Results Say: Winning!

Elisa and I both took another round of measurements yesterday and the results are again stunning!  We have both lost 7 pounds since the beginning of the program!  That’s averaging a half a pound per day.  Further more, as you will see in the tables below, we have both maintained, if not gained muscle mass.  Losing my muscle mass was the biggest concern for me when starting this diet, and as time has told, the Homeopathic hCG Alternative drops from MediPro Direct have worked as perfectly as we were told they would.  Check out these amazing numbers recorded from the first day of phase 2 to yesterday:

Ricky

Date	Weight (lbs)	Body Fat Lbs	Muscle Mass (Lbs)	Total Body Water (lbs)
7/11	191.4	22.0 (11.5%)	82.1	120.6
7/26	184.8	18.1 (9.8%)	82.8	119.0

+15           -6.6                 -3.9                      +0.7                               -1.6     

Elisa

Date	Weight (lbs)	Body Fat Lbs	Muscle Mass (Lbs)	Total Body Water (lbs)
7/12	150.2	44.6 (29.7 %)	58.7	72.1
7/26	145.0	40.7 (28.1%)	59.3	71.6

+14           -5.2                 -3.9                     +0.6                                -0.5

As you can see, we have both had positive weight loss results with minimal exercise.  I have participated in 5 exercise activities, each an hour long, through the duration of the study so far.  My physical activities have ranged in intensity, including tennis, yoga class, a resistance training session, a Pilates class, and the most rigorous being a ‘Core Shock’ class.  Each of the activities was easily managed with the exception of the Core Shock class which was a non stop, circuit focused class that included some enduring exercises like burpees, mountain climbers, stackers, pushups, ab and glute workouts, and then some!  Towards the end of a class that usually wouldn’t have been so hard for me, I could feel my body starting to shut down from a lack of energy.  Luckily I brought a gallon of water because half way through I began getting very dehydrated.  All things considered, I made it through the hour long class with no serious issues, and recovered fine, feeling great within an hour afterwards.  The other, less rigorous exercises were easily managed, and have certainly contributed to a great muscle tone throughout my body.

One tough part for me was that usually after some good physical activity I usually flood my body with a whey protein supplement to contribute to muscle rebuilding.  If not whey protein, I down about 3 eggs or rice and beans for complete protein.  For the duration of the diet, I have been unable to do that after working out, and instead have come home to a 5 oz chicken salad with spinach and tomatoes.  It’s not that the difference effects me all that much physically, as much as it does mentally, knowing I could be helping my muscles more with a higher protein intake.  To suppress those thoughts, I keep in mind that I am dedicating this time period to fat burning, and not muscle building.  In the near future, I will be changing my efforts to building muscle mass, so it’s simply a matter of patience.

One of the adjustments that both Elisa and I have made since the start is that we are both now using the drops after we eat our meals.  At first we were using them before eating, which made eating our meals more of a struggle.  Since the drops remove your appetite so effectively, it was tough to even make myself eat at all when I was using the drops before meals.  Now that I have adjusted to after meals, I still have a nice appetite and can easily eat all of my meals throughout the day.  I have also noticed that if I eat a meal and forget the drops, my appetite kicks in again shortly after the meal.  This is a reminder for me to use the drops which is quickly suppressed after using them.

This morning we had another great phone conference with the ladies at MediPro Direct.  They wanted to check up on us and make sure everything was going well.  Elisa and I had a few questions for them.  One of the things I addressed was that as I approach my fat percentage goal of around 7%, how should I begin to respond?  Do I take the drops less?  Do I start eating more?  Kelly, the ‘Diet Queen’ said that I was exactly right; I can begin to eat slightly more and begin using the drops twice a day instead of 3 times.  The one thing that I expressed is that because the drops are what instruct my body to burn off fat content instead of muscle; by reducing the amount of drops, as I respond with an increase in hunger, will the muscle tissue still be as safe?  I suppose the higher caloric intake will be burnt off first instead of my muscle tissue; however I want to be very careful about which foods I eat during this transition.  I believe that starting up a supplement of slow burning Casein protein will be the best way to take in more calories while ensuring that my muscle is being protected throughout the day (and night).

