HCG

[wifey]

Thank you so much Shari!

[Gracie514]

Originally Posted by JRo

agree completely.

Anyone eating 500 calories a day and exercising 45 minutes 5 times a week will lose weight, and a pile of scientific studies back that up - that the HCG doesn't have a discernible impact on the rate of weight loss.

JRo~ seeing you are also so knowledgeable on this diet, can you show me where in the protocol you have to exercise at all? Also, you do your diet and let us do ours. We don't bash you but I don't see your stats either.

[Healthy and Happy]

You don't have to exercise on hcg? Hmmm....sounding better all the time.

[wifey]

Originally Posted by thin in 2010

You don't have to exercise on hcg? Hmmm....sounding better all the time.

I was gonna say ummm my friend never said anything about exercising!

[JRo]

Originally Posted by Gracie514

JRo~ seeing you are also so knowledgeable on this diet, can you show me where in the protocol you have to exercise at all? Also, you do your diet and let us do ours. We don't bash you but I don't see your stats either.

It's interesting that you see a statement of verifiable facts as bashing you and/or your diet. I wasn't even responding to you. You're entitled to do whatever diet you choose, just as I'm entitled to point out the other side.

[Healthy and Happy]

Well I love to exercise; swimming, bike riding, hiking, but I hate doing the daily 'formal' excercise thing.... not to mention it hasn't seemed to do me much good.

[Gracie514]

Originally Posted by JRo

It's interesting that you see a statement of verifiable facts as bashing you and/or your diet. I wasn't even responding to you. You're entitled to do whatever diet you choose, just as I'm entitled to point out the other side.

Okay, then....PLEASE VERIFY WHAT YOU WROTE. Where does it say anywhere in Dr. Simeons protocol that you have to exercise???

Once again

If you are going to say that you have verifiable facts, please show us.

[Gracie514]

Originally Posted by JRo

agree completely.

Anyone eating 500 calories a day and exercising 45 minutes 5 times a week will lose weight, and a pile of scientific studies back that up - that the HCG doesn't have a discernible impact on the rate of weight loss.

Show me where you got the fact that you have to exercise 45 minutes 5 times a week on protocol. Thanks

[JRo]

Originally Posted by Gracie514

Show me where you got the fact that you have to exercise 45 minutes 5 times a week on protocol. Thanks

I didn't state that it was from the protocol. Sorry for the confusion.

But from my reading most of the practitioners administering it do recommend some exercise.

The FACT remains that scientific studies have shown no discernible difference between using HCG with this diet and using a placebo. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7...ubmed_RVDocSum

[LowCarbRachel]

I was hungry all the time and obsessed with the idea of eating and food. I don't believe that my body was releasing 2000-4000 calories a day of stored fat because I also lost muscle mass. I believe I lost 15 pounds in 23 days from eating 500 calories a day.

If I could have done it with no hunger and no obsessive thoughts about food and no muscle loss, I would have definitely done a second round.

That's my opinion, based on my experience.

When I did it, I was advised to walk an hour a day.

[Gracie514]

Originally Posted by JRo

I didn't state that it was from the protocol. Sorry for the confusion.

But from my reading most of the practitioners administering it do recommend some exercise.

The FACT remains that scientific studies have shown no discernible difference between using HCG with this diet and using a placebo.

Once again, show me these facts. UGH.....

Just because you read one thing on the internet that someone did some short study on it doesn't mean it's correct.

You cannot do 500 calories per day and exercise WITHOUT the hcg -make sense???? You would collapse from starvation!!! Show me someone who did a 26 day round of eating 500 calories and exercising and didn't pass out. The hcg is the missing link. They may have done a study with a placebo but how many people dropped out because they couldn't survive without the hcg? Also, the type of fat you lose is different - I can attest to that from experience. I have lost weight a thousand times and NEVER did it come off from where the hcg does. I am the smallest I have been since before high school.

[Gracie514]

Originally Posted by LowCarbRachel

I was hungry all the time and obsessed with the idea of eating and food. I don't believe that my body was releasing 2000-4000 calories a day of stored fat because I also lost muscle mass. I believe I lost 15 pounds in 23 days from eating 500 calories a day.

If I could have done it with no hunger and no obsessive thoughts about food and no muscle loss, I would have definitely done a second round.

That's my opinion, based on my experience.

When I did it, I was advised to walk an hour a day.

