Has anybody ever tried the HCG diet?

[tessamarie]

i am just curious because my mom turned me on to it, this is my second day, you have to weigh yourself every day and the first day I lost 7.4 pounds no b.s'ing. just wanted to know if any one knows good recipes while on this diet. (can only do 500 calories or less a day- no fats, starch, sugar etc)

Updates

+1 y

to all the negative people, I am going to just ignore all who call me names and stuff. and fyi I never called my mom a genius , I do respect what she says and she tried this herself and lost weight and kept it off. today I ate cod, asp, chicken &feel good

[Anonymous]

1. I don't know it and I don't care, 7.4 pounds in a day is so unhealthy the fact that you're proud of it is disgusting. They say 5-10 pounds a WEEK is incredible. All that in a day... I don't even want to know what's going on in your body.

2. 500 calories is not enough. You're starving your body. Basically you're borderline anorexic. Any doctor will tell you you need AT LEAST 1000, though 1,200 is more like the minimum. It's gross what you're doing to your body by not eating enough.

3. Sure you'll lose a lot of weight now but you're being an idiot. In the future when it all comes back you'll just resort to some pill and it will be an endless up and down cycle. Unless you learn how to work out and eat healthy instead of relying on some chemical to do the job for you you'll never be actually healthy.

I'd stop now, if I were you. I'm sorry if you're offended or you think you're mom's a genius but this is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. It's not even remotely healthy. In fact most, if I remember correctly, if not all, diet pills are basically some type of steroid to help shave off the pounds but they'll come tumbling right back the second you stop.

If you want to loose weight talk to your doctor, or spend a few bucks go to a weight watcher's meeting and get the info and start working on it and go back to meetings when you can afford it. That's an amazing program and healthy, and works really well.

[selfishstars]

I agree with pretty much everything you've said, but I just wanted to point out that we don't know how much QA weighs. If her weight is very high, it isn't too abnormal/unhealthy for her to drop a significant amount of weight in the first few days (water weight). You're not likely to drop that much that quick in water weight if you're 130 lbs, but if you're 330 lbs, its not too unexpected.

[Opinion Owner]

I'll give you that one, but still 7.4 in one day even with water weight is FAR too much. That means you're also dehydrating yourself. And everything else still stands true.

[peace-love-couture]

She really didn't ask for your acceptance or approval. I only heard of this diet like 2 weeks ago through some chick on here and never fully understood it, but I'm not gonna act like the health police and attack her for it.

[tessamarie]

okay first of all let me say thank you evangelina , thanks for not judging me or calling me stupid or idiot or talk about my family.

okay usually a girl never talks about how much she weighs... I'm no 330 I used to be 120-125 then I moved back to cali to be w boyfriend almost 3 years later instead of 125 I am 196. huge diff. so in jan I started eating way better and cuting down, lost 12 pounds. hcg- first 2 days are gorge days so I ate like crazy it is expected once going on this diet (drops not pill)

[selfishstars]

If you cut your calories down to 500 calories and cut out fats, starch and sugar, of course you're going to have a huge weight drop. That said, chances are when you start eating "normal" again, even if normal is still better than what you were eating previously, you'll gain the weight back. Diets that make you feel very deprived and those that cause you to lose weight very quickly are especially bad for this.

[tessamarie]

i totally understand what your saying, however , its 500 calories a day (drops under tongue for 2 minutes morning and night) for 30 days, (32 w first 2 gorge) then after 32 days you start taking these herbal supplement pills and slowly introduce carbs into and you can eat a little more, after 2 monthes I can eat what I did again (how I lost 12 pounds) like wheat grain pastas, all organic and stuff so I might gain a couple back but it will be way less then 196. jan I weighed 196 today 180..

[joshuadwa]

stars is a RN. I would listen to her she knows her stuff in regards to health. I work at a gym and have been working out my entire life. There is nothing different in a "hcg diet" and starving yourself. Go eat 500 cals a day, you will olse the same ammount of weight either way. Your body will go into starvation mode and start packing on weight when you start eating again because its afraid it will be starved again. Very unhealthy.

[joshuadwa]

I work with personal trainers that have been doing this for a living for years, I work with a guy that has worked with olympic power lifters and is published in college text books.

Weight loss is a life style change, not some fad diet. What is recomended as safe weight loss is 2.5 lbs a week. Any more than that you are losing too fast and losing lean muscle mass.