As usual, thanks for reading, and stay updated as we continue pushing through this exciting journey of losing weight! 

MediPro Direct: Magic Drops!

As I get deeper and deeper into this hCG Alternative Diet experiment, the more and more I am absolutely sold on this method of losing weight!  Both Elisa and I are seeing great results in just the first week of being on these drops.  I am down to under 187 pounds and losing only fat content!  My muscle mass has stayed the same, and by doing a minimal amount of exercise, I am seeing a great muscle tone starting to appear around my abdominal section. 

                                     

It has certainly been tough to stay away from foods that are not on the list.  Not only because I find myself craving some of the old unhealthy food that I have always eaten, but also because I don’t always have the food on the allowed list in my pantry or on me at work or when I am out.  In those cases I have seemed to settle for something small, yet it’s nearly impossible to find something as healthy as what is on the list.  Another situation that also makes this diet tough is when I hang out around my friends.  They are always trying to peer pressure me into going to grab food somewhere, snack on something unhealthy, or go drinking with them.

Sometime this week we will take another round of physical measurements, and also take another step on the scale for those measurements.   

Let the Diet Begin!

We both survived the first weekend of phase 2!  I have been amazed at how well these hCG Alternative drops from MediPro Direct work to relieve my feelings of hunger.  I am usually the type of person that is ALWAYS hungry!  Now, because of these oral drops, I have had to force myself to eat, even during meal times because I am simply not feeling hungry.  I have only had one instance of nausea so far which didn’t last over 5 minutes.  I was even able to play tennis yesterday without much fatigue.

After making it through the weekend without issues, I was very curious to weigh myself today.  Both Elisa and I lost 2 pounds, as well as saw a decrease in our body fat percentages.  This is the first time I have weighed below 190 lbs since my freshman year of college!  Additionally, to see that I didn’t lose any muscle weight was extremely motivating.  Reflecting on the fact that I lost 2 pounds of fat weight over a weekend with only about an hour worth of tennis for exercise blows my mind! 

For this phase of the study I was instructed to stay away from intense exercise, and that I should focus on stretch workouts.  Therefore, I plan on utilizing yoga classes for the next few weeks.  I also plan on continuing to workout my abdominal muscles, as these muscles play a major role in creating testosterone, building muscle, and keeping away unwanted estrogen and fat.  I have also read in some hCG Dieting forums that light exercise really helps prevent muscle loss, promotes fat burning, and keeps your muscles toned throughout the diet.  As a fitness freak, I certainly plan on continuing some type of light workout plan to ensure I do not lose any muscle.

The toughest part for me so far has been that my sense of smell seems to have increased by 500%.  Every time I am out, I seem to be much more sensitive to food smells!  I have been to almost 10 San Diego Padres games so far this season, and not until this weekend have I ever really noticed all of the great smells of garlic cheese fries, pizza, and popcorn around the stadium.  It was absolutely torture knowing I couldn’t even think about ordering those great smelling garlic cheese fries!    

I have found it very interesting to see what I have come up with for my meals.  So far I have not gotten too creative with the allowed ingredient list, but am finding that I like sticking to the seafood for my protein.  I have stuck mostly to making salads with either romaine lettuce or baby spinach mixed with grape tomatoes and then some strawberries, an apple or an orange on the side.  So far I have only done the supplied chocolate slim shakes for breakfast, which taste great!  However, I am excited to eat an egg with a slice of Julian Bakery bread within the next couple days.  For snacks I have been enjoying greek yogurt or a chocolate slim shake, and of course I have been drinking my usual hot teas throughout the day.

As always, thanks for reading, and keep checking back for more hCG Alternative diet updates!

Fat Loading: Almost Over!

