HCG
dnmoehring
Posts: 64 Member
I need some advice from people who know what they are talking about or who have tried HCG.
I have a friend who has lost 30 pounds in a VERY short period of time using the HCG method of weight loss (drops and eating 500 calories a day). I think it's great that she is wanting to lose weight, but I know that HCG and the calorie deficit are very unhealthy for you. However, I don't have any real experience (I'm not a certified dietician or trainer) to explain to her why it is so important that she stops.
I want it to seem founded, and not come across as I'm "just jealous". I mean yeah, I'd love to lose 30 pounds in a little under a month, but I'd want to lose that 30 pounds the right way.
Any help would be appreciated!
I have a friend who has lost 30 pounds in a VERY short period of time using the HCG method of weight loss (drops and eating 500 calories a day). I think it's great that she is wanting to lose weight, but I know that HCG and the calorie deficit are very unhealthy for you. However, I don't have any real experience (I'm not a certified dietician or trainer) to explain to her why it is so important that she stops.
I want it to seem founded, and not come across as I'm "just jealous". I mean yeah, I'd love to lose 30 pounds in a little under a month, but I'd want to lose that 30 pounds the right way.
Any help would be appreciated!
0
Replies
-
I don't think those drops are actually dangerous. A scam, yeah. But I don't think the drops are real. People who get actual injections may be setting themselves up for trouble. But those OTC drops, from what I've heard, are nothing real.
It's the 500 calories/day that makes people lose weight. Everyone I know who has done this had to stop because they got hungry. I think your friend will, too. Just let it ride.
People go on fad diets all the time. But they go off of them. Lots of women spend their whole lives gaining and losing the same ten pounds. They're happy that way.
I wouldn't sweat my friends over fad diets.
0 -
It's the 500 calorie a day diet that made her lose weight, and the 500 calorie diet that is dangerous. Does she realize that most people put all of the weight on plus more after they stop? Also...it's not all fat she's losing, she's also losing muscle. It's hard to get that "toned" look so many women with little muscle mass. It's not sustainable, and it's not healthy.0
-
I did it. I am not sure how I did it. It was hard but I got to a certain point where I felt really good and I believed that the HCG was working. I never did the steps you are supposed to do after getting to your goal weight and gained it all back. She will gain it all back. At some point she is going to get sick of the diet, and start eating everything in sight. It can also mess up her metabolism.
HCG is the hormone that a woman's body produces while pregnant and makes sure the baby is getting calories. The doctor that came up with this diet was in Africa and noticed that women who were malnourished were having healthy babies and it was because of HCG. HCG made sure the babies were getting the nutrients it needed from its mom even if she was malnourished. He thought that maybe overweight people who took HCG it would have the opposite effect and flush out calories (aka fat). That is why you eat 500 calories because supposedly HCG is flushing out at least 1000 calories a day of fat. But looking back I am not sure. Yea it was great to lose weight so quickly. But like I said I gained it all back and am now trying to loose it the right way.0 -
I don't think those drops are actually dangerous. A scam, yeah. But I don't think the drops are real. People who get actual injections may be setting themselves up for trouble. But those OTC drops, from what I've heard, are nothing real.
It's the 500 calories/day that makes people lose weight. Everyone I know who has done this had to stop because they got hungry. I think your friend will, too. Just let it ride.
People go on fad diets all the time. But they go off of them. Lots of women spend their whole lives gaining and losing the same ten pounds. They're happy that way.
I wouldn't sweat my friends over fad diets.
My mom is the same way.
It's her hobby to try fad diets & makes her feel relevant I guess.
She gets to kvetch in the usual manner & when I try to talk sense to her, she says 'Oh, let me have my fun'....so I figured, why the hell not? :laugh:0 -
The HCG shot contains a hormone (If I remember correctly its one found in pregnant women) that promotes muscle retention. The weight loss your friend experienced is a result of the extremely strict diet yes. The shots help to reduce muscle loss so most of the weight statistically comes from fat and water.
Also worth noting. HCG is not offered or recommended for more than 1-2 months consecutively. Its not a lifetime plan. My mother did a HCG diet for 2 months with weekly checkups with her physician. She lost weight (about 20lbs) after being stuck at a plateau with a regular calorie restricted diet. The HCG shot helped with muscle retention (per the body fat testing at the Dr office). After the 2 months she went back to a regular calorie deficit. She did say she felt losing weight was easier afterwards... who knows if thats just the fact that a normal calorie intake felt like alot or if it was due to the fat loss and muscle retention?
