Gutless In Seattle

Starfishing On The HCG Diet

walter — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:43:58 +0000

This story always comes to mind when people tell me that my Stand to end youth obesity with the next generation is impossible and unlikely (especially during my Gethsemane moments of doubt)…

An old man walking the beach at dawn noticed a young man ahead of him picking up the starfish and flinging them back into the sea. Catching up with the youth he asked what he was doing.

“The starfish will die if they are still on the beach when the sun roasts them with its mid‑morning heat,” came the youth’s answer.

“But the beach goes on for miles, and there are millions of starfish,” countered the old man. “How can your effort make any difference?”

The young man smiled indulgently at the old man, looked at the starfish in his hand, then threw it back into the water’s safety. “It makes a difference to this one,” he said.

‑ Author Unknown

Wow. What does this quote say to you?

‘Til next time… Stay Gutless.

So, what did you think? Agree or disagree, let me know what you thought about today’s post. Just leave a comment in the “Leave A Comment” box below.

Want to see what I looked life before and how I look today? Take a gander at my HCG Diet Before and After pictures.

What exactly is Dr. Simeons’ HCG Diet and why is it so important? Click to get the scoop and the proof.

Ready to get your high-potency HCG and supplies? Then just click here…

Don’t want miss out on a single post ever again? Who can blame you? Then just subscribe to my Gutless In Seattle feed. It’s easy! Just Click Here and I’ll do the rest.

Follow me on Twitter

“Like” Me On Facebook

Put me in your LinkedIn network

Gutless In Seattle™ is a SmartStuff Media Publication.

Pigging Out After The HCG Diet – How Your Brain Hurts You

walter — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:26:26 +0000

It’s the Double Trouble Twins, it’s the Twin Harbingers of Doom (I know, I should write for Marvel Comics, right?).

What are they?

Pigging out.
Not exercising.

It’s like the Doublemint Twins… only more evil.

According to this study published in Nutrition and Metabolism - if you pigout and don’t exercise, even for as little as 4 weeks — it will be harder to lose the weight from that binge and then keep it off.

Though they’re not talking about the HCG Diet, these are the realities of real-life eating after you’re off the diet and onto Phase 4 and beyond.

Outside the HCG Diet, in the real world, we all have these events in our lives in one form or another:

the string of parties from Thanksgiving through New Year’s
the first few weeks of college life
those three-week cruises with their daily smorgasbord of all-you-can-eat buffets

Read on so you can stack the odds in your favor. Otherwise, you wasted all the time, energy, money and sacrifice going on the HCG Diet –for nothing.

Face it, true believers, what’s the point of gaining control of your weight if you can’t pigout every now and then? I think it should be mandatory that everyone’s entitled to one pigout every 30 days at least, don’t you?

I don’t know about you but I have no intention of going through the rest of my life and never have a guilt-free, worry-free periodic pigout (says the Master of Alliteration).

The Study

A team of researchers from Linköping University, Sweden, asked 18 people to stop exercising and “pigout” for 4 weeks (increasing their food intake about 70% of their norm).

A separate control group ate and exercised as normal.

The Results?

Those who did the 4 week pigout gained an average of 14 pounds.

During the 6 month follow-up, only 1/3 were back to within 1 pound of their initial body weight. At the 1-year mark, the pigout group were still about 3.3 pounds heavier than before their 4 week binge.

And the control group? No change in the body weight.

Some Other Things To Keep In Mind…

One important caveat, even if have a moderate exercise regimen (as long as it’s at least 4 times a week), this study doesn’t really apply to you because it was only done on sedentary people.

According to Dr. Marc Siegal, binge eating over time – minimum two times per day on fast food can not only pack on an additional 10 lbs within 4 weeks; it also sets up a destructive neurochemical cascade effect in your brain.

A cliche, but culturally-accepted proof is the saying, “A moment on the lips a lifetime on the hips.”

That’s one form of a neurochemical cascade that sets up in your brain. The constructive variation is exercising often. Frequent exercise breaks the old destructive neurochemical cascade in the brain and sets up a new one — one that’s conducive to a long time and a high quality of life.

I had what I thought was a secret pigout strategy, one that makes it easier to take it off and keep it off. But then the other day I learned that Sly Stallone has a similar strategy and he used it to get into shape for The Expendableswhile being able to enjoy his pigouts at the same time.

But the key to all of this is to be able to make certain key distinctions. None of this is new information, but if the information is placed in front of you and in just the right way, you’ll make distinctions that you were making before and things become easier, or they happen faster, better, whatever.

Think of it like this — you’re driving along and your car has manual steering.

In order to turn your car to the right, you have to really crank that wheel over and it requires a fair amount of upper body strength to accomplish that task.

If you have power steering, then you can make the same turn nearly effortlessly — with just two fingers. Why? Because some genius figured out the principle of leverage and built that into the steering mechanism. Power or manual steering — you can still turn your car, it’s all a matter of how difficult it is to do that.

What I’ve attempted to give is ways to make key distinctions that you weren’t making before and leverage them to lose the max weight while on the HCG Diet and then furthering that leverage so that you never, ever gain it back.

So, wondering what you got out of this study, and the commentary afterwards? What did you learn from it? How can you use it to have your metaphorical cake and eat it too (sorry, couldn’t resist. You know I have no self-control!)

Check out the original study at Nutrition and Metabolism .

‘Til next time… Stay Gutless.

So, what did you think? Agree or disagree, let me know what you thought about today’s post. Just leave a comment in the “Leave A Comment” box below.

Want to see what I looked life before and how I look today? Take a gander at my HCG Diet Before and After pictures.

What exactly is Dr. Simeons’ HCG Diet and why is it so important? Click to get the scoop and the proof.

