HCG Diet

This diet seems sooo un-realistic, however, I have a friend (& her mother) that have been doing it since January and have lost 25 & 40lbs! They look AMAZING!

The jist of the diet is:
10 liquid drops of HCG (hormone) 3 times a day
Consume 500-530 calories per day
0 ZERO sugar of any sort
2 servings of chicken or white fish
2 servings of vegetables
2 servings of fruit & THAT'S IT...

The whole point to the diet is that the HCG makes you not hungry at all, it flushes your system of fat without bothering your muscle mass...

Anyone have any input on this? My thought is that as soon as you go off of this diet (they do have a smooth transition plan) you are going to blimp right back out again...

I did 2 rounds last summer and early fall (between July and October). I lost a total of 38 pounds and have kept it off. I am losing weight now eating Paleo standards.

The key to keeping it off is following the whole plan all the way through for a round. That means sticking to the allowed foods on the list, during round 3 upping your protein and fats while eating lots of vegetables and some fruit - no added sugar, no starches. Round 4 you slowly re-introduce small amounts of sugar and starchy foods.

Round 3 is the most crucial because this is where your hypothalamus is reset to the new weight set point.

I liked it a lot and did it under the advice, supervision of my Naturopathic Doctor.

my brother in law has been on this diet since super bowl... he lost 25lbs the first 2 weeks.... but he doesnt look that great. he looks unhealthy... i dont think its good for your body to drop weight that rapidly personally. and its pretty expensive. he told me that you can do it like every 6months. in my opinion there are healthy less costly ways to flush your system.

Take a look at http://www.fat2fitradio.com/ and listen to the podcast they have discussing it. It is podcast #118 under 'The Evils of Starvation Diets' or you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. It is a very informative and logical show. What this HCG thing really comes down to is that you aren't losing weight because of the injection, you are losing weight because your body is starving. The injection is just the gimmick to get you in the door. They have a really good look at it!

Honestly, this seems completely insane to me. First of all, fruit IS sugar. Second of all, only eating 500 calories a day is a sure way to completely screw up your metabolism and ensure that the weight comes back on as soon as you start eating more.

Of course it does -- then the "doctor" (and I use the term loosely) can sell another round of shots for another small fortune in 6 months when his mark, err patient, gains all the weight back and then some.

For what it's worth, just read this article this morning...

Dr. Oz and the Hormone Diet
In "the shortcuts Dr. (Mehmet) Oz would never take," the Hormone Diet, also called HCG*, tops the list.

"Initially, this diet may help you rapidly drop pounds. Ultimately, it destroys your metabolism, as you are essentially starving yourself," Oz, a celebrity surgeon, wrote three months ago. "Another negative side effect is the loss of muscle mass, so much that you will no longer be able to effectively burn calories."

Yet earlier this week on his television show, Dr. Oz aired testimonials from people reporting success with the diet, prompting critics to accuse him of selling out.

"The show was predictable," wrote obesity medicine doctor Yoni Freedhoff, who blogs at Weighty Matters.

"Dr. Oz spent the bulk of the show obtaining testimonials from HCG providers and dieters, mentioned how his wife has done the HCG diet, spent a scant amount of time with HCG detractors, mentioned that the complete and utter lack of medical evidence to support its use was counter-balanced by the four people he had in his audience who had succeeded in losing weight, called for further study, suggested it was worth a try and wondered if future research into it may in fact lead to a cure for obesity.

The HCG diet pills contain small doses of HCG that purportedly help the body tap into stored fat and burn it off. They also suppress your appetite so you can consume as little as 500 calories a day, according to Oz's website. HCG can also be injected.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has called the weight-loss products "fraudulent." Meanwhile, Freedhoff and several others, including Travis at Obesity Panacea, have pointed out that the disclaimers on HCG provider's own website states that the products aren't very useful.

"HCG has not been demonstrated to be effective adjunctive therapy in the treatment of obesity,” one website reads. "There is no substantial evidence that it 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-restricted diets."

Dr. Emma, who appeared on the show, charges patients $800 for six weeks of this "sham" treatment, Freedhoff wrote.

"How much will it cost his viewers who take his advice to try the diet scientifically proven to be useless and the one he himself rightly reports is likely to dramatically impact on muscle mass, so much so that weight regain will be far more likely?

I did the HCG Diet, and I was amazed at the results, and if I wouldn't have cheated on the 3rd week I would have lost more weight. I lost 17.8lbs in about 30days. I also thought it was a great way for me to detox from sugar, but you really do need to do the plan exactly how it is directed...it REALLY WORKS:)

My husband tried this diet. I don't know the science behind it, but I will tell you that he could not complete round 1. He felt nauseous, had a headache, and had ZERO energy. Honestly, he was so hungry that it made him unbearably grumpy. I asked him to come off the drops and spend the money instead on healthy food and a gym membership! He has lost 9 pounds in the past 5 weeks and lost none on HCG. This is just my personal experience, for what it's worth!

There are different results for each person that tries it. It is definetly an adjustment and a mindset. I was headachy when I first started but I was determined to give it a try. Everything isn't for everybody.

I have a few more things to say about HCG, I was using HCG to drop my holiday weight that I had gained. I have already lost over 60lbs from healthy eating and exercise. I would never recommend a new person just starting to lose weight to do this, it is very strict and maybe would be to hard, because I do believe that healthy eating and exercise is the best way to lose weight.