What are those UNEXPECTED bonuses from the HCG diet?
 

Of course we are all trying to shrink, but there are so many great benefits other than just losing fat...

For instance, today I was making myself some sliced steak and shredded cabbage. When I sliced the raw steak and weighed out 100g I looked at it and thought, WOW, look at ALL that steak! This is day 20 for me and I really have adjusted what my portions should look like. When I first started I couldn't believe what a miniscule amount 3.5 oz or 100g looked like - almost nothing... Now it looks like plenty. :jumpjoy:

The best thing so far has been relief from symptoms that had caused me to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

Wow, that's amazing. Do you think it's from the detoxing?

I do think that something in my diet was causing fatigue and inflammation. I guess I will figure it out when I start P3 and P4.

Thats wonderful that you're getting some relief right now booty. Maybe when you start adding in foods, you could try adding just one thing at a time so you can figure out what the culprits are.

I plan to go slow adding food types one at a time. I have a feeling the culprit is wheat, unfortunately.

I have definitely gotten some relief from the constant headache I have had since a car accident in August 2012. I am down to only one med! So happy, and hoping it will stick after I am off protocol.

Hi ladies , I would like to do another round but can't find a supplier of hcg injections in my area. Any suggestions ? The doctor I used for round one with great success has closed her practice.

Wow! That's great! You must feel great! :jumpjoy:

Another unexpected benefit I've gotten is I've learned the better recognize hunger. I now know the difference between feeling an empty stomach vs a hungry stomach. I read The Weight Loss Apocalypse and have really been able to recognize emotional eating. Funny, I didn't think I was an emotional eater because I always pictured that as binge eating... But when I've had a really rough day on this round I notice that I really do crave comfort food and do use food as a comfort. Kind of cool to learn to chill out over a bad day without the help of food.

I'm only on day 1 of the low calorie part this round, but since I've done this before I can say that I see lots of beneifts: 1. I sleep better. I'm even sleeping better this far in. No more wake up at 3 a.m. stuff. I love it. 2. More energy. 3. I have a lot of food sensitivities: no gluten for almost 10 years now and I recently dropped most dairy, but I have digestion issues and when doing this I experience a "reset" in my gut. Pain leaves and intestines normalize. Which is actually a HUGE reason why I should be doing this.

My favorite benefit of this plan is the way it controls my cravings for sugar, salt, and alcohol. (Right now I'm envisioning chips & salsa, margaritas and sopapillas on a friday night! Ha!)

I find that I am able to simply walk away from them. Now, if for some silly reason I DO "indulge" while taking hcg, then it is all over. But I find that I don't feel desire for those things nearly as much while I am taking hcg.

When I have tried other diets, I find that I will "rationalize" the unhealthy foods. With this plan, I can stick with it. I think the daily losses and shrinkage definitely helps.

The other thing I love is how my skin looks. I wish I could maintain it all the time and not just during P2!

I can definitely say my fibromyalgia feels cured from hcg. My symptoms of fibromyalgia began at 15 and I was diagnosed at 23 and 19 years later I found the cure!!!! At first I thought it was hcg and was going to attempt staying on it for the rest of my life. Once I hit my first P3 I found it was the side effect of removing sugar and wheat from my diet. I have had chronic pain for 25 years and now the ONLY time I feel pain is when I tried sugar and carbs in P4. If I stay away from them I remain pain free! Hcg has changed my life in more ways than one!

This is how I feel w/my gut pain. For me it's more than sugar/wheat removal since when I eat LC I often get gut pain. I think it's that I have to eat so clean and basically avoid/eat sparingly *everything* that causes inflammation - dairy, red meat, and possibly a few other things.
Another WOE that has helped with this in the past has been Ann Louise Gittleman's Fat Flush and seasonal detoxes. These have been really wonderful for my body when I've done them - maybe 1000 cals/day, similar foods but w/ some good fats like avacado and fish oil and fatty fish. BUT with her detoxes I am white-knuckling it b/c I get so hungry. With this, no hunger.
Maybe once I have a few new successful rounds under my belt I'll try doing one of her seasonal detoxes w/hcg since they target different organ systems. But for now I think I need to stick with regular old Simeon's with the tiny bit of rogue-ness that I am allowing myself.