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.