I don't know all the facts with your experience. I have never had hunger while on the hcg. Maybe your hcg was bad? If it was homeopathic there are a different set of rules - you have to activate the bottle before you use it each time, some people can't drink coffee, you can't have any mint, you have to wait 30 minutes until you eat/drink anything after dosing. I'm sorry it didn't work for you. The original protocol does not recommend exercise - it says you can continue in P2 if you are already doing it.

[JRo]

Originally Posted by Gracie514

Once again, show me these facts. UGH.....

Just because you read one thing on the internet that someone did some short study on it doesn't mean it's correct.

You cannot do 500 calories per day and exercise WITHOUT the hcg -make sense???? You would collapse from starvation!!! Show me someone who did a 26 day round of eating 500 calories and exercising and didn't pass out. The hcg is the missing link. They may have done a study with a placebo but how many people dropped out because they couldn't survive without the hcg? Also, the type of fat you lose is different - I can attest to that from experience. I have lost weight a thousand times and NEVER did it come off from where the hcg does. I am the smallest I have been since before high school.

Like I said, these are not short studies. These are scientific studies.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...004%2D0042.pdf

Chorionic gonadotropin in weight control. A double... [JAMA. 1976] - PubMed result

I am really and truly happy that it's working for you. I promise - I'm not out to get you or any other followers of it, and if the HCG or the placebo effect of it works, that's great. But many people following starvation-levels of calories find that they aren't too hungry after a few days. Even people doing water fasting report that, and it was a common comment during the Kimkins era.

Like I said, I'm glad it's working for you - we each have to do what works best but people should be aware of the scientific evidence behind it.

[LINC]

I'm sorry if my response came off as bashing - it wasn't meant that way. I did do a lot of research on the diet, and it makes sense to me. I just enjoy eating too much to do it. My friend's going back on it when she recovers, and she firmly believes that it will work. She got her information (which she passed along to me) from two real people, people she knows. People she's seen lose weight. So, it does work. However, I still think that anyone will lose weight on 500 calories a day. I understand the science of the diet is much more than that, but I still don't think I could eat so little for such a long time. And the food list is really limited, another thing I couldn't live with.

Lou

[LowCarbRachel]

I did it under a doctor's supervision. The food was the same as in the original protocol (which I know because I read it.) I didn't use the homeopathic--I used the sublingual drops. The doctor offered to give me an RX for an appetite suppressant, but I refused because I thought the hcg would keep me from being hungry.

My cousin in Las Vegas is doing hcg quite successfully, but I will never personally go back there again.

I'm posting here just to give another view to the OP.

[shari]

Originally Posted by LINC

I'm sorry if my response came off as bashing - it wasn't meant that way. I did do a lot of research on the diet, and it makes sense to me. I just enjoy eating too much to do it. My friend's going back on it when she recovers, and she firmly believes that it will work. She got her information (which she passed along to me) from two real people, people she knows. People she's seen lose weight. So, it does work. However, I still think that anyone will lose weight on 500 calories a day. I understand the science of the diet is much more than that, but I still don't think I could eat so little for such a long time. And the food list is really limited, another thing I couldn't live with.

Lou

Thank you, Lou! Your post makes sense to me...you studied it and it wasn't for you. It truly isn't for everyone due to the limited food choices..something I totally understand! Much success with whatever plan you're following.


Rachel~ I agree with Gracie, I too became hungry once after receiving a bad bottle. But since then, I've been okay. The worst to me honestly, is the 'head hunger' because after coming from LC you are used to having more food choices. After getting used to the limited choices again, I was okay and could ride it out...HTH. Sorry it didn't work for you.

[shari]

Originally Posted by LowCarbRachel

I did it under a doctor's supervision. The food was the same as in the original protocol (which I know because I read it.) I didn't use the homeopathic--I used the sublingual drops. The doctor offered to give me an RX for an appetite suppressant, but I refused because I thought the hcg would keep me from being hungry.

My cousin in Las Vegas is doing hcg quite successfully, but I will never personally go back there again.

I'm posting here just to give another view to the OP.

Understandable!

[DivaHerself]

I've had good results with homeopathic HCG drops.
And I found that, after my first round, when I went off the reservation my body did its best to return to its "new" setpoint, 25 pounds lower, that had been created while on Dr. Simeons' plan.

Someone doing 500 calories a day without HCG will lose at the same rate -- and wreck their metabolism in the process.
The difference is in what happens after the low-calorie phase. Doing Dr. Simeons' protocol correctly "resets" the hypothalamus, which then maintains metabolic rate to defend the new, lower setpoint.

