Dr. Bernstein Strict Diet and weight-loss-stabilization

What I learned from my experience with the Dr. Bernstein Diet is that it's missing an important aspect of losing weight and maintaining it, something that I would call stabilization of body weight.

I now strongly believe that any changes that I ask my body to go through: will need a time to settle.

What I believe is wrong in the Dr. Bernstein Diet is losing lots of weight without breaks along the path and a drastic jump into a maintenance program that allows us to eat way too many vegetables.

I have experienced a perfect weight loss to suddenly see a weight gain, powerless (due also to my Binge Eating Disorder ok).

What I think is a better approach to a strict Diet is that I need to give time to my body to stabilize the new weight, I should stay on a Diet not more than 4 weeks for instance (which for a Dr. Bernstein program 4 weeks is a lot of time and a lot of pounds), after 4 weeks I believe my body needs to settle for good into the new scale number – stabilize that weight, being comfortable. To do so I'd suggest to go over a sort of Maintenance Program, that might require still strict portion controls but just enough to have the body weight remaining on the same weight (with an approximation of more less 2 pounds) for at least 2 weeks. So, for at least 2 weeks, your weight must not change, in this way the body will become attuned to the new number and you could ensure you're not going to gain back everything you've lost so far. To clarify more in details this requirement I'd need to highlight that the weight must have a span of at least 2 weeks, in which does not change; swinging is a change, even if at the end of the 2 weeks the weight is exactly how it started. I must not see any drastic weight changes for the entire settle-period.

I learned this process reading and watching tutorials regarding the hCG Diet. This hormone-based strict Diet teaches patients to go over a very restrictive food protocol for just few weeks and then stop the hCG injections working on stabilizing the new weight, allowing so the body to settle. It's clear to me now that we're habits-animals, even my weight it is, so if I don't let my body adjust to it, forcing to accept my new me, it will go back exactly where it was.

To give a stupid example: when I first learned English, I had to think before creating a sentence, and then speak. Now that I'm fluent I just speak, without thinking. During this process I noticed that my brain was simply creating sentences in my native language, because that was what I always did for all previous years of my life. I did know how to speak; I just needed to let my brain accept a new automatic alternative way to speak. So let your body accept the new changes before moving forward, or you might ended up gaining back all the pounds you've lost with so many sacrifices.

Another reason why I do believe is not advisable engaging in a long term Dr. Bernstein strict Diet is for the side effects. If you put your body into starvation for months, naturally it will activate a surviving system control, resulting in hair loss, dizziness, weakness, eating disorder, and everything related to malnutrition.

After losing 20 pounds with Dr. Bernstein Diet, during maintenance, I found myself gaining weight with just an extra apple. It's very common for strict diets. The rule calories-intake vs calories-burned does not apply whatsoever for unknown (to me at least) reasons. Which I know it sucks!

So, if you're going through the journey of a very strict diet – whatever it is – be aware that maintaining your lost weight is the toughest part, losing weight is easy; not let your body going back to where it was is the real war.

Dr. Bernstein Diet and my Binge Eating Disorder

It's been a year now since I started my first Dr Bernstein Diet. After meeting my goal in October 2014, I gained back slowly everything I lost, and some more. Apparently this is something common for these types of diet – and now I know exactly WHY.

One important detail – that's not mentioned in the Dr. Bernstein instruction Manual – is that when you put your body into a starvation mode, chances are that you will develop a Binge Eating Disorder.

Binge Eating is a normal instinctive reaction of your brain to survive, to compulsively request all those nutrients that you removed with your strict diet for so long, that you craved for so long.

Binge Eating affects more people that you would believe.

At the begin of my maintenance I started to have episodes of binging, at the time I didn't even know what was a B.E.D., I thought I was stupid and incapable to control my insane desire of eating 8 muffins in 3 minutes or an entire package of chocolate chips cookies. I thought my sweet tooth and my chocolate addiction were the reasons I could not control myself. Well that wasn't the reason.

Lots of people assume that Binge Eating Disorder is caused by an emotional state, that for sure there's an emotional trigger that makes you binge so compulsively and with no control.

If for some people, that could be true I guess, most of the times it's not. I tried to analyze any emotional reason that could have caused my binge attack, each time. But there was no pattern; once I was sad, once I was happy, once I was tired, once not….nothing that could relate that nonsense uncontrollable behaviours. I deducted that it was only my brain screaming for food, it was just a habit that my brain developed after all I put through with my Dr. Bernstein strict Diet.

The sad part is that not only I spent lots of money with Dr. Bernstein Diet, I kept on going back to the clinic - because weight becomes an obsession when you have a Binge Eating Disorder, I kept on starving my body and frightening my brain, I kept on gaining back pounds on and off and on again, not only that but what more depressing is that I now have an Eating Disorder that kills me inside as person, I don't enjoy food in the same way, I don't think about eating in the same way. I have a food obsession that is taking my days away from what should be living a normal and healthy life.