Personally the thought of giving myself a shot every day for any reason is terrifying...way worse than the calorie restriction! No needles for me thanks! But to some people its worth it I guess0 -
My aunt does this 1-2 times a year EVERY year without fail. The reason she needs to do it so often is because she gains all the weight back that she had lost. My aunt is by no means even in the obsese catagory, but she refuses to count calories (I think because she drinks her body weight in wine every week) and she claims to not have time to work out with two kids.
So usually right before the holidays she goes on a month long cycle, gets cranky, drops weight, and then gains it all back in like three months. Right before summer same thing.0 -
First of all, the drops are bogus. Even if there really was HCG in the drops, they'd still be useless as your body digests it--it's like insulin. Insulin isn't given in pills because your stomach digests it and you don't get a systemic effect.
As others have said, on only 500 calories a day you lose a lot of muscle, lowering your metabolism and making it easier to gain weight when you start eating normal amounts of food again.0 -
The HCG shot contains a hormone (If I remember correctly its one found in pregnant women) that promotes muscle retention. The weight loss your friend experienced is a result of the extremely strict diet yes. The shots help to reduce muscle loss so most of the weight statistically comes from fat and water.
Also worth noting. HCG is not offered or recommended for more than 1-2 months consecutively. Its not a lifetime plan. My mother did a HCG diet for 2 months with weekly checkups with her physician. She lost weight (about 20lbs) after being stuck at a plateau with a regular calorie restricted diet. The HCG shot helped with muscle retention (per the body fat testing at the Dr office). After the 2 months she went back to a regular calorie deficit. She did say she felt losing weight was easier afterwards... who knows if thats just the fact that a normal calorie intake felt like alot or if it was due to the fat loss and muscle retention?
Personally the thought of giving myself a shot every day for any reason is terrifying...way worse than the calorie restriction! No needles for me thanks! But to some people its worth it I guess
The bold statement isn't true. Now if you mother did it for a month or two and is obese, it's possible she maintain her based on the amount of fat reserves available. But I personally now several women that did the diet, followed the protocol and 50% of their weight loss was from lean body mass (water, tissue, muscle, bone density, etc..).
The bigger issue is going to be long term. If you suppress calories for a long time (especially at dangerous levels such as 500 calories) you will increase the amount of lean body mass lost, which will slow your basal metabolic functions and your resting metabolic functions which leads to a decrease in TDEE. So it will make sustaining a lot hard because your total allowable calories in is much lower. I can tell you I have worked with a few women who have done this diet. Their intakes are 300-500 calories less than the average person with similar stats and in all those cases, it's taken a year to make progress with them.
This biggest issue with HCG, is there is NO way to get all the nutrients you need on a 500 calories diet. Not only will you not get enough protein, which will lead to muscle loss, you can't work out which won' t maintain metabolic functions and you probably wont get enough fat so nutrient absorption is going to be bleek at most. There is a reason it was designed for morbidly obese individuals under doctor supervision.0 -
Thank you! I was most concerned about the 500 calories/day intake. I also think the drops are ineffective, but I wanted something to show the issue about the calories and the long-term damage that can cause.0
-
I have a very close friend who has done every single stupid diet she reads about and has been doing this for at least 25 years (and probably before I met her, too.). Every new diet pill, she takes it.I don't think those drops are actually dangerous. A scam, yeah. But I don't think the drops are real. People who get actual injections may be setting themselves up for trouble. But those OTC drops, from what I've heard, are nothing real.
It's the 500 calories/day that makes people lose weight. Everyone I know who has done this had to stop because they got hungry. I think your friend will, too. Just let it ride.
People go on fad diets all the time. But they go off of them. Lots of women spend their whole lives gaining and losing the same ten pounds. They're happy that way.
I wouldn't sweat my friends over fad diets.
My mom is the same way.
It's her hobby to try fad diets & makes her feel relevant I guess.
She gets to kvetch in the usual manner & when I try to talk sense to her, she says 'Oh, let me have my fun'....so I figured, why the hell not? :laugh:
For TWENTY FIVE YEARS, I have heard about this great new diet and that great new pill, only to hear that they didn't work out well in the end, but now there is something new! She's generally a bright person and if I pressed her, I know she would admit to the craziness, but I see no need.
If it were serious and she was getting really skinny or really fat, then I would. But it's not. It's just her thing.