I found the protocol easy to do. As with any diet, the dieter has to be mentally ready for the undertaking, and prepared to follow instructions.

VQ has had good results on the HCG protocol as well; he reported very seldom ever feeling hungry. After his first round, he has not regained weight despite unrestricted eating.

HCG was also helpful in dispelling some long-standing cravings, which I now believe were a result of brain chemistry rather than nutritional needs.

Both of us have noticed that our palates changed, and processed food has very little appeal now.

[Gracie514]

Originally Posted by JRo

Like I said, these are not short studies. These are scientific studies.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...004%2D0042.pdf

Chorionic gonadotropin in weight control. A double... [JAMA. 1976] - PubMed result

I am really and truly happy that it's working for you. I promise - I'm not out to get you or any other followers of it, and if the HCG or the placebo effect of it works, that's great. But many people following starvation-levels of calories find that they aren't too hungry after a few days. Even people doing water fasting report that, and it was a common comment during the Kimkins era.

Like I said, I'm glad it's working for you - we each have to do what works best but people should be aware of the scientific evidence behind it.

No problem. But, there is 30 years of extensive study that proves it does work also, it's called "Pounds & Inches" and there are hcg clinics popping up everywhere because it works and now doctors want to make money on it. I read those two links and the one only had 24 participants and it didn't say how many dropped out, etc. It looked like many didn't come back after the six weeks to see if stabilization worked with or without hcg.

I respect your opinion. You just came in saying that a 500 calorie diet and exercising 45 minutes 5 times a week will make anyone lose weight. This isn't the correct definition of the protocol and that's why I responded.

[soontobesexy'ntx]

the reason I am looking into it
as another poster said I get bored easily and change diets often
my metablism is so messed up from doing so many plans I am very resitant (sp) to weight loss cannot lose under 200 lb no matter how much or how little I eat. I am one of the rare people who gain weight in induction Atkins
(by the '72 book)

[shari]

Originally Posted by DivaHerself

I've had good results with homeopathic HCG drops.
And I found that, after my first round, when I went off the reservation my body did its best to return to its "new" setpoint, 25 pounds lower, that had been created while on Dr. Simeons' plan.

Someone doing 500 calories a day without HCG will lose at the same rate -- and wreck their metabolism in the process.
The difference is in what happens after the low-calorie phase. Doing Dr. Simeons' protocol correctly "resets" the hypothalamus, which then maintains metabolic rate to defend the new, lower setpoint.

I found the protocol easy to do. As with any diet, the dieter has to be mentally ready for the undertaking, and prepared to follow instructions.

VQ has had good results on the HCG protocol as well; he reported very seldom ever feeling hungry. After his first round, he has not regained weight despite unrestricted eating.

HCG was also helpful in dispelling some long-standing cravings, which I now believe were a result of brain chemistry rather than nutritional needs.

Both of us have noticed that our palates changed, and processed food has very little appeal now.

Wow! Congrats! Amazing results.

[Gracie514]

Originally Posted by soontobesexy'ntx

the reason I am looking into it
as another poster said I get bored easily and change diets often
my metablism is so messed up from doing so many plans I am very resitant (sp) to weight loss cannot lose under 200 lb no matter how much or how little I eat. I am one of the rare people who gain weight in induction Atkins
(by the '72 book)

I also could not get below 207 for YEARS!!! I got to onederland on my very first round of hhcg. It might be a good fit for you because you do the 500 calorie portion for only 23 days and then move onto to the next phase. Maybe download the manuscript and see what you think.

[Gracie514]

Okay, just to satisy my curiosity I looked into some of the "double-blind" studies. Most of the time the participants did not follow the 500 calorie diet as written by Dr. Simeons. There is a very specific group of foods that need to be eaten while on protocol, not just 500 calories. Heck, 500 calories could be 2 Snickers bars a day! His protocol was studied extensively for 30 years - if you google Dr. Simeons you can read all about him and the care and intensiveness he gave to this study. He really wanted to cure obesity.

[CARLINI]

I don't think the proper cure for obesity is to break down the body and then not give it what it needs to rebuild itself. At the end of that, your weight may be down but are you healthy? I can only speak for myself, but the only way I've been able to lose weight AND be healthy is eat sufficient amounts of protein, fat and carbs in the form of REAL food. There is no way in Gods green earth I would do this 'diet', but that's me.

[CindyCRNA]

This is a great post! Very interesting!

