HCG diet

[taekwondave]

A close friend of mine just started this. He started at 260 lbs and he's 5' 10". I just talked to him a minute ago on the phone and he said he's lost 17 lbs in the last week and an half. That just doesn't sound healthy. He says he's drinking water all day long so he doesn't think it's water weight, but how can it work that fast and still be good for him? I've googled the thing but every time you click on something like "HCG diet dangers exposed!" it's actually arguing FOR HCG. Does anybody have anything scholarly on this? I've heard forever that losing any more than 2lbs per week is usually not advisable because you'll lose so much more than just fat. I always get nervous when someone says they've lost POUNDS anyway, because it suggests they're ignoring the areas where weight loss can occur and they get so excited assuming it's all fat. It seems that scales enable bogus diets to take hold of people's hopes all the time because they don't tell the real story about what's going on in the body. Anyway, I'm obviously pretty biased already against it and figure that I'll dismiss any non-scholarly sources that say I'm wrong, but I also think I'm too susceptible to accept non-scholarly sources that say I'm right. Does anybody have anything on this?

[taekwondave]

One argument my friend makes that is actually very hard for me to dismiss is that even though he acknowledges that the diet is probably dangerous and unhealthy, he says that it can't be any more dangerous or unhealthy than carting around 80 extra pounds of fat every day. He figures that he'll do this until he gets down to a moderately reasonable weight and then get back into his exercise routine and eating moderate calories (HCG only has him eating 500 per day).

Could he be right about that? I mean, obesity is dangerous, no doubt. But is he going to permanently damage his health from this in such a way that even if he does get back to eating well and exercising often and getting down to a healthy weight that it will come back to haunt him anyway? I mean, they say this diet has been around for like 60 years or something. That seems like sufficient time to uncover the long-term effects doesn't it?

[PaloAltoCougar]

One argument my friend makes that is actually very hard for me to dismiss is that even though he acknowledges that the diet is probably dangerous and unhealthy, he says that it can't be any more dangerous or unhealthy than carting around 80 extra pounds of fat every day. He figures that he'll do this until he gets down to a moderately reasonable weight and then get back into his exercise routine and eating moderate calories (HCG only has him eating 500 per day).

Could he be right about that? I mean, obesity is dangerous, no doubt. But is he going to permanently damage his health from this in such a way that even if he does get back to eating well and exercising often and getting down to a healthy weight that it will come back to haunt him anyway? I mean, they say this diet has been around for like 60 years or something. That seems like sufficient time to uncover the long-term effects doesn't it?

His argument, while possibly true (but I have my doubts), would be more compelling if his only choices were the HCG Diet or obesity. Obviously, he has many more choices than those.

I'm fascinated by the vast numbers of diet plans, and how many people have made millions off of them, despite the fact that the great majority of people who follow them fail ultimately. It takes a lot of time for one's body to pack on 100 extra pounds, and the idea that some magic shortcut is going to cause those pounds to disappear really fast is specious.

There may be some worthwhile plans to follow, but the only one I like is the one whereby you live everyday the way you intend to for the rest of your life, in terms of both diet and exercise. Short-term excesses in either category are doomed to fail. Accept the fact that excess poundage may take nearly as long to disappear as it took to gain it, but if one adopts eating and exercise habits that are enjoyable and doable over the long haul, the weight will go, and it will never come back.

Be sure to have your friend buy my book.

[Sizzle]

His argument, while possibly true (but I have my doubts), would be more compelling if his only choices were the HCG Diet or obesity. Obviously, he has many more choices than those.

I'm fascinated by the vast numbers of diet plans, and how many people have made millions off of them, despite the fact that the great majority of people who follow them fail ultimately. It takes a lot of time for one's body to pack on 100 extra pounds, and the idea that some magic shortcut is going to cause those pounds to disappear really fast is specious.

There may be some worthwhile plans to follow, but the only one I like is the one whereby you live everyday the way you intend to for the rest of your life, in terms of both diet and exercise. Short-term excesses in either category are doomed to fail. Accept the fact that excess poundage may take nearly as long to disappear as it took to gain it, but if one adopts eating and exercise habits that are enjoyable and doable over the long haul, the weight will go, and it will never come back.

Be sure to have your friend buy my book.

This. The formula really is simple. If you want to lose weight, take in less calories than you use throughout the day. Now, some people may have other issues that make it difficult or prevent them from exercising which makes it difficult for them to lose weight. Thyroid issues can complicate the problem, but IMO the first steps should always be, as PAC suggested, a change in your diet (not dieting) that you can sustain for an extended period of time, and to incorporate exercise.

The worst part about most diet gimmicks is they don't change the core behavior that causes weight gain to begin with. So while in theory starting the HCG to shed a lot of weight sounds appealing, I'd guess that a large percentage gains most of the weight back because their behaviors don't change. It is my opinion that the best way to lose the weight is the reverse of the way that it was gained... little by little, one pound at a time.

[Jarid in Cedar]

HcG is an overhyped, overpriced medication that is nothing but a placebo to make you believe that you are not hunger while you only eat 500 calories a day. If you did the diet alone(which is crazy IMO) you would still lose the same amount of weight.

The theory of HcG is that the HcG will raise your testosterone(remember Manny Ramirez?) to preserve your lean muscle mass while you are essentially starving yourself. This has been disproven by full body densitometry. When in starvation mode, your body must catabolize some of your skeletal muscle to mobilize amino acids to keep up with basic vital functioning.