It really is their hobby. They go on, they go off. They like it.0 -
my friends (a couple) did it. they did the hCG and ate 500 cal per day. the man lost about 30 lbs (but gained every bit of it back after he stopped) and the wife didn't lose any more than about 10 lbs (again, gained it all back)0
-
The HCG shot contains a hormone (If I remember correctly its one found in pregnant women) that promotes muscle retention. The weight loss your friend experienced is a result of the extremely strict diet yes. The shots help to reduce muscle loss so most of the weight statistically comes from fat and water.
Also worth noting. HCG is not offered or recommended for more than 1-2 months consecutively. Its not a lifetime plan. My mother did a HCG diet for 2 months with weekly checkups with her physician. She lost weight (about 20lbs) after being stuck at a plateau with a regular calorie restricted diet. The HCG shot helped with muscle retention (per the body fat testing at the Dr office). After the 2 months she went back to a regular calorie deficit. She did say she felt losing weight was easier afterwards... who knows if thats just the fact that a normal calorie intake felt like alot or if it was due to the fat loss and muscle retention?
Personally the thought of giving myself a shot every day for any reason is terrifying...way worse than the calorie restriction! No needles for me thanks! But to some people its worth it I guess
There is no valid evidence that HCG promotes retention of muscle mass. That is a new wrinkle in the HCG propaganda. A review of all valid research done on HCG concluded that there was NO independent effect of HCG on any aspect of weight loss. All effects of the "HCG plan" we're due to the 500 cal/day diet. And, contrary to the results from your mom's doctor's seemingly magic body fat analyzer, weight losses from HCG "plans" (aka VLCDs) show that 30%-40% of the scale weight loss is fat-free mass.0 -
The HCG shot contains a hormone (If I remember correctly its one found in pregnant women) that promotes muscle retention. The weight loss your friend experienced is a result of the extremely strict diet yes. The shots help to reduce muscle loss so most of the weight statistically comes from fat and water.
Also worth noting. HCG is not offered or recommended for more than 1-2 months consecutively. Its not a lifetime plan. My mother did a HCG diet for 2 months with weekly checkups with her physician. She lost weight (about 20lbs) after being stuck at a plateau with a regular calorie restricted diet. The HCG shot helped with muscle retention (per the body fat testing at the Dr office). After the 2 months she went back to a regular calorie deficit. She did say she felt losing weight was easier afterwards... who knows if thats just the fact that a normal calorie intake felt like alot or if it was due to the fat loss and muscle retention?
Personally the thought of giving myself a shot every day for any reason is terrifying...way worse than the calorie restriction! No needles for me thanks! But to some people its worth it I guess
There is no valid evidence that HCG promotes retention of muscle mass. That is a new wrinkle in the HCG propaganda. A review of all valid research done on HCG concluded that there was NO independent effect of HCG on any aspect of weight loss. All effects of the "HCG plan" we're due to the 500 cal/day diet. And, contrary to the results from your mom's doctor's seemingly magic body fat analyzer, weight losses from HCG "plans" (aka VLCDs) show that 30%-40% of the scale weight loss is fat-free mass.
I'm not a fan of HCG or a supporter of people who choose to do it. My message was to explain what my mom and her doctor claimed about it. Like I said I'd rather just eat well! No needles for me.0 -
I have a very close friend who has done every single stupid diet she reads about and has been doing this for at least 25 years (and probably before I met her, too.). Every new diet pill, she takes it.I don't think those drops are actually dangerous. A scam, yeah. But I don't think the drops are real. People who get actual injections may be setting themselves up for trouble. But those OTC drops, from what I've heard, are nothing real.
It's the 500 calories/day that makes people lose weight. Everyone I know who has done this had to stop because they got hungry. I think your friend will, too. Just let it ride.
People go on fad diets all the time. But they go off of them. Lots of women spend their whole lives gaining and losing the same ten pounds. They're happy that way.
I wouldn't sweat my friends over fad diets.
My mom is the same way.
It's her hobby to try fad diets & makes her feel relevant I guess.
She gets to kvetch in the usual manner & when I try to talk sense to her, she says 'Oh, let me have my fun'....so I figured, why the hell not? :laugh:
For TWENTY FIVE YEARS, I have heard about this great new diet and that great new pill, only to hear that they didn't work out well in the end, but now there is something new! She's generally a bright person and if I pressed her, I know she would admit to the craziness, but I see no need.