I have a couple of questions for the OP. If I weren't lazy, I would go research it myself but is the 500 calories necessary? Would you get some, maybe less impressive, but some results with 1200 calories plus HCG? And is your homeopathic HCG from the "home office" for this diet or another place? By home office, I mean the company who devised this plan.

[Pinot]

Originally Posted by DivaHerself

I've had good results with homeopathic HCG drops.
And I found that, after my first round, when I went off the reservation my body did its best to return to its "new" setpoint, 25 pounds lower, that had been created while on Dr. Simeons' plan.

Someone doing 500 calories a day without HCG will lose at the same rate -- and wreck their metabolism in the process.
The difference is in what happens after the low-calorie phase. Doing Dr. Simeons' protocol correctly "resets" the hypothalamus, which then maintains metabolic rate to defend the new, lower setpoint.

DivaHerself - in all the stuff I've read about this program, your post is the first that actually made me understand it!

I've contemplated the program, wanting to go the homeopathic route, but with my luck,
I'd get stuck with a bad batch from one of the shysters popping up everywhere.
How do you know where to start?

[Healthy and Happy]

OK, I'm reading 'Pounds and Inches'... do you really binge out on whatever you want for the first 3 days or am I reading this wrong?

BTW, if the 500 cals could be 2 Snickers bars without hunger I would be so in!

[shebasmudder]

Originally Posted by JRo

Like I said, these are not short studies. These are scientific studies.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...004%2D0042.pdf

Chorionic gonadotropin in weight control. A double... [JAMA. 1976] - PubMed result

I am really and truly happy that it's working for you. I promise - I'm not out to get you or any other followers of it, and if the HCG or the placebo effect of it works, that's great. But many people following starvation-levels of calories find that they aren't too hungry after a few days. Even people doing water fasting report that, and it was a common comment during the Kimkins era.

Like I said, I'm glad it's working for you - we each have to do what works best but people should be aware of the scientific evidence behind it.

Did you even READ the links you posted ? First you posted a link to an abstract. The abstract gives no description of the details of the diet followed. All we know is 200 obese patients used hcg. What was the dose ? What was the diet ? Were fats consumed ?

The second link you posted was a meta-analysis. Do you know what a meta-analysis is ? Basically some lazy scientist reviews other people's published articles, sums them up and gets to print their own article and take credit for a new article.

Even so, it states in the article that you suggested we look at that "most of the studies were of poor methodological quality". Can we get some REAL evidence as to what you are talking about, please ?

Originally Posted by CARLINI

I don't think the proper cure for obesity is to break down the body and then not give it what it needs to rebuild itself. At the end of that, your weight may be down but are you healthy? I can only speak for myself, but the only way I've been able to lose weight AND be healthy is eat sufficient amounts of protein, fat and carbs in the form of REAL food. There is no way in Gods green earth I would do this 'diet', but that's me.

What do you mean by breaking down the body ? Nothing in my body has been broken since I started hhcg ! I have released fat and lost inches. I know I am releasing fat because I can see it on my ketostix. I lost inches because I measure myself.

[mstamika]

I had to come over and see what had my Twin so frustrated...

Originally Posted by JRo

Like I said, these are not short studies. These are scientific studies.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...004%2D0042.pdf

Chorionic gonadotropin in weight control. A double... [JAMA. 1976] - PubMed result

I am really and truly happy that it's working for you. I promise - I'm not out to get you or any other followers of it, and if the HCG or the placebo effect of it works, that's great. But many people following starvation-levels of calories find that they aren't too hungry after a few days. Even people doing water fasting report that, and it was a common comment during the Kimkins era.

Like I said, I'm glad it's working for you - we each have to do what works best but people should be aware of the scientific evidence behind it.

I just spent a semester doing research and took a looooong look at the link provided in the above post, specifically the pdf because the other link is merely an abstract.

First of all the pdf is a meta-analysis which means this person DID NOT do the actual study of whether or not hcg works. They took other peoples studies and compared the data and came to their conclusion based on those studies. You would need to read all 16 studies yourself and verify the methods yourself in order to make an educated assessment of a meta-analysis report!!!

A person really educating themselves about this plan should use more that a meta-analysis to make a decision.

Ultimately the best route is seeing if it works for you after reading the information AT THE SOURCE, at the least, and trying it yourself after reading the data to see your body's reaction. I admire LowCarbRachel for saying I tried it, I was hungry, obsessed with food and it was not for me.