Are you taking a good multi vitamin? Because there is no way you are getting all the vitamins/minerals you need from 500cal a day

[joshuadwa]

take a pregnancy test... you will get a positive. I had a buddy on HCG take one (he is a male) for fun and it was positive haha

[Belgie]

On such a low calorie diet, the first 4-5 days you're just burning glycogen, and since glycogen holds up to 5 times its own weight in water, 20% of that 7.4lbs in day one was glycogen. 80% of it was water. You don't start burning fat, until about the end of the first week, and it burns much slower than glycogen.

It's one reason people lose motivation on such diets. They think week 2 is too slow, compared to week 1. And once they come off the diet, the body replenishes it's stores of glycogen, and water. And the weight comes back on.

If you stick with the diet for many weeks, you will actually burn fat quicker than just about any other diet, but it will be much much slower than the weight loss you've seen in week one.

Week one -> Mostly water.

Week two and above -> FAT, but much slower.

Try not to get discouraged.

[tessamarie]

wow did not know that. thank you belgie=) I will be doing this for 2 monthes , but once I'm off it I will still be eating healthy and organic just more then 500 calories and with 1 cheat day a week. but you did give me something to think about, I'm glad I know this because seriously, every day I weigh my self and I am losing pounds, yesterday was 1 the day before was 2.2 but I'm glad to know about week 2 because I know me and I would definitly get discouraged. thanks =)

[ihatework]

500 calories a day? I injest 500 calories when I'm sleeping.

[tessamarie]

haha oh goodness.. indeed.

[ihatework]

if you can make it work that's cool tho.

[WtfIdiot]

Is that from your daddy squirting come into your mouth.

[tessamarie]

thanks=) today is day number 2... actually I guess 4 because of my 2 gorge days.

[tessamarie]

wtfidiot what is your problem! stop insulting people!

[ihatework]

@ theidiot: fail, just like your nonexistent sex life. gtfo and comeback better next time.

[Anonymous]

Her specific question was if anyone has tried the hcg diet and if there were any good recipe recommendations. Let her do her thing. She's not asking for your approval.

[peace-love-couture]

I concur

[tessamarie]

thank you anonymous! sheesh, I'm feeling stupid for even putting this question up.. thank you =)

[diamond3]

i am on it now! it works great! it is the best diet and works the fastest that I have ever been on!

[DocClassic]

500 or less...isnt anorexia less than like 1000?

[tessamarie]

i am so not even close to being anorexic. believe me.. I love food. but the last 3 years I have gained more then 50 pounds, I just need to get back to what I used to be =) usually I'm a 1200-1400 for a month though its is 500.. today though I had spinach, asparagus, an orange , cod and chicken breast.. I'm pretty full =) but once this month is up calories will go up but I eat healthy and organic so my weight should stay nicely.

[DocClassic]

this is not name calling or being negative, the clinical term is anorexia. in this society the term has a negative connotation, but it is what it is. if you eat less than a certain amount as a means to get thinner, you are anorexic by definition. but yes it works I guarantee it.

[tessamarie]

i wasn't saying you were name calling, I was talking about the people who literally called me idiot and stupid.

[DocClassic]

also they have supplement pills for this that aren't necessarily good for you, but are far safer than 500 cal a day. as a trainer I would suggest oxyElite, but its not for everyone and you have to drink water a lot...in general you should drink water a lot...A LOT. at least a gallon a day

[tessamarie]

i will check them out thank you. I love water.. it has to be bottled though.. can't stand faucet tap water.. also I love club soda, but I get my waters worth =)

[peace-love-couture]

Actually to qualify as anorexic, you have to meet certain qualifications and going on a diet is not one of them, one of the qualifications is also not having your period anymore. Try to not speak outta your butt anymore

[DocClassic]

the average caloric intake for anorexic people is less than 1000 a day (and more than500), furthermore losing your period is not a defining characteristic either seeing as men can have the disorder as well I believe this would be difficult. it is however defined by an obsession with calories and fat content as the QA stated...u don't know what you are talking about and id appreciate you not attacking me any more touche

[peace-love-couture]

I do happen to know what I'm talking about. And clinical diagnosis requires that you have lost your period and are underweight in numbers, plenty of people go without eating more than 1000 a day, but that doesn't mean they are anorexic. You're speaking ignorantly

[DocClassic]

aight look, I wasn't making a clinical diagnosis, what I was trying to say was that she is well on her way and meets by far the largest criteria. We have all seen your name on the site and know you like to show how damn smart you are (which you are in many respects), but attacking me and saying I was "speaking out of my butt" is uncalled for and not true. I have multiple family members who suffered from it and the last thing I need is a condescending bitch commenting on something she has no part in..

[tessamarie]

hey guys don't fight! I think your both have good points and I respect both of you so stay nice =)

[DocClassic]

haha thanks QA, I just wanted to make sure your being safe with your dieting