Weight-Loss Apocalypse

The protocol “experts” on TV, or who've written books on “new and improved” hCG protocols, have yet to even mention new science, and continue to reference Dr. Simeons' outdated and insufficient theories. It's not surprising, considering the amount of time, effort, and extensive research it took for me to educate myself to formulate an answer. Each person I met with to discuss the protocol, continued to reference what he found on the Internet, which is based on misinformation that inaccurately explains the protocol. But, with the lack of relevant scientific explanation, and the majority of hCG sold on the Internet by people who aren't necessarily educated in weight loss or human physiology, it makes sense to repeat the theories found in Simeons' manuscript. No other explanation is out there. Unfortunately, there are many people attempting the protocol don't follow it the way Dr. Simeons intended. Most participants are completely unaware that eating and hCG directly influence the hormonal response from all of the organs in the body, and without strict compliance to the protocol, there could be harmful consequences. It's approached like a diet, and businesses have started to manipulate and change the protocol to increase their profits and to make it more appealing to the masses. It's unfortunate, considering the decades of observation and work it took Dr. Simeons to deduce the specificity of protocol. But Dr. Simeons didn't really know how the protocol worked either, and even he admitted laboratory explanation and proof was needed. If he had known what was going to happen with our culture, as it concerns over-eating and obesity, and the lack of integrity in the hCG diet industry, he would have written and presented the protocol differently Dr. Simeons didn't foresee his protocol would be used, prostituted, and misdirected as a short-term fix by the consumer. He had no idea we were going to have a massive, cultural, emotional eating disorder, and that we'd continue to blame the consequences of fat gain on everything but ourselves. Just because you have minimal hunger, doesn't mean you won't eat. Just because you have significant fat loss, doesn't mean you will be motivated to change the way you eat forever. My goal in writing this book is to start a new conversation about Dr. Simeons' protocol that has relevance, not only as a hormonal therapy, but as a means to end our national eating disorder. Instead of continuing to apply the protocol as a short-term diet, I'd rather it be discussed as a real solution, a tool to end irrational eating for emotional fulfillment. We are dealing with a crisis that is an addiction to emotional eating, and the obvious result is the overwhelming increase in obesity. Think about the number of people in our culture who eat without hunger. How many people eat to gratify emotions? How many eat because they're bored? When you observe our nation's behavior with food, it's very clear that fat isn't what we should be obsessed about, and weight shouldn't be the target of the problem. We need a genuine desire to eat less, one that isn't dependent on weight loss as a reward. This requires each of us to be accountable for our own emotions, and find happiness in life not centrally stimulated by food. · Can you find a different hobby when you're bored, instead of eating? · Can you deal with stress without using food as a pacifier or distraction? · Can you create happiness without having to eat? If you can, then eating less would not be such a big deal, and you wouldn't have to pay for a diet to help. For most people, eating is almost entirely an emotional decision and behavior. If we forced the majority of our society to eat functionally, it would be torture for them, especially if you didn't allow them to monitor their weight. Even if someone has little hunger, and no symptoms of starvation, his or her emotional distress is far worse than the physical when it comes to eating less on the protocol. We've created a society that is so emotionally connected to eating that any form of restriction feels like punishment. Shouldn't there be some personal accountability? Look at the overall implications that emotional eating has on medical costs, health care, and the occurrence of disease directly linked to obesity. However, the decision to find emotional strength without eating must come from an individual's internal desire. It can't be forced; otherwise we'll end up with even more psychological problems. As more and more people choose to free themselves from emotional eating, we would see a social movement with a new cultural distaste for excessive eating. Eating minimally would be sanctioned and encouraged by peer pressure, and emotional accountability and strength would be the next “big” thing. I believe the protocol provides the ideal atmosphere for participants to rethink the role that eating and food plays in their lives, and to develop emotional strength without needing a crutch. By letting go of food, and eating a minimum amount during the protocol, your emotional strength can be tested, and you can experience a life of eating less. However, for there to be a drastic impact on a participant's overall relationship with food, he or she has to approach the protocol with that as the ultimate goal, eliminating the need to monitor weight for motivation. It's time to set a new standard for ourselves, fulfilling ourselves emotionally without needing to eat for emotional support. We have to want to limit ourselves, eating less even though we don't have to. Then losing weight wouldn't matter because you'd want to continue to eat less even without a weight problem. This would require a new approach to reducing our food consumption, an intrinsic desire that no diet could enforce or create. Eating less must be a personal decision -- a life-lasting change.