Today is our last day of fat loading!  Yesterday we started out the day extremely excited to eat donuts, and eat fatty all day.  After each stuffing down a donut from Krispy Kreme, we both regretted having donuts for breakfast immediately!  We were even warned by the wonderful MediPro Diet Queen, Kelly, from MediPro Direct Slim that we should try to stick with only healthy fats.  After recovering from our ‘Dough(not)’ mistake, we quickly learned to stay away from sugar.  The remainder of my day included a steak burrito and pizza; each topped an entire avocado.  After the breakfast mistake, the rest of my food digested stomach ache free.  I am generally a healthy eater, so it was very nice to splurge a little bit before beginning such a challenging diet.  We also started the oral drops yesterday so that the homeopathic substance can begin building up and working in our bodies.  Other than the slight vodka taste, they are fine, and actually seem to have already started working.  Today by lunch time when I am usually ready to scarf down a salmon sandwich or steak burrito, I wasn’t hungry at all!  I am going to have to force myself to eat some healthy fats for the remainder of the day, as those fats will be necessary in helping me throughout the diet process.

One thing I want to clarify that greatly improves the value of this blog is that Elisa and I have two completely different goals in this diet experiment.  As you have seen from our measurements, the two of us differ vastly in our body compositions.  From what we have been told by the ladies from MediPro Direct, Elisa is the epitome of the typical person that attempts the hCG Alternative diet program.  Elisa has jumped on board to lose some weight and get into what I call ‘bathing suit shape’. 

I on the other hand have only 11% body fat, and am generally in pretty good shape.  I consistently exercise and stay very active, which is why I chose this particular MediPro Direct program in the first place.  So a lot of people have been asking me, “Why are you doing this?  What are your goals?”  I am doing this for a few reasons.  One of the biggest ones is because I was so intrigued after reading all of the information on hCG diet programs that I wanted to write about it myself.  However, because the original hCG diet is rather controversial I couldn’t recommend doing it unless I actually tried it myself to see how it works.  Furthermore, due to my body proportions, I believe I am a perfect candidate to determine if the hCG really does direct my body to start burning the 11% fat, or if I begin losing muscle mass.  Lastly, in my opinion, there are a lot of guys similar me, who seem to plateau in their body shape goals.  It’s not too tough to lose weight, gain muscle, and stay relatively thin in terms of body fat, but it has proven very tough throughout the years to really get to that next level of being ‘ripped’ and having a solid 6 pack.  If this diet really burns off the small amount of excess fat that I have, I will have a great lean muscle base to then improve on and begin gaining healthy muscle mass while maintaining a healthy diet.

After discussing these goals with the MediPro Direct Certified Nutrition Consultants, they mentioned that they actually do work with a good amount of body builders and athletes, who come in and use their programs to balance blood sugars levels, among other things.

We will be taking one more set of measurements tomorrow to determine how much weight was gained during our fat loading phase, and we also officially start step two, “The Weight Loss Program”.  Dun-Dun-Dun!  

End of Detox

As the detox phase comes to an end, Elisa and I have reflected on our detoxification experience.  For the past seven days, upon rising, we took two pills and drank a powder mixed with water, and then two pills before dinner along with the same powder mixture.

After only the first day of detox, I noticed a great difference in my overall feeling and energy levels throughout the day.  I also felt more trimmed and toned around my abdomen region which I was rather surprised about.  I thought for sure I had lost a little bit of weight and was surprised to see that I hadn’t at all when I stepped on the scale.  My only complaints were that the powder that we had to mix with water and drink was not as soluble as it probably should have been, and that at some points through the week I would get stomach aches after eating meals.  The stomach aches seemed to go away in the last two days of detox, however that absence was replaced with a little bit of fatigue in the afternoons.  I have read before that while on intestinal detox programs you do not absorb vitamins or minerals as well, so I credit the slight fatigue to that possibility.

Elisa noticed similar feelings of fatigue and periodic stomach aches.  Her body rejected foods high in fat, specifically french fries.  She also had to stick with a specific time schedule for the detox intake or else she felt off throughout the day.  Elisa lost two pounds while on the detox program.

