In my previous blog I talked about the 4 steps to conquering weight loss … but following these 4 steps may yield results that are too slow for some. Rapid weight loss is a tricky subject – often quick losses lead to even quicker regains as the body is thrust into starvation mode. The result is yo-yo dieting.
The Set-Point Theory
But there is one other solution, and I’ve come to realise that it’s the only long term weight loss solution that lasts. This is because it not only ‘tricks’ your body into releasing (and using) its stored fats whilst preventing the dreaded starvation mode, it actually resets your ‘set point’ for your body weight – vital in the battle to keeping weight off long-term.
So what is your ‘set point’? It’s the term used to describe the weight at which your body likes to be where you stay with little effort. Remember those couple of kilos or ponds you took off that came right back on again? That’s your ‘set point’ at work. Your body fights to maintain a certain weight level, regardless of what you want it to be or your efforts.
It’s believed that your ‘set point’ is partially DNA-related, and partially learned behaviour from the environment you were first exposed to even as far back as conception. Wow.
Changing Your Set-Point
There are 4 ways to change your set point. The first is to change the composition of your diet – remove sugar and all simple carbohydrates and focus on a more wholesome paleo diet.
The second is to change the composition of your intestine bacteria – stop eating anything artificial (like sweeteners) and focus on fibre rich foods, fermented vegetables and bone broth. Pro and pre-biotics can also help.
The third is to change your circumstances or environment – remove yourself from the temptation of take away and fast food and take pre-prepared healthy meals instead. When eating out pick good eating venues where you can get a health balanced meal.
Fourth is to lose weight slowly – this is why slow long term weight loss is more sustainable. Your body doesn’t fight back to regain what you’ve lost. Slow is the key … real slow like half a kg or a pound a week.
The Problem With Slow and Steady
But there is one issue with the slow approach …
Regulation of your body weight is asymmetric – it’s more responsive to weight loss than to weight gain. So if you lose weight it will adapt to becoming more efficient. If you put weight on it doesn’t try to lose it and your ‘set point’ rises. This is what happens as we get older, partially through ongoing dieting and partly because our metabolism slows.
So whilst slow weight loss is the key, it’s a difficult routine to follow for months or years on end. And it doesn’t fit into our ‘quick fix’ minds programmed for instant gratification and results. But there is one solution, and only one solution, that will give you rapid weight loss and a rapid transformation … for good.
Isn’t Diet and Exercise Enough?
To be fair, after being obese pretty much all my life, back in 2005 I shed 70kg (154lbs) using the simple technique of diet and exercise coupled with mindfulness and NLP. But I never reset my ‘set point’ for my body weight and so over the years it’s crept back on.
Over the last couple of years since I got adrenal fatigue I’ve been looking for an easier method – one that doesn’t require hours of exercise of gym work because, quite frankly, I’m no longer capable of it, despite still having a passion for it – there’s nothing as good as the feeling of a really pumping weights work out, where you can actually feel your muscle fibres tear and start to regenerate … well almost nothing. But anyhow I digress, back to the easier method search …
I even seriously considered sleeve gastrectomy but the reality is my socialising revolves around food – cooking, dining out, entertaining – It’s far too integral to my life to remove it and resort to minuscule (often vitamised) meals and multivitamins because I can’t eat enough to get the nutrients my body needs to thrive. Seriously, that’s no life for me.
The Answer is Science
In looking for another answer, one that could yield rapid results and reset my body’s ‘set point’ so I didn’t put the weight loss back on, there was only one answer I found. All my research pointed to just one thing … a human hormone called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin or hCG.
The truth is you won’t hear much about this hormone, and there are plenty of sham versions all jostling to take your money without producing any real results. So over the coming days I’m going to be revealing everything you ever wanted to know about this amazing treatment … one that ‘big pharma’ don’t want you to know about because … well because there’s no money in it for them – they can’t patent a human hormone.
So what on earth is hCG?
It’s a human hormone produced by women during pregnancy called human Chorionic Gonadotropin, and the science behind it is quite fascinating.
Discovered in the in the 1920s by German scientists Selmar Aschheim and Bernhard Zondek it was first used as a #fertility treatment in women before it’s weight loss properties being discovered by Dr Simeon in 1954 in his revolutionary “Pounds and Inches” book.
In the body, one of hCG’s main roles is to ensure a safe, sable pregnancy, and it does this via regulation of progesterone and estrogen production, which are essential for the development of the embryo and foetus. It’s also responsible for mobilising stored fats.
Let’s Talk Cavemen for a Moment
Now there’s a lot of misinformation on the internet when it comes to hCG so let’s talk prehistoric humans for a moment to understand the concept. If you think of pregnant women back then you would understand that there were times of feast, and times of famine, but the energy requirements of a foetus remain the same, growing slowly as the baby develops.
During times of famine the energy the baby required had to come from somewhere, without harming the mother, right? And that somewhere is by mobilising her stored fats into energy that can be used.
Using this theory, Dr Simeons proposed that the hormone could be used to shift unwanted stored fats in the body by simulating a time of famine. Now normally after a few days of very low calorie eating the body will jump into starvation mode causing a whole lot of negative chain reactions that end up putting more weight on that you took off. But in Dr Simeon’s research he saw that hCG actually lengthened the time it took, enabling a safe prolonged period of weight loss.
Why Dieting is Bad For You
If you’ve been on a weight loss journey or two before then your weight has probably jumped up and down a bit, or even yo-yoed. And you’ve probably lost more weight than 3 or 4 times your body weight if you add up all the pounds you’ve had to re-lose! I know it’s certainly true for me.
And as I’ve mentioned previously, this is the worst scenario possible because it’s the constant dieting that gradually raises your ‘set point’ – the weight at which your body naturally likes to level out to. And it’s why it’s so hard to lose weight in the first place.
hCG Maintenance is Key
So whilst hCG tricks the body into losing weight, the crucial part of your hCG journey after the weight loss phase is successful completion of a three-week maintenance phase specifically designed to reset you body’s ‘set point’ for weight.
This is one of the key aspects behind the diet, and why hCG lasts longer than pretty much any other diet program on the market. In fact it’s the main technique used by both celebrities and European royalty since the 1970s. They disappear into a ‘clinic’ for 10 weeks and re-emerge slim and svelte and looking incredible.
When doing an hCG diet there’s no need to go to a retreat like the movie stars anymore. You can do the program easily at home – it just takes some planning.
