Does anyone have first hand experience with the HCG diet? - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Does anyone have first hand experience with the HCG diet?
There are several people at work that have begun this diet and they are definately losing tons of weight. I am skeptical and wondering if anyone has experience with this.
I have done weight watchers but can't find a meeting time that works with my schedule and online doesn't work for me. Too easy to cheat. I am also trying to be more consistent with working out and walking.
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If it's true that you are restricted to only 500 calories a day, I would say that's a HUGE red flag. This is not a healthy amount by any means and should (IMO) only be something assigned by a doctor in extreme circumstances.
Like I said, I know very little about this diet, but if it were me, I would look elsewhere.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
I'm with Ashli. It just doesn't sound like a good idea, to me.
It sounds like yet another fad that will produce short-term weight loss, but in the end the weight will come back. And losing 1-3 lbs a day doesn't sound particularly healthy either. Don't most nutritionists recommend a couple of lbs a week, max? Personally, I'd love to drop that much that fast. I could accomplish in 6 weeks what will take 8 months with just normal exercise and healthy eating. But I know it would just come back, because I wouldn't be learning good eating and exercise habits.
On top of all that - 500 calories a day??? Are they kidding??? Can't imagine how pleasant it would be to be around me with so little food in my system. (Lock up the weapons and ammo.)
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Pat (a.k.a., PFlamingo) "We are the people our parents warned us about."
I personally haven't but my step-brother is moving to Africa for 3 years with his family on a missions trip. He decided he needed to lose weight. He has been on this diet and he's lost a lot of weight. All I know is that they eat a lot of salad and sprinkle garlic salt and some other kind of stuff onto the salad. My step-mom has started this diet too. Personally, after all I've heard about it it seems very weird. I mean part of the stuff you take is extracted from urine!!!! My dad's a dentist and gets all these medical journals and looked into it and he thinks it's hogwash. He's been eating healthy and exercising and is losing just as much weight as my step-mom is on this HCG diet.They put a flashy name to it so no one knows what it is. You do the diet for one month then your off a month. I don't get it. Diet and exercise has been around how long and I think that's what I would do. Plus, your suppose to put drops of this stuff in a bottle on your food. No thanks. What's actually in the bottle. I love this one on the HCG website of list of things to do.
4. Order your food through grocery delivery services to avoid temptation. There is also usually a better selection on the internet, making it easier to find those organic foods and products.
Really. Come on. It's probably pricey to have the food delivered and secondly, temptations are everywhere!!!! Not, just in the grocery store!
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Last edited by karadisney; 01-17-2011 at 08:59 PM..
I have a coworker who is ALWAYS trying this and that to lose weight. I love her to death, but it's all about the quick fix. So, anyway, she was telling me about this one a month or two ago while I was at lunch. She was telling me of her friends who were losing tons of weight. I asked about the long term ability to keep the weight off. Since it's pretty new to her and this area, she didn't know, but seemed convinced that as long as you get the shots or whatever, the weight will stay off. She know's I'm a skeptic of these sorts of things, so I told her to keep me posted on her progress. I've noticed no real change in her so I guess she decided not to do it. ANYWAY, that led me to research it (I love research!). The articles I read said, in effect, that the HCG isn't what causes you to lose weight. It's the 500 calorie intake! Which makes sense. If you only take in 500 calories, your going to lose weight. But it isn't healthy and it means your body will eat it's muscle to sustain itself long term. Unless you are medically supervised, nobody should eat that few calories for any length of time. And, that also makes it a diet that isn't sustainable. However, I can see how a day or two of low cal dieting can cleanse the body if you are doing it correctly. So, for me, I wouldn't try it. It just doesn't sound safe or sustainable. The only ture, non surgical way to lose weight LONG TERM is to burn more calories than you eat. That boils down to eating healthy and regular exercise. It's no fun and it isn't fast, but it does work. My mom didn't particularly care for WW (though I personally swear by it) and chose to do it on her own just by revamping her diet and walking (she has an artificial knee and had recent back surgery, so walking is really her only option right now other than swimming and she doesn't swim), and to date she is down 60 lbs since I think September! It wasn't easy, but she did it! And trust me, if my dear mom can do it, ANYONE can b/c she really was a food addict! Good luck!!
The articles I read said, in effect, that the HCG isn't what causes you to lose weight. It's the 500 calorie intake! Which makes sense. If you only take in 500 calories, your going to lose weight.
Exactly!!! This is exactly what I thought when I read about it. I mean, if I came out with a diet called the Chapstick diet that involved eating 500 calories a day and putting chapstick on every morning, it would work. But I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have much to do with the chapstick, ya know...?
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The best weight loss (and kept off) by any coworker of mine was through the Nutrisystem diet. He's the only one that kept the weight off over several years. All the other fads/diet programs people tried at work, worked in the short term but did not stay off over the course of the year.
