life after HCG = weight loss disaster, help!

You do know what HCG is, yes? Do you know where it comes from? It's a hormone that's isolated from the urine of pregnant women. Enjoy!

You have to work on resetting your metabolism. Eat at or above your BMR filling your body with nutritious foods. No fast food, no junk foods. Protein, whole carbs, fruits and veggies and eat that way for a long enough time for your body to know it is ok and it is not starving. Then NEVER drop down calories that low again. You may gain initially but eventually your body will reset and it will come off SLOWLY but if done right it will stay off.

I am so sorry for all of you that had this happen, how very discouraging it must be. I have a close friend who is now on round 3 and I am so afraid for her for what will happen after she finishes. I wished I would have tried harder to talk her out of it. Let me know if you do set up a "recovery" group.

Hi

If you're low carb and high protein, you're not eating an actual fuel source (the protein just contributes to muscular health and satiety), which means your body will never expend more than it has to and your exercise won't benefit you.

If low carb suits you, try going low carb, high fat, medium protein - paleo lifestyle. Healthy, filling, natural foods and your body uses the fat as its fuel source. Then, when your dietary fat has run out, it will automatically switch to burning bodyfat.

Lol

Wow, this post has been great. I have read all of the responses. When I originally started my journey a short time ago I read about HCG. I only found good things about it. I considered getting it! I was discouraged and finally gave up after I learned that it's now banned and cannot be bought OTC. Now I'm glad I never got deep into that!

I have never done the HCG diet but have heard alot about it. What sent up a red flag for me was the 500 calorie a day restriction. In what universe is calorie restriction that low and taughts itself as healthy? It sounds like your body is trying to figure itself out.

There are doctor supervised VLCD's that are legit with the morbidly obese or gastric surgery patients. However these are programs that are for people who are pretty much in life and death situations with weight. Not for the average dieter.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
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Love all these new replies. Let's get the word out there. THE hCG DIET IS BAD NEWS!

So, as I've shared, I was lured into the diet and it affected my heart and caused a great amount of problems. I recently finished three months worth of doctor's appointments (about $1,000 of my money AFTER insurance) to get better and figure out just what damage was done.

As pointed out, until recently, if you did a search of the hCG diet, all the spammy pro-hCG sites and commentary rose to the top. There's a reason for that. Companies like Omnitrition (they sell the bogus hCG drops) recruit people who need to make money off you. While doing the diet and considering selling it (in my defense, honeymoon period after a quick loss), I found out that the top sellers and people in the company operate under multiple names and sites online. They make it appear far more successful and glamourous than it really is. They work hard to bury online stories and make sure to delete all comments on their pages that would hurt their sales.

So, a plea, for those of you who have shared your hCG story, would you share it here too:

http://www.squidoo.com/unsafe_hcg_diet

I created this page to 'collect' side effect stories whether it is your own, a family member's or a friend's. I'm already having people contact me to thank me or to share their personal stories. You don't have to sign up to comment. You don't even have to leave a real name. While the page is about my experience with Omnitrition, it is for all folks who have been hurt in some way by this terrible diet. And, I know for a fact the page is making a difference. It is always ranking high in Google so it is a great way to get the word out there!

Thank you so much!!!

Who should I report it to??

I had a similar experience. I did one round of HCG & lost 27 lbs. I continued to eat only the food that I ate while on HCG, got back to the gym & still gained the 27 back plus another 30 making me bigger than I was than when I was pregnant!! Grrrrr... I should have known better when the doctor's office I pulled up to was a dentist office that charges up the A** for the HCG shots in the back office. On top of that, they told me it would be an additional $200 to do a 2nd round but when it came time for it, they said oh, no, that was wrong, it's an additional $600 to do the 2nd round. No way! So, like I said, I continued to eat the foods recommended while on HCG, just bigger portions & I was going to the gym, despite all this I still gained. I hate the body I have now & am trying very, very hard to get the pounds off again. I feel like I was betrayed by the HCG diet & totally ripped off by the "doctor" that sold it to me. Good luck to you!

I hope you've reported this!

Report it to the Board of Registration in Medicine for your state. This seriously should not be tolerated and other people are very likely in harm's way. You can call & file the report anonymously and the police will likely go check it out.