Ready to get your high-potency HCG and supplies? Then just click here…

Don’t want miss out on a single post ever again? Who can blame you? Then just subscribe to my Gutless In Seattle feed. It’s easy! Just Click Here and I’ll do the rest.

Follow me on Twitter

“Like” Me On Facebook

Put me in your LinkedIn network

Gutless In Seattle™ is a SmartStuff Media Publication.

Is The HCG Diet Next? Facebook Shuts Down Page With 47,000+ Fans

walter — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 01:03:08 +0000

Does Facebook hate the HCG Diet and are all HCGers in danger of being banned from Facebook for life? The answers are yes and yes, and the proof is in the pudding below.

If you’re on the HCG diet, prepared to be shocked and PO’d.

Not only can Facebook not stand the HCG diet and the entire culture around it, it considers the HCG substance and by dint, the diet itself to be “prohibited.” By the Facebook ad team, HCG is considered a “banned substance.”

Ever wonder why you no longer see ads promoting HCG Fan pages? You used to, along with ads for the “HCG diet.” But you don’t anymore. That’s because they’re banned. Wonder why you’re not being bombarded with spam ads for hhcg on Facebook?

That’s because it too is banned (though I think that’s ironic, given homeopathic HCG has no actual HCG in it, but I don’t want to go off on a rant here).

So, given what you just read, how do you think Facebook regards our HCG communities that we’ve all worked so hard to create, build and maintain? How do you think they regard your networks of talking about HCG on each other’s Walls and linking with each other, sharing tips and advice?

With what I’m about to show you, it could be just a matter of time before Facebook brings the hammer down on you. and just like in the examples I’m about to show you, there won’t be any warning – one moment it’ll be there, the next, you’ll be sucking vacuum.

All it would take is one or more people with bad HCG experiences and sufficient clout and leverage to make it a big deal – and boom – overnight? No more HCG page.

Think it can’t happen? Then take a look at this guy. He didn’t think it could happen to him either…

“Well now we know who the boss is. Facebook has shut down a real estate business page with 47,000 plus members giving zero notice to the page owner, Jonathan Rivera. The Official Real Estate Referral Group is a community that Jon started almost 2 years ago and had just crossed the 47,000 fan mark making it one of the largest real estate related pages on Facebook.” [source TechSavvyAgent.com]

Here’s more detail from CasaLaw.comabout the implications of Facebook’s smackdown:

“A Facebook Page serving the real estate industry, with over 47,000 fans, was recently shut down by Facebook due to a complaint for using an unauthorized vanity URL (the “custom” URL Facebook lets you add ex. http://facebook.com/casalaw), which used the trademarked term REALTOR®.

The creator of this page, Jonathan Rivera, became aware of the violation prior to Facebook’s removal of the page, however, it is not possible for a Facebook user to edit their Facebook Page’s vanity name after it is initially changed. When Jonathan first discovered this violation he desperately attempted to contact Facebook to correct the issue, but Facebook failed to respond to Jonathan’s inquiries.

Instead of making accommodations that would allow him to correct the username retroactively, his page was completely shut down by Facebook. Leaving Jonathan without any contact to the network of over 47,000 fans, he had built over the course of almost two years.

The Facebook Page Jonathan lost was not just an advertisement for his company, but instead the company was completely encompassed by the Facebook Page.Jonathan’s Facebook Page served as a referral network for real estate agents, providing over 1,400 referrals to real estate agents across the nation, in it’s first 21 months of existence. At this point the business he had worked so hard to develop, and dedicated two years of his life to, was seemingly down the drain.”

“This is a good lesson for anyone who utilizes the internet for building their business or personal network. It is important to always read the “terms and conditions,” otherwise it is impossible to know the full extent a website can be used, without making a costly mistake. In most situations you will find that by agreeing to the “terms and conditions” you forfeit all rights to the material posted and information associated with your website or social media page.”

Did you catch that? Yeah, that’s right. Everything you put up on Facebook actually belongs to Facebook and is no longer your intellectual property.

How about them apples?

Or how this from 2 days ago (as of this writing) Facebook banning (noticed they’re doing this “banning” thing a lot?) the use of an image of a marijuana leaf?

Now, never mind whatever stance you have on drugs (I’m not a druggie, so from that perspective, I could care less), but… I do care about the rights of the individual and frown upon any entity – government or business to come in and nanny us because they think they know better than we do.

This from the end of that article:

“Just like Facebook’s disastrous decision to block images of breast-feeding – an act which is protected as a right under law in many nations–because of concerns about decency, it’s easy to see this as another case of Facebook pushing its U.S.-centric morals on its hundreds of millions of non-U.S. users.”

So how did I find out Facebook is eyeing the HCG Diet and all things HCG with the stinky eye? Like I seem to learn everything: the hard way.

You know my survey that I launched, right? If Facebook had allowed me to use Facebook ads, as was the original plan, I could have reached about 300,000 folks who are on Facebook and are keenly interested in losing weight.

Instead, I reached a few thousand, out of which just under 200 took the survey and kept it from being a total disaster. In Internet terms, almost no one saw the tweets, Facebook posts and emails for it.

If it hadn’t been for the last-minute assist and yeoman’s from Jill and Diane (most notably) and a few others – no one would have seen it.

All thanks to Facebook and it’s capricious, wonky and unclear policies. Now, keep in mind, I wasn’t selling anything. The ad copy and design would catch folks’ attention who were interested in losing weight, they’d click on the ad and be taken to the first page of the survey. Those of you who did take it know the rest.

At no point were you sold anything, remember? Which makes Facebook’s position even weirder.