If someone tells you that you won't feel hungry during Bernstein Diet, he/she is lying. I was constantly starving, feeling weak, dizzy all the times. That was the real feel of what starvation is. How can I possibly think that my brain does not get affected by this state of my body? We are perfect machines, being in Ketosis activates parts of your brain that we usually don't have in alarm (if taking a normal food Diet) – your brain is asking you for help to survive, hence it will start to binge as soon as it can.

I'm not here to give any advice in regards of BED, since I'm not a doctor and I'm still a binge eater myself. I've to say – from my personal experience – that realizing and accepting that I've an eating Disorder helped me to fight it back. Now I know that, with the time, I will be able to overcome this disorder. I'm practicing on breaking the habit on Binge Eating, talking to myself that it's not me compulsively desiring to eat so much, it's my irrational brain, and I stay still, waiting for the impulse to leave. Sometimes are better than others, I'm strong and stubborn so I'm not giving up, I'm conscious though, it will be a long journey.

Dr. Bernstein injections and nurses

Dr. Bernstein Diet is a strict weight loss program, it works – but it needs to be followed religiously, or it can be an unpleasant experience (due to the extreme food restriction) and costly as well.

For me switching to self-shots option is mostly due to the expenses that I cannot possibly afford anymore, and also is becoming annoying going to the clinic 3 times a week. Some of the nurses there are really dumb, so if they can do an injection: anyone can do it!

Once I was concerning to one of the nurses on my slow weight loss, and the fact that I've hard time to give up my coffee. She explained that coffee is bad for dieting since…."…it expands cells fat in the body"!!  I'm not kidding, that was her answer! So this should give you an idea on how the personnel are trained in those clinics.

Nurses in the Dr. Bernstein clinics are not highly skilled, not even regarding the Strict Diet itself, most of the questions I asked in the past months, were redirected to the doctor…or answered with no clue on what they were saying.

Today I was trying to get as much information as I could regard the injections. I asked the nurse if the B6/B12 ratio in the double injections is the same, she didn't know, she told me that they receive the B-comp like that, so not sure exactly how much of each is in it. However based on my researches, it should be 50/50, no reason not to be that way really.

I also asked the amount of Vitamins I was injected during the Strict Diet (on each double shot taken), she told me – for privacy reason – she was not allowed to tell me how many cc/ml it was, but I can obviously see the syringe and I saw that was at 1ml of dosage.

The needle used is the Insulin short one - I believe is the Needle Insulin Syringe, 3/10mL Syringe -30G x 12.7mm (1/2") – that is what I bought also yesterday, I thought it would be easy for me to use, once I do my first self-injection on Friday. I'm a bit scared of the idea of taking the shots myself, but then again I think on how much money I'm spending, that without the B6/B12 injections I cannot possibly continue this strict Diet (without compromising my health as well as my metabolism), so I must to learn on how to do it, at the end Vitamins B6-12 don't get stored in the body and drinking lots of water helps to get rid of them.

Today I also bought another bottle of Cal-K pills at the clinic ($16), although I'm not going next Friday I needed to have an extra bottle to continue the treatment by myself. Apparently it works in conjunction with the B-shots to boost metabolism and reduce the amount of stored fat.

Looking for a change

Today it was my last day on the Dr. Bernstein program…well at least for now.

Let's face it, this Diet is very expensive (I've already spent more than $2500) and keeping on going on and off is not helping me to stay thin. So I decided to take a different path: yesterday at Shopper Drug Mart I bought 20 syringes and B6 and B12 vitamins in liquid form.

I always read on the Internet of people doing their own injections and always thought: this is crazy! I can't possibly do that!

But after so many months on Bernstein Diet and getting 3 times a week injections, I feel I can do it and it's actually not a big deal, at all.

I checked on Internet, You Tube, wherever I could find any information on how to do injections or what type of Vitamin B6/B12 should I buy - that was the easy part. I went to Shopper's and just asked for B6 and B12!

The B6 is quite pricey compared the B12; I got the B6 for $51 and the B12 for $8, so big difference - but still way cheaper than Dr. Bernstein. Based on my estimation with a budget of $100 or so I'm good for 3 months. With Bernstein Diet Program I would have to pay $1800 for that length of time!

Back in Ketosis

Here I am again, after almost 1 year since I started my Dr. Bernstein Diet Journey for the very first time. I guess it's not a surprise saying that I gained back all that I lost in my previous tentative with the Diet…..and some more!

Some updates: I joined a gym since December 2014, I'm trying to go regularly, but some weeks are better than others I would say, even though I always enjoy going and the after-feeling is rewarding every time.

I'm back on the strict since 2 weeks now; I did not lose much so far, maybe 3/4 pounds I guess. This time around I've lots of difficulties to give up my coffee addiction and all those cream, half and half, fat milk that go with it.

I learned that going on and off from the Diet makes you lose faith in the Diet itself, so I would not suggest doing that when possible. It's a strict and expensive Diet, it must to be taken seriously - otherwise it's just a waste of money, time and stress for the body.

I figured now how to be in ketosis easier, just removing completely the carbs from my daily food. No bread, no crackers….not that I ever had a lot anyway.

Being in Ketosis is a fundamental thing in this Diet; never ever underestimate the importance to be in Ketosis during this treatment.

