Vickie's Viewpoint

Everywhere I go I encounter women doing the hCG weight loss diet. It seems to be the latest diet craze, especially here in the Phoenix, Arizona metro area.

In one of my business group coaching sessions last week, four women admitted they were on the hCG diet but not using medical supervision. That got me thinking…why would they decide not to use a doctor?

Here are Some Advantages of Doing the hCG Diet Without a Doctor…

• The obvious and probably most important factor is cost. Some of my coaching clients have paid as much as $2,000 through a naturopathic doctor. I was lucky. I paid a small fraction of that with SanTanNaturalMedicine.com

• Another reason might be to use the diet as a way to build self-esteem. Like many women, we might have an I’ll-do-it-myself-attitude, thinking if we gained the weight ourselves, we can lose it ourselves too.

• Not using a doctor can eliminate our guilty feelings. It makes it easier to deal with not achieving our weight goal.

• We want to keep our freedom. We don’t want somebody watching over our shoulder, making sure we stick with the diet. No one’s holding us accountable. What a relief!

• Maybe we’ve learned from the past. We could have put our trust in doctors before and found they’ve failed us. Maybe they’ve failed to really listen to us, keep proper track of our test results or monitor our progress or setbacks.

Have I missed other advantages for not using a doctor with your hCG weight loss diet? Share your thoughts, experiences or things I overlooked.

If you would like to learn the Disadvantages of Doing the hCG Weight Loss Diet without a Doctor, see Vickie Champion’s next blog.

In the previous blog we pointed out some of the recognizable characteristics of overweight women. For example, they eat to relieve stress or eat quickly or tend to be carbohydrate addicts. But what about the hidden traits? These are the characteristics that overeaters themselves my not even be conscious of.

Here’s Some Not so Obvious Traits of Overweight Women…

They might have a tendency to…

• Eat often unconsciously while reading or watching TV.

• Be scared of change.

• Feel guilty after splurging.

• Have no idea what their dreams are.

• Have a large capacity to tolerate, stuffing down every little thing instead of setting boundaries.

• Put others ahead of themselves.

• Have a hard time saying “no” when offered food. It’s difficult to disappoint others.

• Focus on getting a quick fix instead of working on their long term goals.

• Either under earn, over spend or both.

• Binge eat alone.

• Have a clutter problem.

Can you think of any others? I would love to get your comments.

Click here to see more information from Vickie Champion on weight issues.

I have been overweight most of my life. My weight has fluctuated from 20 to 100 in excess pounds. From experience, presenting numerous workshops (CA, WA, OR, CO, AZ, NV, TX, MO) and from my life coaching clients who have hired me to help them with their overeating, I’ve learned a bit about the shared traits of overweight women.

Here’s Some Traits of Overweight Women…

They have a tendency to…

• Eat more quickly.

• Emotionally eat to relieve stress and numb themselves.

• Do very little if any exercise on a regular basis.

• Hate to see food go to waste.

• Live or associate with others that are also overweight.

• Dislike their appearance.

• Be carbohydrate addicts.

• Use food as a reward or source of pleasure.

• Be in poor health like having high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes or heart conditions.

Sure there are exceptions. Maybe you are one of them. Drop me a note and share your experiences with weight with me.

Click here to see more information from Vickie Champion on weight issues.

We will discuss concepts that are helpful in any weight loss program. In each session we will talk about our mindsets, how we sabotage ourselves, and ways to overcome it.

The group will meet on Thursday evenings from 6:30pm to 8:00pm in Chandler, AZ near the 101 & Warner.  Each session only costs $5.

To R.S.V.P. and get exact location contact Vickie Champion at 480-838-9866 or click here and leave a short message.

A few months ago I searched the web for any information I could find on the hCG diet before trying it. I even read a couple of books about it. What I didn’t find is much info on the mental challenges that people experience and how we cope with that.

Just like any weight loss program, I think the hCG diet has it’s own set of mental challenges. What makes this diet different is the speed the weight comes off (1 to 2 pounds a day), the lack of exercise required, and the unforgiveness of the diet, if you cheat even slightly.

Here are Some of the Mental Challenges of the hCG Weight Loss Diet…

• Immediately having to replace emotional eating with another activity. Most diets fill this void with a lot of exercise.

• Dealing with the difficulty of socializing. Almost every event revolves around unhealthy or addicting foods.

• Handling the depression that can come when we hit a plateau and have days without weight loss. Again, this can be intensified on this diet more than others because of the speed with which we have been losing weight.

• Struggling with the guilt if we cheat. On the hCG diet one little slip can not only stabilize our weight, but might even cause actual weight gain, which magnifies the guilt.

• Contending with our rapidly changing self-image. Many of us have been overweight for so long, it takes some adjustment to see ourselves as “normal” or “thin.”

If you want help with overcoming the mental challenges of the hCG weight loss diet, contact Vickie Champion at 480-838-9866 or click here and leave a short message.