Here’s What Happened…

Starting 3 weeks from the survey’s launch, I created a series of Facebook ads and submitted them to Facebook. That’s when the time-wasting Nightmare Dance with them began. Seemingly without rhyme or reason, Facebook’s ad team would reject some ads, while nearly identical ads were (briefly) accepted.

Then later, I would go into my ads campaign panel and the ads were not approved after all.

I started emailing Facebook’s ad team and I kept getting these autoresponders back with vague directions and… well here, I’ll let you read my last email to the ad team when my frustration had reached its zenith:

—–Original Message to Facebook—–
From: walter(dot)gutlessinseattle(at)gmail(dot)com
To: The Facebook Team
Subject: Ad Management Help: Changing an ad’s status or bid
Topic: Changing an ad’s status or bid
Specific Questions:

Dear Facebook Ad Team,
Thank you for your feedback on my ads and I thought I would take a moment to explain what happened, in my own defense.
I’m not selling anything with my ads. There’s no product or service, just a survey where I’m trying to help others struggling w/obesity to lose weight and become healthier.

Each time I had an ad rejected by the ad team, all I got back in feedback was the generic reply that somewhere in guidelines 4, 7 and 13 the ad had violated one of them.

I thought I was following the guidelines so I tried adjusting the ad creative and resubmit it in an attempt to comply and after some time discovered that I didn’t see the before and after shots restrictions. I am a newbie to Facebook ads and the feedback seemed so general that I wasn’t sure what to change so I tried the trial and error approach.

My intent wasn’t to try to circumvent Facebook’s guidelines.

This last response from the ad team was, unfortunately simultaneous with being banned. This was somewhat more specific in that it said my ads were not in compliance with something in Section 5′s 24 line items. Now, this is the first time that the Facebook Ad Team mentioned Section 5. It would have been more helpful if you had told me which of the 24 items my ad (theoretically) violated.

I need more specific help on the problems Facebook is having w/my ads.

If the ad team is not clear on why my ad was declined, is there another avenue to get clarification? It would make is so much easier if I knew exactly what was wrong with my ad and exactly what to change, like an underline, I would of been successful.

For the record, I wasn’t not aware that the trial and error method would work against me and didn’t know that this could cause me to be ban from Facebook ads. I clearly understand now and ask that you reconsider the ban so I can reach people who need my help.

Name of Ad: HCG Secrets Revealed + others”

That’s pretty clear, right? Well, two weeks later (and too late for the survey) comes Facebook’s response. I was underwhelmed:

“Hi Walter,

Thanks for writing in to us. I took a look at your account and noticed that the content advertised by this ad is prohibited.

We reserve the right to determine what advertising we accept, and we may choose to not accept ads containing or relating to certain products or services.

We do not allow ads for HCG and will not allow the creation of any further Facebook Ads for this product.

We appreciate your cooperation with this policy.

Thanks for your understanding,

Wesley
Online Sales Operations
Facebook”

No problem, dude. Not like I had another choice.

Ultimately, as near as I could figure it, the words “HCG” and “diet” could not be in the same sentence together and/or not in the headline no matter what. But by that point I was “banned,” the survey was in mid-launch and I just didn’t have time to continue pursuing the matter (though I still will).
I can’t even run ads for the fan page, no HCG page or person can.

I’m not bitter or anything. It is what it is. It does give me pause because of what happened to real estate guy and how that could happen to me, or anyone with HCG pages, groups whatever.

Which is why I’m warning you about it. “forewarned is forearmed,” after all.

Though more likely than not, if Facebook is going to go after anyone, they’ll go after the homeopathic HCG people because that is a scam and it is harmful to people (see my blog for the ‘it’s not how much weight you lose but what kind of weight you lose (muscle or fat)’ distinction).

What I’m Doing About It…/How I’m Protecting Myself

So where does this leave my HCG Diet: The Straight Truth Facebook Fan Page? It’s sticking around but there are going to be a few strategic changes to protect myself. As you know, I’veput A LOT of valuable content up there (so valuable that the unscrupulous and the homeopathic are ripping it off right and left – and btw, a special shout-out to C., who thinks I don’t know she’s here under another alias).

So this news has changed my Facebook strategy a great deal. Primarily, you’ll see me doing more posts there that will link to the GIS blog for the full deal.

Why? Because I own the GIS blog and no social media organization can take that away from me. I own it, it’s mine, the intellectual property is mine and no company like Facebook, Twitter or YouTube can make it disappear overnight just because they woke up constipated one morning.

Just last week I paid a VA to back up all previous Facebook posts and tweets. The Twitter backup went without a hitch but apparently you can’t backup Facebook that easily, so she had to manually copy all my status updates out and then she did me one better – she arranged them all by thread, date and subject matter in a handy-dandy spreadsheet.

Think that go-getter will be getting future business from me? Betcher booties she will.

So I’m going to be moving more of the conversations, at least the juicy portions from Facebook to the blog. Now, I’m aware that many on Facebook would prefer to never leavethose comfy digital environs, but let’s face it, if you were writing tons of content that you could one day turn around and sell and make a nice living for yourself and you wouldn’t ever have to work for an employer again, you’d take steps to protect it too.

Heck, if nothing else, even if that isn’t your dream, you should take steps to protect your Facebook pages just because of all the sweat equity you put into it.

So I’d like to hear from you. How do you feel about all this? BFD? Have similar Facebook/social media horror stories to share that could serve as a warning for the rest of us?

I want to hear from you. Actually, all of us on Facebook want to hear from you.

Til next time… Stay Gutless.

So, what did you think? Agree or disagree, let me know what you thought about today’s post. Just leave a comment in the “Leave A Comment” box below.

Want to see what I looked life before and how I look today? Take a gander at my HCG Diet Before and After pictures.

