IS ANYONE DOING THE HCG DIET

The way I feel about it is, if I had fallen down, and someone offered me a hand to get up, why not take it?

I completely understand that some of you will not feel the same way. But my very strong feeling is, if there is an easier way, why do it the hard way. This way of thinking works for me because I do NOT see the HCG diet as a health risk. There are good arguments on both sides of the fence but I have not read anything that stated definitively that the HCG diet caused harm to anyone who was reasonably healthy to begin with.

And I'll have words for anyone who says that I am lazy or unmotivated, for nothing could be further from the truth.

I am on my second round and I have never felt better in my whole life. I have lost 25lbs and have lost 1.5% body fat in the last 6-7 weeks having added weight training to my regimen. My husband even commented on my 'guns' since I lost 1.5-2 inches in each of my biceps and now you can really see my muscle definition.

I was on MFP for 4 months before I started HCG.

Bee said she had tried other 'diets' but put the weight back on. I still believe all diets fail if we don't learn how to live properly in the process.

I believe the race can be won by the swift, as long as they learn how to live along the way. But it isn't a race, it is a journey to health and I believe we can all be winners (regardless of when or how we arrive).

Once again, as Mike stated, keep it to the subject and not the people.

With that said, if you want to start out quick and do not have patience to do things what some would consider sensibly then that is your 'choice'. If you are morbidly obese or yo-yo'n your entire weight loss journey consider what I said earlier.

If you educatte yourself, return to the food pyramid, eat right, exercise right and change the mindset you will succeed. If you take the quick route because it seems easier and do not trust that you have the courage or motivation to do it one step at a time you "might" not "will" be setting yourself up for failure and if you read the many testimonies on those who have tried the quick route and eventually saw success when they took their time you will see how it can be achieved by any healthy person. I read horror stories about hCG and success stories. But those success stories are from here and have not had enough time element added in to see if the success truly last for a life time (meaning I had not witnessed anyone here who have been on it for 3 years or more and are here to motivate others due to their story of overcoming). I have saw plenty who are current users within a year or so but not 3 years or more to testify that they have overcome.

Now, for the posters who I noticed that use hCG and only had about 25 lbs or so to lose I will leave that alone because they looked great anyway so it is hard to gauge the impact of 25 vs the impact of 100 lbs through the program.

I will say, explore your options and you still want to take the quick route take in account of all the pros and cons provided. Listen to who you want and do not let someone strong arm you into anything. Educate yourself and the proof is in the pudding.

All you healthy eaters sound off and share your stories on how we overcame just by wising up, eating right and exercising.

I'm sure this will get responses about how crooked doctors are and want you sick to get your money, etc, but has anyone pointed out that the AMA has found that you'd lose pretty much the same amount of weight on a 500 cal diet with or without the HCG? Regardless of whether or not its healthy (which I know no one will ever agree on), at that point I'd just be wondering about its effectiveness. Especially if I'm paying through the nose for it.

And how about this awesome little disclaimer REQUIRED by the FDA:

"Disclaimer: HCG is a drug which has not been approved by the food and drug administration as safe and effective in the treatment of obesity or weight control. There is no substantial evidence that HCG increases weight loss beyond that resulting from caloric restriction, that it causes a more attractive or "normal" distribution of fat, or that it decreases the hunger and discomfort associated with calorie-restrictive diets."

My opinion - I've lost almost 70 lbs since January. I'm really proud of all the hard work I put into it, I found new and fun hobbies (like racquetball and swimming), I've been able to eat tasty food the whole time, my husband has been able to come on this journey with me and we enjoy these hobbies together - in my opinion making us closer, I've been able to inspire family and friends.... Why not do it that way?

Jenny,

Thanks for a marvelous story. You are truly an inspiration. Seeing that you did it at less than 7 lbs a month shows that you were wise and diligent in your approach. I bet you feel so much better.

I'm sure this will get responses about how crooked doctors are and want you sick to get your money, etc, but has anyone pointed out that the AMA has found that you'd lose pretty much the same amount of weight on a 500 cal diet with or without the HCG? Regardless of whether or not its healthy (which I know no one will ever agree on), at that point I'd just be wondering about its effectiveness. Especially if I'm paying through the nose for it.

And how about this awesome little disclaimer REQUIRED by the FDA:

"Disclaimer: HCG is a drug which has not been approved by the food and drug administration as safe and effective in the treatment of obesity or weight control. There is no substantial evidence that HCG increases weight loss beyond that resulting from caloric restriction, that it causes a more attractive or "normal" distribution of fat, or that it decreases the hunger and discomfort associated with calorie-restrictive diets."

No one has ever claimed that HCG causes weight loss OR suppresses hunger. The weight you lose is strictly a result of the 500 calorie diet. HCG prevents your body from taking nutrients from your organs/lean muscle mass & forces your body to use abnormal fat stores (note: normal fat stores are the ones used to cushion joints and protect organs from impact) at a rate of 1500-3000 calories a day. If someone were to try to do a 23- or 43-day very low calorie diet (VLCD) without using HCG, their body would eat itself alive from malnutrition. On this we all agree.

The results in my signature are completely from the HCG protocol. I reset everything on MFP to purposely NOT include the 10 lbs I lost from "eat less move more". In the 79 days since I started the protocol, I've lost 44.9 lbs, I no longer need to take Zantac for acid reflux (caused by being overweight), I no longer suffer from sleep apnea (again, weight resultant), my labwork with my doctor has improved (LDL, HDL, cholesterol), and I feel better than I have in over a decade. However, like you always see on every diet commercial ever, "results not typical". I am NOT saying that everyone's experience will be as positive as mine, nor am I stating that this diet is for everyone. In fact, I've dissuaded more people from trying it than recommended people. What I AM saying is, do your research, ask your questions, weigh your options, compare pluses vs. minuses, and make an informed decision based on your own opinions.

EDIT: removed non-pertinent quoted text. I don't want to appear to be detracting from Jenny's successes. I'm glad that your diet/weight loss plan is working for you. Congratulations.

This topic seems to always pop up and then dies out too fast. Amazing more people do not give more insight. Good, bad or indifferent. Cheers.