of the 3. I focused on extensively nourishing my body with as many high quality proteins, vegetables and healthy fats as I could consume. I may have been tired of my food choices at times, but I certainly never went hungry. I also focused on consuming a TON of vegetables during this time, after talking to Dr. Terry Wahls and reading her book, The Wahls Protocol. Wahls emphasizes the importance of consuming at least 9 cups of vegetables a day, especially brightly colored vegetables, leafy greens, and onions and garlic. Personally, I found that these factors were equally important to recovery for me: Sleep. I love to stay up late and skimp on sleep so I can get more done. My body does not love this. I’ve found that when I sleep at least 8- 8. I see my health markers improve (blood tests, fasting blood glucose, etc). Stress reduction. Also a tough one for me, but stress can have as much of an impact as diet on gut health and hormone levels. I found that even with a good diet, I started to notice symptoms creeping back in while under the stress of finishing my book. Supplements. I hesitated to include this part because if diet, stress and sleep aren’t under control, this won’t help at all, but I found certain supplements helped tremendously once I had optimized other factors. I personally take: WP- Throid thyroid medication (under the care of my doctor), Betaine HCL with protein meals, 5- MTHF and Methyl- B1. Folate, Probiotics, Fermented Cod Liver Oil, Cortisol support, Omega- 3s, Vitamin D (and sunshine daily in the morning), Magnesium, L- glutamine, Gelatin, and Vitamin C. I would highly recommend seeing a good functional medicine doctor and finding out what you personally need before taking any supplements. Autoimmune Diet Encouragement. This diet is difficult. Sometimes the best things in life require some work and denial of self. An elimination diet is temporary and it gives you a window into your own body and what you need to eat for optimal health. Don’t let is cause you extra stress. Don’t let this keep you up at night. Try to focus on nourishing and loving your body and providing it with the building blocks it needs to function optimally. If you can, encourage a friend or family member to make the journey with you for support. Let me know below what your struggle is and the results you see! Free Healthy Recipes, Easy Diet Recipes, and Healthy Cooking Tips. Welcome to Fave. Healthy. Recipes. com! We have 1. We want to teach you how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, so we are giving you all the tools you need to create a healthier you. We have information and recipes about modified diets and food allergies. We know that you will enjoy the quick and easy meals at Fave. Healthy. Recipes. Healthy Valentine's Day Dessert Recipes. Glazed Chocolate- Pumpkin Bundt Cake. Peanut Butter & Pretzel Truffles. Flourless Honey- Almond Cake. Warm Chocolate Pudding. Thick & Rich Drinking Chocolate. Dark Fudgy Brownies. Swirled Cheesecake Brownies. Chocolate Decadence. Chewy Chocolate Cookies. Chocolate Raspberry Tofu Pie. Rocky Road Brownies. Chocolate- Covered Brownie Bites. Raspberry- Swirl Cupcakes. Hot Fudge Pudding Cake. Dark Chocolate Meringue Drops. Eating. Well Waffles. Cranberry Upside- Down Cake. Chocolate- Cherry Cupcakes. Buttermilk Oatcakes with Raspberry Compote. Caramelized Bananas.
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