HCG & exercise please help!!
 

I don't know where to post this, so I'm going to try a new thread and see if anyone can help me. There was an HCG and exercise thread that had great info, and I posted on there, but it seems to have died.

I desperately need some advice. I've spent a year trying to start HCG and I keep cheating. I've been through a really traumatic time involving an abusive boyfriend and it seems to have left more damage than I thought. I did HCG before and maintained until all this happened, I know it works, it just seems my self confidence is shot, and I feel I need to overhaul my lifestyle rather than just carry on. This is why I want to start exercising.

I want to start Jillian Michael's 30 day shred, as well as HCG. I've read the Dr S guide. He talks about "temporary gains/stalls", but doesn't go into detail about what that means. Does the weight loss still average out the same? Can someone answer this for me please? I'm not obsessed with the scale, I can handle stalls, but I need to know if I will still be losing inches, ie fat, or will I be sabotaging the whole thing? I have about 30 lbs to lose to be in a normal weight range. It's not much, but at the moment it seems insurmountable.

I don't even know if any of this made sense, but I'm desperate for answers, so I'm gonna go ahead and post this anyway.

This is only my opinion.

From what I understand, if you are someone who HAS been exercising, it's fine to continue. Your body is used to it. If you haven't been - then my guess is that doing some weights would be fine. Just listen to your body.

It's not that it causes a stall, it's that your body has no sugar to work out - and the using of the fat for fuel is not as immediate. Before HCG, for example, I could do 35 min on the EFX machine with no problem. Today I did only 7. But then I worked out on the weight machines with no problem. It's still a benefit to me. I get stronger, and the muscle will burn fat. I feel better, and I still get the endorphins.

Working out is tremendous for building personal power. I have some great fast music, and then when I do the weight training, I switch to an audio book that is inspiring - something that will build my personal power. (Not recommending Tony Robbins - but something along those lines).

For me, I believe the end result is that I will build a small amount of muscle, tone up what I have, and the scale may not move as fast while I'm building, but I will definitely get smaller. I'm after energy, tone, strength, power, and health. At this point, skinny comes in last. So, I LOVE working out while doing HCG - but I go slower, and not focused on the aerobic part anymore.

hope that helps

In my opinion, our bodies when on a diet we are trying lose fat. When on a exercise program, we want to add muscle. When you try to do both at the same time, on HCG, it poses too much of a hardship because of your body only taking in 500 calories. How can it build muscles and nourish your body for the stress and endurance of working out?

I think you would put too much stress on your body. I think Simeons states not to exercise while on HCG. It's only for 3 weeks or 6 weeks time. Why not wait until P3/P4 to start exercising and give your a body rest during P2? :) There is always the recommended exercise of walking and I think Yoga is good too.

If you start exercise and hcg at the same time it would not be wise to expect the same losses as hcg alone. As you build muscle your muscles will retain water from time to time which will not no weight loss. You will lose fat during the process but it might end up being a wash on the scale. I'm guessing you will see inch loss though.

I added exercise in phase 3 after round 1 and round 3 and gained each time I started and each time I increased in intensity. The gains after round 1 took 3-5 days until I got back in my zone. After round 3 I continued to gain. Now I'm doing a short round 4 and am continuing to exercise. However... since I KNOW my losses will be slow because I am still experiencing muscle soreness every time I work out, I'm just not going to weigh myself that often. I think watching the ups and downs due to exercise might discourage me to the point where I'd cheat or throw in the towel and I really want to reach a healthy BMI again and STAY THERE. Thus, I'm continuing my workouts but doing a little less. For the past 4 weeks I've been doing 2 aerobic miles 5-6 days a week and 20-30 minutes of weights 3 days a week. So far I've been fine dong the 2 aerobic miles on days I don't lift. When I do lift I am only doing 1 aerobic mile... unless I feel like I have the energy to do 2. Yesterday I lifted and did 1 mile. I decided to NOT stop my exercise this round because I always struggle with gains when I add it back in during phase 3. I'd love to reach my goal weight WHILE exercising then continue to increase my exercise routine to a level that works well for me and helps me maintain during phase 3 & phase 4.

