HCG Anyone?

cassidynicholee · February 2013

Has anyone ever tried any of these HCG diets? If so, which one? How did it work for you? Would you recommend it?

unchatenfrance · February 2013

I've never even heard of it. But honestly, just eat real food in reasonable amounts. That's the healthiest longterm strategy you can take.

Lobsters25 · February 2013

Here you go. This sounds like a terrible idea, worse than most, and Harvard Medical School confirms that.

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/diet/articles/2011/03/14/hcg-diet-dangers-is-fast-weight-loss-worth-the-risk

OP, if you're willing to spend money on this, why not spend it on weight watchers, a nutritionist, or a personal trainer? No quick fix will help if you aren't willing to make the lifestyle change.

SunriseAmber · February 2013

OP, I have never tried HCG but I have heard that it is VERY dangerous. I would do a lot of research before doing something like this. And I second Lobsers, if you have money to spend on this then join Weight Watchers or some other kind of program where you can eat healthy food.

J&K10910 · February 2013

Well of COURSE it works. You're eating 500 calories a day. If you didn't lose weight while STARVING yourself, there would be something seriously strange going on.

But you are STARVING yourself, and injecting useless hormones into your body. Any diet plan that states that you cannot exercise should be a giant red flag. You know why you can't exercise? Because you're not fueling yourself. You could pass out or die. Sweet side effects, eh?

Just because it works doesn't mean it's safe or healthy. Or that the weight loss will last. Eventually you need to start eating normally again. And your body is going to grab onto every calorie you put into it to recover from the weeks of starving yourself. And guess what happens? All that weight you lost? You gain it right back.

Most people call starving yourself an eating disorder. I don't really get why you can slap some hormones on top of it and call it a diet. This is a terrible idea.

Sarah5200 · February 2013

I think that injecting or adding extra hormones to your body at any point SCREAMS unsafe! I worry about the long term effects of such diets.. Think about your overall health, not just weight loss. Being thin and unhealthy is not going to be worth it.

J&K10910 · February 2013

Speaking of side effects, do you know what happens to people that eat 500 calories a day?

Their hair falls out. Their skin thins and they bruise more easily. Skin and hair become dry and brittle. Dark shadows under eyes darken further and eyes appear sunken. Want lovely nails? Forget about it. Bones, muscles, tendons, cartilage, etc all weaken, putting you at greater risk for bone disease and injury.

But, you know, sure is a good thing they lost all that weight for their beautiful wedding.

Giaspo · February 2013

All I know is that my BF just got a box of huge needles along with HSG for her next IVF cycle. It's hard enough to do it for the reason of having a child; I can't imagine injecting myself to lose weight. I can also tell you that she has only gained weight from all the meds so far so it may not be the HSG that's causing the weight loss - it's the lack of calories.

Honestly, take it from a marathoner.... running miles and miles and eating healthy seems way easier than sticking yourself. All you have to do is put on your sneakers, go to the food store and DO IT. This board is a great source of information and the posters are full of good ideas.

Hang here. Please don't go the hormone route.

EDIT. I just reread my post. I know it is NOT easy and in fact is very hard work. On all fronts. I didn't mean to make it sound like its a piece of cake. But in the end adapting a healthy lifestyle is still the better choice. What that means is different for everyone.

cassidynicholee · February 2013

I am a recovered anorexic, maybe that's why it sounded appealing. Hah.

How about the Sensa bits? Anyone tried those?

cnf2013 · February 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_hcg-anyone?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:238Discussion:111ebfa1-8219-4c3c-9df3-7407d36566b4Post:88a5f232-24ea-4128-978d-4128c3b3a5b5">Re: HCG Anyone?</a>:
[QUOTE]I am a recovered anorexic, maybe that's why it sounded appealing. Hah. How about the Sensa bits? Anyone tried those?
Posted by cassidynicholee[/QUOTE]

