What is the HCG diet?

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2

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  • shellbell525
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    While I know we all disagree with the use of the HCG diet, let's remember that it is Terihcg's right to use it if she chooses. We may not agree with it, but it's her body. I'd love to see just one thread not disintegrate into personal attacks.

    Terihcg, I may not agree with your choice to use HCG, but I am glad you've had success. You seem to be one of the few that has kept it off. I guess that's my biggest issue is that so many that do it gain the weight back, so they are right back where they started minus several hundred or possibly several thousand dollars.

    Good luck with your last few pounds!

    Agreed
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    I really love how people that have done no research on this diet , are so quick to run it through the mud.

    I really love how someone who has no idea how much research I have done assumes I haven't done any.
  • Gigi_licious
    Gigi_licious Posts: 1,185 Member
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    Itsh sutpied
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    Itsh sutpied

    LOL. You need to put down the wine glass! :laugh:
  • _Timmeh_
    _Timmeh_ Posts: 2,096 Member
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    Reminds me of TrimSpa, well until Anna Nicole Smith died.
  • GrandmaRedx3
    GrandmaRedx3 Posts: 1 Member
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    I appreciate your candidness and identify with your concerns. I had the same concerns when I was approached about HCG as well. My biggest recommendation would be to read "Pounds and Inches" by Dr. Simeons. It has been around for 50 years and is scientifically proven (yes there are studies). It is true, if you are looking at two groups (HCG group and Placebo group) of which both are using 500 calories only, they will loose almost the identical weight. The difference is the HCG group will not feel fatigued, dizzy, tired, or hungry. They will only have lost stored fat, not muscle or structural fat. The proof is in the ability to maintain your loss in the long run, I agree! You can gain the weight back with any diet. You can eat your way out of a gastric bypass surgery too. It is about making life style changes to maintain the loss. This diet will teach you about your body and the foods that trigger weight gain or cravings. The 500 calorie diet (which I modify to include exercise) is only ONE part of this diet. It actually has phases. The most important phase is not the diet, but stabilization. There are literally thousands of people out there who are a testament to HCG....I am one of them. I have released 92 pounds and have maintained this loss since starting in February of 2010,
  • Iamfit4life
    Iamfit4life Posts: 3,095 Member
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    I find it suspect this thread has brought out several who literally made their first post ever here in this thread to give love to this crap people are peddling.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    Yeah, the number of first posts is interesting.
  • Scoobies87
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    What next, eating the faeces of a sheep?

    There's a small island off the coast of Greece where they've known about this secret to health and fitness for centuries. Its clinically proven and I even saw a guy in a white lab coat who says he's a physician verify the results. The big drug companies don't want you to know and the FDA has been paid off to keep it a secret from the public. Money back guarantee! If you order now we'll DOUBLE your order! That's a $1000 value for only $19.95! If you become a distributor you can get your product free! Just sign up 10 friends..and if each of them sign up 10 friends you can become a REGIONAL distributor. We'll even give you a free sheep-dip colored car to drive around for freeeeeeee !!!!!!
    But hurry, because the world is going to end on 12/12/2012 !!!!

    :laugh: I MUST try it!
  • bigdawg025
    bigdawg025 Posts: 774 Member
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    Oh God... people who are advocates of this thing scare me. I agree to each his/her own... but come on people... look at the facts... 500 calories a day???? I eat more than that in just about EVERY meal of my day, and I have lost weight just fine. This thing is just another "quick fix"... *lazy way out"... etc. People don't want to put the work in that it takes to lose weight, and they want to lose all their weight in one day (yes... exaggeration, but that's the whole concept in the minds of these people... get more bang for doing less or nothing at all.) If you work out at all on a 500 calorie a day diet you are not going to have ANY nourishment to fuel your body.

    I can totally understand why a VERY HIGH majority of the poeple here on this site would like to have HCG banned from the forums. It is HIGHLY DANGEROUS to do this to your body, and the effects could be far longer lasting then any perceived "benefits" you get from it.
  • Thomasm198
    Thomasm198 Posts: 3,189 Member
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    Yeah, the number of first posts is interesting.

    Yep. Amazing how these first time posters saying how great HCG is all have "HCG" in their username.

    funny-dog-pictures-suspicious-sheltie-suspects-you.jpg
  • ilookthetype
    ilookthetype Posts: 3,021 Member
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    Its not a belief, its a fact.
    You can get the cheep stuff that has no HGC in it, or get the good stuff that has genuine knocked up lady pee.

    You need to eat 500 calories, or or your fat cells will open up and just go crazy absorbing everything like in that movie. Akira.

    I love you.
  • bigdawg025
    bigdawg025 Posts: 774 Member
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    they will LOOSE almost the identical weight.

    This already discounts this person's response...
  • coloradocuppiecake
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    Here we go again...everybody grab your popcorn!

    Sorry, I don't mean to be snarky...it's just that every time this topic comes up, it becomes a very, shall we say, HEATED discussion.

