Too cowardly to try HCG purchased online, and too desperate to not try it, last June I took the plunge. My doctor actually recommended a "Medical Weight Loss" facility near her office. Having a heart condition, and hitting 40, she was very concerned that I get the extra pounds off my body. To be honest, I think she thought a nutritionist would put me on a diet, and the problem would be solved.
They did have a nutritionist. They did put me on a diet. The HCG diet. This worked for me for a little while, but anything works when you are literally convinced that you will die if you don't follow along. The first 2 days were grand, eat anything you want, more fat is better. The next 28 days kind of got boring, largely chicken and brocolli, with an apple or two a day. The pounds did come off though. Twenty pounds in 30 days. Having read about it online, I asked my nutritionist if I needed to take a break after 30 days, she said no. Two more weeks and no loss. One more week and no loss. She finally agreed, I needed to take a break.
Without taking the HCG, it's almost impossible to stick to chicken and broccoli!! The doctor said they usually prescribe appetite suppressants for this phase, but with my heart condition, I could not have them. For me, it was more than I could do. One bite of rice led to a bowl of noodles which led to ice cream, which opened the door to potato chips. Literally, within 3 weeks I had gained back 10 pounds. This program was crazy expensive and I couldn't justify the cost to go back, but I wasn't ready to give up. I ordered HCG pellets from Overstock.com. Starting over proved to be much harder though. The first 2 days would turn into 3 and four days of fat binging. I must have had at least 2-dozen "last" suppers. Sadly I gained back the other 10 pounds trying to re-start the HCG. The pellets worked, every time I got started, the scale would move downward 3 pounds after the first day of chicken and broccoli. Then 2 pounds on day two and a pound a day after that. Each subsequent start it was harder to stick to chicken and broccoli though.
The no exercise rules didn't help, which might be why gaining weight after stopping the HCG seems to be incredibly easy. Overall, it seems to be just too restrictive and it goes on for too long. The stabilization phase tends to be overlooked. I was insulted to learn that even after you hit your target weight, you need to continue the diet for a period of time to stabilize. In all, with several attempts to restart and stop and stabilize and fail and wait long enough to re-start again, I've wasted ten months bouncing between 155 and 170. Perhaps I will try again someday, but for now, I'm taking a break from HCG. I've ordered some Sensa (I hear it helps with cravings) and I'm starting that with a sensible exercise plan. If this lifestyle change of diet and exercise really proves to the be key to long term weight loss, I'm going to be both relieved and embarrassed...