What exactly is Dr. Simeons’ HCG Diet and why is it so important? Click to get the scoop and the proof.

Ready to get your high-potency HCG and supplies? Then just click here…

Don’t want miss out on a single post ever again? Who can blame you? Then just subscribe to my Gutless In Seattle feed. It’s easy! Just Click Here and I’ll do the rest.

Follow me on Twitter

“Like” Me On Facebook

Put me in your LinkedIn network

Gutless In Seattle™ is a SmartStuff Media Publication.

Which Is The Best Brand Of HCG To Buy?

walter — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:16:17 +0000

So the question I was researching was which is the best HCG brand to buy, Ovidac or HUCOG?

Pharmacy Escrow has proven to be the best place to buy reputable, effective, and the consistently highest potency HCG we’ve found and they sell both. The majority of my grads have used HUCOG with great success. Over the years we’ve tested several of the top companies out and Pharmacy Escrow consistently came out on top across all criteria.

But we always tended to come back to HUCOG because, let’s face it — you only have a limited number of rounds on the HCG Diet and you want to get the max out of each round. So the last thing you want to play roulette with is the quality of the HCG which will determine how much fat you drop during each round.

Here’s the thing with different brands of any type of drug — from Tylenol to HCG; everyone is different and everyone has different experiences with different brands.

Unfortunately, you really won’t know until you use it yourself. In the U.S. the FSA requires any generic medication to be within 10% of the brand formulation. Essentially, only the ‘fillers’ can be completely different, the active ingredient is still the same.

Unfortunately any medications being shipped into the U.S. from other countries are not regulated and those active ingredient percentage amounts can vary from country-to-country.

You could try the Ovidac and see how your body reacts as some work better than others.

Some other tips that work for almost everyone (okay, they work for everyone that I know of, there may be some odd ducks out there and I just haven’t met them yet.)

Cut out the bread … yep, that grissini (did I spell that right?) or melba toast could be making you hungry or giving your brain the symptoms of being hungry. This has been seen in cases with those who have allergies to wheat products and/or yeast injections.
Drink LOTS of water with a bit of stevia in it.
Brew a big ‘ole pot of coffee or tea (my fave is mixing loose leaf green tea and yerba mate) and drink it as many times as you need each day. You can have as much coffee and tea as you like and still stay within protocols.

Personally, I’m more concerned that the 175 IU dose you’re taking is much higher than the protocol norm and this could also be causing your hunger pangs. During my Round 1, towards the end just to use up the excess HCG, I thought I would take double the dosage (injections). Woof! Within 2 days I was ravenous!

Because I was logging everything, then it was easy to track back and find the culprit.

along similar lines, I get asked some variation of this question: ‘How do I know my HCG is still potent?’ The best way to tell if your HCG is still potent is to use HCG testing strips. Premixed HCG is generally good for 25-30 days depending on brand, age of products, type of diluent, storage environment, and other factors.

These test strips are designed to test the potency of your HCG down to 15 to 20 IUs.

Drop 0.5 ml of your premixed HCG on the test strip.
Wait 5 minutes.
If the HCG is still good, two purple lines will appear. If not, only one purple line will appear on the test strip. One purple line indicates that you need to mix a new batch of HCG, that your HCG may be expired, or you may need to use a different diluent.

‘Til next time… Stay Gutless.

So, what did you think? Agree or disagree, let me know what you thought about today’s post. Just leave a comment in the “Leave A Comment” box below.

Want to see what I looked life before and how I look today? Take a gander at my HCG Diet Before and After pictures.

What exactly is Dr. Simeons’ HCG Diet and why is it so important? Click to get the scoop and the proof.

Ready to get your high-potency HCG and supplies? Then just click here…

Don’t want miss out on a single post ever again? Who can blame you? Then just subscribe to my Gutless In Seattle feed. It’s easy! Just Click Here and I’ll do the rest.

Follow me on Twitter

“Like” Me On Facebook

Put me in your LinkedIn network

Gutless In Seattle™ is a SmartStuff Media Publication.

“Your HCG Diet Has Been Targeted For Termination”

walter — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:21:45 +0000

Heh. Always wanted to say that. It’s right up there with “Come with me if you want to live.”

Hmmm… now that I’m talking about it out-loud, it wouldn’t suck too much as a catch-phrase, HCG Diet coaching right? Or would it?

Okay, so over the weekend I was half-watching Terminator Salvation while first drafting the neuronet programming protocols for “HCG Diet Mindset” prototype.

I had a flash of insight that it’s all about the programming. The mental programming. The wetware between your ears.

If you’ve seen it then you know the point of the movie’s climax [Spoiler Alert!] is that the machine who was once a man could override his programming and become a man again, at least where it counts – his mind.

He could either hold himself as a machine just fulfilling the default programming of the chip in the back of his head, or he could think as a man, an independent entity who followed his own course and made his own decisions.

Watched from the right perspective, Terminator Salvation is all about the two programmings everyone of us has and we’re either at-effect of it or we’re at-cause of it.

It’s the default unconscious programming you were born into and the new programming you put in consciously, deliberately.

It’s really about our lives — overcoming the default programming and custom-designing your own programming.

So two things I want to know from you:

1.) Does my prototype’s title suck, or does it light you up?

2.) Would you find it useful to erase the memory of every time you failed on a diet from your mind, while keeping the wisdom of what you learned from that “failure?”

I think #2 technically qualifies as ‘having your cake and eating it too.’ And yes, you can have both.

Look, our default, preconditioned thinking will always determine how we look and how much we weigh. Your default, preconditioned thinking — you mindset governs your bodystat and determines how you look, feel and how you feel about how you look.

That is, left to its own devices.

