HCG diet

DaisyKD

Have any of you heard of this?  I had heard about it before, but a good friend of mine that I had lunch with today is doing it and her and her husband both have lost 30 lbs!!!  She looks great.  She said that the HCG keeps her from being really hungry and they restrict their calories to 500/day.  She'll eat an apple for breakfast, a small salad for lunch, and then fruit and maybe a small piece of chicken or something for dinner.

When they come off the drops they will try to maintain a 1200 calorie diet with exercise.   I am amazed because she has been trying to lose weight for years and tried this and it really worked, and wasn't even that difficult.

I'm thinking after I have the baby and after breastfeeding I may try this to lose whatever weight I have left over. 

Sterl72410

I haven't heard of it.....but I do know that 500 cals/day isn't nearly enough. I'd be worried about how healthy it is in the long run. Even the 1200 isn't a ton. 

elishabelle

You're really messing with your body chemistry when you take your calories that low. It is the same idea as Atkins. When you restrict your body that much, it expects you to stay that low in calories or low in carbs for the rest of your life. For most people it ends up being a losing battle.

On the health and fitness board they flame people daily for asking about this diet. It is just a real unhealthy way to lose weight. I know there are articles out there that show the risk factors that are involved. There are many other "diet" plans that are healthy. The DASH diet is one to look up and research.

ohioloveyou

It seems sketchy to me to mess with your hormones like that.  HCG is a hormone, so I can only imagine it would throw your body out of whack.  And then what happens when you stop taking it?  Without healthy habits the weight will just pile back on again. 

curlylocks3

This isn't healthy.  Existing on that many calories isn't safe and it will drastically alter your metabolism.  I've been existing on 600-1200 calories/day for as long as I can remember.  My BMI and body weight are normal and definitely in the healthy range but all of my blood work shows I'm malnourished and severely protein deficient.  
If you're concerned about losing the baby weight maybe schedule a consultation with a registered dietician to get an idea of how many calories you should be taking in to maintain your weight and what is a safe amount of weight for you to lost each week.  

DaisyKD

yeah I agree that it definitely raised some red flags for me.  I normally question any diet that isn't the old fashioned eat right and exercise diet.  The reason I even gave this one a second thought was because my friend's step-son is a chiropractor and he sells it in his office and says it is safe.

slpmay03

My friend was on that or something similar.  She felt like she was going to faint several times and she was pretty crabby while she was on it.  She lost 5-10 lbs but has gained most of it back, but I am glad she is not doing it anymore. 

lburkey21

Please do not do this diet. 500 cal is not NEARLY enough - you're body is going to think it's starving. Like someone else said, even 1200 calories is low. That's like the bare minimum that you need just to function. I have also been on the H&F board and this topic is brought up at least a few times a week. It's not healthy.

The only truly healthy way to lose weight is diet and exercise.

lburkey21

DaisyKD:

When they come off the drops they will try to maintain a 1200 calorie diet with exercise.   I am amazed because she has been trying to lose weight for years and tried this and it really worked, and wasn't even that difficult.

This should be a HUGE red flag that this isn't a safe weight loss method. 

goldie3474

I did my first round of HCG not too long ago. There is a lot of confusing/misleading info on the internet about it so I would recommend talking to your dr if you are truly considering it.

I had a friend at work who did it and lost 30 lbs...and kept it off. After struggling for months on my own diet, I decided to try HCG. FYI, I have never been a fan of fad diets before so I was very hesitant about trying HCG for many of the reasons stated above. I had many of the same concerns.

You do have to eat 500 calories during the duration of the injections however, the HCG releases about 2,500 calories from stored fat into your system which is why you don't feel really hungry and why you aren't nutritionally deprived.

My personal experience has been very positive, however I would image that this would vary by person. I have lost 29 pounds and 3 pant sizes (I did a 26 day cycle) and have been on maintenance for 4 weeks now and haven't gained a pound back (I actually lost 1 lb). Maintenance is somewhat like atkins, except you are allowed a bit more fruit. I was instructed to eat as many calories as my BMR allows in this phase (I used some free calculator online to figure out that number which was about 1,800). I can start to slowly integrate carbs again now, and the idea is that this plan helps to keep the weight off.

I don't know that it's a fit for everyone but I have been happy with the diet myself. I guess I'll know if it truly stays off as I move into the next stage with carbs (which will be hard for me b/c I loooove carbs).

My best advice is to do the research and ask lots of questions. Sorry for the super LONG post!