Here are our scale measurements from our last day of detox, as well as the first physical measurements taken with a tape measure:

                                       Ricky

Weight (lbs):                  191.4

% Body Fat:                    11.5

% Water Weight:             63

% Muscle Mass:              42.9 

Bone Mass (lbs):               6.4

Neck:                               15 in

Chest:                               40 in

Arms:                               13.5 in

Abdomen:                        36 in

Hips:                                39.5 in

Thighs:                             22.5 in

                                       Elisa

Weight (lbs):                  150.2

% Body Fat:                    29.7

% Water Weight:             48

% Muscle Mass:              39.1 

Bone Mass (lbs):              4.8

Neck:                               12.5 in

Chest:                               35.5 in

Arms:                               11.5 in

Abdomen:                        32.5 in

Hips:                                38.5 in

Thighs:                              21 in

We both start our fat loading days tomorrow and are both very excited to splurge before starting our challenging diet.  Elisa has already made plans to pick up some donuts for us in the morning, and we were instructed to ‘hit the drive-through at burger town’ for lunch.  I have explained to Elisa the difference between saturated, and healthy unsaturated fats and will try to stick to the healthier fats for a majority of the fat loading days.  We will also be starting the oral drops tomorrow which apparently take a few days to get into the body and begin working properly.

The theory behind the ‘fat loading’ is quite intriguing to me.  I have read before on low-carb dieting sites, including one of my favorite low-carb bloggers, Dr. Michael Eades, that eating foods high in fats will actually force your body to start using the fats and ketones for energy.  Dr. Eades compares the transition to the low-carb, moderate fat diet to converting a gasoline burning car to one that runs on biodeisel.  This process helps your body produce the necessary chemicals to break down fats, getting you in fat burning mode.  It’s a great theory that makes a lot of sense in my mind. 

My issue is that cholesterol can be deadly.  Saturated fats cause your LDL (bad cholesterol) to rise, and your HDL (good cholesterol) to lower.  Therefore I try to stick to unsaturated fats which do the complete opposite. Although I can’t resist eating red meat on occasion, which contains saturated fat.

So far we have had a handful of questions regarding the diet process.  The ladies at MediPro Direct have been right on point answering our questions in a timely manner.  We have been put in contact with MediPro Direct Slim in Auburn to help answer any questions we have regarding the details of the diet program.  As I have read more about this intriguing MediPro Direct diet, and asked more in depth questions to these diet experts, I have grown to realize that what Elisa and I will be doing is much different from the original Dr. Simeons hCG Diet protocol.  The homeopathic drops that we will use are vastly different from the hCG injections, and the calorie intake is up to double what has been used in the traditional hCG diet plans.  I certainly feel much more comfortable starting this hCG alternative, focused low-carb diet that uses homeopathic supplements than I would on the original hCG injections.

hCG Diet: The Detox

Today I will get into a slight description of the detox that we started this morning, and also provide our first measurements! 

The first phase that we are doing is a pre-diet detoxification.  We are completing a 7-day detox which consists of 3 phases each day.  We take two pills in the morning along with a scoop of powder mixed into 8 oz of water, and then in the evening we take two of a different type of pills, along with the same powder substance mixed with water.  So far the pills weren’t too bad, but the powder doesn’t dissolve well into water and the taste isn’t very good to say the least.  I have only done 1-day cleanses in the past, which didn’t really make me feel any different.  Maybe it is my excitement and optimism today, but I do feel a slight sense of cleanliness throughout me.  We do not change our diet until our cleansing is over, so in a way, this is the calm before the storm.  Immediately following the detox we will complete a 2-day fat loading phase, which I am not quite sure if I am excited about or not.  I have never in my entire life gone on a fat binge that lasted more than 1 meal!

For measurements we have purchased an Eat Smart Precision GetFit scale.  This scale is one of the coolest things I have seen.  This entire line of scales is very impressive and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the top of the line scale we purchased was only $55! 

By simply entering your height, age, and activity level, then standing barefooted on the scale, you receive 5 impressive measurements.  This GetFit scale gives you:

• Weight
• % Body Fat
• % Total Body Water
• % Muscle Mass
• Bone Mass

In addition to the scale, we will also be doing weekly measurements with the old fashioned tape measure to keep track of any physical changes, as well as before and after pictures.  We took our first scale measurements this morning, 7/6/2011:

                                       Ricky

Weight (lbs):                   191.2

% Body Fat:                   11.5

% Water Weight:            63.1

% Muscle Mass:             42.8 

Bone Mass (lbs):             6.2

                                      Elisa

Weight (lbs):                  152.4

% Body Fat:                  30.5

% Water Weight:           47.4

% Muscle Mass:            38.8 

Bone Mass (lbs):            4.8

We will be calculating our target weight loss and body fat % goals soon.  Keep checking back as we get closer to the diet phase!

