HCG Diet

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This is a FAD diet. I have never tried it but the only thing proven to make you lose weight and KEEP IT OFF is diet and exercise.. and I mean diet like counting calories and eating healthy. You know.. the hard way. Sorry..

^ AGREE!!!^

Tell you a true story.... I lost 85lbs and have kept it off for 3 years now. I did it the HARD way, I watched what I ate and I exercised!

Don't do it!! Do your research on it. They are only losing weight cuz they are eating 500 calories. They will gain the weight back plus some when they are finished. Diet and exercise is the best way. They are finding the shot is causing tumors.

Just reading the few posts here on the forums, I can see that a lot of people are "doing the diet again." THAT'S the problem -- the "again" part. You need to make a lifestyle change, not rely on a quick fix every few months.

And quite frankly, I had enough of HCG during my infertility treatment days. The thought of injecting someone else's urine extract into MY body is a bit less appealing once you really think about it. :P

I found the info on the web that explains how they "process HCG" NASTY!!! AGREE With above

Hmmmm HCG .... let me drink this pregnant lady's pee so I can magically lose weight.

Yeah, that's a great idea.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, a HEART SURGEON, has written and spoken about that HCG program many times. The HCG program (medication) has caused major ORGAN FAILURE and TUMORS in many people. Not only that but any 500 calorie diet is not adequate for your body to "survive". You might lose the weight quickly but it will be MUSCLE WASTING loss. Many years ago, I had to lose 35 pounds very fast due to pending surgery. You really do not want to experience the PAIN I had in my legs and arms from that fast weight loss along with severe shortness of breath.

DIETS WILL MAKE YOU FAT: Yes, they most certainly will. You will lose the weight but as soon as you go "off the diet", you will gain back what you lost plus gain additional weight on top of what you lost. That happens because, each time we do the yo-yo diet routine, our body "protects itself" by building/creating NEW FAT CELLS. That physiological defense mechanism is something that we cannot prevent.

There is NO successful quick fix for obesity. PORTION CONTROL and INCREASED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY are the two key factors to your success in becoming heart healthy again. I'm posting this for you right now but will add an additional post after I copy & paste some tips I shared with another friend a while back.

Not to say that HCG is good or anything, but Dr Oz is a joke. He's a TV personality just like Dr Phil. He get's paid to push certain products and ideas. I'm sure he was a legit doctor before he got a TV show, but now .... he's a TV host. As with everything else you see on TV, take it with a huge chunk of salt.

Plus, I'm pretty sure I've seen "Try Dr Oz's pregnancy diet" stuff floating around in reference to HCG. So yeah. There's that.

TV talk show host = Not real advice.

It seems as though the HCG diet does teach people how to eat better and make better choices about what they put into their bodies, It is a high protein low carb diet not unlike many others out there, they are required to count calories and also eat calorie dense veggies. AS with any "Diet" if you go back to your old habits... you will gain the weight back. I know that my friend that did it has kept the weight off for over 2 years, she only had 15 to loose... so she did not need another round. The main part of the diet does consist of consuming 500 cals... but it seems like a decent amount of food, when you look at the amt that you are consuming... 3.5 oz of meat, 1 cup of veggies, apples.. etc. They are encouraged to drink around 4 liters of water per day. the next part of the diet is where fats are introduced back in (cheese, oils) but not carbs... this is where they stabalize their weight, then after they stabilize they can eat carbs again. This is not an easy diet to follow, esp since my friend is a teacher and a parent... it took her a lot of wheel power not snack or eat the treats that her student's parent brought in. LIKE any means of losing wt... it is a lifestyle change... even w gastric bypass... people that return to their old habits will gain wt again (i have another friend that did that... and is gaining wt back bc she isn't eating right). If you have questions... the people over on the HCG/progress updates are more than happy to answer questions. It seems they the reason people do the diet again is; if they have a LARGE amt of wt to lose or if they totally didn't change their eating habits (like any diet or workout program)... It def seems to be a lifestyle change and although i didnt do it, I did learn a lot from my friend about the nurtrional content in foods and what I was putting into my mouth that was high in cals... she quicky pointed out that the gummy bears I ate are 0.7 cals each.. i ate handfulls at a time.... i just didnt pay attention to their caloric content , LOL... I'm not doing that anymore;) I learned a lot through her... esp on how to cook healthier meals. Like with any diet or fitness or program.... it is a lifestyle change.... not easy... but like they say... "if living a healthy life, working out and eating right were easy.... EVERYBODY would be healthy and FIT"... so much easier to get off after working 8-12 hrs and go home cook something quick or processed and veg out in frint of the TV... instead of taking your exhuasted self to the gym and working out... then going home and cooking a real meal of veggies, protein and a little carb. Remember, It requires a calorie deficit of 3500 cal per week to loose one POUND!! Good luck to everybody in their goals.... nice to see so many out there with the same goal of improve health.... regardlesss of the means to get there:)

