Other Issues

Mistakes and Accidents

Sometimes, despite your best intentions, you may find yourself having eaten something that's not in the diet protocol. Maybe you forgot or weren't thinking clearly, or maybe you simply gave in to temptation. Or maybe you had a bad day and went entirely off track. Or you forgot to take your supplements. What do you do now?

First of all, don't panic! Your diet is not ruined. Just get back on track and continue -- it's that simple! If your weight stalls or even goes up, don't let that get you down. Follow the diet strictly the next several days, and your weight will go back down. When you finish the course of treatment and look at your overall weight loss, you will be glad that you didn't let this temporary setback stop you.

Can I eat "off limits" food?

Everyone's body reacts a little differently to various foods and combinations of foods. Many of our customers have found that they can eat foods that are borderline or not allowed and still lose weight. It's something you have to decide for yourself.

If you feel the need to add a little variety during the Core Phase diet, there is a controlled way of "cheating" that will help make sure you don't have a serious setback.

Warning: This method of "cheating" can slow your weight loss. If you happen to choose a food that doesn't work for you, or if you do it too often, you may have disappointing weight loss results. It is always safer to be strict about following the original diet protocol!

• First, you have to establish a pattern of regular weight loss before you begin to experiment. Start off being very strict for at least the first week, then look back at your tracking sheet. This will give you a good idea of your own weight loss pattern, so you know what to expect. Above all, make sure you are not in a plateau already before deviating from the protocol.
• Once you're in a regular pattern of weight loss, add in the borderline food and pay close attention to your weight loss over the next two days. If you stall or gain weight, take out the borderline food and get back on a regular pattern of weight loss. You can then try a second time.
• If you stall or gain weight again, you know the food isn't working for you, and you'll just have to avoid it. If you don't stall the second time, it's probably a food you can continue to eat. Make sure you only do this with one food at a time. If you add more than one borderline food at once, you won't know which one is causing you to stall.

Borderline Food Examples: Some common borderline foods that work for most people include beef and chicken broth, dijon mustard, lime juice, soy sauce, and sparkling water. Borderline or deviant foods that seem to work for some people include: broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, zucchini, low-fat cottage cheese, and lean ground beef. Just remember to be careful! These choices may slow your weight loss. You don't want to take too many risks and end up disappointed.

Hunger Issues

Although many participants feel no hunger at all on the program, others feel some hunger at some point on the diet. There are several things to keep in mind:

• You can always adjust your diet (see Plan Adjustment page)
• Proper loading during the Loading Phase is important. Hunger during the first week is almost always the result of improper loading.
• Try drinking a lot of tea (yerba mate is highly recommended). Using spices and hot sauce can be very satisfying, besides helping to decrease cravings and increase water intake. Just be sure to read the labels and don't buy those with sugar.
• During the first week and beyond, it is important to recognize the difference between feeling hungry and feeling empty. During the low-calorie diet, the volume of food you eat is small and your stomach will sometimes feel empty. However, if you aware of the difference, you may find that even tiny servings will satisfy the physical hunger pangs themselves.
• Final thought: No matter what diet you are on studies have shown that relatively low-grade hunger is actually good for our health. Most of us are used to eating something the instant hunger is felt and thus we constantly have something in the stomach - but this isn't necessarily the most healthy thing for our bodies and certainly does not help us burn off fat.