|
|
Welcome! We would love get to know you, so please tell us a little bit
about
yourself. You can choose any format you'd like, but most of us here
share some
or all of the following details:
1. History with weight loss:
2. History with the HCG Protocol:
3. Some interesting details about yourself,
such as
your job, your family, your pets and your interests:
And now just go ahead and make that first post!
Hey all. I'll start. :
Well, until recently, I hadn't seen "thin" since 3rd grade. My weight was always a struggle and ate at my self-confidence. I started dieting in Jr. High and was on and off diets all the time. I did the Atkins diet, went down to a size 6 in 9th grade and then gained it back. The majority of my life I was an 8/10. Then my last year of college (2006), I reached the most I had been and was a 12/14 and 174 lbs. I decided to hit it hard and started the fat flush diet. That worked pretty well until I got down to about 150. I was still eating good and working out but still not losing. Then I ended up gaining some of that back.
Then a family member told me about the HCG protocol. I started and lost the weight like it was nothing! It was so encouraging! I realized that I really could be thin! It was a challenge and it took determination, but I am so happy. Not only did I lose the bad fat, but I gained back the good structural fat that I had lost out of my joints from diets and bad eating habits. It changed my shape and I love it! Still got a little to go, but I am quite happy being a size 4 for now!
I am still working to maintain, though. One thing to realize about the protocol is that even though the weight comes off faster than any other diet (short of starving yourself) you still have to take time to maintain and convince your body that it likes to be smaller and eat smaller portions. :) That's where Calorie Count comes in helping me to control my portions! :)
If I can help any of you please let me know. You can do it! It is worth the effort, determination, and worth doing it right!
My weight gain started after starting anti-depressants (SSRI's) about 15 years ago. About 3 years ago I started taking Paxil. While on Paxil I gained about 10 lbs. per year. Over the past 2 years (excluding last winter due to chronic bronchitis) I was seeing a personal trainer, working out 5 days a week, yoga 3 days a week and jogging 3 - 5 times a week. I just kept gaining weight, fat not muscle and all around my midsection. I tried weight watchers and lost about 5 lbs. over 3 months. I think I really tried to take the weight off but it just wasn't happenning. I did stop taking Paxil about 6 weeks ago. The discontinuation symptoms were unpleasant but are behind me now. I do believe my appetite has decreased since stopping Paxil.
During this period of weight gain my MD has told me I am now at risk of diabetes, I am over weight and apple shaped so my risk of heart disease has increased. My thyroid quit working and my cholesterol has risen into the 200's. Most friends don't think of me as over weight. I can hide my tummy with loose fitting clothes but my size 34 jeans are oh so tight and uncomfortable and I refuse to buy size 36. I'm living in sweats these days.
About 2 weeks ago I visited my naturopathic doctor (ND) and we discussed, among other things, my weight concerns. She mentioned that she had used the HCG Protocol and in her first month lost 35 lbs. Her next go round 20 lbs. We decided to discuss the HCG protocol at my next visit which is coming up next week, April 28th.
Between visits I decided to get back to using Calorie-Count.com. It really is a great tool. I am hoping, but not counting on, my metablolism increasing now thay I am off of Paxil. Also during this time I had to go on a 24 hour clear liquid diet in preparation for a colonoscopy, which btw, came back with a clean bill of health - yeah! I have lost weight during this time most of it following the colonoscopy prep. Last night I reread my copy of the Weight Loss Cure and I think I am going to ask my ND if I can try the HCG protocol. I'm not sure what she will say.
I think my current efforts and using calorie-count.com will pay off even if I do use the HCG protocol. Good eating habits are key. My biggest concern is the 500 calories per day. Will I have the will power?
Thank you for starting this group. Whether or not I do the HCG protocol it is nice to become more informed about it.
Personal info: computer programmer who works from home, a husband, 4 step sons, 2 baby grand daughters and a cute yorike pup.
Thank you, timbuk2k (Lynn)
thanks for your post. It sounds like you are doing good and I wanted to encourage you to keep the information you've learned on calorie count. I never had counted calories before, but after I did the HCG protocol, lost and gained it back a couple times I decided to try it out. A nutritionist with extensive knowledge of the protocol told me that after I had finished the protocol, weight control was no longer about how many carbs, or how much fat, but simply how many calories. After gaining the weight back, I learned to count calories and gave my body a better idea of how much (or should I say little) it needed to eat. Since then, I have done the protocol again and this time, I am keeping it off!
