HCG Protocol/Diet

[AraK]

Looking for people doing HCG *Haters: save your typing, this is for possitive support only* 

I am super healthy, did Fitbit and 1,000 per day (healthy) calories June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct walking, weights, you name it. Lost FOUR pds. Pretty discouraging. I am the type who Needs and extra push. I was checked by my Dr. perfect health, thyroid OK.

Started HCG on Friday 10/31 Halloween and as of today I am down SEVEN! Fitbit really helps bc I can add the HCG food list to "custom" and can always have what I need to choose from. The mixed salads I created will be there without having to add individual veggies.
I am loving it. I KNOW I can maintain when I reach my goal bc I was a very light eater to start and I am active. If anyone else is on HGC pls join so we can give each other tips and support. Thank you

[AraK]

On Halloween Oct 31 I started at 199. Today, 6 days ater I am at 190.6! o exciting. You know how hard it is for a woman in her 40's to lose! You hear of men doing this all the time. Before I started on the drops I started w FitBit in June and until Oct 31 I had lost 7 pds. Eating less than 1,000 cal per day, walking and doing weights. 7 pds in 5 months is too discouraging.

[fortysomemom]

Hi!  I am on a natural version of HCG called Shape Reclaimed, and have lost 8 pounds in one week.  I know that there are a lot of judgemental people out there, so I keep pretty private about doing this program.  It's under the supervision of a medical professional.   I don't know how people can argue that eating lots of non startchy vegetables, lean protein and a little fruit is "starving yourself" or "being unhealthy".  I feel great.  I have a scale that measures not only weight, but body composition, and it shows body fat % DECREASING and muscle % INCREASING/MAINTAINING.  I'm  a little hungry sometimes to be honest, but I keep telling myself I'd rather be hungry than heavy!  Love the goals I can set with the fitbit.  Let's keep in touch!

[johnathansmith6]

I am join fitbit and just started HCG but how do you set the cal to 500 per dya

[BritBratt009]

Hello,

I just started Fitbit.  It was a gift from Christmas.  So thought I would give it a try.  I started the HCG diet on 1/9/2015, so I am now 6 days in and have lost 10 lbs.  Loving getting up every morning to watch the number on the scale continue to drop.  I also bought the HCG diet cookbook which is amazing.  So excited and happy to hear others are enjoying the HCG diet as much as I am.  Good luck to you on your weight loss journey!

[fortysomemom]

Awesome to hear! There aren't a lot of people to talk to about this since
many that don't understand it tend to be very judgemental good luck! An
interesting lesson I just learned was not to work out too much which was
very counter intuitive for me. I had been walking briskly for 45 minutes to
an hour a day and not losing very rapidly I have decreased time and
intensity and weight is dropping much faster. My doctor said that it's
because we're detoxing and fat burning which add a metabolic load of toxins
and if the body has to get rid of those AND exercise byproducts it becomes
overloaded and doesn't burn as much fat just thought that was interesting
food for thought. Take care!

[HelenaFitbit]

Hey there everyone! Sorry to get into the thread and be a bummer but I honestly believe that tricking your body with hormones and handle an extremely low caloric budget is bound to have a negative effect in the long run. 

As @Heybales has mentioned in other threads, it's not only about the number on the scale, losing too much weight in such a short period of time will cause muscle loss, affect bone density and create nutrient deficiencies. 

I recommend to consult a Physician (not from the clinic) before going into this path, since usually leaving the program will cause a rebound. 

Hope to see you around the forums 

[AraK]

How's it going? I lost 50pds as of today! So excited.

[fortysomemom]

35# for me! 10 to go! Feel great!

[Jalapenos]

Which drops are you using?  just curious as I never heard of this as a diet. But let the haters hate..... you have to do what is right for you. if this works for you, then go for it. Me personally, I have lost with herbalife.

[HelenaFitbit]

Howdy! I must advise on this thread once again. Not a hater! Just looking out for you guys 

I have found a link that may shed some light on what I'm explaining: 

HCG is a hormone secreted by the placenta during pregnancy.  Its use as a weight loss adjunct has roots that date back to the 1950s, when Italian physican ATW Simeons announced  case studies of weight loss in patients given HCG injection and placed on very low calorie diets — about 500 kcal/day. Simeons’ data failed to be replicated in later studies, and interest seemed to fade. The diet leapt back into consciousness when telemarketer and convicted felon Kevin Trudeau started promoting the diet again in 2007, claiming the truth had been suppressed by the American Medical Association and the FDA. 

With HCG, we’re not facing a situation of unproven efficacy. Rather, there’s good evidence to demonstrate that it does not have any meaningful effect.  Multiple studies and meta-analyses have evaluated the HCG diet and found no evidence that HCG injections offer any incremental benefit. The studies date go way back to the 1970s, and their conclusions are consistent and persuasive: The weight loss effect on the HCG diet is due to the dramatic calorie reduction, and the HCG has no measurable effect on weight loss.

Any weight loss from the HCG diet is actually due to the dramatic calorie restriction required as part of the diet plans — in some cases, as low as 500 calories per day. This near-starvation diet is dramatically below appropriate levels for weight loss or maintenance, and escalates the risk of malnutrition if prolonged. Even if it wasn’t immediately harmful, a 500kcal diet is simply unsustainable. Weight maintenance is the real challenge with obesity.

