Avoiding negative symptoms when losing weight: what Michael did about them

What this page is about

When fat cells are broken down and the basal metabolic rate rises, acids and harmful substances are released that the body had previously stored in the fat cells. This can lead to inflammatory changes and other negative symptoms. Depending on how much of it is released, this can be a mild to heavy strain on the body.

Michael wanted to avoid this strain as much as possible. For him, that’s exactly what losing weight easily means. Here I show you what he did to achieve that when he lost 25 kilos in two and a half months. In the boxes with my name on them, I tell you how it went for me personally.

What supported Michael along the way

Curcuma, also known as turmeric

Curcuma has an anti-inflammatory effect and draws out water. It’s also in perfectly ordinary curry powder from the supermarket. That’s why Michael added a teaspoon of curry powder to his vegetable skillet at lunch and again in the evening.

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I also took turmeric every day, but pure turmeric powder instead of curry, and always a heaping teaspoon. When it matched the dish, it went straight into the food. When the flavor didn’t match at all, for example with spinach, I stirred it into my drink with the nutrients or into a glass of water and drank it at the start of the meal. That way, it still ended up together with the food and the pepper in the stomach.

A mostly healthy diet

Michael ate healthily, meaning fresh food he prepared himself. It wasn’t perfect, but he stuck to it most of the time.

Enough fluids

He drank a lot of still water, at least two liters spread throughout the day, and that was on top of other drinks.

Enough minerals

The body needs minerals to bind acids and to promote the regeneration and healing of areas that are already inflamed. That’s why Michael took two scoops of alkaline minerals after lunch and again after dinner.

B vitamins at lunch

At lunch, Michael also took two to three scoops of B vitamins. They’re especially needed during weight loss. That’s because when fat reserves are broken down, acids and harmful substances are released that trigger irritations like tension or pain. The nerves pass these stimuli on and need more B vitamins to do so. If they’re lacking, the nerves become overstimulated. This shows up, for example, as restlessness, irritability, anxiety, anger, feeling overwhelmed, or a lack of staying power, and that’s exactly what makes many diets fail.

→ More on this: Helpful Nutrients

Supplements in the morning

In the morning, Michael supported the burning of sugar and fats and reduced his cravings for something savory or sweet between meals. For that, he drank a glass of water with these nutrients:

• Fat-soluble vitamins. They reduce the feeling of hunger and improve the burning of fat and carbohydrates in the mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cells.
• B vitamins. The mitochondria also need them to burn fat and carbohydrates.
• Water-soluble omega-3 fatty acids. They do a better job of transporting the fat-soluble vitamins to where they’re needed.
• Q10. In the mitochondria, it works like a relay runner: It picks up the energy from burning fat and sugar and passes it on until the cell can work with it. If there’s too little Q10, the burning slows down. Q10 is especially important for over-acidified cells, because they need energy to take in minerals and get rid of the acids.

By doing this, Michael also wanted to prevent the body from running short of fat-soluble vitamins, omega-3, or Q10. With these nutrients, he dimmed his cravings down step by step until at some point there were none left at all.

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It was very similar for me, too. Pretty early on in the method, my cravings were already noticeably reduced, but they still came back relatively quickly. From week to week, they then stayed away longer and got weaker and weaker at the same time. After about three weeks, I could just stick with the method without getting cravings in between anymore. The nagging urge to keep going to the fridge was completely gone, at least as long as I took the nutrients regularly.

What each nutrient does exactly is explained here:

→ Helpful Nutrients: all the details

Losing weight fast means: heavy strain from harmful substances and acids

When you lose weight quickly, the body is heavily burdened with harmful substances and acids. That’s because it likes to store these substances in the fat cells. When the fat cells are emptied, the harmful substances and acids that were stored there are released again too.

Possible accompanying symptoms

In this phase, for example, the following symptoms can occur:

• Feeling run-down and tiredness
• Irritability
• Pain, including nerve pain
• Metabolic disturbances
• Inflammation
• Over-acidification
• Weakness, difficulty concentrating, and sleep disturbances

Every body reacts differently to this.

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I got through this phase very well. As long as I stuck to the plan, I had neither headaches nor other pain, and I slept well. Symptoms only showed up when I did something wrong, for example when I drank too little water, left out the minerals or the B vitamins for a longer time, or went too long without eating anything. Then I got tired and had no energy, and sometimes joint pain came on top of that. As soon as I stuck to the plan again, it was gone.

But there’s one thing that comes with it, too: You don’t have energy to spare at the beginning, even if you do everything right. I wasn’t wiped out, and I could still go for a walk now and then or work on the computer. But my sharp focus, my staying power, and my full drive were dampened. No wonder: The body is in a calorie deficit, gets fewer carbohydrates, and on top of that has to get rid of the substances that are released during weight loss. Over time, this got considerably better because my brain and my metabolism adjusted, and I was able to work with much more focus again. How long that takes varies from person to person. That’s my experience and no guarantee that it will go exactly the same way for you.

Important: when you shouldn’t hesitate

If symptoms get worse, persist, or worry you, please don’t just push through, and don’t deal with it alone. Talk to your doctor or naturopath.

This applies especially to:

• pain that lasts several days or gets worse
• persistent tiredness or weakness
• digestive problems that don’t go away on their own
• anything that feels distinctly different than usual

Losing weight fast should feel doable, not exhausting.

If you want to understand more, you’ll find detailed explanations here

→ Helpful nutrients and their role in the method

→ Why digestion, gluten, and starch can slow down weight loss