My HCG diet experience
(NOTE: I am going to be very specific here and list weights, etc. to be of the greatest help to you. Please keep in mind that I am 5'2"and very small-framed. If you are larger, you may think my goal weights are too low or unrealistic, or roll your eyes and think I should be happy with where I am, etc. But remember that I gained almost 80 pounds later in my life (not baby weight), and just think of what it's like to carry around more than 75 lbs of dog food everywhere--including up and down the stairs!)
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I weighed under 100 lbs when I got married and had never been over 110 in my adult life until I was 35 (no eye rolling!). At age 44, I was up to 131. I began exercising and watching my diet in earnest, preparing whole foods and whole grains (mill my own flour, etc.) and still the scale steadily crept up. By last fall (age 51) I was right at 180--I had even gained 15 lbs going to the gym three days a week! -- and was getting discouraged: I speak professionally, and every few months I was having to invest in new clothes. This was getting expensive! And I didn't feel good about how I looked or felt.
My husband's doctor recommended the hcg diet, so we tried four different products over the course of three protocols--one "real" hcg (expensive) and 3 homeopathics. All seemed equally successful.
So far I have lost 50 lbs total (a few overlap from "fat loading" on 2 short and 1 longer protocols). I am down five jeans sizes (four dress sizes) and continue to lose. I am not under a doctor's supervision but did have blood work done before starting. I was a size 18 and am now in a 10 in all but jeans, which are size 8 (but my 8 jeans are sliding down a bit.....). As of today (April 30), I am 17 lbs from my ultimate goal weight of 120.
How the diet works
The short, un-scientific explanation is that the hcg triggers the hypothalamus to somehow tell your body to release your stored fat for fuel--you know, the fat that doesn't go away unless you are pregnant or dying. Each pound of stored fat burned releases a few thousand calories, so even though you are only "eating" 500 calories a day, your body is being continuously nourished from within, so most people aren't particularly hungry. (Read the scientific stuff in Dr. Simeons' book, Pounds and Inches -- required reading before starting!)
Most men average a pound a day and women half a pound in weight loss. Expect a few "off" days as your body restructures.
By the way, our chiropractors said we are the only people they've ever seen who lost this much weight this quickly and didn't have saggy skin. I understand that it's because we aren't losing structural fat, and our cells restructure every so often.
How we got started
This is not medical advice; I am not a nutritionist or medical professional. I am just a 52-year-old woman who had added more than 70 lbs (almost 80) over the past fifteen years, and had been unable to lose any weight.
In fact, I had consistently gained weight, despite logging and reducing my food intake, increasing my water intake, working out three days a week at a gym, cooking with whole foods and whole grains, etc. I had drastically improved my cholesterol/glucose numbers through dietary changes (very favorable numbers), but still continued to gain weight.
Our functional medical MD wanted my husband to lose some weight for medical reasons. He said he doesn't generally recommend diets, but he had so many patients who had great success on this particular diet, this is what he would like Jim to do. Since it's a fairly regimented diet, I decided I would do it with him for moral support (and it sure couldn't hurt for me to try it!).
The basis of the diet is Dr. A. T. W. Simeons' report/booklet on his studies, Pounds and Inches. It is important to follow his instructions precisely (you can take into consideration certain things that may have changed since his time, and be sure to continue any prescription meds unless you check with your doctor). The diet itself begins on page 18.
What we used
Our doctor's prescription was for hcg hormone drops (non-homeopathic -- my doctor doesn't put much stock in homeopathic remedies); they were $200 per protocol (I have since discovered that this was a bargain price). I have a nutritionist friend who had also heard of the diet and had researched homeopathics and decided on a particular pharmacy for hers, so we were able to give those a try, after she (and several others) had had great success with them. We ruled out the $6 online options, although I have another friend who lost more than 20 lbs with the $6 "generic" version.
