thinking about hcg but not sure

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Does anyone have any positive or negative info on hcg. I know a woman who did it and had incredible weight loss in just 6 weeks. All I'm doing is eating healthy with smaller portions and light exercise daily. But the weight is not coming off as fast as I would like it to :(

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  • Shastabaldi
    Shastabaldi Posts: 36 Member
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    I did it and it worked. but, i think it was because i ate 500 calories a day not because of the drops! it's too hard to maintain, i think. besides, i like food!
  • DirrtyH
    DirrtyH Posts: 664 Member
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    Sigh.
    Do it if you want, but all the weight will come back when you're done. Plus some.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-hcg-diet-yet-another-ineffective-quick-fix-diet-plan-and-supplement/

    no - it is an unsafe weight loss technique, and if you do some reading you will find the majority of people who try this end up gaining the weight back and then some, and have ongoing issues with weight loss in the future.
  • Shastabaldi
    Shastabaldi Posts: 36 Member
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    i'm not sure about other people, but I for one did not gain all the weight back, nor do i have ongoing weight loss issues now. I didn't know then what I know now and that being said, i would never do HCG again. it's just not healthy nor easy to maintain. and that makes sense, right? 500 calories is not realistic for calories or nutrution. that's my opinion, i've not read anything about it but i do believe it to be true. for me, at that time, i wanted something, anything to work besides (you guessed it) hard work and calorie counting. so now i just restrict calories and excersise moderately. :)
  • vanartsdalen2
    vanartsdalen2 Posts: 13 Member
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    Alright, so I sell this stuff at my store. Haven't tried it but I'll throw in my 2 cents from research and customer reviews.
    As far as over the counter you want drops, but they're virtually a placebo, all weight lost is because you're doing 500 calories. You'll be tired, dizzy, moody, and most likely gain most if not all (plus some) of the weight back when you're done unless you keep to such a low cal diet forever.
    HCG is a GREAT hormone though, while it's expensive the injections are the only non-child birthing way to effectively get the hormone and then your body will pretty much just shed fat. This is why we always recommend women breast feed as long as possible because you can lose like twice the weight while keeping a HEALTHY diet.
    Good luck!
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,949 Member
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    It sounds like a way of not-so-slowly killing yourself.
  • LotusAsh
    LotusAsh Posts: 294 Member
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  • Shastabaldi
    Shastabaldi Posts: 36 Member
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    jeez LotusAsh MEAN. I swear wtf is wrong with MFP'ers that they have to do THAT. Use your brain, seriously??????!!!!!! even if that is true why waste time saying it? you gain what, showing everybody how frickin smart you are? i see that all the time on here, it's just so LAME.
  • FDurand
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    Thanks everyone. . Looks like I'll just continue what I'm doing and set aside at least an hour 3days a week to exercise
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Don't do it. I know 12 people who did. Every single one of them gained back the weight plus more. The women lost their hair. Everyone lost their muscle tone. My father-in-law now has a heart condition as a result. The 500 calorie diet causes muscle loss (it's BUNK that the injections will stop this from happening) and your heart is a muscle.

    http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-hcg-diet-yet-another-ineffective-quick-fix-diet-plan-and-supplement/
  • FDurand
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    Lol @LotusAsh‌ ..actually asking for more info on something I am not familiar with is using my brain...but you would know that if you were actually using yours...
  • thismamarox
    thismamarox Posts: 105 Member
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    I did HCG 3 times ( I wanted instant gratification and I got it)...all 3 times I did it, I dropped weight (I did the shots). 2 years later, I gained the weight back plus some. It totally messed my metabolism up to the point that It took me FOREVER (over a year) to lose weight the right way. It has only been the past year that I have been able to successfully lose weight the right way. Eating only 500 calories a day will make you lose weight, but you have no muscle tone, you are always hungry (this makes me ornery), and not enough energy to do much. If I were to do it again, I would not...my lifestyle is so much healthier now than when I wanted instant gratification :)
  • FDurand
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    Oh wow..thanks. the woman that was on it had nothing but good things to say about it and she did it twice (the second time after having a baby). But from the info I'm receiving, the bad definitely outweighs the good..
  • ttsrifliamg
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    There A BUNCH of paid bloggers on this post!!! Read into it folks. If they merely offer a statement like "you'll gain it all back" or "you'll have moods" etc without offering any evidence or a reason you know they just bouncing from one post to the next or that they don't really know what they're talking about and are just being a peanut galory.

    Let's just do a smell test on this diet to see if it makes rational sense to "try!" the diet shall we...

    1st, is it REALLY going to cause cravings? In the diet's words as well as those of Atkins aficionados will tell you, the allowable foods WILL indeed put you into ketosis, & if you don't believe it then do the math for yourself. And if here are people who argue that Ketosis doesn't help curb your appetite then just walk away... They're the same type of people who argue the holocaust didn't happen.

    2nd, that 500 is "too low" or even worst, when they're pretentious enough to say it's "malnutrition" as if they're a nutritionist of some sort ... then refer back to the Atkins concept and read up to where it's actually going in your body in order to get the rest of the caloric needs from. As for the "malnutrition" crowd... ask them to tell you what the daily required intake of protein is... They'd be hard press to answer as they probably don't know... It's around 50grams by the way, and again do the math for yourself of what the HCG treatment prescribes you to have (two 3.5 oz of protien - so depending on what it is it could be 40-60oz!!). It also prescribes the same 7oz per day in veg, a daily vitamins and even potassium muscle contraction. So these pretentious nutritionist can shove it!!

    3rd, "you'll gain it all back!" Tell me something...if the protocol REQUIRES you to weigh yourself every morning (even if you travel - that's how serious they are about it!!) AND provides you with a mechanism to react to a +2 lb inc when and if you see it, how is it possible to fail?! Can you call it the treatment's failure if the person fails to follow the protocol?

    These are the things I grasped with before forking over the $ for both my wife and I and BY FAR it was the best diet we've ever been on. Both of us haven't seen these numbers since around high school, 20+ years ago!!!

    I'm not some biased blogger for the HCG mfg, and in fact I'll even tell you that IT may not even be the contributor to the fat melting, but rather I think this diet CAN be done without the supplement (I.e. I'm saying it MAY BE a placebo). Would a bias blogger tell you that. All I'm saying is it's such a damn easy 23 days to lose fat (25lb for me, 18 for her) that it's a disservice to man kind to not tell people.

    I will concede that nowhere does this treatment claim to treat the psychological aspect of over eating so if that's your issue, no doubt you'll go right back to bad habits and if so what result would you expect to have other that the obvious. I will also concede that the OTC products should not be trusted !! If you're the type to bite on them then you'll probably also buy penis-enlargement or female Viagra supplements as well and so you deserve to be dooped.
  • strmbreez
    strmbreez Posts: 8 Member
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    I did HCG and loved it. I had no mood swings, I didn't lose my hair, I kept the weigjt off until I got pregnant (two years) and it was the ONLY diet that worked for me after years of unsuccessful dieting. That said, its just like any other diet and not for everyone. This is just one person's experience.
  • ttsrifliamg
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    VeryKatie wrote: »
    It sounds like a way of not-so-slowly killing yourself.

    Don't believe the fancy links and animations. The whole thing DOES work and it's super easy to stay on only 500 cal because Ketosis is happening. The fancy animations are just ignorant people who have no experience with this program - & I wouldn't be surprise if they're working for some marketing firm paid by Weight Watchers and the like.

    I use the term "whole thing" as imposes to "HCG" because I'm STILL skeptical (even after being successful on it) that it's actually the HCG that's made my body's fat available for burning... I still think it's the fact that the diet put you into ketosis that's actually allowing your body to burn the fat. But I can't be sure until I try doing it without the HCG, which I definitely intend on attempting one day.

    23 days of low cal made of 7oz veg, 7oz protien, 2 fruit, + daily vitamin and potassium suppliments isn't going to "kill" anyone! If it scares you before even starting then you will definitely not last. For those of us who have suffered being overweight for decades, this is the solution to what we've been waiting for. And don't listen to those claiming it doesn't work unless they actually mention they went through a Dr. You can't lump over-the-counter products with Dr. prescribed controlled substances. It's like claiming that birth control pills don't work because they bought some from the black market...so beware of paided for and/or ignorant advice on here.

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    VeryKatie wrote: »
    It sounds like a way of not-so-slowly killing yourself.

    Don't believe the fancy links and animations. The whole thing DOES work and it's super easy to stay on only 500 cal because Ketosis is happening. The fancy animations are just ignorant people who have no experience with this program - & I wouldn't be surprise if they're working for some marketing firm paid by Weight Watchers and the like.

    I use the term "whole thing" as imposes to "HCG" because I'm STILL skeptical (even after being successful on it) that it's actually the HCG that's made my body's fat available for burning... I still think it's the fact that the diet put you into ketosis that's actually allowing your body to burn the fat. But I can't be sure until I try doing it without the HCG, which I definitely intend on attempting one day.

    23 days of low cal made of 7oz veg, 7oz protien, 2 fruit, + daily vitamin and potassium suppliments isn't going to "kill" anyone! If it scares you before even starting then you will definitely not last. For those of us who have suffered being overweight for decades, this is the solution to what we've been waiting for. And don't listen to those claiming it doesn't work unless they actually mention they went through a Dr. You can't lump over-the-counter products with Dr. prescribed controlled substances. It's like claiming that birth control pills don't work because they bought some from the black market...so beware of paided for and/or ignorant advice on here.

    Wow, how much are they paying you?

    OP - this diet has been completely debunked and is a starvation diet with additional pregnant lady pee. Please don't listen to the shills.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    Dear Posters,

    I'm writing to let you know that our Community Guidelines ( http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines ) prohibit the creation of any forum posts, groups, or posts in groups that encourage the use of Very Low Calorie diets (including, but not limited to, VLCDs that use the HCG protocol).

    MyFitnessPal has always promoted a healthy, sustainable, and gradual path to weight loss. But HCG products are typically promoted in connection with a very low calorie diet, usually one that limits calories to 500 per day. Research has demonstrated that calorie intake at these levels can lead to increased risk of gallstones, hair loss, constipation, an irregular heartbeat, and many other dangerous side-effects.

    Moreover, numerous medical studies have shown that the results of HCG-use in combination with a very low calorie diet are indistinguishable from the results of the low calorie diet alone. In light of this research, the FDA has required the labeling and advertising of HCG products to state:

    “HCG has not been demonstrated to be effective adjunctive therapy in the treatment of obesity. 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.”

    Our guidelines prohibit any use of Groups or the Public Forums to support the use of HCG.

    Regards,

    kgeyser
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