Six Apples a Day Keep the Plateau Away

Image via WikipediaI've finished my second week of the hCG Simeon Protocol and my weight loss has definitley slowed down. However, 10.5 lbs in two weeks is still great progress! I've lost 2.5" in my waist alone. At the end of the first week I hit a plateau. My mentor (Jonathan Glass of Healing Essence) said that a plateau often happens when the body hits an old set point, and that was certainly true for me. I've gone up and down a few pounds over the last several years, but never below a certain weight (which shall not be named!). And here I was, stuck at that same weight. After four days without any movement on the scale, I consulted my sister-in-law (Marcia Wieder founder of Dream University) and she told me about apple days. An "apple day" can be used to break a plateau or as a correction day if you go up a few pounds when on maintenance. For an apple day, you eat five or six apples - and nothing else for the entire day! Also, your water intake should be decreased and only drink water to quench thirst. The next day you should see at least a one pound drop and weight loss will continue after that (until the next plateau, of course). So, after my apple day, I dropped 1.5 lbs and finally broke through that set point barrier!

Dr. Simeon describes the process in his manuscript, "Pounds and Inches"

The Plateau

The second type of interruption we call a "plateau". A plateau lasts 4-6 days and frequently occurs during the second half of a full course, particularly in patients that have been doing well and whose overall average of nearly a pound per effective injection has been maintained. Those who are losing more than the average all have a plateau sooner or later. A plateau always corrects itself, but many patients who have become accustomed to a regular daily loss get unnecessarily worried and begin to fret. No amount of explanation convinces them that a plateau does not mean that they are no longer responding normally to treatment.

Image via Wikipedia In such cases we consider it permissible, for purely psychological reasons, to break up the plateau. This can be done in two ways. One is a so-called "apple day". An apple-day begins at lunch and continues until just before lunch of the following day. The patients are given six large apples and are told to eat one whenever they feel the desire though six apples is the maximum allowed. During an apple-day no other food or liquids except plain water are allowed and of water they may only drink just enough to quench an uncomfortable thirst if eating an apple still leaves them thirsty. Most patients feel no need for water and are quite happy with their six apples. Needless to say, an apple-day may never be given on the day on which there is no injection. The apple-day produces a gratifying loss of weight on the following day, chiefly due to the elimination of water. This water is not regained when the patients resume their normal 500-Calorie diet at lunch, and on the following days they continue to lose weight satisfactorily.

For my next entry, I'll tell you more about how the hCG Simeon protocol works and how the follow it.