I'd rather exercise almost daily and NOT weigh daily.. then weigh daily and not keep my body in toning mode. I'm doing a strict protocol round... round 1 & 2 were very strict... round 3 was rogue and I didn't stabilize. So round 4 will be a strict round. I might not weigh until the day I choose to be my last dose day... I'm enjoying the freedom from the scale so far on VLCD 3.

He never states to not exercise in P2. He says to continue doing what you are used to. For me, my experience has been that I just don't have any energy while on P2. I just suggest seeing how you feel and doing what you can. I intended on being a slug during my first round of P2 and looked forward to lounging on the couch every day. I found out I lost best while walking every day for 20 minutes--just a leisurely stroll with my then 3 yr old and dog. While on P2 you are only EATING 500 calories, HOWEVER the hcg is pulling a whole mess of calories from your fat so you are in fact having many more calories circulating in your system (I have seen numbers as high as 2000 calories). So don't think you are existing on ONLY 500 calories while on P2.

I personally perceive my success not through the scale. I want to have strength, and energy, and be small. I want to be a brick, I don't care how much I weigh, but a brick in a smaller size.

Have you looked at the weight ranges of female athletes when competing in the Olympics? They are very high! They ROCK their bodies! Small, compact, and fit. That's what I'm after.

So, yeah, it's really hard to do the aerobic part of exercise on P2. I got a whole 7 minutes on the EFX yesterday. But I can do weight machines, bike moderately, and walk. I think that speeds up the loss a bit, builds my muscles, and I don't care if the scale numbers don't move as fast. My body gets smaller, and my fat burns off faster. That's my real goal.

Looking for inspiration
 

Hi Red - I also love working out whether in Hcg mode or normal life - and I love inspiring audio books. Can you recommend any? I have listened to Zig Zeigler and discovered the genre! Some recs would be appreciated!


Dawn or any one else w a view!, are there any deviations from protocol that don't seem to make a difference? Different veg, mixing veg, or using Splenda, etc? Thanks

I really want to thank everyone for their replies, you've all been very helpful. I guess I should probably wait, I'm just afraid that I'll sabotage myself yet again. Still so confused. I have no problem with the scale losses being less, I just worry that I won't be able to tell if it's just water weight, or if I'll be THINKING it's water weight when actually I'm screwing things up. I'll keep anyone posted who's interested.

Thanks again, I wan't sure I'd get any response at all.

Lola--You can tell when it is water weight and when it is not. On hcg you lose as many inches as you do pounds. The way you reshape is unlike any other thing you can experience without undergoing a knife! It is exciting!!!

You can use Splenda---it was not around in Simeon's time therefore he didn't specifically say to use it or not. Stevia wasn't around either and some say that is THE only sweetener to use on plan--NOT true!!! Use what you have and if you feel it is stalling you then switch it up!

As far as deviations from protocol, I call myself a protocol gal--some have said a protocol purist. I tell everyone to stay strictly protocol because that is how it works best!! The reason for not mixing veggies is because Simeon's believed that mixing interfered with digestion. Therefore I stick with 1 veggie at a time. I also do NOT do turkey in place of chicken, tuna fish on P2. Those sorts of things. The food list works for me and I can endure for 21 days with the plan, I think we all can ;)

Beezy: Motivational books tend to be specific towards a goal. Sales, procrastination, etc. I would google: "Best selling motivational books" - and then look thru the list for something that works for you.

I just wanted to chime in with my .02 on exercise: I've read many people here on the hcg boards that stalled doing exercise, but, for my own mental health I decided to start back up on day 1. I do Chalean Extreme, but only the weight-training workouts. M W F, it's about a 40 minute workout and I've been feeling fine so far. I so miss having nice arms, and as long as I'm able I'll continue. My reasoning was that if I have temporary water retention due to inflammation of the muscles, it will be masked by my first-week weight release!! Sometimes I have to play mind games with myself! Next week will be a more accurate picture of how exercise effects my weight release.

eta: the arms in my avi pic are from Chalean Extreme!! That's what I'm going for!!