Hi all,

Well, I've been doing this for 16 days now, so I think I'm ready to post about it. I know I've attempted this before. I've DONE weight release before, and I don't know why I've had such a hard time. I finally got sick and tired of being fat.

I'm doing the HCG diet. Except the homeopathic version. There's quite a bit about it online. I first remember being aware of it when Wendi Friesen was doing it (she's an NLP hypnotherapist/all around wonderful woman). She bought the hcg offshore and did injections. I'm taking homeopathics under supervision of a naturopath.

It starts with two days of fat-loading. Which sounded like fun, but had the added benefit of being totally disgusting. I had chicken fried steak, gravy, eggs, carnitas, avocado (with mayo), a double-double-animal-style (an in-n-out burger, for those poor souls who don't know), I have never looked forward to a simple apple SO much.

Then it's 500 calories a day (plus a variety of supplements) for 38 more days. I finish the day before thanksgiving! ~ but there's a maintenance protocol for 21 days after, and I intend to follow it. I just talked with someone who did the diet and totally regretted not following maintenance.

I have reagent strips to ensure I'm in an ideal range of ketone burning (too high is dangerous and leads to no weight loss ~ the body thinks it's starving; and too low leads to no weight loss). There's a green drink to go with, to help alkalize (and get this: it's chocolate flavored! which sounds really wretched as a concept (I'm an ultimate chocoholic) but it's actually quite delicious.

My detox was HORRIBLE. I had a headache before I started the darned thing, and I had headache for about a week and a half. Added benefit is killing candida (no room for sugary calories in this), and the little buggers were responsible for much of the screaming in my head.

I'm fairly surprised at how easy it is. Part of my motivation comes from the cost. I'm sure it was not much more than Jenny or so (but I've never done any of those, so I don't really know). When I'm tempted to cheat, I remember that I can't waste all that money, and I don't want to see that number on the scale go up (it's SO much fun watching it go down!). I did have my first dream ~ I dreamed I ate off the plan and I was SO disappointed in the dream. But I went last night to a dinner, and I felt bad for the hostess, she wanted to feed me so bad; but I just sat and sipped water and conversed. No temptation, quite pleasant. (114 ounces of water per day!)

So, sixteen days in and I'm down 16 pounds. Taz

My pants are falling off. I'm becoming worried about having things to wear. I have some of the smaller clothes, but I'm in that in-between. I'm'a have to wear dresses, I think.

My coworker lost a lot of weight on this, I'll find out today just how much. It's amazing how good she looks. You have to be strong and follow it though.

Good luck. Damn sweets (chocolate) is my downfall too. I gave them up for 40 days once for Lent ... lost 10 lbs!!

I have a friend who lost 80 pounds on this diet. aren't you only allowed like 500 calories a day on this diet?

21 days, 21 pounds.

Yes, Mer, it's 500 calories a day. And half your starting weight in ounces of water. And some supplements. It's the hcg that causes it to burn only the fat, and not create muscle loss.

You can also only do it for a max of 40 days, and then you have to rest the body. There's a maintenance minimum of 21 days, at 1200 calories, and then you can quit, or do another round of forty days. I begin maintenance on Thanksgiving Day. I don't think I'll start another 40 right away, because bf's mom makes the most heavenly prime rib dinner for Christmas.

It's gotten a little more challenging for me. I find it fascinating to watch myself in the process. The actual prep and eating is quite simple. The mind and what I do with that is a whole different story.

I worked with Morty Lefkoe a while ago on compulsive eating issues. We worked on my top 3 (boredom, comfort/love and anxiety) but the one we didn't get to was deprivation. Feeling deprived of something makes me want it more. For me, it's behind, 'I'll just have one last ____, and then tomorrow, no more.' And it's what makes me miss all the things I'm not eating now.

I also discovered the minimum, once you start the program, is 22 days, which I have passed. So I could stop. Fortunately, I enjoy seeing the numbers go down so much, I really do want to continue. I'm one pound away from seeing the tens digit change again.
[I started at 231 and am at 210][okay, I admitted it, now before y'all go freakin out, I am 5'11", and my bones are made of lead. When I was 155 no one, not even professionals, ever guessed my weight correctly, and people asked if I was anorexic. So, if I release 40 pounds, and that looks possible, that would be 190. I would probably do another round of this. But not til January]

I've also been taking half a pill more thyroid than my rx, because I wasn't feeling symptom relief from my rx. I've now run out of that extra, so my body is having to adjust to that, and we're not liking it very much. We want caffeine and sugar to speed up. I know it's not a good solution, it's not even an acceptable one. I need more complex and interesting things to do with my brain ~ it has too much time to think troublesome things.
Taz

:D

Good for you TB!! My coworker lost 60lbs within about a year. She said it was the HCG that helped her keep her calorie limit to 500. Do you take the injection?

Deprivation is a big one for me too!!!

5'11, holy crap!! That is why people shouldn't go by numbers on a scale. It means something different for all of us.

My 2 cents and I am outta here.

This diet sounds like a really BAD idea.
The calorie restrictions are insane and unhealthy
Haven't we already had enough of chemically induced problems around here?
TB, are you going to be the next "Positive Vibes for so and so?"
What are you going to do when you finish oral or injections?
Do you just keep taking pregnancy hormones for the rest of your life and risk blood clots, thyroid crisis, elevated Gall Stone risks and possible kidney failure? Oh, and men grow boobs!

If you did this as only 40 days then created a massive action plan around a diet and fitness plan I could almost be on board but in my experience with human nature is the maintenance plan turns into some form of addiction or obsession.

Again, my 2 cents and I feel that is why we are all here; honest opinions and feedback. After Meredith's latest crisis, I decided that if I had an opinion, I would share it. Regardless of people accepting it or not.