Exactly!!! This is exactly what I thought when I read about it. I mean, if I came out with a diet called the Chapstick diet that involved eating 500 calories a day and putting chapstick on every morning, it would work. But I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have much to do with the chapstick, ya know...?
Yeah, I can't believe how many diets are out there! It seems like they are getting weirder and weirder!
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Exactly!!! This is exactly what I thought when I read about it. I mean, if I came out with a diet called the Chapstick diet that involved eating 500 calories a day and putting chapstick on every morning, it would work. But I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have much to do with the chapstick, ya know...?
I think we should go for it. We'll write some ridiculous meal plans, throw in the Chapstick, put it out there on the 'Net for 29.95, and be rich in no time. We can claim the Chapstick sticks your lips together and reduces your appetite. Of course, we'll need to airbrush a few "before" and "after" pics for the website, but that shouldn't be tough.
Too bad we're too scrupulous to do this... right?
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Pat (a.k.a., PFlamingo) "We are the people our parents warned us about."
It's the 500 calorie intake! Which makes sense. If you only take in 500 calories, your going to lose weight.
Exactly. One of the girls my husband graduated with keeps posting about the miracle of the HCG diet and she's lost 50 pounds (which is great, of course), but when someone asked her for specifics the thing that jumped out at me was her 500 calories a day intake. Ummm...yeah, I'm pretty sure the HCG has nothing to do with the weight loss.
She said it was hard for the first week, then she didn't feel hungry anymore, but again that would happen with or without the HCG. Your body gets used to the reduced intake and so you feel hungry less often. It's a physiologic response that has nothing to do with HCG.
I think we should go for it. We'll write some ridiculous meal plans, throw in the Chapstick, put it out there on the 'Net for 29.95, and be rich in no time. We can claim the Chapstick sticks your lips together and reduces your appetite. Of course, we'll need to airbrush a few "before" and "after" pics for the website, but that shouldn't be tough.
Too bad we're too scrupulous to do this... right?
Who's too scrupulous? I'm in!! And I love the part about it sticking your lips together.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
I've never heard of it, until I saw it posted here. OMG!! you have got to be kidding me! People who think 500 calories a day are sufficient?? WHY would anyone be silly enough to do that to themselves? You might lose weight immediately, but you're going to lose muscle tissue. This is a starvation diet. Plain and simple. Eventually, there will be long-term health issues.
Sensible eating, moderation, and exercise is the ONLY good way to lose weight and keep it off. Yes, it takes longer than the crash diets, but it is healthier.
The best weight loss (and kept off) by any coworker of mine was through the Nutrisystem diet. He's the only one that kept the weight off over several years. All the other fads/diet programs people tried at work, worked in the short term but did not stay off over the course of the year.
I glad you posted this. I just started Nutrisystem so this gave me encouragement. It's not hard to figure out the concept. Small meals and tons of fruits and vegetables. They sell Nutrisystem as pretty scientific with the best glycemic index foods and there might be something to it. But it has a whole lot more to do with 1200 calories a day, most of them healthy.
I think we should go for it. We'll write some ridiculous meal plans, throw in the Chapstick, put it out there on the 'Net for 29.95, and be rich in no time. We can claim the Chapstick sticks your lips together and reduces your appetite. Of course, we'll need to airbrush a few "before" and "after" pics for the website, but that shouldn't be tough.
Too bad we're too scrupulous to do this... right?
SWEET!!! The Chapstick Diet!! WOOHOO!! It's the new weight loss sensation!! And we can all say we started it back when it was only an idea!! I can see it now!! So, we need someone to be the "before" pic, then we'll pull up a pic of Julia Roberts, paste your head on it, and that can be the "after" pic! Or, we could really rev it up and use super skinny Nicole Ritchie as the "after" pic!! Oh yes, I see a bright future ahead!!
They did a story about it on the Today show this morning. The Dr. who was there, along with their nutritionish Joy Bauer, were highly against the plan. They said yes, anyone will lose weight as you are only eating 500 calories a day, but the Dr. said since you are restricting to 500 calories/day, you may not be getting the right vitamins/nutrition your body needs to survive, and there have been issues with people dying, as your body goes into starvation mode and things go south from there. That was the reason it was pretty much discontinued many many years ago when it was popular (due to the deaths) in his opinion, anyway.
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My dad's a dentist and gets all these medical journals and looked into it and he thinks it's hogwash. He's been eating healthy and exercising and is losing just as much weight as my step-mom is on this HCG diet.They put a flashy name to it so no one knows what it is. You do the diet for one month then your off a month. I don't get it. Diet and exercise has been around how long and I think that's what I would do. Plus, your suppose to put drops of this stuff in a bottle on your food. No thanks. What's actually in the bottle. I love this one on the HCG website of list of things to do.
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