hCG Diet: Intro

If you are on a weight loss mission like the rest of America, there are an overwhelming amount of low-carb, smart-carb, no-carb, and high-carb diet plans available to you. If you haven’t decided which one of the many diet plans is best for you and your health, this may be a good series for you. Before I dive head first into dieting, I want to make sure that if you are considering starting any major diet change, you should:

• Complete your due diligence and know what you are getting yourself into
• Research as much information about the diet as you can
• Consult a physician to make sure the diet doesn’t conflict with any current medical issues

If you have been following the Julian Bakery blog, you have learned that a low carbohydrate diet is essential to getting your body into ketosis and burning fat as energy. I personally have had great success losing fat weight during low-carb eating, so I know first hand how great ketosis works. Some of the most popular low-carb diets are Atkins, New Glucose Revolution, Low GL Diet, and South Beach. Julian Bakery carries a great low-carb bread selection to help keep your carb count down if pursuing one of these diet methods.

Unfortunately, Americans these days live a very face paced and impatient lifestyle. Many people are obsessed with the idea of perfection, and impatient dieters want to see immediate results. For those of us who tend to be on the more extreme side of things, there is a lot of talk regarding a rather controversial dieting method called hCG dieting. After discovering this unique diet method, I became intrigued by the theory and read every study I could find across the medical and nutrition world. At first I was a little skeptical, as the original hCG protocol had a 500 daily calorie intake limit and required no exercise! Anyone that’s ever looked at a nutrition label knows that 500 Cal/day is a very small amount. The theory is that a 500 daily calorie diet supplemented with either injections or oral drops of hCG, (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) promotes fat burning and weight loss up to 1lb per day, without any exercise, feelings of starvation, irritation or fatigue.

Without surprise, hCG, like the other weight loss mechanisms we’ve discussed, is a hormone! It’s produced in the pituitary gland of both sexes, but is known primarily for its production in females during pregnancy. It is obvious that anyone eating a 500 Cal/day diet is going to lose weight quickly, however my primary concerns were that the body would begin burning muscle proteins for energy instead of fat (See my Ketosis Article), and that I wouldn’t be able to exercise on the diet. There have been numerous research studies with positive results showing that the hCG works, however the studies that I found did not go into depth regarding muscle measurements.

After becoming so intrigued with this dieting theory, I began calling clinics that provide hCG to ask them some questions. Julian Bakery has a few of these exact clinics in our customer database, due to the fact that the low-carb count of Smart Carb #1 is perfect for hCG dieters. The one that really stuck out to me was MediPro Direct. This clinic claims to have a patented hCG serum that contains a few other supplements that are designed to make sure that during the low calorie diet, your body only burns fat, and not muscle. Their program also allows for more calorie intake (between 800 – 1000 Calories) in order to allow regular exercise while on the diet. This is exactly what I was looking for: a less intense version of the diet, that doesn’t require cutting out exercise.

After reading, researching, and contemplating how I was going to go about writing a quality article on hCG, I decided that I couldn’t promote this unconventional diet without actually trying it out on my own. So I contacted MediPro Direct and worked out a partnership between them and Julian Bakery so that I could see if hCG really works. One of my coworkers here at Julian Bakery, Elisa, also wanted in on this intriguing test run, so I agreed. What better way to get the full scope of hCG dieting than to team up with a weight loss clinic and compare notes between both a male and female attempting the diet?

For 40 days starting in July, Elisa and I will be posting as many details about our hCG diet experience as we can. We want our readers to be with us every step of the way so that they can make a decision on their own about this intriguing diet. We will be posting real time stats, numbers, food intake, feelings, emotions, and thoughts. Starting tomorrow, July 6^th, you can find every last detail of our hCG diet experiment on: http://julianbakeryhcg.blogspot.com/. We will also be posting semi-regularly here on our main Julian Bakery blog so that our readers can stay updated. Keep checking back to read all the details of our hCG diet experience!