If it were serious and she was getting really skinny or really fat, then I would. But it's not. It's just her thing.
It really is their hobby. They go on, they go off. They like it.
omg...that's my mom too! and you're right, it's not hurting & they seem to like the hamster wheel thing :blushing::laugh:0 -
I used to be all about fad diets. Among the many, I've tried hCG and thought it was working to curb my appetite to maintain the 800 cal daily or whatever it was. Well, I can tell you that I did lose the weight, but it was for so little, I can't remember how much I lost or how long it stayed off. Anyone eating an a deficit that drastic will lose weight. Beyond whether it's healthy and what not, I thought I could keep it off (as I thought I could with every dad diet). I couldn't. I lost weight, but I couldn't keep it off.
I've tried Herbalife meal replacement shakes, hcg, various diet pills, lemonade cleanse, etc and this is going to sound so textbook and you've heard it before, but the only weight i have ever lost and kept off was through healthy eating and exercise. It has to become a part of your life because even working out and eating healthy won't keep the weight off if you only do it intermittently.0 -
I have done 3 rounds of injectable hcg. It helped me lose about 16 lbs, which I kept off for 5 years or so, until recently when I began having a hormonal imbalance and gained a little bit back. I was DILIGENT about doing the diet EXACTLY the way I was supposed to according to Dr. Simeons. It helped me kick my gluten/carb/coke/processed food addictions and I have continued to eat clean since then. In that respect, it was a life saver for me.
On the other hand, shortly after my last round (during which, I felt "weird" like my body wasn't liking it), I found out I had a thyroid problem and adrenal fatigue. I have some friends that have the same thing. I've been wondering if hcg might have caused the thyroid condition. Really makes me leary.
Many people use hcg as a crutch, which I DO believe is unhealthy. I don't see any problem doing it once or twice to kickstart a healthy lifestyle, but I think there are problems associated with using it all the time.
FWIW, hcg helps your body feel satiated even with 500 calories. I was never starving. But for me, it's not worth the risk to ever do it again.0 -
This diet is so not worth it. I've shared my story here but it really created some serious health problems. I've talked to so many people since then who message or email me. It's frustrating because for a number of us, this caused serious problems. For others, they lost the weight but even while following 'protocol', over time this diet made them fatter because it slowed their metabolism down so much.
It's the 500 calorie diet that causes the weight loss. The 'hCG drops' don't even have hCG. Look at the ingredient list. If it says something like 3x, 6x, 12x, 24x, etc..., that means it has no real hCG but they shook a molecule of hCG (if you think there was even an original molecule) at some point in a lot of water and water contains the memory of hCG. I tried it with my daughter. I took a molecule of juice and put it in a pitcher of water and shook it up really well. Poured a glass for her and she was not impressed. Could you believe she didn't think there was any juice in that glass. I tried to explain how the water held the memory of juice but she is ever the skeptic So, with no hCG, it's just the 500-calorie diet and you should never attempt a VLCD unless being supervised by your physician since it can damage your heart and other internal organs. 0 -
I have a friend who did it, and gained back double what she lost afterwards.0
-
Yes, my weight started coming back after a bit and then I couldn't stop gaining. My doctor was even working with me to stop it. Eventually we realized that my metabolism was just so messed up from this starvation diet and I needed to just eat healthy and let it come back. Once it evened off (at a greater weight than when I started that awful diet), and was healthy again from all the problems, I began walking to help lose weight. After a bit, I joined Weight Watchers and that was hugely beneficial. I was super motivated because not only had I gained all that weight back while eating healthy and really watching calories, the hCG diet changed my body. Best way to describe it is that I was lumpier. I had clearly lost muscle and gained fat. So many people who have done this diet have said the same thing. Not worth it.0
-
"In 1959, researchers in Israel reported that they had placed 45 patients on Simeons' diet, giving half the patients HCG injections and the other half saline injections. The two groups both lost weight at the same rate -- and all 45 participants complained of being constipated, hungry or weak.
In the early 1960s, researchers at UC San Francisco and at a U.S. Army Hospital in Fort Carson, Colo., came up with the same results. All three studies were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
In the decades that followed, researchers continued to study the diet and to show that the hormone added little to the low-calorie regimen. In 1995, Dutch researchers reviewed the results of the 24 studies that had been conducted on the HCG diet.