<div>Hi, I'm also a recovered anorexic. Sensa is crap. Everyone else already gave you great adivce. When I was in the throws of my ED I chewed through diet pills like candy. I'd eat a 100 count bottle in about a week. Guess what? My mother found curled up on the floor of a public restroom covered in my own vomit comprissed of nothing of stomach bile and blood from not eating and using that nastyassshit. Sensa won't be any better. It's a money scam. If it really worked word would be out and everyone would use it and be magically thin. But they aren't. Don't believe us? I just posted a vent a few threads down. Go ahead and read it, see how much weight I lost the healthy way over the last year, just by eating right and exercising. You can do the same. Don't use your ED as a crutch. </div>

cassidynicholee · February 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_hcg-anyone?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:238Discussion:111ebfa1-8219-4c3c-9df3-7407d36566b4Post:804c1e2a-4895-4910-a85d-3a6c890b22c0">Re: HCG Anyone?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: HCG Anyone? : Hi, I'm also a recovered anorexic. Sensa is crap. Everyone else already gave you great adivce. When I was in the throws of my ED I chewed through diet pills like candy. I'd eat a 100 count bottle in about a week. Guess what? My mother found curled up on the floor of a public restroom covered in my own vomit comprissed of nothing of stomach bile and blood from not eating and using that nastyassshit. Sensa won't be any better. It's a money scam. If it really worked word would be out and everyone would use it and be magically thin. But they aren't. Don't believe us? I just posted a vent a few threads down. Go ahead and read it, see how much weight I lost the healthy way over the last year, just by eating right and exercising. You can do the same. Don't use your ED as a crutch.
Posted by cnf2013[/QUOTE]

<div>I'm so glad you foudn this thread. I'm sorry for what you went through, but I'm glad you're healthy and doing better! It's just so unbelievably discouraging because I was at a healthy, curvy weight of 130 and managed to maintain that give or take a few pounds for about two years. I had my gallbladder removed two years ago, and it's all just been downhill from there. Unfortunately, I waited to long to do something about it though, so now it just seems and feels impossible. </div>

jennylee813 · February 2013

No diet works, because it's a temporary thing. As long as you're on it, you lose weight, but once you stop, you go right back to where you were...

It takes baby steps, and some days it DOES feel impossible, but we've all been there. We've had different experiences that brught us here, but now we're doing this together. We're here to support, to rant and rave and to ask questions.

Join us.

But don't be stupid and risk your health with a dangerous trend...

nicoleandersonmd · February 2013

HCG is a pregnancy hormone. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. It is what is tested for during pregnancy tests. When measured for specific levels, it can be used (relatively) to follow the prigression of pregnancy. It is not an appetite suppressant. The reason that people are losing so much is because they are only consuming 500 calories per day. To loose a pound requires a 3500 calories deficit. So, a person whose body required 2000 cals/day to maintain body weight would lose-in one week/ approximately: 14,000-3500= 10500/3500= 3 lbs per week. Do not waste your money. Just intake fewer calories than you expend.

Barbiiieee · February 2013

I did HCG, so apparently I'm the only crazy person here. Haha. I also have had a history with eating disorders, so that was probably why it appealed to me. My FI and I did it together about two years ago. Actually, he did two rounds of it. He does fitness competitions and was seeing a nurse practitioner who ran a sports clinic who was giving him (legal) steroids who suggested it to help him drop some weight pre competition. Yeah, neither of those things are healthy. So anyway, he did his first round (with a higher calorie diet so he could still work out) and he saw good progress. So in a few months he was going to do another one and I decided it would be fine. Anyway, even though his nurse practitioner usually worked with men, because his does mostly testosterone injections, said he would monitor me while I did a round. So we bought the stuff, which was not cheap. I followed a 700 calorie a day diet.

It was MISERABLE. And I gained about 10lbs somehow. I did lose like 3" off my waist, but I was a crazy miserable beeotch that whole 30 days, and it too me like a month to get back to feeling normal. I don't know if I was just hormonal, or hungry, but the results weren't worth feeling miserable. I wouldn't recommend it.

Secretgurl9 · February 2013

The FDA agrees with prior posters

http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm281333.htm

These products have been banned by the FDA. I actually had to do research on it for a class in graduate school, and there are studies as far back as the 1970s saying that the only weight loss comes from eating well below what is recommended for healthy living. Actually gaining weight actually seems equally likely to me as it is a pregnancy hormone. They just want your money.

HCG Anyone?

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