We make decisions every day and 95% of them we make without giving them a thought – that’s because your Outer Mind (also called the conscious mind) decisions are actually being influenced by the default mindset of your Inner Mind (also known as the subconscious mind).

For the most part, we’re on auto-pilot all the time. We just react to things. So you’re on the HCG Diet and then something bad happens or you reach a stress tipping point and suddenly that chocolate cake that’s not even on the diet becomes your next meal. The entire meal.

Sure, you feel terrible afterwards and beat yourself up royally for it, but where does that get you? Yep, more often than not it starts a downward spiral that’s very difficult to pull out of. And before you know it you’re breaking HCG protocols right and left, then beating yourself up for “cheating” and then the Outer Mind gets indignant and the pendulum swings the opposite direction and you make decisions militantly that are too strict for anyone to adhere to and… well, you get the picture.

We’ve all been there. Yes, even me.

What if… what if just before you received the unconscious prompt to eat the cake, your Inner Mind stepped in and said, “Wait, this is not part of our goals. Here, have this ____ (something you can pig-out on and remain within the protocols) because it IS on your diet and best of all, you won’t have to pay the price later. In fact, we do this right and you may shed even more weight at tomorrow morning’s weigh-in.”

What if we could get your Inner Mind and your Outer Mind aligned and working together as part of a team?

‘Til next time… Stay Gutless.

So, what did you think? Agree or disagree, let me know what you thought about today’s post. Just leave a comment in the “Leave A Comment” box below.

Want to see what I looked life before and how I look today? Take a gander at my HCG Diet Before and After pictures.

What exactly is Dr. Simeons’ HCG Diet and why is it so important? Click to get the scoop and the proof.

Ready to get your high-potency HCG and supplies? Then just click here…

Don’t want miss out on a single post ever again? Who can blame you? Then just subscribe to my Gutless In Seattle feed. It’s easy! Just Click Here and I’ll do the rest.

Follow me on Twitter

“Like” Me On Facebook

Put me in your LinkedIn network

Gutless In Seattle™ is a SmartStuff Media Publication.

Guest Post: HCG Diet’s Going Great, But I Have Questions!

walter — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:35:16 +0000

My friend Kimberly (she’s very big on Facebook) wrote a long email to me and since I knew a lot of you have similar, if not the same questions she had, I asked her if you guest post it.

That way I could answer her/your questions and I did so in the Comments below.

Take it away Kimberly…

Hi Walter!

You wrote on my blog “Let me know how I can help you real your goal, Kimberly. I’m pullin’ for ya!” So here I am asking for your advice. I am on the third day of the 500 cal part of the protocol. I gained 4.4 pounds on gorge days and am down 7 lbs making it a release of 2.6 pounds from my start weight for this round.

It’s a little less at this day compared to my last 2 rounds, but I haven’t been sleeping well either.

I guess what I’m looking for is confirmation that I’m at par and to get your advice on some products I’m using. I just want to get the most out of this round because I am sooooo over being fat and miserable. I have lived with high triglycerides for most of my adult life, was told I have a genetic marker (whatever that means) for heart disease.

I have health issues that usually don’t become a concern until later in life. I already took one step to become healthier and quit smoking but then gained 40 pounds. Within the past year I was told I have the knees of a 60 year old and have signs of arthritis in them.

It’s crazy. Like I said, I’m done with it and am determined to get this weight off forever and start living life to its fullest.

(Hope you don’t mind me ranting… sometimes it just feels good to get it out.)

I think I’m good when it comes to food choices. Being in the midwest, I don’t have a lot of choices for good seafood. I stick with an orange roughy I found that is supposedly wild caught and “flash” frozen. I buy my other protein, chicken and 96/4 ground beef from Trader Joe’s. Those are usually the three protein choices I stick to.

Fruits and Veggies I stick with what is on P&I. I sometimes substitute Wasa for the Grissin/Melba (Fiber Crispbread 1/2) The grissini I found is made with olive oil and I wasn’t sure if that is okay. Wasa has no oils… Do you think it is okay to use? What about Frank’s Red Hot Sauce? I love the stuff. Spicy!! (Ingredients: Aged cayenne red peppers, vinegar, water, salt, and garlic powder)

Are there any supplements I can/should take? I’ve taken a b-complex, biotin, & potassium gluconate in previous rounds. I’ve continued the potassium this round but wanted to see if it is necessary.

Is baking soda okay to use as a “toothpaste”?

One of the most difficult things to find is a conditioner or even other products without oil. And who knows what some of the ingredients really are with the names they come up with it. Other than the obivious being stated such as “oil” or “wax” are there any others that should be avoided? I use an oil free moisturizer for my face but it has glycerin in it. I’ve heard conflicting stories on whether or not it is okay to use.

What are your thoughts on “boosting” the releases with things such as Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV), the California Kicker (Cayenne, water, juice of 1/2 lemon, and stevia)? Do you have any of your own that you would suggest?

Aren’t you glad you offered to help??? I do understand that you are a very busy person so I’ll try to be patient waiting for a response. Who knows, maybe all my questions will be answered when you get your video out.

Thanks for what you do. I am using Pregnyl 5000 I.U. (High Purity) this round and can already tell the difference. As I’m constructing this email, I realized I hadn’t eaten lunch yet. I just don’t have the hunger I have had previuosly. I don’t even remember how I stumbled across your site, but I’m glad I did.

Have a great day!
Your loyal follower,
Kimberly

P.S. - I truly appreciate your time. And I am very sincere. My life has already taken a 180 and I’m not done yet.