So Jim and I have tried 4 products--one "pure" hcg and three homeopathics; all seemed to work equally well. Two are difficult or expensive for the general public. I've listed the other two here. These are the two Jim and I chose to re-use this (our third) time; they are all homeopathic. (If you prefer to use a non-homeopathic, you will need a prescription from your physician.)
Two favorites:
SPRAY --This is a spray (spray the roof of your mouth toward your throat--two spritzes, twice a day). Jim likes that it's only twice a day instead of three times. Their program includes a lot of web support, a forum for questions, etc. I think it's $80 a bottle. When I used this, I found that I did better with one extra one-shot spray mid-day. (If you do this consistently, your spray will obviously not last as long, but it is enough for 50 days if you do the twice-a-day sprays.) NOTE: Because of recent FDA flak regarding weight loss claims, we are not allowed to post the information about the products on this public site. But I will be happy to email you the link to the site if you contact me.
Another product comes in liquid or pellet form (I like that the pellets aren't liquid so I don't have to stress over spilling or counting out drops). Four pellets under the tongue, 3X a day. $85. (If you call them with your order at 1-866-206-1806, tell them Vicki Bentley sent you and I'll get brownie points, at least! )
Either one is good. It's not that I recommend them because I get points; I arranged with them to get points because I was already recommending them.
My nutritionist friend also recommends another product--I haven't tried it, so I cannot vouch for it but I know her well and trust her. Instead of the twice-a-day spray, these are 6x-a-day drops. (I'm more likely to forget, but some people say they are less likely to feel hungry. Hunger hasn't been an issue for me anyway.) I have not used this product, but a trustworthy friend has, so I give this to you as an option. NOTE: Because of recent FDA flak regarding weight loss claims, we are not allowed to post the information about the products on this public site. But I will be happy to email you the link to the site if you contact me.
You'll want to read Dr. Simeons' book, Pounds and Inches, to give you a basic idea of how this works, what foods you can and cannot eat, how long it lasts, what healthy and beauty aids to avoid for now, and more; the actual diet information begins on page 18.
A good resource book was The HCG Diet Made Simple: Beyond Pounds and Inches (check Vicki's Picks in my Amazon store). Not organized the way I would have arranged it, but pretty informative. I also have an hcg cookbook listed in my store.
If you want to verify that you are burning fat and not losing muscle mass, get some ketostix or similar products from the drugstore.
NOTE: If you have high blood pressure, be sure to consult your doctor. HCG products apparently naturally lower your blood pressure slightly. Everyone I know who was on BP meds came off of them (per their doctors) for the duration of the diet so their BP would not dip too low. At least one stayed off the meds afterwards because the weight loss eliminated the need for the meds. Again, consult your physician.
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A few diet notes:
What cheating does
If you MUST cheat a day or two on the first part (the actual VLCD part), it will impact your weight loss for about four days. If you cheat on the second part (the "setting" phase), it will impact your long-term success. In other words, be as faithful as you can the whole time, but it's critical for those 3 setting weeks.
Food pointers
A friend's version of the protocol from her compounding pharmacy added two veggies: green beans and broccoli. Well, this was a life-changer for us, since my husband didn't care for most of the vegetables on the original protocol. We added those and still lost consistently. Would we have lost more without them? I don't know, but I know he wouldn't have lasted. Some people also have been successful adding up to 1 Tbsp expeller pressed coconut oil each day in some form--cook in it, eat it, make a chocolate sauce for your fruit from cocoa powder, stevia, and coconut oil, etc.--coconut oil contains medium chain trigylcerides (I think that's right!) that supposedly help with weight loss. And you'll want a food scale for your Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) phase.
Sleep and water
We found that the length of our night's sleep affected our weight loss, as most fat is burned in the last hours. I could sleep 5-6 hours with no loss, then lie back down for an hour and lose an entire pound. And the water is important to flush out the fat and any toxins released from them (aim for at least 64 oz a day).