Just 12 of them were well-designed, the scientists found; of those, 11 reported that HCG was ineffective in treating obesity. The Dutch team published its results in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology."
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/02/health/he-nutrition2
Conclusion; it works as well as dropping saline (and saline is much cheaper).0 -
Simple and point blank: Fad diets do not work!
Oh, but poster, I lost 17 pounds in 3 days.
How'd that work out for you?
I uhh, gained it all back and then some, but that was my fault for not continuing on their plan.
If your diet has a name, it's a fad and it sucks. If you have to exchange this group of food for that, take supplements, do not exercise, skip meals, or drink meals, it's a fad and it sucks. If you have to spend money on their foods.....right, fad and sucks.0 -
I've got a friend who was a guinea pig for the hcg diet, locally. He's lost roughly 200lbs. He's kept it off for, I guess about 3 years now- BUT, he also works for the FNP who does the hcg, he (my friend) advertises the hcg, and works for the gym as well. So, I believe that's a big reason he's kept the weight off. I have to give credit where credit is due. He has put in a LOT of hard work and hours at the gym working out, and dedication to overhauling his lifestyle with eating, but I know these results are NOT typical. I don't know if he were not working with the FNP and at the gym if he would've had these results?
He tried to get me to take the injections and I was not about to. I had SEVERE PPD after I had my daughter bordering on PPP. I was terrified of having ANY pregnancy hormones injected into me, for fear of suffering from that horrible depression again. It wasn't a risk I was willing to take.
I was just fine with the way things were going, and still am. It's been a long process, but I'm happy with my results.0 -
"homeopathic HCG"
Two, two, two pseudosciences in one!
Make it homeopathic bigfoot HCG,add in some chakras, a Q-Ray bracelet and we'll have a naturopath's "wellness centre" bingo.0 -
It's impossible not to lose weight on a 500 calorie a day diet. The relevant questions are 1) did the hcg-whatever do anything that the deficit didn't do? 2) is eating only 500 calories a day the healthiest, most effective way to lose weight?
The answer is looking to be 'no', for both.0 -
My nutritionist doesn't like VLCDs because of the increased risk of getting gallbladder stones. Yeah... I don't want gallbladder stones. I'm sure you can find that information on the internet.0
-
Sorry to disagree with all you naysayers, but HCG diet does work. I recently lost 21 pounds and am keeping it off. This was after my second child andi am now in my early 40s. Its been 1 year for me. The diet was easy, i didnt feel starving all the time, and the weight has stayed off.0
-
I did it....
Than got off it and gained it all back + some, messed up m metabolism so badly it still is messed 3yrs later!, and I felt/looked like poo because I was weak.
Now I'm here, doing it right , eating whatever the hell I want and feeling good+ looking good!
The people who keep doing it keep doing it because they have no choice, you go off and pre much instantly start gaining. Trust me!!! 1x biggest number in world not worth it! Do you have any idea how hard it is to fix your metabolism at that point ?! Its the worst
0 -
Sorry to disagree with all you naysayers, but HCG diet does work. I recently lost 21 pounds and am keeping it off. This was after my second child andi am now in my early 40s. Its been 1 year for me. The diet was easy, i didnt feel starving all the time, and the weight has stayed off.
The diet itself works because you are eating 500 calories (starvation levels) but the HCG pills/shots/etc.. have all been proven to be ineffective. You lose weight but depending on how lean you are, up to 50% or more will be from muscle, which means you will have a slower metabolism, making long term sustainment very difficult.0 -
It is such a dangerous fad diet and left me with numerous health issues. More than a year later, I wonder if the multiple kidney infections I've had since are related. My doctor said this diet is known for harming the kidneys and other organs. It's a starvation diet. If the drops contain a measurement like 3x, 6x, 12x, etc..., those are homeopathic dilutions. After 12x or so, there's no trace of hCG and 'emphasizes' spiritual healing. I'm not into all that new age jargon so this was eye opening for me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathic_dilutions The worst of it is, even if you are lucky and end up not harming your body, it makes so many people fatter than when they started. Not a fan. Not a fan at all.0
-
This diet is so so dangerous!! I did it (shots, like an idiot) and while I lost a lot of weight, my hair started falling out and I was so anxious and obsessive all the time I couldn't even stand to be in my own skin. Eating healthy and working out is the best way to go about weight loss - keep your hair, health and sanity. That diet is SCARY. Anything that sounds too good to be true probably is. Including HCG.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 426 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions