After the weight is gone taking HCG....what next?

secondeve wrote: »

Hi, my name is Robin. I'm a 56 year old woman living in Florida, and i am a professional singer.
This is my second time doing the hcg diet, and this time i plan on KEEPING off the weight by learning how to maintain. I know how to lose but in these past few years it has become clear that i need help in the keeping it off department! any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!

These two statements don't really go together.

I would highly recommend against this diet.

Perhaps it's because the diet recommends severe calorie restriction — typically just 500 to 800 calories a day. People who follow such a very low calorie diet are likely to lose weight, at least in the short term. Side effects have also been reported with the HCG diet and include fatigue, irritability, restlessness, depression, fluid buildup (edema), and swelling of the breasts in boys and men (gynecomastia). Another serious concern is the risk of blood clots forming and blocking blood vessels (thromboembolism).

Source: Mayo clinic

Check out some of these links to get to started on a more sustainable path:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it

Find out what your daily calorie amount should be..MFP. and eat to this calories amount.
Input your food in the diary (weighted for accuracy).
I searched the hcg diet... wow. I would be starving, and at least 40 shots of a unknown chemical in my body...I could never do that.
Glad you lost the weight, now you need to learn more about food calories you will eat everyday.
Good Luck.

two years here

lost some, took a cal. counting break, went back, now I just check in on weight every so often, if getting up there, I go back to counting.
Kind of a life long thing for me, just to keep it under control. I notice my clothes getting tight, then I check my weight and decide if I need to cal. count again or just consciously eat less on my serving portions.

You answered your own question, when you said "SECOND" time. Anyone can just "not eat much", the key is learning sustainability and a lifestyle change.

maintaining a healthy weight is all about maintaining a healthful lifestyle...eat healthfully (both in terms of quality and quantity) and make exercise a regular part of your life.

maintaining a healthy weight is all about good livin'

Eight years here......After losing 60lbs over 19 months, so very slowly, right?. But it is better than losing the same weight over and over and over......While eating between 1500 and 1800 calories a day....Not cutting out anything completely, and never being hungry or to weak to work out.....

The bad news is that if you've really been eating that low for some time, you've damaged your metabolism and lost muscle mass.
You will need to do what's known as a 'refeed', to try and kick-start your metabolism.
There are many ways to go about this, I know there is at least one group here that goes into detail. Try reading some of this:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/3817-eat-more-2-weigh-less

I've been losing at a very slow rate over the past 3 1/2 years, so technically I've been losing, not maintaining, but this has definitely been a long-term change for me. I've lost in such a way that my lifestyle, as it is now, will not be difficult to maintain for the rest of my life.

In the past, I have tried crazy, crash diets. Over and over and over! I lost weight quickly, burned myself out, gave up and gained it all right back, along with more. Much more! I finally saw the light, so to speak, and realized that eating normal foods at a moderate caloric deficit and getting out and moving my body a little bit on a regular basis was so much easier to do and I have been far more successful than ever in the past. This is the closest I have EVER come to being a healthy, "normal" weight and I am on track to hit my goal this year. Then, to celebrate hitting my goal, I'll get up the next morning and keep right on counting and tracking calories like I have every other day since I started this new way of life and I'll keep right on doing that every day until I die because I know myself. Without weighing, measuring and logging, I will gain the weight right back. The daily logging keeps me accountable - and also allows me to eat all the foods that I love and enjoy.

So I don't know a whole lot from personal experience about this diet, but I did do some reading when I first heard about it on MFP.

It is, from what I've read, a very low calorie diet. When you're only eating 500-800 calories/day you will definitely lose weight, even if you're not active. From what I read, many sources actually advise against using this diet because it's just not safe or effective.

Further, let's say instead of HCG you went through WLS and had gastric by pass or something. If you went through that, lost the weight you needed to but then somehow gained it all back no doctor in his/her right mind is going to give you that surgery again. If you have done HCG before but you've gained back all the weight you lost why would you even start to think this is something you should do again when it's really unsafe to begin in?

I know it can be frustrating to lose weight - it takes so much effort, planning and accountability and it's so much easier to just not care and eat whatever and be lazy if you want to. It doesn't seem like it took that much effort to gain the weight, right?

I get it - but we did it to ourselves (except actual, legitimate medical reasons) and now we have to own up to it. It takes time, consistency and work to get off the weight. However, it's up to you to do it; there can't be someone holding your hand the whole way through. There isn't going to be someone ripping stuff out of your hands when you shouldn't eat it. You need to get the control. The reason HCG helps you lose is because your calories are so restricted and you aren't eating more than you burn, so I don't think you really "know how to lose" when you're assisted by a severe calorie restriction. I would lose everything too if I went on something like Biggest Loser, but what would I do when the show is over and I don't have personal trainers yelling at me to move, celebrity chefs cooking me exactly what I should be eating or all day to work out? I'm busy - I work 60 hrs/week, I work out 6 days/week, I volunteer, I have friends and family . . . I'm busy. I need to have control myself over what I eat and how much I eat, when I work out, kick my butt to the gym at 5 am or 6pm when I'm done work. I need to do it - no one else is doing it for me.

I think you need to not do HCG, lose slow and steady and the weight will stay off. Figure out the nutrition your body needs, the caloric intake suitable for you and start exercising and moving around - you will feel better and probably notice the changes in your body, too.

jaqcan wrote: »

I'm asking to LEARN, so no jumping down my throat. Wouldn't you be able to set the MFP calorie goal to maintain the weight you are now, and if you ate at that level you would maintain?? Or would you gain some because of metabolism and restoring water weight with normal glycogen levels? Again I'm asking to learn something.

Initially you would gain I believe, but that should even out in natural fluctuations.
Don't quote me on that though.

I did the HCG diet and lost 40lbs and I have kept it off for almost 6 years now. I did end up lose all my muscle and started lifting weights but low weights at first because I wasnt strong. I also had to get a prescription for vitamin d because with that diet you were supposed to go in the sun for 30 mins but I didnt, I had no energy.