It's all about fat loss
Remember that this diet is about fat loss, not about weight loss. You will probably find that your body sort of resculpts itself. Also, you may hit a plateau for a day or two as your cells restructure, then the loss kicks back in. Sometimes I won't lose any weight for several days, but I lose several inches.
Before and after
I weighed myself on day one, but failed to measure myself or take "before" photos. I'd recommend those before you start. You may also want to do a candida cleanse and/or colon cleanse before starting the diet portion, to give yourself a clean start (literally).
For the few people who might have hunger issues, the company recommends spraying an extra spray mid-day. I haven't had that issue.
I noticed that this week I sprayed an extra spray (one shot) in the mid-day and consistently lost over a lb each day for 4 days. I have lost 5 lbs in 4 days (finally didn't cheat and am losing consistently--too bad I'm at the end of this protocol!). This is not a recommendation, just an observation.
I have been off the diet twice already (between protocols) and stayed within my 2 lb allowable variance, regardless of what I ate (of course trying to make relatively healthy choices, but the two times included the Thanksgiving/ Christmas holiday and then an 11-day vacation with my husband during which time we ate out at every meal and had a small dessert most days). My first two rounds were 28 days and 22 days, respectively (timed it to end for holiday and vacation).
I cheated terribly on this last protocol (the longer one--could kick myself!) and have been faithful really only this last week and have lost five lbs in four days--I am not quite finished, which is why my answers above are what they are. Had I not cheated left and right, I'm confident I would have lost at least another ten pounds. sigh.
UPDATE: 6/1/11 On the stabilizing phase (phase 3), I added back in the starches and sugars a week earlier than scheduled (miscounted) and find that this is the first time I've had any weight gain over the normal "allowed" 2 lbs. (Translation: When Dr. Simeons says 21 days, he means 21 days!) Even at that, then according to my Curves weigh-in/ measurements, then my results for this last round stand at 16.5 lbs and 31.5 inches (this is in addition to the losses in the first two short rounds -- this is my loss SINCE mid March.). I'll do one more round to lose those few pounds and re-stabilize my weight/metabolism.
In the last several weeks, several of my friends reported the following results:
K has lost 10 lbs in five days and her husband has lost 15. (Update: Three weeks into diet
husband has lost 27 lbs..5/25 update: 32 lbs)
J lost 12 lbs in 3 weeks (admitted cheating a few times); update 5/16: 22 lbs
L on the diet 30 days, has lost 16 and husband 19 (major cheating admitted)
J has lost 18 lbs in three weeks (15 inches in the last two weeks); update: 29.5 lbs
Updated 2/1/12: She has lost 78 lbs.
H has lost 12 lbs in her first 10 days.
Note: I included fat-loading losses since they were still pounds dropped.
Food cravings?
NOTE: This is not medical advice.
Here are two interesting food cravings lists ("If you crave this, your body probably needs ______.")
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On this page, I focus on taking care of me, so I have more energy and stamina as I serve my family and my community!
I am not a health professional. I'm not a great researcher of health info--that would be my daughter Rachel. I don't have tons of willpower--that would be Anna. I'm not even a good blogger--that would be Rebekah.
I am just an everyday woman who desires to take better care of the body God gave me to be a temple of His Holy Spirit.
On this page, I share some of what I'm exploring on this quest. Maybe some of what I'm learning will help you, too. If you would like more info, please feel free to contact me.
-Vicki"...Encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored."
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Click on photos to enlarge
Before diet After 50 lbs lost
Before diet After 50 lbs lost
Before diet After 50 lbs lost
After 50 lbs lost Coming soon....
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Before (admittedly, it was 107 degrees)
My whole tone is healthier March 2011
A few more photos......
Notice the difference around my eyes, even. Of course, the Biocé is not hurting any, either! Jim said my skin looks younger, and the Eye Contour Cream seems to
help around the eyes. :)
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