First of all: Here are holiday greetings from Argentina’s Dr. Daniel Belluscio, the hCG expert who developed the ORAL form of hCG, with whom we got certified in hCG coaching. You can see Dr. Belluscio in the photo below, at the center of his team. His message:
Estimada Renate Stendhal,
Esperamos que este nuevo año que comienza le traiga nuevas oportunidades y lo guíe por el camino del éxito, la felicidad y prosperidad.
Nuestros mejores deseos para el 2013 !!
Before we wish you the same, a few thoughts about the holidays. I would like to catch you up on the process of the current support group. Most of the members had just arrived at the end of their extended diet Protocol, having done their first 3 weeks on 500 daily calories, then another 3 weeks of the same. 6 weeks with consistent support and a certain number of “Argentina Days”! The weight loss for each member — about 20 pounds — seemed intensely gratifying for everyone. The women felt younger, lighter on their feet, delighting in the looseness of their pants, excited by all the aspects of being able to tame the beast of wild appetites. One member, who is a chef and did her own version of relaxed dieting, lost the 10 pounds she had tried for months to shed without being able to — and in time for the holidays she opened a new restaurant with the radiant certitude of having “made it” and looking splendid!
Christmas jitters
Of course we had very engaged talks about how to approach the holidays. Throw out the diet and switch back to normal eating? But nothing is “normal” during holiday eating. Be content with the diet results and skip Phase II, the transitional phase of eating a higher calorie menu without sugar and carbs? No way, everyone decided. We went through the great rewards of completing the Simeons Protocol with the final 3-week transition: not only do you lose more weight during this period, you train your body and your hypothalamus to be more thoroughly weaned from sugar and carbs. This means you still renounce trigger foods while you begin again to eat more normally, adding back fatty foods — oil, cheese, cream, fatty meat, etc. So the physiological effect of solidifying the achievements of the diet is supported by a big psychological advantage: You feel you are expanding your menus, eating quasi normally, while you are still managing and learning to hold back, proving to yourself that you have gained control over your old enemies — those sweets-and-carbs cravings. This allows your hypothalamus to further rest and heal.
Testimonial of a challenge
The group decided to play out the holidays as best they could: not going over-board, not “pigging out,” but keeping to small portions and small treats in order to both enjoy the festive mood and also safe-guard the achievements of the diet. Everyone was nervous about it. The jitters centered at times around the family and dinner guests: would they notice and challenge us for eating less than everyone else? Or say no thank you to the cream sauce and pumpkin pie with whipped cream? I recommended reading the Testimonial of one earlier group member who was challenged to the core during a Thanksgiving dinner. (Go to Testimonials in the Coaching House, to the thrilling story of Rosy A from Berkeley.)
The present group plan is to enter Phase II at the beginning of the new year. Everyone understands the importance of finishing the Protocol the way Dr. Simeons designed it. Everyone is looking forward to the promise of the final 3 weeks…
The Promise of Phase II
While the joy and satisfaction of eating more during Phase II is savored, the other main reassuring element of the hCG Protocol cicks in: you do not need to worry about gaining weight back! Stepping on your scale every day, you are in control! If your weight gain rises above 2,2 pounds in a single day, just do an apple or steak day and you can be assured to be back on track. This easy rule of thumb is the best promise hCG has in store for you, and it will remain your friend as long as you like.
And now best wishes for a healthy, happy New Year!
Tags: Argentina, Christmas, diet protocol, Dr. Belluscio, Dr. Daniel Belluscio, Dr. Simeons, hCG, hCG diet, oral form of hCG, Simeons Protocol, The Oral hCG Research Center