Destiny Watson, 47, of Hattiesburg always had dreams of getting her youthful figure back. After having four children, and a new found diagnosis of diabetes, she felt that maybe all hope was lost. The swelling in her feet made it difficult for her to exercise the way she wants.
“I was always thin until I had my four children,” said Watson, looking passionately at a picture of her in high school. “Sometimes I felt that I would never lose weight without having to starve myself, and I was never one for strenuous exercise if I can help it.”
Watson said she enrolled herself in her company’s fitness program. She has access to the gym 24 hours a day. Because of the swelling in her feet, she said it is difficult to maintain a steady exercise regimen.
“Even though I am a member, I seldom use it,” she said shrugging her shoulders matter-of-factly. “I don’t know why I won’t cancel the membership. It’s costing me almost $50 per pay period.”
On the other hand, Marsha Simpson, 58, of Hattiesburg was battling a red blood cell disorder and weight loss simultaneously.
Simpson said that she was required to receive a Vitamin B12 shot regularly as prescribed by her doctor.
“After several treatments, I later discovered that my regimen of Vitamin B12 may also help me lose some weight,” said Simpson, laughing. “Who would have thought?”
Both Watson and Simpson were looking for a simplified way to shed off unwanted pounds, but both used different methods to obtain their results.
Watson heard of a weight loss regimen called Acu-Staple.
Acu-Staple is an innovative approach to weight loss, similar to acupuncture. Founded by Robin Gibson, a registered nurse, she proclaims that by strategically placing a staple at certain positions of the ear, weight loss can be achieved.
“Ear stapling has been around for over two decades,” said Gibson. “It is a combination of auriculotherapy and acupressure.”
Gibson said the staples are placed at key pressure points to target weight loss, stress, tension, migraines and smoking cessation.
“Everyone is different regarding the anatomy of their ears; there are no two alike,” said Gibson.
According to Gibson, there are said to be over 700 different auricular points on the ear.
“I of course do not target all of those,” she said. “I concentrate on certain pressure points that target appetite, stress, tension, IBS, gastric reflux and cravings.”
Gibson said that when her clients come in for their appointment, she discusses those target areas in detail with a diagram.
She warns that some clients feel that the staple may not be working because they may not be losing weight immediately because the staples target what the clients body needs first, such as more rest, loss of inches before weight or a decrease in tension.
“The majority of my clients come to me for the weight loss staples proclaim a 90 percent success rate for weight loss,” said Gibson.
Even though Watson heard many success stories, she was skeptical at first.
“When I first heard about a staple in the ear making people lose weight, I thought no way,” she said jokingly. “But I soon become one the one’s standing in line for it.”
Watson and hundreds of other women and men stood impatiently at the Health Department in Collins to receive their miracle stapling in 2004. The cost for the procedure was anywhere from $50 to $100 depending on where a client received their treatment, with a follow-up every four months.
“I felt like I wasn’t losing out by paying $50 or more for the procedure, since I was spending it on a health club membership I barely even use,” said Watson. “I would just sit back and let the staple do all the work instead of me.”
Besides the ear stapling phenomenon, the discovery of Vitamin B12 assisting in weight loss was a surprise in it self, but it has not yet been proven as factual per say by the Food and Drug Administration.
“I first heard about B12 being used for weight loss on a radio show,” said Simpson.
Afterwards she consulted her physician, who neither denied nor confirmed B12 as being used for such treatment.
The B12 diet is dairy product based diet, and a prescription is necessary because B12 has to administered by injection. It is still unclear who started this diet, but there are online testimonials of users losing around 25 pounds on the diet.
“I have lost maybe five pounds, but I don’t necessarily think it’s due to B12 because I have had to have these injections for a while,” said Simpson.
The B12 dieters must consume dairy products and are first subjected to a shot. Prescription diet pills are taken daily while on this plan.
The prescription used is the diet drug Phentermine, which is used for severely overweight persons. However, eating high quantities of dairy products could lead to high cholesterol and fat in a diet, and of course is not suitable for those who are lactose intolerant.
Moreover, Watson said she was losing inches around her waist, but had the staples removed after she heard about associates becoming ill.
“I felt I lost inches in my waist, but nothing significant,” said Watson. “Now, I have gained weight, but I’m content.”
Unfortunately, Acu-Staple was shut down in the state of Mississippi during a 2006 decision made by the State Medical Board of Mississippi. Over 14 ear stapling facilities within the state were ordered to no longer conduct the stapling procedure because they were informed by the board that they were practicing the procedure illegally.
According to Mal Morgan, executive director of the Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure said that in order to perform a procedure such as stapling, a license is required.
“Over 200 people a day were getting stapled at one of these facilities,” said Morgan. “However, the state of Mississippi requires that in order to perform this kind of procedure you have to be a licensed doctor.”
He goes on to say that a person may only need a certificate to do acupuncture.
Fortunately, there are other alternatives for weight loss.
Ayeshalia Green, a registered nurse, says that weight loss can be achieved successfully with moderation.
“What I mean by moderation is anything that you enjoy in life, do it sensibly, whether it’s eating or exercising, do it in moderation,” said Green.
Green said making a daily schedule of activities which includes at least 30 minutes of exercise, drinking an average of eight glasses of water a day, and including fruits and vegetables with and between meals, a person will begin to show remarkable results in weight loss as with any diet advertised on the market.
“What people fail to realize is that it does not take extremes to lose weight,” said Green.
She said because we do not follow the guidelines of a healthy diet, such as, 1 and 1/2 cup of fruit; 2-21/2 cups of vegetables; 3 cups of fat-free or low fat milk; 3 ounces of whole grain foods; and 5 ounces of meat or beans, our bodies begin to lose essential daily nutrients such as B12 among others.
“If we can just follow the recommended portions prescribed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and try to eliminate fast food and unhealthy snacks from our diet, there probably wouldn’t be an explosion of fad diets on the market, or excessive overweight people,” said Green.
These guidelines expressed by Green are the updated recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2005.
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