In reality, when HcG is used as a male fertility enhancement, many patients will GAIN weight.

[San Juan Sun]

HcG is an overhyped, overpriced medication that is nothing but a placebo to make you believe that you are not hunger while you only eat 500 calories a day. If you did the diet alone(which is crazy IMO) you would still lose the same amount of weight.

The theory of HcG is that the HcG will raise your testosterone(remember Manny Ramirez?) to preserve your lean muscle mass while you are essentially starving yourself. This has been disproven by full body densitometry. When in starvation mode, your body must catabolize some of your skeletal muscle to mobilize amino acids to keep up with basic vital functioning.

In reality, when HcG is used as a male fertility enhancement, many patients will GAIN weight.

This.

In addition, it's a huge moneymaker for those willing to subject others to starvation diets (my mom sells this garbage). It's a scam, a profitable one, and its easy to fleece an ignorant public out of their disposable income.

Stay far away from beta-hcg.

[DU Ute]

Has a BYU grad started an MLM based around HcG? That's the best way to tell if something like this is a scam.

[Pheidippides]

This. The formula really is simple. If you want to lose weight, take in less calories than you use throughout the day. Now, some people may have other issues that make it difficult or prevent them from exercising which makes it difficult for them to lose weight. Thyroid issues can complicate the problem, but IMO the first steps should always be, as PAC suggested, a change in your diet (not dieting) that you can sustain for an extended period of time, and to incorporate exercise.

The worst part about most diet gimmicks is they don't change the core behavior that causes weight gain to begin with. So while in theory starting the HCG to shed a lot of weight sounds appealing, I'd guess that a large percentage gains most of the weight back because their behaviors don't change. It is my opinion that the best way to lose the weight is the reverse of the way that it was gained... little by little, one pound at a time.

What sizzle said. There is no secret to weight loss. But it takes discipline and patience.

[San Juan Sun]

Has a BYU grad started an MLM based around HcG? That's the best way to tell if something like this is a scam.

BYU grads make it, Ute fans buy it.

Is this how it works?

[Blueintheface]

I tried it and was unsuccessful at keeping it off. I did, however just have a conversation with my neighbor (Tommy Fortune of Ute football fame) and he swears by it. He admits it's like any diet but felt it helped reduce his desire to eat. He looks great incidentally. He said he played at 270 and is about 240 now.

[taekwondave]

Here's the thing: I know how to lose weight. I know what you all are saying. I myself have a calorie counter on my phone, know my BMR and how many calories my workouts burn, and I control my weight just fine.

And although I have no doubt that this is NOT the best way for this guy to lose weight, what I wanted to know was if it would actually HURT him somehow. Are there any studies that show this damages your heart or something? If it's just a gimmick diet that has you eating 500 calories per day and thus you're losing like 4-5 lbs a week just because you're kind of starving then okay. He'll see that soon enough. I'm just worried that this will actually do harm to him somehow. But it sounds from your posts that the HCG just lets you starve yourself because it kills the hunger pains. Eh. I think it's lame but I'm not the big fat one. As long as it won't put his life in danger I guess I'll just let him do his thing.

[CardiacCoug]

This is obviously just anecdotal, and with all the people using HCG certainly could be coincidental, but I have seen 2 women with DVT and a guy who thrombosed a bypass graft while using HCG injections.

HCG is a bad idea. Just do the diet if you want, but using a totally unproven and possibly dangerous drug/supplement is never a good idea.

[dabrockster]

I tired it. I lost 40 pounds in a month, but was not taking the drops very often. I came to the conclusion that the amount of food intake had more to do with my weight loss then the HCG drops..

Sadly, this was in January and in the middle of when hell truly unleashed on me and my family and I have since gained it back.. Being a stress-eater is not a good thing...


I am gearing up to start over...

EDIT: My father was also taking it prior to his seizure etc... Was 100% healthy and strong up to his seizure and diagnosis...

[Paperback Writer]

Have a little insight to this. I lost about 40 lbs on the HCG diet but I modified it somewhat and went to about 800 calories instead of 500. On that diet I was able to continue my moderate morning and evening workouts (eliptical trainer/walking/jogging; no weights). There is something to HCG that does suppress appetite and the majority of the weight I lost I think was fat but don't have a scientific way of proving it. I also think that there is something to HCG and increased testosterone production but that is also non-scientific. I just had a lot more energy as well as other signs but this could have been a result of other facotrs. In other words, I'm convinced HCG was more than a placebo but I'm not in the medical field so I'm not about to say it's OK.

The drawback to HCG just like any other diet scheme is keeping the wieght off and one can get tired of the resrticted foods very quickly; especially when one comes off the diet. All it took was a crazy few months of work that came at the same time as other family demands. No longer had time to prepare and cook healthy foods and exercise (or sleep very much). Consequently, I put back on about 20 lbs of the lost weight.

I'm not advocating HCG, put don't see much harm in it for a six week cycle. I'm now losing weight on a modified-HCG (less) diet of about 1500 calories and keeping up on the exercise. The bad part of the HCG diet is the restricted 500 calories (there might be other side effects to HCG - I just don't know but personally didn't experience any). The good part is that it is a healthy diet - just not enough calories or variety of foods. So I've used that as a basis and added other healthy foods so I won't tire of eating the same stuff every day. Instead of losing 5-7 lbs a week like I did on the HCG diet, I'm losing 1-2 pounds a week. Exercise and sleep are critical.