I tried it, and after a week I quit. I was miserable, weak, tired, and *****y. I fell due to dizziness and blacking out numerous times. I found myself crying in the evenings because I was so hungry and was sick of eating chicken. I will NEVER do that diet again. I would rather lose slower and be thin, fit, and strong, than lose faster and be weak, and sick looking. I've known a few people who have succesfully completed the diet and lost large amounts of weight. But there are always "going back on it" due to gaining the weight right back. Don't do it. Its a waste of time and health.

Hello,
I looked it up and found an interesting article that will help you determine for yourself. Apparently a lot more cons than pros.

http://www.consumerhealthanswers.com/hcg-diet.html

It seems as though the HCG diet does teach people how to eat better and make better choices about what they put into their bodies, It is a high protein low carb diet not unlike many others out there, they are required to count calories and also eat calorie dense veggies. AS with any "Diet" if you go back to your old habits... you will gain the weight back. I know that my friend that did it has kept the weight off for over 2 years, she only had 15 to loose... so she did not need another round. The main part of the diet does consist of consuming 500 cals... but it seems like a decent amount of food, when you look at the amt that you are consuming... 3.5 oz of meat, 1 cup of veggies, apples.. etc. They are encouraged to drink around 4 liters of water per day. the next part of the diet is where fats are introduced back in (cheese, oils) but not carbs... this is where they stabalize their weight, then after they stabilize they can eat carbs again. This is not an easy diet to follow, esp since my friend is a teacher and a parent... it took her a lot of wheel power not snack or eat the treats that her student's parent brought in. LIKE any means of losing wt... it is a lifestyle change... even w gastric bypass... people that return to their old habits will gain wt again (i have another friend that did that... and is gaining wt back bc she isn't eating right). If you have questions... the people over on the HCG/progress updates are more than happy to answer questions. It seems they the reason people do the diet again is; if they have a LARGE amt of wt to lose or if they totally didn't change their eating habits (like any diet or workout program)... It def seems to be a lifestyle change and although i didnt do it, I did learn a lot from my friend about the nurtrional content in foods and what I was putting into my mouth that was high in cals... she quicky pointed out that the gummy bears I ate are 0.7 cals each.. i ate handfulls at a time.... i just didnt pay attention to their caloric content , LOL... I'm not doing that anymore;) I learned a lot through her... esp on how to cook healthier meals. Like with any diet or fitness or program.... it is a lifestyle change.... not easy... but like they say... "if living a healthy life, working out and eating right were easy.... EVERYBODY would be healthy and FIT"... so much easier to get off after working 8-12 hrs and go home cook something quick or processed and veg out in frint of the TV... instead of taking your exhuasted self to the gym and working out... then going home and cooking a real meal of veggies, protein and a little carb. Remember, It requires a calorie deficit of 3500 cal per week to loose one POUND!! Good luck to everybody in their goals.... nice to see so many out there with the same goal of improve health.... regardlesss of the means to get there:)

Very, very well said!!!

Dr. Mehmet Oz, a HEART SURGEON, has written and spoken about that HCG program many times. The HCG program (medication) has caused major ORGAN FAILURE and TUMORS in many people. Not only that but any 500 calorie diet is not adequate for your body to "survive". You might lose the weight quickly but it will be MUSCLE WASTING loss. Many years ago, I had to lose 35 pounds very fast due to pending surgery. You really do not want to experience the PAIN I had in my legs and arms from that fast weight loss along with severe shortness of breath.

DIETS WILL MAKE YOU FAT: Yes, they most certainly will. You will lose the weight but as soon as you go "off the diet", you will gain back what you lost plus gain additional weight on top of what you lost. That happens because, each time we do the yo-yo diet routine, our body "protects itself" by building/creating NEW FAT CELLS. That physiological defense mechanism is something that we cannot prevent.

There is NO successful quick fix for obesity. PORTION CONTROL and INCREASED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY are the two key factors to your success in becoming heart healthy again. I'm posting this for you right now but will add an additional post after I copy & paste some tips I shared with another friend a while back.

