HCG diet, anyone?

You will get a lot of responses - probably not many you want to hear.

Hi, everyone!
I have just started the HCG diet, and was wondering if anyone else here is on it. Let's help eachother out!

Why would you do this diet when you don't even have a lot to lose?
This diet is meant for morbidly obese and is not safe or healthy. Please reconsider doing this the healthy way (eat at a small caloric deficit and exercise). With HCG a lot of your weight loss will be from lean muscle, which means when you are done your metabolism will be slower than when you started and it will be easier to gain weight back.

From your profile it looks like you're only trying to lose 10 lbs? Why not just do it through a moderate caloric deficit and maybe throw in some exercise for toning up? It's much more satisfying and really does work.

If you use the "search" feature and type in HCG Diet you will find old threads and also find that it does not go over very well here. Most of us are here to lose weight the healthy way, which is good diet, a calorie deficit and exercise.

This my not go the way you are thinking it will

Lol. Just eat 1600-2k and work out! Its that easy! You guys think too much about this crap!

LOL I'm waiting for all the comments as well...

But to sum up what everyone is probably going to say about HCG..

BASICALLY, if you read into the details of the HCG diet it tells you that you that you need to take the HCG serum while sticking to a very strict 500 calorie per day diet.. again, that's 500 CALORIES PER DAY. Now, I'm no scientist, but I'm pretty sure if you're gonna be losing weight on this diet that it's gonna be from the ridiculously low calorie intake rather than the hormone. FYI, my husband and father are both board certified Physicians and they have both told me that the HCG hormone does nothing to promote weight loss as it is simply a hormone that is produced by pregnant women. They also said that it can have some really negative side effects since it is a HORMONE THAT IS NOT FDA APPROVED.

(In December 2011, the FDA and Federal Trade Commission issued warning letters to seven companies marketing over-the-counter hCG products labeled as “homeopathic” for weight loss. The letters warned the companies that they are violating federal law by selling drugs that have not been approved, and by making unsupported claims for the products.- webMD Article below)

Read these articles for more information: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/truth-about-hcg-for-weight-loss
and http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hcg-diet/AN02091

Good luck on your weight loss journey and please take caution and do your research before starting this. And feel free to add me for advice and/or support!

Oh, and the reason I am doing it is to be mymom's diet buddy, as she needs to lose 70 lbs, has tried everything and was willing to give it a shot, but affraid that she would not be able to do so on her own. Since I had my 25 lbs to shed, I decided to do it with her.

The exact methods of a person that needs to lose 70 lbs may not be appropriate for a person that needs to lose significantly less though. There are some pretty significant side-effects that can come along with eating a very low amount of calories, it's not something to jump into just to be someone's buddy. But it's your own choice to make. Some people do it and love their results, others have pretty bad side effects and wish they'd never done it. I wish you and your mom the best of luck on your journey. If it turns out to not be as great as you'd hoped, the old fashioned way will still be here waiting for you. :-)

WOW! I was looking for support, not bashing... I need to lose 25 lbs, not 10 (10 kg is TOTALLY not the same as 10 lbs). I guess I will abandon my own topic, now! How weird is that?

That still would not put you to the level of morbidly obese. This diet is a bad idea and should never have been created. That and HCG is not allowed on the public Forum on MFP anyway.

Dear Posters,

MyFitnessPal strongly recommends that our users follow the calorie guidelines automatically assigned by our site, unless they are under the direct supervision of a doctor. We are currently reviewing the medical literature on the HCG/500 calorie diet and reserve the right to moderate against discussions of this diet at any time in the future.

For the time being, HCG discussions remain an option for members in the Groups section. Please remember that even in Groups, all site wide rules must be correctly moderated, or the Group runs the risk of deletion. Specifically, endorsement of purchasing prescription supplements or medications without a prescription is in violation of the MyFitnessPal posting guidelines, which can be reviewed here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines

Thank you all for your concern. We're definitely looking closely at this issue.

Yeah, I did some research on the diet because I was interested but when I saw some of the HOSTILE responses to other people's questions I decided to abandon asking on this board anyway... People can be harsh and some even judgemental... Good luck to you anyway!

It might come across that way but we are trying to give good advice, as the diet is a bad idea and unhealthy no matter how you slice it. warning someone about a harmful diet is more supportive then cheering on the unhealthy behaviour.

Damn, sorry youre getting such crappy responses. Come on guys, there is a time and a place for everything. Leave the girl alone. For the record, I know more that a couple of people who have lost a ton of weight on it and continued to lose weight since finishing. They are healthier than they ever have been. Yes, doing it with diet and exercise is the best way, but some people need a little help to start off with.

Damn, sorry youre getting such crappy responses. Come on guys, there is a time and a place for everything. Leave the girl alone. For the record, I know more that a couple of people who have lost a ton of weight on it and continued to lose weight since finishing. They are healthier than they ever have been. Yes, doing it with diet and exercise is the best way, but some people need a little help to start off with.

Agreed---although we dont approve--we should opt to be tactful in our approach

Short answer is no.

Here's a link for the long answer.... http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/390151-should-i-do-the-hcg-diet