Support: 5 Reasons That Might Surprise You On Why You Gain Weight (Despite Doing Everything RIGHT!)

It’s not the weight you lost that matters, it’s the weight you keep off. ~ Biz

It’s about time I started quoting myself.

::giggle::

We are going to talk about maintenance for a bit. As wonderful and as much a miracle as The hCG Protocol is, it’s nothing without maintenance.

For some, eating the way you do on P2 is just penance for being able to eat the way you REALLY want to on P3.

Many feel that after a round of P2, they can go back to the way they were eating before that round and by some miracle, their body is ok with it, and they will forever maintain the weight they just lost.

Um…not so much.

We were overweight for a reason. Dare I say obese, should I even go to MORBIDLY obese because for whatever reason, we were not eating optimally for our bodies.

You think eating 500 calories a day on P2 was hard? HA! Try sticking to a strict 1800 calories a day maintenance program for life.

::giggle::

But seriously, maintenance is the challenging part. Living with your miraculous weight loss day after day, through all of life’s twists and turns, that is where the real fun begins.

When on maintenance (and even sometimes on P2) there are occasions when you gain weight, and well, you know why. You indulged in a special dish not on plan, you were unexpectedly detained and didn’t have an emergency pouch of salmon or a bag of nuts on your person, or just felt like you needed a certain comfort food or you were not going to get through the day.

You KNOW you are going to gain weight, and for some, you are prepared to pay the piper and work on getting it back in line right away. For others, believe it or not, they are mad that their bodies behaved that way, but that is a story for another day. HA!

Today I am talking to those people out there that are seriously trying to maintain their weight loss, doing everything they consider is RIGHT, and yet they wake up to a gain that is not a flux. PLEASE understand that to expect your weight to be the exact same number day after day is a bit unrealistic. Fluxes are a natural part of life. I consider a a flux anything that is .6 or below. Anything above a .6 gain is when I recommend looking at factors to determine what might have caused it.

The question then becomes, what causes a gain that is unexpected?

The Biz Buzz Method has narrowed the plethora of reasons you can gain weight down to just 5 THEMES. The list is very general (and specific at the same time), however, it’s in an order I feel most reflects my research with clients and members of HTA. In other words, #1 is the first thing I ask my clients to look at when they have had a gain, and then so on until we get to #5. Your mileage may vary:

1)  Chemicals: This is a big one, and can encompass a HUGE amount of different artificially produced products that we might take in and not know. Some examples are (by no means a comprehensive list):

  • ARTIFICIAL COLORS: The FDA still allows 10 different artificial colors in foods. Some still contain carcinogens. Check out the link.
  • ARTIFICIAL FLAVORING: Did you know that a single artificial flavoring can be created from hundreds of individual chemicals? There is a suggestion that these can cause behavior changes in some people.
  • ASTAXANTHIN: Do you like the color of farmed salmon from the store? How about how farmed crustaceans look? This is manufactured from coal tar.
  • BENZOIC ACID/SODIUM BENZOATE: Usually added to milk and meat products, they are known to temporarily stop proper function of digestive enzymes, and to cause gastric distress and asthma attacks.
  • BHA (BUTYLATED HYDROXYANISOLE) AND BHT (BUTYLATED HYDROXYTOLUENE): These are added to delay rancidity and are considered a carcinogen.
  • CANTHAXANTHIN: Sometimes used to make egg yolks golden yellow and can cause retinal damage.
  • EMULSIFIERS: Emulsifiers, made from vegetable fats, glycerol and organic acids, extend the shelf life of bread products and allow liquids that wouldn’t normally mix, such as oil and water, to combine smoothly.
  • MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE (MSG): I don’t really need to explain this one right?
  • METHYLCYCLOPROPENE: A gas they use to stop produce from ripening and turning brown. Bagged lettuce anyone?
  • OLESTRA: Fake fat? For real??? Can cause, ick, “anal leakage”. ::giggle::
  • PARTIALLY-HYDROGENATED OILS: Hydrogenation is the process of heating oil and passing hydrogen bubbles through it. The fatty acids in the oil then acquire some of the hydrogen, which makes it denser. If you fully hydrogenate, you create a solid (a fat) out of the oil. But if you stop part way, you create semi-solid, partially hydrogenated oil with the consistency of butter. Because this process is so much cheaper than using butter, partially-hydrogenated oils are found in many, many foods. Their addictive properties have linked partially-hydrogenated oils to weight problems caused by a slowed metabolism and the development of diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
  • POTASSIUM BROMATE: Potassium bromate increases volume in white flour and we don’t have to worry about this right? We don’t do wheat, right?
  • SODIUM NITRITE AND NITRATE: These closely related chemicals have been used for centuries to preserve meat. While nitrate itself is harmless, it easily converts to nitrite which, when combined with secondary-amines compounds form nitrosamines, a powerful cancer-exacerbating chemical. This chemical reaction occurs easily during the frying process.

