Ugh...they think it's so easy...
I just got home from a family Easter gathering. I had to sit and listen to my mom, sister and niece talk about all this weight they've lost doing the HCG thing. I had to remind them that I want to do this the right way and keep my body strong. They just seem to think that if I just did what they were I wouldn't have to try so hard. Sure...I've only lost 9 pounds in the amount of time my niece has lost almost 20, but I feel great! I don't know how to explain to them my need to work out and eat right when they think it's unnecessary. To tell you the truth, I'm actually concerned for them...I don't think they know what they're doing to themselves. I suppose (like most desperate, overweight people) they're just looking for the easy way out. I mean...it would be so easy to take the drops and starve myself...
I have to say the hcg diet scares me to death. Hcg effects breast tissue-- how do they know it won't increase the risk of breast cancer later in life?
I know a woman who got pregnant less than a year after losing on the hcg diet. She started gaining an incredible amount of weight during the pregnancy and thinks she might have been somehow sensitized to hcg during the diet (hcg is naturally produced during pregnancy) and that this might be causing the weight gain. Scary stuff!
I know a lot of people who don't see the point in doing anything difficult. Knit a sweater? Why would you do that when you can buy one? Make chicken stock from scratch? You can get it in a can you know. Lose weight in a smart and healthy way? But that is so hard, takes so long and it makes you sweat!
Blech. I'm done explaining to people who refuse to get it. Hopefully, they'll come around.
Maybe you should start talking about the amazing health benefits of eating whole grains and vegetables, the importance of getting enough protein, how calcium protects the skeleton and prevents osteoporosis, and how you can't possible get enough of all those things without eating more food than the hcg diet allows you.
Then start talking about the benefits of exercise to your health, reducing your risk of diabetes, heart disease, depression, or whatever conditions seem to run in your family.
You may not persuade them, but maybe they'll get so tired hearing you talk about it that they'll change the subject and you won't have to listen to them talk about this unhealthy weight loss method so much.
Thank you guys so much for reaffirming my goals for me. I want so much to be healthy...just wish I could get them to feel the same way. Kariqk, that is a very good idea. Although I don't think they would see these points for what they are...maybe they would quit trying to sell me on the HCG thing. I am just sooo NOT INTERESTED! I have not felt so good or slept so well at night for almost 15 years....and it's only been a month since I started! If only they could feel this good, then they could see things for what they are. 
Seriously.... jut keep doing what you're doing. HCG is a diet and unless they change their lifestyle meaning eating habits and exercise, they are guaranteed to gain the weight back.
You're making true life changes. As Rousseau said, "Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet."
I am going to Easter Brunch on Sunday and my sister in law is doing the hcg diet along with a good friend of mine. I have not done any serious research on the hcg diet however I know my local Vitamin Cottage (health food store) won't sell the hormone because they don't believe it to be safe in the long run.
It is encouraging to read all the posts, we are doing the right thing. I just started after coming off the Atkins diet. I thought I was going to go into a coma at any moment only eating 20 carbs a day. I actually went to the doctor and thought something serious was wrong with me. My doc said, "You need to eat carbs!" I am grateful for Calorie Count. I know its a lifestyle and habit change and this is the program to do it, not a crash diet that requires hormones to take. Thank you all for the encouragement.
See if they start listen to you when you are reaching your goal, and they are regaining the weight, or when you've maintained your weight for several months, and they are back where they were, or when they go on the next crash diet and you're still at your ideal weight.
It must be really difficult to be in your situation. You see your loved ones harming themselves and not only that they are trying to get you to do the same. It's sad.
In my opinion, you are doing something very different than they are. You are taking care of your body through healthy eating and exercise. They weight loss is just a side effect of that. They, on the other hand, just want to slim down. Maybe you can stress this point to them. And besides, I don't see what they are doing as an easy way out. Who wants to be on a weirdo diet where you can't eat anything and have to starve yourself? You are WAY better off. You are in control. You CAN enjoy holiday treats, in moderation, and not feel guilty about it. They will just sit there and be miserable.
When they will regain the weight that they have lost, you'll be able to say "I told you so". Because they will regain it, no doubt about it!
omg i just read up on this hcg diet. IT SOUNDS INSANE!!!!!!!!! Why the hell would anyone do that to their body?!?!?!?!
Keep up your healthy eating plan - at least you are strengthening your body while losing weight. All you can do is keep telling yourself you are making real lifestyle changes and committing to them while they're looking for just another quick-fix. They might think it's easy - but give it a couple of months when they are struggling with weight gain and you'll be the one laughing!
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks the HCG thing is insane and unhealthy. I'm feeling better each day about the decisions I am making. Thanks everyone!
Ok, I hadn't ever knowingly heard of the hcg diet... it seems insane. What's more insane is reading the comments defending it and saying that it's not the lazy way out...
I would NEVER do that.
Eating right and exercising will never be a fad and will never have such controversy. Stick with it and your body will reward you!
Taking various interesting tidbits from articles...