I would have to agree with Scooter. As good as my coworker looks, isn't it harmful for your body to consume only 500 calories? I know she put some weight back on and then went back on the Hcg diet. I believe she has done it approx. 4 times within a year.

awww, Scooter, thanks, you make me feel loved :)
You to Joanne.

I am under the care of a doctor and believe me, the slightest hint of trouble and I'm out of it. I have a list of physical troubles as longs as my arm, and being fat was not helping any of them. I don't expect any of them will go away as a result of losing weight, I had most of them before I got fat. But I am committed to easing the burdens on my joints.

I'm not taking injections, it's one of the reasons I'm doing THIS program as opposed the actual hormone. Homeopathics have a much lower risk of harm than most stuff, in my experience. One of the things this program does is re-set the set point. The 'maintenance' phase is 21 days of 1200 calories, very low carb. My expectation is that the habits developed in my 40 + 21 days will last. I didn't become fat because I'm a slob and simply ate too much. I started on the fat path because I took medications prescribed for one of my condtions, and such meds decreased my metabolism and made me crave crap (carbs). I didn't know the med would/could do that, or I likely would not have started it. I had natural weight from age 13 to 33, didn't change a bit. After the meds, I started a slow upward path, leading to a few years ago, my hysterectomy, and hypothyroidism.

Because of my joint condition, exercise is a problem for me. Not that I can't, entirely, but I have to be more than careful. Another reason I chose this diet, because during the 40 days, exercise is discouraged.

I fully intend to take up my re-bounder on Thanksgiving Day. And in spring, I may get to the pool again (the heated pool is outdoors, and I really can't tolerate the cold air).

It's not only 'calories' but it's whole, real, foods. Sadly, those had been somewhat lacking in my previous diet. I'm quite enjoying creating new habits and neural pathways. I love to go to the store and see how much non-food is actually there.

I don't know how to explain it, but I can feel inside my body, my chemical processes as it were, and I can tell I'm not suffering harm from this. I'm incredibly sensitive to changes, meds, pollutants and stuff [I have to quit shopping at my neighborhood store until christmas, because they have this gadawful cinnamon scented crap that makes me choke!] . That's not to say I don't have a few side effects. But I lived through the detox and it was hell, and I'm not eager to pollute my body again to have to detox again.

... Yes, Mer, it's 500 calories a day. And half your starting weight in ounces of water.
And some supplements. It's the hcg that causes it to burn only the fat, and not create muscle loss...
:yikes: There is NO WAY I can drink this amount. Doing this alone would help you lose weight.

I don't know anything about HCG, but I do know a Extremely Low Calorie Diet can be harmful. Be careful!!

I think 500 calories a day is crazy! But I am in no position to be talking about diets! lol

I've actually been researching the next phase of the diet, maintenance. I think I'm going to stop this phase before my forty days are up. Because 40 days are up the day before thanksgiving! And I want very much to at least taste everything on Thanksgiving.

Maintenance looks a lot like Atkins. 1200 calories, protein up to 14 oz per day. The part that goes with the diet is to weigh every day, and ensure that I don't vary more than two pounds from where I was on the last day I took the hcg. No starches and very low carbs. No sugar. Still real whole foods. I stayed home from work today, I think the weather pressure change is what made me dizzy. I have a tendency to dizziness anyways ~ so it's not really possible to say if it's the diet, or just my body being my body. I just need to see that 10s digit drop!

Hiya everybunny,

Well, I did stop. I released a total of 23 pounds. I was getting cranky and hungry and it became very difficult to do 500 calories. Since I stopped, I have read the writing of the doctor who developed this diet, and he says some people can create an immunity to the effects, and if that happens, one should stop. (I'm so intuitive!)

I feel AMAZING. Once I stopped the supplement, I still had two days of 500. Now, I can eat anything except starch and sugar. Also, I'm only to eat until I'm satisfied. The 'point' of the phase is to help the body re-learn to regulate itself.

The test at the doc's said that I did lose only 10 pounds of fat, and 11 pounds of lean body mass (why don't they just say 'muscle'?). That's not good I think, and it made me glad I stopped. They said it could be due to heavy metals in my system, and while I recognize that happens, it feels like a ploy to sell me more 'treatment'. :P

I'm doing 21 days of this maintenance with a tiny cheat for Thanksgiving. After, they say you can eat anything. I'll do another round of supplement/500 calories in January.

I had so much energy yesterday! Probably not like when y'all get energy, but for me, it was a lot! I didn't laze around in my recliner at all. I went out in the world and did errands, and cleaned (and cleaned and cleaned). I was feeling kind of icky on Friday when I got up, but by the time i was walking in to work, I realized that my body wasn't complaining, and it was ready to take on the day.

YAY!
Taz

So, I've been just over two weeks on maintenance. My stopping weight was 208.4. That means I can't go over 210.4 or under 206.4. AND I HAVEN'T!

GO ME! :)

I'm just amazed at this. So part of my intention was to be able to eat Thanksgiving. We cooked, and it's the first time I've ever put on Thanksgiving. My man did the turkey and the cranberries, and I did pretty much the rest. His mom, and three others for guests. Twas awesome! Everyone had fun and was happy and well-fed. I was actually under my stop-weight for two days before and the day of Thanksgiving (I think I burned a ton of calories with all the cleaning and the prep). Which was all to the good as the day after, I was 210.2. Today, I am exactly the same stopping weight.

I think I will be more careful about Thanksgiving in future. I had a mini-migraine all of Friday. I think it was the stuffing, because that's the only thing I haven't had more of.

I actually had the thought, sometime in the last bunch of days, that maybe I could just start up the diet again now. Then I remembered the prime rib that happens on Christmas Eve and decided January is good. :)