HCG Diet

HCG can be very productive but I, personally, recommend it for someone who is trying to lose more than 10-20 pounds. Your Diet afterwards is important, as with any diet, you will gain your weight back if you don't keep up with a healthy diet and excerise. Also, note that HCG is not the same as HGH.

I would consult with an HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) specialist and get a full blood panel review. There may be other conditions working against your "feel good" and weightloss goals. As we age, our bodies just aren't as efficient as they used to be. HRT can help you get your body tuned up in a variety of ways. My boyfriend is an HRT patient consultant if anyone is interested in more information (doesn't matter where you live). I'll be happy to give you his info.

It's not just a blanket 500 cals per day. Its a restricted diet where you can only have certain foods. You don't count the calories, you are just supposed to stick to the eating plan that comes with it.
I am currently trying it and I have lost 6 lbs in 6 days. I am doing this diet in conjunction with a trainer who is very familiar with the diet.
The first couple days I was hungry, but the point of the HCG is to suppress your appetite and use your stored body fat for energy. So the HCG is tricking your body into using your fat for the calories it needs, instead of you eating those calories.

Those are the claims of HCG but they were never substantiated.

Not to mention while on HCG you are not supposed to be working out.

HCG can be very productive but I, personally, recommend it for someone who is trying to lose more than 10-20 pounds. Your Diet afterwards is important, as with any diet, you will gain your weight back if you don't keep up with a healthy diet and excerise. Also, note that HCG is not the same as HGH.

I would consult with an HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) specialist and get a full blood panel review. There may be other conditions working against your "feel good" and weightloss goals. As we age, our bodies just aren't as efficient as they used to be. HRT can help you get your body tuned up in a variety of ways. My boyfriend is an HRT patient consultant if anyone is interested in more information (doesn't matter where you live). I'll be happy to give you his info.

even if prescribed if should be with people over 100lbs to lose not more than 20m, otherwise bye bye muscle.

It's not just a blanket 500 cals per day. Its a restricted diet where you can only have certain foods. You don't count the calories, you are just supposed to stick to the eating plan that comes with it.
I am currently trying it and I have lost 6 lbs in 6 days. I am doing this diet in conjunction with a trainer who is very familiar with the diet.
The first couple days I was hungry, but the point of the HCG is to suppress your appetite and use your stored body fat for energy. So the HCG is tricking your body into using your fat for the calories it needs, instead of you eating those calories.

Trust me, there is NOTHING about the condition of being pregnant that has anything to do with appetite suppression. 6 pounds a week is a very unhealthy rate at which to lose weight. A significant proportion of that weight is likely fluids.

Part of the point of dieting is to retrain yourself to adhere to healthier eating habits for the long term. With this diet, a person will be willfully adopting disordered consumption patterns and learning nothing. If there is an immediate benefit to be had from rapid weight loss or the loss is URGENTLY medically advised, I might considered something this extreme. For the average person who needs to some lose weight and improve their health; this diet is just plain nuts.

My Mom and Dad went on the HMR diet through the hospital he worked at. It was sort of like nutrisystem but they had to take classes, group classes, have medical reviews and things like that. They basically have you eating ONLY food packaged by them for a few months and then slowly coach you to include fruits and veggies so that you can sustain a healthy life forever and no just while on the diet.

I believe it was about $100 a week for everything. (Food, counseling, medical exams, etc) The meals can be ordered online but the counseling and classes is really what helped them the most, I think.

All the letters (HCG, HMR) made me think of that.

HCG can be very productive but I, personally, recommend it for someone who is trying to lose more than 10-20 pounds. Your Diet afterwards is important, as with any diet, you will gain your weight back if you don't keep up with a healthy diet and excerise. Also, note that HCG is not the same as HGH.

I would consult with an HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) specialist and get a full blood panel review. There may be other conditions working against your "feel good" and weightloss goals. As we age, our bodies just aren't as efficient as they used to be. HRT can help you get your body tuned up in a variety of ways. My boyfriend is an HRT patient consultant if anyone is interested in more information (doesn't matter where you live). I'll be happy to give you his info.

