Never go to a gathering hungry
Going to a party on an empty stomach, where there will be an array of pastries, cookies and other high calorie finger foods, will often lead you to fall off the diet wagon no matter how motivated you have been. An excellent tip is to eat something high in protein, like a handful of nuts, a hard boiled egg or a protein shake before you leave for the party. This will greatly curb your appetite enough that you will have the willpower to still enjoy a few of your favourite treats without binging, going overboard and eating too much.

Practice portion control
Just because your friends have been making all of the newest fun recipes from Facebook doesn't mean that you need to be nice and try them. Only partake in snacks when they are concocted of your favourite ingredients and stick to single portions at a time. If you are feeling pressured into trying something for the sake of not hurting someone's feelings just make sure that you take a very small portion. The phrase that I find works best when trying to avoid food-pushers is “No thanks right now but maybe later”, even if the last thing on your mind is trying it.

Limit your alcohol intake
This is tough if you are like me and love those summer specialty cocktails. Those yummy apple martinis and Irish coffees are empty calories and a lots of them! A 12 oz. Piña Colada has almost 600 calories, as does a 6oz. Mudslide. Also watch out for Long Island Ice Teas and Margaritas that have a whopping 750 calories each on average. My tip for cutting calories is to have one drink then switch to the virgin version of the same drink, or if drinking wine, switch to sparkling water mixed with your favourite juice. This way you have a drink to hold and sip that looks alcoholic and saves you from ingesting hundreds and possibly thousands of extra calories.

Dress up and feel your best
While on your weight loss journey, always love and appreciate yourself and your body, don't hate yourself or beat yourself up. It may be easier said than done so I recommend you wear things that make you feel good – if it isn't clothes then wear jewelry that makes you feel special, or get a new flattering haircut. Even something as simple as a mani pedi can bring out your inner Goddess and give you the confidence and willpower to stick to your guns and avoid social overeating.

Survey the entire spread before you fill your plate
Confronted by so many rich foods, you might want to start piling up your plate right away, but first stop and take a deep breath. Think before you serve yourself (and try to serve yourself, so you control your serving sizes). Scope out all of the food being offered at the beginning when you arrive so you can know everything you will be confronted with and therefore avoid nibbling throughout the entire event when new items are introduced. This way by being forewarned you can pick your battles and choose your favourites only.

Keep track of what you are eating
Don't mindlessly eat, and avoid eating and getting lost in conversation at the same time. If you are eating and drinking throughout the event you might not realize how many calories you are eating. Just because you're not eating an entire meal in one sitting doesn't mean that what you are eating are free calories. In fact, most snacks and appetizers at social gatherings have even more calories per bite than you would usually have in an ordinary meal. Be aware!

Good luck!

Detoxifying your body doesn't have to be a scary thing, in fact, it can actually even be pleasant. The key word to keep in mind is "support". We MUST support our liver during this process as it is the main organ used in detoxification. No matter which way you chose to go about detoxifying, the tips below are applicable for all.

1. Drink Lots of Water!
Some people say drink 8 cups daily minimum (herbal teas counts also). With Isagenix cleansing they have a formula... drink 1/2 your weight in ounces. Ie: if you are 200 pounds then on cleanse days drink 100 ounces of water. It's a lot but really aids at flushing our those toxins.

2. Skip the Heavy Workout - Exercise Gently
Don't over exert yourself. A 30 minute walk is perfect and an excellent way to allow toxins to exit our bodies through our lymphatic system - via sweating and breathing.

3. Increase your Fibre Intake
All foods that are plants have fibre in them so focus on plant type foods. It's still difficult to get a lot of fibre at times so taking a supplement like psyllium can enhance the detoxification process.

4. Dry Brush your Skin Every Morning
Dry brushing your body has many benefits. It improves lymphatic drainage, increases blood flow, sloughs off dead skin cells, cleans pores and helps reduce cellulite. I use a firm natural bristle brush which allows me to reach my entire back and easily brush the bottoms of my feet and the backs of my legs. There are many options in dry brushes, just make sure to find one with natural bristles. Click HERE to order the one I currently use and like a lot.

5. Avoid Dairy, Wheat, and Sugar!
Avoiding these foods on a daily basis is good practice but especially if you are detoxing. Not only are these foods generally bad for you, they are difficult to digest and can increase your toxic load.

