HCG progress and updates - for people on it or thinking abou

fivefatcats

I started HCG on 6/13/10 at 184.8 after a 6 months stall in weight loss from Christmas to June.

Day 1 - 6/13 184.8
Day 26 - 7/8 165.4
Lost so far: 19.4 lbs

My goals for this round were: Bronze 165; Silver 160; Gold 155.

I guess its up to me if I want to go another 20 or so days to get to the Gold. I might just go to 34 days (next Friday 7/16) because we have a vacation planned starting that day.

I just wanted a thread for HCGers to share their progress and/or struggles!!

July24Lioness

Congrats!!!


I am going to stick with the Primal Blue Print until the Fall and then see where I am at. My doctor has given me a time frame to get a certain amount of weight off before having me do HCG for 3 rounds he says.................

vanumnum

Hello! I too am taking HCG (homeopathic drops 3x/day) and am having really great success!

Feeling REALLY good, rarely truly "hungry"... My blood pressure/pulse is perfect... I'm amazed.

This week is a bit stalled for me, I knew drinking 1/3 of a Starbucks skinny latte with soy milk wasn't on protocol - I had also introduced my precious powdered Coffee Mate into my morning routine in hopes it wouldn't stall me. DOH! It did. It could have also been the exercise though, as I did a lot of stretching/yoga/dancing and the Wii fit on Tuesday... (I had energy!)

SO... back at it today with *ONLY* legal foods! I just love how the scale has become my friend!

Glad to see there are other HCGers out here!

Danielle_81

what is hcg? I'm thinking of the pregnancy hormone lol

fivefatcats

It is indeed a hormone produced by the placenta during pregnancy.

There is also a popular diet plan associated with the use of HCG - many people have had success.

Message me if you would like more info/some resources!

You can also check my MFP blog on my HCG journey.

rob1976

HCG PROGRESS UPDATE -

Week 1 of Phase 2 is in the books and my weight loss so far is 13.2 pounds using the Simeons protocol with a few tweaks and adjustments here and there.

kalibsmom

I just got the HCG drops in today!! I am excited to start tomorrow with the loading!! I have some questions though like what veggies and fruits did you have the best luck with?? Also on the drops that I ordered it said to place one dropper full under your tongue twice a day...what are your suggestions for this I seen that most pple do 10 drops 3x a day??
Thanks

Drakali

I, too, am doing HCG but I'm getting the injections from my doctor instead of the drops. I have found it to be very easy to follow and adhere to the eating plan. The most challenging thing for me is preparing my food for lunch the night before since I don't have time to do it in the morning before work.

I started on 4/26 at 435.4 lbs. I took a 3 week break starting 6/08 (while I still restricted my food choices) and I was already at 384 lbs. I began my injections again on 7/01 and I'm at 367.4 lbs today, 7/12.

I still have a long way to go but I finally believe I can reach my goal since I've already seen good progress.

fivefatcats

xfrey - Congrats on your progress and loads of hugs and support on the rest of your journey!

kalib - I do one dropper (as much as you get in one 'suck' - mine actually looks like half a dropper - and should be around 20 drops) around 9:30 and another around noon - although thru the course of the last 30 days my times have varied greatly.

Side note - today is day 30 for me so I need to decide real quick if I am going much longer since my bottle is good for maybe another 5 days or so . . .actually I just decided I am going to order another bottle - it only cost me $30 anyway and I have been seriously considering doing a short (1-2 week) phase once a year as a maintenance/regrouping plan in the future.

Drakali

I just got the HCG drops in today!! I am excited to start tomorrow with the loading!! I have some questions though like what veggies and fruits did you have the best luck with?? Also on the drops that I ordered it said to place one dropper full under your tongue twice a day...what are your suggestions for this I seen that most pple do 10 drops 3x a day??
Thanks

I have completely fallen in love with navel oranges and apples because I can just grab them and go when I don't have time to measure out strawberries.

Tomatoes and cucumbers are my favourite veggies ever and they're "allowed" so I normally throw them on some romaine for lunch -- salt, pepper and various spices with a squeeze of lemon juice make for a nice, simple and flavourful dressing replacement. Also, bok choy and nappa/chinese cabbage have become my fillers of choice, either in a stir-fry or soup with 100g of chicken per meal. Chicken broth is excellent as a replacement for cooking oils and it adds some nice flavour and juiciness, as long as you cook on lower heats. I have always liked ginger but I use A LOT of it now. I threw it in some soup with tomatoes, celery, onion, chicken breast, chicken stock, garlic and napa cabbage and it was the best soup I've ever made, pre- or post-HCG. Play around, though. If you don't like one meal, you don't have to make it again!

My best advise: buy chicken breasts and extra lean ground beef in bulk and portion out your serving sizes, freezing them for individual meals.

kalibsmom

I love cucumbers and tomatoes too but I am a bit confused about the portion size? How much do you eat with each meal? I am excited to get started...I can't wait!!!!