Where's the peer reviewed scientific evidence that shows HCG is effective? At least HGH has many studies to show that it encourages body fat reduction and is a legit HRT. Can't say that about HCG.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
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Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I *think* most people think HCG will make you lose weight because, when women grow tiny people, their metabolism goes up. I mean, that's not really the most logical way of looking at it because having a hormone doesn't make you grow people but that's my guess on why people assume that's why it helps.

Keep doing what you're doing. You are doing great. The old saying, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies to you. I personally don't understand why any 'dr' would advise you taking something to lose weight. I agree with the other post that there is something about doing it on your own, no chemicals, no pills, to reach your success. Plus, in the long run, what is this diet, or others where you consume pills, chemicals, going to do to your body? And another thing, 500 calories!, that's crazy.

I worked at a compounding pharmacy where we were primarily HRT. There is nothing healthy about tricking your body into thinking it's pregnant. HCG is extremely expensive, not shown to be safely effective, and there are no long term trials to show the potential harm it can do over the long term. We were often asked to compound the HCG drops and injections. After much study between myself (supplement specialist/pharmacy tech) and our lead HRT pharmacist, our office refused to step into it at all. It is not safe and it will not help you long term. As a PP stated, 500 calories is not enough to promote healthy exercise and a true lifestyle change is highly unlikely. So, my advice, (not saying your doc is a quack), get a second opinion. 2nd opinions never hurt anyone. Then make your own decision.

As a professional trained in the medical field, it is my opinion that HCG is not a safe way to lose or maintain weight. I am not a doctor. But I would not trust a doctor who does not share my opinion. Do research of your own. WebMD is a good source for the average consumer with medical questions. Just google HCG safety concerns. See what pops up. Good luck.

This is weird b/c the guy i work with wants to do it. I told him why not try 500 calories a day first (which is nuts) for 2 weeks. Then, if he is not convinced, try the HCG (which i think is snake oil) and go from there. If your doctor is pushing you to do it, he/she might be getting a kick back from the supplier. You're doing awesome. And you're doing it right. Your chances for long term success are being built with your hard work.

I just watched a program about the HCG diet and how it has been banned by the FDA in the United States and the FDA is Gavin a huge problem getting it off the market because it is so huge right now. There is supposed to be a lot if risk involved with using HCG. I would think twice

This is going to get locked very shortly.

If your Dr. is pushing something like that, find a new Doctor. There's not a damn thing healthy about it.

I agree 100%! now if you were having a hard time losing weight and you were getting nutritious meals and excercising and still couldn't shed the pounds then maybe your dr's recommendation wouldn't seem so crazy to me but you are doing very well losing weight. If it aint broke don't fix it keep up with what you are doing, and i don't know a whole lot about the HCG diet but if all you can eat is 500 cals a day its called starvation and the weight will come back or you will starve to death first no one can sustain that kind of diet for a life time...

Has anyone tried the HCG Diet?
My Dr is really pushing me to try it and I have expressed how I feel about it.
I have lost 10 lbs in one month making that 30 lbs total within 4.5 months.

My advice is to fire that doctor! He is no better than a snake oil salesman.

Tthe HCG diet has been studied by many scientific organizations, and they all concluded that HCG, even the "real" injectable version, is no more effective than a placebo, and eating only 500 calories a day for weeks, as recommended by that plan, can cause more health problems than it solves.

The only reason people lose weight on that plan is you are only allowed to eat 500 calories a day. HCG has been scientifically proven to do NOTHING to help with weight loss or to make it safe to eat only 500 calories a day. It will not protect muscle, reset your metabolism or do anything else the snake oil salesmen that sell it claim. Dr. Simeons was a quack doctor. His "HCG protocol" has absolutely NO scientific backing and is not worth risking your health on.

The MFP moderators have been cautioning members against attempting that diet because it is so dangerous.

Please read the articles on these websites before you try HCG. I know some people that put their faith in the HCG diet, and became very ill from malnutrition as a result. It is NOT safe!

The Government is now in the process of getting all that fraudulent stuff off the market, and it's about time!

http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm281333.htm

http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/hcg-diet-dangerous-1428

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hcg-diet/AN02091

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

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/weight-loss-cure-dont-want-you-to-know

http://www.dietscam.org/reports/hcg.shtml

http://www.tucsonmedical.com/pages/hcg.php

I think that any doctor that pushes the HCG starvation diet should be reported to the state medical board for malpractice!