The protocol does not require excercise. READ THE SOURCE DOCUMENT not someone's improper regurgitation of it. Can you exercise YES I walk/jog on this program and I'm still alive. Do you have too exercise, no.

I am one of those people that experiences hunger sometimes on this plan, mostly has to do with me not planning my meals well (which I am not saying that's why LCRachel experienced hunger I'm talking about me) and because my body just works different. The good part of how I work differently is I'm not overly obsessed with food so I'm pretty cool with this plan.

The food selection is limited, so is any other eating plan!!! You do have graduated steps. As a matter of fact the second and third stage of this plan mimicks atkins type eating but unlike atkins you're eating carbs all along on this plan in the form of fruit and a small bit of bread in a toast like substance. Not to mention its a balanced food structure; protein, fruit, veggie, bread.

I love atkins too that's why I enjoy the second part of this plan! The best of both worlds with the pay off being my weight doesnt skyrocket when I eat carbs later.

Originally Posted by CARLINI

I don't think the proper cure for obesity is to break down the body and then not give it what it needs to rebuild itself.

I'm with Gracie...show me where my body is being BROKE DOWN and not being given what it needs. Protein, veggie, fruit, bread for two meals at the least which can be rearranged to accomadate your schedule or eating preferences/desire for breakfast. Sometimes I eat part of my lunch for breakfast.

Originally Posted by CARLINI

At the end of that, your weight may be down but are you healthy? I can only speak for myself, but the only way I've been able to lose weight AND be healthy is eat sufficient amounts of protein, fat and carbs in the form of REAL food. There is no way in Gods green earth I would do this 'diet', but that's me.

Yes please speak for yourself and not for us that have tried it and been successful or tried it and found it wasn't for us.

And also if you did it through a doctor and didnt read the original protocol you are in the same boat. Always go to the source.

Big hugs to those that are looking for something that works. This may or may not work for you but in the end I pray for each of you, you find what does.

[shebasmudder]

Originally Posted by mstamika

I had to come over and see what had my Twin so frustrated...



I just spent a semester doing research and took a looooong look at the link provided in the above post, specifically the pdf because the other link is merely an abstract.

First of all the pdf is a meta-analysis which means this person DID NOT do the actual study of whether or not hcg works. They took other peoples studies and compared the data and came to their conclusion based on those studies. You would need to read all 16 studies yourself and verify the methods yourself in order to make an educated assessment of a meta-analysis report!!!

A person really educating themselves about this plan should use more that a meta-analysis to make a decision.

Ultimately the best route is seeing if it works for you after reading the information AT THE SOURCE, at the least, and trying it yourself after reading the data to see your body's reaction. I admire LowCarbRachel for saying I tried it, I was hungry, obsessed with food and it was not for me.

The protocol does not require excercise. READ THE SOURCE DOCUMENT not someone's improper regurgitation of it. Can you exercise YES I walk/jog on this program and I'm still alive. Do you have too exercise, no.

I am one of those people that experiences hunger sometimes on this plan, mostly has to do with me not planning my meals well (which I am not saying that's why LCRachel experienced hunger I'm talking about me) and because my body just works different. The good part of how I work differently is I'm not overly obsessed with food so I'm pretty cool with this plan.

The food selection is limited, so is any other eating plan!!! You do have graduated steps. As a matter of fact the second and third stage of this plan mimicks atkins type eating but unlike atkins you're eating carbs all along on this plan in the form of fruit. Not to mention its a balanced food structure; protein, fruit, veggie, bread.

I love atkins too that's why I enjoy the second part of this plan! The best of both worlds with the pay off being my weight doesnt skyrocket when I eat carbs later.



I'm with Gracie...show me where my body is being BROKE DOWN and not being given what it needs. Protein, veggie, fruit, bread for two meals at the least which can be rearranged to accomadate your schedule or eating preferences



Yes please speak for yourself and not for us that have tried it and been successful or tried it and found it wasn't for us.

And also if you did it through a doctor and didnt read the original protocol you are in the same boat. Always go to the source.

Big hugs to those that are looking for something that works. This may or may not work for you but in the end I pray for each of you, you find what does.

I'm not "the" wonder twin, but we posted almost the same thing ! Seriously, what was posted was no scientific evidence. Since I actually read "Pounds and Inches", and it works for me and tens of thousands of other people, I'm going to continue losing pounds and fat and feeling good !

If yall want some actual anecdotal evidence that you can see for yourself, you need to go to youtube and look at the hundreds of vlogs from people who have done hcg. You can see them with your own eyes before and at goal.