So hopefully knowing this beforehand, you can do better than I did. :)
I think you are right on with counting calories. I saw my ND yesterday and we discussed weight loss, Hcg protocol and other options. She wanted me to try an Amylose-Free diet for the next month along with a daily high dose of B5 (calcium pantothenate). She weighed me and took measurements (I can't measure myself, too upsetting to me.)
The benefits of B5 seem pretty 'right-on' for my needs. It helps reduce anxiety (good since I am no longer taking Paxil), assists with the breakdown of fats and carbohydrates for energy and improves metabolism (good because age and Paxil have slowed my metabolism) and boosts immune system (good because I've developed asthma in the last year and a half that leads to bronchitis each winter). Anyways this website gives a pretty good overview of the benefits of B5: http://4nutritionalsupplements.com/vitamins/v itamin-b5.shtml
But back to counting calories. If I stay below 1300 calories it appears that I lose weight. Suprisingly yesterday I stayed below 1000 calories and today I was 1 pound lighter. With Calorie Count I can plan my day/food intake and make decisions as what to have and how much for dinner and my bedtime snack.
So I'm not on the Hcg protocol but if all goes well and I'm good at staying at about 1200 calories a day maybe I won't need to.
Thank you for your support,
Lynn
I started the hcg program today. I had to try it for myself. I'm gorging today and tomorrow. I'm doing the sublingual 10-20 drops 3x/day
I didn't believe I could do the shots so I do the drops or .5cc using a syringe. The bottle comes with a dropper which hold about 20 drops from each squeeze of the rubber tip. I did a lot of research on the internet and found it to be equally the same as the injections. It is called the sublingual method. This is my second day to gorge so tomorrow I start the 500 calorie diet. I just wouldn't knock it until I had tried it. I need to drop 60 lbs and have tried so many different ones I could write a book.
Well, I will say the shots aren't as bad as they sound. I was wary of them at first too. But the drops sound great. Please let us know how they work! Hope you enjoyed your 2nd gorge day. :)
Yes, I did enjoy my 2nd gorge day. Yesterday was my 1st day after the 2 day gorge. 100 grams of meat (weighed raw) isn't much after cooked but morning (5/5/09) I'm down lost 2 lbs. So I guess I won't complain. I can still work in cooked at 100 grams and still stay with 500 cal/day but I suppose there's a reason to weigh it raw. I like this everyday weigh-in since I weighed each morning anyway. The drops are homeopathic hcg so we'll see if it's the same as the nonhomeopathic (which I was told requires a prescription). The homeopathic hcg needs no mixing or refrigeration but it is taken 3x/day. After my gorge days my weight was 206.
Leidee,
Since you've done the diet do you really need to weigh your meats raw or can you cook them, then weigh the 100 grams as long as you stay with 500 calories.
Yes, it really is important if you want to get the most out of your diet. When you weigh 100g cooked it is something like 50g. So if you weighed 100g you'd be eating something like 200g which is your amount for the whole day. It isn't too difficult. Target has a great digital scale that is easy to use. I would just thaw a bunch of meat, weigh it and individually ziploc each 100g and freeze them again. Then I would just pull out a bag and cook it. Or sometimes I would just weigh them, cook them and then have a bunch in the fridge to grab and go each day.
Hi! I have been researching HCg and i want to start right away but scared to order fake HCG not sure if there is such thing. I will be taking it oraly and I am looking to loose 40 pounds. I will be doing hot yoga and swimming. Please give me advice and maybe al ink to before and after photos.
Thanks for the tips Leidee. The 2nd day was terribly hard. I'm working 12 hour shift and don't get home unti 8pm. My last meal being lunch at 11:30 am. I was famished. It just seemed once the meat cooked it weighted less and I could eat more but weighing it before once it cooked it weighed less. I'm back on it now weighing it raw 100g. When I got home last night I weighed raw meat 100g as you said and put it in freezer. It won't take long to throw it on the George Foreman. Today (5/7/09) I'm down 6 pounds. I'm not as hungry now, as a matter of fact the evening meal makesme feel stuffed. Do you think I can substitute my meals and have my coffee at night since I get home so late? I've read one should eat 3 hours before retiring, I'm awake only two hours after eating before bedtime. This is exciting to me to wake up each morning and see a smaller digit on the scale.