P.P.S. – Oh and I thought of another question I used 3 ml of Colloidal Silver and 12 ml of B12. I think you may have already confirmed this in a response to someone else. I usually hold it under my tongue for 15 minutes and then wait 30 minutes before eating or drinking anything. I don’t necessarily wait 30 minutes after eating or drinking to take it, but it usually works out that way based on the times I take it. Should I change anything?

####

Meanwhile, you can tell that Kym is going to achieve her goals by the way she plays the game can’t you? Especially her mental game,you can just feel she’s going to make this happen. I have the utmost confidence in her. You can follow Kym’s progress on the HCG diet by subscribing to her blog at http://kymsjourney2.blogspot.com/ and on her Facebook wall.

There is no doubt that she’s sincere. I can tell by the questions she asks and what she does with the information, and that’s why it’s always a pleasure to answer her questions, which I’ll do in the Comments below.

‘Til next time… Stay Gutless.

So, what did you think? Agree or disagree, let me know what you thought about today’s post. Just leave a comment in the “Leave A Comment” box below.

Want to see what I looked life before and how I look today? Take a gander at my HCG Diet Before and After pictures.

What exactly is Dr. Simeons’ HCG Diet and why is it so important? Click to get the scoop and the proof.

Ready to get your high-potency HCG and supplies? Then just click here…

Don’t want miss out on a single post ever again? Who can blame you? Then just subscribe to my Gutless In Seattle feed. It’s easy! Just Click Here and I’ll do the rest.

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Eating Like A King Off The HCG Diet: My P3 ‘What The Heck Is It?’

walter — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 01:15:57 +0000

Fresh from the ovens of the Saucy Sous Chef Sorceress (aka the Redhead) is her newest P3 problem-solver for the HCG Diet.

What is it? Ha, you tell me. But I will give you this clue. For me it solves a long-standing problem of something I always wanted since doing the diet, but learned I was allergic to it after completing all 3 rounds.

And today — problem solved!

If you’re allergic to it too, it will solve your problem as well!

These are fresh out of the oven and if you look closely, you can probably still see the steam coming off of them. And the smell… OMG! the aroma wafting up off the entire batch has filled the house.

These are just two. There are over a dozen more. Well… it’s more like a dozen now because I snarfed a few down with my homemade peanut butter (cashews, almonds and pecans).

Oh by the way… handy little tip on the HCG Diet — you don’t need 9 billion different recipes to be a grandstanding success on the diet. For god’s sakes, it’s only 6 weeks! It’s not that hard. You do need a couple more for P3 and then once you’re in P4 and beyond, well at that point you do need more.

So guess away by leaning a comment below. Tell me what you think it is. The winner gets a Glorious Gutless No-Prize! Yeah! It’s that special.

For more great tips and ideas see How I Eat Like A King On & Off The HCG Diet.

So, what did you think? Agree or disagree, let me know what you thought about today’s post. Just leave a comment in the “Leave A Comment” box below.

Want to see what I looked life before and how I look today? Take a look at my HCG Diet Before and After pictures.

What exactly is Dr. Simeons’ HCG Diet and why is it so important? Click to get the scoop and the proof.

Ready to get your high-potency HCG and supplies? Then just click here…

Don’t want miss out on a single post ever again? Who can blame you? Then just subscribe to my Gutless In Seattle feed. It’s easy! Just Click Here and I’ll do the rest.

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Lessons from HCG Dieting: “You Can’t Save Them All, Walter”

walter — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:35:54 +0000

The Redhead pats me on the shoulder and kisses my cheek. I barely feel it, numbly staring at the screen.

I’d just been told to piss off by someone headed for a patch of really rough road.

Look I’m a realist. I know I’m not going to reach everyone… but I had just tried to get through the thick heads of some hhcg spray people and… well I did my best. Really, I did.

Saw them on Twitter and this husband and wife were like tail-wagging puppies just freed from the pound. They new to the Internet and new to the HCG diet. Still in their first week, they had just lost 3-4 pounds.

Tweeted them a hearty congratulations. Noticed their online blog and journal and that’s when I learned they were using this bastardized version of HCG — homeopathic, the spray version.

But it got worse. Seems the wife was chugging down packets of Slim-Fast for her meals and he was pouring Xenadrine drink mix into his water to curb hunger and boost his energy. Xenadrine!You know what Xenadrine is, right? Its a drink mix powder form of the TV weight loss pills that curb appetite and speeds up the metabolism.

[A.D.D. Moment: Hey homeopathic people... yeah you. If your sprays and drops work so well, why do your customers need special supplements to help kill the appetite and boost their energy?]

Anyway…

Xenadrine and Slim-Fast on the HCG Diet? Are you effing kidding me?! Where in the world did they get these protocols? Who’s supporting them? Where’s the shyster who sold this stuff to them? Why didn’t she or he give them better guidance than that?

And you wonder why I go off on the homeopathic HCG sellers? They’re stupid, dangerous, amoral creatures who don’t give a damn about those they sell to. This kind of crap proves it. They sell water to suckers at astronomical markups, pat them on ass and send them on their way so they can shill to the next sucker in line. This was reckless, and worse, this couple was fed bad information and then abandoned… stupid, stupid, stupid.

Worst of all, I couldn’t talk this couple down from it. I sent them to this blog and the Facebook page so they could get an idea of what they were in for and get the education they sorely needed.

I got back a very terse “We believe our eyes.” Dude… don’t bury yourself in the part. It’s just the first week and it’s only 3 pounds.

Un-believeable.

Look I get the arguments for hhcg. But seriously, if someone has only done one round on it and lost some weight, then it’s too soon to wag the finger and trumpet how much you lost. I don’t question you lost weight… losing weight is a can of corn — it takes nothing to do it. I question by what means and at what cost. Wise up. That weight was mostly water and muscle and your body can ill-afford to lose much of either.