6. Avoid Caffeine and Alcohol
Caffeine and alcohol greatly interfere with the detoxification process and add unnecessary chemicals to our bodies. Avoid them at all costs during the detoxification process.

7. Sleep!
Aim for 7 to 8 hours nightly. The quality of your sleep directly affects the quality of your waking life, including your productivity, emotional balance, creativity, physical functioning, and even your weight. No other activity delivers so many benefits with so little effort!

8. Supplement with Artichoke Juice
Artichoke juice is extremely beneficial not only just during the detoxification process, but also with digestion and overall liver health. Health food store usually carry it.

9. Use a Castor Oil Pack
Using a castor oil pack every night during the detoxification period increases the cleansing effects.

10. Eat Lots of Greens
When making your food choices, focus on spinach, kalem chard, dandelion greens and rapini along with colourful fruits and vegetables. Why not blend them together for a quick and delicious smoothie. There are many recipes online to choose from.

What it the HCG Diet?

Developed initially by British endocrinologist Albert Simeons in 1949, the somewhat controversial HCG diet has been very successful to help overweight people finally reach their healthy weight goals.  The HCG Diet adds the HCG hormone (human chorionic gonadotropin) to the dieters system paired with a 4 Phase Diet Protocol for weight loss success,

Dr Simeons was famous for injecting HCG sourced from the urine of pregnant women into obese people in the ’50s and ’60s. Produced naturally by the placenta to help women access fat stores when pregnant, HCG was believed to promote weight loss and reduce hunger and cravings when combined with dietary changes. Today, homeopathic drops are more widely used instead because of their much lower cost and also ease of taking the hormone.

Phase one of the protocol is the most popular. Lasting two days, it promises license to indulge in as much food as you like, especially fats. Phase two to three lasts for the next three weeks, in which time you reduce calories to only 500 a day, consisting of fruit, salad, vegetables and lean meat. Halfway through this harrowing three-week period, you stop taking the HCG drops and by the end of it, you’re well and truly ready to return to eating a normal, healthy diet.

THE CLAIM

HCG weight loss can happen fast, but nobody’s claiming it’s exciting because you have few options for food choices. On the flip side though it is easy to curb your eating to the 500 calorie protocol because the dieter loses their hunger during the diet.

“The system is set up to draw the fat from the fat cells,” says nutritionist Cyndi O’Meara, from Changing Habits. “When you’re eating 500 calories a day, your body is supplying 2,500 calories a day in energy approximately. So it’s actually a 3,000 calorie diet, it’s just that 2,500 calories are saturated fat that you’re getting out of your fat cells.”

O’Meara claims to have seen participants lose five to 10 kilos during the three week period. “When I first came across the HCG protocol, I thought it was a load of rubbish,” says O’Meara. “But I just saw too many good results. Then I did it myself and was blown away by it.”

PROS

The HCG Protocol gets points for sheer originality as well as rapid results.

“What we’re doing in phase two and three, by lowering calories and eating only certain foods, is trying (1) to get the SIRT1 gene activated, which is an anti-ageing gene naturally activated by exercise and restricted calorie intake, and (2) get leptin to be reduced by the amount of fat you’re burning and get you to a point of leptin sensitivity again” says O’Meara.

“Leptin controls how you eat and when you’re five kilos or more over your ideal weight, your fat cells produce so much leptin that you become leptin resistant. This resistance makes you want to eat more.”

CONS

Studies criticizing the HCG diet have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Both concluded that HCG was unsafe and not effective as a weight-loss aid.

“It’s not evidence based – that’s the main concern,” says Gudorf. “I suspect that any weight loss you see is the direct result of the low calorie diet and not as a result of the HCG. If you want to follow the meal plan that’s fine but beware that it’s a very, very low calorie plan. It’s not something you can follow long term.”

THE CONSENSUS

When reading all of the testimonials about the HCG Diet it is hard to dispute that it works because the success rate is astounding and it looks like the only diet that has worked for many people.

Hearing about the 500 calorie per day eating plan is a bit scary before you do the HCG Diet but once you are on the drops and the diet, it is actually quite easy. Without hunger or cravings it is not difficult to curb your eating, and when you are losing a pound a day of stubborn fat the motivation to stay on it is definitely there.

If I had weight to lose I wouldn't think twice about giving this controversial diet plan a try - what would I have to lose other than stubborn pounds and inches.