Original Post by sonjatara:
Hi! I have been researching HCg and i want to start right away but scared to order fake HCG not sure if there is such thing. I will be taking it oraly and I am looking to loose 40 pounds. I will be doing hot yoga and swimming. Please give me advice and maybe al ink to before and after photos.
Sonjatara,
I'm using oral homeopathic hcg; no mixing, refrigeration etc. It's very inexpensive 22.50/bottle plus 7.50 shipping. I dropped my first bottle (shattered to pieces). I will need to buy another. They suggest 2 bottles for 40 lbs of weight loss. Check out their website. http://www.healingpowerwithin.net. I'm losing as advertised but I've only been on it 6 days. It's going to take a lot of will power but if I can do it you can tool Yesterday, I turned down birthday cake and icecream (I love them) and today a free breakfast of sausage/bacon/grits/biscuits/gravy/juice/milk . You can have all this on your load days. I wish you the best.
Shucks! I didn't lose my 1 pound today, only .4 ounces. Once I weigh my meat raw 100 gram after all the water and juices cooks out I weigh it again and I'm only getting 50 grams of protein. If I cook up a lot of meat and weigh cooked meat, I get so much more meat per 100 gram. Oh well, I guess that's the plan. So I'll stick to it and see what happens. I have a school reunion next month and would like to be at least 30 pounds under. I've been using stevia in my coffee/tea. I'm not going to use it today and see what happens tomorrow. Until then, I await tomorrow's weigh-in.
Did not use the stevia in my coffee/tea and this morning I'm down 1.4 pounds. I read that this could happen around day five but I would begin to lose again. I'm down 8 lbs from 206 to 198; with 48 pounds to go.
Hi Everyone!!!
Today is Day 1 for me! I am doing the drops and believe it or not I feel sooo good! (...maybe it's all the crap I'm eating!) ;)
My history with weightloss has been....varied. I have tried everything--from Weight Watchers to Nutrisystem..and everything in between, and nothing works for me.
I have purchased several Beach Body DVD's. (Turbo Jam, Slim in 6) and have had so much fun doing them--but I haven't lost any weight. (well, a few pounds here and there..but nothing signafigant.)
I have been walking an hour a day for the last two months. I feel great, but again, no weight loss--and I need to lose a lot.
But right now I'm very excited about the HCG Protocol because of all the success stories I have heard about--and seen on people I personally know!
Anyway, I just wanted to say hi! :D
xxoo
Hello, my name is Jarrid and I am fat...
Lol, ok but seriously. My weight loss has sucked. I have done almost anything you can really think of and then some. So I figured, why not try HCG, it is just one more thing i can cross off my list and said I did it and failed yet again.
WRONG! So, I have done this diet for 16 days and have lost 22 lbs! That is right 22 wonderfuls LBS! So, am I a firm believer in regards to this diet and would recommend it to nay one. The only thing that is hard is the hump. Which is the 3-5 days having your body adjust to the system. Once you have passed that you are pretty much not hungry. I run into becoming hungry only because where I work i sit right next to the break room, meaning I smell everything that is cooked. But, green tea and lots of water seem to do the trick.
In regards of my personal life. I am 20, single, and just tired of the extra weight I put on after moving out of my parents house in 07. I was probably 240 (which was high enough) but now I topped the death defying number of 300!! So, I will cont. this journey until I get to about 190. I am not, as of todays post 278 and i am on my way.
Thanks for any support guys!!!!
Hi Jarrid!!
I'm on day 15 and have lost 14.5! I feel awesome! I can't believe how good I feel! My husband has lost 13.
My name is Brenda. I'm married and have 3 kids. (ages 16, 15, and 5).
..for me, I've found how much I ate out of boredom and "just because it's there." I never realized that I ate all day long until now! HOLY COW! But I can't believe that I don't crave chocolate or any of the other stuff I ate. It's amazing!
Keep updating your progress!!! :D
My name is Melinda and I have struggled with weight ever since turning 30. My heaviest was last December at 180. I started working out in January and lost 10 pounds but I have struggled ever since then to get more off. I heard about the HCG diet from a friend on face book and decided to try it. I am on day 6 of the low calorie diet and I have lost 7.4 pounds and very excited. Not enjoying the repeated meals of chicken and fish, but the scale keeps me going.
4