HCG injections are not innocuous. It may be teratogenic (cause birth defects) in pregnant women. Reported side effects include headache, fatigue, irritability, restlessness, ovarian overstimulation, ascites, and edema.

You can read more about it here.

[geekymom]

I just started the HCG on May 23rd with 3 loading days (great to do on a holiday weekend).  Phase 1 started May 26 and as of today I'm down 18lb (I slipped off the wagon a bit this last sunday and monday but back on track now).  I like the ease of it.  I prep about 4 days at time as I have a very busy work and home schedule.  It works great for me.  Now starting to add exercise (I have sit down job so desperately need activity).  

[mcphjasm]

I did the HCG diet for a few months. I hurt my metabolism and started getting incredibly sick because of the carb deficiet. I know you don't want negative comments but it is a terrible diet for our bodies. I'm sure you only lost 4lbs on your 1,000 cal diet because you were actually starving your body. Women need at least 1,200 calories to even function appropriately. I recommend talking to a physician if you are on the HCG diet.

[AmberBart]

Hey all,

Another non-hater here 🙂

I started HCG on Feb 21, have done 2 short rounds under my doctor's supervision. BTW - why would my Johns Hopkins trained Family Medicine Doctor supervise this if it was so bad as the haters claim? I tend to trust someone who has ACTUALLY been to medical school lol.

HCG is a tool, not an answer - but its allowed me to totally transform my life in a very short period of time, and regain real quality of life.

I've lost 30lbs and have successfully maintained with no correction days. Looking to do round 3 in maybe 2 weeks 🙂  My Fitbit and Aria scale has been centrivical to my weight loss journey.

I did a BMR test before round 1 and after round 2 and my basal metablolic rate went from 1350 to 1900 (thanks hypothalmus!!), my bad cholesterol is down, my blood pressure is down, I've lost 21" off my chest/waist/hips, I'm off the sleep meds, and my thyroid is back at normal levels, I can walk up stairs without gasping for air.  I also dont have to be obsessively calorie watching anymore because HCG allowed me to get healiter and I can use my fitbit to track my intake and make sure I'm making healthy choices 🙂

So....to those who keep preaching "it doesnt work" - come and say that to my face 🙂 
I'll show you my old size 22 pants, and how i can now get both legs into 1 leg hole after only 4 months:D
I'll tell you that before I couldnt walk up stairs without chest pains, now I'm jumping on 20" boxes and squat pressing 80lbs.

If you want it enough, you'll make it work. I'd highly recommend HCG to anyone who has a real desire to get off their butts and make a life change, not just pretending they are.

[jojolebl]

I am also on the HCG "diet" and am happily surprised at the results. I am on day 38 and have lost a total of 20 pounds! I have tried everything, working out, eating right, weight watchers etc. What helped was knowing that even the slightest cheating would make me gain a minimum of 1 pound the next day. My husband is amazed with my willpower: When cooking for him last night, I wouldn't even eat 1 piece of pasta to see if it was done or not! LOL

[fortysomemom]

I know. I feel so much better on the program. Healthier, more energitic,
less bloated. Keep it up!
*Michelle*

[rgbgeorgia]

June of 2012 my Dr. put me on it when I gained about 40 pounds real quickly first year of menopause and nothing including running 20 miles week and going to Weight Watchers made more than 10 pounds come off.  I did strict protocol for 40 days then each month we increased veges and protein until October of 2013 when I lost total of all 40 pounds.  I kept it off until September o 2014 when I got real sick with two different infections and they put me on heavy steriods.  I finally got better in late January of 2015 and off all meds by March.  I had gained all 40 back plus 10.  I have been on "regular" diet and heavy exercise with fitbit since 3/8 and have lost half the weight but have only lost one pound since Father's day.  I have decided today that I am going back on hcg until I get at least another 20 pounds off which hopefully will be 30-40 days.  I am going to follow the HCG 2.0 protocol this time since I have already been on exercise and diet program for four months.  This protocol allows littlem more clories/protein but ZERO fruit and you have to keep carbs under 30 grams day.  Does not sound like fun 30 days and I will switch from running to cardio walking but hope it will make scale moving again.  After 30 days I will start increasing vege and fruit carbs with low glycemic ones until hit 20 pounds.  Will keep posted on whether or not this slightly different protocol works just as good as the 1950 version.

[AraK]

Go girl!!!! I am down 70 pounds! FitBit is great too as something extra. I went from 210 pounds to 140. Today I am 139. I have been LOCKED in to 139-141 for 6 months. I eat regular amounts some days I have a dessert, cheesecake and those days I LOSE! But I don't like sweets any more so I rarely have them. This is the first and ONLY thing that's worked for me. I used to be SO healthy and ate 1,000 cals per day and nothing. Never lost. This was fast and easy. Could not be happier.

[AraK]

[BacktoFit29]

Hi there!

I started my HCG protocol 12 days ago and I'm down11.2 pounds! I'm doing it under medical supervision, beacuse I was one of the haters that thought it was too dangerous blablablabla

Very happy so far. It's the boost I needed to get back on track. I gained about 50 pounds over 10 years, all while dieting and working out... and then bingeing on weekends and vacations...

I was not allowed to work out at all for the first 7 days, and now I'm only allowed very light cardio for the time being. I can't wait to get back to full on Spinning and  Crossfit, but for that I have to wait until I am out of the 500 cal phase.