If you follow the Diet, eating small amounts of food as prescribed, but you're not in Ketosis, sure as hell your metabolism is going to drop instantly – and there's nothing worse than a slow metabolism for whom is struggling to lose weight….or maintain it for that matter.

Being in a Ketogenic status means that your body is burning fat – which is what everyone wants – not only that, it guarantees you that your metabolism is running. In a very similar way, when you have lots of muscles your body burns fat even when you're sleeping, your metabolism is high and you don't gain weight.

A slow metabolism has opposite outcome…

It is for this reason that first thing in this Diet is: being in Ketosis. If you're not in Ketosis I would suggest you to try to remove all the carbs, change type of vegetables, don't eat sugar in any form (included fruits). This should not being seen as a punishment or anything – it is extremely important to guarantee that your body burns every day of your Diet, even if it's just a little.

This will be easier to understand when you will be off from the strict Diet and even an extra apple will make you gain weight. I had to pay (in many senses) this situation on my own skin, my metabolism is messed up and losing even 1 single pound is a struggle. Maintenance is a dream for now!

Notes on my Diet

Based on my personal experience, I want to list what had an impact - positive and negative - on my Diet:

• Tomatoes hold my weight loss during the Strict Diet
• Asparagus helped me to lose weight and the fibers in it to go regularly
• Apart from water,  ANY type of drink consumed in large quantities made me constipated and bloated (including herbal teas) – as well as taking me out of ketosis
• Cabbage, although delicious, made me extremely bloated, constipated and hold my weight loss
• 2 Apples a day hold on my weight loss – do not eat more than one a day when possible
• Eating dinner late at night take me out of ketosis
• Fish is extremely good protein to lose weight
• Chicken made me gain weight and gassy (as well as turkey)
• Berries/Cantaloupe is the best fruit to lose weight during the Strict Diet – I'd suggest instead of any other fruit
• Goldfish crackers are better bread substitute than anything else
• Broccoli are heavy during the strict Diet – ideally the quantity of it should be very limited
• Yogurt is a perfect protein serving when on Strict Diet
• Not sleeping enough take you out of ketosis

Going back to the Strict Diet?

Being on a strict Diet is realistically never an easy thing to do. Ups and downs are part of the game – a mandatory learning curve, almost impossible to avoid. This is my experience so far, I'm learning what I want for my health, my body, for myself to feel comfortable with how I look (that not necessarily is the same as the one perceived by others).

My Dr. Bernstein Diet has been inspiring to me, very helpful; I learned beyond my expectations, also about myself and my weaknesses.

The reality is that when you approach this type of Diet, it's really hard to succeed the very first time. You try, you lose weight and you feel fantastic. But then you crave food, you want to be rewarded for such privation…and you gain back – if not all, some. It's here that you realize that you have to try again, that this is part of the learning process on how to make your everyday diet better, healthier and how to stick with it.

I found myself gaining weight only having 2/3 tbsp of peanut butter with my celery, I noticed on how my body complaints every time I eat processed food. I'm thirsty all day long and I learnt how to drink big amount of water in less than 60 seconds!

But me too, with all my love for sweets and chocolate, I'm going back to the strict diet. Sometimes I think that I'll be paying like $100 per Kg that I want to lose, is it worth it? Why I can't do it myself?

The answer is only one for me: no I can't, I might be able to maintain what I have, struggling on what I eat but I'm not able to lose 5 Kg by myself.

My experience so far is positive at the end. My love for cooking is hyperbolically increased and I'm craving organic fruits and vegetables every day. I don't even consider the idea to go back on eating junk food, and if I do – seriously – my stomach hurts like I'm dying!

My biggest challenge so far then it was, not the junk food, but the portion control; being in maintenance with this unlimited-vegetables pattern really did not work for me, switching between the different week of Maintenance program it's just a stupid thing. This is the only negative part I can tell about the Dr. Bernstein Diet plan; they should re-visit Maintenance – unless it's a marketing idea to have customers coming back for the strict diet!

I'm still going to the gym, like 3 times a week, I'm wondering if I will be able to still do it when I'll be back on the strict Diet, but I really hope so. Building muscles and exercising is a boost for the mood and the scale. Everything requires time, my job, my age surely doesn't help my weight loss program; but hey what can I do?!

I recently signup on one of those Organic Delivery Programs that some company/farmers do here and there, it's really nice and the taste of the fruits and vegetables is amazing; but the weekly family basket lasts only 2 days for me…and I'm single. This is because – at the end- the whole I eat are vegetables and fruit, with small amount of proteins to compliments my vegetables. I don't have any processed food in my apartment; in the freezer I only have my fish and some frozen vegetables, in the fridge tons of vegetables and some whole wheat/grain bread. I don't even remember what I used to store in my fridge when I was eating junk food? Maybe a frozen pizza? Maybe real eggs instead of my egg whites cartons.

But I do have my weaknesses now and then; I believe that a life without chocolate is not life at all. So sometime I buy the dark chocolate chips and I add them to my Plain 0% Greek Yogurt – it's super delicious – but again what's not delicious with chocolate in it?