Drakali

I love cucumbers and tomatoes too but I am a bit confused about the portion size? How much do you eat with each meal? I am excited to get started...I can't wait!!!!

If you're taking the drops it might be slightly different than the injections but here's my standard day:
Breakfast:
1 fruit
1 or 2 melba toasts, depending on how I feel
1 tbsp of cream (it should be 1% or skim milk but I'm cheating!) with my coffee

Lunch:
1 protein (I normally have some lean ground beef or a piece of chicken breast @ 100g per serving)
3 cups of veggies

Dinner:
1 protein
3 cups veggies
1 fruit
1 melba toast

I'm allowed unlimited coffee/tea but I can't stand it without the cream so I only have one cup. And I occasionally move my 1 fruit and/or 1 melba toast from dinner to a snack when I get home from work if I'm hungry. Roughly, that'll get you to 500 calories in one day. DON'T skip your proteins and drink LOTS of water. My doctor also has me on iron supplements, vitamin C and calcium with vitamin D... I had really low sodium so she's finally relaxed my "1 teaspoon of salt in a glass of water daily" requirement to "salt everything". I have my blood work done almost weekly, though, so I wouldn't start supplementing until you get checked out.

~~ I pulled out Simeons book! ~~
Proteins that are good: beef, chicken breast, fresh white fish, veal, lobster, crab, or shrimp
Veggies that are good: spinach, chard, chicory, beet greens (I still haven't been brave enough for these), green salad (premixes are awesome!), tomatoes, celery, fennel, onions, red radishes, cucumbers, asparagus and cabbage
Melba toast subs: Grissino (Italian bread stick) or Wasa Crispbread
Fruits that are good: 1 apple, 1/2 grapefruit, 1 orange, 1 cup strawberries

Drakali

And I just noticed your current weight.... I'm so jealous! lol

My sister is a lot lighter than I am and she was doing the HCG too. She found that she had to add an extra 50g per meal of protein and an extra 1/2 fruit pretty regularly to stave off the dizzies. I have LOADS of extra weight so I guess I didn't have this problem.

If you stay way from sugars and oils, you should be fine, even if you aren't as strict as 500 calories per day. Do what makes your brain feel good and pay attention to how your body feels. If you're able to, I'd do this under a doctor's supervision... it has helped me feel very safe and looked after!

fivefatcats

Kalib - take Drakali's advice - I agree completely.

I noticed your start weight and goal weight for this round are very similar to mine. 33lbs is a very aggressive goal for round 1. Here I am on day 30 at 22.4 lbs loss. I have decided to go 40 days. We are going out for fish fry on day 41 and so help me I am eating that fish!!! So I will quit HCG on day 38 and have two more VLCD days - then fish fry.

That said, my average daily weight loss to day is 0.77 lbs per day. I have been keeping a chart and the first week it was over 1 lb/day but as weight loss numbers become less dramatic I expect this average to fall into the 0.6 range by the end of the phase - that's where my sis ended up. If I kept up the 0.7 per day average, I would reach 155, my goal weight and 'gold' medal, but my greatest accomplishment will be hitting 159, officially out of 'overweight' range and BMI under 25. 160 is my 'silver' medal and I feel confident that I can reach that on this cycle.

Best of luck - I can't weight to hear how it goes for you!

rob1976

I have a "secret" most people on the protocol don't know about - broccoli and cauliflower are considered spinach!!!

As for the load days, we ate everything we could until we couldn't eat anymore. We have a Steak N' Shake next door, so we had milkshakes with EVERYTHING. Ugh, I was so tired of eating by day 3.

fivefatcats

OOOOOh . . . and I miss broccoli sooooo much. That would be such a treat!!! Maybe I will try that today!

PhotographerOfNature

Does anyone know what the loading up on food does for you besides making you feel even fatter and giving you that much more to lose when you do get started?

rob1976

Does anyone know what the loading up on food does for you besides making you feel even fatter and giving you that much more to lose when you do get started?

The load days also help you get through the first few days of the VLCD. People that load properly find that they are much less hungry during the start of Phase 2. I thought I loaded pretty well and I was STARVING those first 2 or 3 days. It's not as easy as I thought it would be.:sick:

rob1976

I have a "secret" most people on the protocol don't know about - broccoli and cauliflower are considered spinach!!!

This is what I get for posting something about 30 seconds after I wake up. Broccoli and cauliflower are part of the Brassicaceae family, better known as MUSTARDS or CABBAGE. Both of these are HCG-friendly.

TexasAngelBeth

Here is a question for you all...I am a runner and I don't want to give up my running has anyone on here been running or working out a lot? I read everything but all of it tells you not to excercise like that... just walking.

PhotographerOfNature

So what is the proper way to load up? I am female, 43, weigh 189 pounds and want to get to 150. How much and what should I load up on?

Is there a safe place to buy the drops online?