The predominant (and outdated) theory on weight loss is:

Calories In < Calories Out

Following this theory, the most common advice for weight loss is you must consume fewer calories than you use per day.  It then follows that  if you burn more calories per day than you eat, you will lose weight.  In the very big picture, it is true, but when applied in this very simplified form,  THIS IS A MYTH.

Before I get myself into too much trouble, let me acknowledge that in the big picture, it is true that if you eat 4000 calories a day and only burn 2000, you will indeed store the extra calories as fat, and gain weight and inches.  From what I have experienced, the Calories In = Calories Out theory is fairly sound as far as weight gain goes.  Where it starts to fall apart is when we apply that same oversimplified theory to weight loss.

The biggest problem with reducing calories in and increasing calories out, is that when we achieve the equation:  Calories In < Calories Out our very clever bodies realize that there is a problem.  The part of our brain that regulates base metabolism is very primitive.  If we use more calories than we consume, our body interprets this as a famine situation.   The stress hormone cortisol is released to increase blood sugar to a level that will sustain body functions (so that we can still hunt the food that we need).  High cortisol levels are associated with – guess what?  Deposition of fat on the abdomen (among other things).  Our body also lowers our metabolism (in part by decreasing the cells ability to respond to thyroid hormone) resulting in lower body temperature and a lower need for calories.

If caloric intake is still lower than caloric use, the body will start to use muscle and eventually even bone as fuel before dipping into the fat stores.  Muscle is metabolically active tissue and burns far more calories than fat.  Again, if the body is trying to survive on fewer calories, it makes sense to eliminate muscle so less calories are needed.  Fat is stored as our “last resort” energy source to ensure our survival when there is no food.

This worked great when we were hunter-gatherers and still works to sustain the lives of  the unfortunate millions who suffer from lack of food today.  It does not, however, work to our advantage in a society flooded with abundant food, or in persons who have gained significant fat and wish to eliminate it.

To burn fat, we do need for the equation Calories In < Calories out to be true.  However, each time that happens, our metabolism turns down another notch, we lose some muscle mass (lowering metabolism further), and our bodies become plump, mean fat storing machines.  As soon as we bring our caloric intake back up to what our previous “normal” level was before, we are now exceeding our new “set” level, and guess what?  Yep, our bodies store the excess as fat.

So, now we have this wonderful downhill spiral of calorie reduction, weight loss of muscle mass instead of fat, reduced metabolism, hunger and fatigue, eventual “falling off” the diet, then gaining the weight back as more fat but now with less muscle and a lower metabolic rate than when we started, making it easier to gain fat when on a normal healthy diet.

So, the real keys to weight loss are:

• preserving and increasing lean muscle mass
• preserving and increasing the base metabolic rate
• tricking the body into burning fat instead of muscle during times of caloric deprivation

These goals can not be achieved by low calorie diet and increased exercise alone.   Fortunately hCG is capable of supporting these processes, and that is why it is such a useful tool to assist in the true loss of unwanted fat.

So I think that the Myth of losing weight following only the Calories In < Calories Out theory is BUSTED….Not because it is not true fundamentally, but because making it happen is much, much more complex.

I’d love to hear what you think!

P.S.   There are several other important factors left out of the Calories In < Calories Out equation.  One is obviously that all calories are not equal.  Another is the impact of endocrine disorders and environmental toxins on our metabolic rate.  Yet another is how the process of inflammation (caused by improper diet, allergies, toxins, endocrine imbalances, immune imbalances, and FAT ITSELF) affects our ability to lose weight.  Each of these issues is so large I will have to blog about them some other time.  Please stay tuned!

There are two main weight loss drugs on the market, Meridia and Xenical.  Meridia helps to reduce the appetite but has significant side effects and may even cause liver damage.  Xenical works by preventing the absorption of fat from the diet, but it will also reduce the absorption of necessary fat-soluble vitamins.  These drugs, when combined with a healthy diet and exercise, may help to reduce body weight by 5-10% a year.  Unfortunately, their efficacy is frequently diminished by six months of use and people’s weight often times comes right back as soon as the drug is discontinued.

So the pharmaceutical industry is clamoring for better drugs.  One potential drug for weight loss was reviewed last month by the FDA and two more will be reviewed in upcoming months.  Qnexa, reviewed last month, had contributed to a 13% reduction in body weight in a year, studies showed, but the side effects were too common and too great for the FDA to approve it.  Contrave, a combination of the antidepressant Wellbutrin and another drug for alcohol and drug addiction, will be reviewed in the next couple of months.  It’s been shown to reduce body weight by about 9% in a year, but potential side effects are worrisome and it is questionable if the FDA will approve it, either.  Lorcaserin is up for review in early 2011.  It has far fewer side effects than Qnexa and Contrave, but is much less effective; studies have shown that it helps to reduce body weight by only 5% a year.

All of these drugs clearly leave a lot to be desired.  They don’t work well, there are major common side-effects, they are expensive, and people’s weight frequently comes back after stopping the medications.

Fortunately there is an alternative that thousands of people have been having great results with:  hCG, which stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin.  It is produced by a mother when she gets pregnant and helps to mobilize fat stores and decrease the appetite.  Most of the drugs mentioned above help to produce a 5-10% loss of body weight in a year, but with hCG, when combined with a specific diet program, we’re seeing an average of 12% reduction in body weight in our patients in 6 weeks.  Not in a year, but in 6 weeks!  It also helps to establish a new set weight point, so the weight doesn’t come right back again when it is discontinued.

It’s a natural hormone and side effects are extremely minimal.  It is used to treat certain types of fertility issues at doses 10-20 times the dose used for weight loss, still with minimal side-effects even at those doses.  In fact, when a woman is pregnant, she may produce up to 300,000 units a day; we’re only using 150-200 units a day for weight loss.

So, while diet and exercise are foundations of weight loss, some people plateau and need a little extra help to reach their goals.  Fortunately, hCG combined with a specific diet provides safe, effective and long-lasting weight loss.