Not to say that HCG is good or anything, but Dr Oz is a joke. He's a TV personality just like Dr Phil. He get's paid to push certain products and ideas. I'm sure he was a legit doctor before he got a TV show, but now .... he's a TV host. As with everything else you see on TV, take it with a huge chunk of salt.

Plus, I'm pretty sure I've seen "Try Dr Oz's pregnancy diet" stuff floating around in reference to HCG. So yeah. There's that.

TV talk show host = Not real advice.

Lets put this in perspective. Below is a post I wrote after researching why a person needs 1200-1500 calories for proper body function and everything cited so you can look through it. So how do you think a body will respond with only 500. I hate to say this, but Dr. Oz is actually right on this. I know this because my friend is a cardiologist and has seen this at her hospital. But if you really want to do yourself a favor, do a before and after measurement of body fat. Get some calipers or go to a gym to get it done. You will lose muscle not fat. And by doing so, you will destroy your metabolism. Also, I would highly suggest researching how a metabolism works and how a body works before doing something as dumb as HCG.

There are several institutues that have research the needs of a body to maintain proper body function and all have come back with 1200 calories for women and 1500 for men (this includes teh Nation Institute for Health and American College of Sports Medicine). Decreasing your calories to below these standards (which are very low to start with) can affect your long term weight loss. Decreasing below your Basal Metabolic Rate can slow your metabolism, decrease thyroid function, decrease muscle mass, and have adverse affects on several organs, digestion, etc...

When you reduce the calories too low, your body may not go into starvation mode but your body doesn't function properly. Also, over time, if you don't eat enough, your body will store fat due to the metabolism slowing down. Your metabolism is contolled by the amount of muscle you body has. The more muscle, the faster your metabolism is (unless you have a thyroid issue or other medical condition). The AmericanCollege of Sports Medicine suggest 1.2 - 1.4 g of protein per kg of weight.


So for a 150 lb person, that comes to 88-95g of protein


150/2.2 = 68.1
68.1*1.2 (1.4) = 88/95g


Obtaining that much protein would be difficult with 900 calories, considering 400 of those calories would have to be from proteins alone. keep in mind the below.

1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
1 gram of protein = 4 calories
1 gram of fat = 9 calories

Here is a link with some good information.

http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html

Also, keep in mind, when you don't eat enough calories, your body utilizes proteins from your muscles to fuel your body and holds onto the fat. If you want to run an experiement on your, go get some body calipers or get someone to test you to calculate your total body fat. Work out for 30-60 days and go back to see if anything has changed. Even if your weight changes or doesn't, if you haven't been able to decrease your overall body fat, then you aren't gaining lean body mass (LBM). In fact, there are many cases that I have seen women lose 10 lbs but there overall body fat was unchanged. This means, that your body lost weight by losing LBM. The lower the LBM, the slow your metabolism, the lower it will take to lose weight, the quicker you will plateau and so forth. I can't tell you how many people I have worked with that have hit a plateau and each time, we increased their calories and the weight loss started again. You may just have not hit that point yet but I would highly suggest you reconsider your method.

Beside, if you can eat more food and lose just as much weight, why wouldn't you?


Hope this is helpful, I just want to make sure you aren't hurting your body. Below are some links with some good information in them. Enjoy


http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/reference_calorie.asp

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm

let me drink this pregnant lady's pee so I can magically lose weight.

Have you got any?

It's good mixed with vodka.

I tried the HCG Diet. I did this for 3+ weeks. While I didn't get hungry, it did get BORING and I wanted different food. I missed salad.

My feelings are it's not something you can live on afterward...........I want to find a way to eat normally. I can count calories and find fun things to do to burn off the calories and build muscle. I'm not a gym person but I like biking, walking, Wii bowling, etc.

You don't get enough vitamins on the HCG diet. You don't get the right nutrients. I think this is a much healther way to eat and it's something I can live with. That's my long term goal. and it's coming off fine for me.

Good luck in what you decide.

Check these out

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/truth-about-hcg-for-weight-loss

http://blogs.webmd.com/pamela-peeke-md/2010/12/diet-scam-101-the-hcg-con.html

*snip* I hate to say this, but Dr. Oz is actually right on this. *snip*

Oh yeah, HCG is terrible and some of the information that the Wonderful Wizard of Oz shells out on his show may be accurate. My basic point was that people ought not take his word as gospel. He is an entertainment personality, not a physician.

Anyone can put "Dr" in front of their names. Heck, my email is dr.tonya. Doesn't make me any more of a physician than some guy on TV.