The research has been done by Curves. It's very similar to their Phase 3 which raises metabolism. Strength training is also very helpful in raising metabolism. Muscle = Metabolism

I lost 40 pounds over 6 months using HCG (through a weight loss clinic), and have kept it off. Overall, it wasn't a bad experience and it really opened my eyes to healthy weight loss, and took me from a nearly obese, very miserable point in my life. I don't regret it, even if it wasn't the smartest thing to do.

Anyway. I have had a lot of trouble losing again on my own. To the OP, you seem to be having the same problem. HCG supposedly "resets" your hypothalamus, so you can maintain at your weight at the end of a round, which it did for me so much that I was stuck at 140-141 for 5 MONTHS despite all my efforts. Until the last few weeks, when it seems I've finally been able to kick it up a notch and get things moving again, I hadn't been able to lose a thing. I'm still not convinced I won't just go right back to 140 somehow....

Anyway. I don't know how to help other than to say you're not alone in your HCG boat! And I hope you have some progress soon, just keep trying.

No advice. Please consult a physician and dietician.

Hey Ladies! Probably not what ya'll want to hear, but I am currently doing HCG, and have successfully completed a 20 day round of HCG previously. I take the drops, and I go to my personal dr. and get my weight/fat %/muscle mass/ect checked and I am just fine! No issues. I did not gain the weight back from the first time I did the program either. With your final phase to HCG you should be eating the same foods you were while you were doing the 500 calorie diet, just upping the intake to about 1200 calories a day! And after about a week of that, start adding cheese, pasta, bread, and sugars back in slowly! I'm sorry to hear ya'll had such a bad experience, but it really does work! It's not a gimmick, and I am no representative for anything! I am a college girl from Texas who has had a great success along with my fiancé on losing weight with this program!

I know 12 people who did it. They ALL followed the protocol for transitioning off and they all still gained back the weight they lost.

I am talking to so many people who have gained back more after their hCG experiences and are really struggling to lose now. I have only met one person in real life (friend of a friend) who has kept it off but she started training for half marathons to do it and, I strongly suspect, she does a lot of steak days and additional rounds. It's not healthy!

The hCG diet makes you fat and fat replaces all the muscle you lose on this diet. And, you do lose muscle. There is no doubt whatsoever of that.

This diet is just bad news!

Thanks for that info! I imagine in these types of situations with doctor supervision it is safe...

No. Just don't.

I agree. When I was first healing from this, I thought it would be safer with a doctor too but people are sharing their stories with me and they are not being monitred closely and are having just as many side effects. One common thread amoung those doing the oral drops and those doing the injections is that almost every single one I've talked to has gained all the weight back and so many are fatter now. Don't do it!!!

I'm so tired of the HCG hate, although I agree its not the easiest or even the healthiest way to lose weight, nothing... and I mean nothing else has worked for me. Being on this diet is teaching me about portion control, and healthy eating. I believe everyone when they say that they have gained weight back and then some, because a lot of people do not follow the phases, the correct protocol, give up and binge, or go back to eating fatty, sugary foods. There are different phases for a reason, slowly allowing yourself to eat more calories after phase two, and then begining to slowly incorporate more food. If you do phases 3 and 4 correctly your weight will eventually plateau. I drink 12-15 glasses of water a day, green tea in the mornings, and I make sure that I'm eating fruits as a snack between meals. I walk every day, because I believe its important to at least do a little exercise to keep myself feeling strong and healthy.

Just like in any other diet, if you cheat, give up, or regress back to old bad eating habits you will put the weight back on. The problem is people aren't doing research before starting this diet, pick up a book and read it. There are about 3 different ways to do this diet, and if you don't follow the protocol for the diet, well then, of course your going to gain weight.

There are plenty of diets out there that got a bad rep for years when they were first developed, and are now socially acceptable, ie Atkins, South Beach, etc...

Just saying...

So you are learning to do the things that make any diet work, with the added bonus of taking a drug in a way the FDA has deemed unsafe. Brilliant.

Am I missing something here? Why not just do everything you are doing minus messing with your endocrine system?