2)  Wheat/Gluten:  Seriously? Do I need to even go here? Just read Wheat Belly by Dr. Davis – the important thing to remember is that gluten can be found in so many different places, get very particular in your research if you find you keep gaining for unexplained reasons. Once had a client that gained on Vodka – didn’t realize that not all vodka is gluten free. Neither did I, so we both learned a lesson that day!

3)  Processed Sugar/Artificial Sweeteners: This includes things like TOL sweeteners and stevia products. Look for additives that make some artificial sweeteners measure like regular sugar. My goal with my clients is to get them on natural sugars eventually, things like organic local honey, using dates for sweetening or organic cane sugar (which I use more often than not). But to be clear, these two are the most common that you should stay away from:

  • ASPARTAME: This is one of those things that screams “story for another day”, but suffice it to say if you are still doing aspartame, you can pretty much give up on weight control, and your health. Watch this documentary: Sweet Misery
  • HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP: The consumption of large quantities has been fingered as a causative factor in heart disease. It raises blood levels of cholesterol and triglyceride fats, while making blood cells more prone to clotting and accelerating the aging process.

4)  Sickness/Injury/Medical Procedure:  This is actually a theme that I can get into in depth, but not today. In short, our bodies need water to cleanse out toxins. Whenever we injure our bodies in some way, water is the only mechanism that can first balance out the toxins, then help eliminate them. If you have a cold, water is hoarded to collect the offending germs and eliminate (think mucus); if we have a stomach bug, water is the only thing that can grab the offending bacteria and then eliminate them in two distinct ways (don’t need to mention them); if we get sunburned, wind-burned, work out too hard and hurt muscles, stub our toe, sprain an ankle, water gathers to protect the offending hurt (swelling) and then works to eliminate it eventually; if we have surgery or some other medical procedure, water is hoarded to help balance things out, help heal, and then eventually get eliminated.

Let me include loss of sleep in this category because I feel that insomnia is a sickness. This is actually pretty big in the gain department because most of our weight loss happens when we sleep. No sleep? No loss or even a gain. One more thing, weighing either earlier or later than a regular time can affect the scale.

Any new medications or supplements, new brands of medication or supplements, new doses, new times to take them, NOT taking them, all of those things can upset the chemistry balance of our bodies and cause water to be hoarded.

Have you developed intolerance to a certain food? All allergies are inflammation, which is just water hoarding.

And lastly, for men and women, being hormonal can be a factor.

5)  Excess Calories/Wrong Kind of Calories:  Finally, last on my list is if you either went above your regular calorie limit (usually by simply forgetting to post something in your calorie counter) or your ratios are off. And this could also happen when you back-loaded calories (eating all your calories at night) which is definitely not a healthy and weight maintenance smart thing to do.

Well, there you have it … 5 surprising reasons you might have gained when you didn’t do anything wrong the day before.

Do you have anything to add or would you like to ask a question? Please feel free to post something in the comment section below.

3 Comments on Support: 5 Reasons That Might Surprise You On Why You Gain Weight (Despite Doing Everything RIGHT!)

  1. Darlicia says:

    I still am amazed at how much information I’m still learning! Do you no longer recommend Stevia? I usually have 2 16 oz cups of tea and use 1 packet in each a day. A few months ago, I changed to sweet leaf because it doesn’t have any maltodextrin or “natural flavors” like my other brand. What do you suggest for P2?

    • Biz says:

      Stevia is ok, but you truly have to be careful with the brands, and look closely at any added ingredients. When past the initial three weeks of P3, I do recommend moving on to natural sugars, if possible. P2 is a different story, just get through it. ::giggle::

  2. Julie says:

    I thought astaxanthin was a powerful anti oxidant and I sometimes take it in a gel cap and mine is from a natural microalgae source. What am I missing here? I would love to have a better understanding of this 🙂

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