    HCG stands for human chorionic gonadotropin (Think I spelled that right). This is the hormone secreted by pregnant women (the same hormone detected by home pregnancy tests). The HCG diet uses synthesized HCG, administered by either drops under the tongue or injections by a doctor. The person then eats only selected foods to the tune of 500 calories a day. People who have done this swear that the HCG helps them not be hungry and have lots of energy.

    The reasons the majority of us are against this diet are:
    1. Very low calorie diets are dangerous. The body needs a minimum of 1200 calories per day (more for men) just to function.
    2. It's unsustainable. Even someone who manages to pull this off for the 3 weeks that you do it can't stay on it forever.
    3. The FDA has NOT approved this as a weight loss tool. Studies have also shown that HCG has no impact on your weight; it's the 500 calories a day that causes you to lose.
    4. Some people have had VERY bad side effects from doing it. There have been reports of people losing hair (to the point of looking like a cancer patient on chemo), messing their digestive systems, etc.
    5. There are very few reports of people who do this diet and KEEP THE WEIGHT OFF.

    I'm glad you're not considering it. If you know anyone who is, warn them. It's so much safer to do what MFP suggests and make lifestyle changes in the way you eat and get some exercise.

    Be prepared...you may get some really ugly comments...just ignore them. At least you were just asking out of curiosity, but some will just see that you asked and go on the attack!
    I have an ex friend that went on this, and she indeed lost clumps of hair. She had to give herself shots everyday and only eat a couple of food choices every day. Yes 500 calories and under. Its a stupid diet that cost her literally 2 thousand dollars
  • hikeout470
    hikeout470 Posts: 628 Member
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    Yeah, the number of first posts is interesting.

    Yep. Amazing how these first time posters saying how great HCG is all have "HCG" in their username.

    funny-dog-pictures-suspicious-sheltie-suspects-you.jpg

    YUP, They appear to be trolls. Anyone who frequents this website knows we are largely an anti extreme diet community. That being said, I grabbed a new cup of coffee when I saw the title. For me these threads are like a large social experiment. Even though I probably would not choose this method for myself, if my neighbor did, I would wholly support their decision in doing so, and I would not badmouth them behind their back. Cmon peeps. Integrity is the road that will get you far.
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
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    If your source that says it's "scientifically proven" is the literature trying to sell it: no. I have read actual studies that I searched for myself on academic databases that have found no proof that HCG suppresses appetite or prevents muscle loss. :flowerforyou:
  • bear_nakey
    bear_nakey Posts: 367 Member
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    What next, eating the faeces of a sheep?

    There's a small island off the coast of Greece where they've known about this secret to health and fitness for centuries. Its clinically proven and I even saw a guy in a white lab coat who says he's a physician verify the results. The big drug companies don't want you to know and the FDA has been paid off to keep it a secret from the public. Money back guarantee! If you order now we'll DOUBLE your order! That's a $1000 value for only $19.95! If you become a distributor you can get your product free! Just sign up 10 friends..and if each of them sign up 10 friends you can become a REGIONAL distributor. We'll even give you a free sheep-dip colored car to drive around for freeeeeeee !!!!!!
    But hurry, because the world is going to end on 12/12/2012 !!!!

    its 12/21/2012. . . sheesh!!!!! :p
  • thankyou4thevenom
    thankyou4thevenom Posts: 1,581 Member
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    I appreciate your candidness and identify with your concerns. I had the same concerns when I was approached about HCG as well. My biggest recommendation would be to read "Pounds and Inches" by Dr. Simeons. It has been around for 50 years and is scientifically proven (yes there are studies). It is true, if you are looking at two groups (HCG group and Placebo group) of which both are using 500 calories only, they will loose almost the identical weight. The difference is the HCG group will not feel fatigued, dizzy, tired, or hungry. They will only have lost stored fat, not muscle or structural fat. The proof is in the ability to maintain your loss in the long run, I agree! You can gain the weight back with any diet. You can eat your way out of a gastric bypass surgery too. It is about making life style changes to maintain the loss. This diet will teach you about your body and the foods that trigger weight gain or cravings. The 500 calorie diet (which I modify to include exercise) is only ONE part of this diet. It actually has phases. The most important phase is not the diet, but stabilization. There are literally thousands of people out there who are a testament to HCG....I am one of them. I have released 92 pounds and have maintained this loss since starting in February of 2010,

    What is quite interesting is if you read "Pounds and Inches" by Dr Simeons he even states that HGC does not cause weight loss. It simply releases the so called 'abnormal' fat for consumption by the body. So in fact it is the 500 cal that causes you to lose the weight not the HGC.
    Yet most people on the HGC diet seem to have either forgotten or missed that part entirely.
  • sarahp86
    sarahp86 Posts: 692 Member
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    I understand that people feel strongly about this HCG diet but no one has the right to criticise or act all holier than thou. Some people have done HCG and even if it is unhealthy it works for some people. Others don't agree with weight watchers, Atkins, Dr. Dukan, slim fast etc. but people do it because they want to. If its not affecting you let them do what they want to do.

    I don't understand why some people on this site have to be so cruel to each other. This site is meant for support that we don't get in our own lives. It's hard enough as it is!