But what it cost you, that’s something you’re going to learn over time. I get emails and messages each week from people who’ve either had their rude awakening from the lazy-haze trance of hhcg or had that experience in their past.

Here’s just the latest one, it’s in the comments below last post “Exposed! New HCG Protocol “Revision” Is Blue Sawdust“.

So what’s the appeal of homeopathic HCG? Why is it so popular? Quite simply, it appeals to the laziness in people. Don’t want to bother with mixing your own HCG? No problemo. just use our handy dandy spray. Couplea shots under your tongue and bada-bing, bada-boom you’re done!

HCG protocols too restrictive? Bah, we don’t need no steekin’ protocols!

Getting hungry on our drops, oh just take these pills (which will mask the symptoms), you’ll be fine.

Not losing enough weight? Just use more drops or spray — you’ll get there (eventually).

I would add to that last one — yes, you may get there, but again, at what cost?

That’s why I had one simple requirement when I worked with the grads: for the next 6-12 weeks they were not to listen to anyone else about the HCG diet. In order for me to coach them, they had to wean themselves off Facebook advice and Pages and Walls and online forums.

Just for that small amount of time, 0.03% of their lives, they just had to do something different.

That was the condition. Just take my coaching and then afterwards if they wanted to try other things in Phase 3 and 4 without knowing whether that person knew what they were talking about or not, they were free to knock themselves out. And reap the rewards and face consequences accordingly. But for 6 weeks, their ass was mine.

Not coincidentally, those that heeded that simple condition tended to lose the most weight and were the most successful in keeping it off long-term.

Cause, effect.

So, what did you think? Agree or disagree, let me know what you thought about today’s post. Just leave a comment in the “Leave A Comment” box below.

Want to see what I looked life before and how I look today? Take a gander at my HCG Diet Before and After pictures.

What exactly is Dr. Simeons’ HCG Diet and why is it so important? Click to get the scoop and the proof.

Ready to get your high-potency HCG and supplies? Then just click here…

Don’t want miss out on a single post ever again? Who can blame you? Then just subscribe to my Gutless In Seattle feed. It’s easy! Just Click Here and I’ll do the rest.

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Selling HCG Drops Or Spray? I’ve Shown You Mine, Now Show Me Yours

walter — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:30:48 +0000

This is an open letter to those selling homeopathic HCG, aka HCG drops, aka Pure HCG Drops, aka Liquid HCG, aka (geez, this is getting tiring) HCG sprays… oh, missed this one — HHCG.

And this is also for those who chronically spam Twitter with the sellers’ spammy, cheesy sales pitches. You don’t even realize how much damage you’re doing. Or maybe you do, and you just don’t care.

For all you do, this letter’s for you… the rest of you, sit back and laugh and pay attention to their response. If they respond. Let’s see how many Before and (current) After shots we see replace the fake models and logos they’re hiding behind.

Dear HCG Drops/Spray Seller,

Consider this open challenge to you who sell and resell homeopathic HHCG spray/HHCG drops/whatever. I’ve put my face and body out there — you all know what I look like after using REAL pharmaceutical HCG, but I’m having a little problem that I’m hoping you can help me with.

Before & After - Side

I can’t find any pictures of what YOU look like after using your products. What you look like right now.

I know, weird, huh? See, we don’t believe you actually look like any of those models with the teeny, tiny waists and rippling six-pack abs all with tape measures wrapped around those oh, so fit waistlines. Some of you haven’t even removed the watermark from these stock photos. And you’re using them on your Twitter profiles!

C’mon and fess up, those are clipart and stock photos given to you by the head office. You know, the same ones that gave you that cheap cookie cutter website crammed with some of the most dishonest and cheesy sales pitches I’ve seen in many a while.

Let me appeal to whatever shred of moral fiber you have left — don’t you see that what you promise there sets folk’s expectations too high? And after they get finished feeling like schmucks for getting taken, you then get them to resell the stuff for you to recoup their investment in stupidity.

Then it’s up to the (too) few folks like myself that come along later and help these people pick up the pieces — physically, mentally and emotionally.

And btw, don’t you think that’s a pretty hefty investment for purified water and alcohol with an “electromagnetic imprint” in it? Sounds so scientific and official-like when you put it that way. But how about we call it what it is — water with a thought in it.

But those false profile pictures you use… that’s either not really you or you’re part of the largest set of identical sisters and brothers on the planet. There are so many different people and companies that all look like you!  Isn’t that amazing? Seriously, if that is really what you look like, then you should be on Nat Geo and quit wasting your time shilling purified water at astronomical markups.

And while you’re spamming social media with your never-ending sales pitches — more and more of the folks are smartening up and are catching on that you’re engaging socially with them by lying to their faces. Literally.

How so? Your fake pictures. That isn’t what YOU look like after using your own product — that’s someone else. That’s a professional fitness model, someone who never had a weight problem and never even heard of HCG.

So we’re ready. Let’s see your real, current After shots! I urge you to prove me wrong… if you can.

So, what did you think? Was I too hard on them? Let me know what you think. Just leave a comment in the “Leave A Comment” box below.

Want to see what I looked life before and how I look today? Take a gander at my HCG Diet Before and After pictures.

What exactly is Dr. Simeons’ HCG Diet and why is it so important? Click to get the scoop and the proof.

Ready to get your high-potency HCG and supplies? Then just click here…

Don’t want miss out on a single post ever again? Who can blame you? Then just subscribe to my Gutless In Seattle feed. It’s easy! Just Click Here and I’ll do the rest.

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Gutless In Seattle™ is a SmartStuff Media Publication.