"Most independent, peer-reviewed studies of the hCG diet have shown no difference in weight loss between subjects on a low-calorie diet who received hCG injections and subjects who received a placebo [source: Conis]. One study even showed that both the placebo group and the hCG group reported major hunger pangs throughout the treatment. Regardless, once a person stops the hCG diet, he or she will have to adopt a normal and healthy lifestyle, or the weight's just coming back...Of course, eating well-proportioned meals is much easier when you're injecting stimulants and hunger-suppressing hormones. If you gain weight again, the doctor or clinic -- upon the follow-up visit -- may recommend you start the treatment over again....there's another constant when it comes to dieting -- no matter what you do, maintaining a healthy weight depends on eating right and exercising." (Discovery Health)
"'It's reckless, irresponsible, and completely irrational,' says Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Can you lose weight on it? Of course, but that's mainly because you're hardly consuming any calories. And any benefit is not going to last."...In 1995, researchers analyzed 14 clinical trials on the hCG diet. Only two concluded hCG was any more effective than a placebo at helping people lose weight....There's no question that 500 calories a day is tantamount to malnutrition—dieters should never dip below 1,200, say experts—and federal dietary guidelines recommend more than three times the amount of calories the diet prescribes for women ages 19 to 30. Moreover, extremely low-calorie diets can cause severe bone and muscle loss, electrolyte imbalances, gallstones, and even death." (US News)
"About half of all Americans are trying to lose weight at any given time, so any given person is likely to have tried a bunch of different methods, which apparently don't work, otherwise they wouldn't keep trying. It takes an incredible amount of discipline to actually lose weight and keep it off, and most people have trouble accepting how much work they'd have to put in, so when they fail, they blame the method and move on to a new one... If anyone gives you trouble, you can just tell them you're on the Facepunch Diet, where you punch someone in the face every time they give you diet advice, and that you have never burned so many calories in your life." (Cracked.com)
Sources:
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet -fitness/weight-loss/hcg-diet.htm
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fit ness/diet/articles/2011/03/14/hcg-diet-danger s-is-fast-weight-loss-worth-the-risk?PageNr=1
http://www.cracked.com/article_18853_5-topics -guaranteed-to-elicit-condescending-advice.ht ml
fai1,
Thank you for all the information. Knowledge is power!
Yes I agree with kimmield2..knowledge is power. Thanks fai1. Plus, if all else fails...now I can try the Facepunch Diet. ;)
Original Post by fai1:
Moreover, extremely low-calorie diets can cause severe bone and muscle loss, electrolyte imbalances, gallstones, and even death." (US News)
Did anyone else catch that?
CAN CAUSE DEATH
Why do people keep doing these freaking diets? Does nobody read any information but what is plastered all over the diet website? What happened to research literacy...
I hadn't heard about this type of diet until my brother and sister in law told me their friend was doing it and had lost a lot of weight.
They raved about the great effects. Later, they told me they had heard about two other people they knew on it who developed brain issues (don't know specifics) so that freaked them out a bit.
I don't know how credible or relevant the brain issues are to HCG dieting, but really, it doesn't matter much. So many hop on the newest 'miracle' drug/diet/regimen bandwagon and expect it to deliver the results of what it says it will (I'm a former guilty party). That's like saying 'wow, look at Vince with his Shamwow! That thing has to be made out of incredible material!' only to find out that it's glorified felt (thanks to my husband, I have first-hand knowledge, lol).
Trying to take an easy way out of weight loss is not possible. To get the body you both want and need takes work, period.
Original Post by tripolar1:
Yes I agree with kimmield2..knowledge is power. Thanks fai1. Plus, if all else fails...now I can try the Facepunch Diet. ;)
Heck yeah!!!!!
OMG for the last 6 years, since I gave birth to my lovely daughter, I tried everything: keto diet, UN diet, Dukan diet, starving, eating only fruit, lemon diet....it goes on and on! And my weight changed only few pounds and I gain back all and put some more. After I found this site and read some articles and stories from other women , I decided to do something else. Bougth Turbofire from Beachbody.com and since March 21. never skipped a single workout, this is 6th week now! Since I'm doing weight training twice a week full body, I try to keep my proteins high,I eat enough carbs cause I need energy to do Turbofire, every day at least one piece of fruit, taking allot of water, sometimes even something sweet but I keep everything under maintaining level of calories. Not big deficit but I burn much with turbofire!
First of all, I feel great, like I'm not on diet, there's no preassure, I'm not tired, I'm not frustrated!
Second, I lost 8 pounds, 1,6 inches from hips and 1,8 inches from waist in 6 weeks! My arms are more toned, my abs flat, my endurance improved! I have never had results like this before and at the same time never ate this much food on diet.
Your relatives will get to this point when they realize on their own how bad any diet is and there is no magic pills or injections or food that makes you slim. Eat healthy food and EXERCISE!!! That is the only way! It took 6 years to get this in my head! Everyone told me how wrong I am but I was stubborn and needed to see for myself. Now, finally I'm on right path!
They will come to sences eventualy, my only hope that will not be too late, not before they make their body too sick!
Good luck to you and them!
Wow, I just read what the HCG diet is. I wouldn't use this method, ever. 500 calories a day with some 'magic drop' under the tongue is probably the worst thing you can do (outside of eating disorders). Your body will use it's own tissues for sustanance; fat AND everything else. Very very very unhealthy for sure. I would be very proud of my 9 lb loss compared to their 20 lb loss. You are doing it the right way. Exercise and diet control are key, NOT starvation and some magical cure.
You should keep in mind that by the time you've reached your weight loss goal, your niece will have probably gained back all of the weight she lost and then some. No one can stay on a VLCD for long, it doesn't address the reason they gained the weight in the first place.
Good luck, and stay on the right path :)