Exposed! New HCG Protocol “Revision” Is Blue Sawdust

walter — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:03:02 +0000

Did you see this? Making the rounds online is this noise about a “new HCG Diet protocol revision” where they think they’ve increased the daily calories from 500 to 800 and they think it’s going to work.

There’s just one problem with it (actually several) but I’ll get to that in a moment. The interesting story is not whether it works or not — no, the real story is… WHY they’re doing it. And who “they” are. Hang with me a moment and I’ll get there.

I know some of you have tried this “revision” and some are doing it just because others told you about it.

I know, because when I helped you get back to what works and get you losing weight again — there were all these strange, unnecessary additions we had to throw out of your HCG protocol like B12 shots, supplements, multivitamins, protein shakes, appetite suppressants, etc.

But it all backfired, didn’t it? You got desperate, got impatient and a little crazy because you were unhappy with your progress and started casting about for another shortcut. Then bada-bing, bada-boom you gained weight instead of lost it.

That’s called cause and effect.

Look… I know I probably suck as a cheerleader, okay? You don’t have to tell me, I already know this. If I were a better one, I’d be saying things like “Yay! At least you found out what didn’t work…!”or the ubiquitous ”You can do it!” or any number of other platitudes that, while it gives you a temporary emotional belly-rub, it will ultimately be meaningless for helping you actually beat your weight problem.

That last part is what I really care about. And sometimes I’ve got to go all drill sergeant on ya to get your attention.

So do I have it now?

Good… now, if you want to maximize your weight loss on the HCG Diet, then let me give you a GREAT piece of advice: quit taking piecemeal advice from others on the diet. It blows me away when people try unproven additions to the HCG protocols just because someone else said so. They heard from someone on a Facebook page and that a friend of a friend has a cousin who tried it and lost a bunch of weight.

Supposedly.

Look, I know that most mean well, but just having good intentions isn’t enough. I understand what it’s like to have so much conflicting advice coming at you. That constant, bombardment of conflicting information was why I quit the online forums during my Round 1.

I thought my head was going to explode! Not only was I on this radical diet that I never heard of, but there didn’t seem to be useful, straightforward information about it.

Look, I get it. You’re at a place where you’re struggling with the HCG Diet and you’re casting about to do something, anything more/better/different to get things going again. Well, that’s just your Mental body Map^TM flipping out. So now you’re vulnerable to taking… questionable advice from others who are in the same boat you’re in.

But look, that’s just the desperation talking. Because if you were to think about it for a moment, you’ve put yourself in the precarious position of the blind leading the blind. You don’t know and you’re taking directions from others who also don’t know.

If you knew how many of these corrections I step in and do each week…

Think of it this way: when you’re in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean, who would you rather take directions from — the others (literally) in the same boat you’re in, or the guy on a passing ship with Sat Nav and radar?

I have a unique perspective. I see the overview, the overhead satellite view, if you will. I’ve been on this road by myself three times and I’ve guided many others to successful navigate the road you’re on right now.

Every field has this desperate grasping for new information (because if it’s new, it must be better, right?) and the HCG protocols are certainly no exception. It’s so common it has a name — it’s called “Blue Sawdust Syndrome.”

It goes something like this: when people get frustrated during the HCG Diet, they start casting about for anything to get visible progress again. Someone comes along with the best of intentions and says, “Hey I heard this blue sawdust stuff works great! The friend of the friend of my cousin broke their stall immediately!”

And suddenly you can’t find blue food dye on the store shelves and the lumberyards are mysteriously out of sawdust.

Based on nothing, fueled by hearsay.

Blue Sawdust Syndrome.

Next time, before you wolf down some blue sawdust and chase it with your 1 tablespoon of milk for the day? Do yourself a favor first — look at the weight loss track record of that person and assess accordingly. Please?

Who’s Behind this HCG Protocol “Revision?”

Now, back to this supposed “revision.” I looked into it some time back and the best conclusion I could come to was that it is untested and unproven. A dangerous combo in my book.

But then it gets more insidious. There’s a business bottom-line component to it. The sole purpose of this “revision” is to make the HCG Diet more appealing so doctors will recommend it more. That’s a good thing right?

No, because the only reason the doctors’ associations want this “revision” adopted is to create new revenue for their members’ practices.

That’s not a good enough reason in my book. I’ve got nothing against them finding ways to make more money. But I think as healthcare practitioners, they are obligated to thoroughly test their theories before rolling it out to a desperate, overweight public.

But hey… what the heck do I know? It’s not like I took off a bunch of weight and kept it off or anything just using HCG and 500 calories – no vitamins, no B12 shots, no appetite suppresants and certainly no protein shakes.

I’m not a doctor, I’m not a medical professional, nor a dietitian or nutritionist. I’m just a guy who lost the weight fast and safely, kept it off and coached many others to do the same. Perhaps if I got some alphabet soup behind my name, people would take me more seriously…?

What do you think? Are you ready for Dr. Terry? Dr. Walt? Doc Walter? Should I change my online pics to me in a white lab coat and stethoscope? Give myself some gravitas?

‘Til next time… Stay Gutless.

So, what did you think? Agree or disagree, let me know what you thought about today’s post. Just leave a comment in the “Leave A Comment” box below.

Want to see what I looked life before and how I look today? Take a gander at my HCG Diet Before and After pictures.

What exactly is Dr. Simeons’ HCG Diet and why is it so important? Click to get the scoop and the proof.

Ready to get your high-potency HCG and supplies? Then just click here…

Don’t want miss out on a single post ever again? Who can blame you? Then just subscribe to my Gutless In Seattle feed. It’s easy! Just Click Here and I’ll do the rest.

Follow me on Twitter

“Like” Me On Facebook

Put me in your LinkedIn network

Gutless In Seattle™ is a SmartStuff Media Publication.